· By VJ Clark
INTERVIEW: Kyle Banks - Developer of Farewell North
Farewell North is one of my favourite indie games I have played this year. It looks beautiful, has a flawless soundtrack, and a story that will stay with me as one of the most moving video game experiences I have ever had.
If you haven't heard of Farewell North here is the description:
'Restore color to the desolate islands of Farewell North, an open world journey where you play as a border collie on an adventure with his owner through the Scottish Highlands. Explore land and sea, solve puzzles to reveal hidden paths, evade monsters, and free wildlife to bring color back to the world, all while revealing an emotional story about saying farewell.
Farewell North is about a woman on a personal journey deep in the Scottish highlands with her border collie, the player character. Dealing with a declining mental state and the emotions of a tragic loss, all color has left her world and it's up to you to bring it back as you aid her on her journey.'
Kyle Banks is the creator of the game and I was lucky enough to interview him about the incredible success the game has seen.
I was lucky enough to Interview you before Farewell North was released on my personal blog and I know how excited you were for the game's release. Well, it is out now and the reactions have been so positive! Talk to me little bit about how it feels seeing everyone's reactions, and what are some of your favourite things people have been saying about Farewell North?
Excited is one way to describe it, terrified is another! I really didn't know what to expect going into release, it was four years of work all building to one day and that's pretty scary. After all that time you're just too close to the game to know if it's any good, but thankfully as the pre-release reviews started to come in it was clear that Farewell North was connecting with people. Since then the response has been far beyond my wildest dreams, currently at 98% positive reviews on Steam which I could never have imagined.
By far my favourite reactions have been the videos players have sent me where they're crying and smiling at the same time, that's been tremendously validating. I set out to make a deep and emotional story, but I never wanted it to be depressing. Farewell North was always intended to be uplifting and optimistic, and it seems that has resonated with players. Okay, perhaps with a few tears mixed in... but still!
The story in Farewell North is small, specific and deeply personal, but at the same time it seems to have struck a chord that many players can relate to. There are many quotes from reviews that have stuck with me for one reason or another, but perhaps my favourite was this simple review from a player on Steam: "I am 51. I am a disabled veteran. I am still crying as I write this. Absolutely incredible." As a writer or a developer, you can't really ask for a more fulfilling review than that.
The game has such a beautiful story and I genuinely cried at the end. Without spoiling anything, what was the inspiration behind the story?
Well first of all, thank you!
Farewell North is a very small story, in the sense that there are no world-ending consequences or time pressures on the characters, and that's because it's so personal. It's hard to talk about the story without spoiling anything, but I can say that it was very carefully crafted to ensure that every element compliments and enhances each other.
The core of Farewell North is the relationship between the player character, a border collie named Chesley, and his human Cailey, but it's just as much about their relationship with their mum and the islands they come from. All four of those characters (and I'm including the islands as a character here) are deeply connected and everything in the game is in service of strengthening and showcasing the bond between the four, which gives them depth and hopefully makes them feel real. It also helps reward players who go out of their way to discover everything they can. For instance, even the names Chesley and Cailey go on to have a deeper meaning connecting them to the others if you explore every nook and cranny (or rather, every munro). We tried to keep those four characters front of mind through every decision, whether it was writing, music, gameplay, animation... you name it.
As for inspiration, a lot of the story is purely fictional but as a writer you can't help but draw on my own experiences, and that's certainly true here. From moving away from Canada, to my westie Shauna, and of course moving to Scotland and falling absolutely in love with this country. But it was also a collaborative effort, and a big part of that was working with Johan Ross, the voice of Cailey, who's life coincidentally has so many direct parallels to what we initially etched out for Cailey. Working with Jo we drew on a lot of her experiences to help flesh out the characters, giving them more authenticity and enhancing her performance, so I really couldn't have done it without her.
The biggest surprise for me was the environmental storytelling that happens throughout the game. Farewell North is set on the tranquil islands on the Scottish coast, however, there are times when the island morphs into different locations in a really interesting way. Where did you get the idea for that mechanic from?
