Talk:Dunes/@comment-33904873-20171208210055/@comment-34575811-20180203234803

If it helps, here's what I do to help me out with coping with the leviathans.

See, I'm one of those people who has a pretty strong fear of underwater nasties, to the point that I'm terrified just being in video game waters if I can't see the bottom. Even if it's completely benign. Like the Loki Bay water in Super Mario Sunshine... even after it's no longer poisoned, the deep dark blackness was just terrifying for me, and I couldn't stand to be in it. Heck, even the cartoony ocean of the Wind Waker was scary for me to swim in, and I'd just about have a heart attack every time I got knocked out of the boat.

Of course, Subnautica capitalizes on that kind of aqueous fear, and I think the leviathans (particularly the reapers) are the culmination of that emotional tension the game seeks to inspire.

And that's how I manage the fear, actually: just by recognizing that I'm not irrationally afraid of this terrifying thing. It's supposed to be scary. I dread having to confront and avoid leviathans, but it's not like I don't like the game; that dread and tension is the game. The leviathans are designed to be dreaded and avoided, and somehow that thought helps me push through that fear. I guess I was able to appreciate the experience itself much more once I realized that fear was exactly what the developers wanted me to experience.

That still doesn't make it pleasant for me, mind you... I still get super nervous in open waters in Subnautica even when in a biome that I know for fact has no open-water threats (like the Sparse Reef). But the idea that my intense fear of the leviathans is totally an intended part of the game really helps me push through the unpleasant emotions and enjoy the game as a whole. That may or may not help you out, but it sure improved my determination!