Another great thing about how the Leviathans don't relentlessly pursue you is that eventually you realise that these aren't evil monster adversaries in a video game, they're animals in their natural habitat and you're actually the intruder.
Plus, the reapers may only be so hostile because the Aurora crashed dab smack in their territory, it’s like kicking a hornets nest, they’re all jostled and disturbed about intruders since their status quo is shattered
@@jabba334 There are A plethora of things wrong with below zero. As a standalone game I guess it’s alright but when compared to Subnautica it pales. I like the alien world I’d love to see more of that but other than a few things below zero was just a weirdly paced buggy game.
@@christianguest63 Yep, I bought into early access and like a bunch of other people, saw the result of internal company struggles reflected in the game. Including departures of some people that worked on the first game. I think there was a lot of pull to not repeat the first game and that's OK but they completely missed the boat (heh) on what made the first game great. What was lost in BZ? It's been said in other videos and I suspect Sethorven will cover it too. They left out most of the tension and introduced a bunch of annoying gameplay aspects: Regular creatures louder than Leviathans. Oxygen plants everywhere. Lack of darkness in biomes. Lack of creature variety. A talkative, naive protagonist. A boring story without any twists and lots of unresolved branches. Vehicles that aren't as good. Too much confusing exploring above water. Just to name a few...
@@jabba334 They even removed my favorite things about the beta. I liked that the sister was alive and was going to help from the space station and maybe be killed to bring out revenge, It brought on a nice tension that she would get found out and disposed of. I liked the British VAs everyone had a different accent going on in all the PDAs and I thought that was kool. They removed the only fun thing which was using the oxygen booster on the top of the water to get around faster which was awesome and could have been a fun feature. thing after thing I realize how much of the passion was lost and how bad the company just wanted money. This might be a bit political of me but when I saw 2 black sisters as the main lead of the game I got scared the management was pandering but I liked them and they didn't feel forced in the beta. Besides Subnautica's MC was a Spanish decent from what I remember so sure include people from all over the world that's awesome a intergalactic society should have that but I can tell now they just wanted to appease twitter to hope they get more sales. I hope that doesn't come off wrong I have autism I hope I didn't fraze anything weird.
The Sunbeam was one of the most memorable moments for me. You think "it can't be that easy, right?" but you see the timer, you venture out, you discover what you didn't think existed in this game - dry land. You explore this piece of land, you see the alien structures, the mystery grow deeper, and then when the time is up and Sunbeam is about to come in, you hear the siren and that gigantic building starts moving and transforms into what looks like a big gun. You can't warn them, you can only see them get destroyed and at the same time realise what it was that shot you down. Absolutely excellent storytelling on all counts.
My first Sunbeam experience went something like this: Get to island Explore facility, learning about what's inside and about the ancient bacteria that's surely no longer an issue Realize I need to press the button Get stabbed "INFECTION DETECTED" Self-Scan for first time since the 5-minute mark Oh shit Put some pieces together "Aurora, we're about to touch down." OH SHIT Run out to see if I can get them to stop or something oh... This was also before I found the doctor's log, so the green pustules weren't spoiled by that. Anyway, I think this was the best possible way to experience that moment, thinking for a moment (before even realizing that going really deep was a thing and not having found the Degasi shelters) that it really could be that simple, only for everything to come crashing down.
Well, the last part (that Aurora was shot down by the Enforcement Platform too) I figured out much later. PS: I was probably too impressed to think straight at the spot )))))))))
It’s even more terrifying if you don’t go to the landing site as you hear your PDA read something out like “sunbeam breaching atmosphere” “detecting large energy source” “sunbeam no longer detected” or something like that
My response was an immediate nope, followed by me turning the game off because I promptly realized that I was never going to beat it. It was pretty good shit.
I will always remember when my PDA said «this ecological biome matches 7 of the 9 preconditions for stimulating terror in humans». I stopped and just sat there for a few seconds in complete silence.
Tbh I think a big reason the reaper is so scary compared to the others is because of its face. The other leviathans are very animal/reptilian looking. They look very far from human, they have snouts, blank glowing eyes, almost mystical in a sense. But the reaper leviathan has a flat face that looks, in a way, slightly humanoid in an uncanny valley way: front facing eyes (well, one set of them at least, a flat face, nostrils, it even has a chin that looks vaguely goatee/beardlike. And unlike the other leviathans with glowing eyes, the reaper has dark irises with sclera just distinct enough for you to be able to tell when it's looking right-- at-- you. Its face almost looks like a gaunt skull in a way. Especially while it grabs you and is staring directly into your soul as it destroys your ship/eats you. Compare that to the other leviathans that just charge at you and bite you or shoot fireballs or smack you away with a limb
I think the most tense part is when the computer says “detecting multiple leviathan class lifeforms, are you certain whatever you’re doing is worth it?” Is one of if not the scariest lines ever after hearing that line I stopped playing for a year
Mine was the lines for the blood kelp forest about hitting 7 out of 9 things that stimulate terror. I was swimming toward the camouflaged island for the first time, so I was still near the surface. I heard the line, stopped, looked down into the void of deep ocean (couldn't see any of the trees), 180 and went back to my pod. I think that was just after I had learned about the dead zone, so I thought I was seconds away from getting ripped apart lol
My favorite line of the PDA is "Treat this space as your home, but never forget that it is not." This will probably stay in my head forever. It hit me so hard because i was just about to play sims in subnautica, making a little house for myself when the PDA said that. Made me remember what game i am playing-
i felt that... until the PDA said when i found diamonds, in a very breathy *rubbing hands together* kind of way: ‘Remember that materials you gather are the property of the Alterra corporation, you will be liable to reimburse the full market price. Your current bill stands at 3 million credits’ and i promptly said "fuuu---oooooock no it isnt, not if they never find me here :DDD" and proceeded to never turn the giant gun off
@@PatrickRatman haha yeah, i loved that the ending was like "yay! you got out of there alive! you'll owe us so much money that you cannot even save that in your lifetime. good luck lol"
Reapers scared me so much that the meer knowledge that there MIGHT be a reaper somewhere was enough to make me terrified and sometimes decide that “fuck it not worth it”
I feel like Subnautica's one of those games where you feel all excited for the ending, and when it happens you're like "I think I should've stayed there" when Alterra decides to charge you for using stuff to escape.
PDA: It is normal when first piloting a Prawn suit to feel a sense of limitless power. Prawn operators receive weeks of training to counteract this phenomenon. You will have to make do with self-discipline. Meanwhile this fucking guy: 22:26
One time I accidentally fell off a shelf and into the void in my prawn suit. I hit 1700 m, and it kept going. 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000! No bottom, just water, and the crushing pressure of the suit dying. The sound of twisting metal and the knowledge that I was doomed in the dark bottomless abyss, that was the most horrified I ever been in a game. Not even in VR, that would give me a heart attack.
i want to unread this T.T the edge of the map always terrified me. Just thinking that I could be near it made me rush back, most probably I wasn't even close tho.
The Sea Dragon definitely scared me some, but at that point I was comfortable enough in my Prawn Suit to keep away from him no problem. I enjoyed spider-manning around in the lava zone while mining and exploring. The real one that scared me the most was the Crap Spider thing. I didn't get the Stasis Rifle until really late in my play through, so exploring the Degasi Habs with no defense from the crabs and no way to escape them. Absolutely horrifying
That's part of it's greatness. The game starts out rather innocently. Just another survival/crafting/building game, right? It's a way to lure you into a false sense of security. But once you venture out of the safe shallows and kelp forests... Even to this day after playing through the game at least 3 times, even though I know the Reefbacks are harmless (apart from some slightly dangerous barnacle creatures on some of their backs), they still awe and scare me. Same goes for the sea threaders. They only "bonk" you if you get too close, and otherwise they're harmless. Plus there's a ton of resources you can get from following behind them. But just the sound of them thumping around on the sea floor, and your only refuse from the complete darkness being your own flashlight or whatever else, while the music basically stops entirely, really gives that feeling of dread. Like something bad could happen at any moment.
@@Electrowz11 No, Thalaasophobia is just for deep water. Kenophobia is any vast void. Any huge empty space. Our fear of being exposed with no shelter for a predator to find.
Thank you kind internet person, for giving me the word of my biggest fear. I can not play subnautica because the big blankness is fucking terrirfying to me and i can not go anywhere in here without knowing where the ground is.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the base game's overall leviathan count like 6? Not all 6 are hostile either. (Reaper, Reeback, Sea Treader, Ghost, Sea Dragon, and Sea Emperor) Edit: I have had this explained too many times now, you can all shut up about it being the total count.
@@mywither7878 yeah that's the *type* of different leviathans, but there's more than one reaper, more than one ghost (i think, or at least there's 4 if we're counting the dead zone ones too), and quite a few sea treaders and reefbacks. Don't remember how many dragons there are but i think there might be at least one for the inactive lava zone and one for the active one. Until the babies hatch i'm pretty sure the empress is the only leviathan with only one member of the species alive.
You forgot to mention some pda messages like : Warning, detecting multiple leviathan class life forms in this region I think this add a lot of terror to the game
@@davevd9944 I must be kind of a psycho cause i just kinda.... go whenever im in large open water in Subnautica. granted if i cant see the seafloor my heart rate raises a bit (doubly so if i hear a reaper) but otherwise i dont sit on the edge of my seat bawling like a big baby i got shit to do lmao. once i got the cyclops and went to get a blueprint from one of the wrecks by the dead zone and a reaper just kinda circled overhead for a good half an hour. took me about 5 minutes or so before i crept out the bottom with stasis rifle in hand, sloooooowly swimming down toward the wreck while staring at the reaper the whole time.
The Ghost leviathan makes noises, It's just that they are quiet all the way until they are like 5 meters away from you and THAT's when they let out their horrifying screech.
22:25 the reason the pda warns you 'it is normal to when first piloting a prawn suit to feel a sense of limitless strenght' this is it, i now understand why they 'receive exstensive training' and dont just go with 'self restraint'
Fun fact: there's at least one speedrun category (Low% No Major Glitches) that goes through a large portion of deepnest with no lantern (nor any health- or nail-upgrades), including three rooms in pitch black darkness, going just on memory and the few pixels illuminated around the Knight.
@@lucyarisato6850 nice nice glad to hear it. Hope you enjoy the rest of the game. Imma refrain from any other comments in fear of accidentally spoiling things, but word for the wise all the celestial bodies (minus the literal sun) can be landed on and have something on them even if it’s not obvious
One thing that really helps set the immersion is the sound design. Sound and music are usually overlooked in a lot of games, but it is so critical in setting the tone here. From the gentle, light hearted music of the safe shallows to the absolutely terrifying roars of the reaper and sea dragons. The balance between beautiful ocean and fear of the dark unknown is just perfect.
The sea dragons were REALLY aggressive when I first played it, they even ended up destroying my cyclops and stranding me alone in the containment facility.
