Info about Forgive Me Father 2:

Official game description:
Play the first instalment of the franchise
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About the Game
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Journey once again into a malevolent world inspired by H.P Lovecraft’s myths where madness awaits on every corner. Embark on a path to salvation as you continue the story of the Priest character from the first installment. How long can you balance on the edge of sanity? Will your sins be forgiven, or your soul consumed by madness?
**Distinctive dark comic-like visuals**
Dark hand-drawn graphic design where every frame looks like a page from a comic book is one of the pillars of Forgive Me Father, and the sequel brings a fresh perspective to its unique style with improved sprites, models and atmospheric lighting effects. Prepare to feast your eyes on juicy blood effects and animated gibs flying everywhere!
**Dive into the madness**
Defeat Lovecraftian nightmares with a wide range of weapons. Fight hosts of diverse, formidable enemies and beware: each and every one of them evolves into different, ever more evil and twisted forms of themselves - this journey does not get any easier!
**Gear up and fight**
Define your own playstyle and assemble the deadliest arsenal with plenty of weapons to choose from, each with even more powerful variations designed to cause absolute mayhem and bring utter destruction upon your foes. Take your pick from devastating shotguns, lethally accurate rifles, explosive launchers, and unleash their full potential.
**Gain mad skills**
Overwhelming madness is your best friend and worst enemy at the same time. Let it flow through you, unleash absolute mayhem on your foes and gain extraordinary powers as a reward. Embrace the insanity, use it to fuel your bizarre new abilities, and teach the horrors assaulting your senses to fear YOU!
**Otherworldly soundtrack**
Experience the surprisingly fitting combination of strong electric guitar riffs and energetic drums underscoring the dark Lovecraftian atmosphere. Slay hordes of deranged cultists and confront unimaginable ancient evil while listening to the original soundtrack that will make you headbang for hours on end.

Release date: Oct 24, 2024

Categories: Boomer Shooter, Lovecraftian Horror, First-Person Shooter, Weapon Customization, Comic Book Art Style, Single-player Story, Arena Shooter

Feature scans:
- Proton/Linux: score 25; verdict: Works with minor performance caveats; summary: The game runs well on Linux desktop via Proton and on Steam Deck, with reports of flawless play. However, performance below 30 FPS on Steam Deck in demanding scenes and the need for lower settings on mid-range hardware are noted. These are general performance issues not unique to Linux.
- Steam Deck: score 65; verdict: Tinkering Required; summary: The game shows significant performance and compatibility problems on Steam Deck, with frequent frame drops below 30 FPS in large fights, crashes at launch (including UE errors), and heavy battery drain. While a few users report it runs okay with adjustments, the majority indicate poor optimization, requiring low settings and FPS capping. The verified badge is misleading as reported by one user.

