Rosemary Reed visits Richard Felton’s estate under pretense in order to find out more about the disappearance of a girl called Celeste. The argument between Rosemary and Richard soon escalates and she is kicked out. Waiting for an opportunity to sneak back inside, she is determined to snoop around and get some answers. But what she gets is far more than she bargained for as she enters the world of nightmares and unfathomable horror. The story starts and ends with older Rosemary talking about the events that have transpired at the time of her visit to Felton’s estate.
Tormented Fathers is the first chapter of the Remothered story and is a horror survival on par with games like Clock Tower 3 or Demento where player is ill-equipped to face head-on any opponent in the game. There are no boss battles, and while enemies change over time, way of dealing with them remains the same throughout the game. Rosemary can carry up to three throwable objects or ropes and one defensive weapon at the same time. Throwable objects are any kind of objects that can be found in various places throughout the mansion. They can either be used to distract or to stun the enemy for a few seconds, giving the player enough time to run away and hide. Ropes can be used to tie or untie the door thus appearing the door as locked from the other side. And defensive weapons, mostly knives, can be used to get away from the enemy’s grip when grabbed from behind. Using a defensive weapon removes it in the process, although weapons can be upgraded so they can be used twice.
While the core story is covered via cut-scenes, the background can be understood in more depth by finding various collectibles which remain in Rosemary’s inventory for more detailed overview. The game includes certain quick-time events when fighting enemies, and failing at any of them means certain death. The estate is very dark and to more easily explore the estate Rosemary carries a pocket flashlight which just about lights what’s directly in front of her, but also makes her that more visible to the enemies hunting her. Hiding places are a way to definitely avoid confronting someone, unless they saw you enter the hiding place, but while in hiding spot (i.e. in the closet or under the bed) with the enemy standing in front, the pointer appears which need to be kept inside the designated circle in order to remain hidden.
While the game uses shoulder camera by default, the player can walk in any direction and controlling the camera needs to be done separately as the camera won’t remain locked to character’s back if Rosemary is walking left, right, or toward the player. The shoulder camera can be switched between left and right side, however, to provide better angle and view which comes useful when looking behind the corner. The game uses auto-save feature only at specific points in the story, and otherwise requires the player to stand in front of a mirror with the pendulum clock in order to save the game progress, and there are only a handful throughout the entire estate. Clearing the game unlocks extras accessible via main menu, most notably making-of character and setting artwork.
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