Jumpscares?

[Saturn]

does this do Jumpscares? i personally find those more annoying than scary.

[Aleph]

Not too often from what I have played so far.

There's definately one in the tutorial mission though.

[Saturn]

Originally posted by Bruhccus: God of Vice:

Not too often from what I have played so far.

There's definately one in the tutorial mission though.

Thank you for the reply, as long as they arent overused like a lot of other games/movies i think i wont mind them then

[AP!]

I've only really encountered one. Overall it relies more on atmospheric horror, with disturbing visuals, audio distortions, and unsettling environments than cheap jumpscares, which I really appreciate since I also find jumpscares annoying and overused in most horror games nowadays. It's been fun so far, but unfortunately its crashed a few times on me... that's more horrifying than anything else.

[Rapscallion]

Very rarely do they happen and they don't seem to rely on loud noises (so far). Definitely do not feel cheap.

[DSR115]

There is one if you alt tab back in but it's random.

[Link Dawnbringer]

Counting the tutorial one and the tabbing away one I've found three so far, but it was pretty obvious the other one I found was coming.

[Dr. Marker]

To be fair, the alt-tabbing one is arguably meant to be a punishment for people who try to look up a guide while playing (and I believe there is actually an achievement for having that one happen).

As someone who hates jump scares with a passion, there are a few in the game (as others have noted) but to be fair they are relatively well telegraphed and the game for the most part isn't reliant upon them for it's horror to be effective so they don't feel as forced and contrived as they do in other horror titles (looking at you, Resi 7).

To their credit, the devs seem to understand that sometimes it's the moment where you could have thrown in a jump scare but instead opted for empty silence that unsettles you more than always going for the immediately startling option, I wish this kind of restraint was shown more often.

[♔ Affable 7th Wave Teaboo ♔]

Yes. But not that frequently. It's difficult to give a clear answer because the game consists of random events and investigations. You can go though the game without seeing any, or you might get a combination of events where they would be common, I imagine...

Every one of them I saw, I could see coming, imho.

[Orange Joe]

I just find the park guest one annoying now, the one from the demo. I've seen it so many times it just feels like a pointless event now, it doesn't do anything beyond freak you out a bit the first time. The seamstress one is super creepy though.

[Scarletic]

There are some. But they are not creepy at all. Here a list of jumpscares I find.

1)In the school window in random ancounter, but it super obvious and game almost directly tells "hey, it is gonna be jumpscare in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."
2)Same in peep hole between misteries. But still super obvious.
3)In random encounter in mansion with shelves and sewing machine, but your eyes are on another part of screen in this moment.
4)After ALT-TAB, but in even doesn't have sound.

[Greatfox [RUS]]

Originally posted by Scarletic:

There are some. But they are not creepy at all. Here a list of jumpscares I find.

1)In the school window in random ancounter, but it super obvious and game almost directly tells "hey, it is gonna be jumpscare in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."
2)Same in peep hole between misteries. But still super obvious.
3)In random encounter in mansion with shelves and sewing machine, but your eyes are on another part of screen in this moment.
4)After ALT-TAB, but in even doesn't have sound.

ALT+TAB one actually has sound, so be careful when wearing a headset at max volume. Personally I find a seamstress event the scariest jumpscare out of these 4.

[Jensen408]

not really

[TheUnnamedStranger]

Originally posted by Dr. Marker:

To be fair, the alt-tabbing one is arguably meant to be a punishment for people who try to look up a guide while playing (and I believe there is actually an achievement for having that one happen).

As someone who hates jump scares with a passion, there are a few in the game (as others have noted) but to be fair they are relatively well telegraphed and the game for the most part isn't reliant upon them for it's horror to be effective so they don't feel as forced and contrived as they do in other horror titles (looking at you, Resi 7).

To their credit, the devs seem to understand that sometimes it's the moment where you could have thrown in a jump scare but instead opted for empty silence that unsettles you more than always going for the immediately startling option, I wish this kind of restraint was shown more often.

Lol. Anyone who "hates jumpscares with a passion" only hates them because they got scared by one and see that as shameful somehow, then any game which uses them properly has its jumpscares downplayed because people think having them is some inherent gaming sin.

Asking whether this game has jumpscares or not is a nebulous question because it depends on what you consider a jumpscare. Are scare chords jumpscares? They arguably serve the same purpose, and this game makes frequent use of them. In fact the soundtrack seems deliberately loud even on the lowest settings, and I think it's intentional as a means of delivering fright from its blaring, dissonant soundtrack.

