From Tabletop To Screen : Game Review ‘Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace’

March 24, 2021

Written by Capt McNeely

Georgia Division ZADF Twitter: @ZADF_ORG

A big thank you and flailing of tendrils to Asmodee Digital, and Artefacts Studio for the opportunity to take a look at the tabletop RPG turned Video game, Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace. The game is based on the popular “Arkham Horror” board game series by Fantasy Flight Games that takes place in the world of H.P. Lovecraft pitting everyday people fighting to protect their sanity while being pulled into the world of cosmic horror.
 
 

 
 
Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace takes place in the 1920s where an acquaintance to an astrology professor from Miskatonic University finds her murdered in her own home by cultists, setting off a chain of otherworldly events tied to a comet she’s been researching. Now the friend along with others ventures out to solve her murder and the strange occurrences surrounding it.
Now onto the game itself! When it comes to controls it’s a bit overwhelming at first but quickly you get the hang of it, along with the help of the tutorial at the start and prompts on the screen reminding you what buttons do what.
The soundtrack is amazing and really encapsulates the story and its tone. What I really like about this game is that the characters have a lot of spoken dialogue, not many RPGs have that. The voice actors are great and they help bring the characters (from the tabletop series) to life. The only complaint I have is the volume in the cinematic moments, it’s really loud no matter how I adjust the settings, so headphone users beware!
 
 

 
 
The art of the game is bright and colorful even in its darkest atmospheres the characters find themselves it still remains vibrant. The way some of the character models look compared to their illustrations do come across as different which could use improvement but otherwise, you know who each character is and they look distinct.
 
 

 
 
The gameplay is truly that of an RPG, you have to help keep your characters from being influenced by what they see or do in the world around them as to how you interact with a locked drawer or locker could raise the risk of you being influenced by the Old Ones. Combat in the game is turn-based and will require patience for novice RPG players. Here’s also item management which helps force players to strategize each character’s loadout.
 
 

 
 
Speaking of characters, what I like most is that in every level, you start off with two characters and find (unlock) a new character that joins your group for that level. After each level, the characters are back at an office where before a new level you can pick which character you want to go as some characters will need to rest if they have been afflicted too much by the Old Ones which can affect how they perform tasks, especially during combat. Each character has their own back-story, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses that they bring to the team.
 
 

 
 
Overall Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace is an entertaining RPG video game that brings the world of Lovecraft to life in a unique way. New players to RPGs will have to be patient as there’s not much wiggle room to learn, one thing I wished this game could have (if it’s possible in any RPG game) is a difficulty setting where newer (or rusty) RPG players can choose an easier difficulty so it allows them to master how the game works along with enjoying the story instead of being dropped right into the chaos.
With good art, great music, good voice cast, and story, Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace ranks high with difficulty, graphical glitches, and cinematic sound bugs affecting the score lightly. On my scale of 1-10, this game is an 8.5!
Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace is out now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Steam, and Nintendo Switch!
 

Share This Article

You May Also Like…