I can't play horror games anymore as I haven't found any in recent years to be scary. All they do is frustrate me. Stealth games especially - because you just have to wait and wait and learn the movement pattern of the enemies etc. Even when you are chased - I don't find it thrilling or scary. It's just frustrating and tedious.
Tried Resident Evil 7 a few months back and I found it to be nothing short of ridiculous. Sure it looked nice on Ultra at 1440P but it had no pacing. Within 30 mins you've had your hand cut off. I mean what the hell is that? Then you find yourself shooting enemies in the head again, and again and again. They're still not dead? Why have a gun if it's like trying to kill a grizzly bear with a BB gun?
A bit like Outlast - the first 20 mins the idea of being unarmed is quite a nice novelty. Then after the 30th time running down a corridor, you begin to question what the point is. Then the way the game ends made your entire characters narrative null and void.
Ed
Try looking in other places.
I had the same experience with horror games years ago until I realized there were more of them out there than just the tiny few that everyone has heard of.
As with most AAA games, the really big ones, like the ones being discussed here, just sort of pander to the "base" level of content... AKA, whatever Corporate thinks will sell. Which typically means big monsters (who take many hits to kill, AKA the Jason Voorhees school of enemy design because "tough to put down" is supposedly scary somehow), big guns (which wont do much damage to the afore-mentioned Jasons) shoehorned "stealth" at times (with enemies that have the vision range of a dead roach, usually), and silly amounts of blood. Doesnt mean those games are BAD, I can see why people like RE7 and the like... but for those whose idea of a horror game ISNT "well it's like Resident Evil" you just arent going to find what you're looking for in there.
If you want a really creative, freaky experience... you're gonna have to look elsewhere for that. I keep telling people this, nobody ever listens, but dagnabit I'm saying it anyway.
Seriously though there are SO FREAKING MANY horror games out there and they can get real darned creative. It just depends on what specifically you're after, in terms of gameplay, narrative, and also the style of horror that it goes for.
As it is, play enough of the horror games out there and I think you're going to find that being unarmed is NOT a novelty, considering the sheer number of horror games that do this. And even in ones where you do get a weapon, that doesnt necessarily mean it's a good idea to USE it. Or that you'll have it for that long.
Also if you think the hand thing in RE7 is silly, well... I'll just say, RE8 gets way more silly.
The other option is try a horror game in VR, that's also a thing. But that can be a bit TOO intense.
