The Forest Quartet

[b]My Playtime:[/b] 1.7h (finished the game) [h1]Intro[/h1] [i]The Forest Quartet[/i] is a puzzle adventure game where a band is grieving the loss of their band member, Nina. It spans four acts, with the first three detailing the emotional scars that each band member has, while the last one describes how bright the last band member is. [b]Pros:[/b] - Easy puzzles, most are intuitive [b]Cons:[/b] - Game only saved in checkpoints [b]Specs[/b] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck]Steam Deck[/url]: AMD Zen 2 4c/8t 2.4-3.5GHz, 16 GB RAM, 8 AMD RDNA 2 CUs [h1]Should you buy this game?[/h1] [i]Despite being a puzzle game, you will hardly need to think, and it's very short. The only good aspect is the relaxing music[/i] [hr][/hr] [h1]In-Depth Review[/h1] [h3]Visuals[/h3] The game combines bright light from the protagonist and the effects with the dark environment. The result doesn't make the environment too bright, with it blending nicely. However, some areas can be too dark, and it can be hard to navigate through these areas without any source of light. [h3]Story[/h3] A band named The Forest Quartet just lost its singer, Nina. They are going to perform to remember her. That's what you'll see in the first few minutes of the game. The rest of the story will be focused on each band member, with the living ones telling about their insecurities. These insecurities are portrayed well in the puzzle, except for the first one. There isn't more to the story even after you finish the game, though, so if you are looking for an extensive, story-rich game, this is not it. [h3]The Game[/h3] [b]Gameplay[/b] You play as Nina, a ghost of a band member who has died. You'll help the other band members gain the strength to perform in a performance that is used to honor her. Each band members have insecurities which are portrayed by the first three acts in the puzzles. The last act will combine all of these mechanics into one without introducing new ones. Exploring the areas and solving the puzzles will be vital in solving the game, and despite each puzzle being contained in one area, playing the game in one sitting might feel like each act is one big area containing several connecting puzzles. Puzzles are intuitive. There is a tutorial at the beginning that explains the controls and how to solve them. However, since they are not commonly used in other puzzles, it can take some time to get used to them. I spent the first few minutes button-mashing all the controls since I couldn't differentiate what you need to do for a certain action. Luckily, only the first act has a confusing mechanic—the rest is more straightforward. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3455166853 The difficulty is a breeze, though. You don't even need to think to solve these puzzles. Heck, I didn't even want to mention this as a puzzle game in the first place. You only need to either find an object and use it on another or follow a certain pattern to solve the puzzles. Act two has a confusing mechanic, though. One puzzle requires you to solve a puzzle in a certain order, and the game never made it clear what the order is, despite it only accepting one solution. The other puzzle also requires you to do a certain action, but the outcome from this action can't be produced reliably; you need to do it several times for it to do what you want. People who don't know what to do will simply think that this action won't work when it doesn't do anything. [b]Length and Difficulty[/b] I finished the game in 1.7h. As I said before, the game is easy to beat. Some of the Act 2 puzzles are unintuitive, but that's the only thing difficult about the game if you exclude the navigation in the dark areas. That being said, since the paths are straightforward, you are more or less guided when you traverse through the area, so it's not really that bad. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] Despite being a puzzle game, [i]The Forest Quartet[/i] is surprisingly easy. There is no challenge in the puzzles; only bad puzzle design in two of them. It's also very short, and the only thing that I thought was good was the relaxing music that accompanies you throughout the game. Therefore, I'm afraid I can't recommend this game.

I finished the game in about an hour. I would have quit much sooner, but I was hoping there was more to it. (There isn't) Pros: * Nice music * Gorgeous graphics * OK story Cons: * Extremely simple and linear gameplay. Liuterally move in a straight line and activate the next thing you see, 95% of the time. The bass level with the creatures is the only part that feels like an actual game rather than a guided activity.

This is one of those games I wish I could give a neutral review, but I did enjoy my experience so I’ll give it a recommendation. The art direction is very nice and the music is great. However, there’s not quite enough gameplay to call it a “game” and not enough depth for it to be an interactive story. It’s sort of a walking simulator with light interactions occasionally. There are “enemies” in some levels but they can’t actually hurt you. For each level, you follow a fairly linear path through a portion of the forest, meaning to represent each of the living band members. Puzzles are pretty easy. There were a couple that weren’t immediately intuitive for me, but they weren’t especially hard to figure out. There’s a visual theme to each level which I think is meant to represent their particular struggle/ feelings, but I don’t think that was communicated especially well. The story is where it fell the shortest for me. A puzzle-ish adventure about a band mourning the loss of a member sounds great on paper. However, it was an extremely short introduction to the premise and it didn’t do much to establish how close the group was or meaningfully address how each living member was impacted by Nina’s death. Each level starts with you looking through a window and seeing the person is sad but…that’s kinda it. There’s a few lines of dialogue in each level, but it doesn’t do enough to build the character out. I would have liked to see more background history. It would have created more meaning with each persons loss of Nina and would have made me more invested in the characters. It just felt very shallow. For the gameplay, I didn’t mind the short game length or simpler puzzles. I wasn’t going in expecting anything super deep with the game play. But honestly the story falling short highlighted the simpler game play. I feel like there were unfinished aspects as well. Throughout all the maps are lamp posts you can turn on. This doesn’t seem to have any actual purpose though. Maybe this is tied to an achievement that was never implemented (the game has none) or maybe there was so planned extra level or task, but there wasn’t anything to suggest that when I finished the game, so I don’t know. I got the game on a deep sale, and would recommend it if you see an 80%+ discount. It’s not amazing but it’s definitely not bad either. For $2 and a little over an hour, it’s enjoyable. I just wish there was more emotional depth and character development. Don’t go in expecting some deep emotionally impactful story or advanced gameplay, but if you want a chill game you can finish in one sitting with an okay story, you’ll be happy.

