News by Matt S.
The most exciting thing about EA’s rather disappointing showing at E3 this year (in which it promised an awful lot but showed off very little) was its Originals initiative. EA Originals comes on the back of the massive success that Unravel was for the publisher, and is EA’s way of giving back to the indie community by backing highly creative and innovative works that really show promise.
Related reading: Matt’s review of Unravel.
Unravel was, effectively, the first Originals game, though it was published before the Originals label. Fe, by Zoink, is the second. And Fe looks absolutely breathtaking. A wordless exploration game, Fe has shades of thatgamecompany’s Journey in it, in the way that the little character navigates through the world and “yells” at things to interact with them.
But this seems to be a much more intricate story with a strong environmentalist edge to it. The key theme around Fe seems to be the preservation of nature and the goal of living in harmony with it. Those hostile elements are introduced, and it’s the unnatural that is the “other” in this game.
And what an art style the game has. The purple and blue hues to represent tranquility and nature contrast violently with the red hues that show these introduced “others,” and the papercraft aesthetic that the world is built on is so very beautiful and rich in detail and intricacy.
I am incredibly keen on this game, much like I was incredibly sweet on Yarny’s tale in Unravel before I even started playing. Whoever is responsible for scouting out games to back under the EA Originals label has a real understanding of what makes for “AAA” indie development. This is a gorgeous game, with real production values and effort behind it, that also happens to be a clearly emotional experience. Fingers crossed this game turns out as well as Unravel, and proves just as financially successful.
Trailer below:
– Matt S.
Editor-in-Chief
Find me on Twitter: @digitallydownld
