Horizon Forbidden West Adds Thalassophobia Mode, Making Its Deep Waters Less Foreboding

That's cool. Even though I'm not plagued with this particular phobia I do find underwater gameplay mostly unfun if not down right anxiety inducing. Might give this a try depending on how much sea exploration is expected of me in the expansion.

I have thalassophobia but honestly I find underwater sections in games exhilarating. Instantly turns it into a horror experience. I've never been so terrified as when I was playing Subnautica ❤️

As a side note (which may be unpopular): I can understand why these modes are included but I'd never recommend people to use them, especially when it comes to things like spiders. Irrational fears should be confronted and entertainment media like games are a great place to do it. Of course people should play how they want to but something about it just irks me.

Should games omit parts of their intended creative vision? You could say the same for difficulty, like Elden Ring, which I personally don't have as much of an issue with - make games accessible to more people... While I do think there's a big distinction between the two, maybe I have some thinking to do 🤔

Edit: I guess the key difference is that curable, irrational fears aren't the same as disabilities that hinder you or physically prevent you from playing a game. I also couldn't agree with pandering to these fears as this can cause them to transfer to others. I 'caught' arachnophobia from my sister years ago. Through exposure I'm fine now - I'm a proud owner of 6 tarantulas 💕 I'm only really writing all this waffle because this article comes across as a bit 'enable-y' to me.

I have thalassophobia, don't remember having difficulty playing horizon. But games like Outer Wilds scare the ***** out of me.

@dnifnv83 yes! All that deep space was horrible. And that water planet 😭

The Sonic underwater sections are completely to blame for the dread I feel any time I start to virtually run out of air. Each one was like a tiny scene of horror, with the bell tolling, the music speeding up, and that last burst of bubbles escaping from the mouth of a soon to be dead hedgehog.

That being said, go get the mask and the underwater sections become some of the most beautiful parts of HFW.

Feels very unnecessary, it's a game, they aren't there.

It’s a really interesting concept to design accessibility functions for things like phobias, they’re incredibly debilitating but often aren’t given the time of day. Games these days, especially open world ones, cover so many different bases that they’re bound to contain one or two elements like this that can really put a player off. On the phobia front, I’m an absolute mess in general. Complete irrational fear of lightning, I know that the chances of it hitting me are incredibly slim but I will avoid going outside if there’s lightning as much as I physically can. Tbh, I do that during Guy Fawkes as well, being outside with the fireworks and the smell and the noise makes me want to lie in a dark room in the foetal position. I’m not entirely sure how I function. I had a teacher in high school who was deathly afraid of buttons, that’s the craziest I’ve seen.

And that's cool, that's cool.... but it sounds to me they decided to address a game design issue and package it as an accessibility.
I am not saying that this option will not be welcomed by thalassophobia sufferers, just need to ask the devs: what about other phobias dudes? Fear of heights? Fear of plant life?
It could be my ignorance speaking, man, but as someone already said before, there's a potential of confronting irrational fears in a uniquely safe environments that are video games.
Now, if this was a 1st person game, or a 1st person game in VR... then, ok, I would've absolutely agreed, that deal is real for your subconscious brain, and it is impossible to avoid being on the edge of losing your mind... so there, such options should be a must for any dev, but here, you are literally controlling an avatar which is clearly not you, c'mon dudes & dudettes, get a grip.

@nessisonett yeah I don't have any phobias really... Public speaking maybe. Though fwiw lightning is a little scary. But all my hangups are really anxiety and stress related. Like your fireworks scenario, I can totally relate but it's not out of fear but more an extreme discomfort. Same goes with crowds in general. Like I won't go shopping any time but the early morning for this reason.

Buttons though, that's a new one. My daughter has cynophobia which I imagine must really suck because dogs are the most revered creature in America so that basically means no one will ever be the least bit sympathetic about it.

The only game where a massive body of water terrifies me is Subnautica. And that's mainly because it's in first-person and the aliens in the game are uglier then sin lmao.

I think me not being able to swim makes it worse lol.

I have this really bad. Never even knew it had a name haha

I think I might have developed some mild symptoms of thalassophobia in recent years. I was just playing the Shadow of the Colossus remake, and a couple of the colossus fights — the ones that involved them emerging out of the water — made me feel pretty uneasy.

The first time I noticed this uneasiness was when I watched Marvel’s Eternals (anyone who’s seen the movie will know what I’m referring to). It seems like a more specific version of the phobia, where I mostly just fear large, threatening creatures underwater.

Luckily, I was able to keep playing SotC without too much psychological damage. So I should be fine when I get around to playing Horizon. If it does end up bothering me, this new accessibility feature might help.

What I really need is a feature that removes bugs from games. (No, I don’t mean the glitches in games — though it would be nice not to have those in games either.) I’m strangely not too bad with spiders — I don’t like them, but they disturb me less than many insects and other bug-like critters.

It might be the main reason I haven’t played Hollow Knight yet. I think removing the bugs from that game might make it difficult to play though, being unable to see the player-character or NPCs. 😆

fear of bugs or spiders is no joke that is for sure, videogame or real life i'm running for the hills can't stand the sight of them so i sympathize with peoples fear of deep water

I have a fear of titanium-carbon fiber crocodiles.. Can they remove them plz?

@Nepp67 come on dude. there's such a thing as immersion and immersion when you really into it could be so powerful it can make you feel like you're there. I don't have a fear of water(actually find it super cool) but I do of heights and a certain ride inside of forbidden west makes me feel like i'm actually high up and I get the same feeling I would in real life.

I’m not surprised at all. I‘ve only played HZD, not HFW, but they seem to be pretty the same regarding the general tone and gameplay. HZD was a lukewarm experience in every aspect to me, and the new option helps to keep BS lukewarm as well.

