MY METHYLPHENIDATE (adhd meds) INFUSED RAMBLINGS ABOUT THE HORROR ELEMENTS IN GARTEN OF BANBAN

context; i did not play garten of banban. i do not plan on playing it within the foreseeable future. i have seen one markiplier gameplay video on garten of banban 1 a few weeks ago. my special interest is video game history, a sub-interest of that is the history of horror games. i have a mild interest in psychology and the inner workings of the human mind, as well as fictional media in general (books, films, games in general) which further feed my fascination with the horror genre. english is not my first language. i typed all this out on my phone into a discord message within about an hour or less.

Q: "what are the best [horror] parts of garten of banban" 

A: well i've only seen markiplier play banban 1, which was a while ago, so i can't say much but it's from what i've seen a typical mascot survival horror game. it's not bad per se, but the tropes in it are massively overused and thus less scary due to the oversaturation of such games on the market. regardless, if it had been released at an earlier date (before mascot horror was overhyped like that), i'm sure it would have gained a cult following since its style is not that of a classic survival horror game at all. 

it takes place in a kindergarten and you have to escape the "mascots" (for a lack of a better word, i don't know what they're actually called). neither are generally perceived as scary. simple puzzles (i.e. the the drone and buttons) as well as the player's curiosity provide an incentive to explore. both puzzles and exploration are, beside getting chased by monsters, a common and important trait in survival horror games. 

its eerieness is built upon its simplicity. illustrations of the mascots are low on detail, there is (to my knowledge) no soundtrack at all (or there is and i forgot) which creates a familiar, yet so unknown atmosphere. the lack of windows and knowledge of how the player got inside the building leaves the player unable to tell how they got there, and where they may be, which contributes to the liminal effect, as well as to the fear of what may be lurking around the next corner. the surge in popularity of liminal spaces is built upon this effect. though fascinating, as mentioned before, since garten of banban was not innovative in using it, it becomes rather bland if the player is familiar with it. regardless, it is an effective tool in building suspension.

the story is told through clues and details surrounding the player. there are no cutscenes and only few bits of text providing context. while this is likely a result of a lack of budget and therefore an inability to make high-quality and convincing cutscenes, helps build more tension as it leaves the player wondering about what little context there is. the aforementioned lack of knowledge about how and why they got here, and where "here" even is, contributes to this, too.  

unlike some other survival horror games, it isn't quickly paced in its "chase" sequences. the mascots follow the player slowly, with an unblinking gaze fixed upon them. although slow, escape is still challenging and tense. details around the player, for example the bird's beak and claw marks in the pit the player has to drop them into, keep the suspension even after the game is finished, the uncertainty of the consequences remaining. is it not the first time someone has tried to kill it? was it the last? will it come back? and if it does, would it forget the player's attempt in eliminating it?

garten of banban's mechanics are certainly not new, and it's clear that this game wasn't a high-budget or high-effort game. its popularity stems from it's memeability rather than its attempts to instill fear into the player's mind, yet it still works. it is a legitimate horror game, if bland and not innovative at all, yet what it does, it does right. i mean, it scared mark when he played it. and yet, there's no gore or monsters ripping off your heads or serial killers. just an ugly ass pink bird walking after you.