Just north of the Scottish mainland lies the Orkney Islands. For those who don’t know, they consist of about 70 islands and islets, where only 20 of the islands are inhabited. These are mostly used for farming, with cattle, pigs, and sheep at the fore of things.
But those same isles hold all manner of ancient stories and myths, thanks to their haunting beauty and history.
The Orkney Islands are one of the main stars of Farewell North, but not the only one. Because you will mainly be playing as a border collie dog called Ches in this tale of sadness, joy, and life.
The story is the beating heart of this open-world narrative adventure. The two main protagonists are Ches the border collie and his owner, Cailey. Cailey was born on these islands, raised by their mother before heading away to Edinburgh with Ches as a puppy. Now they are back with an urn of ashes as they walk and row across the island, reliving memories of their time there.
The story and writing are great and have a clear understanding and love of the Orkney Islands. There is a twist in this game that I didn’t see coming and the ending of Farewell North nearly broke me. It’s a beautiful homage to the place, but also to memory, dealing with grief as well as delivering an amazing tribute to the relationship between a person and their dog; and how strong that bond can be.
For most of the game, you are controlling Ches and this has a series of different gameplay elements to the dog’s journey. There are the exploration elements, running, barking and jumping around the islands. You can jump and there will be some platforming elements that are a bit floaty at times and slightly annoying. But you can also bark to get your owner’s attention or to answer her questions.
The world – at first – is black and white and your goal is to restore the colour to this world by unlocking memories or stopping the darkness of your owner’s depression. This is done by unlocking certain areas, taking in some platforming or activating flowers and animals to restore colour to these areas, aiding Cailey’s journey back home. Some of these puzzles are fun to work out , but none are particularly difficult to solve, which is a good thing in my book.
There are moments when you will need to take in some herding (you are a sheepdog after all). Here you have to move sheep, cattle, and some ducks into pens, lakes or safe areas, away from the weather. This is a lot of fun and – as a mechanic – works really well. At other times you’ll be found controlling Cailey, rowing your canoe across the different lochs between the islands. Here it’s a case of using both paddles on the RT and LT; it’s tricky to get used to but you can select a simpler control system in settings.
Farewell North has a narrative story to tell, and it does that over some five hours or so, but there is also an open world exploration element to things, where you can head to different islands, taking in side quests as well as do things; activating all the lighthouses on the islands as an optional extra, for instance.
The Orkney Islands in colour look great, with some brilliant sun effects and skies on show. When the game starts in grey it’s a tricky one to enjoy visually, as you look to get your eyes adjusted, but when the change happens it’s glorious. Character models are fine and some of the interiors are okay as well, but this is a game about the great outdoors and it focuses on that brilliantly. A big shout out must go to the ending visuals which are magical.
The sound is of a high quality too, full of emotive tracks to support the narrative journey. There are also some good effects as well, and a special mention should go to the Highlands song which is just haunting.
Some of the mechanics in Farewell North struggle, especially those surrounding the platforming side of things, but that matters little when the game is capable of taking you on such an amazing journey; one person and their dog, visiting a magical place north of Scotland. A cracking indie game that is both ambitious and stirring, you can be sure you’ll want to hug your dog after playing Farewell North.
