Happy Halloween everyone! Before we get started, let's get one thing straight. There is absolutely a fundamental problem with horror games. All horror games. No exceptions. Don't get me wrong, that definitely hurts to admit. I'm a huge fan of horror in general, and video games are no different. However, no matter how hard they try, they just can't grasp the full concept.
What's the Problem?
Horror video games come in all shapes and sizes. The vast majority just cash in on cheap jump scares, but there are plenty of solid titles aside from those. Some are creepy. Some are unsettling. Many are downright disturbing. But none of them are actually scary or frightening. They lack any element of real fear. Unfortunately, that's just the way things are when the only things player have to lose is time, progress, or both.
Losing time is frustrating. Losing progress is tedious. Neither of those are worth sweating about. At most, they're annoying. So when that's the only consequence for failing, no one is going to actually be afraid of anything. It's the same feeling as getting ink on your shirt. I've seen plenty of people get aggravated and upset about a stain, but that's about as far as it goes.
I'm not saying that horror games are bad at what they do. I've spent a lot of time being creeped out and disturbed at the end of a controller. Being creepy and disturbing are wonderful things. Really. But there is no denying that there's still a huge flaw in the mere concept of horror video games. There's something missing that stops these games from really digging into our psyche and never letting go. So what can we do about it.
How Do We Fix It?
In order to fix the problem, we first have to look at something that works. In my experiences, I've found that pen and paper games simply do not have this problem. By pen and paper games, I'm referring to titles like Dungeons & Dragons, World of Darkness, Pathfinder etc. These games have no trouble making players feel actually afraid about what's going to happen. And it's all thanks to one, little difference.
The key is in how these games handle loss. In a pen and paper game, there is tremendous loss when a player fails for good. They (potentially) lose their character forever. But there's a catch. Plenty of video games offer character permadeath like this, and they don't get even half the emotional effect. The difference goes all the back to the start. It's all about character creation and the play setting.
Pen and paper games put insane detail in character creation. Whereas video games stop at cosmetic changes and stats, pen and paper games have players make a fully rounded personality. They put time, effort, and thought into each character. They have to. The play setting demands it. Characters have nearly unlimited interaction with a world that grows and changes based on their decisions. They make relationships between other players and NPCs alike. And, to be fully honest, players have a connection with their characters. That's what makes it so much more terrifying to lose them.
Why Does That Work?
Unless you have a kind Game Master, character death removes them from the game. Everything that went into that character is gone: relationships, personality, back stories, etc. And the genius behind it all is that players do continue playing. Not only that, but no progress is lost. There's no boring backtracking and replaying old parts. This means that the flow and entertainment of the experience keeps movinging, but the player experiences a real loss.
That loss is the key. You can't be truly afraid unless you're at risk of losing something you care about. In video games, even the nearly perfect Silent Hill 2, there is no real feeling of loss. Failing means going back to the last save. Even in roguelike horror titles, all you lose is a randomized name and a pallet swapped model. I have specifically watched players shaking when their World of Darkness characters were in real danger. The only time I see anything like that with video games is when the player is expecting a jump scare. And that's not the same thing: being startled and rattled is entirely different from being scared.
The only way to solve this problem is to somehow bring that same mechanic to video games. So far, that hasn't been succesfully accomplished. There must be a way to simulate real risk of a real loss. Games that even try to forge an emotional bond between character and player hardly ever dare to kill that character off. It's always "back to the save point." Otherwise, the character you lose is just faceless fodder for the grinder. And, in the end, players just don't care about them.
So Let's Fix It!
Not so fast. If you're expecting a happy ending here, I'm sorry. I don't think there's any real way to fix the problem. There are just some things that don't translate between formats. Pen and paper RPGs work because they require players to actually play a role. And for the life of me, I can't think of any way video games can do that right. It seems that if a company did try to pull this off, gamers would whine about it more than usual (which says a lot).
But maybe I'm wrong. I sure hope I am. Somewhere out there, there may be a developer who is figuring it all out. I won't hold my breath for it, but a man can definitely dream.
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