Survival horror has gone downhill.

[Bo Vine]

At least I think it has.

I thought horror games were at their best just before Resident Evil 4 come out. Ever since 2005, a lot of other horror related games new and older have drifted into the realm of action. Of course, that is mainly because action games sell loads of units, but I think by making the best horror games like Resident Evil into an action oriented series, they've destroyed what made 'em popular in the first place.

RE4 was a major change in direction, but it was the *first* game in the series to really take the action path and it worked because it was new and innovative back in the day. Then RE5 and RE6 came and went. Both severely lack the atmospheric horror that all the other games prior to RE4 had.

Silent Hill has kind of went downhill too. Not so much because of action, but because the original team moved on and now it's just different developers who handle new entries, to mixed appeal. Some sequels have been a letdown, but Downpour at least played out like the first four and I liked it. It really does belong in the series.

I'm not sure where the genre is headed next, but I can see Capcom continuing to rush release action horror games and whatnot. So hopefully Zwei by Shinji Mikami is a return to form for this once thriving sub-genre.

[Sweets Witch]

Action and horror cannot properly go hand-in-hand and people fail to realize this. Amnesia: The Dark Descent was a step in the right direction when it came to horror games because it showed that being unable to defend yourself is infinitely more scary than jump scares or grotesque monsters. Amnesia scared me. The Penumbra games scared me. Dead Space did not. Resident Evil did not. Silent Hill did not.

Funny that the topic of horror games should come up because yesterday I started playing that foursome of horror games with cute female protagonists - Yume Nikki, Mad Father, Ib, and The Witch's House. Yume Nikki gave me some weird dreams, Mad Father made me jump a few times, and I have yet to play the other two. They're so simple, and yet there are aspects to them that scare me more than a more violent game ever will.

[Elendil]

As mentioned, Amnesia and its sequel are proper cases of it still existing, and the excellent Zombie U is a good case of survival and action balancing perfectly. The genre still holds up, just the lines are a bit blurred, and more b-class studios are doing them then AAA studios thanks to the lack of profit. They see no reason to do a high-risk project if its not in a certain comfort zone, which is pretty narrow these days, so if RE and SH look to be poorer efforts, then that's exactly why. No one wants to bother making niche titles for pennies.
However I would like to say that you have likely overlooked two major titles in both franchises, both the excellent SHhattered Memories on the Wii and RE:Revelations, were one off shots of brilliance that need to be played. The psychological twist in the first is great, and when the world freezes up the tension is amazing, and the latter is RE4-2 basically, with some awesome locations, and some proper scares.

[twocows]

Originally Posted by Elendil

As mentioned, Amnesia and its sequel

Amnesia had a sequel? If you're talking about Penumbra, that series was released a considerable amount of time before Amnesia, and they're not interconnected as far as I know.

[Bloodex]

Originally Posted by twocows

Amnesia had a sequel?

They're making a sequel, I'm pretty sure it hasn't been released yet. The name's Amnesia: Machine of Pigs. Or was it For Pigs?


Anyhow, I sorta have a thread that asked the same thing, although specifically to Resident Evil, since I believe that the RE franchise is the one most removed from it's origins. I've actually never played Silent Hill, despite wanting to. I just never found time to buy a game from the series, so I can't say anything about that.

Resident Evil has definitely spiraled down in terms of survival horror, and approached a more action oriented game play. And it's sorta disappointing, but personally, I liked RE4-6. Four especially, since that was at least semi scary. The sales for RE6 has been below expectations, so I can't say whether or not Capcom will release a sequel, although they most likely will.

That being said, they announced that the formerly 3DS exclusive Resident Evil: Revelations, will be released to consoles late this year. And that's a brilliant move on Capcom's part. I haven't played it, but I heard it returns to being RE4esque and has some legitimate scares. Maybe they'll catch their fire with it's release, who knows.


As for Dead Space, I actually found that game scary. Not really scary, to the point where I peed my pants, but it has a legitimate scare factor in my opinion. Dead Space 3 scares me, though, with it's introduction of coop play. Look what that did to RE5.

As for Amnesia, it sounds fantastic and really scary. That being said I haven't played it cause eff family computers.

[Pinkie-Dawn]

The popularity of the shooter genre is to blame for Resident Evil and Silent Hill's downhill. Because of it, ZombiU, a AAA survival horror title that everyone has been waiting for, has been bashed by U.S. critics for not being action-based.

Originally Posted by Bloodex

They're making a sequel, I'm pretty sure it hasn't been released yet. The name's Amnesia: Machine of Pigs. Or was it For Pigs?

