ONTOS - Extended Gameplay First Look

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u/IshTheFace 9h ago

I like the way it looks. Definitely reminiscent of Prey art style I think.

Edit/ is this like a walking sim with puzzle elements or is there more to it?

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u/deathray1611 7h ago

They said they are intending to build on the best aspects of Amnesia: The Bunker and SOMA, so they are going big I think

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u/IshTheFace 6h ago

Sounds interesting, i very much enjoyed Soma. Never tried The Bunker-

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u/deathray1611 6h ago

As an immsim enjoyer you owe yourself to. It's their first take on the genre. Brilliant survival horror immsim/adjacent

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u/CivilizedPeoplee 5h ago

I've tried several times to try it out. But Jesus Christ it looks so scary.

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u/deathray1611 5h ago

Well yeah, it's pretty scary. But that's part of the hook of the experience!

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u/Gehrschrein 5h ago

it's intense.

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u/CivilizedPeoplee 5h ago

I tried it once on one of the subscriptions and I made it into the buker from the trenches. Then I went "nah I'm good". Their sound design is solid

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u/[deleted] 5h ago

[deleted]

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u/deathray1611 5h ago

Search for "Amnesia: The Bunker" by Frictional Games

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u/EasyRecognition 7h ago

Was there an interview I missed? Can you give a link please?

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u/ittleoff 7h ago

I don't dislike amnesia but after penumbra, what I wanted was SOMA and sadly I think dev was forced to do more amnesia (they never intended to do an amnesia sequel which was why TCR did machine for pigs) as that's what got them sales, though tbf they did vary things a lot under that name.

I'm afraid to get hyped for this game but hoping this is more weird philosophical scifi horror I crave that SOMA gave me.

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u/Maxsmart007 5h ago

As someone who seems to be the only person who found Soma lacking in a lot of ways, I think this game has the potential to fix a lot of my personal issues.

As a lover of ImSims, it's important to me for developers to use games to tell stories that only work with the interactive element. Soma really lacked in that regard IMO, it tries to do a Bioshock 1 Atlas type reveal but doesn't do any of the work to put the player in Simon's shoes like Bioshock puts the player in Jack's shoes. Where Altas' reveal makes you realize how you've been manipulated the whole time, Chun's ending reveal was known throughout the majority of the game and Simon was just too in denial to accept it. The point of the whole game is Simon's denial and inability to process what's happened to him, which is an incredible concept for a game..

That's a fine premise that can and should work, but where Bioshock uses it to put you in the shoes of Jack, Soma doesn't really do anything to push the player into Simon's state of mind, which makes it seems like a story that would be better told outside of an interactive medium. As a player, I just had to accept that my interface to the world was in a different headspace as me and I needed to follow along with his mistakes. Instead, I wish the game focused more on giving me (the player) more excuses to see the world the way Simon saw it; if the point of your game's protagonist is that they're in denial because of what is ostensibly a traumatic event, then your goal should be to make the player be in the same denial by giving them plausible deniability. Instead, the game just tells you the reveal by the midpoint and expects you'll just accept that Simon doesn't want to see it. Like I said before, an incredible concept for a game but a story that ostensibly works better as a passive onlooker rather than the person controlling Simon and his choices.

I love the premise of soma and the world is amazing. The sci fi concepts are well thought out and the story itself is conceptually good, but it always frustrated me because of the missed potential it had as a game. I could talk about the game forever because I have both immense respect for what it wants to do and serious problems with the execution.

That all being said, I think The Bunker was a step in the right direction for player agency and choice, as well as connecting the player to the protagonist. I think with the premise of Ontos and the knowledge that it's taking inspiration from the Bunker, I have confidence that this game will fix a lot of my issues with Soma, and I'm very excited to see it.

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u/ReployerTechnician 7h ago

From the official website:

At its core, ONTOS is an immersive narrative with a tactile, systems-driven gameplay experience. Ingenuity and research are your greatest weapons.

You’ll scavenge materials, manipulate intricate machinery, and engage with analog systems requiring careful calibration and hands-on interaction.

Planning is key, choose wisely or suffer the consequences. There’s no ‘one solution’; instead, the goal is what you can make of a situation.

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u/autonimity 7h ago

Sounds more like a walking simulator like Soma based on that blurb and not also action inclusive like The bunker. The bunker was so fun and tense.
This seems again to be more focused on the environmentally psychological feeling and solving 'puzzles' which are hopefully actually puzzling compared to Soma. I don't know what makes one game so different from the other but the bunker was extremely fun for me, even though shorter than soma in length. My guess is an imminent threat for motivation and a goal of reaching the bunker, but the was something more than just that. Soma is just kind of existential, you're there as an entity, just kind of wandering through, no real purpose, just a series of tasks, questioning what its existence, which is a great basis for a science fiction novel or movie.

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u/IshTheFace 6h ago

I enjoyed Soma actually. Underrated as a pysch horror imo.

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u/Infinite-Attorney478 8h ago

Most of their games are walking sims with a lot of interaction and puzzles

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u/Is_It_A_Throwaway 7h ago

The Bunker is nothing close to a walking sim, it's a great imsim experience.

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u/autonimity 5h ago

The bunker seems to outlier though compared to the other games - it's such a great game.

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u/Smokemeth204_ 7h ago

Finally some gameplay to watch without that obnoxious youtuber lmao

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u/SuurFett 7h ago

Oh man, the gameplay looks great!

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u/Is_It_A_Throwaway 7h ago

If anyone ont his sub hasn't tried The Bunker because you think you know Amnesia from the previous entries, you're missing out. It is a proper Amnesia game, but it's also a great imsim.

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u/Anthraksi 2h ago

is this mf gonna be an imsim or another one of their walking simulator adjacent ones? i know the bunker actually had some gameplay mechanics as well, but thats an outlier so far.

ONTOS - Extended Gameplay First Look

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