Beginning with BrokenLore: LOW in early 2025, the BrokenLore series has been an interesting one to follow. The series is a collection of episodic narrative horror games, with each entry being a mixture of standalone stories and companion titles to prior chapters. With an overall mystery at hand, constant foreshadowing, and possible red herrings, it isn't too hard to get sucked in and keep coming back for more.
BrokenLore: FOLLOW is what one might consider one of the "mini" companion titles, as it serves as a direct prequel to BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW while also providing a bit more insight into the protagonist, Anne. Due to its nature, this isn't really a great spot for newcomers to jump in, but those who enjoyed UNFOLLOW will definitely want to consider it—even if it isn't quite as strong.
Anne's Inner Demons:
BrokenLore: FOLLOW begins with Anne waking up in a strange and twisted version of her childhood home. Unsure of how she got there or what is even happening to her, she is forced to confront memories from her past. Players of UNFOLLOW will remember that Anne struggled with her weight and was constantly bullied by those around her, while her parents remained unsupportive and only added to her misery. Some of this was reflected by the strange masked figure that stalked her throughout the previous game, but for FOLLOW, her mother specifically takes center stage. As Anne would rather focus on her creative side, her mom sees it as a waste of time and only wants her to focus on her schoolwork—or more specifically, her math skills. This led Anne to stray away from who she truly wanted to be, and the abuse from her peers didn't make things any easier.
Throughout the different locations in FOLLOW, multiple mini-stories play out in very subtle ways. Environmental storytelling is used in full force this time around, with less of a focus on finding documents to read or listening to Anne's inner monologues. Instead, the doll "Mini Anne" comes to life and tells her cryptic stories, which may or may not relate to Anne herself, and a handful of flashbacks outline her confrontations with her parents. Outside of this, everything comes from the multiple areas Anne will traverse, with pictures drawn on the walls and simple objects lying around that help paint a fuller picture. But, unlike Anne's desire to create something wonderful, the image such details call forth can only be described as an attempt at happiness, but ultimately despair.
More Exploration, Less Puzzles, and a Little Platforming:
While BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW before it had a larger focus on puzzles, included stealth mechanics, and had larger environments to explore—with multiple chase sequences while exploring some of the more maze-like areas—FOLLOW scales things back considerably.
Gone is the ability to crouch, only a handful of items ever really need to be interacted with, stealth is gone, and the chases are much shorter. With the locations themselves also being smaller, and with only a handful of basic "puzzles," the gameplay in FOLLOW is much more straightforward, and that makes for a shorter game. While the previous title had a speedrun challenge for completing the game within three hours, one would be lucky if their 100% completion of FOLLOW even adds up to that. While the game does include sections where players take control of Mini Anne to run away from a monster—the light platforming and physics featured within these sections are a bit rough. Those who fail can choose to skip, but the sections are so short and easy that there's no reason to do so—especially considering there is an achievement for completing them all.
Ultimately, there isn't much more to FOLLOW outside of walking around from a first-person point of view, looking at the environment to piece together the story, and maybe getting caught off guard by a jump scare or two. Surprisingly, this entry also features less disturbing imagery than the previous one, though there are a handful of "things" you can get a sneak peek at out of the corner of your eye, which are surely a tease of what's to come.
With that being said...
Setting Up the Future:
Although FOLLOW is a mini entry within the series, it seems to be setting up something big. There are multiple questions raised throughout the game that cause us to question our own actions and even wonder about the characters we have been playing as. There is clearly something bigger going on behind the scenes that has been teased in nearly every title, but the question still remains: what is it? There's a very good chance that FOLLOW contains more clues than we could possibly be aware of at this moment in time, and future episodes might just open our eyes to them. Outside of gaining more context on Anne as a character, this might be the biggest reason to play FOLLOW, but its short runtime is a bit of a letdown for those of us who are awaiting the next major chapter.
At the time of this review, we have ASCEND, DON'T PLAY, DARK DAWN, and DON'T LIE to look forward to, so it is important to understand that FOLLOW is only really here for one reason—to give us a little taste of what is to come.
Should you play it?
BrokenLore: FOLLOW is a short but fun little teaser for future episodes in the series. While it isn't as strong as its predecessor, UNFOLLOW, fans will still enjoy stepping back into Anne's story and taking yet another step toward unraveling the greater mystery at play. This truly is a title for those already invested, however, so newcomers should start somewhere else—ideally with LOW.
VERDICT: Maybe
Reviewed on PlayStation 5
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