The "procedurally generated" content is actually not so random. Since prior to my gameplay I've seen two people playing the first minutes, I've noticed that our maps are actually similar. If the rooms and corridors actually change, I did not noticed it... or at least it did not leave such an impact, as everything looked and felt like the same. The only thing that seemed like it was random, were the letters - their location and content. And that's pretty much it...
Before I decided to try this game by myself, I watched 2 different LPers playing the first 20 minutes. Needless to say that it picked my interest so I got my hands on it... and now I'm severely disappointed. Honest to god that this game did not scared me ONCE. I was literally unphased by its scares and "creep factor". And the ambiance that people seem to praise... well, let's just say that you can play this game as if you were taking a stroll in the park. But then maybe I just grew a "bark-skin" from all the horror games I've played throughout my life and all the horror movies I've watched since I was kid.
The "shadows" that pursue you are the easiest thing to avoid. You can literally just stand there forever and they won't hurt, so long as you don't make eye contact with them. This is a true case where if you don't acknowledge their existence, its like they were never there. Because of this, you don't need flares, except maybe if you're trying to do a speedrun. If by some chance you take a peek at one of them and get hurt, you can just stare at a wall / roof / floor for a few seconds and wait to heal up.
Glowsticks are also rather useless if you're thorough on your search. Just spam your key in whatever looks like a usable container (has all drawers, chest-boxes with no ropes or locks, cabinets, etc) and you will eventually find everything you need. Its not hard, in fact, I don't even know why they put the glowsticks in the game other than for holding the player's hand - because we're so dumb that we don't know where to search unless its shinning like a star in the night... *sigh*
As for moving forward in the story... the more mementos you find (letters with red symbols - sometimes located in small wall-cabinets or chest-boxes), the more the threat level rises and this will affect the spawn rate of shadows - if you don't find any mementos, you can easily explore the map at your own leisure (there's noises and flashes that resemble those of Shadows but they're just "poofers"). What I did was to first and foremost, find the location of the Sigil spawner and the Sigil door, find all the mementos and then run from point A to point B. That's it. Now tell me, how is this supposed to be a decent horror game? And I didn't had to read a freaking walkthrough to find this stuff...
The story left a lot of questions asked, the cliche it used was sky-high. Who's the voice that kept accompanying Sarah throughout the game? Dr.Mercer on the phone? Her subconscious? A ghost? The first option seems unlikely as I even recall him calling the phone a "machine", as if he wasn't from this time period to know what it is... As for the rest, I honestly found that reading about the place's history and those of worked there was more interesting than piecing together Sarah's history.
The only thing I liked were the graphics and my favorite part was the mini-forest, which has sadly been done to death by the plague-fest of Slender games, and as such, lost a bit of its charm... but it was still my favorite of the whole game.
Overall: Not worth it. Even if this game was free, there are by far much better horror games out there worth of our attention.
Exactly Poison-tooth. The entire MMO market is saturated with the same old thing. It also doesn't help that MMOS aren't quite the novelty they used to be. Its not longer a nerd-only thing, nowadays its just about for anyone. Its getting a bit vulgar - With so many options at your disposal, you play one MMO, get bored, quit, find another MMO to play and repeat the same thing. The "back and forth" in it its starting to become a more common thing and people don't feel like spending money every month on a game that they know for certain that it ain't going to keep them... nor do they wish that sort of commitment.
Actually it is. Most people have to worry about their bills, rent / house mortgage, car fuel, health care and kid stuff(like school-related stuff as well as recharging their phones every month), those 15$ extra bucks a month although it might not be much for you, it is for other people. The world crisis ain't doing anyone favors and you seem to forget that certain things that are free or real cheap in your country, aren't so outside your borders... I don't know whether you're living in a pleasant financial situation or just living off your parent's money but if you're going to judge how much is what for others, at least try to consider that not everyone lives under the same conditions. While I'm not rich, I CAN afford little extras here and there. I can buy a game once in a while and even throw in some money for cash shops (like in GW2) but a monthly fee is just out of the question... not to mention that once you charge in that sub, the clock is ticking whether you play it or not. I might enjoy a game but not being able to play it that often to make it worth, at the end of the month I wasted 15$ bucks and couldn't even enjoy it in its entirety.
IvoryOwl's comments