For real, though, a toggle for menu jumpscares
I have PTSD from a childhood of emotional abuse. When things go from 0 to 100% threat in an instant, with little to no warning, I get panic attacks. It doesn't matter if I know it's coming, it doesn't matter if I've seen it already. Every time, it's a gut-punch that throws me back to a dark place.
In a match is one thing; the context there is that the threat is already high, a Shape or Ghost Face surprise attack is part of the package. The threat jump is unpleasant, but accounted for. In most other situations, DBD is actually very good about communication and warning while still being very unsettling. But in the menus? During matchmaking? The safe downtime in menus between matches serves an important purpose for pacing and unwinding from the stress of a match, and the Onryo's jumpscares (and any others that might come down the line) violate that severely.
We can go around and around the table on how jumpscares fit into horror as a genre, how breaking the illusion of safety is essential to the brand of horror, but I'm not here on those grounds. This is just about health, both mental and physical, and how interacting with a product affects us.
I've barely been able to touch the game for months since Sadako Rising came out. I regret buying it. And knowing that the devs are willing to push a personal button that triggers my PTSD so badly has completely chilled so much of my desire to play.
Please, please, please let there be a toggle option to disable jumpscares in menus.
Comments
So Meyers or ghost face jump scaring you isn't a problem because it's expected.
Yet a canned animation with a set interval does bother you...... For reasons? I don't get it.
My wife also has issues with hypervigilance. The way that she gets around the jumpscare with Onryo is turning her around. Before Onryo does the jumpscare, her model turns around and faces the player and there's an audio cue warning, so you can just away for a moment. Another thing you can do is click Customize, click one of her charms to pull up the hook, then click her bloodweb and it respawns her crawling out of the web, which resets the jumpscare timer. It only happens like once every minute and a half or so. It was reduced in frequency seriously since the PTB. If this particular jumpscare has prevented you from playing the game for months, then you probably didn't know that the interval timing was changed and reduced drastically. The Onryo jumpscare is far more predictable than a random human player running Myers or Ghostface. I also hope that with time and therapy your problems improve, mental health is important and I recognize the struggle is real.
Also, it only does the jumpscare outside of matchmaking while in a screen where she is visible. When you hit Ready, you can go to Customize, click on a charm, and just see the hook while waiting. The moment you get put into a lobby with people, there's no chance of jumpscare.