I agree there’s a miss-match between the purported story and the tone as conveyed in art-work. I don’t think we need to or should go full Warhammer grim-dark but they need to tune the art a bit more to suit some of the story. Not as much as some people seem to want as WoW has always had a cartoony style but well in BC we did have a literal road paved with draenei victims of a mass murder and ritual sacrifice. A bit more of that in some areas that it makes sense for.
1 Like
I have multiple Diablo variations if I need dark and gritty. WOW never has been dark or gritty.
1 Like
Don’t go play a t rated game then silly
3 Likes
The scariest part of silent hill 2’s remake for me for example has no blood in it.
They made the walls fleshy for one encounter. And the walls could breathe. That gave me such a “EUGH!!!” when I saw it the first time.
Blood is fun but its also not really that needed for horror.
2 Likes
Agreeing with Jinx here because I think that Azj-Kahet is a subversion of the trope very hard. The last time we saw Nerubians they were undead monsters of the Lich King, a fallen kingdom. Plus we’re used to seeing “big spider = scary bad kill kill kill” and we are now faced with people who LOOK like our enemies but are actually our allies. More than that, they have thoughts and feelings and art and culture, and despite all of that they’re willing to follow an evil and corrupted leader.
It’s almost like Blizzard is trying to make a statement here. 
I think they’re trying to show that ordinary and “good” people can be part of the “bad guys” without realizing it. They think they’re doing right but they’re being deceived by the propaganda of their leader. The people are also, tellingly, not our enemy. Just the leadership is the problem.
2 Likes
Some (lol, who am I kidding, many) liminal spaces can be downright spooky to me, especially when they’re found in a busy city but you don’t see anyone around
1 Like
Oh its even worse if the game does a lil trolling and messes with you with audio
That scream in the bathroom made me jump because I had headphones on
You ever panic fire a shotgun in a video game? I was doing that because I had that out instead of the pipe lol
4 Likes
Ah. Yes. Them.
Regrettably the bulk of the audience, and I’m pretty sure this is particularly true in WoW’s case where players generally don’t care for the narrative; TWW trying to change the tune doesn’t mean they’ve undone two decades of ham-fisted & “rule of cool” writing.
I was just saying the audience existed and it’s a substantial audience… but yeah, they aren’t easy-to-please cash cows. Almost by definition, they’re looking more into the details and expecting the story to deliver. If it goes wrong or fails to meet their (higher) expectations, they will tell you about it.
At the same time… deliver something great, and their praise is effusive.
While I’m not always a fan of the gratuitous stuff… well, I won’t deny it can be entertaining. But just because the visuals are adult, that doesn’t mean they’re mature. But if you know you’re reveling in the absurdity and aren’t trying to pass it off as being serious… go for it and have fun with it.
Meaningful conversations & dialogue are often what makes for more mature storytelling, not the visuals.
When I first played RE2 Remake I went in with an attitude of “I’m sure they give more than enough ammo and I’m above average at shooters, so I’ll just rely on my reflexes and accuracy” and ended up wasting a bunch of ammo on corpses that were used as jump scares and not proper zombies.
Silent Hill 2 was an absolute master class in horror sound design though. I didn’t do any panic firing but both baking footsteps into the ambient sound and randomly playing something that feels like it ought to be combat music kind of messed with me.
2 Likes
SH2 Remake got me to startle fire at just noise twice. Once for the bathroom scare. And the other was after the first Pyramidhead fight. That noise you hear as you’re walking under that tunnel when you’re on your way to see Maria.
The sound design is just so good at keeping you on edge even for the quiet bits
There is a lot of gritty darkness in the quest text, if you are someone who likes to read that sort of thing
1 Like
I think the not-too-dark lighting is a very common trade off in games. Exchanging some realistics for playability. Not everyone’s monitor is good enough to show dark scenes.
If you would like a realistic darkness, checkout the ink potion purchased from a darkmoon NPC.
Still 
agree. It’s why I’m loving watching Arcane right now and imagining what Riot’s MMO will look like.
Aside from grim-dark being overly romanticized by those don’t understand what it means.
WoW is more cosmic horror. Which there is plenty of if you’re paying attention to the quest dialogue.
Previously WoW’s biggest problem has always been resolving the void threats in one-and-done patches. Small build ups in the backround and by the time they show themselves it’s already taken care of.
1 Like
Not for people who actually read the quests and lore and especially for those who think about the logical implications.
If all one does is watch the flashy combat animations while listening to boss lines (which are all but impossible when everyone has cheap auras and DBM constantly barraging you with their own sound and visual blips) and pans around at their surroundings then sure it’s easy to pass WoW off as some cartoony wonderland.
If anything, WoW has let itself be more “dark” from expansion to expansion with maybe DF being more of a break of it for what an RPG would call a “beach episode” (dialing things back letting the characters have some rest and downtime so deeper plot narratives can come to fruition as well as allowing for some passing of canonical time) but even the early days of BC, Wrath, and Cata all had “dark” stuff happening at and certainly below the surface levels (figuratively and literally).
But most aren’t going to see/accept it because reading quests are for “losers” when the bare minimum to play the game is right in your face.
1 Like
Yes, in Doom…
Regarding discussion of the rating… Crusader Kings 2 is rated T-for-Teen.
The stories I could tell of things I’ve done in THAT game…
1 Like
I am wondering if you will feel the same when you’re done.
this game just desperately needs better story telling lol like so bad and please more horde presence
1 Like
There’s enough grimdark / edge in the real world. If I want that in my games, I’ll play a soulslike or survival horror or something.