Our Games > Missing

Wow... (contains spoilers)

(1/1)

pogo:
Hello, Orchard

Wow... after finishing this game... I don't know what to think. I swore to myself that I would never play another horror game made by you (serious). But at the same time I can't stop thinking about how great that game was... I'm left very confused after playing this... was I supposed to enjoy it or was I supposed be horrified?

When I first saw this game on TIG source I thought "horror... bah! what's so scary about it?" So I decided to try it out. I don't know if it was a mistake or not.

I will be honest: I immensely enjoyed the game up until the point of discovering Annette's body. Her expression still haunts me :( . Just that little bit of blood on her face set the mood so well....

When I started playing the game I thought "oh man, this looks mediocre. Ooh is that a ghost coming towards me? scary", But I should have known better. You have an amazing talent when it comes to pixel art. You give every little thing so much detail that it's not even funny. And the way you had the atmosphere set was just... It's simply stunning. I would fly right over there to Indonesia right and take lessons from you. Your just amazing.

When playing the game I got very scared at certain parts (keep in mind that I'm referring up until the point that you lay eyes on Annette's body) I kept thinking that there was some "supernatural" being that was doing "something."
I guess that was all to keep the player thinking that there's more than there really was because it sure did that to me. I honestly thought that the game felt more like a "thriller" than a horror game at the time.

Of course that was until I found the dead body and laid eyes in the basement.
I struggle to understand why people use disturbing gory images when it comes to horror. I mean... was it really necessary to show all that gore? Was it really necessary to describe little David's death in such a cruel way? What was the point of it all? That's what pretty much ruined the game for me... I'm not the type of person who wants to look at dead bodies for entertainment. It just makes me think... Is the gruesome death of other humans what other people love about horror? I will admit that I love that feeling of "creepiness" it makes you feel adventurous. And that's probably why I liked the the first portion of the game rather than the last. I think it sounds cruel when people go around saying "HEY ORCHARD! THE ENDING WAS AMAZING!" They could be referring to the story but I don't know...

And speaking of story... The game is A+. The pacing was great and everything.
Except for the end. If your going to do a story that involves deaths and slaughtering (I will admit that I make a lot of stories that has to do with death minus the slaughtering) You should at least make it meaningful. I mean Nothing really happened in the end besides Melvin killing Gregory. In my opinion that makes Melvin just as evil or even more than Gregory. I mean Killing someone out of hate and revenge is what I would like to call "sinful" *cough*.
It just seemed a bit lacking... The protagonist dieing and him taking the life of someone else... It would have been a bit more shocking if Melvin actually forgave Gregory in his last breath. That's something meaningful, That would be really hard to do. And Melvin would have actually accomplished something before he died.

Regarding the ending of Missing, I would have to say it's somewhat a rip from snatcher. I mean walking into the basement to discover dead bodies and the bad guy comes in from behind you and you find out that Gloria is actually dead and that her ghost is somewhere out there just seems a bit like Snatcher. But I guess that It worked out really well in terms of story.

I don't even know what to say... How are you supposed to feel after experiencing horror? Why do we want to see on screen deaths?
But I still don't understand why I liked the game so much despite the end....

Over all,
I hope to see more "thrillerish horror" games from you in the future (if there not gory that is) But don't feel like you would have to do what I said for my sake... There are more people than me who have played the game and have loved it.

Cheers,
Pogo   

orchard-l:
Hello, sorry it takes so long, but I just noticed this message today. I don't exactly frequently, because, well... you know... it's kinda dead. First, thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed (at least enjoyed parts of the game.) And thanks for the compliments, though... I personally think you gave me too much credit for my pixel work. I relied heavily on photo references for much of the background images.

Anyhow, regarding your queries, let's go over them one by one.

"I guess that was all to keep the player thinking that there's more than there really was because it sure did that to me. I honestly thought that the game felt more like a "thriller" than a horror game at the time."
I've always thought that mystery and thriller to be part of the main ingredients of a horror piece, but yes, I suppose I can see how it's more thriller than horror. I personally don't like horror that leans too heavily towards the supernatural, because it eventually gets rather cheesy at the end.  I never really liked the concept of vanquishing a supernatural entity via prayer, holy water, holy ritual, or some form of reconciliation with the entity. There are... of course, exceptions.

