StaceyPowers Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 Does anyone else feel claustrophobic swimming underwater in video games? I seem to feel this way universally in games, even though swimming underwater doesn’t make me feel claustrophobic IRL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killamch89 Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 It's probably because of how they always have this faint circle at the borders of your screen when they're underwater and depending on how much you zoom in the camera or camera angle, it feels like being trapped in an extremely small space and thus claustrophobia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shortie Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 For me it really depends on what it looks like under the water on the game you are playing. If you can see the bottom when you are swimming in a game that doesn't tend to affect me at all and I can get on with that fine with no issue but when it comes to say swimming in water where the bottom just seems never ending, for me that kicks in a fear I never thought I had with video games. It is pretty much the same fear I have about water in real life to be honest, I am fine if you can see the bottom and you can even reach the bottom with your feet but if the bottom seems to go on and on and is pretty deep, I get frightened and tend to move away from the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane99 Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 I wouldn't say I feel claustorphobic with water levels, but I do hate a lot of them. Some of the water levels in games are poorly done, to the point where they become a chore to play and a burden at that. Look at TMNT and the level where you have to swim through a bunch of electric plants or eels. It was always a level I had my sister play, and she actually did pretty decent at it. But there can be good water levels, like with Super Mario Bros games, Donkey Kong Country, and some of the newer games that have come out. There's probably a bunch of aquatic games with good water physics, like that Ecco The Dolphin or something. Oh, Into the Hunt comes to mind. For me, I'm 50/50 on water levels. As long as they control well and aren't painful to play I'll probably enjoy the level. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killamch89 Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 22 hours ago, Kane99 said: I wouldn't say I feel claustorphobic with water levels, but I do hate a lot of them. Some of the water levels in games are poorly done, to the point where they become a chore to play and a burden at that. Look at TMNT and the level where you have to swim through a bunch of electric plants or eels. It was always a level I had my sister play, and she actually did pretty decent at it. But there can be good water levels, like with Super Mario Bros games, Donkey Kong Country, and some of the newer games that have come out. There's probably a bunch of aquatic games with good water physics, like that Ecco The Dolphin or something. Oh, Into the Hunt comes to mind. For me, I'm 50/50 on water levels. As long as they control well and aren't painful to play I'll probably enjoy the level. :) It's not just that either, little things like the swimming animation can also put you off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empire Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 SOMA is a fantastic underwater sci-fi horror that delivers on both the 'sci-fi' and 'horror' fronts, and has a genuine emotional punch as well. It IS a walking simulator, but a very high-end one that feels rich and detailed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality vs Adventure Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Maybe it has something to do with how you are usually timed under water before you run out of breath and die. So it hurries the pace up and creates a mild panic when you are trying to find your way around especially if it's dark and the swimming ability is messed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane99 Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 8 minutes ago, Reality vs Adventure said: Maybe it has something to do with how you are usually timed under water before you run out of breath and die. So it hurries the pace up and creates a mild panic when you are trying to find your way around especially if it's dark and the swimming ability is messed up. Yeah that is a reason. Especially if it's a timed thing, where you have to get something done in a time limit. So with that, and the possibility of poor gameplay added on top, it just makes it worse. But yeah, it can be used well, or done badly. Just depends on how good the developer is with water levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyng Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Not necessarily claustrophobic: indeed, when I'm swimming in an ocean in Minecraft, I feel quite the opposite 😛 . But it is rather annoying... a lot of these games have controls that respond more slowly underwater; and a lot also have a breath meter, which just adds to the pressure. I've lost count of the number of times I've drowned my poor characters 😞 ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empire Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Has anyone even mention Ark Survival Evolved. You can ride turtles and dolphins and more underwater, I mean can even swim in the water to get gear and whatnot. I know it's not a fully underwater game but you do spend good amount of time doing things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane99 Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 On 2/5/2023 at 8:02 PM, Kyng said: Not necessarily claustrophobic: indeed, when I'm swimming in an ocean in Minecraft, I feel quite the opposite 😛 . But it is rather annoying... a lot of these games have controls that respond more slowly underwater; and a lot also have a breath meter, which just adds to the pressure. I've lost count of the number of times I've drowned my poor characters 😞 ! I don't mind having a breath meter. For me it's more about the control. Some games featuring swimming are stiff and awkward. I had issues with Black Flags swimming feature, and it got me killed a couple times. The controls felt too weighty (probably the point), but it was annoying and not fun to navigate the waters imo. If they made the movement smooth, then I wouldn't have an issue with it. I also hated how Mario 64 worked under water, the controls imo weren't great. Most water levels in 3D games around that time were probably bad anyway though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killamch89 Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 On 2/6/2023 at 7:10 AM, Empire said: Has anyone even mention Ark Survival Evolved. You can ride turtles and dolphins and more underwater, I mean can even swim in the water to get gear and whatnot. I know it's not a fully underwater game but you do spend good amount of time doing things. I forgot about that game and the mods makes the experience even better. I definitely need to start Modding Ark Survival Evolved. It's been on my list for a good year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empire Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 9 hours ago, killamch89 said: I forgot about that game and the mods makes the experience even better. I definitely need to start Modding Ark Survival Evolved. It's been on my list for a good year. Mods is a big game chnage but then again Rather play with no mods first to see what the game is like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shortie Posted August 13, 2023 Share Posted August 13, 2023 Coming back to this thread after a little while and I do have something to add about water and as a gamer feeling claustrophobic. In Fortnite we now see instances where you can actually drown in the game if you get stuck under something whilst in the water, I knew this was possible but didn't realize just how realistic it seems and panic definitely ensues when that happens for me in game LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenfreak Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 I would get super anxious whenever I needed to go underwater in Tomb Raider. In the Sonic games it didn't really bother me much, nor did the drowning music. Since I grew up playing the Sonic games I would often avoid water sections if I could and even if I couldn't I would be able to easily make it through the water areas without too much issue. I don't really claustrophobic when I have to go in water areas in games. Shortie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