I thought the sequel was set to be released last year?

That being said, they announced that the formerly 3DS exclusive Resident Evil: Revelations, will be released to consoles late this year. And that's a brilliant move on Capcom's part. I haven't played it, but I heard it returns to being RE4esque and has some legitimate scares. Maybe they'll catch their fire with it's release, who knows.

That's where you're wrong. I've seen a lot of people online, mostly on My Nintendo News, complaining about Revelations no longer becoming a 3DS exclusive, because it shows Capcom is really lazy.

[Elendil]

Originally Posted by Pinkie-Dawn

The popularity of the shooter genre is to blame for Resident Evil and Silent Hill's downhill. Because of it, ZombiU, a AAA survival horror title that everyone has been waiting for, has been bashed by U.S. critics for not being action-based.



I thought the sequel was set to be released last year?



That's where you're wrong. I've seen a lot of people online, mostly on My Nintendo News, complaining about Revelations no longer becoming a 3DS exclusive, because it shows Capcom is really lazy.

They're idiots, plain and clear. Fanboys spouting nonsense. Capcom is a business first and foremost, set on getting money. Revelations sold decently but not enough. So they decided to put it on the consoles to get some more money out of it, nothing smells of laziness. And I doubt 50 people not buying it out of thousands is going to make a difference. As a 3DS owner, Revelations on a console is better, thanks to Nintendo's shenanigans with the circle pad pro. Its playable without it, but god was that awkward. (only played the demo but still)

[Bloodex]

I thought the sequel was set to be released last year?

Double checked my copy of Game Informer (December 2012 edition) and the release date is 2013. No specific date yet. It's possible that the original release date was in 2012, though the article didn't mention anything about a delay. Also, the name is Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs

That's where you're wrong. I've seen a lot of people online, mostly on My Nintendo News, complaining about Revelations no longer becoming a 3DS exclusive, because it shows Capcom is really lazy.

I fail to see how that's lazy on Capcom's part in anyway. If they're insinuating that Capcom's taking the easy way out by rehashing an already existing game then make a new game, then they're being really stupid. Aside from everything Elendil said, Resident Evil 6 didn't do as well as expected. Hell, it didn't do well at all. It'd be way to early to release an in canon game, and the last non-canon game they made, Operation Raccoon City, was bombarded with crap. Seeing as they aren't making as much money of RE6 as they wished, and also seeing that RE:R did well on a system that many people don't have, making it available to console's is an obvious choice for the company.


That being said, I'm definitely going to buy the game when it does come out for consoles. I need a good scare, and from what I hear, RE:R can give me that. I have my hopes!

[machomuu]

Originally Posted by Elendil

They're idiots, plain and clear. Fanboys spouting nonsense. Capcom is a business first and foremost, set on getting money. Revelations sold decently but not enough. So they decided to put it on the consoles to get some more money out of it, nothing smells of laziness. And I doubt 50 people not buying it out of thousands is going to make a difference. As a 3DS owner, Revelations on a console is better, thanks to Nintendo's shenanigans with the circle pad pro. Its playable without it, but god was that awkward. (only played the demo but still)

I don't completely agree. Sure, I disagree that Capcom isn't lazy because of this, but I don't think the controls deterred many people from buying the game (in fact, I've heard very little about it being awkward or annoying to control, and playing it myself, I didn't think so, either) and all I heard was praise for the amazing graphics, the terrifying atmosphere, and the gameplay, with or without the Pro. The reason it didn't sell entirely well, the way I see it, was because of the lack of advertising, as well as the fact that the 3DS didn't have nearly as big a fan or userbase then as it does now.

I mean, I'm glad it's coming to the other systems, but if someone asked which system to get it for, I'd still say, "definitely take the 3DS version for a spin," as it is a great example of what makes the 3DS unique and what the 3DS is capable of, and it's great for the price (and it's portable). Of course, I'd next say go PC, because that will (likely) be the definitive home version.

[Elendil]

Originally Posted by machomuu

I don't completely agree. Sure, I disagree that Capcom isn't lazy because of this, but I don't think the controls deterred many people from buying the game (in fact, I've heard very little about it being awkward or annoying to control, and playing it myself, I didn't think so, either) and all I heard was praise for the amazing graphics, the terrifying atmosphere, and the gameplay, with or without the Pro. The reason it didn't sell entirely well, the way I see it, was because of the lack of advertising, as well as the fact that the 3DS didn't have nearly as big a fan or userbase then as it does now.

