Forever Ago: We talked to the developers of this new atmospheric game

L ‘Annapurna Gallery This year didn’t count titles able to leave their fanbase open, but what was presented was once again able to demonstrate the well-known independent publisher’s desire to grow talent, focus on partnerships with artist-rich development teams and support small groups of programmers keen to take on projects that usually Majors ignore it because of its peculiarities.

The The third transformationa team of two young German developers, are undoubtedly part of the second group, and Annapurna decided to support them in creating a video game called Forever Ago, which since the video presentation looked the least commercially conceivable in a jigsaw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s97O9buc-hg

It is actually essentially a narrative adventure, in which protagonist Alfred decides to travel after an unspecified tragic event. And the beauty is that there don’t seem to be any compelling, strange mystical factors or pressures to make things more exciting and action-packed… Forever Ago focuses solely on the “journey”, the characters that Alfred meets and the places he visits, all inspired by the nature and landscapes of North Amarica.

In short, we are talking about a title that has all the qualifications to become a small sect among those who love meditative and calm experiences, given that looking at the gameplay offers the quirky characteristics of investigation that certainly do not lack. We have tried to briefly clarify some of our doubts Interview with the developers of Forever Ago And although they did not want to reveal many secrets of their work, some interesting information appeared. Here’s what we know.

In the cart and in the company

Alfred is a graceful old man, but not so fit that he can roam for miles and miles on foot. So your trip will be on a cart, and will cover different sites completely different from each other. The third transformation also confirmed that there would be no “driving” sections and that the buggy would be primarily active during intermission scenes between stage and stage. The intention seems to be to make the car customizable in some way (although it didn’t go into detail in that sense), without making it really central to the mechanics. Ah, while we’re talking about places to visit, the setting of Forever Ago will be based on American landscapes, but not closely related to the real places.

The maps Mostly invented, they are only partially inspired by real websites; It also seems that there will be no shortage of variety, as in the trailer you can see desolate expanses worthy of the Nevada desert, and wooded areas rich in vegetation.

However, as mentioned, Alfred will not be alone while he is on his wanderings. The game will boast a rather colorful set of characters and a separate environmental interaction, mainly dedicated to collecting information about the places and people who live there. Alfred’s companions will not only be human: in fact, we can clearly see the protagonist accompanied by a dog in several scenes and screenshots. When we asked the developers for clarification, they themselves did not unbutton the role of the four-legged fur, but emphasized that it is misleading that our alter ego meets during the adventure, and that it will undoubtedly have an important role during the flight.

The desire to change the pace and gameplay of the campaign has also been confirmed at times. One of the sections is clearly wooded at night, and sees Alfred struggle with bad weather, as well as being generally more tense than the other sections. Now, certainly don’t expect survival stages during this virtual journey, but we think it would be interesting to assess how the architecture might change from class to class.

Pictures and memories

It seems that a lot of experience is related to Photography. The developers are clearly excited about vintage cameras, and in Forever Ago Alfred he seems to have one that he practically doesn’t separate. Photographs taken are used to document the trip, and appear to be included in a rather important album/diary for progress. Oddly enough, there must also be some small environmental mysteries related to photography, confirming that Alfred’s passion for landscapes is not a simple side dish to explore.

Speaking of the latter, the maps should not be particularly extensive. The experience will be mostly linear and directed, with locations larger than others, but not actually “unlocking” or unlocking maps. What we saw, even with these limitations, is still impressive when you consider that the game was programmed by only two people in Unity.

and the Expected arrival date? Well, you still have to say that. The third shift tells us that they are working hard on the project and are progressing well, but they are not yet able to make an accurate prediction. So it will take us a long time to believe before we take on the role of the good Alfred with his white beard. Never mind, trust in Annapurna is complete, and who knows if this title is also a little independent pearl.