Forgotten Hope

Decent little story driven walking sim. The voice actors aren't great, performance not optimal too tho. It's all right still, but I think it's also a bit too overrated with 93% positive.

I finished Act I and while I like the story and the simple graphics, this game has a major problem that means I need to take a break and continue later. The head bob is among the worst I've seen and it's giving me motion sickness. And of course there's no setting to disable it. For that alone, I'd say this is between Yes and No. I got this at a discount, so it's okay, and I do intend to finish this, just not at one sitting.

Forgotten Hope is a short walking simulator regarding death, suicide and depression. It is preachy, tiresome & peeve-provoking, and almost [i]cringe[/i] for the desperate lack of a better term because it is written by someone with no actual experience regarding anything that the game is about. It doesn't have anything of substance to offer on those topics, it just comes to the conclusion that yes, these things are indeed somber... and that's it. It is unable to propose any other thoughts or ideas or anything regarding the topic it is about yet poses itself to be a suicide & depression PSA, which is why it feels like it is written by someone with no actual experience on the subject matter. The voice over is [b]awful[/b], the game looks incredibly bad which really it has no excuse for. There are numerous other similar walking simulators built in this same engine with the same type of assets that look much better. Lackluster settings menu with no option to disable things like head-bobbing. There exists no valid excuses for that either. I found it boring, repetitive & bad looking. The voice acting made me want to close the game. The conclusion is that it offers nothing on the subjects it pretends to be able to offer thoughts and help on and has no business pretending it does. Nice enough soundtrack though. I think this genre of games/theme of games can produce absolutely amazing games if created by people that have real personal experience/knowledge on the topic, and it can create some absolute dreg when made by people who really do not actually know anything about the topic. [h1]Curator page[/h1] [i]If you liked this review or otherwise found it helpful in deciding whether or not to buy this game, feel free to follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/29162366/]my Curator page[/url].[/i] [i]Below is a rant that that you don't have to read[/i]. This game is supposed to be a suicide prevention PSA and they wonder why so many people with the type of struggles that this game is themed around struggle to find help and frequently give up, often resulting in an endless cycle? Because garbage like this is repeatedly seemingly the only thing that is offered as help & support. Not [i]games[/i] like this, but this quality of help. Often this just further confirms existing thoughts and helps one go further down a dark road, "no one understands". Preachy and as so very often is the case regarding the topics & struggles that the game is about: whoever wrote this has no business trying to help anyone regarding these issues because they do indeed not have a concept in their head of what these struggles really are. It's like someone who has no idea what they are talking about bringing up depression and then starts to offer ideas, support & motivation on how to not be [i]sad[/i], you then immediately know to permanently disregard anything they say and move on. It should be no wonder why so many people with serious depression, real anxiety disorders, actual OCD, etc.[i](I can't list every single thing here, I'm sure you understand)[/i] can snap and go down a horrible cycle when every corner you turn you get offered nothing other than the same words re-formatted to seem original, spoken by people with not 1 iota of understanding of the real thing whether it be a doctor, some journalist writing an article for money, a psychiatrist or regular people & friends who pretend they understand so they can get a fuzzy feeling inside them because cognitive dissonance isn't a thing for them. Sorry about the rant, I'm not actually angry, hurt or infuriated to the core by this game, it just opened up a bit of a floodgate concerning the topics the game is about because it is tiresome. A person that hasn't touched a bicycle before can read all the literature and watch all the videos that exist about how to ride a bicycle, they will still not have even the slightest existence of a concept in their mind about the feeling of balance on such a device and what it actually feels like to practice and learn it. That can only be achieved with real-world practice with the real thing.

