Mad Father (マッドファーザー Maddo Faazaa) is an RPG Maker puzzle-oriented horror game by Sen. It was released on 10 December 2012.
A Steam remake, published by AGM Playism, was released on 23 September 2016. It features new cutscenes and artwork. A final Nintendo remake was published in 2020, featuring more content and a proper closure for the story.
This game is regarded as one of the most well-known and highly-received RPG Maker horror games of all time.
Mad Father takes place in northern Germany, where the 11-year-old protagonist Aya Drevis lives with her father Alfred and their maid Maria. Aya is a shy girl who never goes outside.
Her mother, Monika Drevis, was incredibly ill, and presumably died of illness before the occurrence of the game. Her father performs secret research in his laboratory in the house's basement, with the assistance of Maria.
Aya is aware that Alfred experiments on and kills humans in the basement, as well as the fact that he is involved in an extramarital affair with the younger Maria, a former homeless woman he had taken off the street some years prior.
On the anniversary of Monika's death, the very beginning of the game, Aya awakens at midnight to find herself surrounded by test subjects that escaped from the laboratory. Fleeing back into her room, Aya encounters the mysterious salesman Ogre, who offers her the task of solving puzzles to break into her father's laboratory and uncover his secret.
Aya discovers that her father had intended to perform taxidermy on her and convert her into a doll, as he had done to numerous other children, having been enamored with preserving humans after having killed his own mother as a youth.
Aya soon discovers that her father killed her mother in fear of her mother taking Aya away to prevent him from performing taxidermy on her.
Mad Father has a very special spot in my heart.
Growing up, I loved various RPG horrors such as 'Witches House', 'IB', 'Ao Oni', etc. I still to this day!
These games were an introduction to the horror genre for me, which remains my favorite still about a decade later.
My favorite memories of this game would have to be sitting there and admiring the artwork during cutscenes, slack-jawed. I've always loved the art style. Some of my favorite scenes in particular would have to be:
(Aya holding a lantern with Ines sneaking up behind her.)
(Monika and Aya in one of the endings.)