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Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

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Argumentable
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Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by Argumentable »

Guys and gals and everyone else,

I wanna hear about things that scared you in video games that weren't inherently scary or necessarily meant to be. Like in Resident Evil 2 if those hands in the hallway grabbed you? I don't care, that's supposed to scare you (and scared me) so it's dumb. Here's three examples from me

The first one is from the original Mortal Kombat. I was playing it with my brother and one of his friends and his friend was using Scorpion. It got to the point where he won the match and he did the fatality move where Scorpion takes off his mask and breathes fire at someone and they turn into a skeleton or something cartoony, but the fact that Scorpion had a SKULL under his mask was just too much for me and I ran out of the room. I was very young and probably did not know that beneath my own head was a skull as well

Another one was at the end of Super Mario RPG in the final fight against Smithy. After you beat his first phase he throws a tantrum and the floor gives out and everyone falls and then end up in what I think was supposed to be the "mask room" but all the characters are like "Whoa don't do the thing you're doing Smithy" and then everyone falls and everything turns red and I'd assumed Mario and friends were all in Hell. Also Smithy kinda has a skull head which may have contributed? He looks goofy as Hell though (do you like my joke?) I was also very young when this happened and I remember immediately after this I had to go stay at my aunt's house for the night for some reason and I was too scared to sleep.

The last one is more recent but also more general but FTL made me kinda scared. IDK what exactly about it does it for me, it's a very fun game and I have played through it lots, but something about big open space gives me the creeps and it might be more of a phobia thing than anything else. What really did it for me was the parts with the purple clouds which drove my anxiety way up and I tried to avoid those parts if I could. I can do it now though.

Ok now you go
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by KobaBeach »

fullscreen makes everything scarier for me. at least legend of heroes 4 a tear of vermillion glitching out while in fullscreen (have to play with dxwnd otherwise it's practically unplayable) didn't make me too restless

it comes from when i was playing pulirula as a little lion cub and it was on fullscreen. i made it to the stage where everything's all batshit and digitized and when that one blue haired digitized photo head (i assume they're a dev or a taito employee) did the funny face and zoomed in on the screen i just got startled and esc'ed out of it.

after that i always made a point to step away from the computer make my way back slowly when a game started in fullscreen on mame which was all the time because i didn't know about the don't start in full screen option. i got better but still, i get easily startled when a game is all fullscreen and does spooky shit, and im the sort of person who just doesn't get frightened by resident evil or clock tower. i actually want to play fatal frame to see if it startles me, really.

oh and killer instinct gold's entire atmosphere and vibe just made me super uncomfortable because there were people beating each other up to the point that they were bleeding, and the announcer had this deep pitched, sinister voice to it and every arena was in darkened tones, and it was my first time encountering such a game. but i always cried when my brother played it, again i got better too. i need to play ki1&2 more, and try to see if i can purchase the new one on pc, i think i prefer it to mortal kombat.

i don't own any xbox outside of a 360 that my dad found and i think its busted, i'd like to at least get a functioning xbox 360 and an og xbox for some of the exclusives. though i am pondering about purchasing a series s or x if japanese devs end up going microsoft and nintendo as opposed to just nintendo, should sony decide to screw them over big time. i just like asian games better, no real bias, i even wishlisted some chinese rpgs on steam.
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by Leet »

The paper thin servbots on the mega man legends title screen. fucked up shit
Well it is a decent hack but sometime its just too repetitif there no level that actually pop in your face and your like oh yeah that level they all ressemble themselves and just monster along the way.
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by Kapus »

I was scared of the Sanctuary Guardians in Earthbound. Not the bosses themselves, but their little sparkly sprites on the overworld.

No, I can't exactly explain it.
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by RedMageSusie »

Does Boss Bass in Super Mario 64 count? That fish scared the hell outta me as a kid.
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by Ashan »

Oh I've got stuff to add to this because i was afraid of everything as a kid

First thing that comes to mind is the Star Fox game over screen. Generally just everything about that game creeped me out. The weird fursuit Fox on the front of the cartridge, the super loud game intro with the arwings flying through the tunnel, the first level boss intro where the music cuts and switches to a weird creepy choir chant.
But the game over screen with Andross' creepy disembodied head and hands floating in space made it so I never wanted to play that game (and also the game is hard as hell and I couldn't beat anything other than the easiest route when I tried again last year).

