Narcosis

This is a great game with some peak atmosphere at times. I really like it but as the game went on, I sort of felt that missions got more and more confusing with puzzles that seemed sort of out of place when looking at the previous levels of the game. I really like it but that is my one negative I guess.

Ich hätte nicht gedacht, mich als Erwachsener noch einmal zu fürchten. Immerhin hat man schon so viele Horrorfilme gesehen und Horrorspiele gespielt. Aber dieses Spiel hat es dank seines Unterwasser Settings und VR tatsächlich geschafft. Wichtig: Disconnectet die VR Controller und nutzt ein Gamepad. Solange meine PSVR2 Controller verbunden waren habe ich mich endlos im Kreis gedreht. Ich wollte schon aufgeben und das Spiel deinstallieren, aber mit Gamepad hat es einwand frei funktioniert und es war den Aufwand wert. Das Spiel ist ein absoluter Traum für OLED-Displays (in meinem Fall die PSVR2). Es ist durchgehend dunkel. Man hat einen kurzen Scheinwerfer und Flares. Der Taucherhelm lässt einen vergessen, das man eigentlich ein VR-Headset auf hat. Das steigert die Immersion ungemein. Zudem ist es toll, die Sauerstoffanzeigen links und rechts vor der Nase zu haben während man in die Ferne schaut. Das Glas des Taucherhelms beschlägt zudem bei erhöhtem Sauerstoffverbrauch. Ich hab mich teilweise dabei ertappt, wie ich im Rhythmus des beschlagenden Helms geatmet habe. Da man im wirklichen Leben selten Fische und Krabben beobachtet, wirken die Unterwasser-Lebewesen trotz "schwacher" Grafik erstaunlich echt und eklig. Überall steigen Blasen auf, es gibt nichts besseres als Partikeleffekte in VR. Kurzfassung: Das gesamte Setting ist absolut perfekt für VR. Nach diesem Spiel wünsche ich mehr Unterwasser-Spiele mit Taucherhelmen.

Very good mix of walking, horror, and dread. Love the mechanics and the story. This game is an experience I recommand, with a great sound design as you slowly explore the deep in search of your only escape, in that walking coffin or yours.

2/10 - I never get motion sickness in VR. I have had solid VR legs for 5 years without a single issue, but Narcosis got me. I tried to play it three separate times, but the forced head-bobbing, input delay, and heavy suit momentum make it physically unbearable. I originally picked this up because it was recommended as a game to play after SOMA. Let me be very clear: this is nowhere near the level of SOMA. Even if you can stomach the terrible VR movement, the gameplay becomes incredibly boring after an hour. It is just a painfully slow walking simulator. To make matters worse, the narrator's voice acting is not good at all, which really drags down whatever atmosphere the game is trying to build. I will not be finishing it. If you want a great deep-sea psychological thriller, keep looking, because this isn't it.

Overall I thought this was a good game, it was a bit janky and the controls were a little rough but I kinda felt like that added to the feeling of being in a heavy diving suit (however the parkour/running sequences were not super great with the camera/controls). There were some super cool moments that made me want to keep playing, but the middle section of the game (specifically around and including the [spoiler]lava zone[/spoiler] was pretty meh. While I did like the limited camera, it was sometimes annoying. Overall I think the devs kinda cooked with this, a few of the intended jumpscare/spooky moments were really well done, but for the LOVE OF GOD improve the save system, it cant be that hard. The only saves are when you get to a new "chapter", so if you have to leave before reaching one you go all the way back. Honestly a remake of this game with everything being more polished would go so hard, also the ending was very good. Overall, give it a go its short, cheap on sale, and has enough good parts to be worth it.

Indie games are my favourite way to spend my time with video games. Both researching and playing them. I hate giving negative reviews to indie games. But, in my mind, Narcosis just can't be recommended to anyone. It is an atmospheric walking simulator, which I generally enjoy if the atmosphere and story are engaging. Narcosis failed on atmosphere with cumbersome movement and very mechanical "jumpscares", while also failed to grab with with its story. After about 40 minutes of gameplay, I just wished it would be over. Narcosis follows a pretty cool underwater exploration theme, with pretty good graphics and audio design. Unfortunately, bad design decisions and very mechanical (and unnecessary) fights make it feel very unnatural. It is clear that the developers gave it all to create something they enjoyed and loved. This definitely not a cash grab or an asset flip, but still passion, apparently is not enough to create something enjoyable. It goes on deep discount pretty frequently, and since I had it on my wishlist for years I decided to give it a go. I regretted it and wish I had spent my time on a different game. There are too many awesome walking sims out there. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend it to anyone. 4/10