well, on the topic of horror games and the "stupid ass ghost / can't defend myself monster" trope, I don't like them because they're no different from knee-high walls being used to impede progress. The rules for them are arbitrary, their actual threat mostly just being a movable wall (with unclear trigger rules), and there is no particular joy involved in avoiding them. You never get to feel clever for having solved a problem, which is kind of what you want games to do, in my opinion.
Give me something physical that I can actively stun, hurt, or even kill, and let the management of that and potential moral fallout be mine to bear. But don't give me a ghost. I ain't afraid of no ghost, I'm just really annoyed by them.
I mean, the reason you can find a Resident Evil scary isn't because you're powerless (which leads to apathy, as described above), it's the uncertainty of limited resources to defend yourself (which leads to fear). Or perhaps I interpret stress as fear, if you want to say I'm wrong on that.
