I did not know games could be bad

[Lemon Zing]

@Misery, are you looking forward to any future horror games?

 

[Misery]

@Misery, are you looking forward to any future horror games?

The only one I can think of is Lacey's Flash Games (not actual games in Flash, that's just the title). I'm a huge fan of the Youtube series that it's from. No idea when it's coming out though, it's one of those ones just listed as "coming in 2025". I got to play the demo at least, it was exactly what I knew it would be.

Other than that, there's a variety of horror games that are already out and I just havent picked them up yet.

Like Mouthwashing, half the bloody internet seems to have already played that, so I already heard some spoilers on it, thanks Internet.

I still havent picked up Subnautica yet either. I'm well aware that I'm missing out here. I will get to it eventually.

Pacific Drive, I forgot about that one entirely, right up my alley though.

And then the big one is Voices of the Void. There isnt much else that's at all like this one, and from what I've seen it's something darned special. It's a slow burn with a learning curve though, I know that much. Technically this is not "released" yet but the alpha version (which is already huge) is playable, I just have to dedicate some time to start on it.


I suppose Path of Exile 2 could count, depending on how irritable I'm feeling with it at the time. That one's in early access, I havent been able to play it in awhile though because it takes up 5 bazillion gigs and I'm running out of space on this machine, I need to move the rom archive before reinstalling that game.

 

[Lemon Zing]

Yeah. I mean, I don't really blame you for giving up on the mainstream horror games. I suspect the new Japanese Silent Hill game is going the same way that direct to video sequels to hit horror films go, where the story is disjointed and really has no link to the series, and so maybe only purist fans can accept them.

The plot of Resident Evil as a whole is just a heap of disarray BS nowadays. I mean, every game seems to introduce some new crap like a vampire babe for the hell of it, or story aspects that Capcom fails to have cleared up in future entries, seeing as how they then make more games that pretty much repeat this process. To me, it's essentially carrot dangling. Which is why they seemingly have a Wesker clone involved, sight unseen.

I mean, why not? The real one died. So I mean, yeah. Just make up stuff as you go along, eh?

At least they acknowledged a spin off character. That's... something. People are actually quite surprised that bringing up Alyssa Ashcroft has occurred, since I guess they want to promote old, lesser known games, just in case they decide to remake them as well. Because Outbreak being remade has been requested to Capcom.

 

[Misery]

Yeah. I mean, I don't really blame you for giving up on the mainstream horror games.

Well, it wasnt really a matter of giving up on them. It was more that I was introduced to the genre in a different way, and that I tend to respond to specific types of spooks and styles more than others.

My intro to the genre was through watching playthroughs of horror games by Markiplier, who primarily does a lot of indie horror playthroughs of different sizes. Some big games like Outlast, other little tiny ones. And a couple of other Youtubers who have a very similar focus. I found them during the initial FNAF popularity boom like 5 billionty years ago and then went from there.

At one point he did a playthrough of a very brief demo of a game by the name of Umfend. It was super short, just enough to be a bit of a hook, with the full game releasing months down the line. The game caught in my memory because I just hadnt really seen anything else like it.

It looks like this:

What got me about this was just the nature of everything. The visual style and character designs, the use of the bright lights on very stark shadows, and the fact that nothing about it was really predictable. Something I tend not to be fond of in horror games is just that monsters in general tend to be kinda predictable. Like, looking at RE, I dont exactly have to be an expert on the series to know what the various rotting things are going to do. But nothing about the creepy things in this game ended up being what they at first appeared to be. Which just made them that much more engaging, and the story that much more interesting.

Also, that second screenshot, that was the moment that *really* hooked me. That moment was a very effective scare, but it wasnt a jumpscare... no loud shrieking thing... and no lunging monstrosity trying to have a boss fight at me. No, you're in what seems like your empty house at that point, and while doing things to progress the story, at one point you turn and that thing there is just standing there. It doesnt really move much, just lightly sways a bit, and it doesnt make any noise. The lighting, shadows, situation, and story events up to this point (this is near the start) all come together to make a very effective scare without at all trying too hard. And then you go towards him, and he just sorta sinks through the floor. And that moment is just over. The events of the story start ramping up from there. The whole thing is a strange ride, the story had a very satisfying conclusion, and it kept my interest the whole way.

There was also this one:

I've shown this before, but it was just so darned good.

This one just impressed me a lot. In that situation, I sorta halfway had an idea as to what was going on. I'd gotten an understanding of how the game worked and the type of threats it used, I had at least a bit of a clue as to what was a bad idea to do, and I knew I was on a boss floor, so some big thing lurked in the maze somewhere.

I get to that moment partway through, I suddenly realize where the thing is (the moment where I stop and sorta slowly look upwards at the out of place wall). I knew full well that if I shot it, it would get up. The game REALLY likes mimics, they're sort of the main theme, and they follow certain concepts and rules.