Sea dragons were really docile and clumsy when I encountered them. But when leaving the containment facility, subnautica started having subnautica moments, by that I mean they started going through walls before pushing me through them, glitching me and disabling completely my ability to float on water, essentially breaking my save beyond repair
i played once the first subnautica got a sea moth had a base rather deep 150 meters down and somehow managed to never run into a leviathan luckiest man alive in till i realised i was missing some tech went to were my friend said i missed it got jumped by a leviathan had a panic attack then i thought ok im pretty deep it must guard this area then on the way back home i see somehow 13 reapers around about my base zone i had never ran into i then decided to save and quit for the day
Already having Thalassophobia makes subnautica a terrifying experience. The feeling of suddenly not being able to see the bottom of the ocean, or just being unable to dive at night because of how all of your senses become disoriented whilst having your imagination bombarding you with images of threats lurking in the surrounding. I'm constantly at edge even when I know where the leviathans spawn, it doesn't make it any less horrible.
I literally cannot get through more than half an hour of Subnautica at a time because my thalassophobia is so bad in that game. I'll literally be in the shallows and shitting my pants lmfao
i can’t bring myself to be under the surface when i go far out from the lifepod still, i refuse to look at that never ending empty darkness for as long as i can
I have some weirdly specific phobia tied to my control complex where if I don't know where things end I freak out. It goes off with deep water, darkness, and with fog, in each case only when I am not already familiar with the space around me.
After I killed my first reaper I said “I am god, fear me!” But when I ran into the ghost leviathan for the first time I said “yeah, scratch that… I AM F*CKING TERRIFIED” 😂😂😂
Love details of Subnautica's design. Here's some of my favorites: -Reaper Leviathan AI actually does attempt to circle around and stalk you from behind. You can delay their attacks by watching them, as they don't really like to approach from a distance while you can see them. But you can't scare them back off once they're close. -Just because something outclasses you unimaginably, doesn't mean it's the worst there is. The prime example of this, aside from the Sea Dragon skeleton in the Lost River, is the bones of the reapers. Reaper leviathans are the earliest hostile leviathan, and aside from the rare juvenile ghost encounters, perhaps a run in with the business end of a Sea Treader (they're defensive, not hostile, but still), or the few who venture to the edge, reapers remain the primary threat in the majority of the map. But then you reach the caves, and there are bones littering the place, and some are familiar: Reapers. Dragged down, burned and battered by something bigger than them. And the game doesn't really give you much more than that, and it might go entirely missed, but it can be terrifying for new players and even old ones to be reminded that the sometimes-derpy dragon down there is above reapers on the food chain. Admittedly, that particular entry into the roster of hostile leviathans might've needed just a bit more time in development, though I hesitate to use the saying 'more time in the oven' given where it lives. They have notoriously common terrain clipping issues, and yes, the one in the Lava Lakes/ALZ is a bit _too_ aggressive. Or just too close. I've seen it in the main chamber of the PCF on many occasions, both in person and secondhand. -The game's leviathans get bigger as they go, but that's nothing compared to what could be. The original entity that the Bone Fields region's titular massive fossil belonged to no longer lives, sure, but the game tells you enough - that sort of creature was effectively undefeatable, and there's plenty of space beyond the crater edge. -The dropoff at the edge of the map is a brilliant design. Even without the ghost leviathans, just the complete darkness below, the lack of _any_ ambient music or sounds whatsoever, and the knowledge that the bottom is too deep for any vehicle to conceive reaching is more than enough. I may have seen the underside of the map. I may know the ways it's evolved over the years better than some of the devs might remember, and know where the teleport borders are. But that doesn't stop it from making me feel a bit sick trying to go out there. It's not just a natural void. It's an entirely unnatural, completely endless expanse of more and more pressure, and nothing but darkness. The walls of the betas have nothing on that, and I'm glad the game was moved away from that style. And I did mention, this game makes me feel physically weaker, feel sick. Never had another game do that to me, despite my attempts. Even drifting in the void of simulated space doesn't do it, because there you can _see_ - you might still die in space, be it to heat (or lack of it), to radiation, or to a micrometeorite travelling at a few times the speed of sound, but you can see for just about as far as you could comprehend. Hell, further, even, than is really comprehensible in distance. In Subnautica, the water is murky, there's clouds of stuff, be it gunk dropped from the leviathans' skin, or microorganisms, or just simple silt and dust and the like stirred from the land. And the light doesn't travel well, from the stars above nor the artificial ones you might try to produce, and it only gets worse further down. Yes. It's true that Subnautica is easy. It's also rather badly optimized (it was never intended to be a full game, just a mere proof of concept, so they did what they could), it's quite glitchy in plenty of ways, the graphics are lacking in animation, textures, and polygons (but that's okay) and some parts remain a little unfinished, or had room to grow but didn't. Still, one of the best games and one of the best experiences out there. As for the death thing... well, it isn't really intended for things to kill you. You're meant to survive, but just barely. The generous window of time for suffocation, the way creatures peel off after attacking, the sparse instakill attacks with an AI not intending to always put you into an instakill situation. That's part of the game's terror aspects: You scrape by. You might not do it perfectly, and you might brush with death, but you don't die, because death drops the tension and ruins the immersion.
13:36 encounters like this honestly have more of an impact than them attacking you out right on your first encounter. It lets the terror sink in and linger in your mind, letting the fear and anxiety build with every second that passes, so that now you know when you look into the abyss, it might be looking back. Like you said, "it was brief, but it was enough."
Another good example is Silent Hill 2: the first time you see Pyramid Head, he is standing motionless behind bars, but once you return to them he is gone.
Oooooof, god, I had watched a couple playthroughs and thought I could be brave enough to the dark glowy area, with the crab bois, and I didn’t even see one! Not the blue sheen of its stomach or nary a claw! But I heard the clucking and squeezing door hinge squawk- And I yelled “FUCK OFF!” And took my ass back to my pod
by far the reaper gives me the biggest chills, to this day i have nightmares about that one animation someone made about being in the middle of the ocean and the reaper slowly coming into frame. below zero doesnt scare me near as bad compared to subnautica and i have severe thalassophobia lmao
Below Zero just.. missed the mark. Sure, seeing more of the world is cool and all, and it did need to be higher up than the rest of the dead zone around the crater - which is so deep that it isn't even in the game anymore - but being more than half on the surface, and including additional characters and a voice for your own kills the atmosphere. Additionally, it seems too.. cluttered, to me. Too bright and glowy. I'm not sure how to describe it, but the first game has these huge empty expanses, and they are indeed contrasted by the claustrophobia-inducing cave systems, but BZ doesn't do that. What they should've gone for, I think, was being directly beneath the ice for most of the 'surface' gameplay, so oxygen is a huge concern, because you're either stuck in a place you barely fit through between the glacier above and the sandy bottom below... or you're only sticking to the ice because you can no longer see the bottom. The first game will always be the better of the two in that way.
subzero missed the mark for me, for a few reasons. 1) the mc is not silent like in subnautica. Now I like talking protagonists, so it's not a bad choice to change things up. the problem was her story was... unorigional? Uninteresting? both? I think it was just uninspired. 2) part of why made subnautica so terrifying were the great open expanses of ocean. We just don't have those in subzero. everything is cluttered, claustrophobic. the places where you can't see the surface AND the bottom are almost non-existent outside of caves, and the cave system is just... not worth it. 3) there are too many aggressive monsters. they're annoying not scary, and they're everywhere. There is nothing "awe inspiring" about the world, when everything in the world wants to kill you; except for the torpenguins, and i'm not so sure those guys aren't out to get you too. 4) I never felt like I "needed" to go further. there just wasn't a great logical progression in the story to go further and deeper, and building a base out there? no thank you. not enough space, too many things trying to kill you. it just misses the mark all over the place.
I think an important clarification to make is that while Subnautica is a very hard game to DIE in, it is very easy to get CLOSE to death; the reapers deal just enough damage to almost destroy your Seamoth, if you run out of air, you still have a few seconds to get air, etc.
I feel like Subnautica is one of the few games that can elicit true, genuine reactions of sheer terror, not those played up for an over-the-top TH-cam video, but genuine fear. The clip at 13:40 is a perfect example. I have no issue believing that reaction was genuine.
I remember I asked my friend for any tips on subnautica and he said “go the back of the aurora” and I didn’t know what was back their and that’s pretty much how I learned not to do certain by my friend telling me to do stuff which would usually end up in meeting leviathan class creatures
And they say: go to the back of the aurora the big ship it has tons on fragment Me: ok *goes to the back of the aurora* *sees reaper* shit AUGHHHHHHHHH *loses seamoth and life
I swear the first half is actually always terrifying, but once you hit the Lost River, it's just "Scuse me, coming through" Also I know to word the last part: It's like wandering into a fantasy land, full of mystery, danger, and wonder. Especially reaching the tree. It was like being in a fantasy land, come true.
I remember an older version of the game where the SEL didn't talk to you. When I first played and came across her, I could perfectly understand what she wanted just through her body language. I found it a lot more impactful that way, like an unspoken bond/understanding between you and the last sentient being on this planet. When she silently played with her babies and then collapsed, I didn't need dialogue to tell me what was going on or how to feel about it.
The moment of Mark suffering the endless power off/on loop was relatable on an emotional level. I drastically overestimate the power of one solar panel and constantly overshoot while setting up a base.
I don't know if you can hear them from as far away as the Reaper and the Dragon, but the Ghost Leviathans ABSOLUTELY make a noise before you can see them - and in my humble opinion it's the most terrifying noise in the game, at least taking the noise in isolation. Many of the predator noises make you go "what is that??" and can be difficult to tell apart from eachother - on my first playthrough it took me a while to learn to tell the difference between the sound of a Reaper and a Reefback, and yes that is just as unnerving as it sounds - but IMO you cannot POSSIBLY mistake the sound of a Ghost Leviathan for any other creature. It is a DEMONIC SCREECH from the depths of hell, and again is the noise in the game that freaks me out the most.
My first leviathan encounter was with the reaper leviathan in the back of the aurora, I've been playing Subnautica for 2 years, AND TO THIS DAY, i try my best to never go behind the aurora, NEVER.
