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Forever Lost: Episode 3 - Tonal wipeout

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Forever Lost: Episode 3 - Tonal wipeout

Foreboding escape-the-room game Forever Lost: Episode 3 doesn't stray too far from the formula set up in the previous games.

You still skip from screen to screen, filling your pockets with random junk, trying to solve tricky puzzles so you can unlock more doors.

Some of those puzzles are based on logic, others are cheeky riddles, a few involve timing, and you've got some good old fashioned use-item-on-item inventory puzzles from the world of point and click adventures in there, too.

Lost and found

On the whole, the puzzles are interesting, satisfying to solve, and smartly designed to help guide you to the solution - while making you feel in control. But there are a few rotten apples in there, too.

Some force you to make absurd logical leaps. Others don't give you enough feedback - use a crowbar on a vent and you're given a blanket "that won't work", which doesn't exactly help you figure out that no, dummy, you need a screwdriver.

There's a hint system which will happily give you the answer to every puzzle. But that's no fix for sloppy design.

Where am I?

This is the final game in the trilogy, and it wraps up the story set in Forever Lost one and two. Happily, that story isn't forced upon you - instead, it's hidden in letters and background objects which you can choose whether to investigate.

If you want to just play it as a puzzle solving game (which I certainly did) then you can.

While the graphics are sharper and the interface has improved, the still feels a little scrappy in this third installment. The artwork's a little cheap and some of the writing is cheesy.

I found it!

A cameo from the developer's colourful and goofy earlier game Ferris Mueller really doesn't suit Forever Lost's dark and eerie vibe.

Forever Lost: Episode 3 is a fine puzzle game with sharp conundrums and a lot of content to work through. But while the homemade aesthetic is endearing, you'll often yearn for the more austere vibe of games like The Room.

Forever Lost: Episode 3 - Tonal wipeout

Forever Lost goes out like it came in - a big batch of smartly made puzzles, but with a scrappy design that stops you getting completely engrossed
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Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer