Forgotten Fields Switch Review
Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch
Before we begin: I believe in fair and thorough reviews, but I also believe in being honest with my audience. Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch version of Forgotten Fields has been plagued by game-breaking bugs during my playthrough. These issues have repeatedly crashed the game, prevented progress, and 3/4 through the game, I’m unable to progress due to the software crashing. The game was subsequently pulled from the eShop and patched, so I’ve waited to give the game a fair review, and unfortunately, I’m unable to play as it now gets stuck on an infinite loading loop. This review reflects the portion I was able to play, but please understand this is not a complete experience. I take no joy in writing a negative review, especially for a game that clearly had heartfelt intentions.
A Creative Premise, Undone by Execution
Being somewhat of a writer myself, I was immediately drawn to Forgotten Fields. A story about a struggling novelist trying to rediscover his voice while navigating nostalgia, memory, and personal connection. That’s something I can relate to. Pair that with a lo-fi aesthetic and a quieter, more reflective tone, and it felt like the kind of game that might not grab headlines, but could leave a mark on players who saw themselves in it. Unfortunately, that hope didn’t pan out. What’s it Like? Put on some headphones, sharpen your pencil, and try to avoid writer’s block as we review Forgotten Fields on the Nintendo Switch
A Visual Novel Missing Some Pages
Forgotten Fields plays more like a visual novel with light adventure game elements. There are moments of exploration, puzzle-solving, and interaction, but much of your time is spent watching scenes unfold, soaking in atmosphere, and moving Sid from one moment to the next. The opening is actually quite interesting, as Sid is in front of his computer, trying his best to hash out his story. As you fill in prompts, the world around the character in his story starts to populate, and it really did a great job of pulling me into the opening moments. Unfortunately, we rarely see more of that brilliance, as the game ends up reducing to more fetch quests than narrative hooks. Despite this, the game shows signs of something special because it illustrates what a lot of people feel in real life, a yearning for the nostalgia for the world we grew up in, even though that world doesn’t exist anymore.
When it works, Forgotten Fields knows how to weave a tale. But more often than not, controls feel clunky and unresponsive, and minor mechanics, such as throwing rocks to knock a ball from a tree, barely function, making many tasks feel tedious. Also, story elements are hindered by frustrating fetch quests like collecting laundry blown off a clothesline, and more emotional scenes can be undercut by stiff animations or awkward character placement, trying to warp into place where they are meant to be.
Lo-Fi Charm, Technical Woes
Forgotten Fields embraces a lo-fi visual style, and for the most part, it works. The environments are stylised with warm tones and a slightly dreamlike quality that complements the game’s reflective tone. It’s not overly flashy, but it doesn’t need to be. That said, technical issues again drag things down. The framerate struggles at times, and the camera, which often tries to sweep into cinematic angles, has a habit of misaligning, more than once, burying itself in tree foliage or awkward corners, completely obscuring the action. It’s clear the intent was to add visual flair, but the execution often gets in the way of actually playing the game.
I made it about two-thirds of the way through before the game broke. After a cutscene following the beach sequence, the game crashed. At that point, Forgotten Fields was pulled from the eShop until a patch was released. When I tried again after the patch, my save was effectively dead with an infinite loading screen showing nothing but clouds. I waited twenty minutes. I restarted. I tried several times. The game simply wouldn’t load.
That’s where my playthrough and this review ends.
A Story I Couldn’t Finish
Despite all the technical problems I faced, I genuinely wanted to see Forgotten Fields through to the end. The story felt like it was building toward something meaningful, maybe even a twist, and I found myself rooting for Sid, hoping he’d finish his book and find some closure along the way. That’s not something every game really achieves. It’s important to note that Forgotten Fields has received fairly favourable reviews on other platforms, and I believe there’s a worthwhile experience here, just not on the Nintendo Switch, at least in its current state. The game was developed by a single person, and that effort is clear throughout. There’s real talent and promise behind this project, and I hate writing a review like this knowing how much heart likely went into it.
The Switch version, as of now, is broken. A game-breaking bug cut my playthrough short, and for anyone considering it on this platform, I can’t recommend it in good faith. If a future patch addresses the issue, I’ll gladly return and update this review.
Until then, Forgotten Fields remains a story I wanted to finish, but simply couldn’t. In the interest of full disclosure, a review copy was provided by the publisher, but this doesn’t influence my score.
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Forgotten Fields
CONS
- It's broken