Honestly, its easy to understand why Marguerit is so fearless/a little crazy when it comes to killing things. When you're in the Prawn Suit, advanced technology that combats giant alien creatures, you feel f-cking invincible
Ok ive seen a lot of funny shit watching people play this game, but the battle with the Reaper where you accidentally remove the power cell from your seamoth, get back in to try to stun the reaper, and just sit there for a second realizing theres no power, then getting mauled to death... I AM DECEASED TOO 😂😂😂
This is one of the only games I have ever played that made me feel claustrophobic. You get into a cave and get turned around and you O2 is running out. You start to panic.
that fear is well-positioned. if you overlay the maps of missing-never-to-be-seen-again people and cave systems, it's an eerily perfect match. people get trapped in caves and die there all the time, and the bodies can't be recovered. the abject horror of realizing you've gotten somewhere you can't get back out of is a healthy fear to have considering how many thousands of people it kills in real life. and that shit is why i will never go spelunking. no thank you i will do a jigsaw puzzle on dry land. there are safer hobbies out there. like cocaine
One of my favorite memories was on a subsequent playthrough when I inadvertently built a base under a reaper leviathan.. It was too late to divest, so I had to park my seamoth crammed under my base while I scrambled to get blueprints and materials for a moon pool. I ended up paying a small amount of resources and large amount of power on an extra scanner room to constantly track it. I ended up learning to live with it, just staying inside when it got close. I ended up building an observatory so I could sit and watch it.
Roughly 7-800 meters were we? Cause i did the exact thing hid in my cyclops for an hour before coming to terms with my situation that i now live here lol
I can actually picture you doing all this. I can tell you played Subnautica for awhile. I just downloaded a whole bunch of mods including ones that make the reapers track you. Pooped my pants watching the reaper keep chasing me and not stopping. Mod is persistent reapers mod along with death run mod and creatures flee less mod. Highly recommended!
When I finally played Subnautica I was scared I knew about all the dangers before hand but the fear and anxiety of being in an area with a reaper or traveling to far into the dunes fills you with dread But when I played I made myself a challenge. I challenged myself to Scan Everything on the planet (Flora, Fauna etc...) I did it and it was Fun
Learning how to control your emotions and fear is what will shape you into a man. The adult world for men is cruel. And playing horror games will shape you into a man. Real men play horror games. Real men push on despite fear or anxiety or even depression.
This is honestly a very interesting perspective. As someone who most of my hours playing subnautica are likely from when the game was still in early access, I gained a lot of the familiarity and whatnot you were talking about before a lot of the actual story was in the game. Thanks for this. And also yes I do believe I recall the gun platform actually looking like it did in that screenshot at one point. P.s. R.I.P. the terraformer, had so many cool bases built thanks to that tool, I understand why it was removed but I still wish it could have made it to full release.
I was so emotional over the death of the sea emperor (empress?) that I stuck around with her for,, 20 minutes? I just didn't want to leave her and let her die alone. I still think a retroactive update to add an optional animation with her would do a lot to give a sense of closure and, frankly, help ween off the pain watching her collapse gave me at least. Just, to be able to swim up and put a hand on her massive head, even for just a moment, to have her recognize our sympathy for her.
omg same! I cried and stayed by her side for so long., i was like in grief. I told her "I won't let you die alone" so many times. Then, in my base, i made a commemorial room with pictures of her and her babies and pots of plants/flowers before curing myself and finishing the game
I still remember heading to the grand reef for the first time. I was going in blind, so when I saw a crabsquid I freaked out and started driving my seamoth upwards. When I turned up and saw a ghost leviathan above me I just about bricked myself.
That has to be one of the best feelings ever as a gaming content creator, not only finding a game that you really enjoy but one that people really enjoy watching you make content on too.
What terrified me was when I was in the lava zone, and saw a skeleton close by. I went to check it out, and it was a reaper. The thing that was the biggest threat in the game to me. Then I saw more. And more. All while I heard the distant roar of the sea dragon.
I've lost count of how many times I've come back to this video. Something about it is just so... Charming? Entertaining? I dunno. I just keep rewatching it without any less sense of enjoyment every time. It's become a confort video, even. Seriously good vid, you're funny as hell my guy. I can feel the passion in every line
Imagine spoiling that there's Cthulu in the dead zone when you can tell em that there's useful blueprints there and watch them find out the truth the hard way LUL
8:00 My favourite way I've heard Horror and Terror distinguished is that Horror is what you feel when you see blood and gore, whereas Terror is coming home, only to realise that every single thing in your house has been replaced with a perfect copy.
@@muichirotokitou2615 to be fair, I was technically wrong, the definitions were of the three types of scares, "Gross out" which is what I incorrectly attributed to horror, "Horror" which is the fear you get from jumpscares and loud noises, that visceral fear that activates fight/flight/freeze "Terror" is discribed both as coming home to discover everything you own was replaced with a perfect copy, but also knowing there is something behind you, breathing on your neck, about to grab you, only for you to turn around and discover that there was nothing there to begin with.
@@Raptorworld22 Even that's incorrect my dude The dictionary definition of Horror is: An intense feeling of Fear, Shock or Disgust The definition for Terror is: Extreme Fear Jumpscares aren't Horror, they're merely a tool that can be used to create a feeling of Horror, one that is overused Terror meanwhile, only covers Fear
The first playthrough of some games is just the best. I wish I could delete my memories of Dark Souls, Hollow Knight or Persona 5 (Royal) just so I could play those games again for the first time. Although Persona 5 would mean very little sleep for a couple of weeks. But thats a price I would be happy to pay.
If you really want to ramp up the fear factor and immersion to 11, play the game on hardcore. My first true, full version playthrough (I had previously played early access builds on/off in short bursts) was hardcore and it was the most terrifying experience I've ever had. I found myself naturally slowing down, being cautious, becoming more tuned to my environment and the behaviours of the creatures inside it It was absolutely incredible, scary, but it filled me with a feeling literally no game ever since has come close to matching
"2. Echolocation: The deep roar emitted by the reaper at regular intervals is effectively sonar - if you can hear it, the reaper can see you." ~ Reaper PDA entree Edit: I recognize that I mispelled it. No I'm not gona chnage it.
Fun fact, the virus in this game is a direct reference to the Alien faction in their previous game, the Kharaa. It actually lines up pretty well lore wise too which is cool, Unknown Worlds deep lore.
Ghost Levs actually make a ghostly screech as they're charging at something (whether at you or a random fish), but other than that they never make any noises
Subnautica is just “Hey there, are you scared of the ocean?” Player base: no, why? “Would you like to?” Also, the sea emperor part _always_ grabs my feel and curb stomps them
I feel like it doesn't get talked about enough how well the devs discouraged going into the void, yeah there are the Ghosts but let's be honest we went out there eventually TO see them. The thing that puts you off is way before you encounter them, the way the underwater landscape utterly drops off into a infinite abbys, how there is NOTHING in front of you, no fish or color at all. It all comes together to make you instantly want to go back and never return. Something else to mention is how the leviathans themselves aren't a huge danger to you, the sea creatures in ARK are way more dangerous, but that game let's you effectively fight back and they are far more common, odds are you'll see your first Meg before your house is built. So it's scarcity and a lack of easy means to fight them that make subnautica the underwater nightmare land we all know and love.
Subnautica is one of those games that I wish I could replay for the first time again, without any prior knowledge of what it is and experience it all over again
The game with the best atmosphere in my opinion is Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. Aside from that, brilliant video as always, commander. Subnautica may not be the best game ever, but it has so many elements that make it stand out from other, similar games. It is truly a work of art and a near-perfect blending of horror, atmosphere, and exploration.
Ooh that’s an idea for a design! vampire AL-09 like whenever he goes all sicko mode his fingers become all sharp and his face becomes like a terrifying multi-sectioned maw! I think it’s a cool idea!
Fun fact. After some time being released, the sea emperor babies grow up into juveniles. You can even visit them. They are located in the Northern Blood Kelp Forest, Grand Reef, Crag Field, Mountains and Dunes. Despite being only juveniles, they are MASSIVE…
Their implications and abilities also help break up the familiarity that Seth talked about. In context they enforce the quarantine, in gameplay they enforce your vulnerability and fear by teleporting you out of your vehicle. You might have turned your P.R.A.W.N. Suit into Texas dentist/Bioshock Big Daddy/ Robbaz “dental appointment”, but the Warpers can take away all your safety in a moment, and even if you respawn, your vehicle is still out there guarded by predators and the Warper.
@@quox3987 i legitimately fear warpers more than leviathans in the more advanced parts of the game specifically because of that. At least leviathans are big enough that you can see them easily and they don't teleport around.
Not for me as I was traveling to the inactive lava zone to meet the sea empress it teleported me out of my prawn witch then fell 500 feet into a pool of lava we then both decided to die
When I played subnautica (blind play through) I found the warpers terrifying because you don’t (at least when it happened to me) I didn’t see it. Which made them horrifying because I didn’t know what it was. Also there radio call things. It made you feel as if there out to kill just you.
Hey Seth, have you ever head of the game "Outer Wilds?" Not be confused with the very different Outer Worlds, Outer Wilds has a lot of the story elements that you praised in this video, and is one of my favorite games of all time. On the topic of "the less you know, the better" I'd go as far to recommend you not even read the game description so that the core narrative and game mechanic can be a surprise. It's a rare 10/10 jewel of a game, and I literally cannot recommend it highly enough.
Oh my gosh you are totally right! I just recently finished my first blind playthrough of it myself, and I would totally recommend he play it! It gave me that same "first time experience" that Subnautica gave me, too.
Subnautica was my first 10/10 experience of a game. Somehow Outer wilds surpassed it by just enough that if I had to only recommend one it would be Outer Wilds. For all the reasons that you loved Subnautica, you should also love Outer Wilds, it's a similar masterpiece that I really can't recommend highly enough.
I think no game has topped the reaper intro. I too went into it recently. Getting bored trying to find a way into the Ship only for the Cut scene of it grabbing me in my little submarine. I also love the fact that even when you think it is over you can pull back and survive. Best example would be going full black screen from lack of O2 only to surface just in time.
the talk of terror and horror reminds me of why FEAR is one of my favorite game franchises. FEAR 2 especially has very good terror (Like the school hallway scene....you know the one)
@dedangdegenerate to be fair the gargantuan reaches that thresh hold where it’s immense size makes you feel somewhat safe knowing you wouldn’t be worth going after while the reaper is small enough where you are still relatively significant.
I dont fear anything but those warpers like i be just chillin and then a mf just tps infront of me and its like being eaten alive by a levatain crashfish in the void
This video was honestly one of the BEST videos I have ever watched. There was just the right amount of comedy, seriousness, and I so wish that I could just buy Subnatuca and delete all of my knowledge about the game that I have from my brain because to be able to experience like you said the reapers how you just get a glimpse then the roar and the terror that comes after and to just look out into the beautiful shallows and just be happy with the amazing amount of color fish and just the sheer beauty of it all and to see the vast emptiness of the void with its huge leviathans and monsters. Man I want to experience that again so badly. Also I hate getting titanium it is the worst part of the entire game.
