We Were Here Forever
- May 10, 2022
- Total Mayhem Games
- 9h median play time
When the issues of a game are rolled and stomped by its greatness, then it’s something to invest in if you have some spare.
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Get on Epic Games Store"We Were Here Forever" is a cooperative first-person puzzle adventure game set in the mysterious Castle Rock. Players work together to explore the sinister castle, solve puzzles, and plot their escape. With a focus on communication and teamwork, players must navigate the castle's secrets and hidden riddles to ultimately escape the castle's grasp. Trust and collaboration are key in this chilling Antarctic adventure.
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Steam Deck
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- story837 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 49 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The story in "We Were Here Forever" has received mixed feedback, with many players appreciating its depth and connection to previous installments, while others find it convoluted or secondary to the puzzle-solving experience. The game features improved storytelling through cutscenes and character development, enhancing the overall atmosphere, but some players feel the narrative can be confusing or lacks coherence. Overall, it is seen as a significant step up in storytelling compared to earlier entries, providing a satisfying conclusion to the series while still leaving room for potential future developments.
“The storytelling was so intriguing and the puzzles were just the right level of difficult.”
“The story is really interesting and some decisions you have to take require hard thinking... definitely something I would replay.”
“The story is more engaging than the previous 'We Were Here' games, and the graphics are charming.”
“The story can be a little hard to follow as cutscenes are hours apart, and the puzzle hints are often unhelpful, but that's more of a personal thing.”
“The story is not the reason you should play this game; most of the puzzles were good, but some felt very unrewarding.”
“The story is mediocre and is definitely a letdown with that horrid ending.”
- graphics278 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim, with many reviewers praising the stunning visuals, immersive atmosphere, and attention to detail that enhance the overall experience. While some users noted occasional graphical bugs and performance issues, the majority highlighted the significant improvements in art style and design compared to previous titles in the series. Overall, the game's visuals are described as beautiful, captivating, and a key factor in its engaging storytelling and puzzle mechanics.
“The graphics are stunning, with intricate details that bring the castle and its surroundings to life.”
“The visuals, sound, and direction of this game were absolutely an evolution from the previous games; I can only hope that the devs do something even more brilliant in the future.”
“The graphics and sound design are perfect for this type of game, creating a haunting and atmospheric environment that perfectly complements the gameplay.”
“The performance overall wasn't great; however, even after reducing the game's graphical fidelity.”
“The reason for my negative review is how poor the optimization is for such a simple game... no matter what graphical settings I chose, I consistently had extreme frame drops and stutters.”
“Graphics optimization is really bad; it really needs to be improved.”
- gameplay209 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay in "We Were Here Forever" is praised for its complexity, engaging cooperative mechanics, and a variety of well-designed puzzles that encourage communication and teamwork. While the game offers around 10-12 hours of immersive gameplay with beautiful graphics and sound design, some players find certain puzzles overly challenging or convoluted, which may detract from the experience for casual gamers. Overall, it is considered a significant improvement over previous entries in the series, providing a satisfying blend of challenge and enjoyment for players who appreciate cooperative puzzle-solving.
“It is by far the most complex, best-produced, quality game in the series with 10-12 hours of gameplay, lovely stage-setting, detailed and unusual puzzles, and great sound design.”
“The gameplay relies heavily on your communicating well together, having patience for one another, and being willing to bash your head against a wall of puzzles for several hours with various initial missteps committed.”
“The game's mechanics encourage open communication and collaborative problem-solving, making it an ideal experience for friends seeking a truly immersive and challenging cooperative adventure.”
“Unfortunately, some of the internal mechanics and co-op puzzles are just so convoluted that it stops being fun.”
“The gameplay is confusing; hints aren't really that helpful, to be honest.”
“The mechanics of the game are often clunky and hinder playing; many puzzles are entirely one-sided or just break for no visible reason, and most are so incredibly simple that I'm glad I didn't pay full price for this.”
- music160 mentions
- 55 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim for its soothing, emotional, and immersive qualities, enhancing the overall atmosphere and gameplay experience. Many players noted that the soundtrack complements the puzzles and story beautifully, with some even expressing a desire to have the music available for personal listening. While a few critiques mentioned some recycled elements, the majority found the music to be a standout feature that significantly contributes to the game's charm and emotional impact.
