What are your thoughts on the new horror segments?

[Necrophobia]

Title

[choongmyoung]

Not good really. I hate horror games with short vision range. But I understand why the horror segments are necessary story-wise.

[Bobywan]

I didn't like it mostly because you think you know what to do but you might be missing a clue from the real world and spend hours looking around because you can't see well.

[Gilben]

I hated it. Low visibility horror game is already my least favourite genre, and the lack of fun movement strips away one of the most enjoyable aspects of the main game. The darkness makes finding clues and making your way through levels a chore, interspersed with sudden jump scares that make you restart.

I feel like I was tricked into playing a type of game I hate.

[LupisLight]

I honestly didn't find them that bad. I mean compared to some of the things from the base game. The core of Giant's Deep was a pretty creepy place to me, though I'll admit depths scare me quite a bit (You'd think all the time I've spent playing Subnautica would have desensitised me to that a little, but nope.).

And then there was the Dark Bramble. Dear god. I braved the Dark Bramble and the anglerfish so many times now, even the 'horror' segments of the DLC can't quite compare. Especially since the worst that can happen here is you get kicked out of the dreamworld/simulation. Whereas The anglerfish can and will kill you out of nowhere, forcing you to restart the timeloop altogether.

Yeah, it was spooky the first few times to see the locals catch me, but after you understand the mechanics of the dreamworld/simulation, it isn't that bad. Hint: there are unlit candles everywhere, focus your lantern on them to light them. And after you discover the Matrix Glitch, you can just use that and see everything in full visibility and it really isn't scary at all at that point.

[Gilben]

Originally posted by LupisLight:

And after you discover the Matrix Glitch, you can just use that and see everything in full visibility and it really isn't scary at all at that point.

That's what I was hoping, but then as soon as you go back to the "normal" dark world (there's like 4 layers of " world" nowspace, stranger, dark world, glitch, part of why this DLC feels like they tried to fit a different game into Outer WIlds, not exactly elegant...) the enemies are essentially invisible again and I ran into them anyways. So for me even though the horror is gone it's still this frustrating restart-fest gameplay.

[Ukatan Hunter]

They don't belong to Outer Wilds, that's completely different gameplay. They sap all the good that OWi had. If we could have the first part of the DLC multiplied by two instead of that wandering in pitch black, that would be awesome.

[Bobywan]

Originally posted by Noobmasser:

They don't belong to Outer Wilds, that's completely different gameplay. They sap all the good that OWi had. If we could have the first part of the DLC multiplied by two instead of that wandering in pitch black, that would be awesome.

Eaxctly, I would have loved to be on a bigger stranger with more event like the dam breaking that would require you to visit some places at different times.

[AYAYA]

Originally posted by Gilben:

restart-fest gameplay.

Have you considered that you shouldn't be restarting so much? Maybe there's more than one way to do things, y'know?

[Gilben]

Originally posted by AYAYA:

Originally posted by Gilben:

restart-fest gameplay.

Have you considered that you shouldn't be restarting so much? Maybe there's more than one way to do things, y'know?

I'm not restarting myself, the owls restart your "dark world run" when they catch you. And then of course you've got the outer time loop restart that in this DLC means you have to make the exact same trip back to the Stranger each time that happens (no trips to explore other planets when you're stuck like the base game).

[Mogross]

It was dishonest game design.

[Gilben]

I feel like they could at least put a visible light circle on the ground around the owls, similar to the player. Having them be basically invisible from a distance except for the tiny green light that sometimes their mesh was blocking didn't feel fair at all.

If they did that and increased the player's view radius so there's less fumbling in the dark it would help a lot.

I really hope this isn't the last DLC, it left such a bad final impression for Outer Wilds. I wish I could go back and un-play it for that reason.

[JustRandomGuy]

As people keep pointing out the base game is scary on its own and there are ways to "solve" these segments in the same ways you do with other sections. I think the main problem is that the virtual world has too many horror-game tropes making people think "oh this is a stealth horror segment guess i have to do that now". And obviously people with the most horror-game experience were the ones who recognized that and played those sections as scary outer wilds (and just to be clear i didn't recognize it and i kinda axed my enjoyment a bit but oh well)

[LupisLight]

Yeah, I can see where some people would have been put off. Here's a thought I had.

