Originally released as an indie PC game, Breeder Homegrown: Director’s Cut is an experimental adventure title with some visual novel-like themes. Even though it is dubbed as a horror game in the official description, there isn’t too many scary moments in this 60 minute story. Instead, everything is just odd but with a very serious tone.
Presented with very basic 8-bit sprites and two frames of animation, visually the game isn’t anything impressive as the focus is almost solely on the story telling. Playing as an old man who sneaks out of a medical clinic, the player must revisit his childhood home and remember fragments of his past. Explaining the story here would ruin the entire experience but let’s say things get pretty dark, tragic, and weird.
The house acts as the hub for the entire game and flashbacks are triggered by touching a few items in the environment. Each flashback is stranger than the last and depicts some unfortunately moments no child should experience. Since the entire experience is so strange, it takes a while to understand what is actually happening as the player. As there is no way to die or “game over” the player often is left wondering what to click in the environment next to activate the next cutscene or dialog tree. There are also a couple dialog segments in which the player is presented with a couple choices that lead to more choices. It is a little tedious to have to cycle through dialog options a few times to click on the answer the game wants you to give but it at least let’s players flesh out the narrative as much as possible. There were a few times I was left wondering what to do next, forcing me to button mash the activate button until I eventually found the one thing in the environment to trigger the next segment. The house is only so big so it usually doesn’t take too long to figure out what to do next but still can be a little annoying for first time players. The only other complaint comes from the character’s walking speed. It would have been nice if there was a dash button implementation.
Breeder Homegrown: Director’s Cut only costs $5 but provides one of the strangest experiences you can have on current gen consoles. From a gameplay perspective, it isn’t anything great and has some flaws. From a presentation stand point, the visuals are bland at best and the ominous soundtrack is a little unsettling but the narrative and how it is presented to the player brings an oddly depressing first person experience to the player. This shouldn’t be confused with low quality, however. If you enjoy short stories, visual novel titles, or just want to play something rather unique, this is an easy recommendation especially considering the low cost of admission.
Also available on Playstation Vita and Nintendo Switch.
Also Try: Yume Nikki -Dream Diary- (Switch)
Don’t Forget About: the visual novel section on Steam
Wait For It: the next season of Stranger Things
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
Rating
Our Rating - 7
7
Total Score
An experimental adventure with a visual novel-ish narrative that is odd, dark, but unique.