Farewell North

Losing loved ones is never an easy thing to experience, whether its parents, grandparents, friends, or even pets. Farewell North explores the aftermath of this kind of loss through the eyes of a dog named Chesley, and his owner, Cailey, who both end up needing the other in the darkest of times. I knew exactly what sort of game Farewell North was going in. I watched a trailer, read its description, saw some screenshots, and yet still, nothing could prepare me for the walloping emotional gut-punch that ensued. I saw it coming from a mile away and it still hit me like a howitzer. When it finally landed it destroyed its target – me – in the best of ways. I cried, I chased a runny nose, I did the heaving breathing thing, and then I cried some more hours later when telling my wife about it. All of which is to say that if you’re in the mood this type of touching gaming experience, Farewell North is an easy recommendation.

*Warning: Some spoilers for Farewell North may lie ahead*

It is hard to write about Farewell North without spoiling it, though I will try my best. But heed my warning that it may happen in this review, if from nothing else than your ability to easily infer what happens. It is a short and sweet game, taking me around six hours to complete, including doing some side content along the way. That also makes it hard not to spoil because it’s such a succinct tale of love and loss, but it does make it a perfect weekend game.

The game opens in the Scottish Highlands, near Caithness to be more precise. You play mostly as the very good boy, Chesley, a border collie on a trip with his owner, Cailey, who is mourning the loss of a loved one. The pair visit various islands, exploring and re-living memories they have with one another, but also the dearly departed. Cailey’s world has descended somewhat into darkness following a death in the family, but with Chesley’s help they begin restoring color to her world. As you explore, you will come across some light environmental puzzles that Chesley must solve. He can send out pings of color to interact with items, like causing flowers to grow, which he can then pluck and use as a light source to reveal the way forward. He can also bark at Cailey when a fence gate needs opening, or tree needs pushing over. The two constantly work together as they rekindle the fond memories of those they have lost. Farewell North’s gameplay mechanics, as well as its art style, remind me a bit of the output from developer thatgamecompany – a bit Sky: Children of Light, and a bit of Journey, but with dialogue.

Speaking of art, Farewell North is gorgeous to both look at and listen to. Though most of what you see is shrouded in black and white, once color is restored to the game’s various islands, boy does it pop. It has the look of watercolors on a page, which create some amazing vistas to take in, especially when the sun hits just right. But the real reason you’ll want to write home is Farewell North’s incredible music – it’s gorgeous, melancholic, airy, and at times, cinematic. There were moments I felt like I was watching an episode of the popular Scottish-set series, Outlander, which is composed by the talented Bear McCreary, and I don’t know that I can give the musical score of Farewell North a much bigger compliment than that. I’d also be remiss not to mention its beautiful original song that Cailey sings bits of throughout your journey.

While you’re soaking in the excellent ambience, you’ll be exploring islands on foot as Chesley, completing puzzles, gathering collectibles, and completing tasks. I freed whales, herded lots of sheep, and played fetch with Cailey. I also want to shout out – but not spoil – the game’s brilliant stealth sequence about mid-way through that is so clever and thought-provoking. It’s all relatively simple to complete, but Chesley’s movement can be a bit finicky, specifically when jumping between objects. Not a huge deal in this case, but a minor inconvenience when you must circle back to the start of a puzzle all over again. Once you’ve seen all there is to see on an island, you can hop into a canoe and venture to another. Main objectives are clearly marked with a gold pillar of light that towers into the sky, while secondary objectives are blue. You can golden path it if you choose, but I would advise against it, because some of the secondary islands have memories worth re-living. There are also collectibles to gather scattered around the islands, such as benches and song verses. After the credits, the game allows you to go back and clean-up anything you missed, but for me it was one of those games I felt like I needed to experience and then let go of.

Farewell North is an emotionally heavy journey through the Scottish Highlands that is well-worth taking. Put simply, it is a beautiful expression of the pain of loss through music, storytelling, and visuals. Will it pack as much of a punch for everyone? Probably not. But as someone who just lost his dog to an abrupt and acute battle with cancer during the holidays last year, I needed an experience like Chesley and Cailey’s. It serves as a heartfelt reminder that pets are a massive part of our family – there through thick and thin – but to them, we are their entire world.