SOMA |OT| I Have No Mouth but I Will Scream, on The Dark Descent into A Machine

I just played through this game last week for the first time. I really liked it. As I am a sucker for stealth games, I ended up messing with the enemy AI to see how each one worked. It was incredibly interesting seeing how each monster had their own unique mechanics. It was weirdly refreshing in it's own way.

After finishing SOMA, I went back and played AmnesiaDD for the first time as well. A bit disappointing gameplay wise but the story and setting made up for it.

These people at Friction are pretty good I daresay.
 
Part 3a is up.

Had a bit longer to play at the weekend, so the second half will be up shortly.
Really enjoying SOMA. I never really play (first person) horror games, so this is an interesting change of pace.

Edit:
Part 3b

Starting to get the bigger picture now... Pretty harrowing stuff.
 
I made it up to the
ocean floor
yesterday. Fuck me, I've never been as terrified of anything in my life. Didn't help that I had headphones on.

I'm absolutely enthralled by the setting and the game so far, one of the best horror games in a long time for me and one that asks some hard questions and makes you think like any good sci-fi.
 
Part 4a
Part 4b

Really liking the drip-feed of knowledge as you progress. Slowly getting answers and realising the meaning behind everything.

Those "monsters" though... I can't handle sudden flashes of things, or the idea that something could appear at any time. I know the appearances have been scripted so far, but the scare factor (not to mention the game as a whole) feels like it's warming up to something bigger.
 
Well I'm throwing in the towel on this. I want to like it and really thought I would based on the trailers but it's just too much of a hot mess to keep playing.

I'm at
Curie, the sunken ship and it's not enjoyable in the slightest. The monster doesn't follow any sort of pattern, I can't distract it in any way, there are no places to hide from it and sticking in one spot for more than 15 seconds pretty much guarantees it will find you, the screen is glitching out even when it's on the other side of walls which makes me feel sick and makes it impossible to focus on what's happening.

I had this same problem with Outlast, where stealth is the preferred method of play but the mechanics simply don't support it. You can't know when it's safe to move unless you know where the enemy is, which you can't do without looking at it because the sound design doesn't make it clear enough (and it's worse underwater) but you can't do that without the screen become obscured AND drawing the attention of the monster.

I'd held off playing SOMA knowing that when I was ready to play it I'd enjoy it because it's the sort of game I like, and I'd ignored a lot of the criticisms I'd seen floating around as coming from people who don't like this sort of game. I remember getting pissed off around launch when I saw people say there should have been a "no monsters" mode (bcuz git gud casuals) but they're completely right.

Totally bummed out, at least Outlast II isn't far away (right, Fall '16 release?)
 
^^^
That particular section, I found the better option was just to run. And after
you reach the sub(I think?) and need to go reset the power, the lights on the floor guide you back, so just run like hell and follow the lights
 
I'd just beaten the game myself, that part was annoying but like the person above me said the key is to just run away.

However I do agree the sound design is kind of suspect. There's a section later in the game just before the ending where you have to open really loud doors that attract a monster and I was hiding behind a desk trying to locate where he was using sound (so I could escape while he was further away) and it was impossible. I was wearing headphones and no matter where he actually was, it sounded like he was practically in the room with me--I would keep looking behind me because it sounded like he was behind me, or next to me but he couldn't have been because the room only had 1 exit so I was like "this is some bullshit" . It was frustrating realizing I couldn't use sound to help me out.
 
Guess I'll give it another shot and hope for the best.

Creamium said:
Are you playing on pc? If so, install this. Also works if you already have an active save, just follow the steps on the page.
Click to expand...

PS4 unfortunately. The poor performance probably didn't help with my overall impression but it was on sale for £4 on PSN so I figured it was worth it.
 
Part 05 is up.

Really interesting how the plot is taking shape.
Seems like people are put off by the monster sections, but I'm enjoying the change of pace they offer. Maybe I'm more lenient, as SOMA is the first game I've played of this type.

Anyway, can't wait to keep going. Doing an LP of this is fun, as it helps me to stay observant and keep thinking about what's going on. So glad I picked this up!
 
