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Scorn - Reviews Thread

jaysius

Banned
I'm legit surprised Digital Foundry haven't looked at the game yet. This should definitely get mentions in art/graphics categories in the end-of-year awards.
It’s one of the most atmospheric games I’ve played all year, maybe in a few years. Gameplay is meh but the environments are amazing.

lisa simpson episode 23 GIF

I truly felt bad making the first fetus into a flurry, and no game has that effect on me.
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
I was just looking at the reviews (I always do after I played something which caught my interest) and I would really want to know how you ended up at 2/10. Makes no sense to me.
 

Denton

Member
I played it for about 20 minutes and it put me to sleep. I think it might not be for me. That said, environment looks creative.
 

deriks

4-Time GIF/Meme God
Played for like an hour or so aaaaaaaaannnnnnnd
chernobyl-not-great.gif


Some people said that the puzzles are kinda hard, and it's really not. I saw some guy saying that he made half an hour on the first big puzzle (the egg thing), and I'm judging his videogame skills with this.

Anyway, the art, landscape and the graphics overall are gorgeous. Ambient sound also is pretty nice... I was on the edge of the seat and my phone ring, so I was kinda spooked out. The problem starts with basically everything else. Level design is too much the same, so you get lost very easily - and I do not accept this as "part of the puzzle" thing. Also, too much of empty spaces for no reason. You don't get reward for exploring, so why having this? And while some puzzles are very smart, some are just a waste of time - pressing A at the right time is not a good puzzle, and having a lot of times is just lazy.

Not sure if I will play until the end. I can see this as an adventure game, not an fps. Dark Seed made first and made it good thou.
 

01011001

Banned
Some people said that the puzzles are kinda hard, and it's really not. I saw some guy saying that he made half an hour on the first big puzzle (the egg thing), and I'm judging his videogame skills with this.

there is a reason why mainstream games these days like Uncharted or Horizon basically only implement fake puzzles that solve themselves either by being not even real puzzles or by the main character or a support character telling you exactly what to do

Rise of the Tomb Raider even went so far as to almost completely remove puzzles from the main "quest line" and making them all optional side stuff in order to not get into a situation where people might get stuck lol, someone getting stuck is the nightmare of modern AAA devs
 
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nkarafo

Member
I liked the puzzles. Even though it took me a while to figure out the first few ones. Much more satisfying when you do them this way. Also, looking around trying to figure out what you need to do is part of the experience for me and in a game like Scorn, where you are completely alone in a terrifying setting, it's essential even.
 
I've given it about an hour and really want to like it. It isn't doing it for me. I don't really understand the hype on the environment. Sure, the art style is pretty cool but everything is so static it's...meh
 

ZehDon

Member
Played for about an hour last night. I'm enjoying it so far, but I can tell it's not the kind of game I can do in long sessions.

The atmosphere is really special, and the glue that holds it all together. Some games want to have a mature theme and presentation, which usually boils down to violence and profanity. Here, the mature theme and presentation is expressed with the environmental design in a way I haven't really experienced before. It's unique enough that I'll likely see it through to the end.
 
Why would they all collectively forget. It looks like one of the most visually striking games i've seen in years
Because it's forgettable. The environments look great, but the game is a bore. There also isn't really much variety in the environments either, so once the initial wow factor subsides, you are left with a pretty boring game
 
there is a reason why mainstream games these days like Uncharted or Horizon basically only implement fake puzzles that solve themselves either by being not even real puzzles or by the main character or a support character telling you exactly what to do

Rise of the Tomb Raider even went so far as to almost completely remove puzzles from the main "quest line" and making them all optional side stuff in order to not get into a situation where people might get stuck lol, someone getting stuck is the nightmare of modern AAA devs
Naughty Dog games are super annoying with "Hint? Hint? You want a fucking HINT?" or an NPC "hey let's look OVER HERE Nate"

You're right about puzzles in AAA games
 

ByWatterson

Member
This is a very good game. Amazing level design that makes you feel you're leaving important details behind, but then gently leads you, in a linear way, where you need to go.
 

