Retro first-person shooters are enjoying a quiet rennaissance on Steam, particularly in the indie community. Among these titles, Byte Barrel's Forgive Me Father is primed to make waves thanks to its Lovecraftian aesthetic. The FPS features two-dimensional sprites, similar to those in Wolfenstein, Marathon, and DOOM, but captializes on the aesthetic by rendering the world like a comic book; each screen looks like the panel from graphic novel. That's not the only thing primed to have Forgive Me Father stand out in the crowd.
In an interview with Game Rant, Byte Barrel teased the systems that set Forgive Me Father apart from other retro FPS titles. Most notably, the game features lite RPG-like systems, including upgradable stats and skills. One such ability functions like the popular 1990s cheat code, God Mode. Being a Lovecraft-inspired game, the resource players leverage to use such 'magic' is madness, rather than mana.
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God Mode, Healing, and More
Forgive Me Father features two playable characters: a priest and a journalist. So far, the demo footage and screenshots have only revealed gameplay from the perspective of the Priest, but Barrel Byte said the difference between the two is more than cosmetic.
"We see the Priest as a more defensive and stronger character who uses more defense skills - God Mode, as you mentioned. On the other hand, the Journalist is more fragile but fast and offensive with area damage skills."
Giving the player two different classes with unique abilities may seem simplistic in the face of Doom Eternal's robust skill trees, but in the retro FPS genre, getting the most out of a simple premise is the point. For example, games like Sprawl - based around comparable mechanics in Source Engine titles - are seemingly sparse compared to modern titles. However, big things can grow around simple frameworks. A character who can wade directly into the action versus a glass cannon who can handle crowds at a distance is a distinction that can affect everything from optimal weapon choice to target priority, to say nothing of general playstyle.
Go Mad, Stay Mad
Eldritch horror almost always presents striking visuals, but there's more to the aesthetic than tentacles, stars, and cultists. Themes of madness are inherent to Lovecraft's original stories, to say nothing of Lovecraftian works that have grown around their mythos. Survival often has a conflict of interest with sanity. Byte Barrel said its game will be leveraging that unique dynamic.
"The game’s madness system will function as a kind of mana to use skills, but it also will boost the player's basic capabilities, such as damage dealt. The player can hold a high level of madness, which gives him more damage but it will change the player's view and make it more difficult for him to see and aim at enemies."
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Naturally, the way the player goes mad is by committing acts of brutal murder. Killing enemies will gradually increase madness, as will certain pick-ups like alcohol, but out of combat the red haze will gradually fade alongside its potential benefits. This is an extremely thematic mechanical flourish, and the concept has even more potential than what is being teased. Byte Barrel could consider employing sadistic mind tricks, like Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem at high madness. It could also use the state as a doorway to secret areas, or even a narrative vehicle. However, such features would stray from the genre's affinity for simplicity.
A Well-Stocked Arsenal
Forgive Me Father is as much a classic shooter as it is a Lovecraftian mind trip, and that means the player needs a satisfying, diverse arsenal of firearms. Byte Barrel promises the player will encounter eight distinct weapon types, with multiple upgrades for each. Most of these upgrades will be flat stat improvements, but some of them stand to change the weapon's mechanics as well.
Byte Barrel is coy about the precise nature of its system, however. One can guess the roles of several of the guns available from the available footage - shotguns, pistols, and a tommy gun are all present - but other gun types are more of a cipher, like a curious weapon with a chemical tank affixed to the side. It could be an upgraded machine gun, or a new weapon altogether. Crucifixes, and speargun-crossbow hybrids raise similar questions. Yet, it seems man is not meant to know until the game hits Early Access next month.
Forgive Me Father is currently in development for PC, with an Early Access release planned for October 28, 2021.