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Slightly dissapointed... (SPOILERS)
AdamD Offline
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#1
Slightly dissapointed... (SPOILERS)

So, I finished SOMA yesterday. For me, it was a great and original concept, the journey of self exploration was simply amazing, but I was still missing some kind of "climax".
-First existential doubt, what did Simon have that could make him destroy the WAU? Ross mentions some kind of "protein", but since Simon constantly changes bodies, what is this "protein"?
-The ending lacks conflict. From Fi, everything goes smooth. I missed, at least, a last monster lurking around there. But no, everything went straight forward, no interruption, no conflict, nothing. The ending was, IMO, a bit dissapointing.
-Another thing, the OST, though its tracks are great, it's a bit missing, don't you think? Amnesia TDD and AMFP were constantly delighting us with great music that contributed much to the atmosphere, but here...

So, again, I very much enjoyed the game, but I missed a peek point.
Like having a sexual intercourse, but not reaching orgasm Tongue

"Dreaming is easy. Waking up is hard..."
10-11-2015, 12:29 PM
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Striker Offline
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#2
RE: Slightly dissapointed... (SPOILERS)

In Omicron he had to put the structural glue into the diving suit before it could be activated and for him to be copied into it.

That glue was actually poisoned, I can't remember if Ross was the one that did it but someone had it setup to do that.
10-11-2015, 09:20 PM
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Damascus Rose Offline
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#3
RE: Slightly dissapointed... (SPOILERS)

Thomas grip said the music in the game is inspired by silent hill, where the ambient tracks aren't very much music as opposed to something atmospheric to immerse you in the world. I can't find the exact interview where this was mentioned but I believe it was recent.

edit:
nvm, this is the article
http://thewayfaringdreamer.com/the-wonde...d-of-soma/

"In terms of music, Grip provides a relevant anecdote: “I remember reading a review of the first Silent Hill, and the reviewer says, ‘There’s not a lot of music in Silent Hill 1, it’s mostly background noise.’ When I play the game, there’s music all of the time! The music makes the game. There’s tons of music all the time, but he didn’t perceive it that way, this reviewer. It just became part of the experience, whereas if you’re playing Mega Man, its music is obvious. There’s a track playing, it’s very easy to separate that track from the game.”

“In SOMA, the music is more to emphasize what is happening. Initially, we didn’t have a lot of music, because we thought that it would be more realistic that way. What we did, was that a certain area would have a certain ambient tune, and we just let that ambient tune be, regardless of whether or not there was an enemy encounter.”

“Jens began to question this, and as we added more music, we realized it made a world of difference. The music subliminally tells you, ‘Now is the time to be scared.’ If this is done correctly, and works, as it did in Silent Hill 1, the player will not notice on a high level. It’s not explicitly telling you, ‘All clear, no monsters near,’ or ‘Monster is coming, be afraid.’ What it does is build feeling, build tension, and keeps the flow up.”"

[Image: damascusrose2.png]
(This post was last modified: 10-11-2015, 10:25 PM by Damascus Rose.)
10-11-2015, 10:19 PM
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Froge Offline
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#4
RE: Slightly dissapointed... (SPOILERS)

(10-11-2015, 10:19 PM)Damascus Rose Wrote: Thomas grip said the music in the game is inspired by silent hill, where the ambient tracks aren't very much music as opposed to something atmospheric to immerse you in the world. I can't find the exact interview where this was mentioned but I believe it was recent.

edit:
nvm, this is the article
http://thewayfaringdreamer.com/the-wonde...d-of-soma/

"In terms of music, Grip provides a relevant anecdote: “I remember reading a review of the first Silent Hill, and the reviewer says, ‘There’s not a lot of music in Silent Hill 1, it’s mostly background noise.’ When I play the game, there’s music all of the time! The music makes the game. There’s tons of music all the time, but he didn’t perceive it that way, this reviewer. It just became part of the experience, whereas if you’re playing Mega Man, its music is obvious. There’s a track playing, it’s very easy to separate that track from the game.”

“In SOMA, the music is more to emphasize what is happening. Initially, we didn’t have a lot of music, because we thought that it would be more realistic that way. What we did, was that a certain area would have a certain ambient tune, and we just let that ambient tune be, regardless of whether or not there was an enemy encounter.”

