It’s the mix of small issues that add as much as make it really feel creepy particularly. After wanting again on the Shadow Temple in Ocarina of Time, there’s a number of main parts that stick out to me that work collectively for the sense of disempowerment and worry.
Firstly is the music. It’s obtained this creepy chant happening within the background your entire time with high and low voices that sound like they’re at odds with one another. The harpsichord half makes heavy use of half-steps, which sound naturally creepy. There’s additionally a bunch of noises blended in there which don’t really feel like a part of the music. This may put the participant on edge, as a result of it may be tough to parse the distinction between noises generated by precise threats and ambient noises from the music.
Second, the gameplay itself feels unsettling as a result of an enormous share of it will depend on the usage of the Lens of Reality. The participant’s regular senses can’t be trusted – the partitions aren’t at all times partitions, the ground isn’t at all times ground, and there are invisible threats like spikes. Using the Lens of Reality additionally helps – it permits the participant to combating again in opposition to the invisible threats, nevertheless it additionally limits what the participant can see (no peripheral imaginative and prescient), which reminds them that they aren’t at full capability. Even the dungeon merchandise – the hover boots require a leap of religion as a result of Hyperlink can’t management himself as nicely whereas utilizing them (extra on this theme of Hyperlink shedding management of himself later). These gameplay parts add to the participant hesitation and that sense of feeling uncertain tickles the “creepy” sense.
Third, the artwork fashion is clearly creepy. The Shadow Temple lore says it’s the place the Sheikah tortured and put away their prisoners and dissidents. There are skulls, scythe blades, robed reapers, and different varied dying imagery in all places. There are torture gadgets, spikes, and guillotines. There are rooms the place the textures appear to be you’re standing on the identical type of mass piled skulls like out of an unlimited mass grave. There’s even a creepy boat experience clearly meant to evoke the Charon/Underworld connection to Greek mythology.
Fourth, lots of the enemies within the dungeon are disempowering – they take management away from the participant which provides to the sensation of helplessness. The Gibdos (mummies) and ReDeads (zombies) can paralyze Hyperlink in place whereas they slowly transfer nearer to harm him. The Wallmasters (grabby palms) can drop from offscreen and seize Hyperlink and put him again initially of the dungeon whereas the participant has to observe whereas all of it occurs. Lifeless Hand, the miniboss, is a robust mixture of each the creepy artwork (zombie-like look with bloodstains) and disempowering moveset (hidden by way of shadow and the bloody palms within the room will seize Hyperlink and maintain him in place). The ultimate boss, Bongo Bongo, additionally has big palms that may seize and maintain Hyperlink in place and damage him whereas the participant can solely watch, and whose important physique can also be invisible with out the Lens of Reality.
Every of those sport parts individually normally isn’t sufficient to make gamers really feel a selected means. Nonetheless, when taken in mixture all of those totally different components work collectively to kind a cohesive expertise. The death-themed structure, the creepy music, the gameplay parts that require gamers to not belief their senses and to transcend their consolation zone, and the enemies that disempower the participant and drive them to observe as Hyperlink is unable to behave all kind to make a really uneasy and creepy expertise as designed. I’m certain there are different parts I missed on this evaluation, however I’m additionally certain that any you notice may also match properly into these themes. Be at liberty so as to add any others you see within the feedback!
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