The incredible (and wildly extensive) world of video games has its great moments and all players have experienced incredible moments while playing certain games. However, on the other hand, all players also collect many stories that involve bad experiences with some specific games and in this post, I will talk about one of my most traumatic episodes and the protagonist is a game called Outlast (the whole franchise).
Launched on various platforms between the years 2013 and 2014, this game was developed and published by the company Red Barrels. It is a very well-known genre, the "survivor horror" in first person, whose main character here is a journalist (Miles Upshur). After receiving a mysterious e-mail about a psychiatric hospital that belongs to a corporation called Murkoff, he decides to go to the site to investigate the story and when he arrives there, he discovers that apparently everything is completely abandoned and deserted.
What he had no idea is the great danger that was to come and the whole plot of the game is very complete and lives up to how complex and challenging it can be for the players and everything they have to face together with the character. Initially, I was very anxious to play this game because its theme attracted me a lot (mainly because of the limitations that exist and directly affect the protagonist). The idea of confining and bringing a character to experience a whole universe that involves many psychological layers has a great weight for the success of this game.
However, to be able to experience all the intense experiences that this game provides you need to understand how things work... And until that happened, I was very, very frustrated with all my attempts to play this game, because it is really very difficult to be played. Definitely, Outlast is not a game for any player... You have to be extremely persistent and resilient to be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel and also, to fill yourself with willpower (in addition to a dose of extra courage, haha!) to keep playing it without getting so angry.
Initially, I couldn't help but be very frustrated because understanding all the mechanics and dynamics made me spend a lot of time (I mean, a lot of time... To be honest, more than I could have imagined). I literally had to, as a curious player that I am, study each piece of the scenarios and put together the pieces of the great puzzle that was being formed in the middle of the corridors, an inhospitable place full of mysteries and horrifying surprises. The game has a very big power to move and confuse your mind in a consistent way because it is a totally immersive game.
The challenges are apparently simple (depending on the vision of each player), but as the game develops, everything becomes more complex and more visceral. The fact that you control an "impotent" character (because here there are no weapons and the player's only alternative is to escape the dangers using his perspicacity and escape aust) is one of the great strengths of this game, because it creates a level of vulnerability as one of the mainly constructive elements of the narrative. You feel what it is like to have to want to defend yourself from the dangers... But as an alternative, you can only run.
Although the game always catches my attention (because it is really an excellent game), my trajectory with it involves a very high level of frustration because I needed long hours to finish it and in the middle of this process, I always thought about give up. One of my ideas was to watch gameplays about the game and watch everything work, but I didn't invest in that because it would spoil the game's surprises. So, I continued to suffer alone to get ahead in the game (always getting irritated with each new death that happened, haha).
Everything is very complex. Everything is very challenging. What impresses me the most here is the fact that the psychological appeal that exists in this game is almost surreal. It is really very impressive to notice how much it manages to hook the attention and interest of the players and at the same time, leave them so frustrated with its development so difficult. I have a real hate relationship with Outlast because, at the same time, I can say that it was - and still is - one of the best games I have ever played... I can also (and should) say that he was also one of the games that most managed to make me nervous, apprehensive and very, very frustrated.
I remember that at the time of launch, I paid a very high price for it and every time I thought about giving up finishing playing it, I said to myself: "No! You paid too much to buy this game and now will finish playing it, whatever it takes!", haha! Today, it is funny to remember that as I write this post, but while I was playing it, I missed several nights and in some moments even my mood changed slightly due to the many frustrations I had with this game. An experience that I will never forget and this post was the perfect opportunity to bring it in writing.
If you have also had the opportunity to play this game, you must certainly know what I am talking about and you must also agree with me on everything I wrote. Perhaps, not with the same intensity of the frustrations I mentioned, but you will certainly agree with me regarding the difficulty that embraces the whole game in an almost asphyxiating and complex way. If you still don't know this game, take this post as a recommendation so that you can immerse yourself in a game that is really worth playing (but be prepared... because being frustrated with Outlast is inevitable).
This is my entrt for this contest Hive Gaming Community Contest - Worst games or gaming experiences., which is promoted by 