Review for The Father. Game for Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, PC and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 18/04/2018 The version for PC came out on 18/04/2019
The importance of the indie scene becomes, every day, more and more marked and evident. Released from the pressures that a canonical Triple A has to sustain, an independent production can "whirl" quietly in the playful hyperuranium, making choices of style and / or content that are totally free and disconnected from the mere budget (main feature of a good portion of the main productions of the sector ed). The title we will talk about today, The Padre fits perfectly into the schematic atypicality surrounding the whirlwind of today's independent production, offering a "risky" but certainly interesting game. But ... let's go in order!
The Father is an old-fashioned survival horror, evidently inspired by the Alone in the Dark or Resident Evil series, with a pixelated graphics compartment in full Minecraft style. Naturally, due to the totally sui generis nature of the game, the aforementioned labeling fits a little tight to the ludo, even if it is mechanically precise. In the game, as it is easy to guess, we will play a man of faith charged with investigating the mysterious disappearance of a high prelate. A few moments and we find ourselves catapulted into a huge and dark villa full of evil entities and dark mysteries to solve. The gameplay of the game will move on classic characteristics of the sector, with sections dedicated to the exploration, combat and solving of increasingly complex and cryptic puzzles (sometimes too much), drawing heavily from that past that had no particular desire to make things easier.
The first characteristic note of the game, in some ways focal as regards the themes, is irony: The Padre is indeed a rather complicated attempt to mock the survival horror genre through a ... grim survival horror. If the basic idea is certainly original and sui generis, mixing horror and comedy is a bit complicated (unless you are a seasoned politician ed). The result is a sort of emotional roller coaster, in which at the exact moment in which the dark atmosphere of the game seems to have finally taken hold, suddenly a pungent joke of the protagonist appears that shatters the oppressive blanket created into a thousand pieces.
Basically, after a while the horror factor will wear out completely and the game, in some ways, will become a dark comedy of a few hours based on clichés, playful quotes and a visible irreverence towards various themes related to the sacred and the profane. But if so far we will find ourselves in front of a complex yet ingenious work that could still be appreciated by a large slice of the player, analyzing the mechanical aspects of The Padre, or almost everyone could suddenly find themselves in agreement. From a mere playful point of view, production is not particularly brilliant, offering an imprecise and complicated combat system.
At the same time, even the feeling of the controls will not be particularly intuitive due to the isometric 3D of the game, visibly inspired by the aforementioned classics of the genre, although difficult to digest on a console that also provides control on the move. The game will also not offer an automatic target locking system: a feature that, combined with a not particularly precise hit-box of the enemies, will result in firefights that are always complicated to manage, especially if we have more monstrosities to look after. If the commands inherent to the generic movements will still be comfortable enough on the Nintendo laptop, the management of some puzzles will be complicated since the "use" function will often change assignment when we find ourselves near more points of interest with which to interact.
If graphically the game is an obvious emanation of the illogically beautiful world created by Notch, don't let the inherent Minecraft-style “easyness” fool you: The Padre is a bleak, dark and at times scary game, thanks to a wise and inspired play of colors and, above all, a masterful use of lights combined with a sound sector that is certainly apt and inspired. Everything flows in a general and atmospheric gloom that will delight lovers of the genre, even those who do not particularly appreciate the pixel-cubed artistic style. Technically speaking, the game will put on the plate a rather solid and fluid structure, with no particular drops or noteworthy inaccuracies to play smoothly, in both modes of use provided by the Nintendo flagship.
The Padre is a very special project. A complex attempt to combine the darkness of horror with a desecrating black playful humor. Successful experiment? In part, also considering some evident structural and mechanical limitations. A title that is certainly interesting but that could leave the majority of the public blown away.
► The Padre is an Adventure-indie game for Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, PC and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 18/04/2018 The version for PC came out on 18/04/2019
