"One day you will find a hole in your heart"
Fatum Betula is a dreamy "PSX" exploration game with a big focus on ambiance. The levels are small, the content is not much and the endings are based on repeating content and using the same tools you get at the start of an area to do something slightly different and get a 2 minute cutscene. I don't say this as a critique, but as a PSA for anyone that expect this to be the next Yume Nikki or Dream game, or The Forge and the Crucible
Fatum Betula is Fatum Betula and it is worth to experience on it's own when all you want to do is explore a world at 2 AM, chilling and vibing with the lack of sound in the real space. Fatum Betula has it's moments of absolute beauty and mystery, but all in a comfy way. It does not try to be creepy, it's just how the world is built, it's how ambiance and the lack of life can feel.
I haven't found much "meaning" in the game aside of being made for the pleasure of making something and talking about different things in a way that words are filled with fog, but not too much to be somewhat coherent, as a way to practice the developer's skills in creating art.
I like to see exploration games as some kind of a "toured museum" because even if the game let's you explore and experiment, you're still walking through the developer's level that was designed for the player. If you are expecting to make theories and get a compelling story, you're welcome, but you might be dissapointed to see this game is not like that.
In short; Fatum Betula is like a flower. It's pretty, it's delicate, but once you recognize it's patterns, there's not much more to it. You can still appreciate it's beautyness, but the lack of depth in it's structure (visually speaking) will make it so you will eventually move on unless you're an artist, a designer, or someone that holds a flower with a delicate but firm grip as to not let it go even when the interest was lost because the idea of letting a beautiful thing rot or get lost is unbearable.
Fatum Betula is a dreamy "PSX" exploration game with a big focus on ambiance. The levels are small, the content is not much and the endings are based on repeating content and using the same tools you get at the start of an area to do something slightly different and get a 2 minute cutscene. I don't say this as a critique, but as a PSA for anyone that expect this to be the next Yume Nikki or Dream game, or The Forge and the Crucible
Fatum Betula is Fatum Betula and it is worth to experience on it's own when all you want to do is explore a world at 2 AM, chilling and vibing with the lack of sound in the real space. Fatum Betula has it's moments of absolute beauty and mystery, but all in a comfy way. It does not try to be creepy, it's just how the world is built, it's how ambiance and the lack of life can feel.
I haven't found much "meaning" in the game aside of being made for the pleasure of making something and talking about different things in a way that words are filled with fog, but not too much to be somewhat coherent, as a way to practice the developer's skills in creating art.
I like to see exploration games as some kind of a "toured museum" because even if the game let's you explore and experiment, you're still walking through the developer's level that was designed for the player. If you are expecting to make theories and get a compelling story, you're welcome, but you might be dissapointed to see this game is not like that.
In short; Fatum Betula is like a flower. It's pretty, it's delicate, but once you recognize it's patterns, there's not much more to it. You can still appreciate it's beautyness, but the lack of depth in it's structure (visually speaking) will make it so you will eventually move on unless you're an artist, a designer, or someone that holds a flower with a delicate but firm grip as to not let it go even when the interest was lost because the idea of letting a beautiful thing rot or get lost is unbearable.