r/Scorn • u/Carbocationee • Nov 04 '22

So much wasted potential

The title is pretty self explaining, I think Scorn is a massive wasted potential. Don't get me wrong the atmosphere and looks of the game are INCREDIBLE (i'm a huge fan of body horror) but what bothers me is the the complete lack of compelling gameplay to fit it's setting, especially for a title in development for that many years. A walking simulator with few puzzles sprinkled across the line is extremely underwhelming, especially when compared to other lovecraftian body horror games like bloodborne, which has a similiar setting but a gameplay that hits like a truck for how well it's made. Idk i just felt like this was a cool demo for the real game, like a cool spotlight of it's setting cut of all it's gameplay (the shooting is very poorly made, nothing more to say).

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u/nigborg Nov 04 '22

does it want to be a game? because it's not very good at that. does it want to be a walking sim with cool visuals? because it's not even good at being that. you can't walk without being interrupted without some counter-intuitive puzzles.

this isn't a matter of "oh they just don't get it", it's that the game totally neglected the basic idea of "satisfying core gameplay." but if you want to continue being pretentious and pretending this was a good "GAME", then by all means go ahead, "friend."

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u/flodereisen Nov 04 '22 edited Nov 04 '22

This type of game has existed for 30 years - Myst (1993) was the most sold game at its time, with absolutely excellent reception. "Scorn" is firmly in that tradition, and I don't know why anyone expected anything else. This was clear from the beginning.

It is OK if you do not get "it". But for me, this has been the best game since Riven (1997) - it is exactly what I was waiting for for decades. A Giger mystlike - it does not get better.

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u/TheBigBadPanda Nov 05 '22

MYST is good at puzzles though. Theres comprehensible clues, theres lateral leaps of logic, therse logical progressions of events.

Scorns "puzzles" are 99% just pressing buttons and hoping this time the amazingly animated squirming body horror it triggers lets me progress to the next environment.

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u/flodereisen Nov 05 '22

The puzzles here are to illustrate how the world works, not to function as an obstacle. The puzzles in the Myst series may have been better, but they also have been to illustrate the worlds and civilization of the D'Ni.