Horror games for the season (and beyond)

[Puukko]

Grabbed it. Can't wait to get molested by trees.

 

[Freedos]

Darkwood is an incredible game. It deserves to be played.

Another one, Yuppie Psycho. It's like a straaaange mix of Twin Peaks, Silent Hill, weird anime and Count Lucanor (from the same developer) and social satire about business world...all in the same game. Disturbing, hilarious, charming, it never overstays its welcome...a really special survival horror game.

 

[randir14]

Visage is the only game I've found scary since Amnesia: https://store.steampowered.com/app/594330/Visage/
The early part of the game in particular does a very good job of building up atmosphere and tension.

 

[Starwars]

If I remember that game correctly, I found it very scary at the start but it lost me pretty quickly.

 

[Zlaja]

SH2 overdid the psychological side to the point where the popular interpretation is p much it is all in your head bro, it is all your inner demons bro, it is all Freud and Jung BRO. That carried on to sequels and retrospectively impacted the first game

Well, SH3 is different then SH2 in this aspect, and is a direct sequel to the first game. So for those that still haven't played these games, it's a good idea to go directly from SH1 to SH3, and DON'T play SH2 in between.

 

[RapineDel]

Visage is the only game I've found scary since Amnesia: https://store.steampowered.com/app/594330/Visage/
The early part of the game in particular does a very good job of building up atmosphere and tension.

It's also on PC Gamepass for those wanting to play it cheaper, been on my Steam Wishlist for a while.

 

[agentorange]

The Suffering

Nosferatu The Wrath of Malachi

Paranoia (mod for Half-Life 1)

 

[BruceVC]

Grabbed it. Can't wait to get molested by trees.

It does look intriguing, let us know what you think about it

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Time to recommend the usual games.

While not exactly a horror game, it's one of the darkest (in colors) games I've ever played, and it's a seasonal thing.



My all-time favorite classic to recommend in scary games: A must-play. If you're going in blind, you'll get more than your $5 worth.

 

[schru]

I think the Silent Hill trailers and intros are interesting as video collages or thematic pieces of a sort, and it's interesting to return to them from time to time, so:





~ ~ ~





~ ~ ~

 

[schru]

 

[Ash]

Another one, Yuppie Psycho. """survival horror"""

Storyfag endless talking and social commentary. Barebones gameplay. Meh. How DARE you place it in the same category as the greats of the genre.

 

[anvi]

The haunted house in Bloodlines scared me. You could play Secret World Legends. I like it. You could play the original Alone in the Dark (1992) for it's historical importance and cus it's fun.

 

[Zlaja]

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

I got intrigued by this one and figured I should try it, but then I heard it's one of those 'barebones gameplay' type of games, so I ended up watching it on youtube instead. Good decision, because the gameplay here consists solely of picking objects up and putting them on a right pedestal. No puzzle solving involved at all. It's all obvious stuff like putting a camera on a camera stand, and putting a grammofon record in a grammofon player. The game literally requires nothing of you in order to progress, other then walking from point A to B. This is not a fucking videogame. This shit needs it's own separate label.

 

[fork]

I'm replaying RE2 right now. It's been years since I last played it, so it does feel kinda fresh again (which is fucking great!), and what I knew turns out to be true once again around every corner: It's way better than REmake2. It's less linear, zombies aren't bullet sponges and the atmosphere is lightyears ahead: fixed cam angles are so fucking great! It's such a shame that this genre is dead. Even Tormented Souls is utter shit compared to classic Resident Evil, because it has no inventory management, it's linear as fuck, has no enemy variety and the fixed cam angles aren't fixed, but dynamic, which is worse! The only thing that kinda saves Tormented Souls are the puzzles.

How the fuck is it possible that there hasn't been a single game in 25 years to match or surpass the orfiginal Resident Evils? It's incredible.

 

[schru]

Should have included this one also, as after all it feels quite different with the instrumental version of ‘You're Not Here’:

 

[toro]

I live in Romania, I don't need no stinking horror games.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

FAITH is a cool indie horror about the satanic panic in USA during the 1990ies. Some jumpscares, several different endings too. Some of them quite dreadful, others are intentionally funny.
https://airdorf.itch.io/faith
There is supposedly a Steam version that is a bit bigger and better.

Satanic panic stuff always seems so weird to me. I never knew about the 'satanic panic' until I grew up and read about it online. Don't remember ever once hearing it about it from others, news, etc.,
Which is strange because according to the things I've read, it was all over the news. So I don't understand how I missed it.

 

[Sandro Botticelli]

Layers of Fear is a pretty good walking sim with a few puzzles. Its very spooky and trippy.


The second one is OK too.

I also recommend Darkwood.

I still like to play Clive Barker's Undying from time to time. Great settings, especially early on.


Does System Shock 2 count? The cyborg mother things always scare me when they talk.

