Isolation can add a distinct and valuable flavor of surrealism.
Isolation is important for introspection.
Isolation provides contrast to society.
This feature is for a solo agent. The main character can be periodically bumping into other characters, but is largely walking around unaccompanied.
A key part of this feature is having times to be alone with one’s own thoughts.
The main character is not a part of some larger social system.
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Dark City takes place in a city, but much of the time its residents slumber.
Dark City strikes a fine balance between a city that feels both populated and deserted.
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Isolation takes place more often in the Cozy horror wilderness.
A key part of this feature is emphasizing subjective experience.
Companions provide sanity checks. Without that, extra doubt can be cast on the player’s perception.
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This distinction stands out in single-player vs. multiplayer games. It is far easier to employ Escher-like spatial tricks in a single player, because so many of those tricks are subjective and the effect is broken when there are multiple vantage points.
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Technically, The Witcher revolve around an isolated character, but I’m not tagging that inspiration with this feature because the aspects of isolation I am interested in here are generally not leveraged in those games.
The Witcher is left to his thoughts, but we rarely hear his thoughts unless he is talking to someone.
The Witcher’s experiences are rarely subjective.
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