- Hardware Profile:
  - Summary: Performance on Windows with less than 8GB VRAM is mixed: 8GB VRAM users have occasional crashes but enjoy the game, while 6GB VRAM users are blocked by an unresolvable black screen bug.
  - Sample size: 33 (4% coverage)
  - Audience skew: Review sample is mostly Windows-based.
  - Windows <8GB VRAM (mixed, 14 reports): Users with 8GB VRAM report gameplay is enjoyable with some crashes, while those with 6GB VRAM face persistent black screen issues that could not be resolved.
  - Caveats: 33 of 745 reviews expose hardware metadata.; Review sample is mostly Windows-based.
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $8.00 - $15.00
  - Reasoning: Multiple reviews explicitly state the full $25 price is too high, suggesting it's only worth buying at a discount. The sweet spot from sale purchase mentions is around $10-15, and the community consistently recommends waiting for a sale rather than paying full price. This establishes a fair base-game range of $8-15, reflecting perceived value and typical discount expectations.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 8.5h
  - Story completion: N/A
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The 'gameCompletion' metric is estimated at ~8.5 hours based on multiple reviews: one explicitly states 'About ~8.5 hours', another indicates 8-9 hours for completion (with 1/3 left), a Spanish review notes 'average time' with a rating of 8/10, and a comparison remark mentions 'slightly shorter playtime' relative to the first game. No reliable evidence exists for 'storyCompletion', 'sessionLength', or 'endgame', so those are null.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: Players find the early-to-mid game repetitive and frustrating due to weak progression, boring reliable weapons, and monotonous combat. Fun only improves after late-game difficulty adjustment or settling for effective but dull weapons.
  - Stance: Fun then drops
  - Anchor: Access to upgraded weapons and a comfortable difficulty setting
  - Time to anchor: N/A
  - Friction: limited weapon upgrade points and weak side-grades that can make weapons worse; boring early-game weapons are far more effective than interesting ones; repetitive room-to-room combat loop with few enemy types; lack of clear objectives or progression hooks; perceived lack of meaningful progression (no skill tree, limited passive slots)
  - Unlock drivers: lower difficulty setting; reliance on boring but effective weapons; accepting limited progression design
  - Conditions: lower difficulty setting (Very Easy) reduces frustration in late game; effective boring weapons that reliably clear encounters; progressing through levels to unlock weapon variety
- Player Archetypes:
  - Boomer Shooter Enthusiast (sale)
    - Motivation: Fast-paced, mindless fun with Lovecraftian atmosphere and comic art style.
    - Playstyle: Aggressive, fast movement, using a variety of weapons, arena-based combat.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: old-school shooter fan; boomer shooter enthusiast; Doom fan; Lovecraftian horror fan
    - Reference games: Doom Eternal; Project Warlock; Ultrakill; Forgive Me Father 1
  - Disappointed Series Veteran (no buy)
    - Motivation: To experience more of the same universe and gameplay, but ultimately let down by downgrades.
    - Playstyle: Methodical, comparing to the first game, seeking improvement but finding regression.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: no buy
    - Labels: Forgive Me Father 1 fan; old-school shooter veteran; Lovecraftian horror enthusiast
    - Reference games: Forgive Me Father 1; Doom Eternal


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Art style praised (weight 0.74): Multiple reviewers highlight the art design, visual style, and aesthetic as standout features, with some noting a Lovecraftian or comic book influence.
- Weapon variety and design (weight 0.66): Weapons are praised for their variety, aesthetics, and animations, with a good upgrade system that encourages experimentation.
- Superior to original (weight 0.63): Many players feel the game is an overall improvement over the first, citing better visuals, sound, level design, and gameplay mechanics.
- Soundtrack and audio praised (weight 0.45): The soundtrack, ambient music, and sound effects are frequently commended for being atmospheric and well-executed.
- Gameplay improvements (weight 0.38): Weapon variety, level design, and combat feel are enhanced, with better hit feedback, blood effects, and movement.

Common complaints:
- Weapon upgrades are downgrades (weight 0.44): Weapon upgrades in the sequel feel like downgrades or simple sidegrades, and the original upgrade system has been removed entirely.
- Sequel fails compared to original (weight 0.4): Reviewers consistently compare the sequel to the first game and find it inferior in overall quality, soundtrack, and gameplay loop.
- Confusing and tedious level design (weight 0.38): Level design in areas like the Egyptian pyramid and Desert Shrine relies on tedious switch hunts without a map, causing frustration.
- Game is too easy and slow (weight 0.32): The sequel is considered much easier, slower, and more boring than the first game, losing the challenge and pacing of the original.
- Unsatisfying weapons (weight 0.3): Weapons feel unsatisfying, anemic, and poorly balanced, with only a few worth using.
- Too few skill slots (weight 0.3): Only three active and three passive skill slots are available, which feels overly restrictive compared to a skill tree.
- Disappointing final boss (weight 0.28): The final boss is underwhelming, easily beaten in 1-2 attempts, and the ending is bad.
- Awful voice acting (weight 0.25): Voice acting is widely criticized as awful, emotionless, and cringe-worthy.
- Tight ammo economy (weight 0.25): Ammo and health pickups are very scarce, forcing players to run around searching rather than engaging in combat.
- Cliché story ending (weight 0.17): The story ending is a cliché 'it was all in his head' trope that many reviewers dislike.
- No checkpoint reload option (weight 0.17): No checkpoint reload option means accidental exits can lose progress, a significant quality-of-life flaw.
- Gameplay drastically different (weight 0.17): Gameplay feels radically different from the first game, with players feeling underpowered.
- Arenas too small (weight 0.17): Arenas are too small with no cover, making combat frustrating.
- Second part is worse (weight 0.16): The second part of the game is worse than the first, with an incoherent story.

