Phobias and videogames?

[Bananamatic]

Does anyone else have some phobias that make playing certain games difficult/impossible?

Honestly I think I'll have to pass on Dark Souls 2 now.

I've had a problem with spiders since I played Dungeon Lords, which had a horrible spawn system - random monster groups and the spiders were fucking gigantic. Out of nowhere 5 giant spiders surrounding you. Had to quit the game and never played it since.

Made it through Dragon Age but the first spider ambush made me shit my pants. Then I stopped playing for a month. Made it through but had to cover the screen constantly to avoid spider ambushes.

Now Dark Souls has cragspiders and the giant spider boss - but none of those had any effect on me. Probably because the cragspiders are half flies, barely spider and they don't drop from ceilings or anything. Quelaag herself announces her entrance with a cutscene, fights only on ground and thinks like a human rather than a beast. No problems there despite being fucking huge.
Now the first slime ambush made me shit my pants big time. Disgusting as hell, they lurk on the ceiling and the fact that they move around despite being just blobs is creepy. I still take the slimeless path and rush through the Depths every time. I can look at a moderately sized spider in the bathroom no problem, but once some creepy fuckers start ambushing you in a game from all directions(preferably from above with no indications), I have to force myself to keep playing. Put that shit in a horror game or something, ambushes work only one time.

Looking at the DS2 art, the fire spider doesn't look bad if it's a boss with an entrance cutscene or something, but the Earth Spider art makes me feel horrible. Almost no body and gigantic thick legs. First result on google pictures. If any of those swarm you or lurk on the walls/ceiling, I'm not even going to bother with the game. Which is a real shame because I haven't bought a game on launch for ages.

To be honest the whole direction where From wants to add phobias into the game is awful because they are a legitimate issue. No spider mods are being made for a reason, there is a difference between a phobia and a horror game. And fuck jump scares.

Oh, and I'm not touching Skyrim with a 10 foot pole. And that's not counting the shitty gameplay.

[gabe]

My wife refuses to play Super Monkey Ball because of her fear of heights. She doesn't even like watching me play.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

In a lot of games spiders tend to be fairly easy. System Shock 2 has 'em but they're more annoying to hit than actually dangerous. They have shitty melee range but they're so small that smacking them with the wrench is a chore. Resident Evil's spiders are a pain to fight because they take a few hits and like to poison you, but they're quite easy to ignore and simply run past.


As a kid the sound Frankenstein's Monsters and Mummies make when they see you in Nitemare 3D scared the shit out of me, though. I could play through Doom with no problem, none of the sound effects in that scared me as much as shitty pixellated monsters. Nitemare 3D is still scary as fuck because everything dangerous is ranged hitscan that kills in 3 hits ohgodwhy

I don't really have any phobias, but I'd think videogames would be a good way of confronting them. "Ohshit something I hate, but wait, I can kill you!"

[Specineff]

I'm not scared of blood, but watching someone play Time Killers once, a CPU-controlled character missing both arms tried to punch/slash the player, spraying them in blood. My friend and I felt repulsed enough not to play the damned game again. Ataxx arcade also felt quite visceral for my tastes.

[BIL]

As a kid the sound Frankenstein's Monsters and Mummies make when they see you in Nitemare 3D scared the shit out of me, though. I could play through Doom with no problem, none of the sound effects in that scared me as much as shitty pixellated monsters. Nitemare 3D is still scary as fuck because everything dangerous is ranged hitscan that kills in 3 hits ohgodwhy

I recently found that Wolfenstein 3D's max difficulty is genuinely still pretty nerve-wracking, for similar primitive tech reasons. No enemies make noises once alerted (some don't make noise at all), all corners are blind 90 degree turns, and a point-blank ambush can kill you before you know what's happening. Some of the zombie mazes later in Spear of Destiny are pure terror.

I don't really have any phobias, but I'd think videogames would be a good way of confronting them. "Ohshit something I hate, but wait, I can kill you!"

Yeah, was gonna say - I severely dislike spiders IRL, bordering on arachnophobia, but I enjoy encountering them in fantasy situations (games, movies, books, anything) since it's just the physical proximity that bothers me. Removed from that I find them fascinatingly creepy. Loved reading about Shelob and Ungoliant in Tolkien, and RE2 + REMake's spiders and the eerie sound of their running along walls. I suppose this is the distinction between mere disgust and absolute fear, though.

[brentsg]

My wife refuses to play Super Monkey Ball because of her fear of heights. She doesn't even like watching me play.

