SOMA anyone?

[Bullett00th]

Parts of it really reminded me of SOMA.

The robots, the mystery of where humanity had gone, the weird dystopian city below surface. It's a very different experience of course, but has some familiar vibes.

Especially if you really think about it, the zurk menace is really horrifying.

[zombie-flesheater]

Originally posted by Bullett00th:

Parts of it really reminded me of SOMA.

The robots, the mystery of where humanity had gone, the weird dystopian city below surface. It's a very different experience of course, but has some familiar vibes.

Especially if you really think about it, the zurk menace is really horrifying.

I was thinking the same. Plus the aspect of humans transferring their consciousness into robot bodies.
Would have been interesting if they would have gone deeper, with memories of the robot meeting their human and / or seeing them die at some point.

[Player-13]

SOMA occurred to me as well. We see dead robots here and there, some without a head, very SOMA like. There is no explanation as to why these robots are laying about dead, but maybe there is nothing deeper and they are just "decoration", but I think there is something deeper here, and quite dark.

The lives of these robots in such a closed environment will be extremely repetitive, not a problem for the service robots in the control room, but to the robots in the city who have become conscious of their existence, their lives may have become to seem as nightmarish as those human minds trapped in robots and other machinery in the SOMA universe.

[Theta]

Ive only watched a full playthrough of Soma and I was getting the same vibes. Loved this game.

[whitecrow]

You've reminded me that I need to finish that game (started 6 years ago). I have to play in "safe" mode though as there was one part I just could not get through.

While there are some similarities in the technology involved in the stories, the feel of the two games is so different that I can't really say they are similar.

[Bullett00th]

Originally posted by Player-13:

The lives of these robots in such a closed environment will be extremely repetitive, not a problem for the service robots in the control room, but to the robots in the city who have become conscious of their existence, their lives may have become to seem as nightmarish as those human minds trapped in robots and other machinery in the SOMA universe.

Yeah the interesting thing about the game is that these robots experience believable joy, anger, friendliness, desperation etc. B12 just outright fits into SOMA, but we're not going there because spoilers)

Originally posted by whitecrow:

You've reminded me that I need to finish that game (started 6 years ago). I have to play in "safe" mode though as there was one part I just could not get through.

While there are some similarities in the technology involved in the stories, the feel of the two games is so different that I can't really say they are similar.

I don't know but I have a feeling I know which part you're talking about. One of the enemies is quite counter-intuitive and I had to look up how to get past her, but otherwise I'd recommend leaving the enemies intact for a sense of urgency and danger. They're not numerous.

The games are very different yes, but both share a theme and the approach of explorative storytelling. Do finish SOMA though, the ending had me in awe.

[MajorTom]

No. Just no. Soma is that one game that managed to traumatize me even by just watching the gameplay vids. The zurk stages of stray is also kinda traumatizing especially when I tried to speedrun but its much less trauma than soma.........

[Darklord]

Reminds me not of SOMA. But SOMA and Apsulov and Narcosis are very good games.

[tunnelcat]

Yeah, SOMA gave me the actual creeps, but I liked the game. The only other game that gave me some serious starts was Alien Isolation.

[Player-13]

The major similarity between SOMA and Stray is not in the gameplay, but in how it deals with consciousness and the transference of a mind from one receptacle to another, in the case of B12 from a human body into a machine, which is essentially what happened to Simon in SOMA. The major issue raised is in the nature of consciousness, in this case how much claim can the copy make to still being the same person when the original flesh and blood mind died years ago. Is there a "soul" involved, or not.

Do the robots in Stray upload their consciousness into a new robot every so often, which is strongly hinted at when one of the robots at the "archeological dig" at Antville talks about having a previous cycle, are they the same robot, in their mind, or just a copy of a copy of a copy going back potentially millions of years. Is B12 the only human mind stuck in a machine in the city? and it seems most of the robots in SOMA had a copy of a human mind. Do some of the robots have a copy of a human mind, but, as was the case with B12, no memory of this. In fact, could all of the robots have a copy of a human mind, and the event they talk about when they became conscious was inf act the time when humans, to escape the plague, uploaded their minds, maybe making the same mistake as Simon in SOMA in thinking that they will live on when only a copy will live on.

[whitecrow]

Originally posted by Bullett00th:

I don't know but I have a feeling I know which part you're talking about. One of the enemies is quite counter-intuitive and I had to look up how to get past her, but otherwise I'd recommend leaving the enemies intact for a sense of urgency and danger. They're not numerous.

The games are very different yes, but both share a theme and the approach of explorative storytelling. Do finish SOMA though, the ending had me in awe.

I couldn't get past/around the flesher in the MS Curie.

I still play the game as if the enemies can harm me, so it is still effective.

[tunnelcat]

I got around if finally, but it was a PITA.

[Who?]

With all the Robots and their Stories this reminds me of Nier Automata

[countingbeans81]

TOTALLY! I had the exact same thought. Especially at the end when B12 kinda "dies". This game was like a mild mild mild children's version of SOMA

[whitecrow]

Originally posted by Bullett00th:

The games are very different yes, but both share a theme and the approach of explorative storytelling. Do finish SOMA though, the ending had me in awe.

I finished it! Yes the ending(s) were really something. I am glad I struggled through it, even though it took me five years.