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SOMA Safe Mode PS4 patch is out.
- Thread starter StuBurns
- Start date
Oh cool. I've been waiting for this, it wasn't that scary from what I played but I just want to enjoy the story and themes without the horror in this case.
I've heard it's got a great ending, i might actually see it now.
I've heard it's got a great ending, i might actually see it now.
Those encounters were such a PITA because of completely erratic movement of the enemies, and you couldn't even look in the direction. At least that specific encounter was killing the game for me. I read you were supposed to just look away and then you're safe, but that didn't work. I looked straight at a wall, still died. I looked into a corner, still died. Every path I tried, the enemy was in the way. I like scary games, I just hate bad ones, even when the story is excellent.
Huzzah!
Been waiting ages for this coming to PS4. I've already completed the game twice using the "normal" method but I've always been eager to fully explore every nook and cranny this game has to offer without the constant threat of shitting myself.
I'll be slowly walking through this tonight.
Been waiting ages for this coming to PS4. I've already completed the game twice using the "normal" method but I've always been eager to fully explore every nook and cranny this game has to offer without the constant threat of shitting myself.
I'll be slowly walking through this tonight.
According to Frictional Games blog - no it doesn't affect them, you can still get them in the safe playthrough. All the trophies are about progressing in the story anyway and the game doesn't have a platinum.
As for the safe mode, I wouldn't replay it myself, but this is definitely a good idea. The game has a really interesting story and many people might not play or finish the game otherwise.
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I didn't find the encounters scary, I found them shitty, and to tarnish an otherwise worthwhile experience.
SOMA isn't a horror game in the traditional sense. It's more about psychological horror than jump scares/encounters so the enemy encounters are a huge juxtaposition to the overall tone.
There's only 2/3(?) encounters in the whole game if I remember correctly and I never had any issue with them but seemingly a lot of people did.
The game has an incredible atmosphere and story which are 100% worth the price of admission alone. Those encounters just got in the way of what made the game great.
Way more than 2/3 encounters. I've been playing through it the last few nights. The story is one of the best I've ever played through but the pacing just grinds to a halt whenever the "monsters" show up. You can't fight. Just a lot of hiding for long periods of time while you wait for an opening. I love the atmosphere but I find the encounters really aggravating.
It's not always clear how to get around the monsters. It feels like a lot of trial and error and sometimes just janky. I wish they would have re-tuned the encounters to be more thrilling and less annoying but not so far that they're completely harmless.
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I'll give this another playthrough soon. I didn't outright hate the Monster encounters but they were hit or miss. I found the implications of the story and being at the bottom of the deep ocean a lot more scary most of the time than being chased by monsters of varying quality.
Finally! Now, my only question is, can you continue from an old save and switch to safe mode, without needing to restart the game from the beginning?
I didn't have a problem with the enemies originally but I will try out a chilled mode next time I play it.
They can be more frustrating than scary to be honest, they aren't super well designed, and the atmosphere, story and environments are all of such a higher quality and can offer a real sense of fear and dread that you'll still get a really meaningful and intense experience this way, it won't be the best way to play for a lot of players, most even, but its a great option to have.
soft edit: ugh, sorry hydrophilic attack, didn't see how many replied to you already, should've read down a bit more first, its early.
Amnesia was strange with its monster encounters too, there were quite few, but if you died to them it really felt like the game would cheat a bit and spawn them in a different location or with a different pattern so you wouldn't have to really have to deal with them again, but the tension would still be there.
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The game wasn't really a jump scare experience. It's more of an oppressive, existential horror thing.
It's in no way Amnesia levels of scary. Not even Machine for Pigs scary.
Genuinely one of my favourite experiences this gen. It's the only game I made a thread about on the old place.
I wouldn't mind another playthrough minus the monsters. Hmmmm...
I wouldn't mind another playthrough minus the monsters. Hmmmm...
Hmm, not sure if this will impact the overall experience, but if it gets more people to play through SOMA then I'm all for it. Such an incredibly memorable experience.
Such an amazing game!
I don't know why you would hold on playing it (enemies weren't particularly scary or tedious), but now you have definitely no excuse anymore.
I'd still say play it with enemies though...
I don't know why you would hold on playing it (enemies weren't particularly scary or tedious), but now you have definitely no excuse anymore.
I'd still say play it with enemies though...
I can't imagine playing SOMA with all of the tension sucked out of the game. It's doesn't even make up a huge portion of the game but not knowing what's around every corner adds a ton of atmosphere and suspense on a first playthrough. Not to mention how death and mortality are huge themes throughout the experience. To each their own I guess. I could definitely see myself using this mode to soak in the environments after my initial playthrough. I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice playing SOMA in this mode on a first playthrough though.
This misconception about monsters being absent in the safe mode, and the mode being in contradiction with the themes, apparently still lives on.
More informations about how Safe Mode will work
Here's what the founder and director of Frictional Games said about the mode
Because SOMA without the encounters is still an amazing game, more like a walking simulator/immersive sim.
That's not a misconception. It's a different opinion.
There's no tension whatsoever if you don't fear death. Getting the player to fear for their lives and think about the possibility of death adds a great deal to the game. The story might remain intact without that fear but something is still lost in the process. Going through the game without those sequences turns the entire experience into a theme park ride. I think it would be a lesser experience. You and the game's developers are free to disagree.
Untrue. That's also a different opinion. I find something like Silent Hill 2 far more tense than any Resident Evil game, eventhough its monsters aren't really a threat.
The director also said, that the mode isn't in contradiction with the themes of the game.
Agreed. The encounters were boring hide and crouch walk. You couldn't do anything to affect those encounters besides throw a wrench. And when you died you just respawned. One encounter had me be attacked, then respawn closer to the objective. Sure. The story is very good and the encounters just ruin it, the monsters aren't scary either. I ran up to the first one because it looked interesting, not scary.
If anything ruined the theme of the game it was the epilogue, not the encounters, but if it gets more people to enjoy the otherwise cool story, then that's great.
You're getting hung up on the word "contradiction". That's not really the crux of my argument. I'm not comparing SOMA to other games. I'm comparing it to itself. The fear of death adds to SOMA and taking that fear away lessens the experience. That fear gives the player a tangible connection to the themes of the game. It also adds tension in a more general sense because you don't want to lose progress. Taking these aspects away from the game might not contradict anything but it certainly takes something away from the experience.
Like I said, you and the director are free to disagree.
The encounters were fine and quiet easy in my opinion with the exception of the last one. Being stuck in a hallway with enemies that trigger before they can see you was some bullshit. Forced you to figure out a pattern one fail at a time and it killed the flow of the game.
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But you factually do not lose progress. You reset at the very same encounter. The camera is just wonkier than it was. It's insanely irritating and entirely pointless. It's not scary, it's just trying your patience.
There is no 'skin' in it. Just your ability to put up with bullshit.