Horror games for the season (and beyond)

[Duraframe300]

Just because I posted about them today

Sweet Home - Nintendo Entertainment System



Dead of the Brain - PC-98



Of course both on emulator and they're both fan-translations.
(Apparently Dead of the Brain is fan-made up. Still recommend if you can play it in JAP, and while made up, the patch's fanfic story is enjoyable enough too).

 

[toughasnails]

Since others are recommending fan made stuff too, this is worth a look for those not allergic to the way old TR games control.

 

[Impressive Organ]

Killing Time is a shooter that I enjoy a lot despite some control issues. It doesn't cooperate well with a mouse, so I just play it keyboard only. But it has a nice 1920s haunted mansion setting, a pretty good soundtrack, and it all takes place within one large map that you unlock through exploration.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

Thief 1 has some great spooky levels and generally a gloomy dark atmosphere. I would even say that Thief 3 has a better atmosphere than most "horror" games and some nice missions like the ghost ship. The marine campaign of Aliens versus Predator from 1999 was also quite nerve wrecking when I played it for the first time. I never found FEAR to be a horror game. It is a great shooter, but the "little ugly japanese girl jumpscare" type of horror doesn't work for me. Another great game is Clive Barkers Undying which has been mentioned before. Call of Cthulhu : Dark Corners of the Earth game was also ok but not as good as Undying. Then theres Doom 3 and the Dead Space series, although those are certainly more action games with a slight touch of horror than anything else. Necrovision is also a shooter with some horror elements but not particularly good, only the first world war setting plus undead makes it stand out a bit.

 

[Ash]

for those not allergic to the way old TR games control.

Can we just call those for what they really are? Pick one: Learning deficient. Motor skill impaired. Or lacks an attention span.

As for Tomb Raider, and since Thief was mentioned which isn't horror, all the classic TR have spooky as fuck moments, but it's usually only a few levels. Not really enough to recommend. But when it is spooky it is really spooky, like so many other classic games that aren't horror yet have horror segments.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Killing Time is a shooter that I enjoy a lot despite some control issues. It doesn't cooperate well with a mouse, so I just play it keyboard only. But it has a nice 1920s haunted mansion setting, a pretty good soundtrack, and it all takes place within one large map that you unlock through exploration.

I thought I was the only one around here who played this. Its sort of like a first-person metroidvania. You have the usual door and key stuff, but they really put effort into the level design. Like the hunting lodge part, I can't put it quite right into words, but when I played it, I just thought that was one of the coolest things I had ever seen done. The outdoor levels in that game were just a cut above. And the mansion actually felt like a mansion, as opposed to most games where they feel like oversized houses. Not to mention the final boss was really cool, even if that factor wore off after a while.

 

[Puukko]

Playing through FEAR Extraction Point. It's very interesting, I didn't expect it to be this different to the base game. You can tell it's a different studio - the production quality isn't as even and there's some lack of polish, mostly in the audio department. Despite using the same VAs, the delivery is way more flat on basically everyone, to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were phoned in. Perhaps the voice direction was bad. Also, sometimes there's zero ambience which I don't remember happening in the base game, and due to the above audio issues I can't tell if it's because they got sloppy and forgot to add audio, or if they're trying to build tension.

Fettel also really really likes doing that 'menacing' walk where he looks constipated, and sometimes he does that right next to you or while well lit and it just looks dumb.

Where this expansion shines is the area variety and most importantly, the scares. The base game mostly had Alma appear and spook you, and outside that it rehashed the bloody hospital hallway scene.

XP... Well...



I actually didn't spot any of those apparitions before the scene. They've turned the spectacle up to 11. FEAR was pretty predictable in the style of its scares, but it kept the tension up by playing with your expectations for when they would happen. Here I'm definitely more on my toes because I don't know what it'll throw at me.

Later Alma shows up mid combat to kill the clones for you. That's also something I wish there had been more of, mixing the combat and horror together rather than keeping them separate. Having a typical shootout evolve into sudden horror where neither side knows what's happening is a missed opportunity.

 

[Freedos]

Song of horror. There are QTEs, but they don’t kill the game and I usually hate them with passion. Puzzles, atmosphere, the main enemy, locations...excellent.
Devotion. I don’t like games like Layers of Fear...but this game hits spots where others fail. Scary, visually gorgeous, with parts of good exploration and a great story.
Detention. Made by Devotion developers. Side scrolling adventure/survival horror game with good atmosphere and scares and, again, a great story.
Mundaun. It’s NOT a walking simulator. It’s a semiopen world survival horror game. With exploration, puzzles, a mini-atribute system, driving, enemies and even (weak) combat option. It’s not perfect (a little more polish would be better), but it’s a game with a lot of heart. The surreal atmosphere alone gets you in the game.

 

[Riskbreaker]

for those not allergic to the way old TR games control.