To discuss this properly, I'm going to talk about the game in different parts The soundtrack is easily the best part of this Everything good said about it is true and may be worth a purchase in itself The game world is not particularly well-designed The graphical style isn't a problem and I quickly become accustomed to the aesthetics I also liked how objectives are clear because how much of the world is in sight with clear paths However, there's very little interaction with it, giving it a dead feeling This is fine for Acts 2 & 3, but works poorly in Act 1, where I feel we are supposed to care about it and its beauty as the protagonist's home It's also often too large for its purpose, which combined with the slow walking speed can make exploration feel like a slog If you're looking for a walking simulator to be lost in, find a more interesting one One place it does do well in is Act 2, where there is a trail of important objects in Act 1, so it feels like a memory trail There are also some nice visuals, such as the waterfall, the lighthouse, and even the burning woods Generally though, there's not much to do with them The gameplay is simple point and click where I feel the game holds your hand too often With a smaller map, it would be more obvious to the player where their objectives are, and I feel the white dots over everything are an admission of failure in level design, rather than ingenuity in game design It's serviceable but no more The dialogue is fine, but the voice-acting wooden It's not atrocious, but if the voice work was as good as the sound design, I would recommend this game on that alone These minor flaws are somewhat to be expected from an indie game, especially one like this that aims to stand or fall on its own message The problem is the message isn't handled well either Spoilers below: [spoiler]The game is clearly a suicide PSA, which is fine Games like this tend to take one of two approaches Either they attempt to turn despair into hope, and then reveal the protagonist failed in their attempt, giving them a second chance in world, or they take the approach that suicide has no happy endings and keeps it suitably dark and tragic This game tried to do both and suffers as a result Act 1 is almost without sin, carefully laying up the groundwork with a third, unmarked grave in the cemetery, which is clearly for themselves, and the noose briefly appearing in the house The shattered doll could also be viewed as a metaphor for themselves as they proceed to break themselves However, Act 1 also introduces the repaired doll i.e. something broken made whole again with love and effort Act 2 continues this idea with the protagonist making peace with the past and vowing to move on and to help her father, and thereby themselves The restored doll also appears in this act Act 3 then discards this progress with the reading of the note and the collapse into the sea, signifying death, whilst a preachy motivational poster given life recites the thesis of the game Act 1, followed by Act 3 would be fine Act 1, followed by Act 2 would be good Act 1, followed by Act 3, followed by Act 2 as a contemplation of death and resignation to fate would also work I hold the current order with as much respect as a version of a Christmas Carol in which Scrooge awakes on Christmas morning a changed man before tripping on the stairs and breaking his neck[/spoiler] Altogether then, we have a walking simulator in a dead world with mediocre gameplay used to convey a bungled message That said, it's not a bad debut, and I think given time, this studio will turn out something genuinely good The soundtrack is also unimpeachable

What can i say. It is not the best game ever, the gamplay is 5/10, music is good, the girl narrator is a little annoying, but somehow it hit me more then all those AAA games .

Forgotten Hope is a refreshingly original story with a magnificent soundtrack to boot. The game mechanics are quite simple, and it takes around 40 minutes to finish the main story line. But the beautiful world design and music all come together to complement the core themes of the game; loss, friendship and acceptance. 7/10

Walking simulator fanatic here - I even created https://steamcommunity.com/groups/walkingsimulator for similar games. I have created a goal for myself to review every single walking simulator on the market and not all are good. Sadly this is not just 'not good', it's terrible title. Graphics are awful (just take a look at "everybody is gone to the rapture" to see what can be done), the gameplay is abysmal (compare this to the painscreek murders), and the voice over so grating i wanted to turn the sound off after a few minutes. Add to this non-skippable endless monologs that are force-subtitled, and you have what at best would be a mediocre walking simulator for children. If you want a sad story and a great walking simulator, try 'before you eyes' instead. "no" from me.

An unforgettable and hopeful gaming experience <3

Good Story

Ух, грустная штука. Эта игра является бродилкой от первого лица, и, как правильно кто-то из забугров высказался, это не игра, а история, история о депрессии и ее последствиях. В общем, если у вас хреновое настроение, всякие какие-то там идальные мысли, то играйте в эту игру, может, она вас вытянет из болота хотя бы ненадолго, или даст пищу для размышления. Игра стоит недорого, так что берите смело. P.S. я знаю, как получить последнюю ачивку.