 

[Ash]

I'm replaying RE2 right now. It's been years since I last played it, so it does feel kinda fresh again (which is fucking great!), and what I knew turns out to be true once again around every corner: It's way better than REmake2. It's less linear, zombies aren't bullet sponges and the atmosphere is lightyears ahead: fixed cam angles are so fucking great! It's such a shame that this genre is dead. Even Tormented Souls is utter shit compared to classic Resident Evil, because it has no inventory management, it's linear as fuck, has no enemy variety and the fixed cam angles aren't fixed, but dynamic, which is worse! The only thing that kinda saves Tormented Souls are the puzzles.

How the fuck is it possible that there hasn't been a single game in 25 years to match or surpass the orfiginal Resident Evils? It's incredible.

Have you played Parasite Eve 2? Resident Evil and Silent Hill get all the attention when it comes to fixed cam classics when PE2 is just as good.

Agreed classic RE2 is considerably better than the REtardmake2. Though that does have slightly better combat, slightly, everything else is either declined or equivalent so it doesn't make up for it. Also as lame as it is they cut the martialling yard, intro street segment, and some complexity of the Umbrella labs, the expanded sewers instead was non-linear and decent gameplay-wise. Also liked the window barricading mechanic. Free DLC modes was also better than the shitty hunk/tofu modes in classic. Puzzles in the locker room/armory was a nice additional also (yet other puzzles were ruined). But these are mostly all minor and that's as far as my praise goes, mostly decline. The sherry and ada segments were also super lame, though to be fair they were in the original too (yet also much shorter so therefore less lame).
Not sure what's up with the skitzo level design, the police station was relatively faithful but after that they just did whatever the fuck they wanted, and sewers aside it was mostly all worse.

 

[fork]

Almost a month late, it's finally out:

Also, on September 30th, Alisa will come out. The Demo looked promising.

 

[fork]

Ash, I'm replaying PE2 atm. I'm about half-way through, so it's a bit early to tell, but I think I'm actually enjoying the game for the first time. My last play was probably about 15 years ago, give or take a couple, and I remember never really being a fan. I still think RE is better, because it's more focused and proficient at what it wants to be, but PE2 is definitely worth playing and should be mentioned more often, but I'm pretty sure most people who would enjoy it (RE fans and fixed cam angle/pre-rendered background enthusiasts) do know about it. It's not like it's some obscure forgotten hidden gem. I do think the emphasis on and style of combat (the event nature of it with battle music and score screen, which takes away most of the tension compared to RE's more atmospheric and subtle approach) hurts the game, and I don't really like the story and setting. But exploration, puzzles, enemy variety, level design and graphics are pretty good, and even the combat could be enjoyable, but it's a bit too much.

 

[Ash]

Gameplay is slightly above the norm for a fixed cam survival horror. Big reason why I like it.

Story and setting is cool as fuck, disagree there.

I agree having a "battle mode" hurts the tension and/or immersion but it arguably makes for better gameplay.

I recommend Parasite Eve 1 after if you've not played it, but it is even less of a survival horror, more of a horror RPG. Just as good if not better though.

That's my lot for classic fixed cam survival horrors. I only consider RE1 - RE2 - RE3 - SH1 - Parasite Eve 2 and to a lesser extent Martian Gothic and Cold Fear to be worth a damn.
RE: Zero, Silent Hill 2, Dino Crisis, other poor RE clones of which there was many back then...all derivative, bland and boring.
Martian Gothic and Cold fear shouldn't really count either as they too are quite derivative, but MG is scary as fuck, interesting plot and setting, and quite hardcore, while Cold Fear has fixed cam mixed with proper aiming which is a blend I am quite fond of. Eh MG also has the three character thing and does that way better than Resident Evil 0 too. So it definitely earns its prestige and place alongside the classics.

 

[fork]

I have to replay Dino Crisis, but I remember it being somewhat boring (again, compared to RE, which I've loved since day 1). Never played Martian Gothic, but I want to since I've heard good things about it more than once.
What I don't quite understand is your dislike for RE Zero. It has some weaknesses, like story, main characters and, on replays, boring train section, but imo it makes up for it with cool gameplay. The two characters, item management and how you go about it is interesting and adds to the replayability tremendously. And it has some of the most beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds of all time.

 

[Ash]

I played Martian Gothic (2000) prior to RE:0 (2002) so was utterly unimpressed with the two character system and related item management. MG has a three character system and it's way more complex and properly utilized throughout.
On top of that, RE:0 is big decline over RE1-2-3 as the level design is pretty linear and basic, no more mansion of horrors non-linear style design. It was also shorter and less interesting in every way. It was fucking gorgeous, but that's utterly meaningless to me without there being an adequate game underneath. Game is boring, lame and derivative.

Dino Crisis I didn't play until 2018. It was also pretty lame and I don't recommend replaying it. I mean, it had its charm. I love fake redheads Graphics and art are cool, looks alright considering it is full 3D, but the gameplay offers absolutely nothing unique (and is below average to boot), and the story goes nowhere. The only thing I found to be pretty solid was the puzzles which struck a good balance between challenging but not too vague. A hard balance to attain I think. Other than that it was largely average in every way.