Have you ever played a series of games out of order? Well, that is what I did. I had no idea Varney Lake was part of a series until I finished the game. Now that I played Mothmen 1966, many things in Varney Lake make sense.
Mothmen 1966 is a visual novel told from three perspectives. It’s weird, but it explains many of the plot points I was confused about in Varney Lake. I like how strange this series is and how all of these different myths work together.
Most of the time, you play mini-games and make dialogue choices. I like this sort of game. It isn’t going to win any awards, but it is a fun visual novel/ adventure game.
TLDR: A Creative Story with Minimal Gameplay.
Narrative
The story isn’t as good as Varney Lake. It explains many things in that game but isn’t as good. We follow three people:
- Lee – A college student studying history
- Victoria – A college student who is pregnant with Lee’s baby.
- Holt – He owns a gas station, collects experimental Civil War weapons, and cares for his grandmother.
There are two other characters in the game. These are minor characters, and we don’t get POVs of them:
- Lou – A writer who knows a lot but doesn’t do a great job telling people things. Seriously, he sucks at it.
- Elise – Holts’s Grandmother, who Holts’s Great-grandfather possesses.
There are also the Men in Black. I thought they would play a larger role in the game, but they just disappeared. Lou is a much more interesting character than Holt. I would’ve liked him to be the POV instead of Holt.
In this story, there is a meteor shower every 33 years. This meteor shower is Intense every 100 years, and when that happens, it spawns were-monsters. Were-Rabbits, Were-Dogs, and Mothmen. It is a cool idea.
They try to tie this to historical accounts. I’m not sure about it, but in this world, it works. This is a strange world where the supernatural exists alongside ordinary people, but most of it is still hidden.
In the end, Lee and Victoria find the goat man who will appear in Varney Lake. It is nice to see how that happened since the events of this game are explained in Varney Lake. Aside from that, it is a short game.
Gameplay
There isn’t much to talk about here. Most of what you’re doing is reading a story, making dialogue choices, and solving some simple puzzles. It is a short game, but it is a fun one.
The story is the real centerpiece here. There are three points of view: Holt, Lee, and Victoria. A few more characters are present, but they don’t matter as much. The main points of view are Holt, Lee, and Victoria.
At times, there are simple mini-games and puzzles. There are fail states for the puzzles; if you fail, you’re given a chance to try again. This is nice because you don’t have to start over.
There was only one puzzle that gave me a lot of trouble. That was shooting the lights out near the end of the game. I think I failed five or six times before I figured it out. The solution isn’t hard, but it makes you think, which is one of the things that makes a great puzzle.
While the gameplay is simple, it works for the story. It doesn’t make things too complicated and lets you enjoy the story. That is one of the best things I can say about the game.
Visuals
Much like Varney Lake, Mothmen 1966’s art style is unique. Like many retro-inspired indie games, it uses a throwback art style to computers in the 1980s and 90s. It looks really cool, and I love it a lot.
This game uses a blue-green color palette. In terms of graphics, it is darker than Varney Lake. Both games deal with serious problems and death. Things look creepy in this game, and that helps to make this a more effective horror game.
I like the graphics a lot. It reminds me of a few games I played with my friend Andrew. He had an older computer, and we played a few point-and-click adventure games.
8/10. Mothmen 1966 has a very creative story with a few interesting characters. I didn’t like Lee and Victoria that much, but Lou is great in this game. He is a weird character that I hope is in the last game of the series.
Pros
- Great Story
- Fun Retro Graphics
- Easy to play
Cons
- Short
- Minimal Gameplay
- If you don’t like to read, you will hate this.
Conclusion
I like this game, but I don’t like it as much as Varney Lake. Both stories are pretty great, but this one feels too short. It sets up a lot, but I would’ve liked more explanation.
There are a few characters that I thought weren’t developed that well. I’m glad that some of these characters show up in other games, but it is odd, to say the least. I hope that more gets explained in the last game.