Arkham Horror- Mother’s Embrace Is An Enjoyable Experience That Doesn’t Dig Too Deeply Beneath The Surface

Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace is set during the Prohibition Era. You must solve the mystery of a forest tearing reality apart using one of several detectives. They have stats which give a slight advantage, or disadvantage, and have no personal arcs that give an incentive to choose one over another. The game’s stylistic choices look great and are definitely the game’s strongest point. As you work to stop a cult’s plans to resurrect the old gods, you may find the meandering journey is anticlimactic by the end. 

The combat of Mother’s Embrace isn’t too difficult. Though characters can get traumas that act as debuffs, once you’ve unlocked more detectives the affected character(s) can simply be left behind until the debuff fades. There are of course plenty of puzzles. These range from barely a challenge to ones so obscure it halts all progress. The investigation doesn’t feel meaningful despite playing a detective. Important plot points will be revealed without you piecing anything together.

There are a lot of areas to explore, but this also makes the shortcomings stand out more. It would be easy to ignore a few repeated items, but often a scene will include multiple look-alikes of the detective you’re playing. Mother’s Embrace has the saving grace of being relatively bug free so the immersion break comes off more comedic than frustrating. Especially since the game’s inventory system often requires you to leave behind useful items. Nothing despawns until the chapter ends though. So as long as you can deal with constantly running back and forth, there is a work around. 

While the experience was neither great or completely terrible, Mother’s Embrace does have a few moments creepy enough to fit comfortably into H.P. Lovecraft’s mythos. It’s very much an on the rails adventure that can leave the impression of being a passenger. The story is entertaining enough for one playthrough. There won’t be enough variation in how things play out regardless of who you start with. This is understandable since the characters are meant to be interchangeable. Anyone who wants to dip their toes into cosmic horror without things getting too abstract, may enjoy Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace.