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thudo
Posts: 6309
Location: Mellonville North, Canada
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 Posted: Sat, 2nd Dec 2017 18:10 Post subject: |
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That was the point of SOMA: you are NOT a combatant except for one part of the game. SOMA was not Pew Pew intended but more a virtual adventure/puzzle game. Man what a game experience this was!!
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chiv
Posts: 27530
Location: Behind You...
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| Posted: Sat, 2nd Dec 2017 21:53 Post subject: |
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its weird. i mean i STILL feel like the monsters were part of the experience. Its a pity because the mechanics behind those creatures was kinda half-assed, and while yes.. i too relish the idea of being about to walk around unbothered and explore, i cant help but feel that a part of the experience is lost in the process, because part of the story was that the wau was experimenting and that it was learning how the mind worked and these things were the result of its failures.
i think a first playthrough should definitely be played with the monsters.
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| Posted: Sat, 2nd Dec 2017 23:30 Post subject: |
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I think that Soma is such a good adventure/atmosphere/story game that having to run away from monsters, hiding under table for minutes and then restarting 5 times because it "catches You" totally ruined the experience for me the first time to the point I ended up finishing it with a trainer.
I do not want to fight monsters too. In Penumbra, You could fight the monsters with whatever strength You had. But in Amnesia or Soma You cannot even flail a pipe at them.
Now with safe mode, I can take my time to explore the world. Monsters are still there, knocking You back and so on. But You don't restart the game and on't have to hide
3080 | ps5 pro
Sin317-"im 31 years old and still surprised at how much shit comes out of my ass actually ..."
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chiv
Posts: 27530
Location: Behind You...
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| Posted: Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 03:29 Post subject: |
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the atmosphere wouldnt have been the same without the creatures which, as i said, serve the story and the world. its like saying hellblade would be better if it was just a movie without any combat or puzzles. sure, the mechanics were shit, but they still served a purpose in getting you involved in the story. soma was very much an in-progress story. if everything was dead and gone, it'd be too passive, as if you were witnessing a long ago event with no immediate weight.
thats why i say the game should still be experienced the first time as intended (including the fear/dread/unknown element, wondering what the fuck the creatures are and why theyre here, and then go back later after the story and reasons have been revealed, with everything removed so that you can soak in the stuff as if youre walking through a museum or whatever, and take your time.
i genuinely believe that, while yes, people playing the first time without the creatures would get a more calm, less 'frustrating' and annoying experience, they wouldnt be getting as interesting or enriching or thrilling OR atmospheric experience.
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ixigia
[Moderator] Consigliere
Posts: 65132
Location: Italy
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| Posted: Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 03:55 Post subject: |
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Exactly, that's what I think as well. Having creatures that roam around and can hurt the player is a device to boost the atmospheric factor up by a few notches (among the other things), it gives the game a basic grim sense of uncertainty and very needed tension that matches the setting itself. Knowing that one can go anywhere and do anything without ever fearing to die is something that hampers my enjoyment in games, especially where there's a horror-ish component where I really need some genuine fear to be properly immersed.
That said, as long as the strolling mode remains an optional choice all is well, I just hope the success of these alterations won't change the devs' minds for the future or we'll end up with Everybody's Gone to the Soma 
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| Posted: Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 14:03 Post subject: |
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| Dazz99 wrote: | | KillerCrocker wrote: | I think that Soma is such a good adventure/atmosphere/story game that having to run away from monsters, hiding under table for minutes and then restarting 5 times because it "catches You" totally ruined the experience for me the first time to the point I ended up finishing it with a trainer.
I do not want to fight monsters too. In Penumbra, You could fight the monsters with whatever strength You had. But in Amnesia or Soma You cannot even flail a pipe at them.
Now with safe mode, I can take my time to explore the world. Monsters are still there, knocking You back and so on. But You don't restart the game and on't have to hide |
there's only one monster that will actually fuck you up and you just run past it and close a door. the rest are all fairly obvious puzzles (just dont move or look at it when its close and they wont hurt you)
easy. |
KC's got a point though - in Soma, the monsters felt like a annoying nuisance who served to just extend/artificially stretch the length of the game.
It was like oh look, a monster there - better rush past it so that it doesn't load in the next level! Or, oh great that weirdo saw me - time to reload again.
I honestly found them to be a nuisance and they didn't contribute to the atmosphere like the monsters in Amnesia where the story was second to the hide and seek gameplay.
1 and 2 are still amazing. |
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| Posted: Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 14:51 Post subject: |
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But the game is not about the creatures and dying/restarting.
The point of the game is to convey the loneliness, end of the world and deep thought about what is humanity. I don't want to play hide and seek. There does not need to be some danger. The situation is dreadful enough as it is.
 Spoiler: |
Being human life on earth has ended and so did the world
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If someone want to go and play hide and seek, go and play 20 hours of Alien Isolation. Fuck this shitty ass game. It would be fantastic 4/5 hour game. But assholes dragged hide'n'seek and turning on power generators for 20 hours. Only redlettermedia shared my opinion on this 
3080 | ps5 pro
Sin317-"im 31 years old and still surprised at how much shit comes out of my ass actually ..."
SteamDRM-"Call of Duty is the symbol of the true perfection in every aspect. Call of Duty games are like Mozart's/Beethoven's symphonies"
deadpoetic-"are you new to the cyberspace?"
Last edited by KillerCrocker on Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 15:00; edited 1 time in total
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chiv
Posts: 27530
Location: Behind You...
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| Posted: Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 15:00 Post subject: |
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its also about terror. not visceral terror and jump scares and tension, but rather about the fate of humanity.. are these monsters just monsters, or are they human too? if we ask the question about the 'machines' we come across, why not about the monstrosities that the wau has created in its pursuit of saving humanity... even if you carry the thought further, with the realization that these things are the shattered bodies and minds of people that an AI has experimented on in its pursuit of understanding what constitutes life, or the results of that gel mutation shit from people desperately trying to survive... its all a part of the whole. the mechanics, as ive said, were shit, but that doesnt change the fact that they served a purpose.
and honestly, its not like most survival horror games.. as i recall MOST of the time youre free to move around and explore and soak everything in.. the enemies arent a constant source of annoyance, its generally only a handful of sequences throughout the game where they show up and if i recall, they generally have a way by which you can not trigger them (aside from one or two that are fast and murder you on sight  )
Last edited by chiv on Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 15:05; edited 1 time in total
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| Posted: Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 15:02 Post subject: |
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Right, but the WAU monsters (which are still there in safe mode roaming around and making sad noises, not knowing they are robots) should not kill the player.
WAU protocol is about supporting human life, so they DO NOT allow any remaining people to die by either supporting their life of moving their saved brain into robot after death.
There is no story reason WAU should kill another robot/player
edit: anyway - DSR is fucked. 4k downsampling does not work and oversizes the game window
3080 | ps5 pro
Sin317-"im 31 years old and still surprised at how much shit comes out of my ass actually ..."
SteamDRM-"Call of Duty is the symbol of the true perfection in every aspect. Call of Duty games are like Mozart's/Beethoven's symphonies"
deadpoetic-"are you new to the cyberspace?"
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chiv
Posts: 27530
Location: Behind You...
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| Posted: Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 15:18 Post subject: |
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...its been a while, but i dont recall the wau having control over most of the independent entities. The big machine things, sure, but not its attempts at saving human life. i dont think they are manipulated by the wau, that would go against its entire purpose to maintain human life. control over vitals, sure, but not thought.
but more importantly, an entire section of soma dealt with the fact that the wau DID murder a whole bunch of people to protect itself, so yeah.. the wau DOES, as part of the story, demonstrate the ability to kill people in pursuit of the greater cause - its own preservation so that it can maintain the lives of the humans its in the process of trying to save. Narratively speaking, the wau does have a vested interest in killing the player in order to continue to effectively fulfill its duty.
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| Posted: Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 15:47 Post subject: |
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| KillerCrocker wrote: | | Yeah I need to replay it. The fact that we have those questions speaks highly of the game |
And your failing memory
1 and 2 are still amazing. |
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| Posted: Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 17:22 Post subject: |
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| KillerCrocker wrote: | | Fuck. I will be 30 in 2019 |
Well... damn.
1 and 2 are still amazing. |
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thudo
Posts: 6309
Location: Mellonville North, Canada
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thudo
Posts: 6309
Location: Mellonville North, Canada
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| Posted: Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 20:07 Post subject: |
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Careful.. someday you'll become one too while the robots of the future around you laugh at the only wrinkly old ancient "hu-mon" in the room. 
MSI GT72S 6QF Dominator Pro S 29th Anniversary Intel i7 6820HK @ 4.0Ghz, 32GB DDR4-2133 RAM, 2x256GB Raid0 Toshiba NVMe 2.5 inch PCIe SSD, Nvidia Geforce GTX 980 OC'ed 200+ Core / 200+ Mem, 17.3 inch LG IPS HD Display @ 75Hz, Intel 7265AC Wifi, Windows 10 Pro BIOS version: .112 EC Firmware version: .105
Current Broadband speed record: 329.1 Mb/sec down // 21.73 Mb/sec up
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Last edited by thudo on Mon, 4th Dec 2017 03:01; edited 2 times in total
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| Posted: Sun, 3rd Dec 2017 20:19 Post subject: |
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chiv
Posts: 27530
Location: Behind You...
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| Posted: Thu, 7th Dec 2017 22:45 Post subject: |
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been rolling the game around my head still (thats what you do with amazing games like this) and now that i think about it, i seem to recall that some of the monsters you encounter arent even made by the wau... there was some guy going around doing all kinds of fucked up shit and i think he was responsible for some of the things you saw? the dude without the eyes.
turns out theres a lot of insanity going around at the end of the world...
im definitely replaying this game soon.
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Nodrim
Posts: 9709
Location: Romania
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| Posted: Sun, 8th Jul 2018 12:02 Post subject: |
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| Posted: Sun, 8th Jul 2018 14:58 Post subject: |
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This is seriously the best story/atmosphere in recent years when it comes to scifi/horror games.
I feel the need to say that every time this thread comes up.
I've also tried "safe" mode and it's very good. Monsters are still creepy but not annoying. They will sometimes chase You and push You around but not kill
3080 | ps5 pro
Sin317-"im 31 years old and still surprised at how much shit comes out of my ass actually ..."
SteamDRM-"Call of Duty is the symbol of the true perfection in every aspect. Call of Duty games are like Mozart's/Beethoven's symphonies"
deadpoetic-"are you new to the cyberspace?"
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| Posted: Sun, 8th Jul 2018 16:35 Post subject: |
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| KillerCrocker wrote: | | I've also tried "safe" mode and it's very good. Monsters are still creepy but not annoying. They will sometimes chase You and push You around but not kill |
While playing in safe mode I got killed and / or hit 2 or 3 times.
But I reckon I was deliberately positioning myself in front of the monsters to see if they can be provoked to act even more aggressive than their RE-programmed (for 'Safe Mode') behavior. |
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| Posted: Sun, 8th Jul 2018 17:13 Post subject: |
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Completed the game in both modes. Safe Mode definitely kills stress level at some locations ruining the atmosphere. Monsters are basically divided in two camps: "Get outta my way" and "Run from the player".
In SOMA lore is spread among locations - terminals, tv news reports, whiteboards, etc. In order to explore you need to learn monsters behaviors. Finding safe spot and watching news reports while crazy shit happens around you is so much more immersive in Regular Mode.
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| Posted: Fri, 28th Dec 2018 12:13 Post subject: |
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