SOMA

This game is absolutely amazing. Its not only visual horror, but also psychological horror at its finest. The environment in this game is just out of this world, it is one of the only games I know of that have absolutely nailed underwater environments. Voice acting is on point, sound design is beautiful, I can safely say this is one of my favorite solo games of all time, amazingly well done, props to the developers and everyone who worked on this masterpiece, I would recommend this game to anyone who is looking for a thrilling experience.

Played everything the developers put out up to and including this one and this was definitely the best of them. I definitely did miss some of the things they removed but the overall is superior. I'm going to go as far as to say that if this does not scare you you are not actually letting yourself be transported by it. I fully realize that different people disagree on what is the most terrifying thing. But if this does not have a strong impression on you it's because you're going out of your way not to let it get to you. You're not impressing anyone, you're just ruining the experience for yourself. A lot of the puzzles do boil down to key hunts since they did away with the inventory. Sometimes you do carry items but when you get to a place where it makes sense for you to use your character will just automatically bring it into view of the player. From what I understand this was in response to feedback and I do definitely appreciate that Amnesia the Dark Descent has a lot of complex brain teasers that revolve around this mechanic. I didn't personally think it was too many but I do really respect listening to your audience. Frictional really hit the ground running. Really the only thing of theirs that I didn't think was amazing for the time and budget was Penumbra Requiem and honestly if that one just didn't try to have anything to do with the first two parts of the trilogy I would like it a lot more but because it keeps reminding us of them without being up to the standard they set. Each time they come up with something fundamentally horrifying and with this one not only did they top their previous work as they usually do they hit on something that universally really strikes a nerve and they take a jackhammer to it. Death is thought by many to be the single thing that causes the most anxiety but as this proves it is nothing when compared to the idea of living on possibly forever in loneliness and struggling to come to terms with the reality of how trapped you are.

Has a great atmosphere that doesn't rely on jump scares, rather a sense of mild dread permeates everything. Big enough to explore but tight enough that you never feel lost. It has a constant sense of exploration with puzzle elements that fit the scene and have meaningful purpose. A few elements of the story kept me guessing at how they would resolve, and a satisfying ending - great stuff.

The Penumbra and Amnesia games left a huge impression on me. They were the first "true" horror games I played, and several times during gameplay I though "why am I doing this to myself?...". Point for immersion and atmosphere, for sure. I started Soma a few years ago and played 1/3 of it, until I got stuck in a given part and lost interest. Fast forward to now, I don't think I have the mental structure (or the patience) for the traditional sneak-and-run Frictional gameplay, but the setting and atmoshpere were enough to make me want to play it. So I tried the Safe Mode. In case you don't know, it's a mode where the monsters cannot kill you. But it's not only a lazy God Mode. They actually tweaked the AI of the creatures, so they are there, but behave in different ways. They may never get close to you, run away from your, ignore you, or even attack you without causing damage. You can play the whole game without worrying about sneaking, dying or losing progress. Ok, they basically removed THE main gameplay mechanics, and what is left? Well, a pretty good game. It helps that Soma, even in its "normal" way, isn't as focused on scares as the other games. It's bleak and dreadful, sure, but there is a lot of philosophical thinking and even light-hearted dialogue in between. There is a good deal of simple puzzles to make it still feel as a game, but story and atmosphere by themselves keep you going. It's very linear, zero replayability, but the first experience is a great one. I still felt tense, even knowing that I was "safe", but can't say the implementation of Safe Mode is perfect. Some monsters became just an annoyance, insisting in following you close like stray puppies, and spoiling exploration sometimes. There is a couple of times where this gets real bad, but doesn't harm the whole experience. In short, if you have anxiety/patience issues with this kind of games, Safe Mode still is a good option to experience a good story.

This game has great atmosphere and some interesting twists, but is RUINED by the tedious, terrible, pointless, plodding monster encounters that you experience on normal or hard modes. If you buy this game ONLY play it on SAFE mode/difficulty. It will ruin the game for you if you play on normal, etc. In fact it should not even have normal/hard difficulties because they're SO so bad. They destroy the immersion, exploration, and make the game BORING and FRUSTRATING.