Some games give me a good setup. They present me with some information, or give me a choice that sets me in the right frame of mind to engage with it Farewell North set me up by presenting me with a message:
Come on, that is such an endearing message. Truly, only monsters will say ‘No’ after that.
Farewell North is a third person exploration game in which the player takes control of Chesley, a border collie, as he follows his owner on a trip through a series of Scottish isles. Ches can run, jump, bark, pick up items (like the iconic Scottish Thistle) and summon his owner (Cailey) to help. At a few points the player takes control of Cailey, but this is mainly Ches’s story.
The game environment is presented in monochrome as they explore each island across a pseudo-open world. Ches will need to herd sheep, chase will-o’-the-wisps, and solve simple puzzles. Once this is done the island they are on will burst into colour.
The islands themselves are well designed with each one that the player chooses to visit being distinct, the puzzles and events unlock more of the story. Ches’s antics bringing colour back to lives around him both figuratively and literally by Cailey regaining her resolve each time he returns to her. There are lots of places where this shines as a metaphor, for example, as Cailey successfully canoes through the isles, the world around the player lights up; like in real life when you are doing something well it brightens your day.
The developer, Kyle Banks, weaves a tale of grief, acceptance, and hope into these moments. Whether it is Cailey remembering a moment visiting a lighthouse, or coming to terms with challenging feelings, the game has a deft touch to it.
Less deft are some of the mechanics. As I played Farewell North, there were some clumsy animations when climbing onto any plateau, as well as some uneven collision. Ches’s animations seem very similar to publisher Mooneye’s game Lost Ember’s main character. The difference being that Lost Ember was set over large traversible areas, whereas Farewell North’s areas are much smaller. So, in these more confined spaces, the shortcomings feel more apparent.
The open world nature will put some people off too. Although it is possible to mainline the big story beats, those that need to finish everything will find the side missions hit and miss. Some of the detours have interesting pay offs, like discovering a handheld game that serves as a narrative reveal, but some are just going through a corridor and doing some of the bad platforming.
By no means should this dissuade people from playing Farewell North but it does put a damper on some of the experience.
What might dissuade a few people is how the game ends. Farewell North does a good job of foreshadowing the ending and I think it handles it well with its dashes of magical realism, others are just going to want to cry.
I want to reiterate, this is a touching story, but it is not always a feel-good one.
Conclusion
Farewell Northfeels like a deeply personal experience, and I really appreciated what it was doing. Some might find the ‘dog turns the grey world back to colour’ to be a bit on the nose, but those people clearly have coal in the place where their heart should be.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
