The current state of horror games: are they all kind of the same?

[M-A-G]

Horror games, like pretty much every genre, have gone through a lot of changes throughout the years. From the early days of Sweet Home to Resident Evil's action-leaning approach to the psychological horror angle of Silent Hill to the first-person shooter take with F.E.A.R. However, on one of my time-wasting excursions online, I noticed that a lot of games have basically resorted to one type of presentation, that being the walking simulator. I may be generalizing and I don't know all of the particulars of each title, but on the surface, they all seem to be presenting the same set up. You've got the first-person view, a mystery that needs uncovering, an appropriately creepy locale of some sort, and just walking around looking at things and experiencing scripted events. Just from a visual standpoint, there doesn't seem to be much setting them apart. Take a look at these random shots from eight different games and try to distinguish one from another.



https://i0.wp.com/www.pcmrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/peterson2.jpg?resize=750%2C400&ssl=1




<img src="https://cdn.nivoli.com/adventuregamers/images/screenshots/39336/hs4.jpg" width="700" height="550">



<img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-87CcdMrGvIU/XwQL0nwhkuI/AAAAAAAAYOk/JtDohL3vpVkKuKI3dnq0f5qz0JWVo5V7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/infliction-extended-cut-switch-screenshot03.jpg" width="700" height="450">




https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1609080/ss_5d892a9f908f47122e05c5e5e55b76402b39648e.1920x1080.jpg?t=1673081152



<img src="https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1463420/ss_010ba98f28e888814b9d49b6f9c4538f393e03ed.1920x1080.jpg?t=1635550118" width="700" height="475">



<img src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3917466/hallway2.0.jpg" width="700" height="550">



https://sm.ign.com/t/ign_za/screenshot/default/visage2jpg-19c9e4_gket.1080.jpg




https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1895890/ss_a0a184c4310e40c2bbf4c50a65c253804a3e52bc.1920x1080.jpg?t=1676615815


They all seem to be following the mold P.T. set, which is confusing seeing as that wasn't even a game so much as a tech demo. Even Resident Evil got in on the first-person presentation action. Nothing against it, per se, but could it be a bit of a creative rut for horror games? Am I reading this all wrong? Are there other waters in the realm of horror games nowadays that are separate from what I'm talking about? What's your take?

[drave]

those last two of the chick with the guitar are scary AF

[Sepholio]

drave going to hale

[Fignuts]

Nah there are other options out there with different aesthetics. It's just that there are a lot of games aping P.T.'s feel because the hype and appreciation of it has stayed relatively strong to this day.

[Sepholio]

P.T. still the best horror game I've ever played.

[Fignuts]

Been hearing a lot about Lost in Vivo.

[M-A-G]

those last two of the chick with the guitar are scary AF

Scary sexy. :drool:

Actually a chick that intense and aggressive can be kind of intimidating. :o

[M-A-G]

P.T. still the best horror game I've ever played.

I never understood the excitement. What's even the story, if any? What's been put out there is more assumption than actuality. It has nothing to do with Silent Hill, which is probably the biggest reason more than anything else why the reveal at the end was so shocking. It even states at the beginning that it wasn't a reflection of what the final product was going to be and we never saw any of those assets. Top it off with the fact that you're not really doing anything other than walking around and seeing things happen, I took it as more of an impressive display of what could be done with the technology than anything else. That's not to say it wasn't a frightening experience, but I view it as an interesting piece of gaming history if nothing else. Kojima went on to better things and is probably happier, I imagine.

[Sepholio]

There wasn't really story, but the pacing of it and the it's design just made it subconsciously terrifying on levels that games never touch upon. Has you feeling the need to look over your shoulder for something thats never there. The hair on your neck standing at attention. It just hit different.

The story I guess if anything was a descent into actual insanity. Doing the same thing over and over and over again expecting differences that never come...until one day they do.

[Sepholio]

Like it really is quite a good look into actual insanity. Amnesia had it's brand of insanity back in the day but P.T. was much more real. It didn't use weird effects and sounds to display that you were losing it. It drove you through true repetitive insanity until you were questioning everything around you and whether it was real or part of the madness.

[Sepholio]

Literal chills right now just thinking about it.

[M-A-G]

See, it's just my fortune that I make a thread like this and then I stumble across a video like this that kind of flies in the face of what I was saying. Some of these seem pretty interesting, even though virtually all of them want to stick to that first-person experience. I suppose that would be the most terrifying way to go about making a horror title, though.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dijL6AB_hz4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Lock Jaw]

Need to make another Luigi's Mansion

[M-A-G]

Visage is probably the top dog in terms of doing something interesting with this presentation. The changing environments can really fuck with you. Layers of Fear does pretty much the same thing, but it's too funhouse-y to really be considered terrifying. Madison looks like another good entry.

[M-A-G]

Some more upcoming titles. Similar presentations, but, man, those are good looking environments. Some of the ideas are at least interesting.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rX5aMJJEySM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[M-A-G]

You know, thinking about it some more, I think I'm being a bit unfair towards P.T. here. If anything, you can trace a lot of these games' ideas to Slender: The Eight Pages. A flashlight, a spooky setting, lots of walking. Like, nothing but walking. Lather, rinse, repeat.

[M-A-G]

It has come to my attention that Alan Wake will be getting a proper sequel, so I guess that's one more in the pile of games to come that'll shake things up somewhat. :heart: