The Bad Son Review: Corny Pixel Horror

The Bad Son is an upcoming story-rich 2D game which has an element of exploration. It is an RPGmaker game, and it shows. The game is not concerned with its gameplay which is very basic. The Bad Son is just here to tell an odd but interesting story about a mysterious town and its secrets. The game seems like when someone has tunnel vision on what they want. And here, the developer seemed only to get the story and atmosphere down. They succeeded in that sense where the story is very odd but damn interesting. There is a palpable sense of atmosphere in most of the spaces in the game (except a few, which I will get to). the mystery is compelling as one explores this odd, strange town. But this attention to detail is also contrasted with the various shortcomings in other departments. 

There are aspects of exploration with its semi-open world structure with are interesting. But they seem very arbitrary. Even the UI is very clunky with unnecessary stats which are useless. things such as an attack, defence and more are shown in the menu but anything other than the HP does not matter. There seem to be aspects of the basic RPGmaker UI which have not been replaced. These may seem arbitrary but they impact how the story is presented. Making this a very odd game.

The Bad Son is set to release on Steam on 23rd October.

Story

The Story is what carries the whole game and clearly is what The Bad Son completely leans over. The story starts in1979 with many kids being born on the same day. These kids are odd as said in the hospital. They seem intelligent from how they look. This has a lot of vibes similar to the movie “Village of the Damned”. So ya, it feels a lot like a corny eighties and nineties movie. That vibe and atmosphere are very palpable and done pretty well. The actual story kicks in after around two decades when a guy named Tom comes near the town. His car breaks down so Tom is forced to look for gas as he tries to get away from the place. 

The Bad Son’s Atmosphere

Tom is not a likeable protagonist. He is cocky and aggressive and it does seem like he is running away from a shady background. It is kinda fun to see him very irritated as he goes through the town. He just wants to get out back to his car and leave. But something compels him to move on in the town. He is forced into the town and along with us, he is discovering the mystery. There are many odd characters both Humanoid and not. As Tom is pushed deeper into the town further away from his car as he just tries to find some gas.

The Mystery of the Story

There is a lot of talk about how the kids spoiled the town. Non-human characters exist alongside the human characters in the game. It is very casual oddly enough no one comments on it. People are scared of someone called Malachai. The mystery slowly revolves around how the hell has this town been like this. With these camps, police and the government. The external world is never specified but the police and the mayor act like there is nothing odd. Even Tom is not surprised by talking to a Pig man who has Bankers and rats in prison.

Interesting Character Design

As the mystery unfolds there are hints about how messed up and crazy this world is. This pushes one to know what is happening. There are quite a many questions that the game poses upfront. Why are these people acting so odd? Who is this Malachai? Why are there anthropomorphic creatures all over the place? Why is everyone so casual? What happened to the kids? What do the monkeys mean? Why are the police not acting more aggressive towards this oddness? Who is The Bad Son? All this and more are there.

Unfolding the Plot

Few of these questions are answered. Tom later happens upon a doctor who carefully explains all the mutations and experiments. Implying that the creatures were made in labs. This does not explain why there are various skeletons in the game who talk. What about the clown in the factory? What purpose does he serve? After a point, the story just devolves into a lot of these random things which do add to the world. But also it does feel like the developer added this just because the character seems cool to add. It is miss mash. Of carefully constructed spookiness and just some random character who does not fit in the game.

Talking to a clown in the factory

There is also the fact that it is not sure how the world of the game operated. With the school, government and police all being ok with this weird stuff. This won’t work without a crazy world outside the town too, this would make sense as Tom is unfazed by the creatures. But if that is the case why does he find everything odd? There are some problems with the story in terms of its details some are extremely well thought out while some parts of the world just seem thrown together. But the core mystery about the town and kids is compelling which did help me push forward.

Themes and Atmosphere

The Bad Son has a lot of things to say. About how the systems are corrupt. Showing big institutions such as banks and their workers to be backstabbing self-serving humans. There is even an easter egg about Diogenes which kinda threw me off. Diogenes is a famous cynic of a philosopher. He is the man who was a controversial figure, to say the least. Diogenes cared for no one and preached about living frugally, like a beggar. He cared less for appearances and only for frugal survival alongside his loyal dogs. The game seems to imply that this is a better way to live. In this world of crazy doctors and greedy bankers. Alongside the complement government and police. The game kinda does imply that this is a nobler way to be minimal.

Roaming around the Streets

The Atmosphere as told is great with most of its settings. It has a really good vibe to it…..except for the last part of the game. Where it loses almost all its atmosphere with kinda a sudden change in the style of location. But for the most part, it is great roaming the streets of the Town. For the most part, the atmosphere holds it together.

Gameplay

The Gameplay is the weakest part of The Bad Son it is just walking around and for the most part interacting with characters or objects. There is more than often some very simple puzzle attached to it.  These interactions reveal the story through their words and that is all. very basic and simple.

Interactions in The Bad Son

Players can also sprint and it comes in handy in the stealth sections. Where you just hide in closets, bushes or places like that. Enemies run behind me as I tried to hide. once hidden they just bumble away. So ya go from hiding place to hiding place till getting to the end then come close and kill you or take most of your health away. One can save anywhere and can cheese through this but it just is more boring. There are also healing herbs and some first aid kits which are rare and can be found across the world, use them to heal in case you got hurt. That’s all; run, hide and heal. But sadly the running feels clunky and odd in the game.

Stealth in The Bad Son

But the worst part is the UI. It feels like it is very clunky with how it has some useless stats which do nothing. It is like how there are quite a few stats which are useless. The UI just adds to the confusion and the feeling that gameplay was an afterthought.

Graphics & Sound

The game looks pretty good for an RPGmaker game. How it manages to keep its art style is fun but there is nothing more to say about it. The music is ok, nothing exceptional but nothing bad. The graphical settings are just basic RPGMaker settings with the most important being the Difficulty slider. Other than that there seems to be a bug where ever the volume is changed it resets every time the game is restarted.

The Key for The Bad Son was provided by Victor Atobas and played on Steam.