Content Warnings
There is no apparent upsetting content on the surface - however if you pay attention, some aspects of the game's storyline deal with serious themes. New spawns (newly awakened forgotlings) are part of a New Spawn trade (a type of slavery) and Anima Crystals used as currency in this fictional world, which can also be mined in the environment, are a form of deceased forgotlings (the sentient human objects that populate the game world) which is quite macabre when thinking about it...Project Introduction
Forgotlings is a cinematic action adventure game employing traditional animation from the creators of critically acclaimed Forgotton Anne.Driven by a heartfelt story about things we have lost, this epic semi-open world adventure features novel dialogue mechanics and real-time combat that balances hack-n-slash with strategy and stealth, combined with stellar voice acting and a beautiful score featuring an award-winning choir. An unforgettable journey into an imaginative and wholly original world filled with wonder.
You control Fig, a gifted posing doll forgotling, waking up as a confused new spawn but eventually thrust into a grand conflict between the different tribes of the land. It will become your quest to build relations and unite these tribes against an existential threat in the form of an enigmatic Beast offering bliss through oblivion as it slowly eats away at the heart and mind of the realm.
Early on in the game you acquire the ship Volare and a crew of forgotlings which enables you to choose which location to visit on a map, in this Metroidvania-esque semi-open world adventure. Locations typically feature a "tribe village" and a surrounding hostile landscape.
The dialogue mechanics have a 'hidden' layer that reveals itself over the course of the game which gamifies an otherwise conventional mechanic.
The action allow players to take different approaches due to stealth features and an enemy states system for hiding and resetting enemy patrol routines.
Players can collect currency and mine for anima crystals in the environment even though the game does not feature a traditional inventory - the character Fig, which the player roleplays as, has no need to accumulate wealth in the game and so 'money' is for distribution to allies, minigames and unlocking experiences in the world rather than accumulating items.
NPCs can be challenged to a fully-fleshed out original boardgame INA, that mixes traditional board games like Chess and GO with a customizable "deck" of stones.
The main theme of Forgotlings is purpose as the story explores what it means to have it or seeking one out - and on a deeper level, what drives us in the face of mounting cynicism when facing seemingly insurmountable challenges.
About Developer
Founder Alfred Nguyen has a background in film and animation and worked with casual games before finally partnering up with co-founder technical director Michael Godlowski-Maryniak who has a similar passion for story-driven games when starting up Throughline Games in 2014. Forgotton Anne was concepted as the first game showcasing our ambition to elevate storytelling to the forefront and marrying it with immersive aspects on the gameplay and presentation fronts. The isolated features found in Forgotton Anne and Forgotlings are not groundbreaking by themselves, but the originality we seek lies in combining the different features with the chosen thematics informing the process and finer details.Forgotlings is of a more expansive nature than Forgotton Anne gameplay-wise as we seek to reflect one theme of the game which deals with diversity and its strengths.
It also makes our games a bit difficult to market and so any exposure is highly valued as we are quite a small team with our focus and passion lying very much in creating the game rather than the promotion and PR side of things.