The Forest Quartet is an indie adventure/puzzle game where you play as the spirit of a recently deceased lead singer trying to help the remaining members of her jazz band overcome grief and reunite for a final concert. The game blends gentle exploration with light puzzles as you travel through three unique stages tied to each band member’s emotional journey. The experience focuses on narrative and atmosphere, combining expressive art, a jazz-infused soundtrack, and intuitive interactions that serve the story rather than complex mechanics. Puzzles are straightforward and integrated into the surreal world, making the journey smooth and reflective. I spent about 3.2 hours with it, and although there were no achievements, the story kept me engaged from beginning to end. The game was €2.43 on sale, offering good value for a heartfelt, self-contained narrative experience. Overall, The Forest Quartet is a short but emotionally resonant indie adventure that’s best enjoyed when you’re in the mood for artistic storytelling and atmospheric exploration.

The Forest Quartet ist ein kurzes Adventure mit relativ einfachen Puzzles, in dem man nach dem Tod der Leadsängerin versucht, den Rest der Band zu einem Abschlusskonzert zusammenzubringen. Dafür wandert man als Geist dieser Sängerin durch einen linearen Wald und muss versuchen, die drei Bandmitglieder aus ihren seelischen Tiefen zu befreien. Die Levels sind sehr linear und die Rätsel ziemlich leicht. Wer also eine grosse Gameplay- oder Denkherausforderung sucht, ist hier falsch. Wer dagegen ruhige Spielerlebnisse mit einer tieferen Botschaft mag, dürfte hier genau richtig sein. Das Gameplay ist dabei ausreichend interessant, um die rund 60 bis 90 Minuten Spielzeit gut zu tragen. Wirklich hervorragend ist die Ästhetik. Die Grafik ist toll gemacht und gerade die Schatteneffekte sorgen für enorm viel Stimmung. Besonders gelungen ist auch, wie der Entwickler es schafft, die emotionalen Zustände der Bandmitglieder grafisch darzustellen, was unglaublich viel zur Atmosphäre beiträgt. Auch der Sound passt hervorragend. Drüber hinaus wird auch in Sachen Story ein guter Mittelweg getroffen. Alles hat einen ziemlich mystischen Rahmen und so manches wird nicht vollständig erklärt. Trotzdem bleibt das Spiel bei Weitem nicht irgendwo im Abstrakten stecken, wie das andere Spiele dieser Art tun, sondern man bekommt trotzdem eine klare und runde Story. Das Ganze ergab so für mich ein durchwegs rundes Erlebnis. Wenn überhaupt der grösste Kritikpunkt ist für mich, dass das Spiel seine ganze Tiefe verschweigt. Nach etwas Recherche bin ich auf einen Reddit-Beitrag des Entwicklers gestossen, in dem er erzählt, dass die Hauptfigur von seiner Mutter inspiriert wurde und zudem von seiner Schwester vertont ist. Diese und weitere Hintergrundinformationen geben dem Spiel nochmals deutlich mehr emotionale Tiefe und wären es absolut wert gewesen, direkt im Spiel integriert zu sein. Und wenn es nur als kleines Textfenster mit Hintergrundinfos nach dem Ende des Spiels als optionaler Eintrag im Hauptmenü gewesen wäre. Umso bemerkenswerter ist allerdings, dass das Spiel eben nicht nur als persönliches Erinnerungsprojekt funktioniert, sondern auch völlig unabhängig davon eine starke Wirkung entfaltet. Dafür gebührt den Entwicklern wirklich grosses Lob. Fazit: The Forest Quartet ist für Fans von ruhigen Spielen mit einer tieferen Botschaft eine tolle Erfahrung. Von mir daher eine glasklare Empfehlung.

パズル好きなら特に迷うポイントも無くサクッとクリアできると思います。 最後に流れる歌がとても良かったです。

Отличная игра, без всяких преувеличений. Решение передать боль от утраты важного в жизни представленных персонажей человека через выполненные с учётом их характера простые головоломки оказалось тактически и эмоционально верным. Так что если вам душным летним вечером захочется поиграть во что-то прекрасное и трагичное, то The Forest Quartet - заслуживающий вашего внимания вариант.

About a 90 minutes of a wonderful visual/aural experience. There is no rush to finish puzzles. It is a nice "take your time and enjoy the world" type of game. Watching each band member deal with grief and their own personal demons feels very personable. Thanks to the developers for making such a heart-felt game. Yes, it is short. And too bad it doesn't go longer and deeper but what is there is amazing. Get it on sale if you feel the price is a bit high for 90 minutes.

What a beautiful game. A very meditative experience

Es muy lindo el homenaje que le han hecho a Emma Ninel. El juego aborda temas como la ira, la tristeza, el miedo y el duelo al perder un ser querido, esto se ve desde el punto de tres personajes en los cuales se muestran perspectivas totalmente diferentes con respecto a los temas ya antes mencionados. El caos, la presión y los incendios se encuentran dentro de estos. Brindando una jugabilidad sencilla y con mecánicas fáciles de utilizar.