The final boss from Wario Land 3 (apparently named Rudy the Clown). His appearance throughout the game as "a hidden figure" was unsettling in the first place, just a giant face larger than you, the weird bulge-ey outlines of his facial features poking out against a black void. But then when he was revealed as a giant creepy clown and tries to murder you, it was even scarier as a kid! I remember as a kid the toilet faced the shower in our bathroom, and for some reason my mind imagined a scenario where I'd be on the toilet and the shower curtain would draw back and the giant scary clown would be behind there.

Also the Yoshi's Island final boss was a similar thing. The game up to that point is so bright and cheery, but the tone and setup of the giant baby Bowser fight scared me a lot. It seems like it was hand-crafted to make you anxious with him slowly moving towards you, taking slow steps forward, and occasionally quick bursts of running quickly. Every time you miss, you not only didn't damage him but now know he's gonna get closer to you, which is scary!
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by Daarkbuu »

I second the giant baby bowser fight at the end of Yoshi's Island. Super anxiety inducing and it didn't help that I was doo doo at the fight and got destroyed multiple times.

Also, Squirt from DKC3 mostly because I couldn't figure out what the hell it was supposed to be and that scared me. I've always thought snails were cute ever since I was little and I kept trying to picture it as a snail until I realized it was just some bizarre creature that superficially resembled a snail and it put me all the way off. I like creature design like that now but as a little girl it was pretty SPOOKYYY
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by Bean »

RedMageSusie wrote: 3 years agoDoes Boss Bass in Super Mario 64 count? That fish scared the hell outta me as a kid.
I hate those kind of enemies, so yeah, they count. Look, I jumped in a pool as a kid, sank like a stone, and thought the pool was swallowing me. Any aquatic enemy that can one-shot you like that makes me nervous to this day.

For a different answer, one thing that I got over that I didn't like back when I played it were any enemies that directly chased you like Phanto.
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by PSI Ninja »

How about Snacker the Shark from Banjo-Kazooie? Made me a bit anxious when I would accidentally fall into the water in Treasure Trove Cove.

The earliest thing in video games that scared me was when you die in Zelda II. Just the way the screen flashes, and the sound that goes along with it. And of course there's that famous Game Over screen with the silhouette of Ganon laughing. I think the fact that the screen was bright red frightened me more than anything. Very simple and effective.

Here's a weird one. The first computer I ever owned was a Packard Bell running Windows 3.1. It came pre-installed with some software in a folder called "Entertainment Pack for PB", which included awesome games like Rattler Race, Rodent's Revenge, and SkiFree. There was also a chess game that would bug out whenever I used en passant. The pawns would randomly change between black and white and eventually the game would crash with the error message: "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down." This frightened me as a kid. I guess the SkiFree monster was pretty scary too.

More recently, there was a part in Axiom Verge that I found disturbing. In one of the areas, the main character Trace hallucinates and some freaky looking monsters start showing up. There were lots of disembodied faces and limbs that pulsate with the undulating music. Very body horror-esque, and it made me uncomfortable.

Some of these were probably meant to be scary anyway, but oh well. I'm sure there are more but this is what stands out for me at the moment.
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by KobaBeach »

PSI Ninja wrote: 3 years ago How about Snacker the Shark from Banjo-Kazooie? Made me a bit anxious when I would accidentally fall into the water in Treasure Trove Cove.
oh big mood. redeads from oot and mm were also super freaky for me, ofc

star fox 64's 100% completion title screen on fullscreen also startled me because lowpoly fox right on your face oof. at least these days i have a crush on fox among others but
PSI Ninja wrote: 3 years ago More recently, there was a part in Axiom Verge that I found disturbing. In one of the areas, the main character Trace hallucinates and some freaky looking monsters start showing up. There were lots of disembodied faces and limbs that pulsate with the undulating music. Very body horror-esque, and it made me uncomfortable.
muni-muni's evolutions in bahamut lagoon weren't outright frightening for me but they were viscerally revolting. they were some of the highlights of that game for me honestly.