Gameplay feedback:
- Difficulty balance issues (weight 0.25): Players frequently mention that the game's difficulty is poorly balanced, with some calling it overcomplicated. This is a recurring concern that affects overall enjoyment.
- Tight ammo economy (weight 0.25): Ammo is very scarce, especially for reserve ammunition, making most guns unusable most of the time and forcing tight resource management.
- Strong core mechanics (weight 0.25): The core shooting mechanics are solid, the art style is cool, and the soundtrack is highly praised as a positive aspect.
- Slower combat pacing (weight 0.24): The combat is described as slower than the predecessor, with a greater emphasis on taking cover rather than running and dodging. This shift in pace has been noted as a significant change.
- Tedious maze-like levels (weight 0.23): Some levels feel like mazes requiring many switches with no guidance, making them tedious and overly long.
- Cheap enemy spawns (weight 0.23): Enemies spawn from walls or around corners in tight spaces, with area-of-effect and homing attacks that lead to cheap deaths.
- Irrelevant tome powers (weight 0.17): Some special abilities and passives feel irrelevant or skippable, with players noting that passive buffs often outperform active tome powers.
- Slow movement (weight 0.16): The player character moves slowly, lacks a dash or double jump, which makes evading enemies harder in combat.
- Single playable character (weight 0.09): Only one playable character is available compared to the first game which had two, reducing variety.
- Non-standard progression (weight 0.09): The upgrade tree relies on collecting clocks and completing challenges instead of earning XP from kills, which feels less intuitive.
- Welcomed shop system (weight 0.09): The shop replacing level-up points for upgrades is a welcome addition that improves the progression system.
- Poor checkpoint UX (weight 0.09): The restart checkpoint button is placed right next to the exit level button, and there is no reload option, causing frustration.
- Launcher advertises (weight 0.09): The game's new launcher pushes advertisements at the player, which is an unwelcome addition.
- Quiet dialogue (weight 0.09): Dialogue is often too quiet or unvoiced, making it hard to follow the story.
- Weird checkpoint placement (weight 0.08): Checkpoint placement is inconsistent and sometimes weird, leading to uncomfortable replay segments.
- Enemies stuck in geometry (weight 0.08): Enemies sometimes get stuck on objects or hide in geometry, breaking immersion and making combat trivial.
- Weird music cues (weight 0.08): Some music cues feel odd or out of place, detracting from the atmosphere.

Performance notes:
- Launch and mid-game crashes (weight 0.2): Some players experience crashes to desktop on launch or after several hours of play, preventing further progress.
- Performance issues across hardware (weight 0.2): Players report that the game runs poorly and is choppy on high-end hardware like the Steam Deck OLED, regardless of graphical settings.
- DLSS DLL crash fix (weight 0.11): A specific DLL file related to DLSS causes crashes; deleting it resolves the crash issue.

