Of all the different ways I’ve gained new abilities in video games, singing softly to animals as a baby fox is definitely my favourite.
In Zoink’s Fe (pronounced ‘Fee’), players control a small fox-like creature named Fe as it runs, climbs and glides its way through an otherworldly forest. To defend the wilderness from the mysterious “Silent Ones,” Fe uses song to befriend animals and gain new abilities like climbing trees, gliding and singing to flowers to make them open. These abilities help Fe reach new areas in the sprawling woods, where fresh jumping and singing challenges await.
It’s a free-roaming Metroidvania sort of game.
D’aww
Screenshots don’t do justice to how adorable Fe is. When it’s scuttering about, glow-tipped ear feather things bobbing to and fro, it’s simply darling. When it sings its mournful tune, my heart melts. And when it fails to avoid the watchful gaze of the Silent Ones, like in the screenshot below, my heart broke.
And when they catch you, they will kill you. And then you’ll respawn and do it again. No pressure.
There’s a stealth element to Fe, which normally I don’t enjoy, but it’s a pretty stress-free sort of stealth. During portions of the game where Fe must avoid the Silent Ones, conveniently-placed bushes appear. When Fe steps into one of these spiky plants, its ear colour fades to black and enemies pass right by.
The enemies in Fe are never much of a threat. The game’s challenges are more of a platforming nature. How do I utilise Fe’s singing abilities to get from the ground on one end of a massive chasm to the high cliffs of the other?
Do I climb from tree to tree? Maybe use the call of the mighty deer-thing to make fire flowers bloom, causing an updraft to keep Fe aloft while gliding. Or call your faithful bird companion to guide you to your next objective. You can do any of those things.
Or you can ignore the objective altogether and wander about, searching for secrets and collectibles while taking in the beautiful sights.
My friend, bird. We are buds.
Fe is a very chill game. Moments of real tension or pressure are few and far between. It never really demands the player go somewhere or achieve something immediately. There are markers on the game’s map that show where to go next to advance the game’s purposefully ambiguous narrative, but those can wait.
A growing young whatever-the-hell Fe is needs to climb and glide and explore. And sing.
Sing to me, oh massive horned worm thing.
I’ve been making hooting, howling and chattering noises since I started playing Fe. Having walked past my office a couple of times during the four hours I spent playing the game through to the finish (without hunting for secrets or worrying about collectibles), my wife now warbles from time to time. Fe’s song is infectious. Sing it with me.
Comments
5 responses to “The Way You Learn Abilities In Fe Is My New Favourite Thing”
This looks and sounds amazing!
…aaaaand it’s available on?
This is happening a lot. I see a game, I want to get that game, I don’t know if I can get that game because I don’t know which systems you can get it on. Please tell us where it’s available in the article.
It took me literally 6 seconds to google it and find out it’s coming out on PC, Switch, PS4 and Xbox this month.
That’s not really the point. Obviously I can google it. A news piece is meant to give information about it.
I can also google announcements, release dates, impressions, and reviews. but I come to Kotaku to read them all in one place.
i have it for the pc and is there a option to play it with the xbox one controller?