I went into this game blind. I always wanted to try it, though I have really intense Thalassophobia, it very much intrigued me; I weirdly always loved any water level in games, and this is water level the game lol. I absolutely did not know there were Reapers or any other Leviathan type creatures in the game, though I had a sneaking suspicion it would despite it's bright and colorful aesthetic. Night absolutely terrified me and I didn't explore at all during the night, but I had come across the Reefbacks and knew they were gentle giants. So by the time I had to get to the Aurora, I felt like the only real thing I had to fear was my own imagination turning on me. As I finished on the ship, it had turned dark outside, but I didn't want to wait for morning because I thought I was just being a big baby. For context, I didn't even have a Sea Moth at this point, just a Sea Glider; so I'm very open, in the dark of night in even darker murky irradiated waters. As I go to exit the hole of the side of the ship, low and behold a gigantic fucking Reaper not but inches from my face lets out it's god awful roar, and I'm so terrified I both start to scan it (I thought the scanner was a weapon in my horrified confusion) and take a picture of it at the same time. I just swam backwards as quickly as I could further back into the hole, and it disappeared into the darkness. For a while, I had absolutely no idea what it was. I even framed the picture to make sure to look out for that damned monster again, and to never forget why I'm utterly terrified of the ocean. Soon after that, I got the radio call about the lifepod right next to the Aurora. I almost couldn't force myself to even go near it haha
I already knew pretty much everything there was to know about subnautica before I played it, including how the ai works and how it tricks you into thinking the aggressive are far more dangerous than they really are, but my fear of the ocean is so strong that even creative mode made me feel unsafe
A couple of small changes that could possibly make the Sea Dragon more of a terrifying threat: It doesn't target the player (out of vehicle) often - It would make the environment and lava lizards become that much more dangerous due to reasons stated later. Additionally why would a giant Reaper slaying beast want to eat a puny human. Sea Dragon prioritizes attacking moving vehicles - Vehicles such as the Cyclops, which is about the size of a Reaper, would be tantalising for its massive meal potential. The Sea Dragon trying to roast it alive and bite into its tough shell would incite a panic to the player as they try to get away whilst repairing the numerous damages. (Panic would also be another addition to the ways Subnautical instills the Flight or Fight response.) Vehicle prioritization also would teach the player to strategize their docking locations and need for silent running/turning off lights. Phasing through walls - just make it a game mechanic already.
Though the second game doesn't have as good "terror" atmosphere it has so much polish. My game kept crashing so frequently in the first game made it very difficult to only remember the good but the second game has so fewer glitches and smoother game play.
I've gotten so familiar with this game, the only way I can feel any tension at all is by playing on Hardcore. Seriously, looking for batteries behind the Aurora is _soooo_ much more Heart Attack on Hardcore. Pity the bugs can ruin it in an instant.
there are mods to make it harder like ones where you cant rise up to the surface to fast or u die, look them up on youtube it makes the game way more challenging and fun
Im a new player Had to restart worlds 4 times a total of 48 hours in (colectively as for some reason im just fucking CURSED) However im a high level gamer Im now pretty much speedrunnimg the game and im killing every leviathan i see. Fuck this game. Im gonna beat it out of spite My 20 hour world was lost yesterday after TERAIN DECIDES TO NEVER LOAD AGAIN -HOWEVER THE FUCK THATS POSSIBLE
I’m forever disappointed that I never got to experience Subnautica blind. I watched my favorite TH-camrs play it, and I had the entire game spoiled by the time I figured out that I could play it. I haven’t had Below Zero spoiled yet, so I’m playing that now.
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TH] 2024 PMGC League | Survival Stage วันที่ 1 | PUBG MOBILE Global Championship](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/FVFT-PFwU80/mqdefault.jpg)
Wait why is this getting so much attention, I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THIS OH GOD
play with no music i played any game and i didint get thalassophobia and its better u dont get nithemares heh
and be prepared for everything heh ( really not but eh why am i writing this but u gained 800 subs in the last 15 minutes)
Subnautica + fear = free content.
That's the way it goes.
might as well own it
Hello
Another great thing about how the Leviathans don't relentlessly pursue you is that eventually you realise that these aren't evil monster adversaries in a video game, they're animals in their natural habitat and you're actually the intruder.
you've got a good point! I agree.
Tbf, many wild animals in nature will chase you down out of curiosity, boredom, or hunger anyway, but it's a smart idea 👀.
@@louisrobitaille5810Kinda not how that works.
Plus, the reapers may only be so hostile because the Aurora crashed dab smack in their territory, it’s like kicking a hornets nest, they’re all jostled and disturbed about intruders since their status quo is shattered
You aren’t the intruder you are prey
The worst part about Reapers, is after you scan them, it’s revealed that they use echolocation, meaning that if you can hear them, THEY CAN SEE YOU
WAIT THEY DO?!
@@benwoodman1496 YEP!!! HAVE FUN TRYING TO SLEEP TONIGHT!!!
@@benwoodman1496 not only that but if you hear them it means they are coming toward you
Jesus, not gonna lie, this comment made me genuinely scared.
yeah arent they blind and can only use echolocation, and thats why you hear them scream?
The devs are on record saying that Subnautica was not intended to be a horror/terror game, but that is the beauty it is despite their intentions.
Kinda how the ocean be. It's awesome how naturally terrifying it is
Yep and they followed through with their promise in Below Zero. Which is why it sucks vs Subnautica.
@@jabba334 There are A plethora of things wrong with below zero. As a standalone game I guess it’s alright but when compared to Subnautica it pales. I like the alien world I’d love to see more of that but other than a few things below zero was just a weirdly paced buggy game.
@@christianguest63 Yep, I bought into early access and like a bunch of other people, saw the result of internal company struggles reflected in the game. Including departures of some people that worked on the first game. I think there was a lot of pull to not repeat the first game and that's OK but they completely missed the boat (heh) on what made the first game great.
What was lost in BZ? It's been said in other videos and I suspect Sethorven will cover it too. They left out most of the tension and introduced a bunch of annoying gameplay aspects: Regular creatures louder than Leviathans. Oxygen plants everywhere. Lack of darkness in biomes. Lack of creature variety. A talkative, naive protagonist. A boring story without any twists and lots of unresolved branches. Vehicles that aren't as good. Too much confusing exploring above water. Just to name a few...
@@jabba334 They even removed my favorite things about the beta. I liked that the sister was alive and was going to help from the space station and maybe be killed to bring out revenge, It brought on a nice tension that she would get found out and disposed of. I liked the British VAs everyone had a different accent going on in all the PDAs and I thought that was kool. They removed the only fun thing which was using the oxygen booster on the top of the water to get around faster which was awesome and could have been a fun feature. thing after thing I realize how much of the passion was lost and how bad the company just wanted money.
This might be a bit political of me but when I saw 2 black sisters as the main lead of the game I got scared the management was pandering but I liked them and they didn't feel forced in the beta. Besides Subnautica's MC was a Spanish decent from what I remember so sure include people from all over the world that's awesome a intergalactic society should have that but I can tell now they just wanted to appease twitter to hope they get more sales. I hope that doesn't come off wrong I have autism I hope I didn't fraze anything weird.
The Sunbeam was one of the most memorable moments for me. You think "it can't be that easy, right?" but you see the timer, you venture out, you discover what you didn't think existed in this game - dry land. You explore this piece of land, you see the alien structures, the mystery grow deeper, and then when the time is up and Sunbeam is about to come in, you hear the siren and that gigantic building starts moving and transforms into what looks like a big gun. You can't warn them, you can only see them get destroyed and at the same time realise what it was that shot you down. Absolutely excellent storytelling on all counts.
My first Sunbeam experience went something like this:
Get to island
Explore facility, learning about what's inside and about the ancient bacteria that's surely no longer an issue
Realize I need to press the button
Get stabbed
"INFECTION DETECTED"
Self-Scan for first time since the 5-minute mark
Oh shit
Put some pieces together
"Aurora, we're about to touch down."
OH SHIT
Run out to see if I can get them to stop or something
oh...
This was also before I found the doctor's log, so the green pustules weren't spoiled by that. Anyway, I think this was the best possible way to experience that moment, thinking for a moment (before even realizing that going really deep was a thing and not having found the Degasi shelters) that it really could be that simple, only for everything to come crashing down.
Well, the last part (that Aurora was shot down by the Enforcement Platform too) I figured out much later.
PS: I was probably too impressed to think straight at the spot )))))))))
It’s even more terrifying if you don’t go to the landing site as you hear your PDA read something out like “sunbeam breaching atmosphere” “detecting large energy source” “sunbeam no longer detected” or something like that
"Detecting multiple leviathan class lifeforms in the region. Are you certain whatever you're doing is worth it?" -PDA
My response was an immediate nope, followed by me turning the game off because I promptly realized that I was never going to beat it.
It was pretty good shit.
When it said that to me, I just said "No the f*** it isn't" and went all the way back to save shallows
I just said "screw it, YOLO TIME!" aaaand proceed to get absolutely destroy by the funny Danny Phantom trio
No. Absolutely not. Fuck off.
@Lugga _yt Not for lack of them, there are 8 reapers in the biome where that message triggers :D
I will always remember when my PDA said «this ecological biome matches 7 of the 9 preconditions for stimulating terror in humans». I stopped and just sat there for a few seconds in complete silence.
Blood Kelp Zone
I went staring off into blank space when the ai said that
I turned around and just hid in my base lol
I was in the trench when it said that and I just laughed nervously
Ironic considering Blood Kelp Zone is my favorite area and I nearly always base in there at the entrance to the Lost River
“It used the last of its strength to play with its babies” god my heart was just ripped from its place in my chest :[
😭😭😭😭😭😭
Time to sell it
Same goes for the final speech man.
Something about the Reaper Leviathan terrifies me to my core, and no matter how many times I square up in my prawn suit I'm still scared shitless
Tbh I think a big reason the reaper is so scary compared to the others is because of its face. The other leviathans are very animal/reptilian looking. They look very far from human, they have snouts, blank glowing eyes, almost mystical in a sense. But the reaper leviathan has a flat face that looks, in a way, slightly humanoid in an uncanny valley way: front facing eyes (well, one set of them at least, a flat face, nostrils, it even has a chin that looks vaguely goatee/beardlike. And unlike the other leviathans with glowing eyes, the reaper has dark irises with sclera just distinct enough for you to be able to tell when it's looking right-- at-- you. Its face almost looks like a gaunt skull in a way. Especially while it grabs you and is staring directly into your soul as it destroys your ship/eats you. Compare that to the other leviathans that just charge at you and bite you or shoot fireballs or smack you away with a limb
I think the most tense part is when the computer says “detecting multiple leviathan class lifeforms, are you certain whatever you’re doing is worth it?” Is one of if not the scariest lines ever after hearing that line I stopped playing for a year
Mine was the lines for the blood kelp forest about hitting 7 out of 9 things that stimulate terror. I was swimming toward the camouflaged island for the first time, so I was still near the surface. I heard the line, stopped, looked down into the void of deep ocean (couldn't see any of the trees), 180 and went back to my pod.
