A game yearning to be a movie instead.

Forgotton Anne's primary draw for most is going to be the hand-drawn animation, and for the most part it looks fairly sharp. The environments in particular are standout, but it all comes at a price. Secondary characters are usually animated with only a few frames, giving them a stilted, jarring look. More problematic is how the animations impact controls- slight delays to service the animation gives control a stilted feel, resulting in the occasional missed jump that feels more like the game's fault than your own. The puzzles themselves are rarely too taxing, usually making themselves clear in short order. Though an adventure game, there's almost no inventory to speak of - all the tasks you have will be usually be doable just with Anne's existing tools. There are a few puzzles where the solution is obtuse, relying on an obscure interaction that won't be obvious, but for the most part it's just a matter of figuring out what switches or wires to activate in what order.

The story itself is buoyed up by a charming collection of "Forgotlings", animated objects that make up most of the settings' inhabitants. They're well-voiced and often come across as sympathetic and diverse. Unfortunately, they also work against the story mechanisms that underpin the tale the developers had in mind. To some extent they expect Anne to have the option to be a real jerk, but there's no real impetus to do so. It very much falls into the "pet puppy or kill puppy?" school of branching game story design. There's the question, I suppose, if being the option to do a good or bad thing is self-affirming as a value in and of itself, but the moral dilemmas were somewhat facile. The notion of siding with the villain seemed like an utter non-starter to me, but YMMV.

Not overlong, Forgotton Anne is a tough one to judge. It doesn't anything too badly, but it doesn't do anything too well. It's pretty and evocative, but doesn't have much depth under the skin. Ultimately, I felt very neutral on the game by the end- which may be more damning than it actually being bad. It's an ambitious trip, and I don't regret it, but I have a hard time recommending it. It feels like they would have been better just doing this as an animation film than a game - as it is, I'm not sure being behind Anne's controls adds much to it.

Completed the game, no particular difficulty settings of note. Was a good Anne.

A game yearning to be a movie instead. Forgotton Anne's primary draw for most is going to be the hand-drawn animation, and for the most part it looks fairly sharp. The environments in particular are standout, but it all comes at a price. Secondary characters are usually animated with only a few frames, giving them a stilted, jarring look. More problematic is how the animations impact controls- slight delays to service the animation gives control a stilted feel, resulting in the occasional missed jump that feels more like the game's fault than your own. The puzzles themselves are rarely too taxing, usually making themselves clear in short order. Though an adventure game, there's almost no inventory to speak of - all the tasks you have will be usually be doable just with Anne's existing tools. There are a few puzzles where the solution is obtuse, relying on an obscure interaction that won't be obvious, but for the most part it's just a matter of figuring out what switches or wires to activate in what order. The story itself is buoyed up by a charming collection of "Forgotlings", animated objects that make up most of the settings' inhabitants. They're well-voiced and often come across as sympathetic and diverse. Unfortunately, they also work against the story mechanisms that underpin the tale the developers had in mind. To some extent they expect Anne to have the option to be a real jerk, but there's no real impetus to do so. It very much falls into the "pet puppy or kill puppy?" school of branching game story design. There's the question, I suppose, if being the option to do a good or bad thing is self-affirming as a value in and of itself, but the moral dilemmas were somewhat facile. The notion of siding with the villain seemed like an utter non-starter to me, but YMMV. Not overlong, Forgotton Anne is a tough one to judge. It doesn't anything too badly, but it doesn't do anything too well. It's pretty and evocative, but doesn't have much depth under the skin. Ultimately, I felt very neutral on the game by the end- which may be more damning than it actually being bad. It's an ambitious trip, and I don't regret it, but I have a hard time recommending it. It feels like they would have been better just doing this as an animation film than a game - as it is, I'm not sure being behind Anne's controls adds much to it. Completed the game, no particular difficulty settings of note. Was a good Anne.