I think especially with the kind of atmosphere it builds, one could argue that the enemy encounters function as mini jumpscares. They're not in your face, but they're absolutely sudden and are probably going to startle you at least once. Just investigating like normal and then BAM, suddenly black screen, with some text informing you that something is coming to ruin your day.

A game which relies on no jumpscares, without a complimenting payoff for all the tension it worked so hard to build, falls completely flat. This guy even admits that some of the more "atmospheric" parts of the horror come from expecting a jumpscare and then not getting it. Because this game demonstrates from its tutorial that it is not afraid to use a jumpscare every so often, the player is going to expect them, and the tense atmosphere capitalizes on it.

A horror game being atmospheric is only part of the puzzle. It needs a payoff, otherwise the atmosphere dissolves. You need to make the player feel unsafe or insecure by putting them in danger, and the physical threat of your character dying is often not enough.

Jumpscares serve as a payoff. An arguably cheap payoff, and if overused it can ruin the experience. But having no payoff is worse.

TL;DR yes this game uses jumpscares, just differently and in different ways. that's not a bad thing.

[frogger]

I usually can't play games with jumpscares, but none of the ones in this game bother me.

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

Originally posted by TheUnnamedStranger:

Originally posted by Dr. Marker:

To be fair, the alt-tabbing one is arguably meant to be a punishment for people who try to look up a guide while playing (and I believe there is actually an achievement for having that one happen).

As someone who hates jump scares with a passion, there are a few in the game (as others have noted) but to be fair they are relatively well telegraphed and the game for the most part isn't reliant upon them for it's horror to be effective so they don't feel as forced and contrived as they do in other horror titles (looking at you, Resi 7).

To their credit, the devs seem to understand that sometimes it's the moment where you could have thrown in a jump scare but instead opted for empty silence that unsettles you more than always going for the immediately startling option, I wish this kind of restraint was shown more often.

Lol. Anyone who "hates jumpscares with a passion" only hates them because they got scared by one and see that as shameful somehow, then any game which uses them properly has its jumpscares downplayed because people think having them is some inherent gaming sin.

Asking whether this game has jumpscares or not is a nebulous question because it depends on what you consider a jumpscare. Are scare chords jumpscares? They arguably serve the same purpose, and this game makes frequent use of them. In fact the soundtrack seems deliberately loud even on the lowest settings, and I think it's intentional as a means of delivering fright from its blaring, dissonant soundtrack.

I think especially with the kind of atmosphere it builds, one could argue that the enemy encounters function as mini jumpscares. They're not in your face, but they're absolutely sudden and are probably going to startle you at least once. Just investigating like normal and then BAM, suddenly black screen, with some text informing you that something is coming to ruin your day.

A game which relies on no jumpscares, without a complimenting payoff for all the tension it worked so hard to build, falls completely flat. This guy even admits that some of the more "atmospheric" parts of the horror come from expecting a jumpscare and then not getting it. Because this game demonstrates from its tutorial that it is not afraid to use a jumpscare every so often, the player is going to expect them, and the tense atmosphere capitalizes on it.

A horror game being atmospheric is only part of the puzzle. It needs a payoff, otherwise the atmosphere dissolves. You need to make the player feel unsafe or insecure by putting them in danger, and the physical threat of your character dying is often not enough.

Jumpscares serve as a payoff. An arguably cheap payoff, and if overused it can ruin the experience. But having no payoff is worse.

TL;DR yes this game uses jumpscares, just differently and in different ways. that's not a bad thing.

Claiming that jumpscares are an integral part of horror are hilarious, or somehow needed for a payoff is absurd. Jumpscares are without exception cheap, and really can only be played for laughs in games that do horror well, like the 2016 Prey.

If there are jumpscares in the game, you end up being tense for the random and ridiculous annoying jumpscare far more, and completely lose the sensation of tension and end up with nothing but disappointment when the payoff for all that buildup is some cheap sting.

There are effective and good ways to build up horror, and the unease alone by itself is a great payoff that doesn't work if it's suddenly flattened by someone doing the writing equivalent of popping a balloon with a needle. It entertains small children, and that's all it's good for. This is why children's "horror games" are so focused on cheap jumpscares and nothing but.

There are so many effective ways to build up horror, jumpscares are not, and will never be one of them. If you need jumpscares for horror to work on you, you might also be entertained by jangling keys. Sad to see that this game mars itself with them. Lost all interest in it as a result.