For once, I'm going to give the ending of the review at the beginning:
It doesn't look like much. It doesn't play like much. But a few minutes in and it clicks into place - this is an old-school Myst game and it DOES have that same excellent feel to the gameplay as you get past that first puzzle.
Now obviously, these are just my thoughts from the demo as it stands as of 10th December 2023. They may well change over time, which is apropos - my feelings regarding the demo shifted HEAVILY as I was playing it. That's not a bad thing, at least in this case, as there is quite the spark of intelligent storytelling and puzzling here.
I'm going to be quite blunt here, but it comes from my love of this particular genre: the game is ugly. It has the retro vibe, which is good, but it needs a fair bit of tidying up and the colours need to be a little more controlled. Also just a few more. A colour-coding session when designing each "room" would work wonders. You can see areas where the dev has attempted some of this, the elevator puzzle section in particular stands out with it's focus on reds and greens increasing player tension and that being pulled through into the next area. Whilst individual puzzle items (see the generator above) have EXACTLY the right level of detail, most areas feel very bland and more like slotted together squares - which they likely are, as I could see the seams quite often.
Puzzle-related items have some pretty nice animations and are easy to use - finding how to use them in regard to the puzzles however, not so. Exactly as it should be. Myst, Riven and similar games are not hand-holders. The mental work-out, and ensuing feeling of being a smarty-pants, is the point. The puzzles here do NOT disappoint. The first few smaller ones ease you into the mechanics and gradually become more complicated and difficult. You then get slammed into a brickwall at high-speed. Face first. From that point, the demo really doesn't let up.
For all it's horror and calm, it's not the easiest set of puzzles and the final puzzle could do with a different sound for successfully solving the codes than a buzzer, the written English could also do with a grammar check. Even better though, the puzzle forces you to educate yourself about your presumed surroundings, adding a feeling of immersion. In this case, it's about the beautiful country of Iraq.
To a lot of people, Iraq is viewed solely as a warzone and that does it a huge disservice. The country is the birthplace of incredible stories, history and incredible architecture and science. Long before either modern America or Britain even existed, Iraq was a major trading country across a large swath of the planet. I've been, though very briefly, and the kindness of her people and stunning vistas has stayed with me.
That said, look at this:
Every puzzle in that room is interlinked. Not only with each other but also with the next section. Hints and red herrings regarding what is going on are scattered in notebooks, hidden in nooks and splattered against the wall. 'My Father Lied' is as much about what the game isn't telling you as what it is. They leave just enough space for your imagination to fill in the gaps, which is intelligent game design because the human mind has evolved, as a defense mechanism, to presume the worst. I found myself exploring with an abundance of caution.
There's a little voice acting that fits nicely with the game's feel - going for a young protagonist was definitely a wise move, as the softer, younger voice of the woman gives off a sense of loneliness and fear. Unfortunately, the music is repetitive to the point I had to take breaks whilst playing, but knocking it off and putting on the Phantasmagoria 2 soundtrack really boosted the atmosphere - a big change in music type and a little more variation would seriously help this game.
As would fixing the controls. They're useable, but feel awkward and look like default icons for a phone app, something pixel or rotascoped-style would fit nicely, as would changing the controls to something a little more like the old Ultima games. Add a 180 turn button and have movement attached to both clicking with the mouse and the arrow keys, giving players the choice of which to use, and there's that problem easily fixed. I know that doesn't sound like much, but games like these survive and thrive on functionality and a cohesive visual structure. That said though, zero bugs, a goose-egg, which is pretty unusual and very welcome.
It doesn't look like much. It doesn't play like much. But a few minutes in and it clicks into place - this is an old-school Myst game and it DOES have that same excellent feel to the gameplay as you get past that first puzzle.
Even with all of the above to consider, I write up this Demo Play finding myself thinking about that little sound cue from when you get through the first puzzle, and it makes me want to play it all again.
Try My Father Lied here: My Father Lied DEMO
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