The thing is that pretty much abstract sounds don't really convey much of anything.
Well, they don't convey a specific meaning, no, but the beauty of those sounds in SS1 is that pretty much any sound you hear is bad news, and you have no way to make sense of them. Lets your imagination do the work as to what might be making a specific sound and what that sound even
is and what the fuck is going on with the enemy making it. It holds up a lot better over time than the (very neat, well written) few lines the hybrids keep repeating. Enemies in SS2 are conceptually interesting, but the weirdness of SS1 I find creepier.
I'd call that inferior audio system. Good audio lets you judge direction from which a sound is coming quite precisely.
I agree, it's technically inferior, and not at all realistic. Just saying that the uncertainty and 'wrongness' (ie, your brain understands this isn't how sound works and doesn't like it) added to the odd vibe.
SS1 music never clicked with me. It just doesn't work together with the in-game situation of being alone with an army of murderbots and bloodthirsty mutants in a corpse-littered station governed by an insane AI. It doesn't help create the atmosphere.
I like the music in both games, but you could say the same for a lot of the music in SS2, if you're not into the beat-heavy electronic music. I was referring to the more abstract/ambient moments in both soundtracks, which in SS2 are a lot more pretty than the grating noises of SS1. Again, that feeling of hostility is reinforced.
There is no such horrible resource attrition in SS1
Idk if I'm just super conservative with how I spend resources in games, but come on, SS2 is pretty much a cakewalk in this regard as well once you get a feel for the melee.
Not quoting your other point since I don't really disagree with most of them and think that some of them are just completely subjective and down to our personal experiences with the games. I wasn't arguing that SS1 is
objectively better at horror than SS2, just that the more abstract aspects (which you see as a detriment, and that's totally fair) creeped me out more than the much more understandable SS2. The sequel may be the better thought out game with more horrific (often tragic) undertones, and the horror feel is a much more clear goal that has been carefully considered and mostly achieved, but I find myself filling the blanks in more with the first game, and it ends up a creepier experience for me. It's an example of abstractness and primitive technology working to create a weird alien feeling. Kinda like how some people find Silent Hill 1 the scariest in the series because of the strange low-poly graphics.
Also, they completely ruined SHODAN in SS2, turning it into little more than a glorified quest compass whereas in the first it was truly menacing, frequently taunting and setting traps for the player.
And yeah, SHODAN was imo better written in the first one. The way she actively antagonizes the player is wonderful, and, again, gives this feeling that you are stuck inside the belly of your enemy (yeah yeah, this literally happens towards the end of SS2 as well, but you get what I'm saying).