I think that was just after I had learned about the dead zone, so I thought I was seconds away from getting ripped apart lol
The best indicator that Subnautica nails atmospheric terror: the game is still scary on creative mode
ong
YES! I am still in fear when approaching a reaper no matter my invincibility when in creative. This game is so frightening it's fantastic.
YYYEEEESSSSS
YA
Wait till when we will meet gargantua leviathan (sorry if I spell it wrong)
My favorite line of the PDA is "Treat this space as your home, but never forget that it is not."
This will probably stay in my head forever.
It hit me so hard because i was just about to play sims in subnautica, making a little house for myself when the PDA said that. Made me remember what game i am playing-
i felt that... until the PDA said when i found diamonds, in a very breathy *rubbing hands together* kind of way:
‘Remember that materials you gather are the property of the Alterra corporation, you will be liable to reimburse the full market price. Your current bill stands at 3 million credits’
and i promptly said "fuuu---oooooock no it isnt, not if they never find me here :DDD" and proceeded to never turn the giant gun off
@@PatrickRatman haha yeah, i loved that the ending was like "yay! you got out of there alive! you'll owe us so much money that you cannot even save that in your lifetime. good luck lol"
frrr when she said that i got fucken chills
My fav part was when it said the mc would have to reimburse all the resources used
@@MarieKyriney and they tell you you can't disembark until you've paid your balance 💀💀💀 Bruh
Reapers scared me so much that the meer knowledge that there MIGHT be a reaper somewhere was enough to make me terrified and sometimes decide that “fuck it not worth it”
I feel like Subnautica's one of those games where you feel all excited for the ending, and when it happens you're like "I think I should've stayed there" when Alterra decides to charge you for using stuff to escape.
Just defect to the guys who owned the Sunbeam and bargan your scan data, including the cure.
Greedy ass corporation makes you feel good and bad about sunbeams sudden offing
real
what was it, 3 trillion credits?
@@oshjosh134 I think it was 1 trillion.
PDA: It is normal when first piloting a Prawn suit to feel a sense of limitless power. Prawn operators receive weeks of training to counteract this phenomenon. You will have to make do with self-discipline.
Meanwhile this fucking guy: 22:26
I can't get enough of that laugh.
wwwwEEEEEE
he has the balls of a honey badger and the laugh of gold
what a gigachad
i did exactly the same thing but to a sea dragon lol
this made me laugh so hard xD
One time I accidentally fell off a shelf and into the void in my prawn suit. I hit 1700 m, and it kept going. 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000! No bottom, just water, and the crushing pressure of the suit dying. The sound of twisting metal and the knowledge that I was doomed in the dark bottomless abyss, that was the most horrified I ever been in a game. Not even in VR, that would give me a heart attack.
...aand that's the moment Unknown Worlds decided to add VR support
@@ems8903 Unknown worlds? how about *unknown terror* ?
i want to unread this T.T
the edge of the map always terrified me. Just thinking that I could be near it made me rush back, most probably I wasn't even close tho.
Its pretty funny though when a leviathan tries to attack you and you just keep falling past him
Meh when you reach a certain M you will teleport back to 0m
The Sea Dragon definitely scared me some, but at that point I was comfortable enough in my Prawn Suit to keep away from him no problem. I enjoyed spider-manning around in the lava zone while mining and exploring. The real one that scared me the most was the Crap Spider thing. I didn't get the Stasis Rifle until really late in my play through, so exploring the Degasi Habs with no defense from the crabs and no way to escape them. Absolutely horrifying
Yeah, Subnautica is spooky. It didn’t give me Thalassophobia, though, it actually made me like the ocean more. It’s a great game.
I started with thalassophobia, and I'm less scared now
I am simultaneously in love with and terrified by the ocean, so subnautica was a dream come true for me
THE OCEAN HOLDS ANCIENT SECRETS THAT WE HAVE NOT EVEN SCRATCHED THE SURFACE OF
Me too
I love swimming underwater in real life. Its the lack of visibility that I don't like. And Subnautica's waters are quite clear by contrast.
Fun fact that makes the reaper scarier: in the PDA log it talks about how it sees through sound and if you hear its roars it can tell where you are.
yup if you can hear, It can see you
Seth kind of accidently mentioned that by telling the reaper that "You're not the only one with sonar!"
“Reaper leviathan is blind and uses echolocation to hunt its prey.”
people who are deaf/mute game sound: I HAVE NO SUCH WEAKNESS
I think it's a bit of a shame that is only in its pda entry, which you can read only after you're experienced enough to not fear it
21:41 Even though that's a bug, a massive, hostile creature casually sliding out of a rock is the most horrifying thing yet.
think of it as like a eldritch god awaking from its slumbers, or a being powerful enough to break through the rocks. :)
It makes it so much more terrifying to me, because a giant, hostile creature can LITERALLY BE RIGHT UNDER YOU WITH NO WAY OF KNOWING
yeah i had that happen to me with a Adult ghost levianthan in the grand reef.. scarred the shit out of me
For a game that visually looks like something for children, I’ve never been more terrified in my life
That's part of it's greatness. The game starts out rather innocently. Just another survival/crafting/building game, right? It's a way to lure you into a false sense of security. But once you venture out of the safe shallows and kelp forests...
Even to this day after playing through the game at least 3 times, even though I know the Reefbacks are harmless (apart from some slightly dangerous barnacle creatures on some of their backs), they still awe and scare me. Same goes for the sea threaders. They only "bonk" you if you get too close, and otherwise they're harmless. Plus there's a ton of resources you can get from following behind them. But just the sound of them thumping around on the sea floor, and your only refuse from the complete darkness being your own flashlight or whatever else, while the music basically stops entirely, really gives that feeling of dread. Like something bad could happen at any moment.
Kenophobia is the fear this game hits when you're just surrounded by water and nothing else and anything could be lurking. It's the fear of the void.
Isnt it thalassophobia ?
@@Electrowz11 No, Thalaasophobia is just for deep water. Kenophobia is any vast void. Any huge empty space. Our fear of being exposed with no shelter for a predator to find.
Thank you kind internet person, for giving me the word of my biggest fear. I can not play subnautica because the big blankness is fucking terrirfying to me and i can not go anywhere in here without knowing where the ground is.
oh my god i haven't had a name for this phobia until now, thank you
@@BoopernautApAdamsthe sonar module: 😀
“There are only a few hostile leviathans in the game.”
There are 37.
You know what they say, one, two, skip a few, 36, 37
37 is a few, i think
37?!
Pretty random numbers unless you try to count bellow zero in
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the base game's overall leviathan count like 6?
Not all 6 are hostile either.
(Reaper, Reeback, Sea Treader, Ghost, Sea Dragon, and Sea Emperor)
Edit: I have had this explained too many times now, you can all shut up about it being the total count.
@@mywither7878 yeah that's the *type* of different leviathans, but there's more than one reaper, more than one ghost (i think, or at least there's 4 if we're counting the dead zone ones too), and quite a few sea treaders and reefbacks. Don't remember how many dragons there are but i think there might be at least one for the inactive lava zone and one for the active one. Until the babies hatch i'm pretty sure the empress is the only leviathan with only one member of the species alive.
You forgot to mention some pda messages like :
Warning, detecting multiple leviathan class life forms in this region
I think this add a lot of terror to the game
Also starts playing chase music
PDA: “Are you sure whatever your doing is worth it?”
Me: “I just want more titanium!”
I shit my pants when they said that. I was near the blood kelp too which is a very scary area lmao.
I shit my pants when they said that. I was near the blood kelp too which is a very scary area lmao.
@@foldervtolvr When I heard that PDA message I instantly turned around and said "you know what, it isn't worth it"
one funny thing about that distant screaming at 11:47, that creature uses echo-location, so when you hear it, IT SEES YOU
Neat feature, unfortunately doesn't work in game 😿
"Detecting multiple leviathan class lifeforms in the region. Are you certain whatever you're doing is worth it?" *Terrified Screaming* .
i think everyone that genuinly heard that for the first time just backed up slowly
@@MarieKyriney i still do
Yup and then you back up and then drive away at light speed!!!!
Fun fact: the Sea Emperor Leviathan is voiced by the same person who did Bubsy in Bubsy 3D and Rouge in Sonic Adventure 2
That IS a fun fact
Okay, now I just see the Sea Emperor Leviathan as Rouge from Sonic Adventure 2
@@DarkShadow-ne3bu someone is drawing the R34 rn
Wait- REALLY- 👁👁
HOW
Subnautica: "Hey! Do you have a fear of the ocean?"
Me: "um, no."
Subnautica: "Would you like to?"
If somebody told me that after this games released the % of people with thalassophobia rose...I'd instantly believe it.
@@davevd9944 It honestly seems that way
@@zeff3016 Open ocean honestly terrifies me. I know it's impossible but a freaking Megledon could be below me and I could never know.
*Insert Robbie Rotten voice here*
@@davevd9944 I must be kind of a psycho cause i just kinda.... go whenever im in large open water in Subnautica. granted if i cant see the seafloor my heart rate raises a bit (doubly so if i hear a reaper) but otherwise i dont sit on the edge of my seat bawling like a big baby i got shit to do lmao. once i got the cyclops and went to get a blueprint from one of the wrecks by the dead zone and a reaper just kinda circled overhead for a good half an hour. took me about 5 minutes or so before i crept out the bottom with stasis rifle in hand, sloooooowly swimming down toward the wreck while staring at the reaper the whole time.
At one point in time I got so annoyed with the reapers that I spent 2 hours tracking down and successfully killing three out of pure spite
You are a subnautica god
@@NicsTrueNorth nah there’s been better
The clip where seth goes reaper wrangling gives me so much serotonin
The Ghost leviathan makes noises, It's just that they are quiet all the way until they are like 5 meters away from you and THAT's when they let out their horrifying screech.
Scariest moment in Subnautica I've had was when a reaper was attacking me when a warper joined in and took me out of my seamoth
Warpers are the scariest enemy in subnautica dont@me
@@Bigtoedilemma @@@@@@
@@PvZLord286 how could you do this to me
@@Bigtoedilemma @
Omfg the same thing happened to me but it warper + crabsquid
22:25 the reason the pda warns you 'it is normal to when first piloting a prawn suit to feel a sense of limitless strenght' this is it, i now understand why they 'receive exstensive training' and dont just go with 'self restraint'
Seth: "Yeah, this spot is fine."
*Distant roars*
Cyclops: "Engine powering up."
Me too, man.
It’s always good to see people discovering this masterpiece of a game
Unfortunately it’s not some super well built triple A game but it’s great
it sure is
And then we wait for them to see the frozen leviathan in Below Zero
@@Like-Calvino shhhhh
Ikr
The only experience I had this level of Terror besides Subnautica was Deepnest in Hollow Knight. That chittering and scuttling *still* terrifies me.