Just finished the game moments ago. AMAZING ending, one of my favorite. Perfectly encapsulates the themes of the game while still offering lots of food for thought. Are there any good story analysis threads out there? Would love to poke around and see what people thought.
 
cabelhigh said:
Just finished the game moments ago. AMAZING ending, one of my favorite. Perfectly encapsulates the themes of the game while still offering lots of food for thought. Are there any good story analysis threads out there? Would love to poke around and see what people thought.
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Check out the spoiler thread. A lot of discussion there, links in the OT
 
Ep 06 is up (split into 2 shorter parts as per advice I've received)

Just reached Theta. Getting some strange feels from this game... It's doing a good job of making me sympathetic towards some of these "characters".
 
More_Badass said:
People here might be interested

GDC talk, SOMA: Creating Existential Dread
Click to expand...

Oh WOW! Would it be wise to finish the game before watching this? Very interested but wary of spoilers.

Part 07 of my playthrough was a doozy. I ended up playing for 2 hours straight and am now trimming down and editing into more stomachable chunks.

The first 4 chunks are up.

Edit:
All parts 07a-f are up. If you want to see someone else suffer the stress of the monster parts then look no further...

Think I'll save that talk for after, just to be safe. Thanks!
 
B-Genius said:
Oh WOW! Would it be wise to finish the game before watching this? Very interested but wary of spoilers.

Part 07 of my playthrough was a doozy. I ended up playing for 2 hours straight and am now trimming down and editing into more stomachable chunks.

The first 4 chunks are up.
Click to expand...
It's a talk with a slideshow rather than showing specific segments from the game, so you should be okay
 
Game has been decent until I go underwater for the first time and look for this phantom fucking Lambda shuttle station THAT DOESNT FUCKING EXIST.

Been walking around, slow as fuck, for an hour and half making exactly 0 fucking progress.

There's exactly 1 shuttle station under this damn ocean and it's called Upsilon station and has a button that doesn't DO SHIT.

If there's a building under here called Lambda shuttle station, it's under a cloaking field that not even picard himself could penetrate.

Edit: Well, that wasn't self explanatory. Finally found a robot who cut the door open to a station not labeled Lambda which seems to be the way to go.
 
Zeouterlimits said:
I'd argue there are lots of spoilers, avoid if you can until after.
Click to expand...

Will do.

Part 08 of my playthrough is up. Been getting into better editing habits, so even though this isn't the most exciting game to watch, there should always be something going on - NPC dialogue, me talking over puzzles, or freaking out during an evasion sequence...

If you're still playing through then be wary of spoilers, but if you've already finished the game then I'd appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism.
 
B-Genius said:
Part 08 of my playthrough is up..
Click to expand...
You're a pretty good player to watch, as someone who doesn't really watch many.
Entertaining, sensible and honest reactions, similar to my own during those moments.

I loved how you
screwed up at the end, allowing Akers to catch you at the very last possible moment, clearly unintentionally.

Went back to an earlier episode - https://youtu.be/vi9ZUdiPay4?list=PLMKCNW5LP94eeMXiPnc4A-iUzZurTe-oM,
did you realise you can pull one and then go, you don't need to pull both? Do you think you would have still pulled both had you?
 
Zeouterlimits said:
You're a pretty good player to watch, as someone who doesn't really watch many.
Entertaining, sensible and honest reactions, similar to my own during those moments.

I loved how you
screwed up at the end, allowing Akers to catch you at the very last possible moment, clearly unintentionally.

Went back to an earlier episode - https://youtu.be/vi9ZUdiPay4?list=PLMKCNW5LP94eeMXiPnc4A-iUzZurTe-oM,
did you realise you can pull one and then go, you don't need to pull both? Do you think you would have still pulled both had you?
Click to expand...

Thanks for your comments :)

Re: Akers:
Watching it again, you get a tiny glimpse of him running as I cross to the other side of the lift, which I didn't notice while playing. I had no idea he was actually chasing me, so it made that moment all the more frightening! The timing of it made me think it was scripted...such a massive shock xD

Re: earlier episode:
Are you talking about the plugs hooking Amy up? I...did not realise that. Oh dear. Haha! It's weird, I think I lose some awareness while trying to commentate. I probably would have noticed you don't need to pull both, and I definitely wouldn't have done so had I realised.
That's the sort of thing that gets me curious about subsequent playthroughs.
 
