in the blood dreams of Dr Trager
Aug. 7th, 2024 12:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hexmixstarted playing Outlast on stream last week and it's been very interesting to see the influence it has had on other horror games, most especially RE7. we like to joke about Capcom stealing from things its devs like on stream but also...lmao.
[mild spoilers for both Outlast and Resident Evil 7 to follow]
even at a surface level, the similarities between Outlast and RE7 are pretty obvious: first person [survival] horror game + RE7's opening being framed the same. in 7 we hear Ethan's conversation with a man i think everyone assumes to be his coworker/friend, whereas Outlast gives us the whistleblower email.
[gotta sidenote to say that joking with chat about Ethan printing out the email he got from Mia and then like 2 weeks later starting Outlast and seeing Miles pull out a printed out email...it's incredibly funny. i genuinely think it's probably just coincidence and Capcom's just leaning into notes-as-exposition as it always does, but having an entire conversation about "why the hell did Ethan print out that email, who does that?" and then starting up Outlast and seeing Miles whip out a printed email it's just like OF COURSE that's why Capcom had him do that, it was in Outlast, put it in the game! lmao.]
real RE-heads who have also seen the concept art for 7 know that Ethan was intended to be an investigative journalist, which also isn't unique to Outlast but i NEED to list it here due to how many resemblances there actually are.
like, and i am cheating a little here by bringing in 8, but do pls consider the resemblance between Miles' outfit and Ethan's in RE8. i also think there's enough similarities between some of Ethan's one-liners (again, more heavily referencing 8 here than 7) and some of Miles' notes--the one you get after killing Trager stands out to me as a good example. that kind of character/personality also isn't unique to Outlast, but we gotta tally these things all the same.
of course, having finished the Dr Trager section last night, the thing that is on the forefront of my thoughts is: Miles' poor hands.
people have rightfully brought up Texas Chainsaw Massacre in comparison with the dinner scene in 7, but seeing the scene with Trager and Miles i also can't help but see the similarities there too, chiefly: Miles strapped to a wheelchair you have to break free of in the EXACT same way Ethan has to break free from the chair he's been tied to. and this of course following gruesome violence perpetrated against the character who is completely immobile and unable to fight back.
all the damage Ethan takes to his hands is also a well-established joke in the fandom, and the shock you feel watching what Trager does to Miles probably can't be overstated, especially if you were playing these games chronologically (unlike me). it's, like much of this, the kind of thing that can be pure coincidence, but it's also kind of an open secret that the RE devs just yoink shit they like from other media, so i also feel like nothing i'm saying here is really that far-fetched.
also, one more incredibly minor thing: compare Trager's oversized scissors/shears with Jack's frankenstein'd weapon in 7. just sayin'.
seeing as how killing Trager is as far as i've gotten in Outlast, i can't say much more, but damn am i curious to see where the game goes. and, to a lesser extent, see how much more Capcom took from it lmao.
anyway, dunking on Capcom aside, i am liking Outlast, insofar as i am capable of 'liking' horror games, which really just means i can appreciate the atmosphere and gameplay and judge the jumpscares & the way the game maintains tension, etc. i'm thinking particularly of the sequence where you're running from those two patients and having to push shelves out of/into the way. the game does such a good job of funneling you where you need to go, like as panicked as i was (as i always am in sequences like that in games) the routes i took felt "natural," insofar as enemy movements were choreographed such that you end up reacting instinctively. it just felt very well done to me.
in comparison: see the Laura fight in The Evil Within that i nearly ragequit. actually see any of the sections with Laura; i don't think anything was ever instinctively clear lmao.
we'll see if i still feel this positive about it going forward, but at the very least i know it can't be worse than Evil Within :p
[mild spoilers for both Outlast and Resident Evil 7 to follow]
even at a surface level, the similarities between Outlast and RE7 are pretty obvious: first person [survival] horror game + RE7's opening being framed the same. in 7 we hear Ethan's conversation with a man i think everyone assumes to be his coworker/friend, whereas Outlast gives us the whistleblower email.
[gotta sidenote to say that joking with chat about Ethan printing out the email he got from Mia and then like 2 weeks later starting Outlast and seeing Miles pull out a printed out email...it's incredibly funny. i genuinely think it's probably just coincidence and Capcom's just leaning into notes-as-exposition as it always does, but having an entire conversation about "why the hell did Ethan print out that email, who does that?" and then starting up Outlast and seeing Miles whip out a printed email it's just like OF COURSE that's why Capcom had him do that, it was in Outlast, put it in the game! lmao.]
real RE-heads who have also seen the concept art for 7 know that Ethan was intended to be an investigative journalist, which also isn't unique to Outlast but i NEED to list it here due to how many resemblances there actually are.
like, and i am cheating a little here by bringing in 8, but do pls consider the resemblance between Miles' outfit and Ethan's in RE8. i also think there's enough similarities between some of Ethan's one-liners (again, more heavily referencing 8 here than 7) and some of Miles' notes--the one you get after killing Trager stands out to me as a good example. that kind of character/personality also isn't unique to Outlast, but we gotta tally these things all the same.
of course, having finished the Dr Trager section last night, the thing that is on the forefront of my thoughts is: Miles' poor hands.
people have rightfully brought up Texas Chainsaw Massacre in comparison with the dinner scene in 7, but seeing the scene with Trager and Miles i also can't help but see the similarities there too, chiefly: Miles strapped to a wheelchair you have to break free of in the EXACT same way Ethan has to break free from the chair he's been tied to. and this of course following gruesome violence perpetrated against the character who is completely immobile and unable to fight back.
all the damage Ethan takes to his hands is also a well-established joke in the fandom, and the shock you feel watching what Trager does to Miles probably can't be overstated, especially if you were playing these games chronologically (unlike me). it's, like much of this, the kind of thing that can be pure coincidence, but it's also kind of an open secret that the RE devs just yoink shit they like from other media, so i also feel like nothing i'm saying here is really that far-fetched.
also, one more incredibly minor thing: compare Trager's oversized scissors/shears with Jack's frankenstein'd weapon in 7. just sayin'.
seeing as how killing Trager is as far as i've gotten in Outlast, i can't say much more, but damn am i curious to see where the game goes. and, to a lesser extent, see how much more Capcom took from it lmao.
anyway, dunking on Capcom aside, i am liking Outlast, insofar as i am capable of 'liking' horror games, which really just means i can appreciate the atmosphere and gameplay and judge the jumpscares & the way the game maintains tension, etc. i'm thinking particularly of the sequence where you're running from those two patients and having to push shelves out of/into the way. the game does such a good job of funneling you where you need to go, like as panicked as i was (as i always am in sequences like that in games) the routes i took felt "natural," insofar as enemy movements were choreographed such that you end up reacting instinctively. it just felt very well done to me.
in comparison: see the Laura fight in The Evil Within that i nearly ragequit. actually see any of the sections with Laura; i don't think anything was ever instinctively clear lmao.
we'll see if i still feel this positive about it going forward, but at the very least i know it can't be worse than Evil Within :p
