How do you feel about the new direction of Survival Horror?

[Tchay]

My older bro wrote an interesting article about the new direction of survival horror, focusing mainly on Resident Evil titles:
http://mshine148306.hubpages.com/hub/No ... ident-Evil

It makes me think back on the good ol days of getting scared flaxless playing Resident evil 2 and the remake of RE1.

Anyone know of any niche games out there that achieve the sense of isolation the way the oldschool RE games did?

 

[grossaffe]

Re: How do you feel about the new direction of Survival Horr

It's not the new direction of Survival Horror, it's the abandonment of Survival Horror by mainstream developers. The Resident Evil franchise has become an action game with horror elements.

That's not to say true Survival/Horror is completely dead, though. Thankfully there are indie developers picking up the slack, such as frictional games with their Amnesia series and a new IP they're keeping tight to their chest. And then there was the free-to-play experience of Slender, which while a very small game, could be the subject of a lot of analysis from aspiring horror developers. There are also still a couple big-name developers willing to stick it out with true survival horror, such as Konami with the Silent Hill (have not played Downpour, but Shattered Memories was a great thriller with a lot of atmosphere) and Nintendo with the Fatal Frame series that doesn't allow you even a minute of comfort.

I would love to see more true survival/horror games out there because it's one genre that really breaks down that 4th wall and makes an emotional impact on you. It's a shame that new horror IPs have difficulty garnering sales or publisher support, causing games like Winter to never see release. (in happier news, 3 years later, the developer hasn't given up on the game just yet and will keep searching for an opportunity to make it happen)

 

[AfroLH]

Re: How do you feel about the new direction of Survival Horr

Lone Survivor or Amnesia are probably the best Survival Horror games in recent years that I know of.

 

[t1m1d]

Re: How do you feel about the new direction of Survival Horr

Interesting article. I also agree with the fact that games like Amnesia, Slender, and also lesser-known short games like Hide and SCP: Containment Breach are better than most modern "horror" games. I personally love SCP and I can't wait for future updates with different new enemies. I never played Resident Evil 4, but the jump from 3 to 5 was terrible. The atmosphere was ruined. I haven't played 6 and nor do I intend to.

 

[grossaffe]

Re: How do you feel about the new direction of Survival Horr

The director of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is trying to make a spiritual successor (can't use the actual IP because Nintendo holds the rights) and fund it through crowd-sourcing. If it's funded, it'll be a Wii U/PC release.

Color me cautiously intrigued.

 

[Zero]

Re: How do you feel about the new direction of Survival Horr

Why wouldn't Nintendo just let him use the IP if it's going to be for Wii U anyway?

 

[grossaffe]

Re: How do you feel about the new direction of Survival Horr

Why wouldn't Nintendo just let him use the IP if it's going to be for Wii U anyway?

It's also going to be on PC. But apparently his company has been in constant communication with Nintendo who wished them luck before the start of the crowd-funding campaign.

Plus, it might be difficult to do an actual sequel to Eternal Darkness since the first game ate up about 2000 years worth of history. To follow the game's events and still be on the same scale, the end of the game would have to take place in the distant future, which is much harder to design, I'd say, than the past. That said, I would be interested to see what the future holds now that Mantorok is all that remains of the ancients unopposed. He was the "good" ancient in ED:SR, but was that merely a case of the enemy of my enemy?

 

[Tchay]

Re: How do you feel about the new direction of Survival Horr

I appreciate the black text groosy because I still haven't finished Eternal Darkness...

 

[grossaffe]

Re: How do you feel about the new direction of Survival Horr

I appreciate the black text groosy because I still haven't finished Eternal Darkness...

<3

 

[grossaffe]

Re: How do you feel about the new direction of Survival Horr

And now Shadow of the Eternals' crowdfunding has been pulled (not that it was anywhere close to it's goals) because supposedly an 'exciting new opportunity' has come with the positive response to the game. I'm wondering if Nintendo will announce at their pre-E3 Direct that they're publishing it (and possibly making it an official sequel to Eternal Darkness?)

I'd much rather see it go that route than the episodically crowd-funded route it was taking. Especially if it means Nintendo gets involved in the actual development of the game like they did with Eternal Darkness to make sure it's actually good.

 

[RiyoRum]

Re: How do you feel about the new direction of Survival Horr

This is really interesting.. I consider Lone Survivor is to be the best