Recommendations:
- Not recommended overall (weight 0.81): A large number of reviewers simply state the game is not recommended, without specific reasons, indicating widespread dissatisfaction.
- Play first game instead (weight 0.68): Many reviewers strongly advise playing the first game instead of this sequel, claiming it is superior and this one is not worth the time or money.
- Wait for sale or discount (weight 0.44): Several reviewers suggest waiting for a deep sale or buying on a key site, as the game is not worth its full price.
- Better alternatives exist (weight 0.25): Reviewers recommend playing other games like Cultic, Dusk, Amid Evil, or Doom 2 instead of this title.
- Only for genre fans (weight 0.24): Some reviewers say the game is only worth it for die-hard boomer shooter fans or those with nothing else to play.
- Game is unplayable (weight 0.24): A few reviewers claim the game is unplayable, leading to refunds or strong negative recommendations.
- Wait for full release (weight 0.16): A reviewer suggests waiting for the full release or a third installment before buying.
- Decent but not outstanding (weight 0.09): One reviewer describes the game as a decent middle-of-the-road shooter with nothing outstanding except its comic style.
- Refunded the game (weight 0.09): One reviewer had to refund the game, indicating a serious issue with purchase satisfaction.
- Not worth finishing (weight 0.09): A reviewer states the game is not worth finishing, indicating poor engagement or quality.
- UI oversight issue (weight 0.08): A single reviewer cites a UI oversight as the sole reason for not recommending the game, indicating a specific usability problem.
- Avoid if secrets bother you (weight 0.08): A reviewer warns against the game for players who dislike being told they missed many secrets at the end of missions.
- Lovecraftian horror suggestion (weight 0.08): One reviewer suggests the devs use the art style for a slow Lovecraftian horror shooter instead, implying the current game is mismatched.
- Do not recommend first game either (weight 0.08): One reviewer extends the negative recommendation to the first game as well, suggesting the series is not worthwhile.

Other player notes:
- Refund requested (weight 0.07): The player requested a refund but provided no further detail about the reason behind this decision.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.38): Players are frustrated by numerous bugs that force restarts, poor enemy visibility and aiming mechanics, and unbalanced enemy spawns that make combat feel unfair. The game's difficulty is poorly tuned even on the easiest setting, with scarce ammunition and health, while the card system limits build variety and confuses players.
- Disappointment (weight 0.29): Players feel the sequel fails to capture the quality of the first game, with worse gameplay, unbalanced difficulty, and a forced reliance on melee attacks despite cool weapon designs. The game is seen as a regression in many aspects, with rushed development and a floaty feel that differs too much from the original.
- Anger (weight 0.05): Players are infuriated by the lever activation mechanics in labyrinths and feel the game demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of good shooter design.
- Disgust (weight 0.05): Players are disgusted by the visually unappealing mushroom forest level and find the voice acting cringy with atrocious dialogue.
- Annoyance (weight 0.05): Players are annoyed by doors that remain closed after clearing areas, forcing restarts, and by the pointless change of the flashlight from a separate item to a rechargeable one.
- Boredom (weight 0.02): Players find the game extremely repetitive due to the same enemies and lever puzzles throughout.
- Mixed (weight 0.02): Players appreciate the weapon variety and bosses but consider everything else in the game to be very bad.
- Mild satisfaction (weight 0.02): Players are mildly satisfied that jerky enemy sprites now have turning forms instead of always facing the player, though they remain hard to read from a distance.
- Neutral acceptance (weight 0.02): Players accept that the game replaced strange progression and useless skills with weapon variants and card sets, making it a pure shooter without traditional progression.
- Slight criticism (weight 0.02): Players criticize that weapon differences within categories sometimes duplicate each other, forcing a balanced loadout choice between long-range or fast shotguns with different ammo capacities.
- Appreciation with reservation (weight 0.02): Players appreciate that levels now have cohesive style and are visually interesting, though some remain chaotic platform jumbles.
- Contempt (weight 0.02): Players express contempt by comparing the game unfavorably to classics like Fear, Serious Sam, and Blood.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.02): Players find the game genuinely awesome and enjoyable despite a UI oversight.}