Stop Letting Me Retry Your Horror Game

So, horror in video games right? Here’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while: why are we still allowing gamers to play through a horror section again once they’ve failed?

Well it’s a game, Klad(my gamer tag is Kladspear). You are supposed to retry until you get how to beat it. Permadeath is for the masochists.

And yeah I mean I’d say so as well but specifically with horror you gotta agree the thrill of that first encounter goes away pretty quick on repeated exposure.

Of course, that’s true for almost every other kind of encounter as well. Let’s say comedy, if the cutscene of a tough encounter starts with a joke, it could be funny as hell but after hearing it 5 times…

Repetition especially in a particularly tough encounter destroys the atmosphere that we were led with. Watching the same cutscene over and over again, going for that health pack on the side every time because you know you’ll need it in the 2nd phase, I mean I get it. That’s what we are here for, the gameplay.

The ability to make different choices or planning ahead this time, that’s our hook. That’s where our agency is. And the more options (read viable options) we have, the better the game is.

Resident Evil 7’s first boss fight against Jack Baker, even though that first shock of “I’m supposed to deal with this guy” may subside on multiple attempts but … I am free to move, to explore, find weapons, map out the area in my head for quick getaways. I have strategies to try. It doesn’t feel repetitive. And it’s one of my favorite boss fights in any horror game. 

But the problem comes with games which are light on gameplay. The story or atmosphere focused ones. There are those of us who enjoy being put into situations like these. However, not having a proper combat system or enough options means I’m basically doing the same thing every time. Which you may call a bad game and you may as well be right.

So, is the solution just to make horror games easier? 

Well, maybe. But let’s not forget it’s a game. And game difficulty is already a huge topic of discussion I’m not looking to get into right now.

No, what I’m thinking is, I just don’t think I should be allowed to replay that encounter. 

I can hear you in my head: “So, what are you saying, skip the encounter?”

Well, kinda. Or, make the death/loss canon. 

Yes, that fight happened. Yes, now you have lost your left hand permanently. And hence, you can’t reload anymore.

Now that option is treading into the game difficulty waters again so I’m just putting it there for the sake of options. If you’ve got a good combat system I think it can be done.

But what about my dear ol’ walking simulators with run and hide mechanics?

In those cases yes, for the love of all lovecraftian horror, skip that encounter. You are killing the atmosphere, game! I’ve seen the makeup that dude puts on, I’ve seen the eyelashes. I know on which corners its path-finding breaks. I’m not afraid anymore. I know I’m dealing with a moron.

But Klad, skipping content is a cardinal sin. How can we possibly…

Blah blah blah. Skip it. Skip the damn thing already. It spooked me, and I wasn’t ready. The job is done. Now I don’t know what to expect. I’m on my toes. The game is willing to screw with me and not give me a chance to retry. Isn’t that crazy? Shock in a horror game? Color me white.

Skipped content is scary. Losing a vital resource or an NPC you care about permanently because of your own poor planning/ability is scary. The feeling of loss is real and personal. Isn’t that what games should aspire to be?

Alright enough with the sermonizing.

Look, I know this option has its own issues. For one, it really reduces the effective length of a game and I know some people hate that. All I know is, being able to retry is killing the atmosphere. Revealing cracks that shouldn’t be visible and putting far too much stress on systems that were not designed with replayability in mind. 

And that’s just not how you do horror.

You get all that Call of Cthulhu?