I mean, I'm glad it's coming to the other systems, but if someone asked which system to get it for, I'd still say, "definitely take the 3DS version for a spin," as it is a great example of what makes the 3DS unique and what the 3DS is capable of, and it's great for the price (and it's portable). Of course, I'd next say go PC, because that will (likely) be the definitive home version.

Oh I'm not saying that the controls effected the sales at all, I'm just saying that for me its a good thing that its coming to other consoles, cause for me it was awkward. I know that the controls can be great if I gave it some more time, but I would prefer to by it on the Wii U eventually, considering how it might have some new stuff besides one new enemy.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-series-reboot
Also, who would have thought that it was a success, even if they wanted a sliver more of sales. Guess they're banking on the console version to fill that gap.

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Originally Posted by Bloodex

I fail to see how that's lazy on Capcom's part in anyway. If they're insinuating that Capcom's taking the easy way out by rehashing an already existing game then make a new game, then they're being really stupid. Aside from everything Elendil said, Resident Evil 6 didn't do as well as expected. Hell, it didn't do well at all. It'd be way to early to release an in canon game, and the last non-canon game they made, Operation Raccoon City, was bombarded with crap. Seeing as they aren't making as much money of RE6 as they wished, and also seeing that RE:R did well on a system that many people don't have, making it available to console's is an obvious choice for the company.


That being said, I'm definitely going to buy the game when it does come out for consoles. I need a good scare, and from what I hear, RE:R can give me that. I have my hopes!

But Capcom stated that they will not release ports for the Wii U and will use original content up until they announced Revelations going multi-platform. That statement Capcom has broken only ticked off a lot more fans to go along with their hate on the company using paid-DLC and killing off Mega Man.

[Bloodex]

Originally Posted by Pinkie-Dawn

But Capcom stated that they will not release ports for the Wii U and will use original content up until they announced Revelations going multi-platform. That statement Capcom has broken only ticked off a lot more fans to go along with their hate on the company using paid-DLC and killing off Mega Man.

I'm not exactly sure why they're disregarding the Wii U, seeing as it's the newest thing and many people are going to by getting it. That does seem stupid in my opinion, although it doesn't affect me. I'm not exactly sure why you mean by the bold, though.

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Originally Posted by Bloodex

I'm not exactly sure why they're disregarding the Wii U, seeing as it's the newest thing and many people are going to by getting it. That does seem stupid in my opinion, although it doesn't affect me. I'm not exactly sure why you mean by the bold, though.

It means that Capcom didn't keep their promise on not making ports of their already-existing games for the Wii U.

[Bloodex]

Wait, so they did release them for the Wii U? Isn't that a good thing?

Anyway, to go back on topic, I just played the Dead Space 3 demo. And well, I know a demo's nothing to base the whole product off of, but I was really disappointed at it. I didn't feel scared or tense anywhere in the demo. And I figure that the demo would show off the game for what it truly is, and DS3 is supposed to be survival horror... poop. Then again, the demo was only the first 10 minutes of the game, or so. So maybe I'm being unfair.

[Para-Dox]

Nowadays so-called survival horror games are more about action than actual scares. Most horror games have far too much to be called survival. RE6 was pretty much a self-parody with how over the top the games was, almost near Lollipop Chainsaw, a game which was a parody in the first place.

Developers think that gamers nowadays have a attention span of a goldfish throwing lots of action into a game just to have something happen.

[Bloodex]

Originally Posted by Para-Dox

RE6 was pretty much a self-parody with how over the top the games was, almost near Lollipop Chainsaw, a game which was a parody in the first place.

Oh lord, that's one hell of a blow to Resident Evil 6. To compare it to a Suda game? And a mediocre one at that, from what I've heard. At least the chick was hot

In all honesty, I think it's unfair to say RE6 was a bad game. A bad survival horror game? Without a doubt. A bad game by today's standards? Questionable. I rated the game a B+ and I stick by that rating.

[Elendil]

By today's standard of gaming sure RE6 is perfectly fine. But considering how low today's standard is, I wouldn't make it a plus. Not to mention RE6 is the worst entry in the franchise, and thankfully they're revising if they should stop now, and go the way of Revelations. Kind of glad for it, cause Revelations was one step in the right direction, now they need to continue down that path.

[Mr. Whiscash]

It's a pity that most people aren't big on the clunky controlling games of the day. Rule of Rose is one of the most disturbing games I've ever seen, but it probably didn't get much attention because people didn't want to put up with the admittedly awful controls.
If nothing else, great horror games are timeless. Clock Tower is still one of the scariest experiences I've ever had and even though it's ancient now it still frightens me.