#scarygame

I’m a graduate student desperate to procrastinate on work. If you like watching people play games, badly, feel free to subscribe! 

I’m eventually going to play some science related games and provide commentary based on my education. I’d like to think about a science podcast when I have more time.. But for now, scary games and things I like! 

https://www.youtube.com/user/CheyMOlson

☆Video☆

[Title]

Kokkuri-san - The most simple yet most scary game

[Abstract]

Kokkuri-san is one of the urban legends that once shook Japan. It is one of the necromancy techniques. Don't do it blindly because it is very dangerous.

[Link to the video]

Alright so I’m a huge fan of video games and, to say the least, this game was not a disappointment. I’d never played a game from the “horror” genre before, and while Little Nightmares wasn’t exactly terrifying (at least, not in a jump-scare oh-wow-there-goes-ten-years-of-my-life kind of way), the game had all the right ingredients for a good and psychologically disturbing game. My opinion might be biased because I’ve never played any of the classic horror games, but this game stuck with me in a way not many other games had, and for that I’m giving it a 10/10.  To start, the atmosphere was incredibly detailed. The game in itself is like a surreal piece of art. There was always another secret, another piece of symbolism, another hint at the reality of the situation, or just a place to hide in plain sight. This made the game difficult in some ways, because you couldn’t really assume things in the background were irrelevant. It forced you as a player to actually explore your environment (given you had time to, and you weren’t running for your life, which you do a lot of), but I liked it. A lot. The game wasn’t easy, which made it all the more enjoyable and satisfying when you got through a really tough section, but it wasn’t impossible either. There were more than a few sections that I had to redo multiple times (kitchen chase, anyone?), but I never really found myself getting frustrated. If anything, dying for the hundredth time just made me want to complete the chapter more.  Speaking of dying, the variety of characters you face made this game incredibly diverse, and by that I mean Six is killed in a large variety of ways, should you fall into the hands of Little Nightmare’s various antagonists. Each chapter had a different antagonist, which I really liked because it prevented the game from feeling too linear or repetitive. My personal favourite had to be Roger (the guy with long arms from the first chapter), just because his character design was interesting and disturbing at the same time. The first chapter overall was one of my favourites because of the amount of suspense. Roger was blind, but he sure as hell could hear you from two rooms away. The twins in the kitchen (from chapter 2) were just straight up terrifying (especially because they could go fast), and the people in the guest area were just... discomforting (I kind of hate them???). The final boss of the game, the Lady, was so perfect and creepy, and she juxtaposed the atmosphere wonderfully. She had a unique design and had such an air of importance, pride, and mystery, all the while maintaining poise and beauty.  This is definitely one of those games that leaves many questions unanswered, and the ending of this game is deserving of an entirely separate post. Honestly, the only thing I know to say is that I didn’t expect any of it. In my first play-through of the game, I wasn’t sure what was more terrifying: every moment leading up to the final boss, including the various antagonists, or Six viciously tearing at the Lady’s neck until she died gasping for air.  When Six walked down the hallway at the very end, having absorbed whatever power it was the Lady had, haphazardly killing guests here and there, with the music slowly growing from simple humming into a hair-raising and bone-chillingly powerful melody, I fell in love with this game. The chaotic and destructive nature of the power that Six now held felt so right, and as a player it felt incredibly satisfying to be able to walk freely for once and let the world bend to my will (I’m not a psychopath I swear). In hindsight, however, I began to notice something. 

This game began with introducing Six as waking up from a nightmare. She was cut out to be a small, innocent girl, just trying to survive (the symbolism of her bright yellow raincoat also sets her up as a beacon of hope or light in the dark world she’s inhabiting). But, as the game goes on, the actions that Six partakes in slowly get more... disturbing and morally questionable, even in spite of the situation. Her raincoat slowly gets stained, and its bright yellow colour is tarnished in some places. She kills a trapped rat by biting its neck (which I first thought was for survival because she was hungry - but she didn’t actually eat it, she only killed it and then her “hunger” was subsided) and she savagely KILLS ONE OF THE NOMES (rip nome friend) in a similar fashion, even though it was very clearly offering her food to eat.  This, to me, implies that the “hunger” that Six feels throughout the game isn’t for food - it’s for power, or something similar. 

At the end, after killing the Lady and acquiring that dark swirling power, it becomes apparent that Six is confident wielding it. Six is not afraid of whatever it was that the Lady had - if anything, she wanted it. And when Six has it, she almost seems to be already familiar with it. She knows how to use it to do exactly what she wants it to, without even batting an eye. The way she struts down the hall, not even turning to see the wave of destruction she brings with her, confidently planting one foot in front of the other until she reaches the exit and disappears into the sunlight without a second thought...  Little Nightmares isn’t an escape story. It’s not just a game about a little, innocent girl who’s just trying to escape the hella scary prison that is the Maw and return to the normal world. That power that Six got from the Lady had been hers all along.