Some games can pull off feelings of vertigo, dread or apprehension, not many seem to be able to pull off true paranoia.
I recently borrowed my friends xbone just to see some 4K blu rays to see how it looks. While borrowing it i tried out a few games and ending up trying Prey. I never bought it even though i liked the original quite a bit for what it was. Like many Bethesdas horseshit totally put me off. Giving it a try one thing in what felt like a Bioshock clone stood out however and that was the mimics. An enemy that could become any object in the room. Every so often you would see one as you round a corner scuttle over to a chair to turn into another chair, mumble 'ohyoumotherfucker' and beat the shit out of it with a wrench. It was an interesting idea where you aren't afraid of a monster, aren't prepared for set spawns in set locations. You are in what looks like an empty room wondering what in front of you will try to attack.
In the case of prey it didn't take long before i realised 'this is just going to be an object check game isnt it?' and quit. It made me think about other certain games though. Stuff like The Thing on PS2 for example. Games where part of the experience is worrying when a friend might become an enemy. Trouble is all i can think of is mediocre games that never get it right.
Can you name a single game that does paranoia well?
Camden Turner
Call of Cthulu was a'ight
Wyatt Cox
the first silent hill
Nolan Adams
Five nights at Freddy's
Owen Turner
Any game SHOULD be capable of doing it very well, since one of the simplest things to do is have objects appear/disappear whenever users move between rooms (or whatever) and textures change subtly between visits, but have object permanence and ability to recognize collections of textures be VITAL to the player succeeding in the game. Gaslighting on a world map scale, is what I'm saying. Video games should be able to pull that off superbly, but I've never seen one do it.
Grayson Ramirez
I thought it was pretty good at paranoia, especially at the beginning where you just entered town, not knowing what to expect. Then the camera switches perspective from detective man to some unknown thing watching him from above. That gave me some serious paranoia in all honesty.
Ryan Reed
Subnautica, silent Hill 2, resident evil 7, all of those are subjective but I find those pretty good.
Joshua Peterson
Paranoid of how much time you were about to lose from the next crash + the consoletrash save system put in place so you can't mitigate all the time lost to crashes with frequent saves, as well as lengthy, unskippable cutscenes.
Definitely that.
Cameron Garcia
Oh, I thought you were talking about Nier:Automata.
Christopher Cruz
MGSV.
Liam Hall
Danganonronpa beta
Andrew Sanders
I do think the first game did it well.
Zachary Ramirez
First day of Pathologic.
Eli Perry
Also, this one.
Connor Cox
I do believe that the Amnesia series did this rather well. Despite being Walking Sims, they're so utterly dripping with atmosphere and intrigue that they keep you just on edge. Probably the best in the genre, and one of the few that get it right.
Lincoln Scott
I got the the part of the game where you first hide under the bed? Does it pick up from there because the only thing I feel from this game is the urge to stare at the main characters huge boobs. I mean they are great.
Jack Lewis
I kinda of quitted when I realized it's basically an adventure but with a persistent enemy that roams the map and hunts you if he ever lays eye on those melons. I really got creeped out, you can hit up with this pic related motherfucker anywhere, that's what it makes it so scary. Also, there's a sanity meter, I've never played enough to find out what happens when you get your mind fried.
Btw, I heard that clock tower does something similar, so one more to the list, OP.
Dylan Reyes
Doki Doki Literature Club. It ruins it if I explain why, but this VN fucks you up. If you can get into it blindly, I recommend it.
Gabriel Martin
Oh, another one, OP, never played this one, but I heard that it basically randomizes the culprit in every run you play, so you basically who to trust, even if you already beat the game once.
I thought on recommending this one, but I really did not find so much unnerving, or paranoia inducing in the strict sense, maybe I'm fucked up in the head.
Michael Green
Fix'd.
Jayden Rodriguez
Can't be done when you faggots have kept openly spoiling it for months now, so much for VN lovers hu? faggots all of you
Noah Harris
Quit crying, niggerfaggot
Samuel Hughes
Aw what the fuck, really? The only enemy is Sloth from the goonies who just hunts around for them succulent tits? I thought it had more enemies.
Jonathan Baker
Luigi's Mansion
Jackson White
Can't confirm this, as I've said I quit after some hours.
Isaac Cook
I played it a few days ago without knowing anything but the basic "this game is actually creepy" information, that you can't really avoid because the game itself has disclaimers when you run it that it isn't suitable for children and pussies.
Camden Thompson
...
Jeremiah Davis
Except that's actually difficult to pull off because the average user has the attention span of a goldfish. Leaving you with scenarios like Madison where you constantly have noises or objects being moved or doors being slammed shut but you quickly realize that none of them signal any danger, and games like Scratches where you spent three hours searching for the next item combo that triggers the next event.
Jason Miller
ss13 playing against competent changelings i've ended up killing my fair share of innocent niggers due to changeling shenanigans
Landon Wilson
eversion did it better
Nicholas Johnson
counter strike
Carter White
Nah, there's a couple of different enemies that hunt you in different chapters of the game - Sloth, creepy doll lady my dick, holy shit, saddler-looking dude and the 'final boss'.
