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Dino Crisis 2 owns bones and I'm also the weirdo that really liked Parasite Eve 2 for going full blown anime. I still prefer the urban horror elements of the first one but the second ain't bad.
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Mar 22, 2017 21:42
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al-azad posted:Dino Crisis 2 owns bones and I'm also the weirdo that really liked Parasite Eve 2 for going full blown anime. I still prefer the urban horror elements of the first one but the second ain't bad. Both Parasite Eves were very good games. I really liked how 2 gave Aya a really solid inner monologue. All the flavor text helps a lot with a game where you're shooting monsters by yourself for 90% of it.
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Mar 22, 2017 21:49
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I don't like when combat reduces a game's scares, but I really dislike when running and hiding / throwing bait and running is the only mechanic to bypass an enemy. I don't think combat has to reduce the scares, but it's just really hard to pull off. I'd cite Condemned as an example of a game that has a lot of combat and is still way scary. I thought, bad twist aside, Heavy Rain was totally effective, and did fighting and running away really well. I liked Parasite Eve, and I didn't find it scary, but I'd really like to see another game in the same vein with combat mechanics from PE1.
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Mar 22, 2017 22:23
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The old Alien versus Predator games were another that did horrific combat pretty well. Sure, you had a gun. It worked pretty great. Everything was dark, your motion sensor was full of false positives, and the enemy was really fast and really strong. So good luck spotting and shooting them first. Combat works when it's trying to keep you in a state of constant wariness and heightened vigilance.
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Mar 22, 2017 22:30
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Sakurazuka posted:Combat adds a sense of danger you can't really replicate any other way so I prefer my horror games with fighting. If I'm playing a horror game I prefer the combat to be like Condemned. At least, I think that's the one where you're mostly using lengths of pipe in visceral melee combat in tight spaces.
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Mar 22, 2017 22:55
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i liked shatmemz, i knew going in enemies were relegated to chase sequences but the environments were still very creepy, the psychological profile feature was neat, and it had good music
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Mar 22, 2017 23:02
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Theres other things you can do besides fighting that give the same rush. I know theres a few games that require rapidly building stuff and plotting routes and setting things up to avoid the scary stuff getting or pushing it back and thats a mechanic I could see getting more play in horror games. Adds a hell of a lot of tension even when you arent whacking stuff. FNF wouldnt be more tense if you fought the dudes
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Mar 22, 2017 23:04
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Condemned is at least honest when it comes to beating the mentally ill with pieces of rebar. Though that second game's story was fuckin ridiculous.
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Mar 22, 2017 23:08
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Improbable Lobster posted:Yes, because it isn't just a scary game you loving baby. The enemies are really easy to fight and 100% of the games impact comes from its story, not the by-the-numbers combat. Jesus dude. I never said the combat has to be there nor does it have to be hard, I said the combat added tension since it drained the two things that you needed to survive: health and ammo. Without combat you're left with health, without health and a fail state there's no tension and your horror game fails to be a horror game. Honestly, what else do you think are good horror titles?
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Mar 22, 2017 23:20
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Smh at people ignoring the best horror game of all time 
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Mar 22, 2017 23:22
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I've gotten a little tired of the 100% anti-combat games, simply because so many games started piggybacking on Amnesia and SOMA that it's practically a subgenre of its own now. I think Alien: Isolation is a better example of how a horror game can work combat in. The majority of the enemies are killable, but you have limited ammo and can't take a lot of damage so you sneak past or risk stealthy melee kills to avoid using up precious resources. At regular points throughout the game you face a totally insurmountable enemy that can't be killed, but then it gives you a way to ward it off anyway. I think the advantage of this setup is that it lets the player be put into more overtly dangerous, in-your-face situations. In a game like Amnesia or Outlast, where enemies can't even be warded off and may be a one hit kill if they catch you, it's difficult to "safely" introduce them suddenly in areas where the player is at serious risk of being caught and killed. When you get the flamethrower in Alien, the AI is aggressive enough to hunt you down and the player will likely be forced into using their new tool to scare it away, allowing for intense near-death experiences. I think it can also be a good way to bring the player to a high point that they can be dropped from. If you gradually build up the player's confidence by supplying them with tools to get out of a dangerous situation, they may get more confident over time and lose their fear response to the threat...until you take that away when they need it most.
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Mar 22, 2017 23:44
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I'm more interested in seeing a similar take on System Shock 2. The combat is terrible from a design standpoint but there's just enough enemies around blind corners to keep up the tension yet I'm not fighting all the time unless I'm a clutz that triggers every alarm. But that game still follows the very video-gamey style of progressive build up where the first half is scary then the second half turns into Rambo where you're decked out and poo poo. I like the concept of using conflict as a means to move around obstacles. Let me stun the badguy by shooting him in the head so I can maneuver around or maybe chase it off for a bit. I still haven't played Alien but that seems to be the case. oldpainless posted:Smh at people ignoring the best horror game of all time I wish Resident Evil 7 had a "call helicopter button" because I want to escape every encounter.
