PC Critic Reviews

Leaving home, getting married, moving to the city, coming home and finding out that your home isn’t the place it used to be—all of these are part and parcel of growing up. Sid, living on his own and with a published novel under his belt, might expect to be largely done with that process, but Forgotten Fields’ greatest insight is that growing up isn’t such a simple thing. It’s not a linear process with clear rites of passage; I’m not sure that it ever really was.

To forget or not to forget? That is the question. With a more personal venture to its name, Frostwood Interactive attempts to denote itself as a company that inspires people's emotional core. Forgotten Fields isn't the most riveting piece of gaming available—actually playing the game comes with its hurdles. Where its success lies is in the way it communicates and molds its characters, how it attempts to bring them to life and have them identifiable. From this, the game is a modest and simple triumph of earnest self-reflection. As it came to an end, I found myself wanting to try just a little harder in my own life.

An experience which exudes humanity and warmth, from the writing to the visual style and music. A short game with some issues, but it packs a true emotional weight.

There are a number of technical issues which blight Forgotten Fields but there’s nothing here that couldn’t be addressed over time and with patches. The core of the game, featuring a very human and relatable story mirrored in a literary fantasy one, shines bright enough that those who can forgive a few glitches will find something unique and interesting here.

Forgotten Fields is a flawed, sometimes frustrating experience, but its best moments are authentic and relatable enough to still make the journey worthwhile.

Forgotten Fields, at first glance, is intriguing, meaningful, and deep. And maybe it is — it certainly has its beautiful moments that make you yearn for tropical beaches. But stunning cinematics and dazzling soundtracks can only carry a game so far, especially when movement sticks, cameras are broken, and gameplay itself just feels overall unfinished. Forgotten Fields is done — it’s playable — but I would love to see a lot more work before I can truly recommend this narrative game about narratives.

Though it’s not a bad game, Forgotten Fields is hampered by more than a handful of technical issues. Prepare to glitch through furniture and objects as you try and make your way around this otherwise beautiful world. It’s a shame, because there are more than a few truly lovely moments, and you’ll likely find yourself relating to the game’s cast of characters. Perhaps wait until its bugs have been addressed, because there’s a good story to be experienced here.

With not much of value in the narrative or the gameplay, Forgotten Fields’ merits are some pretty virtual environments and an original soundtrack that often takes the spotlight. There are ways in which Forgotten Fields could have worked as an emotionally powerful experience, but these avenues go under-explored and the result is something that I can’t recommend, even to enthusiasts of this particular genre-transcending premise.