Forgotten Fields
Armaan Sandhu from Frostwood Interactive burst onto the video games scene with Rainswept in 2019. This game was a Twin Peaks inspired detective mystery which has stayed with me ever since it was released. So it’s no surprise that his next game, Forgotten Fields, is one of my most eagerly anticipated adventure games of 2021. Does it live up to the early promise shown in Rainswept? Let’s find out!
In Forgotten Fields, you play as Sid, an author whose first book was a hit but is struggling to come up with a good story for his second novel. To add to the pressure he needs to send a story proposal in order to apply for a grant by the end of the day. Just then he receives an invitation from his mother to come to visit her. She is selling their house and she wants him to come over to say one last goodbye to his family home.On his journey he will meet up with friends, go on adventures and hopefully come up with inspiration for his second novel before the deadline runs out.
One of the interesting things about this game is that as well as playing as Sid in the real world we also play as the main character in his new novel. These sections are playable every time Sid gets inspiration. These scenes work well and provide enough of a contrast to the main story to keep these sections entertaining.
One of the reasons the story works so well here is the cinematic camera angles which help to tell the story. From swooping shots of the beach with the sound of the waves coming in and out to close ups of characters while they’re deep in conversation. Sometimes the game will be in first person such as when you’re swimming in an extremely dangerous looking sea and once again this helps put the player into the scene.
In terms of gameplay there aren’t many traditional puzzles but in this instance this serves to help the game rather than hinder it. If there had been traditional inventory or logic puzzles this would probably have taken the player out of the game considering it is going for realism. That’s not to say there aren’t any puzzles. Instead the puzzles fit naturally into the game and help tell the story. For example in one section you need to throw rocks at a football caught in a tree but if it becomes too difficult you can always use a ladder. Both of these options are viable and realistic and help to reduce frustration as well. Meanwhile in the Fantasy section there is a thankfully easy stealth sequence but that’s as challenging as the sections will get.
I would be remiss not to mention the wonderful sound and music in this game. In that beach scene mentioned above, the sound of the waves and the seagulls really make you feel like you are really there and there is a wonderful variety of music from traditional Indian music to catchy Pop tunes that really fit the story.
I have intentionally not mentioned the story much as the joy is discovering it yourself. All I’ll say is that this game deals with growing up, looking back at the past with nostalgia and moving on with our life. While there isn’t a huge amount of drama, this can really relate with people especially those who are heading into their thirties and forties and beyond. There is a lot of reminiscing and the conversations sound natural and real.
This game took me close to four hours to complete and it was time well spent. While I love games about conspiracies and battling villains sometimes it’s nice to chill out with some nice people and reminisce about old times and look forward to the future. In this game you do just that. It was a real shame when I finished as I really wanted to spend more time with these characters. I’m not sure what Armaan is working on next but this game at least confirms his reputation as talented story teller and game developer and I cannot wait to see what he does next.