Forgotlings is the answer to where all your old toys and mismatched socks go when you lose them. They’re all swept into a strange little afterlife of sorts where objects gain personalities and seek their purpose.
While it occasionally stumbles in the gameplay department, it absolutely shines where it matters most: its story, world, and presentation.
This is Throughline Games‘ follow up to fan favourite, Forgotton Anne.
You play as Fig, a posing doll turned reluctant hero. Accompanied by the scarf/polaroid camera forgotling, Dilla.
With an ominous threat looming, Fig travels across the Forgotten Lands in search of unity between the scattered tribes before the world of the Forgotlings collapses entirely.
It’s a world well worth exploring, and there are many friends to be made on your journey.
A World of Wonderful Weirdos
The first thing that hits you is just how delightfully odd everything is. Forgotlings is packed with quirky characters and clever visual ideas, turning everyday objects into personalities that are equal parts charming and bizarre.
One moment you’re stumbling into a fully fledged book club made up of forgotten literature, the next debating against a filing cabinet with a lamp for a head.
It’s quietly clever, a little absurd, and perfectly suited to the game’s world.
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Visually, the game is gorgeous. Throughline’s signature hand-drawn animation is front and centre, with every movement giving the world of Forgotlings the feel of a playable animated movie.
Characters move with expressive personality, environments burst with colour, and the whole thing has a whimsical charm that feels both nostalgic and fresh. It’s a very unique art style that immediately sets Forgotlings apart.
Voices From the Lost and Found
Forgotlings leans heavily on its fully voiced cast, with varying degrees of success.
Some performances land beautifully. Blow, the sentient set of bellows, was an early stand-out. Their slightly out-of-breath delivery giving the character so much personality.
Others don’t quite hit the same, and Fig sometimes comes across a little flat. The performance isn’t necessarily bad, but it lacks some of the emotional punch the story occasionally asks for.
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Still, the voice acting overall does a solid job of grounding this strange little world. The accompanying music from the Grammy Award-winning vocal troupe Theatre of Voices also lends to this.
Swing First, Ask Questions Later
When it comes to gameplay, Forgotlings is a bit more uneven.
Combat is fairly simple. You’ll swing your weapon, dodge incoming attacks, and occasionally sneak around enemies if you’re feeling cautious. It works, but it never really evolves into something deeper, and some encounters lean more towards frustration than challenge.
You do unlock some minor upgrades, like a rage attack and the ability for Dilla to blitz enemies, blinding them. It’s not enough to really flesh out combat though.
Then there’s INA, a strategic board game you can play throughout the adventure. It fits nicely into the world and its lore, but it never quite becomes engaging enough to actively seek out. More often than not, it felt like a diversion rather than a highlight. Which is a shame, given that you’re told how integral it is to the world.
Technical performance has been another rough edge. Forgotlings arrived with a handful of bugs, from minor visual hiccups to the occasional gamebreaking oddity. Thankfully, the developers have been quick to roll out fixes and patches, steadily smoothing things out since release.
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The Real Reason You’re Here
Despite its bumps, Forgotlings succeeds because of its story.
This is a narrative-driven adventure through and through, and the writing carries a genuine sense of wonder. The central journey of bringing together fractured tribes of forgotten objects is heartfelt, occasionally funny, and surprisingly thoughtful.
Combined with the stunning hand-drawn visuals and imaginative worldbuilding, it creates an experience that feels distinctly its own.
Environmental puzzles break up combat. However, I wish these were more common and more indepth. They’re largely made up of box dragging and switch flipping in sequence.
Forgotlings might not deliver the deepest combat system or the most compelling side activities, but when the story kicks into gear and the world unfolds around you, it’s hard not to be swept along for the ride.
Sometimes being a little lost isn’t such a bad thing after all.
Forgotlings is avialable now on PlayStation, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam for around $29.50 AUD.
Quest Daily Scores Forgotlings:
8/10
Quest Daily was provided a copy of Forgotlings by the publisher.