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Mar 22, 2017 23:59
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al-azad posted:I'm more interested in seeing a similar take on System Shock 2. The combat is terrible from a design standpoint but there's just enough enemies around blind corners to keep up the tension yet I'm not fighting all the time unless I'm a clutz that triggers every alarm. But that game still follows the very video-gamey style of progressive build up where the first half is scary then the second half turns into Rambo where you're decked out and poo poo. Isolation has the Xenomorph be totally invulnerable, with only a flamethrower around the midpoint being able to drive it away (and it gains a tolerance to the flames if you overuse it), but lots of hostile humans and androids that can be snuck past or killed as necessary. Resident Evil 7 is closer to your idea, where Jack and Marguerite can be stunned or even temporarily killed through gunfire to let you escape more easily.
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Mar 23, 2017 00:21
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s.i.r.e. posted:Jesus dude. I never said the combat has to be there nor does it have to be hard, I said the combat added tension since it drained the two things that you needed to survive: health and ammo. Without combat you're left with health, without health and a fail state there's no tension and your horror game fails to be a horror game. oldpainless posted:Smh at people ignoring the best horror game of all time Also I think you're loving stupid because you apparently think that the entirety of SH2 is that James is horny
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Mar 23, 2017 00:26
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Speaking of System Shock, the first 35 minutes of Prey have been uploaded by Bethesda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2ndRGP5bMs It's a spiritual successor to System Shock and BioShock, which makes me very pleased.
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Mar 23, 2017 00:52
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s.i.r.e. posted:I said the combat added tension since it drained the two things that you needed to survive: health and ammo. Without combat you're left with health, without health and a fail state there's no tension and your horror game fails to be a horror game. You know you can drain things other than bullets and health right.
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Mar 23, 2017 01:11
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GlyphGryph posted:You know you can drain things other than bullets and health right. The RE series has many instances of draining tubs, for example
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Mar 23, 2017 01:12
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*drains wiener all over this thread*
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Mar 23, 2017 01:12
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There was a HOLE here. It's gone now.
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Mar 23, 2017 01:18
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Even if Silent Hill 1 and 2 weren't mechanically the strongest games around I still found them both a ton of fun to play and run through when I picked them up for the first time a few months ago. I really regret waiting so long to check them out. Playing them closely together also made me appreciate the weird ways SH2 echoes SH1, like with how James is always approaching the setting of the original game and yet can never quite reach it.
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Mar 23, 2017 01:30
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Said it before but I dunno, horror games are fine with some ability to fight back, but if you turn that into straight up "Fight your way out of all encounters all the time" then it just becomes yeah, an action game with spooky bits. It's my example every time, but Dead Space to me messed up all ability to be spooky because they pretty much give you the best weapon right off the bat, so the rest of the game is strolling through the Ishimura severing limbs like paper mache.
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Mar 23, 2017 05:33
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I feel like some of the scariest stuff is the stuff you can potentially miss. Are there any good horror bits in games lately where the fear comes from realizing you were in danger and didn't even know it?
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Mar 23, 2017 09:14
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Yardbomb posted:Said it before but I dunno, horror games are fine with some ability to fight back, but if you turn that into straight up "Fight your way out of all encounters all the time" then it just becomes yeah, an action game with spooky bits. Dead Space managed to still be spooky in the spacewalk sections, because of the great sound design, but yeah, it doesn't take long until you're just slicing limbs off left right and centre and stamping on every corpse you see.
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Mar 23, 2017 11:23
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chitoryu12 posted:Speaking of System Shock, the first 35 minutes of Prey have been uploaded by Bethesda. Those little icons telling you exactly where your objective is at all times are the bane of video games. How about you just tell me to get to the office and let the level design do the rest?
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Mar 23, 2017 11:25
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Fil5000 posted:Dead Space managed to still be spooky in the spacewalk sections, because of the great sound design Alright admittedly those were cool. The lack of any interfering noise and total damp sound in any of the depressurized areas made me want more of that.
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Mar 23, 2017 11:30
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Dissapointed Owl posted:Those little icons telling you exactly where your objective is at all times are the bane of video games. How about you just tell me to get to the office and let the level design do the rest? Morrowind was my favourite for this, I remember one quest to search a shipwreck to get a daedric tanto and return it. Turns out I wrote down the directions slightly wrong and ended up searching the wrong ship. I was a little pissed but also impressed that I managed to find A shipwreck, if not THE shipwreck. I miss exploration 
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Mar 23, 2017 11:37
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Yardbomb posted:Alright admittedly those were cool. The lack of any interfering noise and total damp sound in any of the depressurized areas made me want more of that. Dead space was worth it because the third game on the series gave us the cool ship graveyard area. Plus did you try it in coop? The two players would do the same side quest area but they'd get their own customized horror experience. Dead space and mass effect are the two trilogies from last generation that deserve a remaster or updated version.
