DISCUSSION
Which do you enjoy more? Which do you find scarier? Feels like most of the games coming out nowadays are first person, it does seem like most of the 'scariest' titles are indeed of that perspective as well (Alien, visage, amnesia). Do you think third person games are limited in the amount of spooks they can provide? And that they are generally more focused on lore and story than first person? (Last of Us, Resident Evil, Dead Space etc). As it does seem that these titles tend to be more critically claimed in that respect
Just curious!
Sort by:
Best
Open comment sort options
Song of Horror did a good job of spooky 3rd person imo
I miss out on a lot horror games due to the fact that they are in first person. I just can’t play it. Third person ftw!
why can't you play it?
I'm betting on motion sickness. I have a friend who is the same way, she can only play third person games, or very slow paced first person (like walking sims)
I find it is really difficult to be immersed in first person games, be it bad camera presentation or lack of head bobbing it takes me out of the experience looking down & seeing only a pair of floating arms.
With third person I can see the character themselves & how they are reacting to what's happening,
Though it can also be clunky or in the worst cases have disturbing glitches like in the "Raven" where the character model's head does a vertical rotation into itself.
Glitches in 3rd person games of that kind are luckily rare so it is usually a immersive experience.
This is interesting to me because im the opposite. First person puts me in the characters shoes while third person makes me feel more disconnected from the character. Both are great.
Yeah me too. First person has way more limited visibility and it feels like me not a character.
Did you played Alien Isolation?
No, but I have watched a few playthroughs the alien franchise has always terrified me too much to enjoy the games, I love the movies though.
If you ever wanted to see a anime of aliens watch the movie "L.i.l.i.y Cat",
It's heavily inspired by the series.
I was a proponent of first person until I played RE2R. Now I’m all about the third person!
Third person.
I think it really depends on the game honestly
I prefer 3rd person, but games like fnaf are better I'm that first person mode
I hate 3rd person, it blocks so much of the screen I feel like I'm always fighting to see. I find 1st person far more immersive and scary.
1st person is more scary. 3rd is better for action/horror (horror with a lot of combat like the Callisto protocol)
Wow, interesting on noticing that bit about the action/combat. does seem like you're more defenseless in first person generally... I wonder how and why that distinction developed
Yea that’s why I think outlast is the scariest ever
Tbh i think being defenceless with no weapons makes it less scary because you know every enemy can be overcome by running and hiding which can get a little annoying after a while. While having weapons means the enemies are strong enough to force you to struggle more for your survival and maybe manage ammo and health. Resident evil and cry of fear are scarier in my opinion.
But wit weapons you can just overcome them by killing them. Unless it’s like the bunker we’re you have very limited ammo and it just slows them down. Also I think re is far more action unless your talking about 7. But you can still kill them in 7 so it’s not as bad as the others.
No preference, personally.
I, personally, like both, but first person is usually scarier for me because it's right up in my face (re7). I started playing more horror in 3rd person after re2 though. Also, 2nd person horror (suppermassive) is also a favorite of mine, however, I feel like they should have their own genre of horror.
Also, I don't actually know if supermassive is classified as 2nd person, like The Quarry, Until Dawn, The Dark Pictures, etc. I just know that it's not first person lmao.
I prefer 3rd person on survival horror but any other kind is usually better in 1st for me
The scariest and most immersive horror games I have played tend to be first person. For me, first person simply feels more like I am the character in the game as opposed to watching somebody like in a movie. Also, often I feel more scared in a situation where someone or something creepy looks directly at me or into my eyes in first person view as opposed to looking at my character while in third person view.
I will enjoy horror games provided in third person view, although I prefer first person. For example, I played Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village in first person, although when the latter's DLC was released, it was exclusively available in third person. I found it odd that there was no way to disable this, but I still enjoyed the game, and after playing for a bit, I got used to it and did not think so much about it!
Shadow of rose is 3rd person? I had no idea
Really interesting point about being able to look them in the eyes. Never considered that
Depends. Alien isolation was good. Madison was scary
For Survival Horror I typically like third person. Games such as Resident Evil Village and The Evil Within games have modes to give a preference on the matter but I always go with third when given the option, I like to have a better gauge of my surroundings when the corridors and maps are fairly linear. Doesn't feel good when you can't actually act accordingly.
For a shooter like D00M first person is my preference. Open spaces and large maps typically benefit from the perspective, not to mention games with a lot of firepower options and utility.
Stealth Horror can be either, many prefer first person, because it makes them feel more immersed and vulnerable. When it's linear can't help but feel it's pretty clunky though, more about vibes than gameplay execution. Overall depends how many enemies they're throwing at me.
I think it doesn’t matter when it’s a well-timed game with good atmosphere. Both have creeped me out about equally unless the game sucks.
I definitely like 3rd person horror better, its feels better to play and the stories of those games are better than the typical first person horror. I think first person horror tends to rely heavily on jumpscares which I just really do not find scary at all. I hate it in movies and I hate it in games too, It just cheapens the horror for me. I do still enjoy some few first person titles but I’d say 3rd person horror is king to me !
As a kid even the fixed angles gave me creeps while playing the original Alone in the Dark and Silent Hill 2. For me it's not immersion-breaking when I see my character like in Dead Space and Resident Evil 3 remake, it's terryfing enough 😄 When I finished Outlast and I thought never again, it was too intense. So for the question I think they can make better scares in first person but I always prefer third or even fixed angles.