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Finished Stasis: Bone Totem the other day. Quite liked it, the writing, acting, cutscenes, story, all well done (though whenever the woman speaks through the comms, for some reason her breathing really spikes the mic). A lot more body horror than I anticipated, though the story went in directions I certainly didn't expect. The puzzles were pretty good, though there were a couple that were juuuuust teetering over that line where it become hard to understand why you're expected to try that particular solution, and combining that with some places having a lot of running back and forth between potential solutions took a bit of wind out of the sails. Still, not too many of those, at least. I really liked the backstory of the world, though. I don't know if it shares a world with other games, but there's a guy who, I guess, ascended to some sort of godhood, which seems to have completely replaced religion in the world with the company he ran. A character explains that 'he killed God', though something tells me that's a bit of exaggeration. Really made me interested to hear more about the world outside the space where the game takes place.
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Oct 3, 2023 15:04
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| # ? May 16, 2024 06:24 |
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the darkside detective is such a cute game
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Oct 3, 2023 15:31
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Hel posted:If you haven't check out Forbidden Siren do so, the second game is way more playable and doesn't really lose that much atmosphere while note requiring the first one to understand the story I picked up the first Siren from a used record store about a year after release and it weirded me out too much; something about the vibe really got under my skin.
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Oct 3, 2023 16:45
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Yeah it's good (if you use a guide)
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Oct 3, 2023 16:49
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Morpheus posted:Finished Stasis: Bone Totem the other day. Quite liked it, the writing, acting, cutscenes, story, all well done (though whenever the woman speaks through the comms, for some reason her breathing really spikes the mic). A lot more body horror than I anticipated, though the story went in directions I certainly didn't expect. The puzzles were pretty good, though there were a couple that were juuuuust teetering over that line where it become hard to understand why you're expected to try that particular solution, and combining that with some places having a lot of running back and forth between potential solutions took a bit of wind out of the sails. Still, not too many of those, at least. Yeah, go back to Stasis. It's not as good but it's in the same world. (Skip Cayne. It's a free game in the same universe and it's stupid.)
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Oct 3, 2023 22:17
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I have beaten Kuon. It has a wonderful aesthetic and atmosphere, but I feel like Kuon's only lasting value for me is that, through its ill-considered mechanical choices, it clarifies what I liked about Silent Hill 2 and the original Resident Evils and all that. Resource management is the obvious one, in that Kuon's heal-on-demand system also negates having to manage my spell card reserves (since there's never any consequence towards face-tanking any enemy, why use spell cards on anything but the enemies I can't escape?) and kills all potential tension I could have felt. I thought it was annoying to have to check my health frequently in SH in a menu, but I prefer it to my screen going all screwy in a very obvious way that might as well be a sign telling me to heal now. Still, I genuinely liked that the ending has an actually experienced exorcist show up and stomp everything, including the primary villain himself, into the dirt with little effort. I wish the other two protagonists had more to do with bringing said character to the playing field, but it was so funny to see one of those spooky little kids flail impotently at Seimei while she nonchalantly goes about her business of sealing it away, and it was also refreshing to have a weapon that had actual range to it (this is why Silent Hill 2 has pipes and boards and other longer weapons! I don't think I've liked a PS2-era horror game knife in anything that isn't RE4).
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Oct 4, 2023 10:28
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Sakurazuka posted:Yeah it's good (if you use a guide) I feel like I had perfect conditions at the time; it was around the time the American adaptation of The Ring came out, I blind purchased it from a user record store that didn't normally sell video games, then went home and played it alone at night. That, combined with the game's unsettling aesthetic, really made it feel like I found my very own cursed object. I wonder if now I'd just be annoyed\confused by the gameplay.
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Oct 4, 2023 15:57
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NoModsNoMasters69 posted:I totally agree. Real missed opportunity, and I felt like it was a bait and switch. the opening made it seem like it would be like a jojo-esque trying to figure out others triggers and bait them into yours, but it wasn't really like that at all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOOI61I1A2k
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Oct 4, 2023 16:01
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mysterious frankie posted:I picked up the first Siren from a used record store about a year after release and it weirded me out too much; something about the vibe really got under my skin. sight jacking a Shibito and the first thing you see is yourself as it charges at you is an unmatched feeling in gaming
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Oct 4, 2023 16:23
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Siren is a wonderful game to analyze as well as watch videos of it and look through concept art. It gives you a unique feeling not matched by many other horror games. It's just terrible to actually play. Sightjacking is really cool but also carefully jacking around to make a safe path through a level often gives way to just charging through and hoping for the best because this is the sixth attempt and you have poo poo to do today.
