Recently, I have been discovering horror games, which has been fun, but not perfect. Here's a list of the most common issues I have run into.
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1. Jump Scares
The same sort of jump scare over and over again ad nauseum is annoying rather than scary.
2. Limited Ammo
When you run out of ammo, it tends to remind you that you are playing a video game, which kills immersion. Instead of feeling terrified and trapped, you begin to think more about how to beat the game.
3. Terrible Combat Controls
It's scary to make a character feel clumsy and vulnerable to an extent, but if a character is unable to swing a copper pipe without looking like a broken doll, then that's not spooky, it's frustrating.
4. Removing Combat Completely
Having no way of defending yourself makes things feel repetitive. There's no sense of wondering if you are doing the right thing and the whole experience devolves into a game of hide and seek.
5. Dull Puzzles
I don't understand how horror developers somehow decided that a great way to supplement encounters with grotesque monsters was to supply an endless stream of uninteresting puzzles in mostly empty rooms.
6. Tacked-On Stories
The problem here occurs when not enough effort is put into the story, and it just feels like it's there to be there. This only distracts from gameplay and should be avoided.
7. Dumb Humor
When a protagonist randomly breaks the fourth wall and makes too many sarcastic quips, it's hard to be scared. If the main character isn't scared, then why should I be?
8. Gamey Bosses
Conventional boss battles tend to remind you that you're playing a video game. Traditional boss battles are supposed to be beatable, and knowing that you can win is an assurance that a player shouldn't have in a horror game.
9. Being Generically Dark
Darkness can be scary due to the fear of the unknown. It is not scary simply to be unable to see anything properly.
10. Dying In General
Dying in a game isn't like dying in real life. It's generally not permanent and it's never actually painful. It simply causes you to be inconvenienced by having to replay a section to get back to where you were before you died, and that's not creepy.
The genre of horror gaming is full of excellent works, but from what I have seen, it also still has room to improve. Honestly, I am still waiting on a truly horrific experience in gaming. Luckily, people like Hideo Kojima are striving to do better, and with technology like Virtual Reality in development, things are looking up for horror fans.
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