Ryder Barnes
How is Amnesia a series when it only has 2 games and a dlc? You sound like a Jewtube faggot.
Benjamin Barnes
I remember Penumbra having some random shit involved, I started a playthrough and didn't see a enemy with 10 minutes of play. Then, I started another and there was some dogs or ghost dogs dunno in like 3min of play. Wtf.
Jason Brown
Series refers to any number of titles that appear in a sequence, it doesn't define how many are necessary to qualify, only more than one, and everyone sounds like a Jewtube Faggot unless they start spouting shitposts like "Hey Holla Forums." These were my first horror games, and I enjoyed them personally. Why does it feel like you have to fight tooth and nail every step of the way for even mildly liking any game made past 2007 on here unless it was New Vegas or Dork Souls?
Nathaniel Campbell
Trips for truth
Easton Walker
The mimics in DishonoredShock aren't really the main adversary, so they aren't overused.
Lucas Gutierrez
I could swear OP asked for games.
Connor Bennett
Kane & Lynch multiplayer, trouble in terrorist town.
Zachary Foster
this
Easton Mitchell
Shit/10
Adam Mitchell
eve online
Jason Jones
Yes, no game that I've played yet has captured that feeling of isolated imminent doom that sitting in your seamoth in open water in the dunes region brings. Distant growl, creaking sounds, and your tiny bubble.
Grayson Young
I alt-tabbed that shit so fucking fast
Liam Allen
My first venture was similar there.
I can't wait until 1.0, what a good game.
on an alternate note, has anyone who played No Man's Sky noticed that it's like a lazier and stretched-thin version of Subnautica? Even the assets seem familiar. It's like NMS is the 'ideas guy' to Sub's 'detail-guy'
Carter Harris
Any game where you're being chased by something, and where the rules of their movement are clearly defined and bounded but otherwise impossible for you to mitigate or corral. That shittily slapped together meme game SCP Containment Breach is pretty fucking good at that, to the point that it's hard to force yourself to move again once you find somewhere that seems safe.
Also, special "fuck you" to any stealth/horror game that gives audio stings when you're noticed by something, but no further audio cues for their continued interest in you. Are they still onto you? Are they coming? You don't know. You'll never know.
Benjamin Campbell
Well, yeah, Haunting Ground is a spiritual successor to Clock Tower. Apparently Remothered, that remake of Clock Tower, came out as a completely new game recently, too.
Tyler Morales
That's a good one too. Doki Doki made me feel much more paranoid, though.
Mason Martinez
worth it?
Austin Bell
well I don't know which two games you talking about, but from my comprehension I would said other horror games from the same developer, and there was more than 2
I dearly like these games, but I wouldn't call them Paranoia inducing, rather more atmospheric horror >observer on the other hand, follows a similar formula but more focused on the paranoia it seems
Adrian Nelson
Poor Geoff. Divorced and subsisting on banana popsicles. Working at a place he hates, but can't ever quit from.
William Hernandez
Nah, sorry, this game just got boring after a while.
Jordan Baker
Fuck. Meant to reply to this guy.
Christopher Bennett
I've heard from people that really like the movie that it "gets it" very well Haven't played it since it's a point and click and I'm not a big fan of the genre
Lucas Phillips
Firewatch. Too bad it's shit.
Bentley Thomas
Alien Isolation on Hard was actually decent at this. The paranoia part comes when you can hear the Alien walking around in the vents and you have no idea if he's going to pop in for a quick snack. It does not help that other human looters are fucking morons in a kinda neat "I'm the only person who knows what's going on" horror movie sorta way and might do things that attract the Alien like breathe too loudly. And occasionally the game will throw in a scripted trap, like a pressurized pipe exploding, which alerts the Alien to keep you on your toes. Unfortunately most of the rest of the game wasn't that amazing, but interacting with the Alien is the majority of the game so I still liked it.
Matthew James
plesantly suprised bretti gud
Kevin Scott
the first part of call of cthulu wasn't bad, with all the fish-headed innsmouth residents giving you the stinkeye. the rest of the game after you get a gun is fucking garbage
Evan Collins
I'd take it one step further and say that the shitty "stealth" section right after they go hostile at the hotel is where the game shit the bed.
Lincoln Cox
When did that happen?
William Sullivan
Griffon dumped him and is transitioning to a man.
Charles Butler
JUST She's not taking Geoff's daughter away from him is she?
Easton Sullivan
MGSV, it's pretty much what the whole game is about, especially once you look up what Ishmael injects you with in the beginning of the game, and once you realize what's going in your cigars. Also, Kaz's whole fucking character arc in that game.
Camden Ramirez
Get a Gamecube and then get Eternal Darkness: Salinity's Requiem.
Easton Young
Digoxin? tbh that never really made sense to me
Jordan Butler
There's more enemies, just the first portion of the game you get hunted by quasimodo because he wants some of those tits, after that more stuff happens. Also the game has some death scene moments if you fuck up.