"Of course that was until I found the dead body and laid eyes in the basement.
I struggle to understand why people use disturbing gory images when it comes to horror. I mean... was it really necessary to show all that gore? Was it really necessary to describe little David's death in such a cruel way? What was the point of it all? That's what pretty much ruined the game for me... I'm not the type of person who wants to look at dead bodies for entertainment. It just makes me think... Is the gruesome death of other humans what other people love about horror? I will admit that I love that feeling of "creepiness" it makes you feel adventurous. And that's probably why I liked the the first portion of the game rather than the last. I think it sounds cruel when people go around saying "HEY ORCHARD! THE ENDING WAS AMAZING!" They could be referring to the story but I don't know..."

Oh, I have no idea that the scenes are that disturbing. They seem pretty generic for the most part. Plus, I thought they looked rather silly in 320x200 resolution. It's perfectly understandable that you dislike the ending. It isn't a very cheerful one. I thought about the ending for sometime when I wrote the game, and I just didn't think a happy ending would make any sense.

"And speaking of story... The game is A+. The pacing was great and everything.
Except for the end. If your going to do a story that involves deaths and slaughtering (I will admit that I make a lot of stories that has to do with death minus the slaughtering) You should at least make it meaningful. I mean Nothing really happened in the end besides Melvin killing Gregory. In my opinion that makes Melvin just as evil or even more than Gregory. I mean Killing someone out of hate and revenge is what I would like to call "sinful" *cough*.
"It just seemed a bit lacking... The protagonist dieing and him taking the life of someone else... It would have been a bit more shocking if Melvin actually forgave Gregory in his last breath. That's something meaningful, That would be really hard to do. And Melvin would have actually accomplished something before he died."

Um, I'm not really sure how to respond to this. Sorry, but I just can't stomach of idea Melvin forgiving Gregory at all. To me, the idea seems more ridiculous than having David suddenly being miraculously revived at the end. I'll be honest with you, I'm not a very religious man (if any at all), and I certainly don't believe the idea of pacifism.

"Regarding the ending of Missing, I would have to say it's somewhat a rip from snatcher. I mean walking into the basement to discover dead bodies and the bad guy comes in from behind you and you find out that Gloria is actually dead and that her ghost is somewhere out there just seems a bit like Snatcher. But I guess that It worked out really well in terms of story."

I'm not really sure I understand this comparison. Discovering a horde of dead bodies with the villain closing in is a common fare in horror fiction. We've seen it in Halloween, we've seen it in Friday the 13th, we've seen it in the Alien franchise, and we've seen it in other horror fiction (H.P Lovecraft's 'Rats in the Walls' immideately springs to mind.). And that Gloria thing is an idea that's taken from "The Sixth Sense." I won't lie to you, I've played Snatcher countless times and I'll admit to being a rabid fanboy, but... I just can't see how the story resembles Snatcher at all.

"I hope to see more "thrillerish horror" games from you in the future (if there not gory that is) But don't feel like you would have to do what I said for my sake... There are more people than me who have played the game and have loved it."

I probably won't be able to make a game that's completely free of gore, but tell you what, let me make some recommendations. Try "Scratches" by Nucleosys, it's a great horror game that inspired me to make Missing. It's relatively low on violence (actually, I don't seem to remember any violence at all.) It is not free though. There's also "Famicom Detective Club 2" which is I found to be very engaging. It's a murder mystery with some horror thrown into the mix. You do see dead bodies, but there's nothing gory, if you know what I mean.

Cheers
Orchard,

pogo:
Oh... there's one thing I forgot to ask you. What program do you use to make the sprites? I would love to get my hands on that program. Also, did you draw all those graphics with a mouse or a tablet? I can't hardly imagine someone doing graphics like that with just a mouse.
EDIT: I don't think I've mentioned this... but after playing Missing I wanted to create a game just like it  ;D

DoubleEDIT: That "Famicom Detective Club 2" looks really interesting... I found a ROM for it so I could play it on my emulator, but it's all in Japanese... I did find a translator patch but they didn't tell me how to use it to get it to work... I'm just curious to know where you were able to play an English version and where I could get it... that is... unless you played it in Japanese. 

orchard-l:
I use a painting program called neopaint. Sometimes I use MSpaint when I'm on a different computer. The painting programs won't matter much, you just have to stick with the one you're most comfortable with. Some of the guys I know insist on using MSpaint and did wonderful works with it, others like deluxepaint 2, and some prefer Gimp. I use a mouse to draw my background images and sprites. There's nothing unusual about it, really. Most pixel artists use a mouse instead of a tablet for pixel art (as far as I know anyway.) 

And as for Famicom Tantei Club 2, here, this link'll solve your problem:

http://zerosoft.zophar.net/ipswin.php

Orchard,

Navigation

[0] Message Index