>>736231274
personally more than the water itself, drowning makes me a little anxious and that's mostly due to playing Rayman 2 on the N64 as a kid, because of that level in which you have to dive, follow a whale while getting the air bubbles it gives you, while piranhas try to pop them so you drown

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>>736231606
The one fear of water levels that made sense to me is the music to indicate you're drowning, Sonic 1's drowning theme is a noteworthy case.

>>736231274
>as a kid, I just saw them as "okay this is where the game is going to slog"
if that was your first thought, then you were probably too old to be playing bing bang wahoo

>>736231274
Sound design is the secret sauce to scary water levels. Sound design hard carries horror in general.

>>736231274
>What makes a water level scary?
Not managing to avoid drowning

>>736231274
The music getting frantic when you're about to die

>>736232108
maybe you should suck on my cock instead, faggot.

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>>736231274
Kid who was afraid of water levels in the late 90s/2000s here.

>drowning/a quick timer until death
>equiring you to dive really deep and around tight corridors.
>the abrupt shift in controls.
>large "fuck you" fish that you can only avoid, not fight
That combination made water levels stressful and scary for me.

I actually couldn't get through that eel boss in Super Mario Sunshine because it scared me so much.

>>736234194
requiring*

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>>736231274
>>736234194
No but fucking really. What the fuck was this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HZbUhrtAD0

>>736234194
I knew about the controls but seeing water levels as basically OG Resident Evil is kinda enlightening

>>736234428
>bing bing wah-
>suddenly shadow of the colossus but underwater

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I think the fish on Tiny Huge Island scared me more than anything.

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>>736237936
For me it was this motherfucker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMAwqTbo-W4

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>>736237936
bro stop im legit quaking in fear

My first exposure to a water level was DKC, so I always associate them as relaxing and deeply reflective.
Aquatic Ambience helps me fall asleep.

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>>736237936
This and the terrible two of the PS2

>>736231274
>okay this is where the game is going to slog
that's why they were scary. You knew the game you were enjoying was about to be ruined

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>>736231274
the early version looked genuinely spooky, it's so much bigger in scale it looks kino

>>736237985
I didn't mind him as much given I could lure him to the shore and directly shit eggs on him.