The Forest Quartet

Get ready for The Forest Quartet! Once of the prettiest and most ambient games I think I’ve ever played, this title offers a stunning 3D narrative puzzle game that follows the spirit of the lead singer of a band as they gear up to play their final farewell concert. It is up to you to help the troubled members of your troupe come to peace with the loss and clear the corruption plaguing their souls. If you are looking for a brilliantly emotive and stunningly rendered adventure into some real conceptual environments, you have come to the right place. Let’s get into it.

Gameplay

The gameplay of this title is simple enough, you take control of the spirit of the bands lead singer who travels through the inner worlds of her band; the places that they draw inspiration from. They have grown tormented and corrupted, so you must solve the puzzles within their hearts and help fix the damage done. The game is an isometric adventure game, looks a bit like Deaths Door but handles like Sky: Children of the Light. That said, it is very easy to control as the game doesn’t actually require a whole lot of input, it isn’t an action game, thus you do not need to button bash or learn too much about it beyond the themes surrounding its puzzles.

Visuals

The visuals to The Forest Quartet are stunning. It manages to capture a simplicity that avoids drawing too much focus away from what is going on. Like Inside, it keeps the pallet simple, but keeps certain parts bright to add a lot of depth and energy to it. I was surprised to see just how tight it all looks, there was no clipping or ugly parts where something looked out of place. For an independent developer, that is frankly, astounding. Everything has a delightful homemade look to it, as though it had all been crafted out of card paper and rubber, it lends a lot to connecting the player to what they’re seeing, in a way I can’t fully describe.

Story

The story of this game is pretty good. It follows the spirit of a bands lead singer who is looking to help out her bandmates. The lead singer has recently passed away, and the band are devastated by this development, causing them no end of grief and torment. The singer must help Kirk, JB, and Sebastian by traversing their inner mindscapes and healing their trauma. It’s a surprisingly touching story interwoven in this game and it comes through in nearly everything you see and do. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t try to make you cry and bog you down all the way with intents feelings. Instead, it let everything flow naturally in a fantastic ‘show don’t tell’ style approach.

Pros

• Fantastic Visuals
• Excellent Story
• Brilliant Gameplay

Cons

• The puzzles were all a bit easy.