Any decent video game, especially one story driven, should make you feel something while playing. Anguish, sorrow, joy – any emotion, really. Modern adventure games are pretty good at this, with most having professional script writers and hired voice actors. We’ve come a long way from being told aliens are attacking and to defend the Earth at all costs. Modern video games are a lot more personal these days too, and Farewell North is a good example of this. It’s an emotional adventure about loss, understanding, acceptance, and companionship. If you don’t feel something during its 6-7 hour runtime, we’d be both surprised and a little concerned.
Set across a small chain of skerries (islands) in the Scottish Highlands, you play not as a human but rather as a border collie known as Chesley – an ex-working sheepdog. After relocating to the city, your doting owner Cailey has returned home to spread their late mother’s ashes and clear their mind by reflecting on recent events. As their loyal companion, you must accompany them on this journey, with Cailey using a kayak to travel from one island to the next. Along the way, you’ll reacquaint with the island’s farmers and revive old memories. The kayak is intended to be controlled by rhythmically pressing the trigger buttons, adding tact to the proceedings, but this can be simplified if you’re simply here for the story.
Upon arriving on a skerry all colour has been drained, casting the landscape into black and white. Completing a quest or overcoming a figurative hurdle sees the world cast back into colour. Herding is a concept used often, guiding various farm animals and wildlife to a destination, such as helping a farmer find a lost lamb, reuniting a duck with its ducklings, or returning escaped chickens to a coop. Often while adventuring a path will be blocked, and these situations are far more abstract in their approach, calling for colour to be temporarily restored by carrying thistles, or by peering through ‘magical’ gateways. Distractions from these pursuits are frequent, including the chance to play fetch and race.
Over the course of the adventure, Cailey fills in a sketchbook, giving something additional to focus on. Eight music notes must be discovered to help remember a song, and every skerry also has resting spots and collectible glowing wisps to locate. Each wisp extends Ches’ stamina a small degree, allowing them to run for longer. With the skerries gradually increasing in size, this comes in very useful.
There’s a slight learning curve for the first hour or so, in the sense that you’ll need to wrap your head around the game’s logic, ergo the kind of things required to progress. After that it’s smooth sailing (well, kayaking) apart from the occasional woolly platforming section. Veer too closely to rugged terrain, and Chesley may end up becoming temporarily snagged. It’s worth mentioning that the game engine isn’t exactly cutting edge. It isn’t an ugly experience by any means – it has many picturesque views, along with striking sunrises – but it does look and feel a generation (or two) behind. The six year development cycle may have something to do with this – and being a personal tale, it has been created by a small team on what was clearly a limited budget. It still has the capacity to surprise though, with a chapter dedicated to climbing three tall snow-covered mountains, and the orchestrated music is accomplished.
Voice acting is enduring too, especially the mannerisms used when Cailey talks to Chesley directly. Not only does Cailey’s personality feel fleshed out, but Chesley’s too – quite the accomplishment seeing they’re restricted to merely barking during conversations. And, you know, a dog. Incidentally, Gaelic subtitles are an option. Indeed, it fully embraces Scottish culture – one of many reasons behind it being a unique and memorable experience.
If there is a problem with Farewell North, it’s the pacing. I went in blind, not knowing what to expect, and by the time the third chapter concluded – around three hours in – I felt like things had wrapped up reasonably well, with Cailey gaining closure. Turns out this was just the halfway point, with a lot more events yet to unfold – this time mostly focusing on Chesley being relocated from the islands to the more urban mainland, and their time spent working as a sheepdog. One chapter shakes things up quite significantly, set during Hogmanay and involving simple stealth sections. Then, after this, it goes back to island jumping for another three hours or so. I wouldn’t say it runs its course long before then, but it definitely tries to cling to your emotions for as long as possible.
It’s the fact that it’s successfully able to do so that makes Farewell North both compelling and unforgettable. It’s the kind of experience that doesn’t come round often; one that only exists because the developer is proud of their heritage. It’s filled with the sights and sounds of the highlands, including unexpected wildlife appearances, which makes it fun to explore each skerry fully. It may be visually crude in places, and not particularly advanced on a technical level, but it still serves as a poignant reminder of what it means to be human.
Kyle Bank’s Farewell North is out now on PC, Xbox One, and Switch. Published by Mooneye Studios.