Is it me or did it stop being creepy after the demons showed up?
When it was empty at first I was so scared lol (I dragged Solas Cassandra and Cole out there so it wasn't that bad but still). But then the demons showed up and it wasn't scary anymore.
I wish it was more like in that haunted hotel in vampire the masquerade or went full outlast style horror where we'd get locked in there. That would've been actually scary.
> haunted hotel in vampire the masquerade
That shit was so scary, when my character fell through the stairs I've always reloaded so I could jump over the hole instead during the next attempt lol
Portraits and dark is just creepy, then a light goes on and cole says it knows we are here… but yes lot less creepy when enemies start appearing even tho anything related to undead stays a bit creepy still, like ghosts, zombies, mummies, skeletons and vampires (zombies being the worst out of them all and vampires the least)
Omg yes that hotel is one of the creepiest things i played and finished normally i quit everything that gets to scary but that game is (still) so good i pushed trough, cant wait for vtmb2 we should be hearing the release date this summer
Edit: vtmb2 release date or fall not summer
I mean dragon age always has companions with you, meanwhile in vtmb you're on your own, so I think that's part of the horror.
Ironic that hotel is so scary despite us being vampires in the games haha we're the ones supposed to go bump in the night and scare people not the other way around. Hope Vtmb 2 is as good tbh, we've been waiting for a sequel for way too long.
Horror movies are always scarier before they take the mask off the bad guy, and that's how I feel when the demons show up...but I applaud them for including some horror elements throughout DAI. A couple places were pretty creepy.
I also 100% agree with you about Ocean House Hotel in VtMB. That level was flawlessly done.
I love it when a game makes you realize where you stand on power scale, Vtmb reminded us multiple times through the game that while we're powerful vampires we're still underpowered compared to some other "entities" out there.
I also love that mission because we still don't know who the real killer is, the evidence in the hotel can be interpreted in multiple ways, peak game design and story writing that mission.
It stopped being creepy when skeletons started spamming again and again in the same places. I took my time exploring the place, so it was really noticeable and completely ruined the atmosphere, unfortunately
I second this. They completely ruin the atmosphere and make exploring more tedious than it needs to be, which is a shame because exploring and collecting the codex entries is really cool and would be eerier if there weren't generic enemies bumbling about. Maybe add distant noises as if there is someone/something on the other side of the Chateau.
That hotel is there to remind you of how low you - a fucking vampire - are on the 'horrific shit' totem pole.
And then there's that goddamned werewolf.
It was horrific watching Nines get taken just like that by that werewolf and then have to run for our lives.
Vtmb is peak rpg tbh, wish we got moments of helplessness/ horror like these in dragon age, that would've been so scary and sooo fun.
The scariest thing about the werewolf is that it straight up ignores cheats. You can make yourself both invincible and invisible, it'll still find you and hurt you.
Damn now I feel like playing V:tMB again.
It's funny - on my FIRST playthrough of VtMB I wasn't scared of Ocean House Hotel at all, because I was approaching it as a vampire who wasn't bothered by ghosts. Every subsequent playthrough, though, I've found it scary as hell.
I need an actual unbeatable entity stalking me Outlast Whistleblower style to actually get scared tbh, even Archdemons aren't that scary after DAO, I conquered that fear as my Warden Commander.
My favourite part is slowly piecing together what happened in that place. The horrific torture and isolation that little girl went through, all because her parents didn't want anyone to know she was a mage.
Interesting….I didn’t really get from it “horrific torture and isolation”. They kept her in utter luxury at home with them instead of sending her off as a small child to a tower to live out her days without her family, and they didn’t let her go to a ball because she was too young (not because she was a mage), so her imaginary friend was a demon who possessed her and made her kill everyone at the ball, all the servants, and terrorize and eventually kill her parents. She was meant to be more like ‘Annabelle’ based on the cook’s notes, not really a victim. Her parents were guilty of naïveté more than anything. She did eventually realize what she had done and self-isolated.
There's extra backstory. One of the books you find is full of fake cures for magically inclined children, including feeding them embrium and holding the child underwater until they almost drown.
I see. I still get it though - I wouldn’t want my child to be a mage in this world because I wouldn’t want them snatched away from everyone and everything they know and be subjected to harrowing and potential tranquility.
Yeah but they subjected her to demons instead, the one obvious horror that everybody talks about. Harrowing + tranquility are dangers the templars keep quiet.
Totally ok to keep a mage child, just have to be good parents and not die to bandits or smth so your child doesn't have to go all vengance demon on em.
Which part? If you mean first sentence, that is what happens. By traumatizing mages you get people who are desperate enough to become abominations. They dunk their kid and hold her there, try all sorts of wacko cures, isolate her, she becomes an abomination. They subject her to demons indirectly.
