Why do people enjoy horror games?

[χKai]

Horror?!! The definition of horror is something like Teletubbies adults think kids will like. It honestly is just creepy AF while actual horror games pales in comparison besides a few exceptions

True horror is more than just a mere cringe value; Horror as a henre in general is meant to shake you to your very core, make you question your reality in such frightening ways that leave you too terrified to go about your life in a normal fashion. Anything less is mere child's play.

...And I don't mean the movie. ?

 

[raveci]

Teletubbies adults think kids will like

me is that kid... you can see the consequences...

 

[Fat_Wombat_55]

I love going past my comfort zone , first time i played resident evil 7 biohazard i cried like a bitc@ and screamed so MANY times , and after i finally finished the game i felt soooooooo happy

contrasting... i like it.

 

[Enian]

For me to enjoy horror, I have to be in the right mood. That applies to any type of media, may it be movies, games or books. I haven't played or watched horror in months, but I did a Silent Hill marathon two years back. Sometimes you just don't want to look at something grotesque, sometimes you do.

Horror is also a very broad spectrum and highly subjective. I, for one, never found the Alien movies scary. To me they are part of a dark sci-fi franchise that is very cool and tense, but not horrifying. And a lot of Steam/itch.io horror games I played weren't either. Jumpscares do have me jumping, but that's about it. I still enjoy consuming some of them because they are small escapes from reality nonetheless and often tell stories that are otherwise left untold, maybe they even have other great qualities. Alien Isolation, for example, is a really good stealth game and I love space, even if the game didn't "horrify" me.

What gets me is psychological horror. Things like "Shutter Island" or Silent Hill make me want to crawl under a very, very thick blanket. While I would like to visit the Nostromo, when it's not infested of course, NOTHING will every bring me wanting to go to Silent Hill.

Why do I still play those games? Because horror makes you invested. A good horror game is immersive. Without immersion horror doesn't work and so horror games always try the hardest to make their world and their story immersive. Gameplay needs to be at least good enough not to break that immersion. What you get is often the crème de la crème of immersive world building, story telling and gameplay that is possible at the time. And that is what I want from games and media in general. I want it to grab me by my hair and pull me into its world, never letting go, even for a second. Tension is perfect in accomplishing such a feat, and what better way to create tension than with pure horror?

 

[dropsmegamega]

I can't speak for everyone, but know that ominous vibes and oppressive atmosphere of many SMT titles? I'm looking for something like that more than to simply be scared. I feel like horror is more honest with our human condition, the stories become naturally more grounded because its how we would actually feel faced with supernatural threats and whatnot. But then when a game's only objective is being scary for the sake of being scary I am not interested.

 

[Bonkers225]

The adrenaline/fear it produces. It releases dopamine.

 

[Spike's iconSpike]

I was watching this video just yesterday, seems like most people don't enjoy horror games?

 

[AtlasM]

I don't like horror games, per se. It's, more than anything, the goosebumps that I like. Watching, reading, and playing horror is the best way to get it

I used to love joining night explorations. Like visiting abandoned buildings for the scare, meditating in a graveyard, etc.. I even whistled at night, in front of a mirror, alone in the dark™, to see if a ghost will come. Unfortunately, nope, no scare happened.

So, I turned to horror games, and voila! It works like a cursed charm!

(And, as mentioned by Enian, horror is a broad spectrum. What gets me is games like PT or Clock Tower. Forgot to mention Amnesia. Where you can't really fight back. Resi games aren't scary to me, just fun. If I have a gun or supernatural-trapping camera, I'm gucci)

 

[Leifang]

Oh people invented horror to get over our primal fears, it's kind of a therapy going through that stuff in a safe, controlled environment... I do hate jumpscares though, those are unpleasant. Atmospheric horror is better, but no way I am going through Silent Hill games again, I can't stand the sirens after 2022.

 

[Logi]

Horror games to me are just comfy.
I don't play the cheap horror with jumpscares most of the time. I'm into the third person fixed camera style that most people just refer as RE-likes/clones, or also unique horror games with their own vibe (fear and hunger, daniel mullins games etc)

 

[SkoomaCatJesus]

Honest question. I've wondered this for a long, long time now.
So what gives, folks? is my brain wired strangely or what?

I find the atmosphere of Silent Hill and Fatal Frame equally as enjoyable as any perfect view. One of my secrets; when I bought my arcade sticks... I bought a trackball just to do digital Ouija in Pygame (and ended up doing that more than playing my arcade games). The ordinary world just isn't for me. I want to be twisted along the lines of some perfect nightmare. Often, people regard my sanity at the end of it all to be observably insane, but maybe I want to be changed by the art of it. I don't see being changed from the outside-in as some violation, I see it as opportunity. Is it a test of will or a shared creation? It is a higher Ouija between the artist and the observer.

 

[invaderzen]

Honest question. I've wondered this for a long, long time now.

While I like mysteries and police procedurals, I honestly don't understand why people enjoy getting jumpscared or seeing characters meet their unfortunate gruesome ends. Maybe I'm a bit too much of a "normie" in this regard, but yeah.

Maybe there's a bit of a deep seated trauma in there somewhere, as I recall watching TV when I was rather young and I mistakenly tuned into a channel that was airing what I think was Alien 3, and my little kid brain didn't handle that too well at all, I had nightmares for months on end and it was quite trying.

