Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son
- September 17, 2019
- Tequila Works
Like Father, Like Son is an interesting VR experience that mostly succeeds despite lacking the charm of the source material
Get on Steam"Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son" is a narrative-driven puzzle game where you play as Phil Connors Jr., reliving the same day over and over in Punxsutawney. Interact with characters, solve puzzles, and explore multiple endings to break the cycle and learn from your experiences. The game encourages you to appreciate family and friends, while pondering life's cyclical nature.
PC
Virtual Reality
Windows
Oculus Rift
PlayStation
PlayStation VR
Reviews
- The game features a heartwarming story that captures the essence of the original film, with engaging character development and emotional moments.
- Gameplay mechanics, including the time-looping and mini-games, provide a fun and interactive experience that keeps players engaged.
- The voice acting and overall production quality are commendable, contributing to an immersive VR experience.
- Many players experienced issues with mini-games, particularly with precision tasks that can become tedious and frustrating due to required repetition.
- The character interactions and dialogue options can feel limited and unlikable, making it hard for players to connect with the protagonist.
- Technical issues, such as awkward controls and glitches, detract from the overall experience, leading to frustration during gameplay.
- story114 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The game's story is widely praised for its heartwarming and charming narrative, which remains faithful to the original film while introducing engaging gameplay elements. Players appreciate the immersive storytelling, solid voice acting, and emotional depth, although some note that the repetition of mini-games can detract from the experience. Overall, it is considered a touching and enjoyable story that resonates well with fans of the movie.
“There's really no shortage of nice things I can say about the story; it's such a heartwarming tale that you really just need to experience it.”
“The fun story, the cute character design, the uplifting music, everything comes together for an incredibly wholesome experience definitely worth playing for anyone that loves the original film.”
“The narrative is immersive and surprisingly original; there's a decent variety of mini-game style tasks at which the character continues to improve, and there's a lot of pathos in the storytelling with several moving moments.”
“If you haven't seen the movie, the game's story, which relies heavily on the movie, will likely fall flat.”
“One major unexplored part of the story itself is the time skipping itself.”
“Character animation is pretty bad, index controller support is there but poorly implemented, and the story played like absolute nonsense for day one (though that will get better as the days go on, I assume).”
- gameplay34 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay features a unique teleportation movement system and engaging VR mini-game mechanics, allowing players to interact with the environment in creative ways. While the time-looping mechanics offer a variety of scenarios and learning opportunities, some players find the repetition frustrating. Overall, the gameplay is praised for its seamless integration of humor and story, though it may have some awkward control mechanics.
“Its mechanics are seamless, and the story is fantastic.”
“Expect 3 - 5 hours in casual gameplay, and likely up to 7 - 8 if you decide to do everything, break things, and do it all over again!”
“Time-looping mechanics are superb: there are a lot of variations and shortcuts for repeated scenes.”
“The gameplay lets you do a lot of things with the environment, but also seems to unnecessarily (or necessarily for the plot?) restrict you.”
“It can get annoying having to do the same things over and over, but I love the unique gameplay mechanic, further augmented by VR.”
“Wide variety of interactions in the mini games, however some do get a little frustrating while trying to get used to the controller mechanics.”
- graphics20 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The game's graphics are described as whimsical and polished, with a unique and creepy art style that some players appreciate. However, there are notable criticisms regarding character models, which suffer from clipping issues and lack nuanced facial animations, making them less effective in a dialogue-driven context. Overall, while the visuals have their strengths, they fall short in certain areas, particularly in character representation.
“The graphics are whimsical, the audio and voice acting are great, and I love the art style.”
“It is fairly polished, especially when it comes to graphics.”
“Each time is multiple artworks as well.”
“The visuals are a bit of a letdown.”
“The character models constantly clip into other objects and themselves, and the facial animations are not nuanced enough to convey believable emotions or properly lip-sync.”
“The people in the game use an art style that is very creepy.”
- emotional19 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is widely praised for its heartwarming and touching story, which resonates deeply with players, offering a wholesome experience enhanced by cute character design and uplifting music. Many reviewers highlight the emotional impact of the narrative, particularly its satisfying and heartfelt conclusion, making it a must-play for fans of the original film. While the gameplay includes repetitive minigames, the overall emotional journey remains a standout feature.
“There's really no shortage of nice things I can say about the story; it's such a heartwarming tale that you really just need to experience it.”
“Extraordinarily heartwarming, this game will give you a wonderful experience for a few hours.”
“Great story, stays true to the movie, a heartwarming ending.”
- humor9 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its clever and spot-on R-rated humor, effectively revitalizing familiar storytelling tropes through engaging mechanics that encourage players to learn from their mistakes. Reviewers highlight the fantastic voice acting and amusing story, along with entertaining minigames, contributing to an overall hilarious adventure experience.
“Tequila Works certainly revived and refreshed the tropes that make reliving the same day story an enjoyable and hilarious experience.”
“Amazing, funny, and cleverly done adventure game.”
“Fantastic voice acting, funny story, and a few clever minigames.”
- grinding5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while some mini-games are enjoyable and well-paced, preventing tedium, others are seen as repetitive and tedious, especially with random difficulty spikes that can disrupt the flow. Overall, the ability to relive days and improve with each iteration adds a layer of engagement, but the presence of several monotonous mini-games detracts from the experience.
“I need to replay the same mini-games several times, and many of them feel tedious with random difficulty spikes.”
“Grinding through repetitive tasks makes the experience feel more like a chore than fun.”
“The constant need to grind for resources takes away from the enjoyment of the game.”
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development is highlighted as a strong point, with players appreciating the engaging story and charming character design that contribute to a wholesome experience. The overall presentation resonates well with fans of the original film, enhancing the emotional connection to the characters.
- music2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as uplifting and integral to creating a wholesome experience, complementing the fun story and cute character design, making it a delightful choice for fans of the original film.
“The fun story, the cute character design, the uplifting music, everything comes together for an incredibly wholesome experience definitely worth playing for anyone that loves the original film.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The minigames in the title are considered basic and functional, but their lack of depth and variety results in minimal replay value, leading players to feel that there is little incentive to revisit them.
“Each minigame is basic, generally works, but is not fleshed out enough to warrant any kind of replay value.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The stability of the game is marked by limited exploration and occasional glitches, which can disrupt the experience. Additionally, some users find the interactivity to be awkward at times, further impacting overall stability.
“Exploration is incredibly limited.”
“Interactivity can be awkward at times.”
“There are occasional glitches.”
Critic Reviews
Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son review
Like Father, Like Son is an interesting VR experience that mostly succeeds despite lacking the charm of the source material
70%Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son PC Game Review (HTC Vive)
Without the charm of Bill Murray, this "sequel" just comes across as mean.
50%Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son Review
Phil Connors is dead. That’s Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son’s opening gambit and it doesn’t get much better from there on in.
40%
