I don't know how to continue with the outlast Trials.

Hey, this is a bit personal and quite lengthy. English isn't my first language and therefore the writing and spelling might seem Off. Sorry in advance.

For context: It was quite random how I got into the first Outlast game. It was on a 90% sale on PlayStation, so I thought, “No risk, no fun.”

Although I am a huge fan of the horror genre, horror games are relatively new to me. To avoid experiencing it alone, I invited my twin sister to play with me. (basically just watching me suffer.)

Before we realized it, we became obsessed and played both Outlast 1 and Outlast 2. Now that we had completed both games, only the Outlast Trials were left to play.

At first, I was really excited! I knew that you could play with friends, but I didn’t realize the game was primarily designed for multiplayer gameplay. I’ve heard that it’s possible to tackle the Trials solo, but they are significantly more challenging on your own.

Something about this situation really bothers me. I can't play with my sister because there is no split-screen option available. I do have friends I could potentially play with, but I'm unsure if their PCs can handle the game. I can’t really expect them to spend €36.99 for me, just so I won’t have to play alone. Playing with friends would also take away some of the special feeling I have when I play alone with my twin sister.

I want to clarify that I do (for the most part) enjoy online games! However, the previous titles were typical solo first-person survival horror. The sudden shift to a multiplayer format just seems frustrating to me. The games were already challenging, but the Trials seem even more difficult now that they are designed for multiplayer experience.

I know that you can join online groups of strangers during the trials if you have no one to play with, but I’m not sure if I want to do that. I’ve already encountered some pretty sexist behavior and borderline sexual harassment while playing online games like Red Dead Redemption 2 as a woman. I'm not eager to go through those experiences again, especially considering I've already dealt with enough harassment in real life.

I’m really torn What to do. Am I overthinking this? Should I simply play the Trials alone despite the difficulty? Should I ask my friends if they could get the game? Or should I give the online group thing a try? Or are there other options I’m not aware of?

Any Help or advice would be very much appreciated!

Ps: Thank you everyone for your advice! I definitely feel more at ease. I was definitely overthinking things again. I just want to have a fun time getting scared and laughing hard when my sister gets scared too hehe.

UPDATE: I brought my best friend the game and we had a great time! We already finished all the trials and I think we’ll keep that up.