In my previous review on nfoPRINCE and Terminist Arcade’s HYPERVIOLENT, I briefly discussed the Lovecraftian genre. I mentioned the eldritch god Cthulhu and a boom in Lovecraftian horror games in early 2000s. Though I praised the game and believed it held up well in this genre, it did feel more like an underlying factor.
In today’s review of Forgive Me Father 2, the Lovecraftian theme takes center stage right from the beginning. Images of Cthulhu are everywhere. Posters with odd symbols and texts scatter the landscape. Weapons have strange appearances with tentacles, tendrils and teeth. Enemies can range from tentacled creatures and cultists who look human. There are dark tomes to use magical abilities, such as faster firing or life-stealing. I felt completely immersed in a Lovecraftian world, which was perfect for October and the spooky season!
Developed by Byte Barrel and published by Fulqrum Publishing, the game was originally released on steam October 24th, 2024. There was a later release for PlayStation and Xbox on September 9th, 2025. Forgive Me Father 2 throws the player into a Lovecraftian boomer shooter with dark-comic like visuals and a tale of trying to find sanity again. With 12 chapters, four boss battles, five difficulty settings, tons of secrets and things to unlock, and a New Game +, Forgive Me Father 2 offers hours of entertainment. The Priest must go through the distorted locations of his past, journeying through his own mind in order to save himself from madness. So, watch out for clocks as we discuss Forgive Me Father 2!
The Story: A Tale of Redemption
The story takes place immediately following the events of the original Forgive Me Father. We are playing as the Priest who serves as the main character in both games. The Priest has seemingly gone mad under Cthulhu’s power. He battles haunting visions and memory loss, unable to distinguish reality from illusion. We also regularly hear from another character, the Voice, an unknown figure who “helps” us along the way. Along our journey, we come across small pieces of lore, such as letters or old photos to help us remember our past.
Without having played the first game myself, I was still able to understand the story taking place. It wasn’t the most in-depth narrative, though with an insane Priest and questionable Voice, I’m not sure if the story they could tell would be the most reliable. The dialogue between the two characters help show who they are, their thoughts and motives. I appreciated the disjointed memories serving as the chapters we travel through. The bits and pieces of lore we do get help us piece together the Priest’s past without spelling it outright for us.
Admittedly, my experience with boomer shooters is limited. However, I’m getting the sense that story takes a supporting role to the gameplay. Though I would always love to hear a story, I can certainly enjoy experiencing it alongside the characters. The Priest himself doesn’t remember and can only piece his past together as he experiences it in his mind. As the player, I felt I was right there in the horrors with him. Overall, though the story is brief, confusing and maybe a bit messy, I think the developers at Byte Barrel did a great job given the type of game!
The Gameplay: Covering the Basics
Having played Forgive Me Father 2 on a PS5, the controls were pretty simple to grasp. Movement was fluid and shooting was straightforward. The weapon wheel that also slows down time is a nice touch and makes swapping weapons easy in mid-combat. I do wish there was a quick button to perform a melee attack, such as pressing down on R3, but it wasn’t too much of an issue to change manually. There’s also a flashlight that will need to be charged as the battery dies, or else you will be travelling in the darkness.
There are various items scattered throughout the chapters. These include items such as ammo, health and armor. Playing on normal difficulty, I felt there was a good balance of loot. I needed to keep an eye on my ammo, yet even with my horrible aim, I only ran out occasionally. Health seemed rare to come across, but armor was in place to resist enemy attacks. There were also some secrets to come across, such as hidden weapon tokens and strange clocks to destroy.
Chapters aren’t particularly long and the maps are rather straight forward. I never got lost or turned around and always had a good idea of where to head next. Sometimes the way would be locked and require me to either kill all the enemies in the room, find a corresponding colored key or pull a lever. Occasionally, a small camera image would pop up in the corner showing me the way opening which was super helpful to remind me where I need to go next.
After completing a chapter, you are given a results screen that shows valuable information, such as how many enemies killed or secrets unlocked. I really appreciate them showing the total so that players aren’t searching chapters for more secrets if they’ve already discovered them all. You are then transported to the Asylum. The Asylum serves as a hub between chapters for you to unlock new dark tome pages or weapons and replay previous chapters.
The Combat: Where this Dark Game Shines
Forgive Me Father 2’s combat is where the game truly shines thanks to the enemies and the weapons. To kick things off, the enemy designs stand out with impressive detail and creativity. From the thin zombie guys carrying severed heads to the tentacled army guys with rapid fired bullets, the attention to detail the developers gave was obvious. Every time I came across a new enemy type, I had to take a second just to admire how it looked.
Though I’m not a fan of them being static in the world pre-combat, its a much different story once they get going. The AI in different enemy types were given a range of movement, like some enemies are intentionally dodging my shots, making quick thinking necessary for combat. Melee enemies would spread out as they ran at me, instead of coming in a single-file line. They often lurked just beyond corners, forcing me to tread carefully, weary of whatever might jump out next.
