Forever Ago review: a moving road trip about grief – with little gameplay
Annapurna's narrative game sends a grieving widower on a journey into the past. Critics praise the story and visuals but miss gameplay: an OpenCritic average of 73.
Photo: Yuri Litvinenko / 30pin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Trailer: YouTube · Annapurna Interactive · youtube.com
Critics' rating
Scores: OpenCritic 73 · Gaming Trend 90 · COGconnected 78
- Platforms
- PS5 · Xbox Series X|S · Switch 2 · PC
- Studio
- Third Shift
- Release
- 08.10.2026
+ Pros
- Moving story about love, loss and ageing
- Painterly art and atmospheric lighting
- Strong voice cast and music
- Believable characters
– Cons
- Little real gameplay, more interactive film
- Slow pacing and busywork
- Technical bugs
- No free saving
Critics' verdict
A touching narrative game with beautiful visuals that divides critics: anyone expecting deep gameplay will be disappointed.
Summary of published reviews – sources below.
Forever Ago was released on 8 October for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC. It was developed by debut studio Third Shift and is published by Annapurna Interactive. It follows the elderly Alfred, who, after the death of his wife Audrey, drives his minivan to places they once shared. He records the journey with an instant camera and solves small environmental puzzles, accompanied by a stray dog.
Gaming Trend awards 90 out of 100, praising the emotional story, voice cast and soundtrack, but criticises frame-rate drops and the lack of free saving. COGconnected gives 78, highlighting the painterly art and the honest treatment of illness and ageing, but faults the slow pacing, busywork and limited player choice.
Insider Gaming rates the game 7/10: the story is moving, but the game works more like an interactive film. The range of scores is correspondingly wide. On OpenCritic, the top critic average stands at 73, with 56 per cent of critics recommending the game.