3.5 hours played
Written 2 years ago
No Spoilers:
I bought this game immediately after launch which I have never in my entire life done before as I loved the developers previous game and the premise of a historical fiction game revolving around DDT seemed incredibly interesting. Overall, I think the game was executed perfectly with an interesting blend of the 2D and 3D technology. The sci-fi technology in the game in general makes it interesting and the game legitimately looks beautiful, but the game has 1 primarily flaw, it is way too short unfortunately. The games ideas are all there are each one is executed essentially perfectly, but the the ideas do not get to fully flesh out as well as they could. At a casual pace where I spent time exploring the environment, I beat the entire game in just under 90 minutes. The game just feels incredibly short, and I can see all the ways it could be fleshed out more, but unfortunately it is what it is. If a DLC free or otherwise comes out that extends the story I would buy it in a heartbeat as it would make the game go from great to perfect. Below I will explain the issues and parts of the game I liked in greater detail if you don't fear spoilers.
Spoilers:
[spoiler] After a brief section where you physically spray DDT, you witness an interview between yourself, Rachel Carson, and your employer later turned antagonist. I absolutely love how cartoonishly evil they made the antagonist. Anyways, you get hired to go to an island in isolation and study the effects of DDT and go through a training section where you learn to use you scanning device, which is primarily just used if you get lost though it is nifty except at point where you have to use it as you can't see, and how the little man game works. Up to this point I think everything is perfect, then it drops off. In about 5 minutes you skip through 8 weeks of time and it's revealed that your character is going a bit crazy from isolation and a few of her daily tasks, but what I would so desperately enjoy is if we got to see more of this. It flashes through all of this time on the island, and instead of watching your characters mental state deteriorate it just immediately happens. During this setup you also experience video calls with "Dorothy" who shows up a few times at the beginning to talk science then you don't see again until the end. During this section it is also revealed you definitely eat fish on the island which comes into play at the end. Anyways, you start unraveling the mysteries of DDT which is interesting but again feels a little too short once again. I enjoy solving the mystery, and this is probably my favorite portion of the game, but I would like if more was spliced it, more calls with Dorothy than just a handful, more salmon eating displayed, more menial tasks on the island. Not only to make the game progress a bit more smoothly, but also to make some of the other mechanics such as the scanner and journal more time to shine as they feel a bit underutilized. Sure it may come across as filler but it would make you feel more isolated. During these sections the little man puzzles are at their peak, and they seamlessly blend into the environment. I enjoy the puzzles, the mystery solving, but it just seems to happen too closely together. Anyways, once you solve the DDT mystery, the antagonist shows that he doesn't care that it is dangerous and he has commercialized it anyways. This event is well foreshadowed though I will say, though mayhaps a bit too predictable. Overall I think the antagonist was well done though. After that though you do another little man segment to collect info and whistleblow that DDT is dangerous, but it's also kind of weird as you just spin in a circle scanning stuff, except it isn't what you are supposed to be scanning, but it isn't a big deal as the platforming is fun and at its toughest here, and once you succeed you have beaten the game essentially. Your communications are cut, so you climb to the top of a mountain, contact Dorothy, and after telling her to share your finding you die from DDT. This segment was well done, but I think it would have been more impactful if there were more scenes of eating fish, more scenes of sick reactions, and more conversations with Dorothy throughout the game, as though it is a nice ending, I just know it could be more impactful. After Rachel Carson dies it reveals that she was actually a real person who the game is about for those that didn't know, though she didn't actually die of DDT directly in real life, but breast cancer which may or may not have been caused by her DDT consumption though it is assumed by many that it is. I think it was a thematic end though and worked well even despite technically straying from the truth much like the sci-fi elements.[/spoiler]
Conclusion: The Forest Cathedral is an amazing game that I highly recommend playing at some point. Its basis in historical fiction while leaning into sci-fi elements is interesting and fun, and most of the 2D Portions blend flawlessly into the environment. The plot of the game is intriguing, and the less you know about DDT going in the more fascinating and interesting the plot will be to you, though it will still have interesting developments for those well versed in the matter. Though tropey at times the plot ties itself together in a fairly cohesive bow though not without some faults, primarily being that the game is unfortunately too short to fully develop all strings of the narrative, but that aside I do truly believe the game is phenomenal and worth playing.