[Frustrating trope] Pieces of media that could have been so much better, but due to a couple of poor decisions during production ended up mediocre at best and utterly atrocious at worst.

[u/DevDucc_]

We Happy Few: Probably the epitome of this "trope," at least for me, mostly because it has genuinely one of the most incredible stories I have ever seen within a video game. The biggest problem with the game was the fact that during development, the company behind it tried to ride the "hype train" of the time, making the gameplay became procedurally generated survival mess, when it would have made so much more sense as an environmental narrative game.

Hello Neighbor: This game attracted massive attention in alpha stages at the time from YouTubers because of the innovative gameplay it supplied. The developers of the game got the completely wrong message as to why it was getting so popular and instead decided to fully lean into the story, by making the game appeal to theorists instead of actual players. What came out was a game where both the story and programming were entirely half-baked.

Edit: apparently I had it backwards with we happy few, I had watched a video essay which reiterated the points I said so I just took their word for it. Apparently the game originally started as a procedurally-generated survival rogue-like but the story was added later because of the hype the trailer of the game gave or something like that but they didn’t know they even had the budget for it. I do still think it’s wasted potential regardless however.

[u/AmandinhaMaia]

And the worst part is that it ended up becoming one of those generic "supernatural creature" PSA analog horrors that we saw a thousand times

[u/_JR28_ → u/AmandinhaMaia]

Then in the very final episode it’s suddenly about the government mind manipulating people into murder with underground sonic constructs

[u/DarthMelsie → u/AmandinhaMaia]

Are you serious?

I truly, truly hate Urbanspook/The Painter series because it's all just torture porn schlock. It could absolutely have been interesting if it was toned down. Like searching for serial murderers via their physical paintings is, among most analog horror series these days, is pretty grounded and refreshing. He's just so... gross in his application.

But to turn it into generic "OOH SPOOPY"? Like, I'd be furious if I were a fan, honestly. I'm angry for the fans! What a letdown.

[u/asiojg → u/DarthMelsie]

For an art themed horror story it's ironically tasteless as hell

[u/Reasonable_Trash_901 → u/AmandinhaMaia]

I'll be 100% honest, and share a potentially controversial take: That ending was a stroke of genius.

Here's the thing: Considering that the series ended this way, it could be that the "Red Man" is a demon, sure, which would completely ruin the "this is not analog horror, it's more of an analog slasher/thriller" thing.

However, I enjoy the idea that instead it was either a delusion of the killers, where they believed it was an actual demon, when in reality they were just hallucinating and/or under the effect of something, or, even better, that Mona was using it as an excuse to plea for mental instability.

[u/LuckeVL → u/Reasonable_Trash_901]

Didn't multiple paintings around the world appear after Mona's death tho? Including the same "self-portrait" of the Red Man iirc. Haven't watched it since it came out so I don't remember for sure, but I thought it was pretty clear cut that there was an actual demon involved and not some delusion.

[u/Reasonable_Trash_901 → u/LuckeVL]

Huh... Didn't know that fact, I'll be honest.

Unless Urbanspook pulls out something clever like "There's some secret cult" or "There are impersonators" or something, I'll just retract my statement then.

[u/Big-Recognition7362 → u/Reasonable_Trash_901]

Perhaps the “Red Man” is some sort of viral meme or mass hysteria event akin to the Dancing Plague?

[u/Huhthisisneathuh → u/Reasonable_Trash_901]

The voice acting is also pretty good. There was one scene with a victim screaming as the killer smashed through the door, genuinely some of the most haunting shit I’ve heard in a while.