cjmelendez_
Looking for a Clock Tower fix? Remothered: Tormented Fathers is here, and it’s pretty good. Old school survival horror fans take note; Remothered tosses you into the mansion of an insane old man with a hook, and your only way out involves meticulously opening up new passages after acquiring key items. For younger horror fans who started with games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Alien: Isolation, you’ll find some familiarity here as well. You need to sneak your way around the mansion while avoiding being seen or heard. Is he down the hall? In the other room? You better be sure before you move, otherwise, you get the hook.
For an early access game, the whole experience feels very polished. In my playthrough (see below), I encountered one frozen menu bug. Otherwise, the game feels solid. Visually, environments are stunning and remind me of the Resident Evil remake — each area is bathed in ambiance, and the art design impresses. I’m still making my way through the game, but if I had to find any points of criticism, that’d lie with the sound. Avoiding the murderous Dr. Felton using sound alone can be very difficult even with surround sound headphones; I couldn’t exactly tell whether he was above or below me when near. When he’s not yelling out loud about the moldy food or those out to get him, his footsteps don’t come through audibly, making detection difficult further.
Accessibility wise, I could see the game doing well for those who don’t want a too challenging experience by adding an “Easy” mode. Perhaps this could make Felton’s presence more prominent via on-screen indicators — a body outline when within hearing distance for example. The story is intriguing, and there’s no harm having such options for those who mainly want to enjoy that.
Remothered: Tormented Fathers is currently on Steam Early Access for $12.99. I played through the first hour, and so far I’m impressed. The game looks great and is genuinely tense. I’m anxious to keep playing and work my way to this version’s end. The game is also seeking community feedback. If you plan to pick it up and have a good idea, the game’s developer will consider it.
