Indie developer Kyle Banks is working on an open-world adventure game called Farewell North. The compatible platform is PC (Steam) and is scheduled to be delivered within 2023. The main character of this work is a border collie dog, and it seems that its cuteness and the developer’s attention to detail are attracting attention.foreign mediaGamesRadar+reports.
“Farewell North” is an adventure game set in an open-world world with motifs around Scotland. The main character, Border Collie, is taken by his owner to a remote land full of nature. The place holds some kind of memory for the female owner, and the Border Collie will help bring back those memories.
In this work, the player becomes a border collie and can explore freely away from the owner. A dull, colorless landscape spreads out, and the border collie and its owner are also represented as white silhouettes. In this work, the main gameplay is to restore color to such a world. Border collies have the ability to give color to the animals and plants of this land, and when you give them color, only the surroundings will be dyed vividly.
The ability to impart color has become an important factor in exploration. For example, there is a place where a large rock is built like a bridge, and in the state without color, the rock is not materialized and cannot be ridden, but when it is dyed with color, it materializes. However, since it is not possible to give color to the rock itself, it is necessary to give color to the plants that grow around it, and then pick it up and take it with you. By “carrying” the colored area, you will be able to cross the rock bridge.
Objects materialized by these colors exist in various places and are also a kind of puzzle element. Some objects can only be found from certain vantage points, allowing access to hidden areas. In addition, the power of color can not only materialize objects, but also open places that are closed without color, for example. In addition, giving colors to moving animals such as birds and butterflies seems to create new developments.
This work is set on several islands, and you travel between islands in a canoe with your owner. As you continue to explore and add color to the world, the story of a troubled owner unfolds.
Kyle Banks, who works on this work, said that he studied game development as a hobby while working as a software engineer. After moving to Scotland, he started developing this work as his first release. He reports the development status of this work on SNS and YouTube, and is gaining popularity on YouTube for technical commentary. On the other hand, on TikTok, the cuteness of the main character Border Collie seems to be attracting attention. Some videos have over 100,000 views.
In the video, Banks often answers questions from fans. Among them, I was asked if there was a function that allows me to play with other dog breeds and cats, and I said that I was particular about border collies. According to it, in this work, in addition to working for the owner, it is said that it may guide sheep and cows while exploring. That’s why it makes sense to play as a Border Collie, a sheepdog.
“Farewell North” is available on PC (Steam) will be delivered within 2023. According to the Steam store page, it seems that the game will also support Japanese display. Also, a trial version is available on Steam.