Agent_4Seven

Tears of Nintendo
Finished the game yesterday and everything I've said about it up until now still stands. But....
If there's one thing I really don't like, it's really out of place and very junk part where you have to kill 2 organic cyborgs by running in circles 100% of time and dodging grenades - everything about this part is just wrong top to bottom (except the way you activate cyborgs by inserting huge jars into exoskeleton), as well as parts where you need to use the final weapon to blast you don't even know what for stuff to happen. I wish that instead all of this crap, you had to use these 2 cyborgs to solve puzzles.
As for how the game ends, I like everything about it cuz pretty much the whole last part of the game has very deep meaning and how the game ends makes perfect sense to me. Also, it's not a 5 hour long game, I've spent almost 9 to finish it and Idk why anyone would rush af playing this game, it meant to be played slowly, suck you into the world with it's atmosphere, art etc. etc.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
It’s one of the most atmospheric games I’ve played all year, maybe in a few years. Gameplay is meh but the environments are amazing.

lisa simpson episode 23 GIF

I truly felt bad making the first fetus into a flurry, and no game has that effect on me.
The first flurry eyes, when you squish....its looking into my soul. Mental.
Reinstalled it again after reading everyone reading everyone's praises of the final act and wow... I'm glad I did in the end. Simply breathtaking.

Such a strong ending act and totally makes up for that middling to bad combat in the middle section of the game. Luckily like @adamssaid, you can run passed most encounters and it's better for you both ammo and health wise.
 

baphomet

Member
Finished the game yesterday and everything I've said about it up until now still stands. But....
If there's one thing I really don't like, it's really out of place and very junk part where you have to kill 2 organic cyborgs by running in circles 100% of time and dodging grenades - everything about this part is just wrong top to bottom (except the way you activate cyborgs by inserting huge jars into exoskeleton), as well as parts where you need to use the final weapon to blast you don't even know what for stuff to happen. I wish that instead all of this crap, you had to use these 2 cyborgs to solve puzzles.
As for how the game ends, I like everything about it cuz pretty much the whole last part of the game has very deep meaning and how the game ends makes perfect sense to me. Also, it's not a 5 hour long game, I've spent almost 9 to finish it and Idk why anyone would rush af playing this game, it meant to be played slowly, suck you into the world with it's atmosphere, art etc. etc.

How you've managed to double the amount of time it took me to finish this the first time I have no idea. That was looking at everything there was to look at, setting up screenshots for the best composition, and playing through at a leisurely pace.
 

Agent_4Seven

Tears of Nintendo
How you've managed to double the amount of time it took me to finish this the first time I have no idea. That was looking at everything there was to look at, setting up screenshots for the best composition, and playing through at a leisurely pace.
Well, I had to replay a few parts of some levels cuz of the stupid save system + I didn't know about something that you can do in the game and how to do it (I haven't watched or read anything about the game outside of the very first trailer), plus I really took my time to beat the game. Idk what else to say.
 

Buggy Loop

Member
Btw, there’s a lot of content even in recent Xbox (1-2 years back) play through that was cut from final game, like entering a statue from the outside field, the bomb being used in act 3 and probably a lot more. Apparently from the art book, there’s 2 missing worlds.
 

nkarafo

Member
The level design is a bit weird or am i doing something wrong?

For instance, the very first room you start the game with has a door you can't open but the game locks you out of it pretty early on. I don't think there' a way to go back and use the door thing to open it. Or maybe you can open it from the other side? I'm not sure.

At one point there was also a nice looking room that looked like it's explorable but you couldn't access from your location and i don't remember ever going there.

Dunno, even though there's not much to explore in this game other then the main path and it always locks you out from earlier areas, it still gave me the sense i missed a lot of stuff. Kinda want to replay it just for that but i'm not sure if i'll waste my time.
 

Buggy Loop

Member
The level design is a bit weird or am i doing something wrong?

For instance, the very first room you start the game with has a door you can't open but the game locks you out of it pretty early on. I don't think there' a way to go back and use the door thing to open it. Or maybe you can open it from the other side? I'm not sure.

At one point there was also a nice looking room that looked like it's explorable but you couldn't access from your location and i don't remember ever going there.

Dunno, even though there's not much to explore in this game other then the main path and it always locks you out from earlier areas, it still gave me the sense i missed a lot of stuff. Kinda want to replay it just for that but i'm not sure if i'll waste my time.

