Today's definition of Survival Horror- a subjective thing?

[Jdevil3]

I got my PS1 around 2002 or 2003 when I was 12 or 13 years old.
My parents bought it used with some games, it had Gran Turismo 2 (I think... it had many discs) and Resident Evil 2, among others (I don't really remember all the games it came with).
The main reason why I wanted it was because of Megaman X5, lol.... but it didn't come with it....

I played all the games it had but the one I liked the most was Resident Evil 2, the game was in english and my english sucked at the time (I've learnt most of my english playing Final Fantasy games on PS1, lol) so I got stuck many times because I didn't know what to do or what the files I was reading were saying... or what the stuff I was checking said.

I was never scared while playing it, I asked my parents to buy Resident Evil 3 for me later (even though I hadn't finished RE2) and it was the first RE I managed to clear... I ended up clearing it in all modes, unlocking everything, getting the best ranks and stuff.

Then I went back to RE2, found out what I had to do and actually managed to finish it, unlocked infinite rocket launcher, costumes, etc.

One day I saw RE1 in a store and asked my parents to buy it, I got stuck in that one a few times but I managed to finish it like the rest.

Also got RE Survivor, unlocked everything, wasn't hard to clear at all, lol. I remember I thought the graphics sucked... I was a graphics whore I guess xD. I loved fighting the final boss using the pistol... ended up knowing every attack so I could always evade him :P

One day, I saw Silent Hill in a store. The box art really attracted me (I decided most of my purchases by looking at boxarts or looking who made the game (Capcom, Konami, Squaresoft)).

I decided to ask my parents to buy it. When I played it I was like "why does it look so bad?" (anything that didn't have a static cammera like RE, FF or Parasite Eve looked like crap to me) but I played it anyways. Got stuck in a few puzzles like the piano one or the one near the end where Lisa starts bleeding but ended up finishing it in all modes, unlocking all weapons and all endings and stuff.

Also got Alone in The Dark, I didn't like this one very much... only finished it with the dude, got stuck with the girl in the second disc (I don't even remember their names, lol).

Also played Dino Crisis 1 and 2... but I don't think these are survival horror?... well... maybe Dino Crisis 1 is.


To be honest, even when I was that young and was playing my first horror games, I was never afraid of any of them. I would get scared with horror movies back then, but not videogames :S

Why did I tell you all this?



Oh, yeah... even though there never was a definition of what horror games should be like, and even though I never found any videogame to be scary, I think it is true that they have changed a lot from what they used to be like... Look at RE1, 2, 3, Dino Crisis 1, Silent Hill 1, Alone in The Dark, etc (If we only talk about PS1 games) and then look at RE5, Dead Space 1, 2... the PS1 ones focused a lot more on Saving your bullets, saving your health items, looking for items that are probably veeery far away from where you need to use them and maybe even look for many items scattered in places that are far away to combine them and use them later, evading fights as much as you can, solving puzzles, etc.... while the newer ones have the items you need in the same room or the next door, the puzzles are dumber/easier than they used to be and most of the times involve just pressing a button or turning a switch, and you also fight everything you encounter, have a lot of weapons and bullets and kill everything that stands in your way... they focus too much on action and fighting now.

So... yeah, they're different now. I personally prefer the older ones.