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Oct 4, 2023 16:34
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Which is why I recommend the second one especially because it's miles better in the playability aspect, with only a very minor drop in horror. Also, because most people act like either it doesn't exist because it never came to the US or like the guns ruined everything by being overpowered, which they very much do not. There is a weapon you pretty much always want to try for, but that's the Japanese hand saw, not any of the guns. And that still doesn't ruin the horror factor.
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Oct 4, 2023 17:59
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Yeah the second game gives you enough information to actually progress on your own without turning it in to uh the remake.... Still think the atmos of the first one is unmatched though the second game goes kinda nuts later on lol
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Oct 4, 2023 18:02
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Back in my resident evil community forum days, Siren was brought up a lot as well as the Clock Tower games. How do the Clock Tower games play these days?
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Oct 4, 2023 18:13
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Re: Siren and sightjacking, there's a goonmade first person stealth/horror game centered around the mechanic named Atama
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Oct 4, 2023 18:18
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I recall siren 2 was lesser known because it was never localized, for a while the only place you could see the cutscenes dubbed was LordMune’s LP
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Oct 4, 2023 18:19
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Regrettably I think the really excellent Egomaniac LPs of both the initial siren games have suffered severe bit death, making them hard to watch/navigate.
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Oct 4, 2023 18:47
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siren 2 might play better than the original but i found it really dull in comparison despite its story being way more out there, and the english dub isnt as meme worthy as the original but it does have a secret level where you have to rescue a shibito lady and her iron or something lands of contrast
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Oct 4, 2023 18:56
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Oxxidation posted:I recall siren 2 was lesser known because it was never localized, for a while the only place you could see the cutscenes dubbed was LordMune’s LP Nice way to show my point here Hel posted:Also, because most people act like either it doesn't exist because it never came to the US Instant Grat posted:Re: Siren and sightjacking, there's a goonmade first person stealth/horror game centered around the mechanic named Atama I really think that game suffered from taking the flying heads from Junji Ito, because they aren't good enough to make them scary instead of goofy. Except for the anglefish heads ones in the sewer level, which sadly suffers from the normal sewer level problems.
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Oct 4, 2023 18:57
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CharlestonJew posted:sight jacking a Shibito and the first thing you see is yourself as it charges at you is an unmatched feeling in gaming YES, absolutely. I wonder, have there been any other games that use that mechan- Instant Grat posted:Re: Siren and sightjacking, there's a goonmade first person stealth/horror game centered around the mechanic named Atama  Hel posted:I really think that game suffered from taking the flying heads from Junji Ito, because they aren't good enough to make them scary instead of goofy. Except for the anglefish heads ones in the sewer level, which sadly suffers from the normal sewer level problems. Ha, I'm on a big Junji Ito kick right now, and I JUST read that story.  Whirling posted:I have beaten Kuon. It has a wonderful aesthetic and atmosphere, but I feel like Kuon's only lasting value for me is that, through its ill-considered mechanical choices, it clarifies what I liked about Silent Hill 2 and the original Resident Evils and all that. Resource management is the obvious one, in that Kuon's heal-on-demand system also negates having to manage my spell card reserves (since there's never any consequence towards face-tanking any enemy, why use spell cards on anything but the enemies I can't escape?) and kills all potential tension I could have felt. I thought it was annoying to have to check my health frequently in SH in a menu, but I prefer it to my screen going all screwy in a very obvious way that might as well be a sign telling me to heal now. As mentioned, I'm SA's resident Kuon stan, but I absolutely agree with the bold here. I think I just prefer "vibes/atmosphere" over challenge.
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Oct 4, 2023 19:09
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Discendo Vox posted:Regrettably I think the really excellent Egomaniac LPs of both the initial siren games have suffered severe bit death, making them hard to watch/navigate. Egomaniac did another run of the first game in 2016 in higher quality.
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Oct 4, 2023 19:44
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Supergreatfriend also has LPs of both Siren games I believe. Both games are pretty great but I can't blame anyone for not want to actually play them. There's some real awful logic going on especially in the first game.
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Oct 4, 2023 19:53
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Siren is a game I was never able to finish myself but I'm glad it exists, somehow.
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Oct 4, 2023 19:59
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KillerEggplant posted:Egomaniac did another run of the first game in 2016 in higher quality. Thanks for the headsup. Hm, no posts since 2020. I hope they're doing all right.
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Oct 4, 2023 20:35
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Discendo Vox posted:Thanks for the headsup. Hm, no posts since 2020. I hope they're doing all right. That is a very concerning year to drop off at.
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Oct 4, 2023 20:42
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I think playing Alien: Isolation has stopped me from getting too scared in video games because that loving xenomorph scared the poo poo out of me such with such frequency that I eventually adapted to it in order to actually progress the game.