@TheDudeElDuderino nah bro...no matter how you try to put it...the character you are controlling is still you and still make you feel like you're there. I hate first person games and they make me feel nothing but nauseous as opposed to that. you need to get a grip and learn there's different perspectives for everybody

@Impossibilium "It seems like a more specific version of the phobia, where I mostly just fear large, threatening creatures underwater." that's what i'm speculating why they are adding this setting for burning shores. should be interesting for sure

As someone who played Ecco the Dolphin on the Megadrive without actually going more than five feet below surface level this is most welcome! Will it apply to just the dlc maps or the whole game?

I wouldn’t say I had a phobia of water but I would never go in the sea or a lake or anything irl.

The water sections in HFW didn’t bother me but I remember playing Stranded Deep and feeling really uneasy when you have to dive down to the wrecks for supplies. The sea monster fights were pretty nerve-racking too. The feeling of relief when you make it it dry land 🙏 I really enjoyed Stranded Deep though - it’s one of those games I’ll never forget.

Tchia had a deep ocean wreck too and when I was about half-way down I thought ‘I don’t like this’. Maybe I do have a phobia 😂

@Nepp67 100% agree

@themightyant Noooooo. That **** was horrible. What an amazing game though - which I still haven't completed due to the fear 😂

Wow, not sure how anyone can be against an accessibility option but here we are.

@Loamy with respect, phobias are a form of mental illness and depending on their severity they may not be something you can just will yourself out of anymore than anorexia or schizophrenia. We're talking about debilitating fears for some people. Not sure why so many users are rushing to minimize that.

@zupertramp You have seriously misunderstood me. I'm not at all against the addition of these options. I suffer from a couple phobias, badly, and a few mental health issues that are pretty serious. I am sharing my opinion to offer encouragement and an option to possibly help sufferers of phobias.

My recommendation to phobia sufferers is to try and not use these mode to use the game as an easier approach to exposure. They give people the physical space between them and the fear, which is easier to confront. If you really can't do it or don't have the energy that day then by all means use modes like these. But I personally wouldn't be encouraging people to use these constantly.

With sincere respect to you, it's weird that people seem to have an issue with opening a discussion into a sensitive subject and encouraging active confrontation of the problem. There's a lot of knee-jerk reactions on the internet that cause people to think in a black & white and see any form of nuance as an 'attack' on their opinion of the subject.

I hope this clears things up 👍 I'm honestly not being dismissive of the subject or any rebuttal to my points. I'm extremely supportive of helping those with any mental health issues, especially considering I'm one of them.

@Loamy I think we're definitely in some agree to disagree territory on how one approaches management of a mental illness but I do definitely appreciate the additional context. Reading all of the comments together, with all of the various levels of dismissal, I probably mistakenly lumped yours into that category.

Aaaand, having read up on phobias a little just now (and thus clearly being an expert 😋) apparently simple phobias are treated by way of the desensitization you are describing. So maybe there's less agreeing to disagree after all but I guess I am somewhat uncomfortable advising someone to kind of go half-cocked facing their fears without maybe some additional professional guidance.

I'm also realizing after reading up on this that maybe what I describe as something that causes extreme anxiety is, in fact, a phobia. So how about that.

@zupertramp "something that causes extreme anxiety is, in fact, a phobia. " Indeed. I have GAD and it at one point turned into agoraphobia. The treatments for such anxieties/phobias is to A, see a professional to have CBT therapy (the only 100% proven therapy method for most) and B, self-exposure to your fears through small steps. These can be up to you and done at your own pace.

For phobias such as thalassophobia arachnophobia, it's been shown that films, and gaming in particular, have shown to be one of the best/easiest methods of this self-exposure. So I personally encourage this method when available.

My comment about the article being "enable-y" is more directed at the choice of words. To me it seems it's almost encouraging avoidance rather than inviting people to discuss their phobias and therefore helping people try new methods to deal with them. Maybe I'm wrong on that front. The writer of the article is welcome to correct me on that or elaborate.

I agree that people shouldn't go "half-cocked" into the experience. Pre-game warnings are extremely helpful for people to prepare for the events. For children (or adults) it's best to get some information and education beforehand so you know what it is you're facing.

Respectful discussion. Thank you 👍

@middyone And once again, it's a video game. I have a fear of heights but I know what's real and what isn't.

@Nepp67 well duh sir. we all know it's video game but it sounds like you don't know what immersion is. look it up and then come back here...I can't take you seriously until you do. I feel bad for people like you that can't get sucked into a game...that's one of the best things about games and with such high fidelity realistic games.

@middyone I'm very aware of what immersion is smart one and I do get immersed in my games but I can still tell that it is a video game and not real.

@Nepp67 you get immersed but also be thinking it's not real? make it make sense

I have that. It took me ages to build up to going in the sea even in AC Odyssey and I still always felt really unsettled. In Tchia it was pretty bad too but they make it artificially bright under the sea, like this mode does. Even then, that thing where you're in fairly shallow water and then the floor just steeply declines into a dark abyss all of a sudden really freaked me out. WoW does that too and I'd always try to stay far away from the drop.

@Nepp67 If it's a legit phobia, even just the idea in your imagination gets to you; you get sweaty palms, a raised heartrate etc. If just the idea can create physical symptoms, seeing a convincing representation in front of you is obviously even worse.

@middyone You're having a very tough time understanding so I'm just gonna stop chattin with ya, bye!

@Matroska That may be, but even then I still think you should try to play the game and face your fears with it and realize it's not real, but of course it's just a game so maybe I shouldn't be delving too deep into it.

I have a fear of deep water in real life but it doesn't really bother me in games too much until my character starts drowning lol.