to put it bluntly because i'm not gonna let you look it up on tsr, muni-muni is a little eyeball dragon, kind of like an ahriman without the mouth (iirc no talons either if the ahriman do have that). his evolutions are basically little muni-munis just attached to his body like conjoined twins, that grow with each evolution and add more muni-munis like asexual reproduction, just a massive hivemind of little eye boys. it's great and fucking gross at the same time. i love it? his final evolutions are basically a beast on a one eyed dragon steed, two dark and light variants or just the one eye base form again as a master dragon (all main elements maxed out, strength, vitality, intelligence and dexterity also maxed out)
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by PSI Ninja »

KobaBeach wrote: 3 years ago to put it bluntly because i'm not gonna let you look it up on tsr, muni-muni is a little eyeball dragon, kind of like an ahriman without the mouth (iirc no talons either if the ahriman do have that). his evolutions are basically little muni-munis just attached to his body like conjoined twins, that grow with each evolution and add more muni-munis like asexual reproduction, just a massive hivemind of little eye boys.
I looked it up anyway, and yeah it's kinda gross, but I think it looks pretty cool too. Specifically, it's humanoid body horror that bothers me. I also can't handle realistic gore, so I can't stomach a lot of war flicks. But if it's over the top gore like Riki-Oh, then I'm somehow okay with that. It's weird.

To add more to the topic, how about games where characters get skeletonized when they die? It frightened me whenever Arthur dies in the Ghosts 'n Goblins games, because he was living flesh only a few seconds before and then he's just a pile of bones on the ground. Also, in Secret of Mana, it upset me when the cute little Chobin Hoods would become skeletons when killed. Not to mention Crocomire's skin gradually melting off when you defeat it in Super Metroid. It's not that I have a bone phobia, it's more the act of seeing living things get reduced to skeletons.
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by Argumentable »

I was debating Bowser turning into a skeleton in NSMB being put on my list, but I'm not sure if that was actually "scary" so much as it was a "holy shit Bowser is actually dead in a Nintendo game"

Either way I still say it was out of place
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by KobaBeach »

A minor thing that startled me was NiGHTS' little "stretch mouth out and give a toothy grin" expression from the intro of NiGHTS into Dreams... but that's mostly because I was a really dumb kid (Sonic introduced me to NiGHTS and it and Saturn emulation were white whales for me for a while, I even played the PS2 remake just so I could try it)
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by BeatBoxingBoo »

In "Spongebob Squarepants: Super Sponge" there were these weird, triangular, fish enemies? that scared the hell out of me as a kid. As well as the Jellyfish boss at the end of the first world. Creeps me the fuck out.

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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by pholtos »

DKC2: Rambi Rumble.

The end of the stage features a sudden shift in song to an extremely loud scary music where you get chased by a giant bee. As a kid, this freaked me out so badly I dropped the controller and ran away, and refused to ever play the game again. It wasn't til I was an adult I actually beat that game fully.

This was the only time I had ever gotten frightened by a video game as a kid, and man did it come out of no where, the game had such chill music up to that point.
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by YelseyKing »

One thing that freaked me out as a kid happened in Bionic Commando for NES. There are these small side rooms where you can either communicate with your HQ, or attempt to wiretap enemies. Normally, they're completely silent. Well, one time, I attempted to wiretap, and apparently the enemy is able to catch you sometimes, as the next thing I knew, there was a shrill alarm going off, and enemy soldiers swarming me. I had no idea such a thing could happen, and as alarms and sirens already inherently scared the hell out of me (and frankly, still *do*), I panicked, shut the game off, and never went into those rooms again until I replayed the game once as an adult.

On a similar note, one of the songs in the first NES Double Dragon also scared me as a kid, as a part of it gets really dischordant and almost sounds like an alarm. I think it was the third or fourth level? It's been ages since I played that game, so I don't remember offhand.