Not really a phobia, but I get the physical sense of falling when I fall or jump down in first and third perspective games. It sucks, I have to jump and close my eyes.

[KAI]

I don't like games with swimming and huge animals, that's why I hate the Ecco games.

[Ruldra]

I'm completely unable to play stuff like Surgeon Simulator. Watching open bodies with visible internal organs like that is unbearable to me.

[Jonathan Ingram]

Bananamatic, instead of running from the irrational fears for the rest of your life and suggesting that game designers should bend their games in a way as not to tickle your phobias, why not actually enroll on a course of exposure therapy and tackle these issues head-on? There`s just the right game for this:

[AntiFritz]

Bananamatic, instead of running from the irrational fears for the rest of your life and suggesting that game designers should bend their games in a way as not to tickle your phobias, why not actually enroll on a course of exposure therapy and tackle these issues head-on? There`s just the right game for this:

http://abload.de/img/tumblr_mhpmp7izzg1qlr5gyjf.gif

http://abload.de/img/tumblr_mla73ajsre1snfuflbb.gif

I also kind of have a spider phobia (but not as bad as bananamatic it seems) and that part of limbo disturbed me at first. Dark Souls spiders weren't bad either. I don't like looking at quelaags black eyes though.

As a kid I really hated the scene in the second harry potter movie with the spiders, and the accompanying level in the pc game.

[broken harbour]

I use games to conquer my phobia's....

For instance i have a massive fear of pig girls so I play lots of Muchi Muchi Pork

[SuperGrafx]

Not really a phobia, but "Haunted House" on the Atari 2600 used to terrify me as a kid.
I guess I was dreading those 'shock' moments...I distinctly remember turning the game off on the higher difficulty levels because I didn't want to be shocked/awed by the random ghost encounters.

[drauch]

I recently found that Wolfenstein 3D's max difficulty is genuinely still pretty nerve-wracking, for similar primitive tech reasons. No enemies make noises once alerted (some don't make noise at all), all corners are blind 90 degree turns, and a point-blank ambush can kill you before you know what's happening. Some of the zombie mazes later in Spear of Destiny are pure terror.

Dude, yeah. Even on normal mode, Act 3 with the mutants used to make me jump so frequently. Such a labyrinth and so many corners. Every other door is a frickin' mutant that shoots and chops you at the same time instantly.

I'm mainly afraid that I'm eventually going to stop enjoying Diablo II after putting in god knows how many hours. About to start a new game soon with friends after we conquer (or re-conquer) Diablo 1.

[Bananamatic]

Bananamatic, instead of running from the irrational fears for the rest of your life and suggesting that game designers should bend their games in a way as not to tickle your phobias, why not actually enroll on a course of exposure therapy and tackle these issues head-on? There`s just the right game for this

Except that game does nothing to me, it's 2D and unrealistic and I don't mind seeing a spider killing someone like that.

Is there an exposure therapy course about being in a place where giant shit lives on the ceiling and drops down? I don't think so. It doesn't even have to be spiders, even reading about the barnacles in half life made me feel weird.

[dcharlie]

have a fish phobia

the fish monsters in Monster Hunter (e.g. Gantotosu) were a little uncomfortable and playing Get Bass made me feel a little odd, but it doesn't stop me

[Ed Oscuro]

To the topic - not especially.

Castlevania 64 has some gut-tightening/anus-clenching long jumps and the wide but enclosed spaces do trigger a bit of agoraphobia and fear of heights, or at least they used to. Today, not so much. I've been shooting up huge jumps in Rush 2049 and jumping about in Super Mario Sunshine with ease. Another thing which is terrifying for a lot of people is coming upon something large in open water, like a wreck or even a reef. Without the usual cues cementing you in place it's probably disconcerting to people. But that hasn't been a problem for me that I know of.

Speaking of spiders (at least by Michigan standards, which means maybe a little bigger around than a quarter), I saw a pretty big one rappelling from a ceiling here but i left him be because of the good effect they have on the other bugs that get in. I will make sure that they aren't spawning, though.

It's interesting that people often have such a visceral reaction to them. I wonder if it's similar for infants as the infant reaction to snakes (and snake-like long tubes). Even before infants know to fear snakes (if they do), they know to pay attention to the long ropey things on the ground...it gives an idea how many would-be ancestors got gobbled up by snakes that this reaction has evolutionary value. Yet people are more afraid of spiders, strangely, which are rarely poisonous or deadly.

[jasoncslaughter]

I have an irrational fear of achieving a 1cc, or so it would seem.

