Why play this game?

[Exile]

I'm not trying to judge anyone here, I'm thinking about buying this game and I'm genuinely curious what people enjoy about it. Why subject yourself to something so extreme and disturbing? What's the payoff?

[Darklord]

You say it. Extreme, disturbing and dark atmosphere. It's not comparable but I think about the silent hill series in a similar way.

[SexyBastardAlert!]

Personally I enjoy being scared to hell. I like those shock scares where something jumps out in a split second. Not everyone likes that sort of thing. It looks like there is some adult content in this as well, and while I don't have a preference for it, Steam in general is probably more on the younger side, so this won't fly too well. It's all about what you like. I know it when I see it, you should as well. Don't ever let others tell you what a good game is, or you will be playing all their games and never your own. I'm probably buying this one at some point. I don't own but I did watch the videos, it's something I would like for sure.

[Exile]

Originally posted by Darklord:

You say it. Extreme, disturbing and dark atmosphere. It's not comparable but I think about the silent hill series in a similar way.

I really like the Silent Hill series (the first three, none of the crap afterward) because all the disturbing content served a purpose, it was about developing its characters, which the stories revolved around, exposing their darkest secrets in a really visceral way.

But what's the point of Agony? You can answer the question of why is all this ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up stuff happening with "because you're in Hell." And is that really any different from just edgy for the sake of edgy? Is there any real substance here?

[Darklord]

Originally posted by Exile:

Is there any real substance here?

It is there. Substance lies in it's cruelty, atmosphere and interesting but very confusing story ( as in SH). The level design is a real payoff. It's H.R. Giger like, if you know what I mean.

[AvrorA]

Better go for Jericho (the Clive Barker's one).

[Darklord]

Originally posted by AvrorA:

Better go for Jericho (the Clive Barker's one).

Old game but good. But really, really not good as agony, IMO.

[CrumbleCat]

You play because you get sucked into this world of torture and misery. Because of the fun level design and beautiful enemies. It has puzzles, tons of collectibles (so many notes). All the lore needs to be unwrapped by reading. But the real goal of the game is to escape hell, and your first goal is to meet up with the Red Goddess everyone in the game seems to adore. It has 8 endings as well.

So to sum it up: Enjoy your vacation in hell, because it's one unique ride? :P

[Lazy]

I would say it's the same reason people enjoyed bloodborne. Challenge not included, the disturbing lovecraftian theme of bloodborne interests people, who like a good, new perspective of existentialism. Agony, has a similar concept, h e l l, and all it's horrors, is rarely depicted in games, and when it is, it's either not very detailed or just a playground for action. I was hyped because I could finally see what i think hell would be like. It's a macabre curiosity that a lot of people look for, but it's there suppose

[Mord]

The premise of the question assums people don't like to be scared. Or disturbed. We know this isn't true. People love to be thrilled. Look at the success of horror films today. Gore, sex, violence. It's what people want.

[Malagon]

My concept of Hell is that of a place so depraved, vulgar, obscene, vile, chaotic, violent, agonizing, nightmarish, soul-crushing, twisted, degenerate, ungodly, and maddening that it would break the human mind and irrevocably corrupt the soul, forever denying redemption even if you escaped.

Thus far, in my opinion, no video games have been able to adequately show this vision of Hell because they have been too restrained and conservative in their depictions. Hell should be so terrible and wicked that you wish for death and darkness to end the experience. Agony is the best representation yet for Hell through the artistic medium of the video game. The underworld in Agony is truly heinous.

[Twisted]

tired of "P C" adult games for kids

[The Time Traveler]

Originally posted by Exile:

I'm not trying to judge anyone here, I'm thinking about buying this game and I'm genuinely curious what people enjoy about it. Why subject yourself to something so extreme and disturbing? What's the payoff?

It's a puzzle. It's dark. Mysterious. Forbidden. Unusual.

It takes place in Hell (we're probably all going there so why not have a look first?). I think my initial curiosity with such things began with early Clive Barker novels such as "the Books of Blood" and the Hellraiser(movie) series. This game feels like being thrown right in there.

Been waiting a long time for something that actually really captured that kind of horror without holding back.

Also note: for 15$ pricetag I would be a fool to not take a look. I guess for the same reason people go to a carnival and pay to look at the freakshow.

[I like Chop Goblins.]

It's metal as ♥♥♥♥.

[Jom]

Originally posted by GotMyAssKicked!:

Personally I enjoy being scared to hell

Wasn't scary but I refunded it annoyed as hell so at least it invoked some feelings.

[Phileosophos]

I just played about half an hour. The game clearly has some issues, my most pressing being an inability to see where I'm going at times, but it's also a wild experience. I bought it because I wanted to play the unrated version, and that's all I've seen. I know many felt burned by what was originally released, but I never cared about that.

What I can say so far is that it's ugly, unsettling, and disturbing, sometimes morally revusing. And again, I've played just barely more than half an hour. I doubt it's the kind of thing that I'll sink hundreds of hours into, but I wanted a thoroughly freaky, unsettling, and/or scary Halloween experience, and that it's delivering without question.

If you're looking for some great adventure/action game, this isn't it. If you're open to more of an atmospheric walking simulator, and you're not expecting more than a few hours of queasy entertainment, then you might enjoy it as I am.