Mad Father Reviews

A fine addition to my (small) collection of puzzle RPGs (if that's how they're called), I put it behind OneShot and Ib, but it's truly incredibly pretty and fun. I should replay it sometime, I think I already forgot most of the puzzles, and there are 2 NG+ modes unlocked after ending the game, and there's multiple endings, so it's very replayable.

I liked the story and how the environment is used to further expand on the current events and on the characters' past. It goes without saying that the audio and visuals are what games have over books when it comes to story telling. These allow a creator to leave behind subtle indirect clues without forcing a specific narrative. This game uses both audio and visuals well enough to make use of these benefits.

great story and puzzle

it's fine really, i wanted to play it cause i loved the concept and the character design but the actual gameplay is very lacking, i struggled a lot with examining stuff it really sucked (i had to stay in front what i want to examine and FACE IT DIRECTLY or it wouldn't work so imagine 4 hours of just that), and i don't even wanna think about the endings and what i went through to get them, it really is a shame though cause it truly is a cool idea and the music was so good but i don't think i'll ever play it again and i certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Fun Short Terror, really well paced and properly condensed

It's good story and love the SNES graphics to tell a great story.

I loved watching Markiplier playing this game back in 2013 and I completely fell in love it, the story is amazing and crazy at the same time, the art style is very good and the music is absolutley beautiful (my favorite is Maria's Theme - "Loyalty"). I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes an RPG horror game with a twisted story!

Really disappointed with the endings. The story had potential, especially the characters, but their development turned out bland. The character design, ost and mechanics were great tho... the rest it's just messy. 4,5/10

my sick and twisted mind enjoyed seeing the second bad end. scary at moments, definitely disturbing, i enjoyed this very much. an endeared game for sure.

[h2]A great game by a dev who loves to ruin endings[/h2] Okay, I loved this game, I thought it was great, it was fun, the puzzles were done well and could all be figured out, but weren't too easy, never needed google or anything, great game, love Aya, I think having Maria be a somewhat complex character who was desperate and manipulated is a great idea, and having her [spoiler]look after Aya[/spoiler] is a good way of redeeming her, but I am so mad about the ending, and as I played more and more, I lost more and more shreds of ambiguity lending itself to me believing the ending was actually what I thought and wanted originally. I'll try to get out of the way my praises and criticisms which don't involve the story or any spoilers The sprites are actually really good, very unique, and it's a good example of when contrast in quality works between background and sprites, the environments are kind of a higher quality in terms of their detail, but it doesn't ruin the sprites that exist in them at least for me, it can kind of make them pop a bit, although I've gotta be real, the shading on the hair does kind of make it seem like their heads have been caved in at times, the guy missing the eye manages to get around that, but I don't know why they wouldn't make it similar to his for the others Also you get the original version of mad father with this, didn't try it, don't know if you get any achievements from it, but like there's a bonus if you really love this and want to experience the original, who doesn't love when a game does that? I thought the QTE were actually pretty interesting for a game like this, I can see them getting repetitive for some, and being an accessibility issue since you can't turn them off or skip them in any way, so if you have processing delays or anything I think it's fair to skip out on buying and just watch someone's playthrough online, I'd much rather there be an update which adds an accessibility option to skip them though, because while I was fine with it, I can imagine plenty of people buying this game, giving it a go, and then "oh whoops, you can't play beyond this point because QTEs which can't be disabled, soz" From here on, I suggest you don't read this review if you don't want spoilers, there's your warning, scroll past. I hate this idea that Aya is somehow genetically predisposed to doing exactly what her father did, because what the hell? No? Nature vs nurture is an old argument, but the entire game Aya is shown to be pretty compassionate, she understands what her father is doing isn't nice, but she's a kid and she just wants to be with her father who she loves, this was normal to her, she grew up like this, but throughout the story she gains more and more perspective, and I like to think grows past all of that But then, oh, nope, "she takes after you doctor", "you have beautiful eyes", but I thought "oh, I guess they're trying to imply things could be more sinister, I hate that idea with my entire soul, but she is acting as a doctor now, and there's some dolls, maybe she's just taken up making dolls as a form of therapy or to give to kids who come to be examined, like how they give lollipops after a shot", and then blood and if just strip more and more of that plausible deniability The patient seen at the end of the normal mode appears in blood, and it's like some "you did this" type of thing, but I thought to myself "okay, they're kind of pushing this angle, but I hate it, so y'know what, I can actually interpret this as her having guilt over losing a patient she could've saved", in blood "MUDERER", could be guilt, subconscious guilt, something in her mind, sure And then if mode comes along and the doll just spells it out and I'm just like "ah, welp, the ending is ruined I guess" I appreciate ambiguity, nuance, and the ability for different viewers to come to different conclusions. The ending was almost great for normal, and then there's all this other stuff come along and just takes a massive piss all over it, ruins the character I grew to love, ruins the slight redemption arc of another character, ruins the entire arc of learning and moving beyond things, ruins the entire notion of "you aren't the same as your abuser" or "you don't have to be like your parents" for what? Shock value? A dark twist? I think most people want Aya to have a good end, and live life as a moral character, moving beyond that traumatic experience to do good in the world, and it was so sweet to see her doing that, and then it's just ripped away, completely unsatisfying Also, what the hell was that stuff about the mother manipulating the father to do that to people? I would've much rather it be a case of hybristophilia and she got wrapped up in it and then realised "oh no, my daughter is actually in danger" and she tried to save her, but nah they just go "but wait... What if... SHE WAS THE BAD ONE ALL ALONG! OOOOOHHH SPOOKY", subversion only works when it's clever, when it feels like it actually serves a purpose, when it feels real and plausible and earned, here subversion only serves to ruin like every good character Honestly, I liked the idea that that one guy was alive all along, I thought "oh, that's kind of cool, the guy saved him", but also like, you didn't set that up at all, what he's alive and also has magic pyrokinetic ghost powers? That's a step too far, there's a point not to cross, and it is stepped way over, you need to either establish that the living can have these powers either because of the curse or independent of the curse, or you need to just not even give any credence to the idea, have them leave before the fire starts, literally all it takes So, as you can tell, yeah, I loved the ending and then I hated it because of all this stuff they try to force onto it to make it scarier, when it didn't need it, and I'm actually just gonna continue to believe my own version of the ending where everyone was just talking BS, the doll was messing with him, she's guilty over a patient she could've saved, she just likes making normal dolls, that's that, because that's a far better and more satisfying ending than the one they try to force onto it Anyway, despite that huge rant, I did really like the game, and I would recommend it, good game, earned it's fans, even if the ending tries to ruin itself repeatedly, I'd love to see a sequel or something which instead of going with the garbage "she's bad too >:)" ending, instead goes "actually, yeah, she was a normal and decent person and all that stuff was just something you misinterpreted from the information given, or the curse messing with one guy, double subversion", that's a more earned subversion Honestly as I type more I just keep thinking of more points I could add to my rant, little retroactive things that ruin the majority of the game and Aya's characterisation, but I think I've said enough and I'll leave it here, good game, almost good ending but they try to ruin it and kind of succeed, but if you just wanna go "no actually" and believe in the same ending I'm choosing to believe, absolutely power to you, I want that to become the most popular interpretation of the ending, going "actually all that was just misinterpreted and they're all good"