Review: MOTHERED

 

 

Horror/Adventure

Steam, itch.io, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5

MOTHERED is one of those games that does a lot with a little. It's a creepy first-person adventure from ENIGMA STUDIO that takes place over a handful of days in a very limited location, using a similarly limited number of assets. You play as Liana, a young girl being dropped off back home by her father on a dark and stormy night following a lengthy hospital stay. Your mother has been through a lot, your father tells you, and asks you to be patient with her and any odd behavior she might exhibit. Your father will be back from work in a few days - all you have to do is focus on resting, and spending some quality time reconnecting with your family. They just want you to get better.

This, you might think to yourself, is suspicious as hell. It only gets stranger, and more unsettling, when you come downstairs the next morning to find... someone... in the kitchen. She says she's your mother - don't you recognise your own mother? - and she's going to take care of you while you recover. Just do as you're told, don't bother your bother who's shut up in his room, and don't go into the door at the end of the hall behind the stairs. What could be simpler, or more wholesome?

 The game plays out over the course of a handful of days, and has a few different endings depending on the choices you make. For the most part, these choices are less obvious than you might think. A lot of what you do won't actually impact the outcome of your playthrough, which was a bit disappointing given the notes I initially excitedly took based on certain interactions. Most players will probably experience the game's default ending simply because some of the alternatives - especially the "true" ending - require you to do specific things that didn't feel particularly well called out. Fortunately, the main route is still entertaining and will likely motivate you to unlock the others, even if it means hunting for those fucking apples in that fucking orchard again. God.

As far as the true ending goes, well, I had picked up on what MOTHERED was laying down fairly early since the theming and clues were so thick, and was sort of hoping it would have another surprise up its sleeve to catch me off-guard. (It did not.) That said, the mark of a good story, horror or otherwise, is that you still feel excited and compelled to experience it even when you know what's coming, and MOTHERED delivers that in spades. Despite how small the map is, it still rewards exploration by squirreling away little tidbits and scenes that you can't experience on each playthrough, or that gain more satisfying context in hindsight. I've always been a firm believer that horror is at its most effective the more it withholds from the viewer, and this is a game that understands that very well.

MOTHERED is a nice, compact little game; I clocked in just under three hours after having seen and done everything, and some of that was probably left idling. It doesn't overstay its welcome in a very smart way and is perfect for a dark and stormy night of your own. It's so delightfully creepy and off-putting, with some genuinely skin-crawling moments, and wrapped up in a grainy old-school horror aesthetic that still manages to be weirdly beautiful at times. The mood can swing from bittersweet and touching to unnerving in just a few heartbeats, and my first playthrough had me on edge the entire time. Do yourself a favor and pick it up for yourself. Then call your mom and tell her you love her. She's been through a lot.

Steam, itch.io, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5