For something more general, though, I am also absolutely freaked out by any area in a video game that takes place inside a giant living creature. Something about fleshy, veiny, pulsating walls, giant still-functioning organs, and the often incredibly unsettling music such places tend to have... Ugh... Not. A. Fan.
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by TiKi »

BeatBoxingBoo wrote: 2 years ago In "Spongebob Squarepants: Super Sponge" there were these weird, triangular, fish enemies? that scared the hell out of me as a kid. As well as the Jellyfish boss at the end of the first world. Creeps me the fuck out.

those yellow squids? the ones that make the woish woish woish sound while on-screen and dart at you when you get near, even when above them so you have to pray that your jump was square (ha) enough to still be above them whilst they dash at you?
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by ano0maly »

When I played Spyro the Dragon while younger, the stage boundary barrier that shows up in some places (like Stone Hill) was disturbing to me. The audio and visual effects suddenly appearing at the invisible barrier made me very uncomfortable for some reason.
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by Onurubu »

Portal 2 might be one of my favourite games ever, but I first played it when I was 13 years old and it scared the absolute shit out of me. That game terrified me more than actual horror games.

The vibe of the whole place put me off and everything creeped me out. The game is pretty much split into thirds,

starting in Aperture, going into old aperture and then finally coming back to modern aperture but now ruled by Wheatley

the first time I played the game the second third was the only part that terrified me. I hated how dark and creepy everything was there. However after finishing the game and learning more about it I just got scared even more retroactively.

If you know about Portal lore you know about

Ratman

. I used to be really into "Top 10 video game Easter Eggs" and other such videos back then so that is where I learnt about the

Ratman dens

found through the first third of Portal 2, where there are creepy drawings and writings. One of these has a location in which

You can actually hear Ratman insanely muttering to himself

. There were also other Easter eggs such as the radio that made scary beeping if you take it into a random hidden room

which actually shows a reference to the ending of the game if you run the sound through an SSTV processor

, and also another radio which played a song hidden in a random corner of a room, which scared me even more.

There is also the Easter egg of the

Portrait of Caroline in the second third of the game, and knowing the context of the portrait and everything that happens in the game

also added to the fear.

Therefore, Portal 2 became one of the most terrifying games that I knew of, it used to make me literally shake and scream from fear if I accidentally stumbled upon one of those hidden rooms.

Even so I loved the game, and back then I didn't have many games, so it became one of those games that I just kept replaying over and over again. However because I was so scared of the first 2 thirds of the game (and the only scary parts are contained entirely in those parts), my playthroughs basically just ended up becoming me "speedrunning" the game until the part where you enter the final third of the game (

where you escape from old Aperture and return to the modern test chambers

) and then finally being able to relax and enjoy the game.

Eventually I began just starting the game from the chapter in which the final third begins and continually replaying the last 4-5 hours of the game while ignoring the parts before.

I am watching my GF play through the game for the first time currently, many years after my last playthrough, and I am finally enjoying exploring the hidden rooms and other stuff that used to terrify me.
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Re: Scary Video Game Things That Aren't Scary

Post by Ashan »

Onurubu wrote: 2 years ago Portal 2
Yeah the whole vibe of Portal is really creepy. I think the disturbing aspects were mostly supposed to be for comedy, but when you're young it can still be frightening. I definitely remember being creeped the hell out for a while after watching a playthrough of the first game and hearing Still Alive. The setup of the game was made to make you feel powerless, like a lab rat. So it's really freaky when

you kill the giant scary robot and then in the credits it's still singing sarcastically to you. And then there's the final shot in a dark room with a cake and companion cube, just set up there for seemingly no one.



It was also creepy to see what I guess is a fan theory that GLaDOS's design looks suspiciously like a woman suspended upside down with her arms tied behind her. Which even fits in thematically with her backstory, but I don't think the developers ever confirmed that was the case. I still believed it canon back in the day!

Portal is a pretty good sci-fi horror game, honestly. It's masked with comedy, but the reality of the story is pretty messed up!
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