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[Jeeves]

I was thinking about this the other day. Let's talk about areas in games that we just wanted to get the hell out of as soon as humanly possible. This isn't for "bad" portions of games, but rather sections that were intentionally uncomfortable and had us on edge. It's the time of year for scary things, so let's share. I can think of a few:


Mega Man 64 (Lake Jyun Sub-Gate)
Some of you have seen for yourselves how I react to this place. There's a certain room in this dungeon that contains invisible enemies. If I remember correctly, it's the only room in the game that does this. It's joined by a hallway featuring impossibly strong enemies that will come after you if you dawdle at all getting to the other side. Also, the music is ominous in this place, and the poor N64-version draw distance doesn't make things any better. These relatively small touches have a big impact on me. When I visit this dungeon, it's a matter of getting out of there like a bat out of hell as soon as my business is done, usually while running past enemies, and…screaming a little bit.

Pikmin 2 (Submerged Castle)
This is a "hole" in Pikmin 2. Holes are are underground areas with multiple floors that are inherently tense due the the rules of exploring them. Whichever pikmin are with you when you take the plunge are the ones that you're stuck with. You can't grow pikmin underground. Also, if you want to leave without finding a geyser, you're going to have to abandon your pikmin. And the game autosaves between each floor, so resetting will do you little good if you find you've bit off more than you can chew. Now, this particular hole is inhabited by a strange and rather disturbing beast that is impervious to your attacks. On each sub-level, you have a short grace period to explore and collect treasure until the creature drops in from overhead and chases you around, steamrolling anything in its path until you delve deeper. For me this was a white-knuckle sort of experience the whole way through. But there's a payoff on the bottom floor that's made all the sweeter by the stress leading up to it.

Metroid Fusion
I think this is the first game I played where I really had to push myself through fear in order to make it to the end. The antagonistic doppelganger known as SA-X terrorizes you throughout your stay at the abandoned space station where this game takes place. I couldn't list any specific area because your encounters with this menace are sprinkled throughout the game. You might be exploring a room and SA-X will burst in, forcing you to scramble to find a hiding spot, leading to a suspenseful "you move, you die" scene as the room is inspected. Or you may be caught off-guard by a chase scene in which you'll most certainly be torn to ribbons if you make one misstep. All of this was made even scarier to me because I first played this game on an original GBA, so everything was harder to see.

Minecraft
With Peaceful mode off, this game can get pretty scary, especially when you go underground. You never know what's around the next corner or behind the next block, be it an enemy that might kill you before you know what's going on, a hole opening up into a cavern with a drop from a lethal height, or maybe even a flood of lava. Even with Peaceful mode on, sometimes I become anxious after spending a long time near the core of the Earth and I just have to find my way out as soon as possible so that I can see that digital sky again.

Jet Force Gemini (Tawfret)
What can you do to make a quasi-gory game featuring humanoid insects as enemies more uncomfortable? Make them zombified humanoid insects, of course! And that's exactly what you find on the swamp planet Tawfret. Enjoy the dense fog, murky waters and glowing eyes. Areas featured are bogs, a graveyard, catacombs and an ancient castle. Some of the enemies here will take a while to fell with standard ammunition. All of this stuff was pretty new to me when I played this game, so I had to just put on a brave face and work my way through it.

Half-Life 2 (Ravenholm)
This one affected me the most. It's such a dramatic change from the feel of the game up to this point; the horror dial gets cranked up to full blast almost out of nowhere. And the execution is entirely flawless. I spent almost the entirety of my time here in a state of panic while I whittled away my ammo on a variety of terrifying enemies (oh my god, that hunting cry that the fast ones do) and dealing with infinitely spawning numbers of them as I cravenly felt my way around, trying to solve puzzles, find resources or just figure out where I needed to go. The environment of moonlit cobblestone streets was pitch-perfect for the experience. I was so incredibly relieved to finally pull through and get out of that hell….only to find that I wasn't quite done with those enemies, and that the rest of the game and its episodes would be teeming with areas of extreme discomfort. But Ravenholm was quite an introduction to that and it made an impression that I don't think I'll ever forget, or will ever not scare me.


What a rush!

[JRRD]

I've tried so hard to think of something like this but the only one I can really think of was Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. I don't play many games that get me on edge, since I don't really play many horror games at all. But I played through this one and every time some new enemies tried to come after me it was like "Fuck fuck fuck!!!" since you don't use any weapons in this game.

[Raine]

Uh, lemme think...

- Anyplace the submarine can go in FFVII. Emerald Weapon made things kind of stressful my first time through. Also just flying through the air on the overworld map is uncomfortable after disc one.

- Flying around the Lunatic Pandora in FFVIII. That thing is creepy.

- Actually, most places in RPGs where you don't have a place to rest. Makes me just want to get it over with.

- All of Resident Evil. That game made the uneasy feeling an art. Same with the Siren games really since omg shibitos.

- By far the worst I've experienced is The Abyss in Endless Ocean. Just blackness combined with my fear of deep sea creatures and exploration. Ugh, perfect mix of scary for me in video game form. You don't have to have ay form of combat or chance of dying in a game to be freaked out if it's done right.

May have more after I remember them.