Yea I have that feeling too, but I felt like when you change character, that we’re far off in the future and kind of don’t recognize the ruins of the level and go through these doors.. ? Not sure, still wrapping my head around this experience.
 

Fushitsusha

Banned
For instance, the very first room you start the game with has a door you can't open but the game locks you out of it pretty early on. I don't think there' a way to go back and use the door thing to open it. Or maybe you can open it from the other side? I'm not sure.
You do have to go through it.
 

NeptuneCL

Member
I found the game very good so far. The art style is gorgeous and is pretty fun for me at least. The people complaining about the saves is because they don't know how hard was playing games without memory card/controller pack in the PSOne/N64 era :messenger_tears_of_joy:, those were brutal times!
 

Mephisto40

Member
People realise that every single enemy encounter can just be ran past don't they? the enemies don't follow you past the room they spawn in, the only occasions you actually have to use the gun to avoid getting hit is when the tentacle things are blocking your path
 

BabyYoda

Banned
I'll probably try this when I hear they've added some more checkpoints, assuming they're as bad as many are saying.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I'll probably try this when I hear they've added some more checkpoints, assuming they're as bad as many are saying.

To be honest, they're not that bad.

Dying in combat naturally sets you a bit before that combat encounter, and in my experience you are check pointed immediately after doing each puzzle so there's never a case where you need to redo a puzzle again after dying.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
To be honest, they're not that bad.

Dying in combat naturally sets you a bit before that combat encounter, and in my experience you are check pointed immediately after doing each puzzle so there's never a case where you need to redo a puzzle again after dying.
The only problem the games has imo is not the checkpoints, but the actual save system. Yesterday I did Act III in it's entirety without the game saving once or, at least, I couldn't see anything new in the "Load game" screen.

The combat might be slow and kinda jank, sure, but I think it's designed to be that way. It's no power fantasy, and it kinda feels like the combat you'll find in a survival horror game.
 

nkarafo

Member
The checkpoint system is weird in that it always saves your last position, almost like how a Dark Souls game does. So if you just quit the game and continue, you start nearly at the spot you left it. But if you die, it sends you further back. As a punishment i assume?
 

dok1or

Member
Two eggs are glowing, one is destroyed and other one with two linked is one that you must get at that spot

5SA9tPF.jpeg
 

22•22

NO PAIN TRANCE CONTINUE
I don't know if my IQ is that low or what, but I couldn't figure out the egg moving puzzle at the start of the game where you take the elevator up. I got the first egg but not the second. Rage uninstalled.

Lol. Sounds like me. To those who have played, is there a certain approach to the puzzles or... Like the post above I always miss shit in these type of games =)
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
"Finished" tonight. That is to say, ran into two instances of the same bug in the final act and gave up and watched the ending on Youtube.

Did the boss fight and got a bug where every button except moved stopped working until I closed and restarted the game. Got it again 10 minutes later and bailed out. Far from the only bug I've had either, the game forgets my motion blur and vsync settings every time I load the game up (even though they look right in the menu) and also thinks I have an Xbox pad plugged in for some reason.

Inexcusably basic bugs, a mixed bag of puzzles, and dogshit, tacked-on combat that should never have been there in the first place unfortunately took the legs out from what could have been a real gem for me. I maintain that the artstyle and atmosphere is phenomenal but it's just not enough for me to recommend it. Any Giger or Giger-adjacent art fans should look at Scorn, if you can put up with a bad game to see some incredibly art, play it. Otherwise, Youtube it.

Such a shame. Second biggest disappointment after Tunic, which is still a top 3 or 4 for me this year, but it's another case of you were SO close.
 

Orbital2060

Member
Lol. Sounds like me. To those who have played, is there a certain approach to the puzzles or... Like the post above I always miss shit in these type of games =)
I would say the difficulty of the first puzzle is akin to something like a puzzle in Myst, where you need to acquaint yourself enough with the environment to discover something out of place. No hand holding, text, or arrows pointing in the right direction. Takes a bit of patience, and to enjoy being in the gameworld. Or dread it, depending on your sensibilities.
 
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