I knew all of that, and I still yelped when it started its rampage. Horror games normally NEVER get a physical reaction out of me. That one did. That devolved into total panic at the end, I'd lost any sense of what was going on and just started firing wildly (at the wrong target).

At that point, oh yeah, I was totally hooked. I've stuck with these sorts of horror games since.

Also I like the kind of "goofy" horror games that show up sometimes. There was one just called "spin to win", it was super short (like 15 minutes), it didnt exactly take itself seriously but still managed one great jumpscare, and I just had a blast with it.

With the mainstream games, they just cant hold my attention very well. Too many long-winded cutscenes, and the combat-heavy nature of most of them kills the horror vibe for me. The monsters arent scary anymore when I can just shotgun them all to death.

Lastly, there's this:

The plot of Resident Evil as a whole is just a heap of disarray BS nowadays. I mean, every game seems to introduce some new crap like a vampire babe for the hell of it, or story aspects that Capcom fails to have cleared up in future entries, seeing as how they then make more games that pretty much repeat this process.

Yeah, I agree with all of that, and it's the other thing that really pushes me away.

Stuff tends to really overstay its welcome and the story/lore of a lot of the big games end up just getting progressively more and more tangled and hard to follow as they go on. As you put it, carrot dangling. Gotta get people pumped up to see what loopy thing happens next, even if it breaks previous story bits.

When it comes to stories, I'm a fan of ones that keep it concise and contained. The quality of the stories just seems a lot better that way, and I also dont get as frustrated trying to remember a million little bits to keep everything making sense.

Resident Evil definitely seems like the biggest offender (that I can think of right now), but a lot of big games do it really.

 

[Lemon Zing]

One of the producers for RE tried to say the original games and the remakes are somehow both canon. That to me is kind of hogwash in that it makes no sense. All it does is serve to contradict certain events in the franchise's long, already screwed up history.

There are gray canon moments, I suppose. Like how everybody survives in the mansion who shows up in subsequent entries, despite one character being missing on the chopper at the end. But in the case of RE3, the proper ending involves Barry saving Jill and Carlos. This was an important part of Barry's redemption arc storyline after he was forced to temporarily betray the STARS members. In the 2020 version, however, there is no second ending.

The slew of spin offs and movies don't interest me, although Capcom has alluded to the side story games as being canon as well. The only exception is Operation Raccoon City.

I think you will enjoy Clock Tower: Rewind. It is a game where you expore an estate to find items and are chased around, but there is no combat. It is available on the PS5, despite having no previous release officially outside of Japan.

 

[Misery]

One of the producers for RE tried to say the original games and the remakes are somehow both canon. That to me is kind of hogwash in that it makes no sense. All it does is serve to contradict certain events in the franchise's long, already screwed up history.

Sounds kinda like someone ran out of ideas.

Granted, I cant blame them too much. For any writers, having to deal with THAT sounds like a total mess.

There's an upcoming game I've been following lately, with a name I cannot possibly spell or pronounce, and they do this devlog thing every month or so. It's just an indie game, and it's not part of a series, so it's this self-contained thing, right? Well, this month the writer for the game was the one to do the devlog, and they talked about the process and showed the... flowchart thing, it exists to help them keep track of all the different plot and lore elements. as development continues.

You cant actually see what the text says on it (they dont want to spoil it after all) but just the shape of the thing, it looks incomprehensible to me. It's just this twisting mess of all these different boxes in different sections and just... it looks so absolutely confusing.

If a relatively small project (even if it's a lore-heavy one) can be THAT confusing to write, I cant even guess what tornado of nonsense the writers of a long-running series like RE must have to deal with. It's no wonder so many big series end up full of holes.

And of course you gotta add in corporate meddling to all of that. Even if there arent any holes, that's gonna punch some in there.

I think you will enjoy Clock Tower: Rewind. It is a game where you expore an estate to find items and are chased around, but there is no combat. It is available on the PS5, despite having no previous release officially outside of Japan.

Ah, I only have an Xbox Series X.

Honestly at this point, I'm mostly done with consoles... the only reason I have an Xbox at all is that a friend just outright gave it to me.

Like I had a PS4, which I got on launch day, but it got used so rarely that I think the total amount of times I ever turned it on is probably less than 50. I dont know where it is, havent seen it in a couple of years now. If I didnt use that, chances are I wouldnt use a PS5 at all, so I stayed away from that.

Same with the Switch really... in all honesty I never liked that thing much, and Nintendo as a company kinda blows goat chunks at this point. Only bought it to play Mario Maker really. Not going to buy the Switch 2. I'm not really sure what the difference even is. Looks the same to me.

I do like the Xbox decently enough though, but I wouldnt have bought one on my own. The controller though... that is the best controller I have ever used, period. Kind of amazing when I compare it to the old 360 controllers from way back when, those bloody things may as well have been held together by frozen spider webs.

 

[Judge]

Following this thread I suddenly recalled all those years I was into gaming on my PC.

I never once played a game on a multiplayer basis, and never had any interest in doing so.