In today's spooktacular edition of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter God Hand BrynnFlynn wonders if they're alone in being so terrified by a game that they just couldn't go on.
See, here's the thing. I'm 22 years old. As a 22 year old, you're not supposed to be afraid of the dark, you're not supposed to fall for the squeaky door hinge reveal of the horrific monster—heck, if something jumps out at you you're expected to yawn and say, "Big deal, only babies are supposed to be afraid of that kind of crud," and be on your merry little way.
Unfortunately, that's not the case with me, and to be perfectly honest, it's a frustrating impediment to my ability to enjoy good games. Case in point, I bought Bioshock when it first came out for my 360. I put it in my console, got to the bathysphere, saw my first splicer, freaked out so badly I had a panic attack, and never touched the game again. I sold it, and then repurchased it for the PS3 for the new content and to try again to play a game that, according to everyone who had ever played it, was stunningly intelligent and worth the play through.
Couldn't do it. I got to the splicer, managed to get past that with a pounding heart, and then promptly turned off the console. This past week I decided to make one final attempt on the last platform available to me and purchased it on Steam. This time, I've managed to get pretty far without a heart-pounding bout of fear, but it is incredibly difficult to say the least.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wish I could get over this irrational fear. There's a whole genre of thoughtful games I would love to play, but can't because there might be someone jumping out of a closet. Am I alone in this?
About Speak Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have a forum on Kotaku called Speak Up. That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Every weekday we'll pull one of the best Speak Up posts we can find and highlight it here.