KickStarter Fran Bow

[Lucky]

Fran Bow is a creepy adventure game that tells the story of Fran, a young girl struggling with a mental disorder and an unfair destiny. After witnessing the gruesome and mysterious loss of her parents, found dismembered at their home, Fran rushes into the woods, together with her only friend, Mr. Midnight, a black cat that Fran had previously received as a present from her parents. In the forest, Fran goes into shock over the loss of her parents and when she recovers, she’s at Oswald Asylum, an oppressive mental institution for children, and Mr. Midnight is nowhere to be found. After having a dream about her beloved cat, Fran decides to escape from the mental institution to find him and go back home to Aunt Grace, her only living relative.

• Story driven creepy psychological horror adventure game.
• Unique and peculiar hand drawn 2D Art-Style and 2D animation.
• Self administer medication to open the terrible hidden world that will help solve puzzles and find objects.
• A big variety of puzzles designed with different levels of difficulty and specifically based on the story.
• Three arcade inspired mini-games all with different art style to be part of the transitions in the story.
• Interactive and occasionally playable pet cat, Mr Midnight.
• 50+ interactive unique characters with unique personalities.
• Original Soundtrack

Charming little game that got kickstarted with indiegogo some time ago and recently released. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, considering that it is neither a hard, nor a long game. Pretty locations, nice atmosphere, no distracting voice-acting and a likeable enough protagonist. Some puzzles also have multiple solutions, but this is sporadic rather than consistent. It's a whimsical game, but the older kind of whimsy where the Evil Witch gets burned alive and the Big Bad Wolf molests children.

Available on GOG and STEAM.

 

[Shadenuat]

Nice, although existence of McGee Alice (especially Alice 2) makes it feel way less unique than it could be. Many things during playthrough point to the possibility of a sequel.

 

[deuxhero]

Wasn't she that useless chick in 0079 and pregnant but just as useless chick in Zeta?

 

[Crooked Bee]

I was skeptical about it initially, but this game is actually pretty cool. It's like Wadjet Eye games, except more fun (Primordia aside, of course).

I haven't played McGee's Alice though, but even so, while the game may not be exactly unique, it's atmospheric and well-done.

P.S. Amusing to see a Yama King haunt Fran Bow, too

 

[Shadenuat]

I was amused by her love of keys, like she is a



of her world(s).

 

[Crooked Bee]

I beat it and overall liked it a whole lot. It starts out fairly straightforward, but turns out to be pretty inventive, going in unexpected directions occasionally (unexpected for me, at least). Some sections felt rushed and not fleshed-out enough, and the ending was a bit abrupt and too vague for my liking, but other than that, I enjoyed most of the scenes and even some of the puzzles. You often get that "gotcha" feeling when you know exactly what you need to do to proceed, which means there is a sense of direction to the game's design and narrative, despite all the madness that's going on. Sometimes, talking to everyone pays off in good ways, too, even if most of it is just flavor (e.g. a simple mathematical puzzle in Ithersta which you can instantly solve if you paid attention to the rhyme that one of the NPCs tells you -- I'm being vague here to avoid spoilers). It has classic-style inventory puzzles, too -- a notable feature in the current adventure game landscape.

It's not a hardcore adventure game by any means, it's probably about as easy as the recent Wadjet Eye stuff. The Ithersta part in particular also felt like "this is what Broken Age should've been if only it had been a good game (and had a horror-ish theme)".

It's also very... charming, despite all the gore. Not scary at all, so if you're looking for that, I gotta warn you that this isn't a real horror game.

Essentially, I'd recommend this as a unique and well-done "casual" adventure game.

 

[Shadenuat]

I found most Wadjet Eye games more difficult than this. And I'm so bad at quests I don't think I ever finished one of old ones without looking at a walkthrough at least once. Maybe because this game is just so intuitive and you always know what to do, and never focus on more than one task at a time (multitasking like in Resonance kills me fast). Do everything before you get stuck, then eat drugs, kill a bear. Ithersta with tic tac toe and finding four elements is as easy as adventure games go I believe.

