Official Poll Regarding SOMA's Monsters

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Maybe it's kind of an impatient way to look at it, but still.

I'm not interested in arguing - I can't fault you for having experienced the game differently and certainly can do nothing about it. But I do want to clarify one point that I think you misunderstood. What I meant by the "gross misunderstanding" is that you cannot break the game up into contrasting elements, because they complement each other. The quiet sections attain a new meaning because of the "loud" sections and vice versa. You can't spook the player with build-up if they know you aren't serious - the tension needs to be released otherwise it becomes retroactively meaningless.

Your last point leaves me a bit confused. The level design is of course meant to be confusing and the enemies are supposed to prevent you from moving freely - where is the horror in knowing exactly where to go and being able to get there without opposition? The enemies themselves have very little ability to scare on their own - they rely completely on the environment and context within the story. It sounds like you weren't taking the game seriously if all you felt was annoyance. I'm not saying the AI/patrol design is excellent, but that doesn't mean I didn't find it scary.