Review: Remothered: Broken Porcelain

Time to delve into the enthralling yet horrific story of a young girl named Jennifer who works in a hotel called the Ashmann Inn, but certainly not by choice and not everything appears to be as normal as it should be in Remothered: Broken Porcelain. During your time here, you will gradually uncover why you have been placed here and find a way to escape the horror that lurks there. Encounter stalkers throughout who will be constantly hunting you if they lay eyes on you. Your aim is to avoid them the best you can by using distractions, stealth mechanics and sometimes combat where necessary to allow yourself to then complete set objectives to further unravel the mysteries lurking around every corner. If you are unaware, this game is a continuation of the previous Remothered: Tormented Fathers. Don’t worry if you have not had the opportunity to play the earlier installment as the game does give you a small recap to inform you of what has happened in the story previously to hopefully prevent any confusion and questions you may have. Developed by Stormind Games and published by Modus Games, you will become immersed in a haunted adventure of captivating horror aspects that will expose the dreadful truth. It may not always be easy or obvious but it most definitely will have you intrigued on the strange happenings which have been occurring at the Ashmann Inn.

VicciVulpix played Remothered: Broken Porcelain for eight hours on Xbox One S

What we liked!

• Thrilling narrative throughout – For someone who never played the first installment, after recapping I was certainly more than interested as to what was going to happen in Remothered: Broken Porcelain. From the very start, I couldn’t help but feel gripped by the story of young Jennifer and the evil which seemed to be surrounding her. Having the game switch between the harsh reality and drug-induced nightmares made for a compelling idea to snap players between two different aspects of what the main character is experiencing and really puts you in her shoes. Finding clues throughout to put the pieces together allows you to slowly create a full picture and understanding of what poor Jennifer has been going through and why she is in this dreadful place to begin with.

• Intense and challenging gameplay – Immerse yourself in stealth mechanics, multiple distractions and sneaky combat. The game always focuses on the sneak aspect with plenty of places to run and hide, various distractions which can be both found and crafted with the right materials and defense items such as knives in case you should ever find yourself facing an enemy with no way out. You’re only allowed to carry one defensive weapon at a time which I think enhances the element of only having one chance to make a run for somewhere to hide until the threat passes by. There are more than enough places to hide and opportunities to set off distractions to get a sneak attack on your enemies which can temporarily knock them out, allowing you to have enough time to complete tasks. You will also come across some puzzles which can vary in difficulty.

• Eerie music and sounds – One aspect which has been done exceptionally well is the audio for the game. I cannot fault the sounds that have managed to put fear and panic into me multiple times and honestly, it’s fantastic for people such as myself who relish a great scare. It’s wonderfully tense whenever you’re walking about or escaping enemies and it managed to get my heart racing numerous times. When you may possibly be in trouble or are detected, the game does not hold back on letting you know.

Somewhere between

• Sound cues were sometimes inaccurate – Although the audio is incredible, the sound cues are not always accurate when letting you know if you still need to run or if you’re safe for the moment. For example, I had many instances where I would be made to feel that the threat had passed with the sound becoming calmer only to exit my cover to be greeted with an enemy still in my immediate vicinity and the tense sounds and music starting all over again.

• Back and forth cutscenes –  Again, although the narrative was well written, I did feel as though I was being thrown back and forth between cutscenes and gameplay, past and present a little more than I would have liked which did become confusing at times. There is the extras option via the main menu which allows you to rewatch any cutscenes if you should feel lost. Each time I started the game back up, I did like to have a small recap to refresh my memory on what had recently happened.

• Appearance and graphics – I’m not faulting the graphics necessarily. It’s just that in my opinion, they look good but not great. The characters look relatively realistic and the environment is well done but the game is lacking an overall cleaner and more fine-tuned appearance in places. Of course, it doesn’t affect the gameplay in any way shape or form however I believe the graphics could have perhaps had a little more time invested into them.

What we disliked

• Controls were fiddly –  One aspect which really stood out for me in a negative way were the somewhat frustrating controls. They would sometimes put you in exposed positions, would not allow you to pick things up and/or select a certain object. For example, when searching through the chest of drawers, I would struggle sometimes to select the draw or cupboard door I wanted as it would auto select one I’d already explored. Also, I found myself in multiple scenarios where I would be retreating from an enemy and I would press my bumper to run away only to have my character cling herself to a nearby wall allowing my pursuer to attack me with ease.

CONCLUSION