Why is horror games nowadays fail at, horror?

[historia]

I played some "horror" titles like Outlast, Layers of Fear and Anemsia. It doesn't really feel like horror, just a bunch of jumpscares and walking around find corridors. Anemsia did it best but nowhere far.

Then I looked at old horror titles. You can feel the tensions, the "actual" horrors. Games like
Silent hill 1-4, Siren, Dementia(I don't know how it pronounce in English, this game from Capcom for PS2), etc. Even Biohazard RE did a better job than modern horror titles, even thoufh it is more actions centric

I tried a bunch of indie horror games on Steam and some captures this really good. Have AAA devs forget how to make good horror games?



I think the mysterious part make old horror games great. Low res sprites, fog to cover low render distance and fixed camera corners and control. The brain preceives something mysterious, unknown is more scary than something in their faces(e.g cheap jumpscares). Same for films, Muholland Drive alone is scarier than 95% of horror films nowadays, and it is not even a horror film

 

[Snes nes]

I think it's because nothing's more horrifying than reality atm. We just need time to let it sink in how bad we have it atm.

 

[Aceman]

I'm enjoying Callisto Protocol with the exception of their horrible save points and lack of manual saves.

 

[AshHunter216]

I think indie devs are doing a better job with horror than the mainstream are right now. Things like Darkwood and Signalis are really good for example.

 

[ethomaz]

Because it is suspense not horror.

Outlast is just the feeling of being catch by somebody.

 

[voke]

Alan Wake II didnt

 

[JAHGamer]

Because we're jaded adults, these days I can't be scared of anything, regardless of medium. Horror movies are just cringe to me now, and I don't even bother with scary games.

Because it is suspense not horror.

Outlast is just the feeling of being catch by somebody.

Yep, Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty DLC had a part like this, where it reminded me heavily of Alien Isolation, and same with Metroid Dread. Metroid Dread and TLOU2 encapsulate this feeling the best for me.

 

[BroodCorp]

Horror is just a catch all term for a game that has creepy elements but isn’t necessarily trying to scare you. RE5 is technically a horror game because it deals with zombies but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call it scary.

The best ones don’t have to rely on scaring you.

 

[Nym]

Subnautica is the scariest game I've played in recent memory

 

[reziel]

Because it is suspense not horror.

Outlast is just the feeling of being catch by somebody.

Nah man that game is just anxiety simulator at best

 

[Aceman]

Subnautica is the scariest game I've played in recent memory

I think I remember playing that. It was creepy for sure.

 

[Deleted member 223]

Why do most horror movies fail at horror?

There is only so much the human mind can come up with that's original and fresh when so much has been done already for the genre. Similar happens here. The VR platform however can make it very personal, and thus refresh the genre due to the intimacy of the experience.