Forgotton Anne (Xbox One, 2018)

Forgotton Anne
Developed by Throughline Games
Published by Square Enix
Released for Xbox One (5/15/2018)
Also on iOS/Mac/PC/PS4/Switch

Forgotton Anne (no that's not misspell, it's the actual title) is the first release from Denmark-based developer Throughline Games. The best way to describe Forgotton Anne would be, in the words of the developers, a cinematic adventure with light puzzle platforming and meaningful storytelling.
The game first released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC in May 2018. June 2018 would see a release for the Mac and then the Switch in November of the same year. The final port (as of April 2020) was for iOS devices in June 2019. Throughline Games did a good job getting the game out to multiple platforms, so without further ado let's look at what it is and if it's one you should play...

Forgotton Anne takes place in the mysterious Forgotten Lands, where Forgotlings dwell. Forgotlings are everyday objects that were tossed aside and forgotten by their owners, longing to be remembered by them. These objects are all alive and each have their own personality. Early on in the game, while having a conversation with a blanket I was reminded of The Brave Little Toaster, an old Disney movie I saw as a kid with a similar premise of objects taking on a life of their own. Speaking and interacting with objects might sound silly at first, but you'll quickly warm up to it as more characters are introduced, some of them being quite memorable.

The game places you in the shoes of Anne, an enforcer in this magic land that helps keep order among the Forgotlings. Anne reports to Master Bonku, who is building an Ether Bridge which he claims will send them back to the human world. Master Bonku informs you that there's been a problem with rebels who are interfering with his plans to activate the Ether Bridge. As Anne sets off to thwart the rebellion, she'll learn many truths and discover quite a bit about herself in the process. There's some excellent storytelling going on here and the voice actors did a great job delivering the dialogue. You'll have to sit and watch cutscenes often, so if that type of thing bothers you this is probably not the game for you. It's never overbearing with its cutscenes and none of them felt like they ran too long. I'll refrain from dropping spoilers since the story is definitely one of the game's strongest points, but I'll tell you it's well-delivered and there's a nice payoff at the end. There are also 2 possible endings to help add a bit of replayability. Upon completing the game, there's an epilogue and also an area you can explore and use to access certain chapters through the story to replay them.

The platforming aspect of Forgotton Anne reminded me a lot of the old cinematic platformer classics like Another World and Flashback, with a similar method of climbing up platforms and a familiar run/jump mechanic to cover gaps. The platforming is a tad stiff but you'll warm up to it and the game never presents anything to difficult in that regard. There are light puzzles, which typically involve Anne transferring power to and from objects using a device on her wrist. There are also lots of levers and switches to pull along the way, but none of the puzzles are too perplexing so you likely won't find yourself getting stuck at any point. There's quite a bit of exploring and talking to Forgotlings to be done, with the game doing a good job of balancing between the platforming/puzzling/exploring/conversing so it never feels like you do any of these more than the other. The gameplay loop is simple, but the story is compelling enough on its own to keep you moving forward.

Featuring an orchestral score, hand-animated visuals, excellent voice acting and an interesting story, Forgotton Anne delivers on a lot of fronts. The visuals are striking, with hand-drawn sprites featuring an impressive amount of animation along with some detailed backdrops. This is one of the better-looking games I've seen running on the Unity engine and it really looks like you're playing a cartoon at times. Forgotton Anne will last you around 8-10 hours and while these aren't the types of games you typically come back to, this one's worth that one playthrough if you like a good story with some light puzzle & platforming mixed in there. There's a lot of polish and effort that went into this one and it really shines through in all departments. While the premise will likely be too silly for many, those who dig in and give it a shot will be pleasantly rewarded.

Final Verdict: Forgotton Anne is a cinematic adventure with puzzle and platforming elements, featuring hand-drawn art and an excellent story, this one is easy to recommend.

