Remothered: Tormented Fathers is the first entry in a planned Remothered trilogy, a throwback to survival horror games of the past. You play the role of Rosemary Reed. Rosemary is trying to find Celeste, the daughter of Dr. Richard Felton, and is a mysterious figure herself when you begin the game. Rosemary arrives at the Felton Manor, under the guise of a representative of the hospital where Dr. Felton once stayed. From here, the story gets more mysterious and confusing very quickly, through a conversation between Felton and Rosemary. To summarize, Rosemary is convinced that Felton and his wife Arianna might be behind the disappearance of their daughter, and breaks back into the manor to find the truth after being rushed out.
This is where the game begins, as you are stalked by a crazed Dr. Felton. Story from this point is mostly told through collectibles found in the game, adding to the overall confusion if you miss any. Dialog is a sore spot. Conversations are unnatural and often hard to follow, and we even found some spelling mistakes in the subtitles.
The atmosphere and setting is spot on and truly creepy. The manor itself is a frightful place to be, and hiding from its inhabitants can be horrifying. The game does a fantastic job of making sure you’re never comfortable with it’s unscripted AI and it’s unpredictable movements around the manor. Dr. Felton murders about as he stalks you through the manor, adding to the suspense. The music accents the intensity, adding to the desperation when you’re on the run.
Remothered’s gameplay can often be frustrating and repetitive, with little direction. You will be stalked, and getting caught while sneaking will be often. Rosemary can be often defenseless, but when you do find something to fight back with, you’ll be doing QTEs to temporally stun the enemy to get away. All of this is thrown at you with little explanation.The enemies can be truly scary, and thrill seekers will enjoy the intensity of the confrontations. Some moments can be pretty disturbing, which is good for a horror game. Unfortunately, the altercations with enemies can sometimes can result in frustrating instant kills. The other main issue is how repetitive it can be. You’ll be backtracking quite a bit through the manor to find items and this, compounded with the frustration of the stealth and combat, is something to watch out for.
Our recommendation: Remothered: Tormented Fathers has a strong vibe, and tidbits of an interesting story. The ascetic and horror of the manor is fantastic, and draws you in. There are moments that fans of horror willl absolutely love and stick with you long after the game is finished. Unfortunately, this is severely hampered by repetitive and frustrating gameplay. If you are a hardcore survival horror fan, this is worth keeping an eye on if you know what you’re getting into. General gaming audiences should stay away, and look and see if the sequels can improve upon the hangups with this first.