I think one missed opportunity for this game is possibility for heroine to die. For example,

Spoiler

if you actually had to figure out how to screw the twins and could do the ritual wrong way, that would break the mold of a no-failure run and make you actually fear for girl's sanity/life. But the game just grabs your hand there and shows the right way. It's just so inelegant.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Yeah, it's an easy game, no arguing there. Arguing about whether this or the Wadjet Eye stuff is actually easier is pointless anyway, so mea culpa for bringing that up. I just wanted to give some sort of reference point for this game's difficulty level. Personally I feel like they're about the same, but I was thinking more about Technobabylon or Blackwell, not Resonance (which I didn't like and so don't remember much about it) or Primordia (which is more difficult than the average WE game).

I also forgot to mention that I missed several achievements and I wonder if that means the game has alternative solutions to some puzzles. It definitely has some funny/wacky/minor stuff you can optionally do, but I don't think all my missed achievements are related to that.

 

[Shadenuat]

Well, for example in the beginning you have to get rid of guard, and you can

Spoiler

spice a doughnut, but he wouldn't take mine, and so I thrown hot coffee on him and I don't think I ever got to use that doughnut or remember where the fuck it went.
"EAT MY DOUGHNUT DAMN IT"

So yeah I believe you can solve some things differently.

 

[Crooked Bee]

On an unrelated note, one NPC says something along the lines of "truth-seeking is in the Bow family tree," which made me wonder if this was a nod to Sierra's Laura Bow games.

 

[Ivan]

Holy Shit this is so good. It has so much heart and imagination baked in it that time is just flying by. On Chapter 3 now, don't want it to end. Probably the best modern adventure game I've played, in addition to Book of Unwritten Tales 2.

 

[Boleskine]

70% off on Steam today.

 

[CryptRat]

I really enjoyed this game.

 

[Helly]

Yup. Definitely amongst the best adventure games I played in the last few years.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Interesting, I've completely missed this game.

Is it somewhat comparable to The Cat Lady, or more childish nonsense?

 

[Ivan]

not at all. in the realm of fables and horror

 

[DalekFlay]

Yet another five bucks down the drain. Thanks, assholes.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Yeah, I like it so far.

The devs are gonna announce a brand new game on July 11th by the way.

 

[Ivan]

Final Thoughts: well that was fast.

Great length, doesn't overstay its welcome. Very charming visuals and music. Puzzles are definitely on the easy side, but it doesn't hit you over the head with hints. I loved that a lot of the puzzles made use "functional" NPCs that help you to solve obstacles. Clearly this a project borne of a lot of passion and love. I definitely caught myself smiling and laughing quite a bit throughout the adventure. My only gripe with the game was the inclusion of the sliding puzzle (HERESY). Looking forward to re-playing this w/the nephew.

Also, it just so happens that KILLMONDAY is about to properly debut their next adventure game project in a few weeks' time.

 

[Shadenuat]

So that's their new thing and it should come out this year https://store.steampowered.com/app/714120/Little_Misfortune/

I think it became a bit more artsy and narrator kills the previous mood established in Fran Bow a bit, even if game is in similar style. Stylistically "bad" art of Fran Bow did make it stand out compared to that cute art. Also LACK of voice acting + fitting sound design worked in favor of it while I think actual voice acting might be a bad thing for this style. Imagine an odd creepy silent movie which was voiced over, if you know what I mean.

tl;dr don't give artsy people money they make more sound design when poor we shall wait and see

Spoiler

 

[Momock]

Little Misfortune is an interactive story, focused on exploration and characters, both sweet and dark, where your choices have consequences.

Fuck.

Seriously... what have the devs against graphic adventures now?

 

[evdk]

Little Misfortune is an interactive story, focused on exploration and characters, both sweet and dark, where your choices have consequences.

Fuck.

Seriously... what have the devs against graphic adventures now?

The abject poverty associated with developing them?

 

[V_K]

Little Misfortune is an interactive story, focused on exploration and characters, both sweet and dark, where your choices have consequences.

Fuck.

Seriously... what have the devs against graphic adventures now?

The abject poverty associated with developing them?

And visual novels on PC fare much better?