“Jens began to question this, and as we added more music, we realized it made a world of difference. The music subliminally tells you, ‘Now is the time to be scared.’ If this is done correctly, and works, as it did in Silent Hill 1, the player will not notice on a high level. It’s not explicitly telling you, ‘All clear, no monsters near,’ or ‘Monster is coming, be afraid.’ What it does is build feeling, build tension, and keeps the flow up.”"

Nice article. It's interesting how much Grip likes Silent Hill 1, which I personally found to be a lot less scary than Silent Hill 2 or 3.

Also, I think the reason that the ending was disappointing was because we knew that Simon 3 wasn't really going to get onto the Ark (due to spatial continuity reasons - an exact clone of you standing beside you isn't actually you), and yet Simon himself doesn't seem to get that, and his reaction was honestly overblown.

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10-11-2015, 11:34 PM
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Chrysler Offline
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#5
RE: Slightly dissapointed... (SPOILERS)

(10-11-2015, 12:29 PM)AdamD Wrote: -The ending lacks conflict. From Fi, everything goes smooth. I missed, at least, a last monster lurking around there. But no, everything went straight forward, no interruption, no conflict, nothing. The ending was, IMO, a bit dissapointing.
I agree that the ending (before the credits) was a bit anti-climatic. I guess I expected a bigger twist because I had read in some reviews "one of the best endings in a video game". Although the after-credits made up for it a bit. Smile

(10-11-2015, 12:29 PM)AdamD Wrote: -Another thing, the OST, though its tracks are great, it's a bit missing, don't you think? Amnesia TDD and AMFP were constantly delighting us with great music that contributed much to the atmosphere, but here...
Had the same feeling. The overall sound design was absolutely phenomenal but I missed some of the ambient music from previous games.
10-13-2015, 12:32 AM
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Mr.Horizon Offline
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#6
RE: Slightly dissapointed... (SPOILERS)

I too was expecting something to happen. I was SO scared when I put the Ark into the bullet and then had to leave for some power output stuff, I was worried something would happen that I ran back and forth.

Big relief, it was still there. Wink
11-04-2015, 06:37 PM
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Googolplex Offline
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#7
RE: Slightly dissapointed... (SPOILERS)

I disagree with the eding. It was one of the BEST endings of video game history. I totally like the split between sad and good ending!!!

But I agree with the music. Penumbra and Amnesia will stay for ever in my mind because of their awesome soundtracks. But SOMA? I don't remember one single piece of music! Ok, the end credits music was great, but in the game was NOTHING to hear.

Where the hell is this music? I never heard that, but it's so awesome!!!


(This post was last modified: 11-04-2015, 09:14 PM by Googolplex.)
11-04-2015, 09:13 PM
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PiratesFr33k Offline
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#8
RE: Slightly dissapointed... (SPOILERS)

(10-11-2015, 12:29 PM)AdamD Wrote: -The ending lacks conflict. From Fi, everything goes smooth. I missed, at least, a last monster lurking around there. But no, everything went straight forward, no interruption, no conflict, nothing. The ending was, IMO, a bit dissapointing.

Are you kidding me?? Big Grin Seriously, there was so much conflict and tension before, that it was SOOOO welcome for me to have some moments without any annoying proxies or other creatures. As I said in the monster poll: the encounters were a bit annoying for me. I don't *need* to be chased all the time, I don't *need* to have the neccessity to hide all the time, I don't *need* to see a "Game Over" screen all the time in order to appreciate a game's atmosphere, tension or feel. For me personally, SOMA would have been just as awesome had it been a pure first-personal exploration game.

To sum up what I mean: there was more than enough conflict before, so thank God they didn't include ANOTHER one at the end.
11-05-2015, 01:46 AM
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tatterdemalion Offline
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#9
RE: Slightly dissapointed... (SPOILERS)

I was kind of hoping for a puzzle/fight with the Leviathan in that giant dome...
11-05-2015, 05:38 AM
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Chrysler Offline
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#10
RE: Slightly dissapointed... (SPOILERS)

(11-04-2015, 09:13 PM)Googolplex Wrote: Where the hell is this music? I never heard that, but it's so awesome!!!
True. Mikko makes really nice and fitting music like this piece. Too bad they decided to put less focus on it in SOMA.
11-05-2015, 04:25 PM
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