So, I just got this in the Humble bundle. I am having a problem when trying to DSR.

If I change the resolution to anything higher than native the screen just gets bigger instead of resizing to fit the monitor like it normally does when I DSR every other game. Am I missing something here?
 
I would pay many moneys for the developers to add the pussy mod to the PS4 edition. I can't stand the monster encounters.

I'm really curious about the story, so I guess I'll just watch a let's play...? :(
 
GinoFelino said:
I would pay many moneys for the developers to add the pussy mod to the PS4 edition. I can't stand the monster encounters.

I'm really curious about the story, so I guess I'll just watch a let's play...? :(
Click to expand...

Same here. I've still yet to finish the game, as I found some of the encounters annoying due to the repetition that followed failure, and as a result stripped away the atmosphere.
 
Melchiah said:
Same here. I've still yet to finish the game, as I found some of the encounters annoying due to the repetition that followed failure, and as a result stripped away the atmosphere.
Click to expand...
I'm actually way at the beginning, and I love the exploration but hate the encounters.

Sometimes you have to figure out shit with the monster present and it's infuriating instead of being challenging. It's not like you can engage with the monster AI in a meaningful way, so you're just cheesing your way through the level trying to figure out what to do.
 
GinoFelino said:
I'm actually way at the beginning, and I love the exploration but hate the encounters.

Sometimes you have to figure out shit with the monster present and it's infuriating instead of being challenging. It's not like you can engage with the monster AI in a meaningful way, so you're just cheesing your way through the level trying to figure out what to do.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I loved the exploration as well, and hated how the encounters stood in its way. I actually watched a playthrough guide of one of them, after I got fed up with repeating it, so I could just ran through it. All of them aren't that bad, but it's a pity I haven't been able to experience the game through because of them. Due to the mod this is the kind of game, that would have been better on PC for me.
 
I feel weird still being someone who actually really liked the monster encounters.

But I played SOMA literally after a week of playing all the Penumbra and Amnesia games blindly for the first time, and I played all of those are hard difficulty. SOMA itself doesn't have difficulty settings, and how it works often is you can get caught once but often the second time will send you to the last checkpoint. However, I think I only got caught a second time once my whole entire blind run of SOMA. I managed to go through the game and react on instinct to never really get caught in any of the encounters. They're infrequent outside of one segment of the game, and I found them a joy due to the different so of arenas and small twists each monster brings.

THE THING IS... I didn't play SOMA like a hide'n'seek horror game most of the time. I always see everyone say, "Oh yeah, the encounters are bad, I hid in a corner..." And I think that's where the dissonance I have with others is. Surprisingly enough, I don't think SOMA is as much of a hide'n'seek horror game as many think it is. I went through must of the game sprinting and throwing things in my way and surviving rather than hiding, and it proved highly successful. All the monsters had a quirk that made it obvious if they were worth hiding from or not.

The blind enemies, for example, were easy to make a lot of noise in an area, then creep your way to where you want to go and avoid them, and since they're slow you can make a mad dash. The enemy with the light head got super pissed off when you looked at it, so the goal was to simply not look at it but move so it didn't catch you as it slowly approached. The crying girls who get pissed are like alarms, just don't trip too many things near them. The enemy at the end who kind of fast-forward and slows-down movement I just ran from and made loops in the level as I unlocked doors.

I just think too many people tried to play this too meticulously and weren't experimental enough, trying to use the same approach for every monster.
 
I just finished it, holy fuck that was intense, the game makes you think about so many questions.

I tried both endings, killing the WAU and sparing it but noticed no difference. Do your choices throughout the game make any difference in the story? Or are they just there to make you think about the implications?
 
Tried playing with the lady and kept getting confused in the first few hours with where to go or what I was supposed to be doing. We haven't gone back to it sense but we both really want to play it. We thought about using a walkthrough to help guide us but do t know if that's a good idea. Should I go that route or just start over and try it out again.
 
Please watch the ending/encounter spoilers, y'all! Having to avert my eyes from some of these posts!