Related Links:
Buy Forgotton Anne - Microsoft Store
Throughline Games - Official Site
Square Enix - Official Site
Fogotton Anne - Metacritic
Fogotton Anne - GameFAQs
Fogotton Anne - True Achievements
Fogotton Anne - Xbox Achievements

DreamBreak (Xbox One, 2017)

DreamBreak
Developed by Aist
Published by Digerati Distribution
Released for Xbox One (9/2017)
Also on PC/PS4/Mac

DreamBreak is a cinematic platformer sporting retro pixel-art, similar in vein to old classics like Another World and Flashback. DreamBreak is set in post-Cold War USSR in some type of Orwellian universe and has the player taking control of Eugene. Eugene is a janitor who finds himself accused of a murder in Soviet Russia and must find a way to avoid being apprehended, at least I'm pretty sure that's what was going on.

DreamBreak is a nice looking game, sporting some simple yet detailed sprite art. It definitely looks like something that could have come out for PC in the early '90's. The animation is excellent, with characters moving about fluidly, a staple of the cinematic platform genre. There's a few annoying sounds when destroying some of the robots, but for the most part the sound design is unobtrusive and above average. The music fits the tone of game well. Overall, DreamBreak does a good job in the presentation department.

The character controls might seem a bit clunky to those unfamiliar with these cinematic platformer games, but once you get a feel for the grid style movement of the character it's quite easy to get where you need to go. Holding the LB or RB buttons will cause the player to run while using the triggers and holding a direction will leap. The leap is a long jump, very reminiscent of Prince of Persia.  Holding up near a ledge allows you to climb up. The A button will interact with objects and enter doors. It's a simple control scheme and works well enough.

When you approach an enemy your character will draw his gun, at which point you can fire using RB and engage your shields with LB. This is where we arrive at one of DreamBreak's most glaring issues: the gun battles aren't the slightest bit engaging. You can literally just hold LB and RB during each gun segment and never take a single lick of damage the entire game. Discharging your firearm at your enemy should be an exciting event, but instead in DreamBreak it's reduced to just holding down the shoulder buttons. The game would have greatly benefited from a better combat system, something like the cover system like Blackthorne had or something of that nature.

DreamBreak consists mostly of exploring and getting into the occasional gunfight, but there are also several other game-types mixed in. There's an arcade that can be played, which is a wild west showdown game that unfortunately plays exactly like the gun encounters in the game. There's also a hoverbike game where you see how long you can cruise along on your bike without hitting anything. Another segment has you riding in a taxi being attacked by flying robots. You'll have to hack the robots before they take down your car. Several areas will have you doing the pipe puzzles where you'll need to arrange pipes in order to get water to flow in a certain direction, similar to Pipe Dream. The pipe puzzles were enjoyable, but I didn't really find much notable about any of the other game types. They're mostly forgettable and even a bit annoying. The taxi segment where you have to hack the robots is far more difficult than anything else the game throws at you and it's right near the start of the game! I found myself looking forward to getting back to the core style of gameplay rather than wanting to play the other game-styles on offer.

The world the developers created in DreamBreak is interesting to explore for the most part but there are some issues regarding the story. There's some kind of crazy story delivered through a few dialogue segments about a computer AI going nuts or something like that. It's all a bit convoluted and I found myself more confused than anything by the end of the game. There are at least three different endings to be seen, though two of them end with the same result. It's hard to have much attachment to any of the characters when the game is over so fast. DreamBreak will likely only last you maybe two hours and outside of the multiple endings there's not much to bring you back for another playthrough. The endings can all be viewed quickly by simply reloading your last checkpoint.

While DreamBreak looks good and controls decently enough, the lackluster minigames, boring gunfights, short length and confusing story add up to a game that had some solid potential but ends up missing the mark by a bit. Cinematic platformer fans will likely get a bit of fun out of it, as will achievement hunters looking to add an easy completion to their gamertag. All others I'd recommend checking out the originals that inspired this game first, such as Another World and Flashback. If you do end up getting DreamBreak, I'd definitely suggest waiting for a sale considering you're only getting a few hours out of it.

Final Verdict: DreamBreak is a good-looking throwback to cinematic platformers but the short length, boring gunfights and lame minigames hold it back from being as good as it could have been. Only hardcore cinematic platformer fans and achievement hunters will find much to like here.

Related Links:
Buy DreamBreak - Microsoft Store
Buy Digerati Made in USSR Bundle - Microsoft Store
DreamBreak - GameFAQs
Digerati Distribution - Official Site
DreamBreak - True Achievements
DreamBreak Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements