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Frictional Games (SOMA, Amnesia) started an ARG for their next game

Foxnull

Foxnull

Alt-Account
Banned
May 30, 2019
1,651
Visiting this link: https://nextfrictionalgame.com/ there's now an eye symbol in the bottom right next to the social media stuff, which contains a part of a YouTube URL when hovering over it.

frictionalgamesppjmd.png


Inserting this into a YouTube link leads to the following video:



Edit:
Checking the css of the website, there's another YouTube code.
fg2ebk02.jpg


Which leads to this video:




I don't know where to go from here, but there's probably more to uncover. Really interesting!
 
Last edited:
MickZan

MickZan

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,404
I love their stories. Not a fan of their 'run and hide' gameplay. It just stresses me out instead of scaring me. Really hoping they go for more of a PT style puzzle horror game.
 
Dusk Golem

Dusk Golem

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Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,804
I'm happy it's close to reveal, I was actually thinking it was probably going to pop up this year as later this year is the 10-year anniversary of Amnesia: The Dark Descent (and their last game was around 5-years
 
Kinthey

Kinthey

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
22,270
I didn't really warm up to Amnesia but absolutely loved Soma. Very curious what kind of setting they'll pick for this one
 
kami_sama

kami_sama

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,998
Give me a "pacifist" mode like soma had and I will be there day one, I get scared too easily lol
 
Dusk Golem

Dusk Golem

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Oct 25, 2017
5,804
MickZan said:
I love their stories. Not a fan of their 'run and hide' gameplay. It just stresses me out instead of scaring me. Really hoping they go for more of a PT style puzzle horror game.
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While we don't know the specifics yet, we know they have been working on two games these last five years, one a horror game using what they've learned from Amnesia and SOMA, one is an experimental narrative game and their first non-horror game. I believe they said about a year ago the horror game would end up releasing first
 
Pixis

Pixis

Member
Oct 31, 2017
355
I legit still think about SOMA (having finished it around 2 weeks after it came out years ago) every couple of days. Would put it in my top 5 games this gen, so I cannot wait for their next game.
 
big_z

big_z

Member
Nov 2, 2017
7,794
Soma wasn't the scariest game from them and that last encounter was kind of broken but it's my favorite game from this team. Great atmosphere and story. Looking forward to this.
 
Aniki

Aniki

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,792
Soma has blown me away so i'm really confident in them. Hope the reveal is not too far away.
 
TransEuropaExpress

TransEuropaExpress

Member
Dec 6, 2017
10,986
US
I really loved SOMA but I truly hope they at least somewhat evolve their dreadful encounter/combat/whatever-you-wanna-call-it mechanics for this title.

MickZan said:
Is the pacifist mode any good? Doesn't it ruin the game completely?
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I preferred it honestly and I'm usually a gameplay-first kind of player 100%. The "combat" was so poor and the AI so seemingly arbitrary, it just ripped me out of the game every time I had to trial-and-error my way through those encounters.
 
Se_7_eN

Se_7_eN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,720
Pixis said:
I legit still think about SOMA (having finished it around 2 weeks after it came out years ago) every couple of days. Would put it in my top 5 games this gen, so I cannot wait for their next game.
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Same here, I can't really explain it but I will be in the middle of something and the idea that
he is still down there, just pops into my head.

Incredible game.
 
NightShift

NightShift

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,999
Australia
Gimme more psychological horror, Frictional!

I hope this leads to more videos like the ones they had for Soma. I still watch this video every so often because its vibe is too perfect.
 
Pixis

Pixis

Member
Oct 31, 2017
355
Se_7_eN said:
Same here, I can't really explain it but I will be in the middle of something and the idea that
he is still down there, just pops into my head.

Incredible game.
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Same! I also always think about
his despair as he realises what is happening and then the darkness as the power goes out
 
dmr87

dmr87

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,186
Sweden
Gimme gimme, Amnesia is a horror classic and SOMA was reeeally good story wise. Small team but very talented.
 
OozeMan

OozeMan

Member
Feb 21, 2018
1,033
SOMA was one of those games you never really stop thinking about. And I'm not even a fan of horror games.

Eagerly awaiting their newest title's reveal. Frictional is a very talented studio.
 
Dusk Golem

Dusk Golem

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Oct 25, 2017
5,804
As some people and places are noting, the teaser site was uploaded in December (but the ARG just added the other day). One of the definite themes of the ARG pieces is "growth". On the main teaser site, there's been a fetus-like thing growing:

9628886301579870211gol1.jpg


How the thing on the main site has updated over the past month, it looks like it's a cell growing into a fetus.

If the ARG also ties more directly into the story, it seems to set the game in Kazakh (a South Asian country that's formerly part of the Soviet Union which boarders Russia and China). The second video also states "Partial Success" with some creature noises, definitely implying they're doing some experimentation to some end goal to grow... something.

To be seen, I may spend a bit of time trying to figure out where the next puzzle point is, it seems no one's really solved anything past the second video yet anywhere.
 
More_Badass

More_Badass

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,622
Dusk Golem said:
As some people and places are noting, the teaser site was uploaded in December (but the ARG just added the other day). One of the definite themes of the ARG pieces is "growth". On the main teaser site, there's been a fetus-like thing growing:

9628886301579870211gol1.jpg


How the thing on the main site has updated over the past month, it looks like it's a cell growing into a fetus.

