Foregone Review

Do you like traversal and combat? Do you like to look cool while traversing and combating? Then Foregone is for you! Developed and published by Big Blue Bubble, Foregone is a fast paced, pixelated, 2D platforming Metroidvania – or so it’s advertised. The jury is out on Metroidvania for me as it feels far too linear. Nevertheless the map, combat, and platforming are all here.  

I might as well rip this band-aid off now. There are some obvious nods and comparisons to the modern game that is Dead Cells. Don’t take this as a negative as I believe they both do what they aim to well and are different enough.  

As you navigate your way through the map on your journey to, you know, save the world, you will come across various foes trying to take you out. Your move set is fairly limited, yet satisfying. You have a melee attack as well as a ranged attack and two abilities of which you can discover and change throughout the game. Additionally, you will learn a few skills along the way that will aid you such as a ground stomp and a slide/dodge among others. You will find some elegant fights when combining all of these together.  

As far as traversal and platforming goes Foregone shines here too. While nothing is overly difficult with the platforming, a veteran gamer should feel content and not cheated while a newcomer might feel a great sense of accomplishment with some of the challenges.  

Lastly, I want to mention the skill tree and gameplay … loop I suppose is the best word. There is a high likelihood that you will die. Multiple times if you are not super cautious, and that’s okay as upon death you are given a choice. While your currencies are gone you have the option of retrieving half for free or gaining it all back if you if you can make it to your place of death. Quite the incentive as the currencies are what you need to improve your skills. As you head back into the battlefield you can choose to spawn at any portal you’ve come across meaning if you need to go back to an earlier area to farm resources, go for it! 

Conclusion

All in all Forgone has been super fun for me. Sure, I could nit-pick at some very minor changes but what Big Blue Bubble has made is something awesome and that all platforming fans should give it a look. I think it provides the right amount of challenge for all gamers approaching it.  

This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox One console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.