Growing up, there was a gas station down the street from my house that was always well-supplied with candy and snacks. It was a perfect pitstop between my elementary school and my house on the way home. My friends and I would park our bikes out front, run inside for sweets, and then head home to play video games. I’m pretty sure I can trace the layout of that store on the back of my hand.
That leads me to my recent hands-on demo with Forever Ago at Summer Game Fest: Play Days, an upcoming road trip narrative adventure game that has us playing as the elder Alfred on a journey of remembrance. As we meet him, an undisclosed tragedy has befallen him, leaving him alone with just himself, a dog, and his vintage camper van. Our demo begins with us pulling into a gas station convenience store nestled deep in the woods.
As Alfred steps through the door, it’s clear that it has been some time since he last shopped here. He asks the young attendant managing the place where the owner is; “He’s passed on,” he says, leaving Alfred in a state of shock. Recognizing he needed to more carefully choose his words, “Oh, he’s retired now,” allows Alfred a sigh of relief. In his apparently fragile state, it doesn’t seem like he could have handled that news.
Needing to gather supplies for the trip ahead, we pick up a handbasket and start shopping – and are once again greeted by the young attendant who is only too eager to help, sensing we’re on the wrong side of 70. Alfred doesn’t want the help – he has shopped here plenty of times and knows where things are – preferring to be left to do his shopping in peace.
The store is well detailed, full of snacks, boxes, camping supplies, and more – everything you’d expect at a gas stop on the way to a campground. Alfred seems to have a remark about every object in the store, which is both a nice attention to and a hint at how extensive dialog will be in this game. Once we had our supplies and map, it was time to check out. Things are going fine until Alfred spots a photograph behind the register.
The photo is of Alfred, the store owner, and his departed wife. And he wants it. The push and pull conversation between the well-meaning attendant and the increasingly hostile Alfred are revealing – up until this point we were frustrated with the attendant and his helicopter parenting of us in the store; now the narrative is flipped, and we see a new side of Alfred and his hostile behavior. The attendant doesn’t seem to grasp the trauma of Alfred’s situation, wanting to own any piece of his past. As his temper grows, Alfred forcibly takes the photo and storms out of the convenience store, back outside, and back into the van to stare at the frame.
This leads us to a flashback sequence as we see a younger Alfred alongside his wife, Audrey, presumably the first time they’re visiting this location. What continues is a bit of a dreamscape sequence, as we follow her down a darkened path; it seems Alfred’s trauma of loss will manifest these moments through the game, which seems to be a darker narrative tale than I think I was expecting to experience going into my hands-on time. Shortly after this, the demo concludes.
My time with Forever Ago was brief but heartfelt. Even with a pitstop at an old convenience store, I can now better understand how the interaction with the world is going to introduce these narrative flashback moments at this stops along the way, coupled with the emotional journey Alfred is going on both physically and mentally. There’s something special here, and we can’t wait to play more of Forever Ago when it launches October 8, 2026, for XBOX Series X|S and XBOX on PC. Play it on both console and PC at no additional cost with XBOX Play Anywhere.
Forever Ago
Annapurna Interactive
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