

You can collect tricky orbs along the way, but they’re not really required to progress through the game. It does get a little frustrating when the graphics get clunky (I got stuck between weird places for a couple of times and had to reboot the game).

Add to that the sense of sheer wonder that will no doubt exhilarate you as you go through the vast fields, open greenery, and rushing waterfalls and your emotions are sure to swell with every new discovery.Īs for the gameplay itself, you don’t do much but leap across platforms either alone or with the help of butterflies that give you a friendly little boost. With the top-notch voice acting and a soundtrack that’s now on loop on my Spotify, the bits and pieces of the protagonist’s past that you literally uncover (the fox digs up mementos from the man’s childhood to unlock the next audio clip) are what make the game just so darn compelling. Far: Lone Sails review - “This is the end.and that’s okay”.You’re essentially playing through the protagonist’s dream, but as you roam around the woods amidst the stunning landscape you’re in, you eventually get to know more about the narrator’s childhood and his relationship with his father - and that’s where the beauty of the game lies. You start off wandering through the snowy mountains alone, with only the voiceover of the protagonist narrating his past softly to his significant other.

In just roughly an hour and a half or so, the game takes you through an incredible journey through a dream, where you play as a fox looking for her cubs. I’ve always been absolutely in love with narrative-driven games, and The First Tree is exactly that and more. There’s something about minimalist games that really gets to me, with the lack of menus and skill trees and just all the story, story, story.

“As the sun set, my dad found something I hadn’t seen for a long time - the tree where I made my first carving when I was six.”
