Parents' Guide to Fer.al

While this game's visually beautiful, the lack of instruction and direction, as well as its bugs, makes this a very confusing game to play. Fer.al sports impressive graphics, with varied scenery that includes villages, meadows, and other settings. Characters can gallop across fields, climb hills, and trek through snow. Generally, players will find a lot to explore in Fer.al -- yet not too much direction. After a rundown of the controls and other basics, they're essentially left on their own to figure out where to go and what to do. A map provides some information, such as which worlds contain games. They may still need to find where to access the games once they get there, though.

The developers made an effort to include activities that will keep players engaged, such as picking up ingredients and other items by holding down a button that appears near them, trying out games, and performing other tasks. Since the app doesn't offer a linear, structured experience, players can end up wandering around aimlessly, trying to determine what they can interact with. There are a lot of elements to wrap your head around, ranging from where to find ingredients to how to later craft dyes or accessories with them. In some instances, players may need to backtrack if they get stuck -- after realizing, for example, they can't climb out of the other side of a lake they've jumped into. That's less of an issue, though, than the game crashing, which may happen periodically -- and can require you to have to log in again. As such, the current overall game experience can be a toss-up. Not being under any time pressure to meet defined goals may delight players who enjoy games that feature an exploration aspect. Others, though, may find Fer.al's lack of direction somewhat frustrating.