Forgive me Father 2 – Review

Forgive Me Father, again…

…for I have sinned. I listened to the voices that urged me to unspeakable horrors and whispered truths about the universe that the mind of a humble servant cannot comprehend. The constant clamour around me drove me mad… and, for a moment of peace, I did what I was asked, without realising how I had defiled my soul and mind. I see colours that shouldn't exist, shapes that defy reason, and I no longer trust those close to me, convinced that they are agents of forces older than your Kingdom and Creation. The nightmares of war have taken on a new meaning, and now I know that all the evil I have endured was planned by that creature sleeping in the depths of the ocean. I feel the voices invading my thoughts, and phrases like “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn” are starting to make sense… Forgive me, for I have sinned! Guide me on the right path and save my soul and mind… or not?!

Honestly, I didn’t pay much attention to the first Forgive Me Father when it was released in 2022. I don’t even think it was on my radar, considering the avalanche of legendary releases that year: A Plague Tale: Requiem, Sifu, Elden Ring, God of War: Ragnarök, Stray and others. I somewhat regret not noticing it at the time, because I’m sure I would have appreciated the sequel more. However, I can confirm that it’s not necessary to have played the original title to understand what’s happening in the second one, nor to have read the Necronomicon.

You might be wondering what this creation from Byte Barrel and Fulqrum Publishing is, because, at first glance, it doesn’t sound like a game that would interest me. However, a boomer-shooter with Lovecraftian influences and a strong visual identity can sometimes be exactly what I need to take a break from all the RPGs and soulslikes I keep writing about.

If I’ve piqued your interest, let’s start with the story.

In the Footsteps of Unknown Kadath

I don’t like to criticise a good game, but you need to be correctly informed about the product. Unfortunately, the narrative thread in Forgive Me Father 2 leaves a little to be desired. It’s not bad, and the developers’ involvement and passion are certainly felt, but, considering the extremely rich source material they had at their disposal and the avalanche of remarkable titles recently released, such as Ghost of Yōtei or Silent Hill f, the story here falls short of my expectations.

The Priest, one of the protagonists of the first game, wakes up in a mad world, where the influence of the Great Old One, Cthulhu, seems to have corrupted everything. Our hero is caught in a life-or-death struggle, and the ultimate stake is his own mind. Will he succumb to the sweet whispers of the cosmic entity, which tempt him with “absolute truth”, or will he continue to fight the cult’s followers and his inner demons, trying to save the world from the madness rising with the one who sleeps in the house in R’lyeh?

The story is presented through short cutscenes rendered in the style of American comic books, but the player has little impact on the narrative. The action takes place almost exclusively in the protagonist’s mind, who is institutionalised in a psychiatric hospital. He tries to understand the traumatic events he has been through, the death of a close friend, the horrors of the trenches in the First World War, but, as he progresses, reality unravels, and the world slips into a realm that defies the laws of nature and reason.

I can’t say that the lack of a complex story is necessarily a bad thing, considering that Forgive Me Father 2 is, in essence, a boomer-shooter. I didn’t have much time to delve into this interpretation of Lovecraft’s works either, because it’s hard to contemplate the “problem of corrupting memories” when a creature that looks like a walking tumour is trying to riddle you with an improvised machine gun.

Yog-Sothoth is the Key and the Guardian of the Gate

Since I mentioned the enemies, let’s get straight to it. In essence, Byte Barrel’s creation is an FPS focused on hyper-action. Most of the time, the player is constantly on the move, trying to avoid bullets, projectiles, and laser beams sent with love by enemies that seem to have stepped out of H. R. Giger’s fever dreams. Even if their design perfectly matches the game’s atmosphere and Lovecraft’s mythology, we rarely have the luxury of admiring it in all its splendour, because death lurks around every corner.

I had more time to admire the weapons created by the developers, and luckily for me, they are memorable. There are six main categories: melee weapons, pistol, shotgun, machine gun, grenade launcher, and exotic weapons, and each category offers four different variations. You can dispense justice like a sheriff in the Wild West with a revolver, or wield a thirsty “creature” that literally tears enemies apart. Not happy with the machine gun and wish you had a minigun? Not a problem. You can transform it into a relic created from the remains of a cosmic entity, capable of firing more bullets per minute than you can imagine.

While the game excels in combat, its level design is less impressive. Each level is a reference to one of the famous stories that inspired the game. Whether you’re traversing the flooded streets of Innsmouth, the pyramid dedicated to the Crawling Chaos, or the ancient vestiges beneath Antarctica, each location is a homage to H. P. Lovecraft. Most are quite straightforward, essentially large arenas connected by various corridors, but some contain puzzles that would even stump Yog-Sothoth. One such example appears towards the end of the game, where I had to search for no less than 28 buttons to advance to the next level.

I also had an unpleasant situation in a psychedelic forest, where flying fragments of earth harboured mushrooms as big as houses. Here, misfortune had it that the enemies shared the same colour palette as the environment. As a result, I began to understand how American soldiers felt in Vietnam and started to wonder if the enemies had become invisible or if the entire fungal kingdom had, in the meantime, learned to shoot weapons.

Gof’nn hupadgh Shub-Niggurath

We’ve discussed weapons, areas, story, and enemies. What we haven’t covered yet are the voice acting and music. Geoffrey Rude brings the protagonist and the voice of the great corruptor in his mind to life, subtly conveying the priest’s internal struggle perfectly. As for the soundtrack, it seems to have been conceived in the darkest depths of the cosmos. Each level begins with a simple version of a melody, which gradually becomes more complex until it transforms into a rock concert that gives you the energy needed to slaughter everything in your path.

If you set your expectations correctly, Forgive Me Father 2 is an excellent game, perfect for enjoying over a weekend. And if you’re a fan of the horror genre, know that you won’t find anything truly scary here, but you will discover plenty of references to the entire Lovecraftian mythos.

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Played on: Xbox Series X
Release date: 24 October 2024 (PC), 23 September 2025 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Byte Barrel
Publisher: Fulqrum Publishing