Rounding up this month’s They’re Back is Fran Bow, a game that merits inclusion because of Itward: Fran’s dapper, skeletal associate and friend to mentally-ill children everywhere.
You’ll likely have gleaned from that opening that Fran Bow is darker than Tim Burton’s coal shed. The Steam blurb describes it as ‘creepy’, which is something of an understatement: child beauty pageants are ‘creepy’; Fran Bow’s tale of dismembered parents, medical malpractice and psychological trauma is something sterner. The setup is horrible enough, but Fran’s ability to phase into a shadow world after taking her medication provides the opportunity to make things even bleaker. The game’s cast of damaged children would be heartbreaking enough without the occult knowledge that they’re being harassed by demons in another realm. Yet despite this, there’s something hopeful about the game. Fran pushes past lobotomised patients and shadowy demonic presences with the indifference of a dog that doesn’t realise he has wheels instead of legs. And there’s a neat progression to it all, eased along by some puzzles that offer a decent challenge. All of this helps give you the sense that you’re rarely stuck in one situation for too long, so the game’s bleakest scenarios rarely have time to take hold. And there’s Itward. As well as being an excuse to include Fran Bow alongside other skeletonadjacent games, he represents something wholesome: the idea that there’s some guardian spirit, however sinister, watching over children who’ve been buried under the weight of their own trauma. 72