Oh god, not deepnest. As someone with Arachnophobia Deepnest and Beast Den absolutely scares me
Fun fact: there's at least one speedrun category (Low% No Major Glitches) that goes through a large portion of deepnest with no lantern (nor any health- or nail-upgrades), including three rooms in pitch black darkness, going just on memory and the few pixels illuminated around the Knight.
Can I advise you try Outer Wilds there’s one part of the game that captures the same terror of this game and has the same spirit of exploration
@@cosmiclikesminecraft midway through it, and I’ve never felt more like the ‘add a harmonica to spice up your panic attacks’ meme. Poor Feldspar man
@@lucyarisato6850 nice nice glad to hear it. Hope you enjoy the rest of the game. Imma refrain from any other comments in fear of accidentally spoiling things, but word for the wise all the celestial bodies (minus the literal sun) can be landed on and have something on them even if it’s not obvious
One thing that really helps set the immersion is the sound design. Sound and music are usually overlooked in a lot of games, but it is so critical in setting the tone here. From the gentle, light hearted music of the safe shallows to the absolutely terrifying roars of the reaper and sea dragons. The balance between beautiful ocean and fear of the dark unknown is just perfect.
The sea dragons were REALLY aggressive when I first played it, they even ended up destroying my cyclops and stranding me alone in the containment facility.
Sea dragons were really docile and clumsy when I encountered them. But when leaving the containment facility, subnautica started having subnautica moments, by that I mean they started going through walls before pushing me through them, glitching me and disabling completely my ability to float on water, essentially breaking my save beyond repair
@@redlem00ns73, they left me alone for a while and then suddenly started destroying my cylcops after I reached the containment facility
For me they smashed my prawn suit and then killed me.
i played once the first subnautica got a sea moth had a base rather deep 150 meters down and somehow managed to never run into a leviathan luckiest man alive in till i realised i was missing some tech went to were my friend said i missed it got jumped by a leviathan had a panic attack then i thought ok im pretty deep it must guard this area then on the way back home i see somehow 13 reapers around about my base zone i had never ran into i then decided to save and quit for the day
That feeling when you use the sonar for the second time and that one rock got way closer than it should
Already having Thalassophobia makes subnautica a terrifying experience. The feeling of suddenly not being able to see the bottom of the ocean, or just being unable to dive at night because of how all of your senses become disoriented whilst having your imagination bombarding you with images of threats lurking in the surrounding. I'm constantly at edge even when I know where the leviathans spawn, it doesn't make it any less horrible.
i went swimming in the ocean once but when i looked down there was just a deep dark bottomless pit creeped me out
I literally cannot get through more than half an hour of Subnautica at a time because my thalassophobia is so bad in that game. I'll literally be in the shallows and shitting my pants lmfao
i can’t bring myself to be under the surface when i go far out from the lifepod still, i refuse to look at that never ending empty darkness for as long as i can
Fun fact:
If you can hear a reaper, it can see you
BUT
that means
if you don't hear that roar, it has NO IDEA you're there
I have some weirdly specific phobia tied to my control complex where if I don't know where things end I freak out. It goes off with deep water, darkness, and with fog, in each case only when I am not already familiar with the space around me.
After I killed my first reaper I said “I am god, fear me!” But when I ran into the ghost leviathan for the first time I said “yeah, scratch that… I AM F*CKING TERRIFIED” 😂😂😂
Love details of Subnautica's design. Here's some of my favorites:
-Reaper Leviathan AI actually does attempt to circle around and stalk you from behind. You can delay their attacks by watching them, as they don't really like to approach from a distance while you can see them. But you can't scare them back off once they're close.
-Just because something outclasses you unimaginably, doesn't mean it's the worst there is. The prime example of this, aside from the Sea Dragon skeleton in the Lost River, is the bones of the reapers. Reaper leviathans are the earliest hostile leviathan, and aside from the rare juvenile ghost encounters, perhaps a run in with the business end of a Sea Treader (they're defensive, not hostile, but still), or the few who venture to the edge, reapers remain the primary threat in the majority of the map. But then you reach the caves, and there are bones littering the place, and some are familiar: Reapers. Dragged down, burned and battered by something bigger than them. And the game doesn't really give you much more than that, and it might go entirely missed, but it can be terrifying for new players and even old ones to be reminded that the sometimes-derpy dragon down there is above reapers on the food chain. Admittedly, that particular entry into the roster of hostile leviathans might've needed just a bit more time in development, though I hesitate to use the saying 'more time in the oven' given where it lives. They have notoriously common terrain clipping issues, and yes, the one in the Lava Lakes/ALZ is a bit _too_ aggressive. Or just too close. I've seen it in the main chamber of the PCF on many occasions, both in person and secondhand.
-The game's leviathans get bigger as they go, but that's nothing compared to what could be. The original entity that the Bone Fields region's titular massive fossil belonged to no longer lives, sure, but the game tells you enough - that sort of creature was effectively undefeatable, and there's plenty of space beyond the crater edge.
-The dropoff at the edge of the map is a brilliant design. Even without the ghost leviathans, just the complete darkness below, the lack of _any_ ambient music or sounds whatsoever, and the knowledge that the bottom is too deep for any vehicle to conceive reaching is more than enough. I may have seen the underside of the map. I may know the ways it's evolved over the years better than some of the devs might remember, and know where the teleport borders are. But that doesn't stop it from making me feel a bit sick trying to go out there. It's not just a natural void. It's an entirely unnatural, completely endless expanse of more and more pressure, and nothing but darkness. The walls of the betas have nothing on that, and I'm glad the game was moved away from that style.
And I did mention, this game makes me feel physically weaker, feel sick. Never had another game do that to me, despite my attempts. Even drifting in the void of simulated space doesn't do it, because there you can _see_ - you might still die in space, be it to heat (or lack of it), to radiation, or to a micrometeorite travelling at a few times the speed of sound, but you can see for just about as far as you could comprehend. Hell, further, even, than is really comprehensible in distance. In Subnautica, the water is murky, there's clouds of stuff, be it gunk dropped from the leviathans' skin, or microorganisms, or just simple silt and dust and the like stirred from the land. And the light doesn't travel well, from the stars above nor the artificial ones you might try to produce, and it only gets worse further down.
Yes. It's true that Subnautica is easy. It's also rather badly optimized (it was never intended to be a full game, just a mere proof of concept, so they did what they could), it's quite glitchy in plenty of ways, the graphics are lacking in animation, textures, and polygons (but that's okay) and some parts remain a little unfinished, or had room to grow but didn't. Still, one of the best games and one of the best experiences out there. As for the death thing... well, it isn't really intended for things to kill you. You're meant to survive, but just barely. The generous window of time for suffocation, the way creatures peel off after attacking, the sparse instakill attacks with an AI not intending to always put you into an instakill situation. That's part of the game's terror aspects: You scrape by. You might not do it perfectly, and you might brush with death, but you don't die, because death drops the tension and ruins the immersion.
Damn...
You should use this in a time capsule
Dude wrote an essay. Nobody is reading that
@@Guts90_ I did, and I enjoyed it. If you weren't interested why bother commenting? Just to make the op feel bad for sharing their thoughts?
@@michi4066 don't worry about him, bro read it all and just didn't understand what you were saying, so he decided to take it out on you lol
@@michi4066yeah , you're inbre*
13:36 encounters like this honestly have more of an impact than them attacking you out right on your first encounter. It lets the terror sink in and linger in your mind, letting the fear and anxiety build with every second that passes, so that now you know when you look into the abyss, it might be looking back.
Like you said, "it was brief, but it was enough."
Another good example is Silent Hill 2: the first time you see Pyramid Head, he is standing motionless behind bars, but once you return to them he is gone.
Oooooof, god,
I had watched a couple playthroughs and thought I could be brave enough to the dark glowy area, with the crab bois, and I didn’t even see one!
Not the blue sheen of its stomach or nary a claw!
But I heard the clucking and squeezing door hinge squawk-
And I yelled “FUCK OFF!” And took my ass back to my pod
by far the reaper gives me the biggest chills, to this day i have nightmares about that one animation someone made about being in the middle of the ocean and the reaper slowly coming into frame. below zero doesnt scare me near as bad compared to subnautica and i have severe thalassophobia lmao
SAME
awwww sammy just wants hugs
I am more scared of the sea dragon than reaper because it’s like the T-Rex of the Jurassic park
Below Zero just.. missed the mark. Sure, seeing more of the world is cool and all, and it did need to be higher up than the rest of the dead zone around the crater - which is so deep that it isn't even in the game anymore - but being more than half on the surface, and including additional characters and a voice for your own kills the atmosphere. Additionally, it seems too.. cluttered, to me. Too bright and glowy. I'm not sure how to describe it, but the first game has these huge empty expanses, and they are indeed contrasted by the claustrophobia-inducing cave systems, but BZ doesn't do that. What they should've gone for, I think, was being directly beneath the ice for most of the 'surface' gameplay, so oxygen is a huge concern, because you're either stuck in a place you barely fit through between the glacier above and the sandy bottom below... or you're only sticking to the ice because you can no longer see the bottom. The first game will always be the better of the two in that way.
subzero missed the mark for me, for a few reasons.
1) the mc is not silent like in subnautica. Now I like talking protagonists, so it's not a bad choice to change things up. the problem was her story was... unorigional? Uninteresting? both? I think it was just uninspired.
2) part of why made subnautica so terrifying were the great open expanses of ocean. We just don't have those in subzero. everything is cluttered, claustrophobic. the places where you can't see the surface AND the bottom are almost non-existent outside of caves, and the cave system is just... not worth it.
3) there are too many aggressive monsters. they're annoying not scary, and they're everywhere. There is nothing "awe inspiring" about the world, when everything in the world wants to kill you; except for the torpenguins, and i'm not so sure those guys aren't out to get you too.
4) I never felt like I "needed" to go further. there just wasn't a great logical progression in the story to go further and deeper, and building a base out there? no thank you. not enough space, too many things trying to kill you.
it just misses the mark all over the place.
I think an important clarification to make is that while Subnautica is a very hard game to DIE in, it is very easy to get CLOSE to death; the reapers deal just enough damage to almost destroy your Seamoth, if you run out of air, you still have a few seconds to get air, etc.
ye
I feel like Subnautica is one of the few games that can elicit true, genuine reactions of sheer terror, not those played up for an over-the-top TH-cam video, but genuine fear. The clip at 13:40 is a perfect example. I have no issue believing that reaction was genuine.
Every subnautica veteran when they see a noobie about play THEIR game:
“This is where the fun begins”
I remember I asked my friend for any tips on subnautica and he said “go the back of the aurora” and I didn’t know what was back their and that’s pretty much how I learned not to do certain by my friend telling me to do stuff which would usually end up in meeting leviathan class creatures
I always tell people to go to the back of the aurora lol
And they say: go to the back of the aurora the big ship it has tons on fragment
Me: ok *goes to the back of the aurora* *sees reaper* shit AUGHHHHHHHHH *loses seamoth and life
@@Seadragonleviathan629 it does a lot of fragments. Just at a price
Welcome to subnatica have look around anything that brain of yours can think of can be found
Fun fact: The sea dragon thats make all the noise is a baby calling for its mother.
so the sea dragon is bigger than sea emperor?
