Fe (pronounced “Fee”) is an open world adventure platforming game about a fox-like creature name Fe — but the first thing that people will notice is its incredibly unique visual style. The world of Fe is realised with gorgeous, analogous colored backdrops and sharp edges. Everything from the main character to the enemies and objects conforms to this somewhat abstract, heavily stylized art.
Fe is similar to games like Journey and Rime. There is an objective to complete, but the game is more about the journey than the end goal. It’s also as much about the audio as it is the visuals. Communicating with creatures and objects in the world by singing to them with adorable yelps creates paths and opportunities.
Flirting with ‘Fe’
Secret locations and hidden artifacts in Fe will reveal pieces of the world’s backstory. These allow Fe to explore more of the world’s history that you wouldn’t find otherwise. Interactive cutscenes help understand the other creatures in this world — like the mysterious Silent Ones, which play a prominent role in the story.
The contextually built world alters its colors whenever Fe is in danger. Gentle blues and purples become harsh oranges and reds to instantly remove any feeling of safety. The game uses a mix of elements from other genres like stealth, puzzle and Metroidvania games to achieve this.
Fe is also contextual. Hiding in a bush dims its glowing tips of fur to darken and assist in hiding. The tips of fur will even adjust to various actions, such as speaking different languages or using abilities.
Fairies, Forests, and Mythos
We spoke with CEO and creative director of Zoink Games Klaus Lyngeled about the upcoming title and its journey.
FANDOM: So what inspired you and the team to create Fe?
Klaus Lyngeled: Fe is inspired by the forests around us but also by darker themes surrounding Nordic tales and mythologies. The team and I wanted to do a game that reminded us of our childhoods.
Many of us played around forests as kids. When you play around a forest it’s kinda scary in a way. You walk into it on your own and its very open and you can explore it on your own terms. It can be very beautiful, but there’s an element of “how far do I go,” as it can be dangerous.
FANDOM: What message do you want players to come across when playing Fe?
Klaus Lyngeled: There are parts of the story that tell that. But the story of the game is about opening up and understanding other languages and nature a bit more. It’s very simple but works really well, and there is a reason only baby animals speak to you.
Gameplay-wise we really want you to explore on your own terms, we don’t want to force it on you. A lot of triple-A games have you do this or do that …or press this all the time. I think it’s just nice to have the freedom of exploring an open world where you can glide anywhere.
FANDOM: How did you decide on audio being one of the key features of the game?
Klaus Lyngeled: This was one of Andreas Beijer’s ideas while we were working with music and sound. We thought it would be cool to have a language system for talking to animals. He actually came up with the analog control mechanic and talking in different levels (tones).
There was a time when we used two analogs — one for angry sounds and another for positive ones. We even had another version with a barking sound to scare things off that I very much enjoyed. However, the mechanic was too complicated when players tested it. It could be something we revisit in the future if we decide to do something more with it.
FANDOM: How did you decide on the characters and their design?
Klaus Lyngeled: Five years ago we did some work for hire on a music video for Google called Rome. I was the art director on the interactive part. Around the same time, I spoke with Andreas Beijer, our creative director. He told me about a recent encounter with a deer. We were inspired by the feeling of getting closer to nature, as well as understanding how it works and also how mysterious it is. After hearing this whole experience, I thought it would be a cool idea to have a game about sneaking up on animals.
Our first version was an iPad version where you walked around a forest and just got closer to deer. Originally it was in 1st-person, but I wanted a creature in front of you. It should come across as dangerous and scary in a way if you only saw it in the corner of your eyes. I did this really simple drawing of a dark forest creature. One of our concept artists took that design and created our final fox-inspired creature that is Fe.
Fe’s combination of gorgeous visuals and calming sounds into an open world experience with zero load times is quite compelling. The player’s freedom to explore with minimal hand-holding or tutorials is reminiscent of last year’s Breath of the Wild. Fe may not reach the scope of last years masterpiece, in terms of scale. Though from what we’ve seen so far it could easily be one of the most charming experiences of 2018.
Fe will release February 16th on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Origin.