“The game has the perfect balance of puzzles, an incredible story, and beautiful music, and overall made it probably one of the most unforgettable gaming experiences for me.”
“The atmosphere, music, puzzles, and level design are very well done.”
“The music is gorgeous, and the voice acting of the characters has no right being as good as it is for a puzzle game.”
“The music puzzle can suck me off.”
“The worst instance was a 3 minutes wait where there was no music, no dialogue, or anything interactable.”
“The environment is nice to look at but mostly static and the only thing you can interact with is the puzzles; the game can sometimes feel a bit slow as the music is slow and some of the puzzles leave you in the same spot for maybe a bit too long.”
- atmosphere95 mentions
- 72 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive design, stunning visuals, and captivating soundscapes, which enhance the overall experience and storytelling. Reviewers highlight the unique and sometimes eerie environments that contribute to a thrilling gameplay experience, making it a standout in the co-op puzzle genre. The combination of artistic direction, atmospheric elements, and clever puzzle design creates a rich and engaging world that keeps players invested throughout their journey.
“The game's graphics and sound design are top-notch, creating a haunting and immersive atmosphere that will keep you on edge throughout the entire game.”
“The atmosphere is very well crafted with fantastic sound design and music.”
“The atmosphere is dark and luminous, the graphics and cut scenes are beautifully done, and I'm always excited to get to the next area of events.”
“The game is flooded with atmosphere throughout with some genuinely creepy moments (especially if you don't like deep water!).”
“Overall the atmosphere the game creates is dense and fits well to the castle/trap/escape setting.”
- emotional62 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players consistently highlight the game's emotional depth, noting that it evokes strong feelings and even tears through its engaging narrative and poignant endings. The combination of challenging puzzles and heartfelt moments fosters deep connections between players, making the experience both wholesome and heart-wrenching. While some critiques mention inconsistencies in emotional impact, the overall sentiment is that the game successfully delivers a powerful emotional journey.
“Not only because they somehow touch feelings you’d never expect in games like these, an emotional bond you didn’t think could be there.”
“This game brought it all together and without any spoilers, playing with my brother, the ending made me cry a bit.”
“The fact that the jester had escaped scot-free, while my friend and I struggled so desperately to help each other onto the piece of wood... it was heart-wrenching.”
- optimization60 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 48 % neutral mentions
- 35 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players reporting severe performance issues, including frame drops and stuttering, even on high-end systems. While some users noted that it runs smoothly on certain platforms like Linux/Proton, the overall consensus is that the game suffers from poor optimization, bugs, and lag during area transitions, detracting from the overall experience. Despite its high production value and engaging gameplay, many reviewers recommend waiting for patches to address these optimization concerns.
“Despite being released quite a while ago, there are plenty of issues and it's not very well optimized even for mid-tier rigs that would have no problem running any of the previous games.”
“Technically, the game is also better optimized than previous ones in the series.”
“Great story and narration, great music as always, very unique ambiance and setting that wasn't totally there in the other games, nice textures, reasonable optimization.”
“Horrible performance on top hardware in open areas.”
“The performance overall wasn't great; however, even after reducing the game's graphical fidelity.”
“The reason for my negative review is how poor the optimization for such a simple game is. No matter what graphical settings I chose, I consistently had extreme frame drops and stutters.”
- stability59 mentions
- 2 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 98 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with numerous players reporting various bugs and glitches that significantly impact gameplay, including game-breaking issues and frustrating audio problems. While some users found enjoyment despite these issues, many recommend waiting for patches to improve the experience, as the game currently suffers from connectivity problems, desyncing, and other technical flaws. Overall, while the game has potential, its stability issues detract from the overall enjoyment.
“Other than that one thing, it was bug-free.”
“Was loving the game, but all of a sudden, 10 hours in, voice chat is super buggy and won't work between my partner.”
“If you're going to provide pages and pages of troubleshooting advice for over 20 known bugs, maybe you should just not release a glitchy game, or at least patch the bugs in an update.”
“The game is full of glitches and constantly made me and my mate have to reset.”
