There's so many points you dive in to here to explore further but then I'd end up doing an analysis of an analysis and I'd end up going around in circles. I love the appreciation you have for horror, particularly in detailing the stages and buildup of effective terror and dread. If you're going to talk about Alien and The Thing I'm probably going to hang off your every word!
There's one thing that struck me, after Alex's, ah..... hyper-violent oopsy-daisy in the latest chapter, that just came to mind; I picked up Akira in UHD recently, a format I've really wanted experience it in for a minute. That whole sequence has a pretty ghoulish parallel to when Tetsuo breaks out of his hospital room for the second time, when the doctor and guards try to help him, only to become what I can politely describe as human cranberry sauce. You see it happen but it's shrouded in darkness, and you only really see the viscera in the blinking of the hallway lights. Alex having a power that can essentially turn people in to just mush is horrifying, and it was at that similar moment in Akira when the nightmare truly began. Just an interesting similarity that I 'enjoyed' (for want of a better way of putting it!). Please keep up the great work!
I loved reading this, I hadn't had the time to leave a comment previously but I'd certainly like to leave a couple of thoughts!
The fear of the ocean depths, of what could be lurking down there, or how many wrecks dust the seabed where human eyes will never see again, it was these thoughts that, weirdly enough, inspired me to get in to SCUBA diving! I always wanted to be a wreck diver and, on a couple of occasions going to down to one, seeing the shape slowly come out of the gloom by flashlight is absolutely thrilling. I don't have the same fears as yourself but I feel we have similar levels of fascination with this vast, dark, alien world.
Also wanted to quickly mention the sound design. I'm fortunate enough to have a surround sound subwoofer aided system set up in a relatively small space. Stepping in to the deadzones and hearing the bumps and the low background noise, was really quite a thrill aha. Just one of those things that you can appreciate with good sound design as I started feeling more and more spooked (playing in pitch black also helps a lot!).
(Literal) torture but worth that payoff at the end! Kudos especially to that final musical composition, proper got me saying "hell yeah, beat feet my dude!". My one qualm, knowing absolutely when it faded to black, saying "don't you do it, don't you da- *to be continued* DAMMIT". I'll be back for more!
Wow. Normally I wait a couple of days after experiencing either a movie or a game so as I can gather my thoughts and collate all the positives and negatives but, in this case, I don't really want to wait. I'll leave it to better writers to sum up this game because I don't think I could do it justice. Just want to say thank you to all who worked on this. I'm in fricking bits and I've only completed one storyline so far aha. I was not expecting to be put on the kind of fairground ride Echo let me enjoy/ endure. Even just hearing the opening notes on the main menu hits like a train.
Edit: Immediately after posting, I realize the only other game that did me like this was Life is Strange. Whenever one of *those* decisions came up, I would just slide the keyboard away and stare at the screen for five agonizing minutes lol.
Last Edit: I finished playing through all the characters. Even though my heart weighed heavy every time I started the game up and heard those opening musical notes, I came back every evening. Again I’ll say, thank you to the developers and the writers of this game. I’ve not felt an emotional connection with a game like this since,… I don’t even know. I wanted all of these broken, brilliant people to live and live their best lives. Thank you thank you thank you.