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Oct 4, 2023 22:34
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I had a similar experience but with the VR version of AI, I would need to psyche myself up just to leave the pause screen early in the game. A game can still make me uneasy but nothing will make me nope out and alt+f4 anymore after experiencing that.
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Oct 5, 2023 00:27
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I remember trudging through Siren's PS3 remake back in 2009 or so and the out of nowhere final boss and ending almost made it worth it.
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Oct 5, 2023 02:03
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Blood Curse has such a stinky script.
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Oct 5, 2023 05:58
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Which one was on PS3 and if you bought it digitally it came in like 8 chunks you had to download and install separately, at signature PS3 speeds? Cause that was true horror.
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Oct 5, 2023 10:10
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That was Siren Blood Curse, a semi remake of the first game that lost everything interesting about it. It was like 12 GB total, too much to expect anyone to download in one go in 2008.
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Oct 5, 2023 10:13
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Sakurazuka posted:That was Siren Blood Curse, a semi remake of the first game that lost everything interesting about it. It was like 12 GB total, too much to expect anyone to download in one go in 2008. It did let you splitscreen sightjacking and normal movement, but doing that utterly tanks the framerate.
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Oct 5, 2023 10:15
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The main thing I remember from the last time I tried to play it was that whatever weird filter they used made it utterly impossible to tell wtf was going on on a modern TV. Maybe that was how it always was.
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Oct 5, 2023 10:18
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Blood Curse got a physical release in Europe and Asia, it's just the US where it was digital only. But yes, sightjacking gives you single digit framerates and it feels pretty unpleasant to play. The final boss also gave me a headache as I recall because you need to sightjack it and the boss arena was bright, flashing and psychedelic and really hurt your eyes.
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Oct 5, 2023 10:47
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I have both of the PS2 Siren games sitting on my shelf, but I think they're gonna have to get in line behind Fatal Frame 3, Silent Hill 3+4, and Haunting Ground
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Oct 5, 2023 10:53
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Was curious to give Anatomy a go as I'd heard so much about it. I had initially read about it in RockPaperShotgun, in which the author wrote of it "I challenge anyone to play it in the dark, wearing headphones, alone. There are no sudden frights but if you're amenable to its particular sense of dread, Anatomy will actually steal sleep from you." Which seems a bit overblown, the most I can really say is that I thought it was fun and it kept me interested for the hour that it took to beat it. I suppose if you really engage with its conceit that abandoned houses will literally grow teeth and eat you, then the game's sense of dread will carry over into the real world in a fun way, if you find yourself in your empty garage or something... but that would be a bit of a stretch.
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Oct 5, 2023 14:35
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Simiain posted:Was curious to give Anatomy a go as I'd heard so much about it. I had initially read about it in RockPaperShotgun, in which the author wrote of it "I challenge anyone to play it in the dark, wearing headphones, alone. There are no sudden frights but if you're amenable to its particular sense of dread, Anatomy will actually steal sleep from you." Which seems a bit overblown, the most I can really say is that I thought it was fun and it kept me interested for the hour that it took to beat it. I suppose if you really engage with its conceit that abandoned houses will literally grow teeth and eat you, then the game's sense of dread will carry over into the real world in a fun way, if you find yourself in your empty garage or something... but that would be a bit of a stretch. It's less that sort of exact fear and more of a thought about the room you're in right now being more than just a room, but part of something larger that's existed for decades, living as we simply parasitize it, these enormous eldritch things that you see by looking out your window, its eyes and mouth visible but not visible to us. It's like how eldritch horror doesn't make you scared of a big tentacle boi, its fear derives from the insignificance of our place in the cosmos
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Oct 5, 2023 14:39
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I'm convinced that most of the time when you hear "this game is soooo scary you'll be jumping at shadows for a month!" it's either intentionally overblown or they gave it to a game reviewer who mostly covers dating sims or NBA games. I'm not really a "haunted by the movie" person overall but I've never found a horror game that did that for me. Anatomy is a good game, and i was taken in while i was playing it, but it doesn't have any larger horror feeling once you close it down more than the high level theme of the game, which is less scary and more a bit sad.
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Oct 5, 2023 14:57
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I started Calisto Protocol last night and played for about 30 minutes. It's cool to see Sam Witwer and Karen Fukuhara. But it's blowing my mind that the gameplay so far seems like Mike Tyson's Dead Space Punch Out.
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Oct 5, 2023 15:00
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Professor Wayne posted:I started Calisto Protocol last night and played for about 30 minutes. It's cool to see Sam Witwer and Karen Fukuhara. But it's blowing my mind that the gameplay so far seems like Mike Tyson's Dead Space Punch Out. Duck, dodge, dip, dive, duck Then punch them
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Oct 5, 2023 15:02
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You gotta charge up your super against the Hippo King miniboss before shooting him in the face
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Oct 5, 2023 15:03
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