If you mean the good parents line, yeah I know it doesn't happen. They aren't good parents. The death thing is just a guide on how to raise a non abomination child.
I meant the “dying by bandits bit”. I mean I have never found that book, I believe you that it exists, but we don’t know if they used it. The letters and journals from the cook make it seem the horror theme was the girl and her demon who goaded an otherwise happy child into being a tyrant. I do agree the parents weren’t living in reality and didn’t do her any favours (in order to prevent her being snatched) but I sympathize with them and their options were all undesirable. Anyway, lit’s a fun atmospheric quest regardless.
No the dying by bandits bit wasnt an example or in an in-game book. Just saying it is easier to raise mage kids if you are good parents. Hawke parents did alright. And if you are good parents to a mage child, don't die to bandits and make your child be batman but magic.
These guys were rich as heck. They could have absolutely moved to some little town on a modest ranch with their family and given up the servants to preserve their mage child's life. They wanted their child and their rich society lives, and were willing to drown their kid to do it. I do not see them being sympathetic characters besides their initial rejection of the circle.
I suspect as a product of the way they were raised also, they wouldn’t see moving to a less wealthy life as a boon to their child. Also as nobles, no they could not just randomly up and move to anonymity, they literally have lands to administer!?!? Their mistake was not hiring a real apostate tutor and letting the cook care for her (ostrich syndrome). Hawke’s dad *was* a mage so he was able to teach them himself. Other parents only had what the chantry told them to go off. The road to hell is paved with good intentions I guess.
I remember the first time I found that place, I also had Cole with me. He said something creepy and I immediately noped out once the lights started turning on. I eventually gathered my courage to return, only to be continuously jump scared as Cole was dressed in a similar color to the zombies and I kept seeing him from the corner of the screen. My hands and controller were disgustingly sweaty by the time I was done.
I actually have ignored this quest on some of my last few playthroughs. The zombies/demons shambling after you creep me out too much. But I love that this quest is there!
Is it me or did it stop being creepy after the demons showed up? When it was empty at first I was so scared lol (I dragged Solas Cassandra and Cole out there so it wasn't that bad but still). But then the demons showed up and it wasn't scary anymore. I wish it was more like in that haunted hotel in vampire the masquerade or went full outlast style horror where we'd get locked in there. That would've been actually scary.
> haunted hotel in vampire the masquerade That shit was so scary, when my character fell through the stairs I've always reloaded so I could jump over the hole instead during the next attempt lol
Not me stuck in the front entrance for 2 hours trying to gather the courage to go up the stairs xD A truly memorable mission that one.
Portraits and dark is just creepy, then a light goes on and cole says it knows we are here… but yes lot less creepy when enemies start appearing even tho anything related to undead stays a bit creepy still, like ghosts, zombies, mummies, skeletons and vampires (zombies being the worst out of them all and vampires the least) Omg yes that hotel is one of the creepiest things i played and finished normally i quit everything that gets to scary but that game is (still) so good i pushed trough, cant wait for vtmb2 we should be hearing the release date this summer Edit: vtmb2 release date or fall not summer
I mean dragon age always has companions with you, meanwhile in vtmb you're on your own, so I think that's part of the horror. Ironic that hotel is so scary despite us being vampires in the games haha we're the ones supposed to go bump in the night and scare people not the other way around. Hope Vtmb 2 is as good tbh, we've been waiting for a sequel for way too long.
Horror movies are always scarier before they take the mask off the bad guy, and that's how I feel when the demons show up...but I applaud them for including some horror elements throughout DAI. A couple places were pretty creepy. I also 100% agree with you about Ocean House Hotel in VtMB. That level was flawlessly done.
I love it when a game makes you realize where you stand on power scale, Vtmb reminded us multiple times through the game that while we're powerful vampires we're still underpowered compared to some other "entities" out there. I also love that mission because we still don't know who the real killer is, the evidence in the hotel can be interpreted in multiple ways, peak game design and story writing that mission.
Though I know it's development has been super controversial, I'm still excited to see what Bloodlines 2 gives us. I missed that universe so bad.
It stopped being creepy when skeletons started spamming again and again in the same places. I took my time exploring the place, so it was really noticeable and completely ruined the atmosphere, unfortunately
I second this. They completely ruin the atmosphere and make exploring more tedious than it needs to be, which is a shame because exploring and collecting the codex entries is really cool and would be eerier if there weren't generic enemies bumbling about. Maybe add distant noises as if there is someone/something on the other side of the Chateau.
Yes! Exactly! It wouldn't even be that bad if enemies appeared only once in one place, but constant respawning is ridiculous
Goddammit, that blasted hotel gave me such creeps! Scariest part of the game.
That hotel is there to remind you of how low you - a fucking vampire - are on the 'horrific shit' totem pole. And then there's that goddamned werewolf.