- humor51 mentions
- 98 % positive mentions
- -4 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised, with players highlighting its ability to create hilarious moments through cooperative puzzle-solving and miscommunication. Many reviews note that the game fosters laughter and bonding among friends, often leading to memorable and chaotic experiences, despite some frustrations with the puzzles. While some characters, like the jester, may not resonate with everyone, the overall comedic elements contribute significantly to the enjoyment of the gameplay.
“The ending had me in tears laughing my ass off.”
“It perfectly captures the experience of trying to solve a puzzle with your friend, endless confusion and hilarious miscommunication.”
“You and your partner will likely make plenty of mistakes along the way, leading to some hilarious and unforgettable moments.”
“The humor falls flat and often feels forced, making it more cringeworthy than entertaining.”
“I expected some clever jokes, but most of the attempts at humor just missed the mark entirely.”
“The comedic elements are so poorly executed that they detract from the overall experience rather than enhance it.”
- grinding34 mentions
- 3 % positive mentions
- 24 % neutral mentions
- 74 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received significant criticism for its tedious and repetitive puzzles, which many players found frustrating and time-consuming. Frequent travel and the complexity of certain puzzles contribute to a sense of monotony, leading some to feel that a "second life" would be necessary to endure the grinding. While some players appreciate the effort put into the game's design, the overall sentiment leans towards the experience being overly drawn out and lacking in satisfaction.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“The most tedious annoying 'game' I've ever had the misfortune of trying to play.”
“A ton of one-sided puzzles, a lot of puzzles were made needlessly tedious, and there was an egregious amount of traversing the map extremely slowly.”
“Some puzzles have become extremely tedious to do (they are still simple to figure out but take too much time to complete).”
- replayability28 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag. While some players appreciate the opportunity to experience different perspectives and puzzle solutions, many express concerns about limited replay value due to scripted puzzles and shared content. The game is generally seen as enjoyable for a single playthrough, but lacks significant incentive for repeated runs.
“I definitely recommend this game, since it is highly replayable if you want to experience what the other player experienced during the first run.”
“Great replayability like the previous games, where you get to see the other person's perspective and go: 'oooooooh, so that's what you were talking about' type stuff.”
“The asymmetric design lends itself not only to replayability but also one-of-a-kind puzzles.”
“My only complaint is that there's not much replayability.”
“The only downside to this game, in my opinion, is the obvious lack of replayability.”
“The game is also significantly longer than the others but has less replay value due to more content being shared between players.”
- character development1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its engaging story and strong character development, contributing to an overall enjoyable experience, despite some frustrating puzzles.
“Actually a great game with a compelling story and impressive character development, making it super fun despite some frustrating puzzles.”
“The character development in this game is truly remarkable, adding depth to the story and making the gameplay experience even more engaging.”
“I love how the characters evolve throughout the game; their growth and interactions really enhance the overall narrative.”
Critic Reviews
We Were Here Forever Review
We Were Here Forever is a fun, cooperative puzzling experience that unfortunately outstays its welcome with a bloated runtime and an infuriating amount of backtracking.
65%We Were Here Forever
This review is for We Were Here Forever, though, and with that in mind it should be noted that there are not many games like this, ones that rely on communication and asymmetrical puzzle solving. Even so, this has not stopped the developers from making this fourth entry bigger, larger and more adventurous than ever before. Sometimes doing this can be a negative, but for this series, it has been done with huge success. This is a quality cooperative experience that I wholly recommend for people who enjoy solving ingenious puzzles with a like-minded friend.
80%We Were Here Forever [PlayStation 5] | REVIEW
We Were Here Forever offers another gripping co-op puzzle adventure that is more varied, clever, and prettier than the releases that came before it. The vast majority of the puzzling feels rewarding to solve thanks to the unique variety of enigmas on offer, whilst the need for proper communication is more important than ever before. When you do finally put the pieces together of a puzzle with your partner though? It’s super rewarding. There were some puzzles that were bit annoying, whilst some areas of the game felt a little bit drawn out thanks to the longer length. Thankfully, these issues don’t stop We Were Here Forever from being a ton of fun to play, with the series going from strength to strength with each subsequent release.
85%
