How do you feel about low visibility conditions in games?

[StaceyPowers]

Does low visibility in a game bother you, or do you like it, or are you neutral? Does it depend on the circumstances?

[Patrik]

Experienced this while playing COD World At War, it's pretty annoying, but you have to get used

[The Blackangel]

It drives me absolutely nuts. It happens in RDR2 way too often. Fog is an issue so often, that I end up rage quitting sometimes rather than camping and waiting it out. Which honestly only takes a few seconds. But it still pisses me off.

[killamch89]

It depends on how the game implements it and how it fits into the environment. In games like Resident Evil, I don't mind it at all as it makes the fights a bit more challenging and it puts you on your guard.

[Family sedan]

In racing games it's annoying.  One off-roading game I rented back when I went to Blockbuster had such a dark night race level that I rage quit.  This was in '98 or '99 and I think it was TNN Hardcore Off-Road.

[Reality vs Adventure]

It depends on the circumstance. If I go to a new place to explore, I don't want to waste the effort when I can't see much. But it adds a mystical feel in a forest, and a spookiness in an urban area. If you know there are no threats around, then low visibility is annoying. But sail the seas in Black Flag when you have to maneuver islands in low visibility, or the swamps in Origins, or a river you might jump into battle any moment as in Valhalla, then low visibility is kind of fun. I love it when there is a sand storm in AC Origins, as well as in Mad Max. It just makes it all that much better. It brings immersion when traveling blind. But breaks immersion when you want to see the world. So go with the flow, and hopefully you can always go back to a place in better conditions. I always visit a place more than once anyways. But if I make it to a hard spot, I want to see the view. Or at least give me a photo mode to change the weather! 

[killamch89]

On 6/13/2021 at 7:42 PM, Reality vs Adventure said:

It depends on the circumstance. If I go to a new place to explore, I don't want to waste the effort when I can't see much. But it adds a mystical feel in a forest, and a spookiness in an urban area. If you know there are no threats around, then low visibility is annoying. But sail the seas in Black Flag when you have to maneuver islands in low visibility, or the swamps in Origins, or a river you might jump into battle any moment as in Valhalla, then low visibility is kind of fun. I love it when there is a sand storm in AC Origins, as well as in Mad Max. It just makes it all that much better. It brings immersion when traveling blind. But breaks immersion when you want to see the world. So go with the flow, and hopefully you can always go back to a place in better conditions. I always visit a place more than once anyways. But if I make it to a hard spot, I want to see the view. Or at least give me a photo mode to change the weather! 

My sentiments exactly - depending on how a game implements it, I'll either like it a lot like in Resident Evil or annoyed by it like in some COD missions.

[Heatman]

On 6/8/2021 at 8:24 PM, StaceyPowers said:

Does low visibility in a game bother you, or do you like it, or are you neutral? Does it depend on the circumstances?

Seriously, it totally sucks for me in most cases especially when it makes it difficult to play the game. I do quit such games in a heartbeat. 

[Withywarlock]

It depends on what kind of obstruction it is. I'm not a fan of Silent Hill by any means but I love the fog of that game, for technical and thematic reasons, and I like it in driving games or just about any game it features.

What I don't like is darkness. In Final Fantasy XIV, one of the main locales named Gridania is an absolute pain to navigate in the dark because it's a dense forest with root bridges that are hard enough to find at the best of times. There's so many dips and drops that make navigation difficult without the issues of enemies as is. Because the in-game time is different to real time, darkness in Gridania means tabbing out to watch Narcos, or teleporting somewhere else.

I can however cope with darkness to an extent. In Dark Souls' Tomb of Giants the aggro range of the gigantic skeletons and other things that go bump in the night is dramatically reduced in the dark, and in order to see you need either Pyromancy spells or a magical skull lantern that lights up the place and draws enemies to you. The only hint you get in the dark is their beaming eyes, provided they're facing you. And in Dark Souls II, there's torches you have to buy and light, encouraging you to clear out enemies in the dark or have a weapon in one hand and a torch in the other. I don't recall well enough if Dark Souls III had any such mechanics.

[Heatman]

On 6/9/2021 at 5:08 AM, Family sedan said:

In racing games it's annoying.  One off-roading game I rented back when I went to Blockbuster had such a dark night race level that I rage quit.  This was in '98 or '99 and I think it was TNN Hardcore Off-Road.

It's definitely not going to fun in any racing game because the rate of crashes is definitely going to be very high for you. 

[Family sedan]

Yeah and I feel like I'm a real good racer in the games.  Imagine how frustrating it would be for a novice.

[Heatman]

1 hour ago, Family sedan said:

Yeah and I feel like I'm a real good racer in the games.  Imagine how frustrating it would be for a novice.

There are definitely some people who are not really open to racing games no matter how interesting the game was.