Game Review: Mothered (Xbox Series X)

A first-person horror game that has the thickest of indie veins running through it, Mothered doesn’t initially grab the attention, but with perseverance, a delightfully dark and twisted tale is revealed.

It’s a dark night when you, a teenage girl named Liana, are dropped off at an isolated country house by your father following a major operation that has affected your memory. The plan is for you to recoup by spending time at this house with your mother who will care for you and attempt to jog your memory.

It’s almost sounds nice, that is until you see Mother and experience a foreboding house with far too many ‘out of bound’ rooms. It’s clear that things in this house aren’t right and that it holds many secrets, but how do they relate to you, Liana, and what happened in the hospital?

Mothered’s story is one that all must experience spoiler-free to enjoy as beyond a haunting environment, there’s not a lot else to it. This is, aside from a few moments (and a horrible apple picking segment), effectively a walking simulator but structured in a bitesize way. Something that works in the game’s favour as it also creates a discombobulating feel, which enhances the dread and confusion felt surrounding the events that befall Liana here.

All of this, combined with the surreal visual and graphical aesthetics, certainly makes Mothered stand out and it is a game that stays with you long afterwards. Its scares are subtle to the point where you often might chide yourself for being creeped out when there’s nothing to be creeped out by. That’s the power of the game’s atmosphere, sound design, and visual panache. Although, it must be reiterated that Mother is terrifying by herself.

It’s a very enjoyable game, not too long, but with several endings that are worth seeing, aside from one aspect that nearly ruins the whole experience. An aspect that is unforgivable to experience in any game released in modern times.

Mothered is a dark game, to the point where it’s sometimes unplayable, and there is no option in the menu to turn the brightness up or down. This makes some sections (like the apple picking section) an absolute chore to complete. It might sound like a small issue, but in a game this basic, the small issues stand out.

Does it ruin the experience? For some, it absolutely will, but most will be able to get past it and enjoy a creepy and memorable tale that has just the right amount of weirdness to it, to be even more enjoyable.