Post by Lady Ten on Dec 10, 2012 14:38:23 GMT -6
A survival-horror indie game for anyone who enjoys creepy castles, antique aesthetics, and screaming to the high heavens.
First: who all here has played this? I know Gray has (introduced me to it, in fact) but wasn't there something on the cbox about you, too, Misty?
Anyway, announcement time: we (Ten and her friend) just completed the game (!!!) a few nights ago. Looking forward to trying out the Justine expansion pack.
So, in the mean time, here are a few early reflections on the experience (not very spoilerish, if that's anyone's concern).
At the beginning stages of the game, my main concern was finding monsters. Monsters were the scariest thing, but they were also the best. Gameplay was mostly about going around and wondering where the monsters were, screaming when they appeared, running/hiding until they were gone, and then wandering about to find them again. Even though I dreaded them more than anything, monster moments were also one of my favorite parts of the game. Then,everything changed when the fire nation attacked. I began to grow less timid, more experienced, and more confident in how to evade and deal with monsters. They were still scary and threw a wrench in the works every time (and were the only reason for the two times I panicked and gave up the controls to a reluctant observer), but somehow, they became secondary to the little missions I would set myself on. My goals had shifted. This became most apparent after reaching the more twisted part of the game.
I won't get into details, but around here there's a part where things slide from jump-and-scream scary to soul-shudderingly creepy. Survival was still a concern, but I didn't care as much about monsters anymore, and as scary as they were, they were no longer what I was playing for. At that point, the frightening aspect of anything that could kill me/Daniel had taken a back seat, and the most upsetting thing in the game had nothing to do with the player -- it was just the simmering knowledge of the suffering that other characters had been through. Y'all know I'm not an especially sympathetic or mushy-hearted person, so when I say this, it's a testament to the fact that the visuals and sound design are very, very well-done. It's not just about the shocks and jump scares. It's downright eerie. And that's what I love about it. In the especially bad rooms -- you'll know what I mean if you've been there -- the effects were such that even though video games don't come with a tactile component, it was still as though you could feel the death in the room. Those were simultaneously my most and least favorite rooms because they had this special soul-scarring quality to them, despite being technically some of the more physically "safer" places in the game. I never liked to stay in there long. Even my friend, who mostly watched and clung to my arm, urged me to leave them as soon as possible.
/rambly vagueness.
Also, a few of my (non-spoilery) other favorite moments of gameplay:
We were exploring a new room and then out of nowhere, the music starts playing that clues you in to know you're being chased. "Aw, crap, something's chasing me," I grumbled, since this was not a good time. My friend didn't believe me. "Nothing's chasing you." At that precise moment, I turned Daniel around, and there was a monster RIGHT BEHIND HIM RIGHT IN HIS FACE. Both of us screamed and jumped a foot in the air, of course. Also Daniel immediately perished, of course, because there's not much you can do at that point but die horribly.
A little before that, my friend had been reading a walkthrough to help us dummies figure out how to get to the next area. We finally completed the tasks we were supposed to do, and then I was supposed to walk across a platform, jump across a gap, and land on another platform where there was a new door. The friend here had already read a little ahead and knew what this door led to. As I was walking Daniel across the first platform, she exclaimed, "And now you're going to the best place ever!" at which point I jumped, failed to clear the gap, fell down and nearly killed myself.
For the record, it really was the best place ever once I got to that door. And by best place ever, I mean the threshhold between AHH THIS IS SCARY and oh my soul this game is wicked freakish giving me the heavy-hitting creeps, i-i actually miss the wine cellar now. We both got so silent as we entered those rooms. The chills were incredible.
First: who all here has played this? I know Gray has (introduced me to it, in fact) but wasn't there something on the cbox about you, too, Misty?
Anyway, announcement time: we (Ten and her friend) just completed the game (!!!) a few nights ago. Looking forward to trying out the Justine expansion pack.
So, in the mean time, here are a few early reflections on the experience (not very spoilerish, if that's anyone's concern).
At the beginning stages of the game, my main concern was finding monsters. Monsters were the scariest thing, but they were also the best. Gameplay was mostly about going around and wondering where the monsters were, screaming when they appeared, running/hiding until they were gone, and then wandering about to find them again. Even though I dreaded them more than anything, monster moments were also one of my favorite parts of the game. Then,
I won't get into details, but around here there's a part where things slide from jump-and-scream scary to soul-shudderingly creepy. Survival was still a concern, but I didn't care as much about monsters anymore, and as scary as they were, they were no longer what I was playing for. At that point, the frightening aspect of anything that could kill me/Daniel had taken a back seat, and the most upsetting thing in the game had nothing to do with the player -- it was just the simmering knowledge of the suffering that other characters had been through. Y'all know I'm not an especially sympathetic or mushy-hearted person, so when I say this, it's a testament to the fact that the visuals and sound design are very, very well-done. It's not just about the shocks and jump scares. It's downright eerie. And that's what I love about it. In the especially bad rooms -- you'll know what I mean if you've been there -- the effects were such that even though video games don't come with a tactile component, it was still as though you could feel the death in the room. Those were simultaneously my most and least favorite rooms because they had this special soul-scarring quality to them, despite being technically some of the more physically "safer" places in the game. I never liked to stay in there long. Even my friend, who mostly watched and clung to my arm, urged me to leave them as soon as possible.
/rambly vagueness.
Also, a few of my (non-spoilery) other favorite moments of gameplay:
We were exploring a new room and then out of nowhere, the music starts playing that clues you in to know you're being chased. "Aw, crap, something's chasing me," I grumbled, since this was not a good time. My friend didn't believe me. "Nothing's chasing you." At that precise moment, I turned Daniel around, and there was a monster RIGHT BEHIND HIM RIGHT IN HIS FACE. Both of us screamed and jumped a foot in the air, of course. Also Daniel immediately perished, of course, because there's not much you can do at that point but die horribly.
A little before that, my friend had been reading a walkthrough to help us dummies figure out how to get to the next area. We finally completed the tasks we were supposed to do, and then I was supposed to walk across a platform, jump across a gap, and land on another platform where there was a new door. The friend here had already read a little ahead and knew what this door led to. As I was walking Daniel across the first platform, she exclaimed, "And now you're going to the best place ever!" at which point I jumped, failed to clear the gap, fell down and nearly killed myself.
For the record, it really was the best place ever once I got to that door. And by best place ever, I mean the threshhold between AHH THIS IS SCARY and oh my soul this game is wicked freakish giving me the heavy-hitting creeps, i-i actually miss the wine cellar now. We both got so silent as we entered those rooms. The chills were incredible.