Gavin Jackson
To get him physically mobile immediately after waking from a decade-long coma, user.
So what's in the cigars (that I have never used in hundreds of hours of playtime)?
Matthew Williams
I want to say Dead Space did paranoia in about the worst way possible. The only time you ever feel truly paranoid is when you know there's an undefeatable enemy somewhere on the ship and you don't know when it'll find you. But once you hit the new game plus, it's lost all it's majesty.
Ryan Phillips
Yeah but wouldn't the digoxin put him at a risk of actually slowing his heart beat and possibly killing him? (Bear with me I'm not a medicalfag)
Ian Rogers
...
Hudson Lee
AvP 2 (2001)
Adrian Roberts
I never figured out if the room with the transformation SCP was safe from the potato fetus.
Nicholas Reyes
Dead Space 1 and 2
Andrew White
theres a fantastic bit in 2 that sends you back to the ishimura, and doesn't throw a single enemy at you until you're a fair bit through I think the first time playing through that part does paranoia absolutely perfectly, especially if you're familiar with the original, but again, it suffers from needing a virgin experience, after that the magics gone
Jaxson Lewis
That was fun though
Jace Gomez
The only good paranoia moments I remember from Dead Space were when you find the half-transformed guardians, and they don't do shit to you, but you're always expecting them to do something, and the times you walk past the drag tentacle holes, and you're waiting for it to jump you and fuck your asshole, but it never does.
Kevin Ross
I thought most of the game was fun, with only one or two low points, usually when I'd get stuck on a puzzle. It was one of the few games that I enjoyed stealth mechanics in.
Liam Hall
Once it happens it keeps dumping shit on you user, it's more of a jump scare fest than paranoia. It is creepy as I was lucky to go and play it before it exploded in popularity and my hair was standing up for a good while. Irisu syndrome is a better game in that category for fucking with the player, but also having a good amount of creepiness.
Easton Martinez
Did anyone actually finish that one game "the nameless game" on the Nintendo DS?
Anthony Johnson
By far the best part of DS2. It was always stood out to me just because it had the forced atmosphere of the first game. Hallucinating scares from DS1 was a nice touch to it, too.
I remember when you had to revisit areas with Guardians in them. I always let my guard down when revisiting, thinking they wouldn't harm me, only to get killed by them almost immediately. Loses the magic once you understand it, but a first-timer can really have their hair stand up with those things.
Colton Robinson
Breaking the 4th wall is only scary when it is done once or twice, not when half of the entire fucking thing is based around it.
Wyatt Hernandez
I agree with you, but only as far as the first playthrough. Once you have a sense for spawns and routes, there's less uncertainty.
Jason Gomez
Second Sight
Grayson White
I think that was the only time where i went "nononono" while groaning, horrible feeling.
Can't hear it in the vacuum of space!
First playthrough of 1 and 2 stuck with me, creepy.
Adam James
The thread just stated how it did a shit job at that. Dead Space 1+2 are action horror games. They're about as spooky as Jason X.
Tyler Hughes
nanashi no geemu, and yeah its good shit.
Anthony Cruz
Scrolling past this thread gave me a bit of paranoia
Zachary Brown
>the whole game is based on the past, and the present is actually just a precognitive look at the the future None of that made sense to me at all.
Zachary Evans
Are you actually retarded? I distinctly remember there being a big fanfare part towards the end where the chick you're with most of the game tells you that your final ability is to perceive the future. I'm actually incredibly angry you didn't get it, because they tell you this, then the last mission is going to change the future by killing this guy because you know what he's going to do–FUCK HOW DID YOU NOT GET IT user
Jayden Flores
If he can see the future, why doesn't his future self look to the future to see if he'll save his friends?
Sebastian Green
Higurashi Ch. 1. It's a linear VN AKA not a game but going in blind it really fucked with me.
Jonathan Thompson
And fuck, I just realized it's on Humble Bundle right now for $1 after I made the post. Good time to check it out.
Jason Murphy
Real paranoia requires a level of uncertainty that I don't think I experience with games. At least not single player. Multiplayer strategy games or gsg is the only place I get a real sense of "I want to trust these people I probably cannot trust."
I took your advice and played it and it sucked.
Noah Mitchell
Killer7
Hunter Jones
This. The first game in particular because you weren't really sure what the fuck was going on, your options were limited, and there was no real guarantee that you'd make it. This, along with actively having to watch the things coming after you and worry when you can't find them, gives it a pretty damn good sense of tension. This is kind of why I don't mind the jumpscares in that one. They're more the final "fuck you" than just something random tossed in to make things spooky where they normally wouldn't be.
It's a shame that """theorists""" and reddit made such a push for "muh lore" in a horror game.
Mason Johnson
The original Slender alpha build. I'm not even joking.
Jace Hughes
I would say the STALKER games.
Came here to post this.
Adrian Gutierrez
You fags think that's bad? Try it in VR. You don't get the true sense of scale from a flat screen.
After encountering my first Reaper and barely escaping, I have yet to venture beyond the safe shallows. Sheer, pure, utterly undistilled terror.