Horror Games’ Mistakes
So I was thinking about why I dislike horror games in general (minus the very rare few) and realized there are actually a few issues that seem pretty common.
1) Why is it so, SO many horror games like to have plot-relevant stuff on papers or the like that you can easily miss? More importantly, why is it the text on said papers is always small so you have to strain your eyes and get a headache reading?
2) Jump scares. Just...jump scares. The only horror game with jump scares I'll excuse is Five Nights at Freddy's, because the atmosphere is already so well-done and it sorta makes sense that the animatronics would bust into your office like that.
3) Generic plots all around! Because when it isn't a Native American curse, it's the ghost or an ancient mythical monster discovered by teenagers of all people. That, or monsters created in a lab that went wrong. Or zombies. Or a virus turning people into monsters that started in a lab. There are some exceptions, but most horror plots are overdone.
4) Somewhere along the line, you KNOW your main character is gonna make a stupid decision during a cut scene that is gonna make you really, REALLY mad that they didn't ask you first.
5) Why...why can I not use this item as a weapon? Why can I not...oh, never mind. It's more scary when I'm helpless, right? (Because being armed and still helpless is totally less scary.)
6) I have been defeated by my inability to run more than ten seconds. (I'm looking at you, Alan Wake. And...and Thomas from Never Ending Nightmare. And...aw, heck. There are so many...)
7) I have been defeated by my inability to jump/move past this ankle - knee-high obstacle. The miniature picket fence around the garden is too great an obstacle for my character to defeat. (I saw you walk up stairs earlier, MC, I know you can actually step over that five-inch obstacle.)
8) I...NPC, STOP TELLING ME ABOUT YOUR FAMILY/PET/YOUR PLANS FOR WHEN WE GET OUTTA THIS MESS I DON'T WANT YOU-- Welp, there you go, off to deaths-ville.
9) *Tough character who's a grizzled veteran when it comes to surviving the threat of the game dies right in front of you after giving some helpful exposition to let you know that shit just got real.*
There are probably more, but these were the first that came to mind. Sorry for the negative post, I just wanted to get some frustrations off my chest. Limbo was a horror(?) game that definitely did a lot of things right, and despite the jump scares, FNaF is pretty good, especially due to the atmosphere it creates and the lore. Not to say these are the only good horror games, but they're the first that come to mind.