The Outer Wilds, at it's heart, has a theme of exploration and discovery. the feelings of travelling the system and exploring the ruins, unravelling the mysteries and the stories and learning how everything works, this whole experience has been amazing. But the truth is that sometimes the exploring the unknown takes you to some scary places. I've had to face more than a few fears in this game, but I think that's just the nature of adventure. This is definitely a game that does not shy away from the scary creepy side of things.

[Iris Fulgur]

Originally posted by Gilben:

I feel like they could at least put a visible light circle on the ground around the owls, similar to the player. Having them be basically invisible from a distance except for the tiny green light that sometimes their mesh was blocking didn't feel fair at all.

If they did that and increased the player's view radius so there's less fumbling in the dark it would help a lot.

I really hope this isn't the last DLC, it left such a bad final impression for Outer Wilds. I wish I could go back and un-play it for that reason.

Actually, you can only see the lanterns if they're not being hidden; their geometry has nothing to do with it. The owls are an intelligent race, and know that if there's an intruder, their lights give them away. That's why they use the Lanterns in the Woodlands area, but not in the Cove or Canyon. In the Woodlands, they don't know you're in the area, they're just making their way to the lodge, so they're using their lanterns to navigate. In the Lodge or Cove however, they know the lights have been extinguished, something that is only done to access the forbidden archives. So they actively patrol while keeping their lanterns hidden for that exact reason you mentioned, to make it unfair for whoever is trying to break in, relying on their night-vision to check tighter corridors while being on the lookout for any other sources of light that might be the intruder. It feels very much intentional, and changing that would make them feel much less intelligent. (I'd argue fright mode turned off doesn't even do that, it just makes them feel gentler/less aggressive)

[Iris Fulgur]

Originally posted by LupisLight:

I honestly didn't find them that bad. I mean compared to some of the things from the base game ... Dear god. I braved the Dark Bramble and the anglerfish so many times now, even the 'horror' segments of the DLC can't quite compare. Especially since the worst that can happen here is you get kicked out of the dreamworld/simulation. Whereas The anglerfish can and will kill you out of nowhere, forcing you to restart the timeloop altogether.

Yeah, it was spooky the first few times to see the locals catch me, but after you understand the mechanics of the dreamworld/simulation, it isn't that bad.

Originally posted by LupisLight:

Yeah, I can see where some people would have been put off. Here's a thought I had.

The Outer Wilds, at it's heart, has a theme of exploration and discovery. the feelings of travelling the system and exploring the ruins, unravelling the mysteries and the stories and learning how everything works, this whole experience has been amazing. But the truth is that sometimes the exploring the unknown takes you to some scary places. I've had to face more than a few fears in this game, but I think that's just the nature of adventure. This is definitely a game that does not shy away from the scary creepy side of things.

This. 100% this. The core of this DLC is uncovering the secrets of a race actively working to keep those secrets hidden, literally attempting to take them to their grave. They're nocturnal, so they use that to their advantage. They keep their history locked away in areas they "know" outsiders can't access without alerting them, with the information of how to even access those secrets being locked in one-way rooms that only age and decay has created exits out of. But they're not excessively violent. Creepy as all heck, to be sure, but that's nothing new in Outer Wilds.
I don't love horror, and learning that I could have circumvented a TON of it in hindsight really sucks, but... well, it's also really cool too! And completely lines up with the rest of the game. Like getting to the Black Hole Forge by flying up to it before falling into the Black Hole because you parked poorly, or constantly trying and failing to enter the Sun Station from the outside because that thing actively opposes all attempts to dock on it, only to realize there's a super simple entrance to both located on Ash Twin. In fact, there's so much hindsight helps in those sections of the DLC that the achievement to reach all three archives in a single loop is actually one of the easiest achievements in the game if planned out and routed correctly