If the ARG also ties more directly into the story, it seems to set the game in Kazakh (a South Asian country that's formerly part of the Soviet Union which boarders Russia and China). The second video also states "Partial Success" with some creature noises, definitely implying they're doing some experimentation to some end goal to grow... something.

To be seen, I may spend a bit of time trying to figure out where the next puzzle point is, it seems no one's really solved anything past the second video yet anywhere.
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Have you read the Scott Sigler book Ancestor? I suddenly got major Ancestor vibes from those details
 
Dusk Golem

Dusk Golem

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Oct 25, 2017
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More_Badass said:
Have you read the Scott Sigler book Ancestor? I suddenly got major Ancestor vibes from those details
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I have not read it, but I know of it and that's interesting. I'm both diving into some of the speculation and things mentioned in the pieces so far, and something about life definitely may be a thematic. I'm pretty sure it's fair to say "Life" and "Experiments" are two of the biggest reoccurring themes so far.

So these aren't for solving the ARG (probably), but may more be contextual clues for the game. The second video mentions "Triple Crown" in the description, and in the video we hear three creature noises coming from three different directions (if you're wearing headphones). The Triple Crown is an ancient Egyptian piece of headgear, another way to refer to the hemhem crown: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemhem_crown

Firstly, the Egyptian word "Hemhem" literally means "to shout", "to cry out", which is what's going on in the second video.

The Hemhem Crown is a crown rewarded to those in ancient Egyptian times who completed three trials and became the top of a given field, in other words it's the person who is designated as the most worthy and holy who passed the three trials to be recognized as a truly special and righteous person.

More specifically, the crown is a symbol for "rebirth", the idea that you will be reborn into a higher being.

The final thing to kinda' hint at this is in the first video, there's a drawing on a rock. A person named Chem made a recreation of the symbol we see:

6fd14efafd389bcb7a1a403f1607a13b.png


It looks like a beetle hoisting a crown over its head.

The painted picture I get so far is I guess some group may be trying to create some type of either holy or higher being of life, but that's my own speculation here. To see where all of this goes, and whoever can solve the next lead.
 
CoyoteSpitfire

CoyoteSpitfire

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,202
Can't wait for the reveal. I hope they take a new direction with the gameplay this time. The running & hiding felt pretty tedious during some parts of SOMA.

I also hope there's a pacifist mode on launch for the people who prefer it.
 
More_Badass

More_Badass

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Oct 25, 2017
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Dusk Golem the day that fictional scientists realize that it's never a good idea to mix science with ancient deities and/or eldritch beings, will be a sad day indeed
 
erikNORML

erikNORML

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,709
SOMA is one of the greatest narratives I've experienced in any game, blew my mind and wish I could force everyone to go through the wow moments some of the story revelations hit me with. That ending... god damn

Honestly would love to see them do VR (or even just add a VR mode to SOMA) would work really well with their style of game

whatever it is I can't wait to see what they've come up with
 
Dusk Golem

Dusk Golem

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Oct 25, 2017
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There's been several breakthroughs since this topic was last updated.

Firstly, there was hidden text at the bottom of the site you could highlight to see:
9ed1af15154dac0d59cc952582ee5393.png


Combining the double letters revealed a URL to this video:



A transcript of the note in the video:
There is an itching behind my eyes as if a beetle
burrows there in the folds of my brain, boring
its way in, mandibles clawing at grey matter
as if a gnarled finger has been pushed
into my skull, a broken fingernail working
into my thoughts. I want to reach in
with a needle to scratch it or
perhaps a piece of wire through the
tear duct, threading through the
lacrimal canal.

Threadlike black worms squirm in my
eyes. When I think about them, they
are agitated and start to thrash around.
They know I am scared
and it makes them worse.

If I hold myself still, if I
ease my mind, if I empty
my head and try not to be afraid
of... then the itching fades to the
tickling of a feather. I've tried
filling myself with the notes of a
song or the colours of a beautiful
picture, but it doesn't work.
Only emptiness gives me any
(scrawled out text).
I wish I had my gun.
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There's also in the last frame of the video a 1 frame shot of a pile of rubble with what appears to be a shotgun ammo box.
 
More_Badass

More_Badass

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,622
Dusk Golem said:
There's been several breakthroughs since this topic was last updated.

Firstly, there was hidden text at the bottom of the site you could highlight to see:
9ed1af15154dac0d59cc952582ee5393.png


Combining the double letters revealed a URL to this video:



A transcript of the note in the video:


There's also in the last frame of the video a 1 frame shot of a pile of rubble with what appears to be a shotgun ammo box.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It would interesting in a cyclic design way if their new game is influenced by RE7 (ie having combat), while RE7 was influenced by the first person horror approach of Amnesia and Outlast
 
Strings

Strings

Member
Oct 27, 2017
31,380
Some of this stuff reminds me of the dream sequence in John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness:

 
cabelhigh

cabelhigh

Member
Nov 2, 2017
1,722
Damn that teaser is some SOMA-ass shit. Interesting to see that they're staying within the 'exploration of consciousness and self' warehouse
 
Aurongel

Aurongel

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Oct 28, 2017
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Some of that live action footage makes this look like another post apocalyptic setting. Which would be fine by me considering SOMA had one of the absolute best examples of a post apocalyptic setting. SOMA's world was like a mini post apocalypse that is later revealed to be within a MUCH larger apocalypse šŸ˜µ
 
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