GinoFelino said:
I would pay many moneys for the developers to add the pussy mod to the PS4 edition. I can't stand the monster encounters.

I'm really curious about the story, so I guess I'll just watch a let's play...? :(
Click to expand...

Melchiah said:
Same here. I've still yet to finish the game, as I found some of the encounters annoying due to the repetition that followed failure, and as a result stripped away the atmosphere.
Click to expand...

Hey chaps, if you're in the market for a LP I'd be grateful if you checked out mine.
Progress wise, I'm currently trying to get to Omnicron. Episode 09 should be going up later today.

Anustart said:
Just beat it. Great experience. Would love a SOMA VR version.
Click to expand...

Grief, I would die in a puddle of my own excrement.
 
Pray For Death said:
I just finished it, holy fuck that was intense, the game makes you think about so many questions.

I tried both endings, killing the WAU and sparing it but noticed no difference. Do your choices throughout the game make any difference in the story? Or are they just there to make you think about the implications?
Click to expand...
The latter.

And yes the ending was masterful. Perhaps the best use IMO of a developer conditioning you and building expectations then subverting them, to haunting effect
 
this game runs like shit on my computer (i5 2500k 3.3 ghz, 20 gb ram, r9 390x), often dropping fps to 30 or below. sometimes it runs at 60. if i turn vsync off i'll get a smooth 60 always, but the tear is so bad that it isn't feasibly playable. what the hell? the graphics aren't even that good to cause these issues!
 
B-Genius said:
Please watch the ending/encounter spoilers, y'all! Having to avert my eyes from some of these posts!





Hey chaps, if you're in the market for a LP I'd be grateful if you checked out mine.
Progress wise, I'm currently trying to get to Omnicron. Episode 09 should be going up later today.



Grief, I would die in a puddle of my own excrement.
Click to expand...
I'll check it out, cheers/you're welcome :)
 
The last monster
you have to actually look at it to make it stop. If you try to run, avoid contact, etc, he will get you. The trick is looking at him as you move so he stays in place.
It is actually a really clever idea from the devs. During the whole game you learn to avoid the monsters, etc. But this one requires you to do the exact opposite of what you've been doing since the beggining.
 
I started SOMA recently and I'm already a bit unnerved though nothing scary has happened. How many jump scares are in this game? I'm definitely not a horror game aficionado so this is kind of new territory for me. I prefer psychological horror and I really don't like jump scares.
 
Saraluna said:
I started SOMA recently and I'm already a bit unnerved though nothing scary has happened. How many jump scares are in this game? I'm definitely not a horror game aficionado so this is kind of new territory for me. I prefer psychological horror and I really don't like jump scares.
Click to expand...

You're good - definitely not a jump scare game, but there are parts that are definitely pretty scary. But yeah the whole experiece is designed to be more of an atmospheric horror experience rather than sort of by the moment thrills.
 
Saraluna said:
I started SOMA recently and I'm already a bit unnerved though nothing scary has happened. How many jump scares are in this game? I'm definitely not a horror game aficionado so this is kind of new territory for me. I prefer psychological horror and I really don't like jump scares.
Click to expand...
Not many. The horror comes more from the story and the implications of the game's themes and scenarios. It was the only horror game I've ever been able to finish besides Dead Space, and I hate jump scares so that should give you a good barometer. And yes the setting is very unnerving and tense
 
Saraluna said:
I prefer psychological horror and I really don't like jump scares.
Click to expand...

You're in the right place, certainly. I can only think of a couple of jump scares - though with the random way the enemies roam around, that could manifest some jump scares through the emergent gameplay if they manage to sneak up on you. Most are pretty obvious if they're nearby, though, due to the screen distortion effects.
 
Saraluna said:
I started SOMA recently and I'm already a bit unnerved though nothing scary has happened. How many jump scares are in this game? I'm definitely not a horror game aficionado so this is kind of new territory for me. I prefer psychological horror and I really don't like jump scares.
Click to expand...

I've been playing through it (slowly) recently and there haven't been that many. I haven't finished it yet but so far it's atmospheric more than anything. I find that the game is actually scarier when the monsters aren't around. And if you're a fan of psychological horror then the story will definitely be right up your alley.
 
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