@@zyklan2197nah the sea emperor is still the biggest
Yeah. The roars almost sound like they're in pain.
where did you hear that
@@pizzalemon3454 Some Lore channel. Idk wich? Sorry.
I swear the first half is actually always terrifying, but once you hit the Lost River, it's just "Scuse me, coming through"
Also I know to word the last part: It's like wandering into a fantasy land, full of mystery, danger, and wonder. Especially reaching the tree. It was like being in a fantasy land, come true.
I killed the ghost leviathan between my favorite entrance and the tree cave. It was too annoying.
I remember an older version of the game where the SEL didn't talk to you. When I first played and came across her, I could perfectly understand what she wanted just through her body language. I found it a lot more impactful that way, like an unspoken bond/understanding between you and the last sentient being on this planet. When she silently played with her babies and then collapsed, I didn't need dialogue to tell me what was going on or how to feel about it.
The moment of Mark suffering the endless power off/on loop was relatable on an emotional level. I drastically overestimate the power of one solar panel and constantly overshoot while setting up a base.
Bioreactor + infinite gel sacs 👌
I don't know if you can hear them from as far away as the Reaper and the Dragon, but the Ghost Leviathans ABSOLUTELY make a noise before you can see them - and in my humble opinion it's the most terrifying noise in the game, at least taking the noise in isolation. Many of the predator noises make you go "what is that??" and can be difficult to tell apart from eachother - on my first playthrough it took me a while to learn to tell the difference between the sound of a Reaper and a Reefback, and yes that is just as unnerving as it sounds - but IMO you cannot POSSIBLY mistake the sound of a Ghost Leviathan for any other creature. It is a DEMONIC SCREECH from the depths of hell, and again is the noise in the game that freaks me out the most.
It sounds like a person screaming, with either a ghostly or watery effect over it. It is a masterpiece of thematic sound design. Also nightmarish.
My first leviathan encounter was with the reaper leviathan in the back of the aurora, I've been playing Subnautica for 2 years, AND TO THIS DAY, i try my best to never go behind the aurora, NEVER.
20:16 was a very fast decent into madness, listen to the gleeful laughing as he drills off the face of one of the most feared predators in subnautica.
Honestly, its easy to understand why Marguerit is so fearless/a little crazy when it comes to killing things. When you're in the Prawn Suit, advanced technology that combats giant alien creatures, you feel f-cking invincible
its actually 22:19
@@ragaboi4103 nobody:
Me when my parents walk in:
21:42 That’s the best reaction he could’ve possibly had
@@spritsfal5088 truly, a cinematic masterpiece
Ok ive seen a lot of funny shit watching people play this game, but the battle with the Reaper where you accidentally remove the power cell from your seamoth, get back in to try to stun the reaper, and just sit there for a second realizing theres no power, then getting mauled to death... I AM DECEASED TOO 😂😂😂
This is one of the only games I have ever played that made me feel claustrophobic. You get into a cave and get turned around and you O2 is running out. You start to panic.
that fear is well-positioned. if you overlay the maps of missing-never-to-be-seen-again people and cave systems, it's an eerily perfect match. people get trapped in caves and die there all the time, and the bodies can't be recovered. the abject horror of realizing you've gotten somewhere you can't get back out of is a healthy fear to have considering how many thousands of people it kills in real life. and that shit is why i will never go spelunking. no thank you i will do a jigsaw puzzle on dry land. there are safer hobbies out there. like cocaine
Below zero is way worse for claustrophobia!
One of my favorite memories was on a subsequent playthrough when I inadvertently built a base under a reaper leviathan.. It was too late to divest, so I had to park my seamoth crammed under my base while I scrambled to get blueprints and materials for a moon pool. I ended up paying a small amount of resources and large amount of power on an extra scanner room to constantly track it. I ended up learning to live with it, just staying inside when it got close. I ended up building an observatory so I could sit and watch it.
Roughly 7-800 meters were we? Cause i did the exact thing hid in my cyclops for an hour before coming to terms with my situation that i now live here lol
I can actually picture you doing all this.
I can tell you played Subnautica for awhile.
I just downloaded a whole bunch of mods including ones that make the reapers track you.
Pooped my pants watching the reaper keep chasing me and not stopping.
Mod is persistent reapers mod along with death run mod and creatures flee less mod.
Highly recommended!
When I finally played Subnautica I was scared
I knew about all the dangers before hand but the fear and anxiety of being in an area with a reaper or traveling to far into the dunes fills you with dread
But when I played I made myself a challenge. I challenged myself to Scan Everything on the planet (Flora, Fauna etc...)
I did it and it was Fun
But did you scan the big boi ghost leviathan without getting murdered?
@@muichirotokitou2615 yes yes i did
i hated every minute of it
because i didnt bring a seamoth i use swam
Learning how to control your emotions and fear is what will shape you into a man. The adult world for men is cruel. And playing horror games will shape you into a man. Real men play horror games. Real men push on despite fear or anxiety or even depression.
@@Speedpunk650 bruh u on crack on something? Real men don't play horror games, they play Diddy Kong Racing 64
I'm sure scanning a reaper and Ghost leviathan was fun.
This is honestly a very interesting perspective. As someone who most of my hours playing subnautica are likely from when the game was still in early access, I gained a lot of the familiarity and whatnot you were talking about before a lot of the actual story was in the game. Thanks for this. And also yes I do believe I recall the gun platform actually looking like it did in that screenshot at one point. P.s. R.I.P. the terraformer, had so many cool bases built thanks to that tool, I understand why it was removed but I still wish it could have made it to full release.
18:40
"Okay, look, I need you to leave me alone please."
Sea Dragon: Aight, Imma head out.
I was so emotional over the death of the sea emperor (empress?) that I stuck around with her for,, 20 minutes? I just didn't want to leave her and let her die alone. I still think a retroactive update to add an optional animation with her would do a lot to give a sense of closure and, frankly, help ween off the pain watching her collapse gave me at least. Just, to be able to swim up and put a hand on her massive head, even for just a moment, to have her recognize our sympathy for her.
same I really loved the Sea Emperor, I was so sad to see her go
@@skyraider961 At least on a happy note we were able to help her eggs hatch and continue the cycle while curing the planet.
She held out long enough.
My dumbass fucking cried when she died
omg same! I cried and stayed by her side for so long., i was like in grief. I told her "I won't let you die alone" so many times. Then, in my base, i made a commemorial room with pictures of her and her babies and pots of plants/flowers before curing myself and finishing the game
Nah it gave me happiness watching one of the biggest leviathans die...
I still remember heading to the grand reef for the first time. I was going in blind, so when I saw a crabsquid I freaked out and started driving my seamoth upwards. When I turned up and saw a ghost leviathan above me I just about bricked myself.
That has to be one of the best feelings ever as a gaming content creator, not only finding a game that you really enjoy but one that people really enjoy watching you make content on too.
“Seth argues with a giant fish” lmao
What terrified me was when I was in the lava zone, and saw a skeleton close by. I went to check it out, and it was a reaper. The thing that was the biggest threat in the game to me. Then I saw more. And more. All while I heard the distant roar of the sea dragon.
He's back. With a new avatar too.
*This is gonna be good.*
I don’t know why but it kinda looks like a killer whale
@@JP_Crimson NOOO NOW I CANT UNSEE IT-
I've lost count of how many times I've come back to this video. Something about it is just so... Charming? Entertaining? I dunno. I just keep rewatching it without any less sense of enjoyment every time. It's become a confort video, even.
Seriously good vid, you're funny as hell my guy. I can feel the passion in every line
agreed.
Imagine spoiling that there's Cthulu in the dead zone when you can tell em that there's useful blueprints there and watch them find out the truth the hard way LUL
Cyhulu isnt in the void tho
@@user-mp2te7fm8q ik
@@user-mp2te7fm8q prob thought the mod was canon
ah fuck somebody's gonna get spoiled
Don't lie, it's really the giant living glowstick that eats ghost leviathans like spaghetti
8:00 My favourite way I've heard Horror and Terror distinguished is that Horror is what you feel when you see blood and gore, whereas Terror is coming home, only to realise that every single thing in your house has been replaced with a perfect copy.
But how would I know that everything in my house was switched with a perfect copy?
Edit:Ooohhh now I get why that's terrifying
@@muichirotokitou2615 to be fair, I was technically wrong, the definitions were of the three types of scares,
"Gross out" which is what I incorrectly attributed to horror,
"Horror" which is the fear you get from jumpscares and loud noises, that visceral fear that activates fight/flight/freeze
"Terror" is discribed both as coming home to discover everything you own was replaced with a perfect copy, but also knowing there is something behind you, breathing on your neck, about to grab you, only for you to turn around and discover that there was nothing there to begin with.
hey vsauce michael here, or stephen king
@@Raptorworld22 Even that's incorrect my dude
The dictionary definition of Horror is: An intense feeling of Fear, Shock or Disgust
The definition for Terror is: Extreme Fear
Jumpscares aren't Horror, they're merely a tool that can be used to create a feeling of Horror, one that is overused
Terror meanwhile, only covers Fear
@@jaydenlobbe7911 You must have failed reading comprehension in school, I said my FAVOURITE definition not THE DICTIONARY definition.
The first playthrough of some games is just the best. I wish I could delete my memories of Dark Souls, Hollow Knight or Persona 5 (Royal) just so I could play those games again for the first time.
Although Persona 5 would mean very little sleep for a couple of weeks. But thats a price I would be happy to pay.
Same, especially Persona 5 (regular and Royal) and Dark Souls.
Isn't Persona 5 that game that was so bad in the later parts that the publisher went after streamers who showed them?
@@Galgamos No.
@@Galgamos No. They were just to eager in their attempt to stop spoilers from spreading.
@@riemaennchen In the very last section of the game, to be more specific. They lifted that ban a few months later, from what I recall.
If you really want to ramp up the fear factor and immersion to 11, play the game on hardcore. My first true, full version playthrough (I had previously played early access builds on/off in short bursts) was hardcore and it was the most terrifying experience I've ever had. I found myself naturally slowing down, being cautious, becoming more tuned to my environment and the behaviours of the creatures inside it
It was absolutely incredible, scary, but it filled me with a feeling literally no game ever since has come close to matching
"2. Echolocation:
The deep roar emitted by the reaper at regular intervals is effectively sonar - if you can hear it, the reaper can see you." ~ Reaper PDA entree
Edit: I recognize that I mispelled it. No I'm not gona chnage it.
Entry*
@EMOTIONAL DAMAGE Fuor times actually.
