I. Introduction to "Horror Games"
The first human emotion is fear.
Since recent years, it has ushered in a new boom in "horror" genre games, and the shadow of horror games will often be seen on major mainstream platforms, from the Japanese RPG "Witch House" and "ib" that swept the B station in the early years, to the blockbuster "Escape" series that can only escape, the masterpiece "Silent Hill", and the "Resident Evil 7" that successfully turned back into a horror game.
Since 2017, it is a hot era of horror games, and domestic horror genre games have gradually begun to emerge. Whether it is the mobile game "Paper Wedding Dress" or the "Fireworks" produced by a single person, it seems that the domestic customs and folklore are more suitable for rendering psychological fear.
"Fireworks"
First of all, horror games and groups that love horror movies have the same idea, pursuing the thrill and sense of substitution brought by horror games, but different from horror movies, there is a difference between "bystanders" and "parties". Some players like to say that horror games no longer have so many audiences and are starting to go downhill, but they never consider this kind of game itself is niche.
The horror atmosphere alone will not satisfy such players, for example, Resident Evil 3 has a large number of gunfight upgrade elements in horror games, so it does not seem to fans of this genre to be a horror game. Released in 2017, Resident Evil 7 Ka chose to fill the horror atmosphere, reducing the combat elements while also increasing the connection and substitution of the game story.
It is undeniable that it was successful in the end, and judging from the sales of horror games, it is already very powerful to achieve the million level.
Resident Evil
Second, the domestic "horror game" is just in time
Just mentioned, Under the Chinese folk culture, it is more suitable for the production of "horror games", we have a lot of brain-opening folk strange stories, and the oriental folk culture is more delicate, believing in karma reincarnation, which is very suitable for psychological fear.
At present, some popular domestic masterpieces have also been produced, so let's talk about a few works with high popularity.
"Paper Man"
"Paper Man" tells the story of being in an old mansion in a deserted mansion looking for her daughter, and the first sentence at the beginning of the game is "You are finally back"
The setting in this game is very in line with the characteristics of domestic horror games, and the game contains a large number of Chinese folk elements, such as "ghosts hitting the wall", "burning paper money", "rune paper", etc., much like the ghost stories told by grandparents.
"The Mystery of Hong Kong"
The "Hong Kong Mystery Record" is a game that combines modern and ancient Hong Kong, and integrates many local folklore and real cases, and many old Hong Kong buildings can be seen in the game, in general, the horror atmosphere is very good, and the face killing is often seen.
Was "Jiahui" also your nightmare during that time?
"Paper Wedding Dress"
As a free mobile game, the paper wedding dress is a horror decryption game in the form of multiple pictures, it is aimed at a wider range of groups, and the horror atmosphere is not so strong; the difficulty of getting started is also low, but of course, the decryption is reasonable, the plot is smooth, these are the necessities of the game, and some of the horror elements are only acceptable with face stickers and sound effects.
There are many domestic fear games, such as "Night Marriage", "Sun Meiqi's Unsolved Case" series are excellent works, and when reading the data, it is found that most of the domestic fear of travel masterpieces can talk about a post, for example, "Paper Man" This game sets small details, props and stories and even the structure of the scene can be deeply studied.
Domestic fear of travel has always had a deeper meaning for the shaping of "cause and effect reincarnation", similar to the old sayings such as "unjust debts have masters" and "self-inflicted sins cannot live", which can often be vividly reflected in the game plot.
This is the masterpiece, it will take the player into a deep immersive experience, Chinese horror has gradually found its own characteristics, full of atmosphere and most of the "sad" story endings that can not be escaped.
No one can refuse the romance of Oh Na.
III. "Terror in the East" and "Terror in the West"
"Jump scare is the lowest level but most practical technique in horror games"
American horror masterpieces start from "Resident Evil" to most of the horror series masterpieces, such as "Escape", "Forest", etc., the most representative source of horror is "big monster". The intense sense of oppression, the thrill of chasing war, and the sensory pure visual horror, this type of design brings greater challenges to patients with "giant phobia".
Japanese horror can be said to be the childhood shadow of most people, and in Japanese culture there are literary works of the "Strange Talk" series, and these have also created well-known ghost characters, such as: "Ga Coconut", "Crack Girl", "Sadako", etc., and each character has a tragic past. But in any case, under the normal aesthetic is a difficult to accept image, it is inevitable not to make people feel that the san value is dropped, and what is even more terrifying is that these ghosts are usually indiscriminate attack mode.
Japanese Horror Game Zero
The psychological and physical stimulation brought about by the sense of fear has always been sought after by horror gamers, often we will be scared by the face killing, but the psychological fear makes us unforgettable for a long time, and we are commonly known as "staying power"
So what if it is combined? Silent Hill is one such work that deserves to be described. It does a good job of rendering psychological fear at the same time, but also integrates the exploration of the unknown world (table world, inner world), creating a lot of visual impact, and the sound of those props falling, the protagonist's rapid breathing, mechanical noise, etc., these clever sound effects are designed to undoubtedly force the player into a dead end step by step.
As we mentioned earlier, interspersing other game elements in horror will lead to a lower horror atmosphere, just like the game of playing "big monsters", why "Silent Hill" is more representative of horror games than "Resident Evil", the reason is clear at a glance, the overall plot of "Silent Hill" is more focused on the depression, pathology, and darkness in human nature, it can dig into the deeper level of the player's heart, does the Silent Hill that traps the protagonist also exist in you and me, any one person's nightmare?
While it is a god work, it has also led to a more niche player base.
I have to admit that the sales and group division of "Resident Evil" are more successful, and now the sequel to "Silent Hill" is also lamentable.
Silent Hill
Fourth, the "circle of terror" with mixed fish and dragons has also begun to be routineized
Horror elements don't become a fig leaf for junk games.
"It seems that with some horror elements, you can turn those boring plots into excitement"
In recent years, domestic horror games seem to have found the "wealth code", and the domestic mobile game similar to "Paper Wedding Dress" has grabbed a big hand. The plot is not correct, the decryption is unreasonable, just for the gimmick or even the game with bootlegs abounds, trying to get players to order advertisements. A game with a bad plot is like watching a terrible movie, and after watching it, it will only make people swear and grin.
Scary is not enough for the player to pay for this game, the plot is always the priority of a work, is the core, after all, for the author of the horror game, the most terrifying thing is really to scare people, and then reject the game.
It seems that this group of players are somewhat "difficult to engage", too scary to do, not scary to do.
But when the plot is done enough and there is a full sense of attraction to the player, this problem is not to solve it, and the remaining "world view, sense of substitution, immersive, and horror atmosphere" will become the icing on the cake.
Fifth, only "hunting" can not summarize the player group
The small audience does not mean that they are singular.
The early masterpieces "Liaozhai" and "Classic of Mountains and Seas" are very popular for literature on the horror genre. For example, the recently exploded horror literature work "Zoo Rules Strange Talk", it is like a kind of word game, similar to running groups, there are a large number of netizens at the same time with the post to reason. "Strange" this thing inherently has a strong attraction?
Let's put aside this theory and look at this genre of works again, and we will find that their appeal ultimately comes from strong logic, reasonable story rhythm and those occasional flashpoints. This is what sustains the player's love after all.
Up to now, some domestic horror game trailers have also been disclosed, based on Lu Xun's "Cave Diary"; "Fireworks" producer's new tour "Three Volts".
In 2022, we are also looking forward to the emergence of more excellent national terrorist games. I hope that a real "Chinese horror" masterpiece can achieve the output of oriental culture.