As the name implies, Farewell North is a game about saying goodbye--to a place, to people, and to the lifestyle that those things represent. Though the narrative adventure is short, it packs a lot of characterization and resonance into that time, with only occasional stumbling blocks to blunt the impact of the experience.

You play as Chesley, or Ches for short: a sweet-natured border collie who had once worked as a sheepdog on a farm in the Scottish highlands. Your human companion, a young woman named Cailey, ventured off her family farm and into the city but was summoned back when her rural mother became ill. Cailey helped with the farm for a while, relying on Ches' herding skills, and then when her mother passed away, they moved back to the city together, where Ches became a homebound pet rather than a working dog. This game captures what seems to be Cailey's first time coming back to the area since then.

On one level, this is a game about loss, and how it manifests in different ways. Cailey lost her mother, and as you explore the Scottish highlands with her, you get bittersweet reflections about her farm life and how it felt to slowly lose her mother to a terminal illness. Though it's less pointed, you also get the sense that Ches lost her home when she became a city dog, so this return to the highlands is a reunion of sorts.