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Mar 23, 2017 12:23
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DS3 was fun as a coop experience. I still prefer DS1 and 2 though, both had their own vibe and worked pretty drat well in their own unique ways. For PC DS2 it was a bit of a shame we needed Gibbed to crack open the dlc doors, though.
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Mar 23, 2017 13:29
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Danaru posted:Morrowind was my favourite for this, I remember one quest to search a shipwreck to get a daedric tanto and return it. Turns out I wrote down the directions slightly wrong and ended up searching the wrong ship. I was a little pissed but also impressed that I managed to find A shipwreck, if not THE shipwreck. WALK TO POINT A. NOW WALK TO POINT B. GOOD BOY.
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Mar 23, 2017 15:08
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Dissapointed Owl posted:WALK TO POINT A. NOW WALK TO POINT B. GOOD BOY. Please don't quote my erotic The Stanley Parable fanfic
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Mar 23, 2017 15:15
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Yardbomb posted:Said it before but I dunno, horror games are fine with some ability to fight back, but if you turn that into straight up "Fight your way out of all encounters all the time" then it just becomes yeah, an action game with spooky bits. See, I vehemently disagree. To this day I can't play the Dead Space games for longer than an hour at a time because I can't handle how stressful they make the atmosphere feel. I mean that in a good way, of course. I guess it comes down to how immersed you feel in a horror game that determines if the fear actually works.
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Mar 24, 2017 17:00
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A. Beaverhausen posted:See, I vehemently disagree. To this day I can't play the Dead Space games for longer than an hour at a time because I can't handle how stressful they make the atmosphere feel. I mean that in a good way, of course. It's been close to a decade since I played Dead Space but based on my memories I very much agree with this. I always had to psyche myself up to play it because I never felt completely safe, even with upgraded weapons and armor, because I was never entirely sure something wasn't going to tear off my head and cram itself down my neckpipes. I want to replay it sometime soon to see if that feeling still holds up but in my mind it's up there with SOMA and Outlast as games that were scary enough to stress me out.
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Mar 24, 2017 17:56
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Improbable Lobster posted:Also I think you're loving stupid because you apparently think that the entirety of SH2 is that James is horny lol, did I really have to type up inner demons for you? Why are you having such a meltdown over th... Improbable Lobster posted:As another person with mental illness, Oh... GlyphGryph posted:You know you can drain things other than bullets and health right. Examples? There's also sanity like Eternal Darkness and Amnesia, but both of those games also have health and a fail state. The only game I can think of that stays scary without anything to drain is Layers of Fear which is essentially a walking simulator of the best kind.
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Mar 24, 2017 18:26
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s.i.r.e. posted:lol, did I really have to type up inner demons for you? Why are you having such a meltdown over th... For someone too stupid to understand basic subtext you sure are sanctimonious
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Mar 24, 2017 18:36
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s.i.r.e. posted:lol, did I really have to type up inner demons for you? Why are you having such a meltdown over th...
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Mar 24, 2017 18:48
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s.i.r.e. posted:lol, did I really have to type up inner demons for you? Why are you having such a meltdown over th... Wowee you're a piece of poo poo. 
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Mar 24, 2017 19:18
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s.i.r.e. posted:Examples? There's also sanity like Eternal Darkness and Amnesia, but both of those games also have health and a fail state. The only game I can think of that stays scary without anything to drain is Layers of Fear which is essentially a walking simulator of the best kind. A non-exhaustive list of things I've seen used in horror games: Time (this is a big one that many games use a primary source of tension for good reason) Energy/Power/Fuel Building Materials Allies/Friends Distance
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Mar 24, 2017 19:22
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GlyphGryph posted:A non-exhaustive list of things I've seen used in horror games: While these are true, limiting those things is just making gameplay in many cases. Most of that could apply to Command and Conquer
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Mar 24, 2017 19:32
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Dissapointed Owl posted:Those little icons telling you exactly where your objective is at all times are the bane of video games. How about you just tell me to get to the office and let the level design do the rest? Dishonored (also made by Arkane) had those but you could easily turn them off. Hell, you could turn off the entirety of Dishonored's UI if you wanted to, so I imagine Prey will have something similar. Now if only it wasn't being published by an aggressively lovely company. 
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Mar 24, 2017 19:33
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s.i.r.e. posted:Oh... High five, you sure showed him for having brain troubles hahaha
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Mar 24, 2017 19:34
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