Game review: Forgotton Anne

I just got my hands on a new adventure game! Forgotton Anne was released yesterday.

If you read nothing else, here's the summary: It's awesome, go play it now.

... Okay, I suppose I should be a bit more detailed. I'm not done with it myself yet, so it's possible my interpretation of some of the details will change, but I'm still fairly confident that my impression so far isn't going to change much.

I will start by noting that this isn't the most difficult game in the world, nor is it intended to be. If you're looking for the sort of puzzle or action platformer that will have you staying up late trying to shave another few seconds off your stage completion time, this probably isn't the game you want to be spending your time on. About the most difficult this game gets is struggling with the controls in order to land exactly where you need to or to get another few pixels closer to a ledge you need to grab - and while control problems are one of the few things that really irritate me, those moments are quite rare, and getting rarer as I grow more used to controlling which direction I'm jumping or getting used to the input delay.

For me, of course, those problems don't change the fact that I love it so far. The graphics are absolutely awesome - the animation is very smooth and neatly done. And the story is incredibly touching and compelling. Even having a fair idea of where it was likely to go from the beginning (it's not like the tropes it uses are particularly rare) didn't dispel the power behind it. It reminds me quite strongly of Hayao Miyazaki's movies; being able to play through something that feels like one of those is just as awesome as I could have imagined.

The way it handles decision points is also rather interesting. It does use the standard selection between two dialogue options at multiple points, but there are a few points where you can choose to deal a death blow, or spare your enemies - and the lack of a dialog displaying those options doesn't mean you can't choose to walk away if you desire. And while many games with branching routes have a large number of throwaway options, which change a few lines of dialogue following them and then nothing else, this game largely doesn't - even if the lasting impact isn't apparent for a while.

I think that's all I have to say. Seriously, go buy this game now that you're finished reading about it.