Remothered: Broken Porcelain Review (PS4)

poor
key review info
  • Game: Remothered: Broken Porcelain
  • Platform: Playstation 4
  • Show system requirements
  • Reviewed on:
Remothered: Broken Porcelain

Lately, many of the games we have reviewed became playable or resembled the aspirations of the producers for a finished game only after several patches, while others remained broken even after that. It is not unusual to have bugs in video games, but somehow down the line, it became a widespread practice to launch unfinished games, let gamers buy them and maybe fix them a few months later. Unfortunately, this is the rabbit hole that swallows Remothered: Broken Porcelain, a game that had the potential to become one of the best horror flicks of the year.

Horror video game aficionados may remember Remothered: Tormented Fathers, that even though it's critical acclaim did not become a best seller. Still, the story and the characters proved to immersive enough to grant a sequel, one that proved as bug-infested as the bed of a street mongrel. Although released a month ago most of the errors and glitches still have not been fixed, evaporating any joy and thrill this game could bring. This is even more infuriating since the game has a lot of potential and some parts of it are actually quite good.

The sound design, one of the essential elements of any horror game, is outstanding, the narrative is immersive, full of memorable moments, the characters are well thought out, the atmosphere is creepy, just as you would expect it, and in general, the artistic part of the game is quite a success. But, and there is a big but, everything else feels haphazard, rushed, and unfinished. The technical and gameplay aspects are just horrible, and while most of the issues are fixable, there are also some design problems.

Remothered: Broken Porcelain
Remothered: Broken Porcelain
Remothered: Broken Porcelain
+6more

Remothered: Broken Porcelain is a game that transitioned from pre-production to development, but was quite a few milestones away from a finished game. Due to the lack of testing and QA, it is almost unplayable, unless you are a masochist or want a crash course on how not to release a videogame. The best part of the game is the story, very short, but very intense. Since you can finish it in less than three hours any detail about it would be trespassing into spoiler territory. Suffice to say that it continues the events of the first installment and even if you missed entirely Tormented Fathers, you have nothing to worry about.

Broken Porcelain starts with a concise and mandatory video that serves as a recap. All the surviving major characters from the first part are returning along with the very same themes of the previous game: dark family secrets, staged deaths, and the experimental medicine developed in secret research facilities hidden in old buildings full of dark and creepy corridors.

Still despite lining up quite a few cliches of the genre, the narrative of Remothered: Broken Porcelain is remarkable and it frames quite well the handful of characters, who are struggling with guilt, loss, and the need for vengeance. Although short, the story is full of unexpected turns that make you question the true identity of the villain. It is also worth mentioning that the events of the game are taking place in three different timelines, an ingenious solution chosen by the producers to tie it in with Tormented Fathers and answer any open questions left by it.

The gameplay part is a complete mass, but underneath all the unfinished elements you can see a glimpse of the direction in which the developers wanted to evolve. They revamped the crafting system, to make it easier to lure your enemies into a trap. This commendable effort is in vain because of the glitches, that turn any carefully crafted plan into a gamble. Making things even worse is the AI that fluctuates from dumb as a snowman that cannot move, only fall over to the expertise of a seasoned hitman that knows his victims' whereabouts in any given moment. And since you don’t stand a chance against the bewitched opponents in hand to hand combat and hiding is not always the solution you will end up running around, boiling with frustration.

If you got discovered the best solution to run around for a few minutes until your enemies get bored and give up the chase. Unless you are in a closed room, in which case you better reload your last save. Even if you chose the headless chicken tactic, this presents other challenges since your pursuers once done chasing you, fail to get back to their original positions, and either they all gather in the same room as a dark covenant around a fire, or float above their designated original positions like an illusionist with cheap tricks.

Due to the bugs and the way the encounters are staged it is unclear what the developers actually wanted out of the fight mechanics. Yes, you can gather various sharp objects that you can further improve and use them to stab your enemies in the back, but since they seem immortal the whole process feels pointless. It is a superfluous mechanic that does not bring anything and does not follow any logic. Why would you waste time on something so pointless?!

Another peculiar decision is to introduce the skill development halfway into the game, a system that is based on items that at first glance seem like junk. So if you are not a hoarder who picks up everything he finds, the chances are you have missed a lot of miscellaneous items that can help you improve your abilities and run faster for example. The series of peculiar choices continue with the encounters that you are supposed to lose, such as the very first one at the beginning of the game. The issue is that you have no clue which encounter to try to win and which to fold and you can end up wasting 20-30 minutes escaping a mini-boss who was supposed to catch you to further the story.

Although the visuals are not half bad, the glitches continue are omnipresent here as well. The most remarkable error is the facial animation or, more exactly, the lack of it. While during cutscenes the expression of the characters is rather alien, and their lip sync is semi-accurate at best, during gameplay the engine randomly alternates fully open mouths with completely closed ones. Also, there are moments when your enemies do not care about the fact that you reached a cut scene, and they walk into it to endlessly stab you, while your dialogue reveals new important details about the story. The list of errors can go on and on and on, probably taking up the space of not one, but two full reviews.

Remothered: Broken Porcelain
Remothered: Broken Porcelain
Remothered: Broken Porcelain
+7more

The Good

  • Intriguing story with memorable characters
  • Very good sound design
  • Immersive atmosphere

The Bad

  • Sabotaged by technical issues
  • Too short
  • Unfinished

Conclusion

Remothered: Broken Porcelain should have not been released in its current state, since any resemblance with a finished game is pure coincidence. You can barely finish it, and only if you have iron patience to try until you get lucky with some of the bugs that can be game-breaking. It is a shame because the atmosphere of the game is so on spot, feeling creepy and scary, constantly wondering what horror awaits you after the corner.

Even though it would still be very short, if the technical aspects would have been fixed, the artistic part and atmosphere would have compensated for the length by offering an intense and memorable experience. Unfortunately in its actual form, even the most basic gameplay mechanics from Remothered: Broken Porcelain are broken, and as such, no one should waste time with it.

story 7
gameplay 2
concept 4
graphics 5
audio 7
multiplayer 0
final rating 5
Editor's review
poor
 

Remothered: Broken Porcelain screenshots (21 Images)

Remothered: Broken Porcelain
Remothered: Broken PorcelainRemothered: Broken PorcelainRemothered: Broken PorcelainRemothered: Broken Porcelain
+16more