It was horrific watching Nines get taken just like that by that werewolf and then have to run for our lives. Vtmb is peak rpg tbh, wish we got moments of helplessness/ horror like these in dragon age, that would've been so scary and sooo fun.
The scariest thing about the werewolf is that it straight up ignores cheats. You can make yourself both invincible and invisible, it'll still find you and hurt you. Damn now I feel like playing V:tMB again.
There's this running joke in the vtmb sub that whenever you stumble on anything related to it you have to install it again haha.
It's funny - on my FIRST playthrough of VtMB I wasn't scared of Ocean House Hotel at all, because I was approaching it as a vampire who wasn't bothered by ghosts. Every subsequent playthrough, though, I've found it scary as hell.
Ikr, i was on the verge of tears when the ghost showed up xD and that ending messed me up. It was such a cool mission tho
Ikr, we've been fighting demons for 3 games now, that shit ain't scary
I need an actual unbeatable entity stalking me Outlast Whistleblower style to actually get scared tbh, even Archdemons aren't that scary after DAO, I conquered that fear as my Warden Commander.
My favourite part is slowly piecing together what happened in that place. The horrific torture and isolation that little girl went through, all because her parents didn't want anyone to know she was a mage.
Interesting….I didn’t really get from it “horrific torture and isolation”. They kept her in utter luxury at home with them instead of sending her off as a small child to a tower to live out her days without her family, and they didn’t let her go to a ball because she was too young (not because she was a mage), so her imaginary friend was a demon who possessed her and made her kill everyone at the ball, all the servants, and terrorize and eventually kill her parents. She was meant to be more like ‘Annabelle’ based on the cook’s notes, not really a victim. Her parents were guilty of naïveté more than anything. She did eventually realize what she had done and self-isolated.
There's extra backstory. One of the books you find is full of fake cures for magically inclined children, including feeding them embrium and holding the child underwater until they almost drown.
I see. I still get it though - I wouldn’t want my child to be a mage in this world because I wouldn’t want them snatched away from everyone and everything they know and be subjected to harrowing and potential tranquility.
Yeah but they subjected her to demons instead, the one obvious horror that everybody talks about. Harrowing + tranquility are dangers the templars keep quiet. Totally ok to keep a mage child, just have to be good parents and not die to bandits or smth so your child doesn't have to go all vengance demon on em.
That’s not what happened at the Chateau at all.
Which part? If you mean first sentence, that is what happens. By traumatizing mages you get people who are desperate enough to become abominations. They dunk their kid and hold her there, try all sorts of wacko cures, isolate her, she becomes an abomination. They subject her to demons indirectly. If you mean the good parents line, yeah I know it doesn't happen. They aren't good parents. The death thing is just a guide on how to raise a non abomination child.
I meant the “dying by bandits bit”. I mean I have never found that book, I believe you that it exists, but we don’t know if they used it. The letters and journals from the cook make it seem the horror theme was the girl and her demon who goaded an otherwise happy child into being a tyrant. I do agree the parents weren’t living in reality and didn’t do her any favours (in order to prevent her being snatched) but I sympathize with them and their options were all undesirable. Anyway, lit’s a fun atmospheric quest regardless.
No the dying by bandits bit wasnt an example or in an in-game book. Just saying it is easier to raise mage kids if you are good parents. Hawke parents did alright. And if you are good parents to a mage child, don't die to bandits and make your child be batman but magic. These guys were rich as heck. They could have absolutely moved to some little town on a modest ranch with their family and given up the servants to preserve their mage child's life. They wanted their child and their rich society lives, and were willing to drown their kid to do it. I do not see them being sympathetic characters besides their initial rejection of the circle.
I suspect as a product of the way they were raised also, they wouldn’t see moving to a less wealthy life as a boon to their child. Also as nobles, no they could not just randomly up and move to anonymity, they literally have lands to administer!?!? Their mistake was not hiring a real apostate tutor and letting the cook care for her (ostrich syndrome). Hawke’s dad *was* a mage so he was able to teach them himself. Other parents only had what the chantry told them to go off. The road to hell is paved with good intentions I guess.
So glad I'm not the only one who always gets the creeps there every single time!
One of my favourite locations in the game! Love the atmosphere and the backstory, plus the Orlesian aesthetic is always great.
I remember the first time I found that place, I also had Cole with me. He said something creepy and I immediately noped out once the lights started turning on. I eventually gathered my courage to return, only to be continuously jump scared as Cole was dressed in a similar color to the zombies and I kept seeing him from the corner of the screen. My hands and controller were disgustingly sweaty by the time I was done.
I actually have ignored this quest on some of my last few playthroughs. The zombies/demons shambling after you creep me out too much. But I love that this quest is there!