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Anyone else (now or then) feel particularly frightened by being eaten in games?

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Deleted member 3093

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,956
It's kind of interesting just how creepy being eaten is in video games versus every other way to die in a game. Particular examples that creep me out are:

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Boss Bass from Super Mario Bros. 3

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Cosmo Plant from Gradius III (it would inhale you!!)

I legit couldn't play either of these when I was a kid past these points because I was terrified of being eaten by these creatures. Maybe it's just a primal fear as opposed to crashing or falling in lava?
 
Officer Beefsteak

Officer Beefsteak

Member
Oct 27, 2017
570
I was absolutely terrified of water in the original Ratchet and Clank because there were huge terrifying fish that would eat you in one gulp. It was based on like a timer of being in the water instead of just drowning in the water.
 
Annabel

Annabel

Member
Mar 22, 2019
1,677
Not exactly what you mean but it's related.

My girlfriend has told me she feels really uneasy when she has to play a level that takes place inside of a living being. Like Monstro in KH, for example. I tried looking into it to see what it could mean or if it had a name but I didn't find much.
 

Deleted member 8861

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,564
Oh yeah that's a bit disturbing

The Xenomorph from Alien Isolation comes to mind, if it counts as being eaten.
 
DarthWoo

DarthWoo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,658
Nah, sometimes I'd even deliberately try to see if my character COULD be eaten. (As in with animations and such, not just a brief touch and flying off the bottom of the screen, a la Mario vs. Piranha Plants.) I would be a little disappointed if an enemy that should reasonably be able to consume my character whole was not actually programmed and animated to be able to do so.
 

Falk

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,040
not sure if it counts as getting eaten or getting grossed out in general but barnacles in Half Life legit made me high-pitched scream
 
low-G

low-G

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,144
I mean Big Bertha in SMB3 was literally the only 1 hit enemy kill in the game for super Mario. That's enough reason to be scared.
 
Arulan

Arulan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,571
Not particularly, but it does feel more disturbing.

I encountered these Beak Things in Kenshi recently. Not only do they have the face of true evil, but their screeches are terrifying. And as you can see, they're eating that other creature while it's still alive! I got out of that jungle as quick as I could.

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UraMallas

UraMallas

Member
Nov 1, 2017
18,853
United States
I know what you mean, OP. There is some kind of extra-ness to it. I recently played through Gears 5 and there is the creatures that suck you up. They don't quite eat you, though. The first few times it happened I had that weird sensation but they are such fucking bastards that after awhile I just started getting pissed.
 
Plum

Plum

Member
May 31, 2018
17,279
I'm frightened by it because it almost always means that I'm gonna have to sit there for a few seconds just to be shown that my character got damaged. Either that or an instant death.
 
Crayon

Crayon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,580
No. I occasionally think about being eaten irl and its always unpleasant to imagine. I would go out of my way to avoid it.
 
SolVanderlyn

SolVanderlyn

I love pineapple on pizza!
Member
Oct 28, 2017
13,501
Earth, 21st Century
It's primal fear kicking in.

Yes, it's creepy.

I was always afraid of fish monsters that did this, but more because I was afraid of the water and what lives in it in general... which is a different phobia altogether. I guess my answer is kind of yes, tangentially
 
PSqueak

PSqueak

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,464
Only in the sense that this type of enemies usually mean one hit kills, so they make things tense.
 
Waggles

Waggles

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,112
Not the eating bit that bothered me, but that one level in banjo kazooie (tooie?) with the shark that would chase you if you fell in the ocean made me supremely uneasy.

I used to avoid the level.
 
Fisty

Fisty

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Oct 25, 2017
20,214
Theres a huge fish in one of the newer games, if you know it you know what I'm talking about. Gives me the willies
 
P-Tux7

P-Tux7

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Mar 11, 2019
1,344
I for one find it funny how the Imprisoned in Skyward Sword was a scaley mouth on legs... and he just succs Zelda's soul instead of eating her. What a waste of a character design.
 

Deleted member 2669

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,044
It does feel like primal fear.

It's so chilling to be utterly overpowered by a larger creature and witnessing a whole body disappear into its mouth like just another piece of meat to be preyed upon.
 
Cantaim

Cantaim

Member
Oct 25, 2017
33,322
The Stussining
A.By said:
Like this?

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I'm not gonna lie, for a while I'd be uncomfortable. Then that uncomfortableness would turn into anger cause I don't liken the feelings it makes me feel. That anger would then lead me to want to kill that thing as hard as possible. Hell what gif is this game from? If I can kill it I'm gonna trade I Sekiro so I can personally kick this things ass.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 3093

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,956
Cantaim said:
I'm not gonna lie, for a while I'd be uncomfortable. Then that uncomfortableness would turn into anger cause I don't liken the feelings it makes me feel. That anger would then lead me to want to kill that thing as hard as possible. Hell what gif is this game from? If I can kill it I'm gonna trade I Sekiro so I can personally kick this things ass.
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https://store.steampowered.com/app/264710/Subnautica/

Great underwater exploration game, but you won't be able to kill the Reaper Leviathan for a while.
 
spineduke

spineduke

Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
8,745
Yes, and my very first instance was playing SkiFree in the 90s

i'd lose my shit as this guy would pounce across the screen just to grab you and swallow you whole.

 
AtomicShroom

AtomicShroom

Tools & Automation
Verified
Oct 28, 2017
3,075
Yep. Same as you OP. Especially worse if it's underwater.

I used to be absolutely terrified about this fish in Mario 64. It still gives me the creeps today:

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And then there's this asshole:
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Although that one was slightly less bad since it didn't just eat you, it took some health and you usually needed many hits to be killed, but still it was hard to outrun.
 
eraFROMAN

eraFROMAN

One Winged Slayer
Member
Mar 12, 2019
2,877
AtomicShroom said:
Yep. Same as you OP. Especially worse if it's underwater.

I used to be absolutely terrified about this fish in Mario 64. It still gives me the creeps today:

pez-mario-64-miedo.png


And then there's this asshole:
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Although that one was slightly less bad since it didn't just eat you, it took some health and you usually needed many hits to be killed, but still it was hard to outrun.
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Came to post exactly this.
 
balohna

balohna

Member
Nov 1, 2017
4,154
I'm more scared of big, imposing, unstoppable enemies. I was scared by the Big Boo in Super Mario World as a kid, and even now I find playing something like Dark Souls takes real bravery, just based on how uncaring and deadly the world is. Especially any humanoid enemy that's significantly larger than my character.
 

Fredrik

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,003
Getting attacked by a horde of smaller creatures gets me to try pushing myself through the back of the sofa in panic :P

I think it has to do with my fear of ants, I fell into an anthill as a kid and got ants e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e, had to strip down completely and pick the monsters from my body :s
 
Snormy

Snormy

I'll think about it
On Break
Oct 25, 2017
5,114
Morizora's Forest
Chance Hale said:
Those are terrifying until you actually fall in their mouth and get spun around in circles like a toilet and it's super goofy looking.
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I've thankfully never fallen into their mouths. I mostly projectile or fight them with a long sharp stick. I'll keep this in mind next time I replay though, maybe it will make these things less unsettling.
 
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