Foregone (Nintendo Switch) Review

Lured in by the promise of a sci-fi story with a character bent on revenge, Foregone has the general structure to be a really great game but it does not take very long to see that unfortunately there is not very much to it. The general feeling of playing the game is right on the cusp of being something notable but, disappointingly, it just feels off or wrong in too many areas. If this was the type of game that was still in early access and had several months to go, it might be easy to actually be excited, but at this point it is probably a little too late.

The game is framed by a story about the character being an 'Arbiter', a designed super solider who has to go kill the entire enemy forces before they wipe out the city. The opening sequence starts off cool enough, traveling through some ruins and getting thrown back in time to a pretty forest, but the narrative falls to nearly nothing after this. Even from the beginning the story feels a little shallow, the disappointment only ramps up when there is still very little story hours and hours into the game. This is a negative because of the fact that it was purposely touted as having a strong story, making it feel like a lie in advertising.

Graphically, the game is really great. This is part of what makes this game feel dissatisfactory because of how good it could have been. The backgrounds especially are just very well done with catching glimpses of waterfalls, forests and mechanical ruins. The juxtaposition between the burnt-out ruins and the bright colors of the forest is a high point of the game. The sprites themselves are okay, not nearly as good as the backgrounds are though.

Combat and gameplay is where the game really falls apart. It was clearly going after the Deadcells style of quick combat and platforming, but it falls short. The character moves slowly and slightly stiffly, as well. The worst part is that combat is not fluid in the least. Some weapons, like the large sword, are unusable for how slow the startup time is on the swing. Even the faster weapons have a slow 3 hit combo with large lag times. It is hard to understate how it is possible to make combat feel like it could have been great but instead it got stuck with a very stiff reality.

This leads to the problem that there is just not that much going on. Combat is composed of the simple melee attack combo, a slide and a range weapon, all of which are slightly stiff and lag. All the melee weapons feel largely the same. The range weapons are a little more interesting, with differences like a burst rifle, or the powerful short-range shotgun. Once a good weapon is found, that is the only way the whole game is going to be played for hours and hours. There is neither the smooth finesse of some other similar games, nor a raw variety to make up for, perhaps, the technical short comings.

The RPG system feels like many of the other parts: disappointing. There is a very, very minor skill tree. This includes bonuses such +1% damage, which is not very useful. Fully upgraded players can expect a +5% damage bonus, showing missed potential yet again. Players get a few different skills, of which only 2 can be equipped. These can be upgraded, however, like everything else, the upgrades are expensive and lackluster.

The overall game is not the worst, it is completely playable, but it just is not very good. It has the potential to be very cool, but it was not. It may have been an issue for the studio, perhaps it was beyond their capabilities, but if nothing else their art department is pretty solid. It is always sad seeing games that are so close to being great disappearing because they were short of the mark.