What do you hope to see and not see in SOMA?

[Traggey]

That's the trick.

[NicoNico]

Hey everyone,

It's been a while since I posted something on the site, but, I feel like it now :P
I'll throw a bunch of ideas here but, please, don't be too harsh as some may be not that great ! And, again, I apologies if my english is not correct, as it's not my native language.

Anyway, here you go^^

What could be cool :

- I'm joigning the others with the underwater part. I think it could be very cool to have something like that.
- Also, since we're in a space station, a part of the game where you are litteraly in space could be nice.
- Maybe some optional objectives would be nice. You know, the kind of missions that give you more explanations about what happened.
- More advanced puzzles. The ones in Amnesia and Penumbra mainly relied on the game engine or on "find these objects, combine them and use them on this thing". It's cool, but I would love to see something different in SOMA.
- Fights WITH puzzles. Ok, I know, hold on: FG games are not about fighting monsters. BUT, maybe it could be nice to have some kind of puzzles to get rid of some monsters. You know, kind of "this monster is in the way, you need to distract him by doing some stuff" or "this monster is trying to get you, you need to lure him into this trap" or something like that.
- It's totally optional, but some body awareness could be cool. I actually find that it's more immersive, espacially in a horror game, to be able to see your body, your legs, etc...
- 100% In-Game UI could be nice. You know, instead of having an invenory that pauses the game, having one that's actually in-game. Same goes with your health and all the HUD. It could had more immersion and more tension.
- A HUB structure for the levels. I know I said that I wasn't a big fan of it in Amnesia, but I actually think that it would fit the fact that we're in a space station. Giving a kind of Metroid vibe could be very nice (you know: finding an object that allows you to get to this place that you couldn't go to earlier, etc...). BUT, I don't think it should be done for every level.
- A "survival" aspect to the game. Not a big one because it could become annoying, but a little touch. Having to deal with oxygen, temperature, wounds or things like that. It could be nice.
- Being a woman. It may sounds like a strange request, but almost every character in every horror game is a man. Why is that? Women can deal with monsters too :D
- My character having a condition. There was the sanity meter in Amnesia / Penumbra. It was a nice idea, even if I found that it became a little gimmicky at some point. You know, it was like the game TOLD ME to be scared, even if I wasn't. But, having kind of a handicap, like a heart-condition or whatnot, could be interesting.
- Being able to defend yourself. Alright, don't get mad, I'm not talking about having some heavy weapons. But, it could be a nice addition to the gameplay to be able to take something and use it against the monsters. I'm not talking about real weapons, but more like tools or stuffs that are lying on the floor. And, we shouldn't be able to kill the monsters with it, but only buy some time to get out. Also, these stuff could brake after a while so we wouldn't be able use them during the entire game. I know you could kind of do that in Amnesia / Penumbra when you threw barrels / chairs on the monsters, but maybe something a little more advanced could be nice.

What could be NOT cool

- Jumpscares. It's cheap. It's easy. It got old in 1994 :D
No, but, seriously, having one or two during the game is ok, but, please don't overdo it.
- My character having amnesia. Ok, that was the point of Amnesia, but I think it's a thing that's been overdone. Every horror game character (and J-RPG character :P) has amnesia. I think having one that remembers everything (or almost everything) would be a nice change. Also, if the monsters are his/her old partners truned into monsters, it could had something to the character.
- Same thing goes with "my character was the bad guy from the beginning". It's not a bad idea, but it's been done so many times!
- The good old "I get through an empty level but I hear strange noises. And when I take the key-object, a monster appears !" Ok, one or two during the game is fine, but not every time you have to get a special item.
- The monsters disappearing after a while. It's something that broke the immersion for me in Amnesia. When a monster appeared, I just had to stay put for a while and, when the music stopped, I knew the monster was gone.
- Monster musics. Now, I liked the Amnesia soundtrack, and I liked the musics that were made for every monster, but, has it gave away the fact that there was a monster somewhere around, it also lowered the scare factor after a while. No music = no monster, so I can walk around without fear (almost :D). Maybe relying on a sound effect instead of a music could be cool. Something like a respiration, footsteps, or something like that. The player would have to really pay attention to what he's hearing.
- The Government / Big Company conspiracy. You know, they want to take over the world because... why not? They do some super secret experiments. There's an "accident". All these things that we have seen a million times. Even Outlast did that, and it was not cool. At all.
- QTE. Come on, I don't need to explain why it would be uncool :P

Ok, it's just ideas, and maybe some are bad, but you know, I thought I could share my thought about that with you guys :P

Cheers !

[GrAVit]

What I want:

- Amazing atmosphere that makes you want to stop for a second and absorb the surrounding environment
- Terrifying and varied monsters; some humanoid/cyborg, some completely synthetic.
- Varied levels: hub levels, a few linear levels, and not being lost inside some machine all the time (like shown in the intro trailer) since it reminds me too much of Crysis (ugh, that part)
- Gameplay mechanics: inventory management, health, possibly sanity or some other similar stat that gets affected by the environment and monsters, interaction with the environment and physics
- A decent bunch of relatively challenging puzzles that have a purpose
- Intriguing story that isn't too cryptic to understand
- An overall well optimised game which should run on today's average computers without too much trouble

[plutomaniac]

I can confirm that at least one of the above suggestions will happen.

As I said almost a year ago, my guess is underwater parts. I demand a cookie when the game is out if I'm right!

[VoodooFox]

I'm all for Cthulhu stuff. I like the feeling of danger everywhere. Creepy stuff...super creepy stuff. Not many jump scares .

[Statyk]

I can't think of any ideas myself honestly. Reading their blogs and anticipating a game by Frictional seems pretty straight forward, and I might be surprised if I find something I wasn't expecting (like swimming), otherwise I'm already assuming the general stuff. I have faith in FG not to do something strange to their title, like the drastic change of gameplay in AAMFP.

[DonnJuann]

I want to explore A LOT. That was one of the things i didn't like about AAMFP, the world is really interesting but you don't get to explore it at all. So, for SOMA i want to see a lot of diferent places and interesting puzzles. From big open hangars to dirty and dark engine rooms, i want to see weird alien machinery. Maybe a bit like System Shock 2.

---

I'm all for Cthulhu stuff. I like the feeling of danger everywhere. Creepy stuff...super creepy stuff. Not many jump scares .

^
I second this

[Sampyli]

I'm all for Cthulhu stuff. I like the feeling of danger everywhere. Creepy stuff...super creepy stuff. Not many jump scares .

I want to explore A LOT. That was one of the things i didn't like about AAMFP, the world is really interesting but you don't get to explore it at all. So, for SOMA i want to see a lot of diferent places and interesting puzzles. From big open hangars to dirty and dark engine rooms, i want to see weird alien machinery. Maybe a bit like System Shock 2.

I'm confident we can trust FG to deliver on these.

[Yuhaney]

I would like to see more penis'. This is a must in a Frictional Games production.

[Damascus Rose]

More penis. I second that