I would say my only gripe with the enemies I’ve encountered so far is the amount of ranged enemies. At times, the game felt like a bullet heaven with the number of bullets I needed to dodge. Whereas this feels fitting for the boss battles, it became slightly tedious during regular combat. I found myself spending more time trying to dodge enemy shots than actually firing my own. Don’t get me wrong though, I can appreciate the challenge it brings. You can use enemies to body block the bullets, too, which could lead to some unique strategies.
Speaking of bullets, the weapons in this game are visions of art. It’s easy to see from their designs that the developers really wanted to pay special attention to them. The fact that most weapons have a Lovecraftian look only furthers my Lovecraftian experience. The weapons I’ve tried out feel unique from each other, like they are not just carbon copies of the next. Different shotguns for example have different traits that make them feel unique from the other shotguns. With six different weapon types and four weapons in each, there is a ton to discover here. Players have the ability to customize their playstyle with the weapons they use. Gathering weapon tokens in chapters felt super rewarding knowing that the next weapon you buy could be the coolest one yet.
The Graphics & Audio: A Big Tentacle Applause
This section will be brief but only because I have nothing but praises in these departments. The game showcases a beautifully crafted art style that delights the eye. The dark comic-style graphics blended with the Lovecraftian theme and the violence was a great choice by the developers. The enemies, weapons and world simply looked cool. I wish there was a guide so that we could look at the models closer. The game delivers superb lighting and shadows—assuming, of course, you’ve kept your flashlight charged. There’s a great attention to detail in the designs for enemies and weapons. This shows how much passion Byte Barrel has for this game.
The audio follows along these same lines. Enemies only make noise when they spot you, but their ability to hide behind corners and walls makes encounters far more intense. I jumped any time I walked past a barrier and heard groans from behind me. Some enemies will even have more unique sounds, which again, shows the attention to detail the developers gave to this game. The music also has a nice balance of intensity and eeriness depending on the situation.
The Conclusion: Perfect for the Halloween Season
From what I can find, Forgive Me Father 2 will be receiving a new chapter and physical releases for PS5 and Nintendo Switch on November 7th, 2025. Beyond that, I’m not sure what else the developers have in store, if anything. Honestly, despite the game’s seemingly short length, it feels complete. Plus, with New Game +, tons of weapons and abilities to unlock, and all the secrets and clocks to discover, there’s a lot more to the game than just beating the chapters. I’m not a big VR gamer, but I think this game would be super fun to play in VR. Or perhaps they might be working on a 3rd installment instead?
Overall, I had a blast and will definitely continue playing this one post-review. I haven’t beaten all the chapters yet and I’ve heard the Old One Cthulhu itself makes an appearance. If you were or still are a fan of boomer shooter games such as Doom, I encourage you to give this one a try! I would also recommend this game to those that enjoy the oddities of the Lovecraftian genre as the attention to details will fully immerse you within a Lovecraftian world. A big bravo to Byte Barrel and I’ll be sure to keep my eyes open for what they do next.
T̵͉̖̦͕͔͌̔͂̌̈́̎̑̾̓̚̕h̸̲̫͎͎͈̞̥̩̹͔̫̏̎͜ä̷̧̧̱͔̲̭̟̯͖̲̝͖̩͉̰́͛̓͗̅̒̄̿̉͌͒̊n̶̢̨̯̟̹̜͍̜̩͍̳͖͑̓̾͆̀̐̏͐̈́̒̈̈͜͜͠͝͝k̶̹̞̣̝̘͉̼̘̹̪̏͌̃̀̅̍̊͘ͅs̵̢̭͈̣̜̋̃̈́̈͊͒̀̚͝͝ ̵̡̠͇̱͉̖̭̺̈̐̌͌͛̂̐͆̈́̀̕f̷̛͔͎̮̟̙̜̝̣̟̮͍̪̮͔̣̄̐̅͋͋̀̄̌̋̕̚ȍ̷͖͚̠͙͕̖̽̀̀͌͊r̷̛̰̜̟͆̇̽̄̀̀̊ͅ ̸̛̖̖̥͇̊̓̍̊̏͘ŕ̶̖̺͈̭͎̻̻̿̿ͅȩ̶̘̙͓̦̃̑̂̀̓̿̚ä̸̜̻̖̱̣̟̝̕d̷̜͖͎̝͚͈̫͔̲̟̍́̀͐̆̍͊̊̋͊͑͌̌̕ͅi̷̡̢̧̼̝͇̗̘̭̰̹͂̈̊n̴̢͕̳͕͎̳̭̯̬̖̥̻͎͛̊̿̀̄̓̅̋̒̔͊ğ̵̢͕͕̝̯͓̓̿͋̉̅͒͂͌̆̽̓̇͘!̶̨̣̖̌̆͛̂̽̑̀͗́͒̅͒̃͌͠
