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