Forest Grove instantly piqued my interest. This mystery adventure title sets the scene perfectly. Moreover, the whodunnit gameplay captures your attention. However, its repetitive action and lack of creativity prevent it from excelling. Additionally, many of the puzzles are too straightforward. As such, it wasn’t as complex as I hoped.
This walking simulation detective title was developed by Miga Games and published by Blowfish Studios. What’s more, it is laced with problem-solving and many methodical moments. Accordingly, it takes a logical mindset to progress past each puzzle. Yet, a lack of difficulty will annoy veterans of the genre.
Forest Grove tells a familiar tale with a twist.
I adore a sci-fi twist to a familiar tale. Consequently, when Forest Grove’s story unravelled, I couldn’t help but smile. The core plot is as old as the hills. However, its futuristic twist adds an unusual element to the mix. Additionally, the blend of modern and unknown technology lets your imagination run wild.
You are an investigator who must piece together the mystery of a missing girl. Zooey Kunstimatigaard, the heiress to a billionaire’s wealth, has gone missing. Subsequently, fearing for the worst, her stepmother Mary reports all she knows to the police. Unfortunately, though, no matter how hard they try, they cannot solve the case. This is where you step in. Using technology that was designed by Zooey’s father, you must enter a virtual world and investigate every clue you find. In doing so, you’ll highlight the crimes that have been committed whilst closing this cold case.
Plenty of clues.
In typical investigatory fashion, every item is suspicious. Your task is to search every room and decipher the real clues from the mess. Moreover, you must link DNA, fingerprints, and other damning evidence to work out what has happened. En route, you will need to find keys, solve puzzles, and unlock blocked pathways. Additionally, there are voice clips to clean up and fragments of information to piece together.
On top of this, you are equipped with a drone. You may use this to observe holographic images of people at the scene. When you combine these facts, it allows you to work your evidence board. From here, you can work out what crimes have been committed. As you process around 95% of the clues on offer, you can return to your office and start pointing fingers.
The interesting part of the finale is there are many crimes to tidy up. As such, there are many people to arrest and things can go wrong pretty quickly. However, if you have somehow made a mistake, you can return to your last save and rectify any errors.
Forest Grove is far too easy.
It was this forgiving nature that undermined the whole process. Furthermore, if you cannot solve the crime, you can guess your way to a solution. This simplicity matched with the repetitive nature of the gameplay loop ruined an otherwise interesting experience. Consequently, the developers should have made things much harder. Furthermore, the level design and puzzles should have been more complex.
Forest Grove is nicely polished.
Though the core mechanics annoyed me, I loved the artistry. Forest Grove has a sinister and oppressive futuristic finish. Moreover, the virtual world flickers and fades to highlight its false reality. When you combine this with the dark colour palette and well-detailed clues, it is great to look at but uncomfortable to play.
The audio, on the other hand, is more refined. There is a sense of emptiness and a lack of warmth that is horribly clinical. Additionally, the sound effects are mechanical and lack a natural edge. This was a deliberate choice by the developers as it highlights the futuristic tone of the theme.
Twitchy controls.
The game is played from a first-person perspective. What’s more, there is a heavy reliance on the cursor to select every item. However, there is a lack of fluidity and this creates a twitchy feel to the action. I believe that this was created for PC and the console version was an afterthought. Sadly, this was disappointing as it made the action less immersive.
Forest Grove is painfully short. Yes, there are a lot of clues to discover, but there is little depth otherwise. Moreover, the repetitive action compounds this issue further and the simplicity of each problem makes it a breeze to access locked spaces. Subsequently, this lacks replay value and longevity.
Forest Grove was disappointing.
The developers pieced together some interesting ideas. However, the execution, controls, and core gameplay loop were disappointing. I desperately wanted this to grab my attention, but it never did. As such, I cannot recommend it. Yet, more information can be found here! Will you solve the mystery? Find the clues, solve the puzzles, and point some fingers.