[ZacharyB]

Yet people are more afraid of spiders, strangely, which are rarely poisonous or deadly.

I guess you don't need very many deaths from a venomous animal to get an evolutionary effect. But...

...You know, a lot of the fear of spiders might be a few other seemingly unrelated fears all bundled up into one concept. For example, Bananamatic is afraid of huge things dropping down from the ceiling. Me, I'm afraid of things with long, thin legs. Crane flies and harvestmen creep me out. Because these fears don't make much sense, they don't have a very clear origin, and just get lumped together into a concept that's more easily identifiable.

I have to wonder how many fears there are in the world that act this way. How many weird fear components are there? What are their meanings?

[gct]

I don't like games with swimming and huge animals, that's why I hate the Ecco games.

Me too, big sea monsters while swimming. That damned eel in Super Mario 64, OMFG and I'm supposed to grab something from its tail? F me Hell no!!

[Bananamatic]

Speaking of Dungeon Lords:

Now the games' graphics aren't the sharpest, but they were satisfying...except for the fact that the world seemed...EMPTY...you can go miles across open land without seeing a thing. Then suddenly a 'Random Encounter' happens. 'Random Encounter' is what they call a dozen or so monsters popping up behind you for no apparent reason.

The game starts in a forest...I was walking around and a pair of Giant Scorpions pop out and attack me! Not only do scorpions (Giant ones, at that!) not fit into the area, but there was NO WAY such a massive, loud critter could sneak up on me...I could tell more 'Random Encounter' horror stories, but I'll continue into the review...

Seriously, the spawn system turns it into a survival horror game. Other things I've found were turning around and suddenly seeing a giant ghostly glowing face in the dark and spiderlings(really small ones though) dropping from the ceiling by dozens.

[Eaglet]

I actualy had problems with vore for a long time. Not a phobia, just felt queasy.
Then i read Shingeki no Kyojin and it doesn't affect me anymore.

I believe you can conquer all your mental limits so long as you just push yourself through and are determined enough to keep at it.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Castlevania 64 has some gut-tightening/anus-clenching long jumps and the wide but enclosed spaces do trigger a bit of agoraphobia and fear of heights

Yeah, Castlevania 64 loves those. There's one crazy speedrun trick in stage 1 where you can purposefully make a long jump across a river to one of the platforms sticking out an opposite wall. You take a bunch of damage but it's silly when you pull it off. The worst is probably the Tower of Sorcery. Those platforms that disappear on you are seriously annoying, and everything feels a bit slipperier than usual.

Me too, big sea monsters while swimming. That damned eel in Super Mario 64, OMFG and I'm supposed to grab something from its tail?

It's a lot easier when you realize that when you lure it out, it swims in a totally fixed pattern.

[Vyxx]

I have a fear or open water, so certain games can give me the creeps. Games likes Endless Ocean make my skin crawl. People play that game to relax, I don't think I could play it for 5 minutes without my blood pressure rising. When I was younger I remember feeling creeped out by the open water levels in Super Mario 64 *shame*

Other than that, no. As for Spider Bosses, I believe the first Devil May Cry had a pretty badass Spider Boss fight early on in the game.

[Aguraki]

hi

[KAI]

When I was younger I remember feeling creeped out by the open water levels in Super Mario 64 *shame*

You are not alone.

[nasty_wolverine]

If you're afraid of cats and spiders. dont play guwange.

also dont play it if your afraid of giant fistula covered babies.

or creepy little girl and her haunting laughter

[BulletMagnet]

If you're afraid of cats and spiders. dont play guwange.

also dont play it if your afraid of giant fistula covered babies.

or creepy little girl and her haunting laughter

...or breaking your chain.

[Lord Satori]

When I was younger I used to play resident evil 4. Nothing phased me until the part where you encounter the regenerators, specifically the Iron Maidens (the shivering ones with spikes driven through them)

I stopped playing that game after that.

I'm afraid of spiders, but in video games, they don't tend to bother me as much.

[Ruldra]

When I was younger I used to play resident evil 4. Nothing phased me until the part where you encounter the regenerators, specifically the Iron Maidens (the shivering ones with spikes driven through them)

[Sinful]

Yeah, I realized I hate spider too when playing the PS1 Resident Evil games. ... Snakes too. But that don't stop me from playing, thankfully. ... Other then those, I guess I'm good?

Skyrim has shit gameplay?! Dang, so I wasted so much playing with shit gameplay?! ... Oh wait, all RPGs qualify for that. Phew.