5
thats just fluff text. all levies work the same
@@stankobarabata2406 sorta, it does actually only scream if it’s approaching you
"You don't have true thlassaphobia until you hear the reapers scream"
Fun fact, the virus in this game is a direct reference to the Alien faction in their previous game, the Kharaa. It actually lines up pretty well lore wise too which is cool, Unknown Worlds deep lore.
the only time when i entered the dunes was when i accidentally left the blood kelp zone on the other side trying to find sea treaders path
Ghost Levs actually make a ghostly screech as they're charging at something (whether at you or a random fish), but other than that they never make any noises
That last line "I think I left a part of me on 4546B, and I'm okay with that" hit really damn hard for some reason lol great video man -Lynn
Subnautica is just
“Hey there, are you scared of the ocean?”
Player base: no, why?
“Would you like to?”
Also, the sea emperor part _always_ grabs my feel and curb stomps them
When Seth is arguing with the sea Dragon Leviathan, he sounds like that gigaChad dude from the Bee movie
This game is why I actually am terrified of not being able to see the bottom of some body of water, even if i know it’s safe.
I lit up when you made the Sonic OVA reference, couldn’t contain myself from saying “STRANGE, ISNT IT?” right along with you
I feel like it doesn't get talked about enough how well the devs discouraged going into the void, yeah there are the Ghosts but let's be honest we went out there eventually TO see them. The thing that puts you off is way before you encounter them, the way the underwater landscape utterly drops off into a infinite abbys, how there is NOTHING in front of you, no fish or color at all. It all comes together to make you instantly want to go back and never return.
Something else to mention is how the leviathans themselves aren't a huge danger to you, the sea creatures in ARK are way more dangerous, but that game let's you effectively fight back and they are far more common, odds are you'll see your first Meg before your house is built. So it's scarcity and a lack of easy means to fight them that make subnautica the underwater nightmare land we all know and love.
Subnautica is one of those games that I wish I could replay for the first time again, without any prior knowledge of what it is and experience it all over again
The game with the best atmosphere in my opinion is Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines.
Aside from that, brilliant video as always, commander. Subnautica may not be the best game ever, but it has so many elements that make it stand out from other, similar games. It is truly a work of art and a near-perfect blending of horror, atmosphere, and exploration.
Ooh that’s an idea for a design! vampire AL-09 like whenever he goes all sicko mode his fingers become all sharp and his face becomes like a terrifying multi-sectioned maw! I think it’s a cool idea!
Who asked for your OPINION?
@@regular_steam_user I care about yours about as much as you care for mine.
@@regular_steam_user god you can’t escape among us can you?
@@solemnjohnson7028 God was found dead in electrical. I think it was Lucifer.
Fun fact. After some time being released, the sea emperor babies grow up into juveniles. You can even visit them. They are located in the Northern Blood Kelp Forest, Grand Reef, Crag Field, Mountains and Dunes. Despite being only juveniles, they are MASSIVE…
sethorvens laugh when he was reaper wrangling, is the most contagious, genuine, and maniacal laugh, that i have ever heard.
It is the apex of ocean survival. Salt water delirium and murderous mania and all.
Also, no love for the Warpers? I personally think they were one of the best aspects of the game, primarily due to atmosphere and terror.
Their implications and abilities also help break up the familiarity that Seth talked about. In context they enforce the quarantine, in gameplay they enforce your vulnerability and fear by teleporting you out of your vehicle.
You might have turned your P.R.A.W.N. Suit into Texas dentist/Bioshock Big Daddy/ Robbaz “dental appointment”, but the Warpers can take away all your safety in a moment, and even if you respawn, your vehicle is still out there guarded by predators and the Warper.
@@quox3987 i legitimately fear warpers more than leviathans in the more advanced parts of the game specifically because of that. At least leviathans are big enough that you can see them easily and they don't teleport around.
Not for me as I was traveling to the inactive lava zone to meet the sea empress it teleported me out of my prawn witch then fell 500 feet into a pool of lava we then both decided to die
@@eepoop8619 The warper decided to die?
When I played subnautica (blind play through) I found the warpers terrifying because you don’t (at least when it happened to me) I didn’t see it. Which made them horrifying because I didn’t know what it was. Also there radio call things. It made you feel as if there out to kill just you.
Hey Seth, have you ever head of the game "Outer Wilds?" Not be confused with the very different Outer Worlds, Outer Wilds has a lot of the story elements that you praised in this video, and is one of my favorite games of all time. On the topic of "the less you know, the better" I'd go as far to recommend you not even read the game description so that the core narrative and game mechanic can be a surprise. It's a rare 10/10 jewel of a game, and I literally cannot recommend it highly enough.
Oh look, another person recommending Seth the Outer Wilds, I just did the same funnily enough
Oh my gosh you are totally right! I just recently finished my first blind playthrough of it myself, and I would totally recommend he play it! It gave me that same "first time experience" that Subnautica gave me, too.
Subnautica was my first 10/10 experience of a game. Somehow Outer wilds surpassed it by just enough that if I had to only recommend one it would be Outer Wilds. For all the reasons that you loved Subnautica, you should also love Outer Wilds, it's a similar masterpiece that I really can't recommend highly enough.
I think no game has topped the reaper intro. I too went into it recently. Getting bored trying to find a way into the Ship only for the Cut scene of it grabbing me in my little submarine. I also love the fact that even when you think it is over you can pull back and survive. Best example would be going full black screen from lack of O2 only to surface just in time.
No matter how many times I see it, no matter how long ago I’ve felt it, I always cry at the sea emperor dying
the talk of terror and horror reminds me of why FEAR is one of my favorite game franchises. FEAR 2 especially has very good terror (Like the school hallway scene....you know the one)
"The reaper is terrifying"
Gargantuan leviathan : pathetic
The Gargantuan Leviathans are Extinct... *in that part of the planet*
@@tfrs4772 well there is a mod that will be released that revives it so yeah, call it… non-canon lore.
@dedangdegenerate Well, what leviathan scares you, then?
yes.
@dedangdegenerate to be fair the gargantuan reaches that thresh hold where it’s immense size makes you feel somewhat safe knowing you wouldn’t be worth going after while the reaper is small enough where you are still relatively significant.
I dont fear anything but those warpers like i be just chillin and then a mf just tps infront of me and its like being eaten alive by a levatain crashfish in the void
This video was honestly one of the BEST videos I have ever watched. There was just the right amount of comedy, seriousness, and I so wish that I could just buy Subnatuca and delete all of my knowledge about the game that I have from my brain because to be able to experience like you said the reapers how you just get a glimpse then the roar and the terror that comes after and to just look out into the beautiful shallows and just be happy with the amazing amount of color fish and just the sheer beauty of it all and to see the vast emptiness of the void with its huge leviathans and monsters. Man I want to experience that again so badly. Also I hate getting titanium it is the worst part of the entire game.
39:20 Quote: Now matter how fast I am, I cannot outrun a wall that is directly in front of me.
I went into this game blind. I always wanted to try it, though I have really intense Thalassophobia, it very much intrigued me; I weirdly always loved any water level in games, and this is water level the game lol. I absolutely did not know there were Reapers or any other Leviathan type creatures in the game, though I had a sneaking suspicion it would despite it's bright and colorful aesthetic. Night absolutely terrified me and I didn't explore at all during the night, but I had come across the Reefbacks and knew they were gentle giants. So by the time I had to get to the Aurora, I felt like the only real thing I had to fear was my own imagination turning on me. As I finished on the ship, it had turned dark outside, but I didn't want to wait for morning because I thought I was just being a big baby. For context, I didn't even have a Sea Moth at this point, just a Sea Glider; so I'm very open, in the dark of night in even darker murky irradiated waters. As I go to exit the hole of the side of the ship, low and behold a gigantic fucking Reaper not but inches from my face lets out it's god awful roar, and I'm so terrified I both start to scan it (I thought the scanner was a weapon in my horrified confusion) and take a picture of it at the same time. I just swam backwards as quickly as I could further back into the hole, and it disappeared into the darkness. For a while, I had absolutely no idea what it was. I even framed the picture to make sure to look out for that damned monster again, and to never forget why I'm utterly terrified of the ocean. Soon after that, I got the radio call about the lifepod right next to the Aurora. I almost couldn't force myself to even go near it haha
So this is your essay
I was the complete opposite i new the entire game top to bottom before my first Played world
@@boredomtalk3048 That seems pretty boring
@@Fjottle I waited five years and watched five years of sub Nautica content
I already knew pretty much everything there was to know about subnautica before I played it, including how the ai works and how it tricks you into thinking the aggressive are far more dangerous than they really are, but my fear of the ocean is so strong that even creative mode made me feel unsafe
36:36 reefback really did the “it was all a dream” as he noped out of there
A couple of small changes that could possibly make the Sea Dragon more of a terrifying threat:
It doesn't target the player (out of vehicle) often - It would make the environment and lava lizards become that much more dangerous due to reasons stated later. Additionally why would a giant Reaper slaying beast want to eat a puny human.
Sea Dragon prioritizes attacking moving vehicles - Vehicles such as the Cyclops, which is about the size of a Reaper, would be tantalising for its massive meal potential. The Sea Dragon trying to roast it alive and bite into its tough shell would incite a panic to the player as they try to get away whilst repairing the numerous damages. (Panic would also be another addition to the ways Subnautical instills the Flight or Fight response.)
Vehicle prioritization also would teach the player to strategize their docking locations and need for silent running/turning off lights.
Phasing through walls - just make it a game mechanic already.
Though the second game doesn't have as good "terror" atmosphere it has so much polish. My game kept crashing so frequently in the first game made it very difficult to only remember the good but the second game has so fewer glitches and smoother game play.
I've gotten so familiar with this game, the only way I can feel any tension at all is by playing on Hardcore.
Seriously, looking for batteries behind the Aurora is _soooo_ much more Heart Attack on Hardcore. Pity the bugs can ruin it in an instant.
It’s the only way to play it.
there are mods to make it harder like ones where you cant rise up to the surface to fast or u die, look them up on youtube it makes the game way more challenging and fun
Im a new player
Had to restart worlds 4 times a total of 48 hours in (colectively as for some reason im just fucking CURSED)
However im a high level gamer
Im now pretty much speedrunnimg the game and im killing every leviathan i see.
Fuck this game. Im gonna beat it out of spite
My 20 hour world was lost yesterday after TERAIN DECIDES TO NEVER LOAD AGAIN -HOWEVER THE FUCK THATS POSSIBLE
@@Lemontarts01 I hope you never succeed.
@@ZeroKitsune that's rude >:(
I’m forever disappointed that I never got to experience Subnautica blind. I watched my favorite TH-camrs play it, and I had the entire game spoiled by the time I figured out that I could play it. I haven’t had Below Zero spoiled yet, so I’m playing that now.
True, too bad we don't have the men in black memory eraser pen thing.