Can we just call those for what they really are? Pick one: Learning deficient. Motor skill impaired. Or lacks an attention span.

As for Tomb Raider, and since Thief was mentioned which isn't horror, all the classic TR have spooky as fuck moments, but it's usually only a few levels. Not really enough to recommend. But when it is spooky it is really spooky, like so many other classic games that aren't horror yet have horror segments.

Early TR, especially say when you first played TR1, had a specific effect that, while not outright horror, certainly wasn't too comfortable. At least it was so for me. You were pretty much feeling as an alien body in these cyclopean, cold ruins of another civilization. The feeling of isolation and the feeling that you are very much out of place and unwelcome.
Encountering human enemies was actually comforting.

 

[Sjukob]

Where this expansion shines is the area variety and most importantly, the scares.

And the combat. Extraction point encounters are way more challenging and engaging in comparison to the original campaign. In the expansion you are given way more grenades, heavy weapons and enemies to shoot.

 

[Terenty]

Alone in the Dark 2008 is great with a lot of cool mechanics and stuff you won't find in other games

 

[Wunderbar]

it's also janky, has a huge amount of stupid scripted setpieces, and controls like ass.

 

[Terenty]

Don't be a pleb, you can easily get used to controls, and i don't remember a lot of scripted sequences, only at the beginning mostly

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

for those not allergic to the way old TR games control.

Can we just call those for what they really are? Pick one: Learning deficient. Motor skill impaired. Or lacks an attention span.

As for Tomb Raider, and since Thief was mentioned which isn't horror, all the classic TR have spooky as fuck moments, but it's usually only a few levels. Not really enough to recommend. But when it is spooky it is really spooky, like so many other classic games that aren't horror yet have horror segments.

Early TR, especially say when you first played TR1, had a specific effect that, while not outright horror, certainly wasn't too comfortable. At least it was so for me. You were pretty much feeling as an alien body in these cyclopean, cold ruins of another civilization. The feeling of isolation and the feeling that you are very much out of place and unwelcome.
Encountering human enemies was actually comforting.

The last section definitely got into horror, since you're in some area that looks like innards. The draw distance is also a factor. Seeing a T-Rex in the distance isn't scary, seeing a T-Rex when its 10 feet away from you is, at least it was the first time I played it so long ago.

 

[Machocruz]

Sweet Home - Nintendo Entertainment System

This looks bangin', and I heard it's a legit good game. Looks like a perfect fit for my October 2D/adventure selection. And lately I've been wanting to get into an old, top down, console game, like Earthbound or ZAMN.

Anyone try this RE homage? Interesting in that you can choose between fixed camera angles or third person/over-the-shoulder. Looks better than Tormented Souls, but idk:

 

[Multidirectional]

not sure if it's been posted around here, but this is the first i'm hearing of this

The Japanese horror game, FATAL FRAME: Maiden of Black Water, originally released on Wii U in 2014, is now beautifully resurrected as a multiplatform title (...) Experience all of the horror from the original FATAL FRAME: Maiden of Black Water with new remastered visuals, new costumes and photo mode features.

out on steam Oct 27th!

Only played about half of the first one on PCSX2 until I ended up losing progress due to windows reinstall and couldn't be arsed to replay. Gameplay wasn't exactly great but it was pretty damn spooky. Might give this a try when it's out.

 

[Ghulgothas]

Aside from the more well-known games posted already, some of my personal lesser-known favorites are the five ...Of The Killer games. Short, surreal little ventures through eerily illustrated cartoon nightmares stalked by lurking horrors.

Spoiler

They're one guy's personal project, and they're all free.
Voice of the Killer
Hands of the Killer
Drool of the Killer
Eyes of the Killer
Flesh of the Killer

 

[cruel]

It's a VN, not regular game, but 'Song of Saya' fits October's mood very nicely. Played uncensored, of course.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

 

[Fedora Master]

Well, I tried Lust From Beyond the other day and all I can say is... don't. Yet another Amnesia-knockoff walking sim with pretentions of intellectualism.

 

[Kainan]

The legendary Doom 3

 

[Fedora Master]

The BFG edition that lights up the game and gives you a free flashlight really kills the atmosphere though.

 

[Kainan]

That's true. BFG is a retarded piece of shit.

 

[Starwars]

There's a pretty new co-op horror game called Forewarned on STEAM (in Early Access). It's an absolutely shameless rip off of Phasmophobia, except set in an Egyptian setting where you explore tombs.

Doesn't have the new and fresh feel that Phasmophobia had it when it first appeared (the first few playthroughs I did on that were very memorable to me) but still a fun way to spend some time if you have people you game online with.

 

[Puukko]

Done with FEAR XP and thus the series. This expansion was probably the best it has to offer, particularly the hospital section which was just pure escalation all around. Bit of a meh ending and some more technical issues in the form of "disconnected from server".

 

[ferratilis]

Darkwood is less than 5 bucks now, for those interested