So what gives, folks? is my brain wired strangely or what?

It's just an adrenaline/thrill seeking thing for a lot of people. Getting forced into fight or flight by a really good horror game/movie is weirdly fun. I've really been into survival horror games recently, especially ones that provide the thrill of being hunted.

Also story-wise horror games tend to explore darker themes that aren't particularly common in other genres, so I feel like that attracts people who enjoy the narrative side of horror games.

 

[YuriSukiSan]

Honestly I ask myself the same question! For the most part I'm quite desensitized so for me it's less scary more adrenaline depending on the game. The only game I can say that has legitimately scared me in recent years is Alien: Isolation, it can be frustrating some times and mission 5 is basically a make or break scenario because on more challenging difficulties the Alien is annoying. The tl;dr is that you need to keep moving because he won't go away or give you a break because the AI director is constantly telling him to where your location is.

I think what really does it for me is the appreciation of the atmosphere a good horror game is able to establish, hopefully a good story and obviously the sound design. That's 90% of the fear factor for most of these games because with out it there is no tension. If anyone wants to be really scared, try that game with a good pair of headphones. It's really intense!

.. Saying all that I don't like to be scared often.

 

[RustySK]

I've had plenty of discussions about this with my sister, who considers horror media a form of mental self-mutilation.

Personally I don't really get much out of horror for horror's sake. (Same for splatter/gore - the Terrifier films for example do absolutely nothing for me)
However, when you take horror as a storytelling or immersion tool to enhance other experiences you can end up with something magical.

I still remember this one animated kid's movie for example - The Last Unicorn - which absolutely terrified me back in the day, but since its creepiness led to me thinking about the imagery time and again, it also ended up sparking an interest in animation and art that endures to this day and that I'm certain wouldn't have started without the element of horror.
So in that sense I think the best horror media uses fear as a way to spark the viewer's imagination and to get them more immersed in the experience.

I also believe that there's a subconscious fascination in most people for the things that scare them (or at least make them nervous) that can take various forms.
Some people like to explore abandoned houses, some like to get frisky in public spaces, some get super caught up with real-life crime stories and some like spooky movies or games.
I think horror media is a safe way to explore that curiosity.

 

[Lee__Kanker]

They relax me, atmosphere is a big component, they can also be very mechanically interesting and fun; silent hill 3 and the earlier biohazard games have so much depth. Its also thrilling to safely put yourself in a life or death situation

 

[Tonberry]

I love suspense and being on the edge of my seat, and horror games often have great atmosphere and interesting oftentimes harsh/punishing game design which is really cool when done well. I particularly like the first four Resident Evil games and the first three Silent Hill games, but I don't really go out of my way to find horror games so my frame of reference is fairly limited.

What I DON'T like is getting scared though, which usually leads to me only playing horror games when a friend is around because then I don't have to feel AS scared, while still being able to enjoy the other cool aspects of the games.

Something I really like about horror games is the interactivity. If I play Resident Evil 4 and Leon gets decapitated by a chainsawman, it feels like it happened to me, which is way more visceral than watching a horror film. Though I personally prefer psychological horror over monsters/gore/ghosts because it can feel more real.

 

[ConanTheDestroyer]

I don't know if its me but I've found horror sections in non horror games to be sometimes even more effective. Probably because the game up until that point made no indication of spooking the player. Killer croc's lair in Arkham asylum was one such example for me. Also the haunted hotel in Vampire the masquerade bloodlines especially since the player is supposed to be the creature of the night yet the game flipped that idea in that level.

 

[Auriiya]

Has to have a certain feel just like horror movies if not I can't play or watch..

 

[raveci]

horror sections in non horror games

RAVENHOLM

 

[Tonberry]

I don't know if its me but I've found horror sections in non horror games to be sometimes even more effective. Probably because the game up until that point made no indication of spooking the player. Killer croc's lair in Arkham asylum was one such example for me. Also the haunted hotel in Vampire the masquerade bloodlines especially since the player is supposed to be the creature of the night yet the game flipped that idea in that level.

Tomb of the Giants in Dark Souls made me physically ill because the atmosphere was so oppressive.

 

[thanonyx]

The same reason people like horror movies, that sweet sweet sweeeeeeeeeeeet hit of adrenaline when something scares the crap outta you.

 

[RageBurner]

The same reason people like horror movies, that sweet sweet sweeeeeeeeeeeet hit of adrenaline when something scares the crap outta you.

My reaction when being scared or jumped is just primal anger LOL

 

[RetroLaw]

I honestly don't understand why people enjoy (...) seeing characters meet their unfortunate gruesome ends

Dude you have a Guts avatar though ?

 

[RageBurner]

Dude you have a Guts avatar though ?

Oh shush LOL

 

[Yousef]

Dude you have a Guts avatar though ?

We’ve actually been over this before

Post in thread 'Franchises in which your favorite game is seen as the weakest entry.'

Dec 11, 2024

(read: I don't like horror overtones).
>has berserk picture
huh okay whatever u say mister :p

Berserk is a story about friendship and magic, actually ;)

• Yousef

• 

Oh crap I just realized I foreshadowed the MLP x Berserk posts