Do you think this game should have been scarier then the first?

[Sea Prince Gillywix]

So from what I understand the developers made a statement saying they wanted this game to be more story focused and tone down the horror and terror elements. Most people seem to agree that even if this game had come first its not as scary as Subnautica 1. I have two questions to discuss in this thread:

1. Do you think the devs made the right decision toning down scary elements?

2. What if they had actually done the opposite and made the game lean into horror elements? There was less light, actual blood violence, creatures that are programmed to hunt and ambush the player more akin to the cannibals in the forest games. The game also had a much more outright grim atmosphere and far scarier game overs.

[Vincont]

TL:DR I think the devs did a pretty good job. Just have to get rid of the constant ♥♥♥♥ themes.

Neither game had any horror element and that is fine by me. People who say otherwise are, most likely, just acting as if they are cool because they like the original better because it came first. As if to say, 'I'm an first generation/canon/book instead of movie kind of fan. I got the game in beta, I'm so cool!"

The second game has way more of a stress affect, not scary, in that, you are always dealing with some creature trying to get at you. The only relief being when you have AlAn and the monkeys stop trying to steal your stuff. It's not really threatening, the creatures in either game, it's more annoying. But without the means to defend yourself, it really shouldn't be any worse than it is.

The first game was a little too dark. It's not scary it's just annoying when games do that. I do not understand the obsession everyone has with straining their eyes while playing video games. You are either stuck with early onset of vision lose, have to resort to using an old junky monitor that doesn't use true black, or the old school method of jacking up the gamma.

What is there to be afraid of, it's a video game...... horror is just a distraction from quality content. That's why in film they get a B rating, bottom half of a double feature--low budget soy filler.

[DarkLustre]

What do you mean "scarier than the first"? Who is scared by swimming around with loveable plush toy- looking sea cuddlies? The only thing scary about them is the sound they make. You can get bit by anything in the game and not die. I play on Hardcore too. It's also not hard to maneuver so you can swim with Bone Sharks and Stalkers with no problem at all. I personally wish there was a way to make the game scarier. It's too bad they don't have a graphics scale that takes you from lovable cartoon characters to H.P. Lovecraft.

The best you can really hope for if you want scary is to go Filmic and tone the gamma down A LOT. When you can't see into the deep, it's much more interesting.

[Catalytic]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Vincont:

TL:DR I think the devs did a pretty good job. Just have to get rid of the constant ♥♥♥♥ themes. (snip for brevity)

What is there to be afraid of, it's a video game...... horror is just a distraction from quality content. That's why in film they get a B rating, bottom half of a double feature--low budget soy filler.

Yeah, I'm not a terribly big fan of those bleeped out themes either, but I suspect a significant part of the dev team play for that team, so they're going to promote it.

But what I really wanted to comment on is the idea that horror is a distraction. It could be, but that very much depends on the game. In SN, I think it's pretty clear that the scary elements really add to the game. You're told to go deeper, but if you do, everything down there seems hostile and wants to eat you. You might not make it back to the surface alive! Would you go swimming in shark infested waters in real life? It's a part of the survival game experience and it absolutely adds tension to the story and challenge for the player. It's not distracting at all. I certainly wouldn't call it "soy" (I suspect you mean effeminate/girly).

I think you can absolutely have good content and horror. There are tons of great horror flicks that we all pull out to watch at Halloween, for example. It's a matter of how you build up fear for the audience. The Exorcist (1973) is a really excellent example of it. It's not just blood and guts that makes things scary. Hannibal Lector was infinitely scarier than the Saw series. That series too is a great example where horror really adds something essential to the story. It's not a distraction at all!

I will agree on BZ though. It's not scary at all. Nothing about the story is intended to scare you. It's more of a mystery story: what happened to the sister and whodunnit? Even the creature attacks are mostly just annoying. The AI makes them not much of a threat unless they bug and hit you twice in rapid succession immediately killing you (ice worm). They attack and immediately run away giving you time to heal or escape. They make loud annoying noises, so you get plenty of warning (and you get to listen to chomping and roaring sounds as background music while you explore!). I don't think UWE were attempting to make it scary. Beautiful? Sure. Kid-friendly? Definitely. A preachy sermon on certain topics? Abso-freaking-lutely. But I wouldn't describe BZ as scary or horrific in any way.

SN doesn't need to be scary, but I don't think it's necessarily a detractor if they were to go that direction in 3.