But why is this scary?

[Unseen]

This is the same thing that children pay money to go to and buy floatation devices for. This is the same thing 3 year Olds giggle and splash around to. I don't understand how this would be considered scary or creepy. A big pool hall basically. I mean the only thing I find even a little disturbing is that people sometimes drown. But I can swim perfectly so it don't frighten me.

Not meaning this as a criticism or saying this Sims bad graphics are very nice. I just don't see how this is psychological horror.

[Fracture94]

I am currently replaying the game. A walking sim, a genre i usually cant stand because i prioritize good gameplay over anything. And yet, im replaying the damn game... It also has extremely positive Steam review ratio among hundreds of reviews, which shows im definitely not just one of the few people who is enjoying it.

This is an experience unlike any other, im telling you. But you have to be interested in the liminal space horror genre to appreciate it i guess. I can totally understand not liking it. But damn... we sure do!

As for how scary it is, it depends on the type of horror you like. Not to sound tough or anything, but its been a long time since a good horror game made me truly scared, so not been particularly scared in this game didn't caught me by surprise.

There are times a sound or a particular room gave me goosebumps through my entire body (even during my second playthrough), and there are also times where i found a room and said "damn, i dont mind taking a bath here and chill for a while". Its a weird game, and i cant tell you enough how much i love it!

[Ari]

Origineel geplaatst door teg:

Liminal spaces always made me feel uncomfortable.

I'm trying to figure this game out like the OP. I was almost immediately bored. I play alone in many video games just me and my avatar. In fact, I'd prefer not to have in game companions. Maybe that makes this a poor fit for me?

The fact I can't use my normal key binds might be part of the disconnect.

Maybe I should play it in a dark room with my secondary monitor turned off.

Liminal spaces don't make everyone uncomfortable like it does with me, and that's fine. It's also simply not scary to some. It's similar to how a group of people are terrified of say, zombies in video games, but others aren't. It's all subjective.

[Inertia]

It's the nature of the uncanny - you take something specific yet familiar, and twist it just enough that it throws people off. Public pools are common enough that it's easy to imagine what it would be like to go through one, with the smell of chlorine, the drone of the florescent lights, the damp white tiles, which makes it very easy to become immersed in the game. The weight of the movement helps, where you can feel every footstep and the character moves like you'd expect rather than a floaty video game character, with the photorealistic first person view.

Then it pulls things out of proportion. Corridors don't make sense. Weird hallways that are dark enough to trigger a fear response. Claustrophobic tunnels that are far too low for comfort and waist-deep in water. Diving boards hanging over seemingly endless pits. Add in the liminality, the sense of being isolated and alone in a place you normally expect to be moving through with lots of other people.

Now this once familiar place becomes unfamiliar, and weird, and uncomfortable. Things aren't so bizarrely out of place that it snaps you out of it, they just feel off somehow. Not right. Oppressive and anxiety-inducing.It's not the terror of being chased by a monster, but the horror of some nameless dread that your brain is conjuring up due to it not understanding the environment around you.

Naturally, this isn't going to hit everyone the same way, and that's fine. If the horror doesn't click with you, then it doesn't click with you - but for the people it does click with, it hits very hard and very well. I'm one of those people, and I love this game.

[Cthoolhoo]

might beacuse of the isolation feeling? but in my opinion its not scary at all

[Bradhandler]

You gotta understand: scary to a lot of people almost directly means, 'this experience gets my heart rate up.'

Pools isn't really that kind of scary, it's not trying to be. It's unsettling to put yourself in the space that Pools creates. I kept getting this feeling like I was going to twist an ankle while I was playing.

Either way, if you can't immerse yourself in the space, and you don't enjoy exploring it, the game probably isn't for you. There's no shame in that. The real shame is in getting caught up in the idea that anyone who plays the game must be crazy for enjoying that. Different strokes.

[Flying_Table_cloth]

Origineel geplaatst door Unseen:

This is the same thing that children pay money to go to and buy floatation devices for. This is the same thing 3 year Olds giggle and splash around to. I don't understand how this would be considered scary or creepy. A big pool hall basically. I mean the only thing I find even a little disturbing is that people sometimes drown. But I can swim perfectly so it don't frighten me.

Not meaning this as a criticism or saying this Sims bad graphics are very nice. I just don't see how this is psychological horror.

This is a different type of horror versus what you think of when you play horror games. In order for this game to be scary you need to really Immerse in what the game is supposed to make you feel. It feeds off the fear of being alone in a strange place that makes no sense to reality, Not knowing where you are and how you got there, the noises are supposed to add a layer of fear and adds to the mysteriousness of where you are at. you never know if you are going to be safe no matter which direction you take and once your brain realizes you are in a place outside of reality you search for an exit, you think of the people you love dearly wondering if you will ever see them again.. its all about immersing yourself in that mindset and put your mind in it like its actually happening..

how i got into the feeling was imagining myself going to a water park then decide to go down a water slide but instead of reaching the pool at the bottom i end up in this place. no one but yourself in site, your brain wont realize anything is out of the ordinary until you explore a bit. but point being, you need to immerse yourself in the feeling of being alone in a strange place that you know defies all reality.

[Loop123]

Origineel geplaatst door IDemonicRBLX:

i played the demo and tbh it was boring but guess that's just me i personally like it when there's monsters chasing me it makes the game more scary this game is simply a walking sim

How is a game monster scary - its just a bunch of pixels? I find it completely opposite.