After previewing Remothered: Broken Porcelain, we had the pleasure of playing the final version of the game as well. Let's find out together (for better or for worse) Remothered: Broken Porcelain in this review
Darril Arts and Stormind Games, Spanish studios authors of Remothered: Tormented Fathers, are back with a new chapter in the series. Tormented Fahters has been one of the surprises of recent years, both for the Spanish and international markets, earning a niche in the already crowded videogame horror catalog. Making the experience a treasure, with Remothered: Broken Porcelain the studio attempts to replicate the success of the first chapter, improving and expanding the gameplay experience. Will this second chapter be up to par or did something go wrong?
Many illustrious references
Remothered: Broken Porcelain tells about the little girl Jennifer, a young girl who works at the Ashmann Inn, the main setting of the game. Thanks to an introductory cutscene, we discover that after being expelled from the Flemmington Girls Institute following an "accident", Jen was hired by the manager of the hotel in question. However, the hiring of the young lady it's not a coincidence at all and then we'll find out exactly why she was taken to that cursed place. The dark soul of the hotel, in full Shining style, does not seem to appreciate the presence of the young woman, and among Kubrick's masterpiece, Misery doesn't have to die and a clear approach to the Outlast, the illustrious references certainly are not lacking and repeatedly snatch a smile from fans of the genre.
Remothered: Broken Porcelain is based on a synthetic medicine called Phenoxyl. The drug isolates the traumatic events in the mind of the subjects, but with a side effect: a “porcelain” memory is created, which leads to a collective hypnosis in which the subjects are forced to obey a certain leader. The leader in question is Porcelain, the antagonist of the game. Porcelain appears as the typical relentless and invincible hunter from whom we can only escape and hide, very reminiscent of the good old Chris Walker of Outlast (and company). With the prologue completed, we find ourselves in the director's office who summoned Jen for a freak accident. After the director's reprimands, we are taken back to our affairs by Andrea Massino, the director's right hand. After that we regain control of Jen, to finally start playing.
Not just horror - Remothered Review: Broken Porcelain
Remothered: Broken Porcelain is presented, in the wake of the first, as a survival horror with shades of yellow, in which you have to survive and complete tasks to progress. Although (as already mentioned) the mold of the game is attributable to exemplary predecessors of the genre such as Silent Hill or the more recent Outlast, in this chapter we find elements of Tormented Fathers improved and some interesting additions. The game world is filled with drawers and cabinets to open, chests to hide in and items to collect. Unlike its predecessor, here we find a much more strategic way of using collected items. In addition to the classic keys, we have the option of combine objects found to create more complex and interesting situations.
If you previously had to escape and hide from your pursuer, this time you can distract him with music boxes and talking dolls, lure him into traps and more. With this choice of gameplay, players are connected good freedom of maneuver, derailing from the typical tracks of pure survival to parry something more varied and interesting. This approach makes Broken Porcelain a more strategic and reasoned stealth survival, which ultimately turns out to be the key factor in the game's functioning.
Aesthetics are not everything - Remothered Review: Broken Porcelain
Technically Remothered: Broken Porcelain looks like a big leap forward from the first chapter. The graphics are decidedly more accurate and the environments appear rich in elements and well detailed. The photography convinces and the lights give a distressing atmosphere of all respect for the genre. Even the characters and animations are well built and characterized, although the interactions with the objects are definitely to be improved. On the latter concept, in particular, we will come back later in more depth.
The audio sector is really well composed, in particular the music helps to maintain a constant tense and anxious atmosphere during the game. The work on sound design is also commendable, setting the right accents and alternating unnerving silences with heart-pounding sequences where the sound plays well in favor of the situation. But although the game presents itself well both in concept and aesthetically, troubles are not long in coming ...
What a mess - Remothered Review: Broken Porcelain
Unfortunately, all that we have found in Remothered: Broken Porcelain is nullified by a technical bug sieve and imperfections. Almost always you are faced with blocked enemies, objects that do not work, a boss impossible to beat following the instructions of the game. Often the player cannot understand what is wrong and why he has failed in his objective. Deaths due to malfunctioning interactions with hiding places also result frustrating and utterly nonsensical. In other places, however, it is enough to bow behind any object to become invisible to the fallacious and fluctuating AI of the pursuer. On the contrary again, the bosses prove unstoppable, so much so that they do not suffer the effects of our traps. In addition to the bugs in the gameplay, there is no shortage of those in the interface and models. Often and gladly Jen's braid is out of control, the clothes go crazy and the models move really unnaturally.
Often the only solution to fix the problem is restart the game, again and again to exhaustion. Those mentioned are a few examples of the dozens of bugs offered by Remothered: Broken Porcelain, which end up ruining the gaming experience making it really frustrating. A great pity, given the many positive sides of the game, frustrated by an absolutely wrong management of the title. Really a big mess ...
The verdict
Enjoy a good game like Remothered: Broken Porcelain in these conditions it is impossible, and users will often be led to wonder why they spent money on such an incomplete title. Incomplete, precisely, it is the perfect adjective to describe a game released too soon, probably for fear of clashing with the ruthless competition of Amnesia Rebirth, released a few weeks later. Paradoxically, with the intention of anticipating the competition, an incomplete and unthinkable game has emerged that will end up pushing users towards the name of Amnesia. Probably, by delaying the release of the game a bit, we would have a title on our hands completely different and worthy of the name of the series.
Although we are confident in numerous corrective patches, recommending this game in its current state is really unthinkable. You can't get hooked on a good story if the experience is compromised by an abnormal amount of bugs. Likewise, you can't immerse yourself in an atmosphere brilliantly built by the studio's designers, if you play with the constant worry of having to restart the game for some sort of error. Really a great pity.
Remothered: Broken Porcelain is available since October 13 for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. For more reviews, news, guides and much more from the world of video games, we invite you to stay connected on techigames. Bye!
5.5 Really a great pityPoints in favor
- Clean graphics
- Detailed and well-kept environments
- Worthy horror atmosphere
- Interesting story
- Many references to the genre
Points against
- All the pros are frustrated by the numerous bugs that make the title unplayable