That mechanic was a fun one to work out, and it was really inspired by my first trip back to Canada after moving to Scotland. I hadn't been back for three years, and when I went I had this strange sense of how the country had continued on without me. That sounds extremely egotistical, but I think we always expect when we go back home that it's going to be exactly how we left it, and of course that's not the case. Everything was familiar, it was mostly all where I expected it to be, but there were subtle changes that made it feel unfamiliar. Maybe the trees are taller, a building was repainted, or a new subdivision was built. Whether it's going back to your childhood bedroom, or the whole country, all these small changes add up to make you realise it's no longer "yours".
When I got back home to Scotland I realised how interesting and unique that feeling is, so I wanted to figure out how to reflect that. Cailey and Chesley are returning to the islands they grew up in, and the islands have continued on without them, so it was a perfect fit. By introducing the "time gates" (I never know what to call them) we're able to go back and forth between the present and the past to see the island the last time our characters were there. The island centers around a farm they worked on and how it has new ownership, so we get to add all these clues to show what's changed without having to write dialogue to explicitly explain it to the player, and instead let them pick up the context from the environment which is always satisfying.
Just as a side note, it was important to me that we weren't overly simplifying it so that the past is "good" and the present is "bad," instead it's just different. And that's okay! That island is all about exploring that feeling of change, and not holding onto the past at the expense of the present.
I have to talk about the music in this game because it is one of my favourite aspects of the game. The composer John Konsolakis nailed the tone, and Siobhan Miller's rendition of 'My Heart's in The Highlands' is so moving. What was it like working alongside such talented musicians and how did they manage to get the music so perfect?
Oh absolutely, the music has been so well received which has been great to see! John really outdid himself with the soundtrack, and working with Siobhan was truly special. When it came to "My Heart's in the Highlands," John and I are both huge fans of Siobhan and we figured it was a long shot, but we reached out to see if she'd be interested in working with us and thankfully she called me back right away and was on board. Between all of our schedules and the looming trailer release it was a very tight fit, but we recorded all the "My Heart's in the Highlands" vocals in a few hours with Siobhan, and it might just have been my favourite day throughout the whole development of Farewell North. I basically just had a private concert while John and Siobhan worked their magic, so it was a lot of fun and the resulting songs are fantastic, I couldn't be happier with how they turned out.
John was the first person to join the project, more than three years ago now, and it's been a treat working with him. He really immersed himself in the game from day one, helping to shape not just the soundscape but the overall narrative as well. He's credited as an additional writer and that was well deserved on his part, as he was one of the core people who knew the story inside and out and I could bounce ideas off of long before we even got to the music. Whenever the music and sound design was added to a scene... I mean his work speaks for itself, the game is brilliantly composed and that's all thanks to him.
I know that there are a few hidden little Easter eggs in Farewell North. Would you be willing to tell us your favourite one? Let's see if our readers can find it!
There are quite a few! Some are more obvious and others are rather obscure and only really recognisable to folks who followed development for years, but my favourite has to be Comfy Boy.
Believe it or not, Farewell North actually started as a silly little weekend project about a chihuahua trying to find the comfiest seat in the house, called Comfy Boy. How it went from Comfy Boy to Farewell North is a whole other story, but suffice to say it's a very different game! I knew Comfy Boy was a bit of a community favourite after I shared a few old clips of this low poly little chihuahua and his blanket, and I knew I wanted to include a little Easter egg of him somewhere.
There's a shelf in one of the houses you visit in the game and at first I just hid a little N64 cartridge with the Comfy Boy logo on it there, but that got me thinking...Soon enough, I had a fully playable version of Comfy Boy inside Farewell North and it was just a matter of fitting it into the game in a way that wasn't too obtrusive given the different tone. I'm quite happy with the way we fit it in, to me it feels pretty organic and doesn't break the game's pacing or emotional tone, and I'm glad to see Comfy Boy getting a little love of his own inside Farewell North.
Finally, what is next for Kyle Banks!? Perhaps a holiday? Or is there another project already bubbling up inside your brain?
That's the big question! After four years of development I definitely need a couple days off now, and thankfully the release has gone smoothly enough that I've had some time to take a weekend off, get out of the city and off the laptop. I'm still working on Farewell North right now, but that "New Project" button has been calling my name and I've already been prototyping a couple ideas. It's a bit too early to share anything just yet, but I do have a compelling idea that I want to explore and who knows, we'll have to wait and see if it turns into anything.
Thank you so much Kyle for an amazing interview and I am so excited to see all the success the game is recieving. Farewell North is available for Nintendo Switch, Xbox, Windows and Mac.