Games
We speak with Zoink Games about their beautiful new action adventure Fe, the game’s inspirations and how the EA Originals Program helped bring it to life.
The world first set its eyes on Fe almost two years ago, at E3 2016, and it’s fair to say that the reaction was positive. The action adventure from Swedish developers Zoink Games immediately gained notice not only thanks to its stunning visuals and unique setting, but also as the first title in the EA Originals program, an initiative which helps fund indie developers, enabling them to bring their visions to life.
After a long wait, the game’s release is now almost upon us, and while it was once set for mobile only, it’s now due to hit Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. We spoke with Andreas Beijer, Zoink’s Art/Creative Director, about the game’s nature-inspired narrative, its development process, and just what it means to be part of EA Originals.
Beijer says, “We started talking about a game like Fe a few years ago. We made some sketches and prototypes, but it was when we started to work with EA Originals in 2016 that we really started to work on it fully.”
For some developers, the idea of working on a passion project only to hand over even a little responsibility to someone else, in-particular a Goliath like EA, may seem terrifying. But Beijer describes the partnership as a healthy, productive one:
“The great thing about the program is that we get a lot of support, but at the same time keep complete creative freedom. The Originals team has of course given valuable feedback, but they’ve never tried to make us compromise with our idea of what the game should be. We also get to keep the revenue when the game is released.”
Beijer also says that while they’re now part of the Originals team, this was not Zoink’s initial intention: “When we contacted EA to pitch Fe we actually didn’t know about Originals, since it wasn’t announced at the time. We had seen what they did with Unravel and were very impressed by that. We managed to get a meeting and the response was overwhelmingly positive. And now, here we are.”
Even without its unique gestation period, Fe stands out from the crowd. The game sends you on an adventure through a stunningly realised Nordic forest, where you have to learn different cries in order to communicate with the creatures there and move the story forward. If that sounds ambiguous, that’s because it’s meant to be, according to Beijer:
“Many of Zoink’s earlier games have been very story intensive. With Fe we wanted to try something different and let the player take a bigger part in the actual storytelling. We’ve created a story that’s there for the players to discover and for them to interpret, more than us telling them what to experience and feel.”
This freedom extends to the gameplay, where players are encouraged to explore their surroundings to discover the forest’s secrets. Beijer explains:
“We want to minimise the player’s feeling of us holding their hand through the game – but at the same time we don’t want people to get completely lost. In the game, you can always look to the animals for guidance, and there are also visual clues leading you forward.”
Minimalism is also apparent with the UI, with health bars and other features omitted. Beijer tells us that this was a conscious choice:
“We wanted to make sure there were as few distractions on the screen as possible, to help the player get immersed in the experience. Hopefully this will make the player keen to explore, instead of simply chasing the next checkpoint.”
Minimalism can only go so far, however. While Fe didn’t initially offer players a map of the world, which has multiple regions to explore, ranging from tropical to chillier areas, this has now been changed. Beijer explains that the reason for the map’s inclusion is to make players more comfortable with taking detours and exploring the world without feeling lost.
The game takes approximately 7-8 hours to get through, though this depends on just how much you want to explore and discover. Frankly, it would be a great surprise if players of Fe opted against a thorough exploration of its world, simply because of how visually appealing it is.
Full of rich hues, striking backdrops and beautifully strange creatures, the forest of Fe is truly unique. In order to create this world, Beijer and the Zoink team turned to their childhoods for inspiration:
“A lot of us grew up in the countryside, using the forest as our own personal playground – one that could feel both scary and exciting at the same time. We’re hoping to recreate that feeling of exploration, of everything around you being full of adventure and possibilities.”
The visual design, according to Beijer, comes from a wish to create a style that conveys a dense forest, while still making it easy for players to move around and spot animals from afar. This is important, as your adventure in Fe requires you to not only explore the forest, but communicate with its creatures through a series of howls that you learn as the game progresses. At the beginning you only have your own growling and howling to work with, but this quickly expands, according to Beijer:
“To communicate with the flora of the world, you often need to know other songs and are therefore in need of animal friends to progress in the world. As you start to really bond with the different creatures, however, they’ll start teaching you their own cries. That way, you can move more freely in the world, getting help from flowers where the animals themselves might not be able to reach.”
In the concept phase, Fe was intended as a mobile game. But Zoink quickly realised there was way more to this idea and decided that it needed to be a platform release. Beijer stresses that the game plays equally well regardless of the system, yet the protagonist’s freedom of movement means that the Switch and Joy-Cons could offer up a particularly interesting way of playing.
“On the Switch we incorporated some HD rumble details that are used while singing,” Beijer says. “Small hints and clues to show that you’re doing it right. You can also control the tune by using motion controls. But of course, the big thing is being able to take the game with you wherever you go – to the forest itself if you feel like it.”
It’s this relationship with nature that Zoink Games hope to inspire and encourage with Fe. Beijer concludes:
“Much of the inspiration of the game comes from the freedom we experienced as kids being able to play out in nature. To be able to go on an adventure into an unknown forest and learn about all that lives there.”
Fe is coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on February 16.
