Horror Games Megathread

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Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Honestly, I always thought about Silent Hill as a mediocre series with one breakaway success. I was around to see basically the whole series happen and people have been saying "worst game yet" for every game after Silent Hill 2, only to amend later "okay, maybe it wasn't all that bad" because the newest one was even worse.

It's probably best to just think of SH2 as one accidental piece of genius and stop mourning the wasted potential of the rest of the series.

al-azad posted:

I wish people would put to rest all the Japanese SNES games and start translating some PC-98 stuff because it's a gold mine of untapped potential. If you can, track down Cosmology of Kyoto. It's an adventure game for Win95 with dual English/japanese text. The graphics are some of the most disturbing sprite art I've ever seen.

I couldn't play this game when it came out. It was just too unsettling to deal with at that age.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2014 11:34

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 12:01

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Mindblast posted:

1-3 were fine. Maybe not to everyone's taste but that's not the same as bad.

I don't mean to say they're bad, just a lot more mediocre than people want to admit. Everybody really wants to judge the series by its high point, but the rest just doesn't really measure up to it.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2014 19:29

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Hakkesshu posted:

Not really. 2 is the worst playing of the three, easily. Each game of that original trilogy does something better than the others. 1 has the most satisfying structure/progression and is more focused on exploration, 2 has the best story and atmosphere, 3 has the best gameplay, art design and (arguably) soundtrack.

I love 2 a lot, but it's the last one I would want to replay anytime soon. I don't think it's fair to use phrasing like "more than people want to admit". I know full well what my opinion on those games are.

I guess I can't argue with that. I don't agree, but then again I probably have rose-colored glasses about SH2 as well.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2014 21:38

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

al-azad posted:

I wish there was a youtube video where people DIDN'T TALK OVER THE loving GAMEPLAY but the tortures of hell are seriously some hosed up poo poo. This game makes Dante's description of hell look loving tame.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrW54npKP0w&t=160s

I didn't even get that far. The atmosphere and the sheer gloomy bleakness freaked me out so much that I just quit right away.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2014 22:04

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Emulation also works. There's no console game that isn't made better by save states.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2014 15:33

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Jimbo Jaggins posted:

Nah it's wank mate. The games not hard.

True. Being able to quit whenever you want without ever having to track back to a save point is worth it all by itself, though. gently caress I hate save points.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2014 20:57

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Sanitarium kind of loses its appeal by the time you get stuck as that weird Olmec statue (WHAT SAY YOU) but the early scenarios are pretty fun in a Goosebumps kind of way.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2014 17:29

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

NeoSeeker posted:

Also I seem to remember a mechanic that Doom 3 had where at anytime, unscripted, a monster could appear behind you.

Nah, they were all pre-placed, there were just so loving many of them.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2014 19:00

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

You've got pretty much all the good, semi-recent stuff in the survival horror genre. There's even older poo poo like Alone in the Dark, but that might be a bit more than you're willing to deal with.

You can check out Home of the Underdogs for some of the older and not-quite-so-old stuff as well as freeware games. It has a horror filter and lists pretty much everything that has been even halfway decent since before 2002 or so. I'd recommend Shadow of the Comet (adventure) and maybe Dark Seed 1 & 2 (also adventure) for starters. Dark Seed is more "loving weird" than "scary," but it's pretty interesting.

GOG has Realms of the Haunting, which is more suspense and occult thriller than horror, but also a pretty cool FPS with live-action cutscenes, which is always fun. It's kind of like Undying.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2014 19:44

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

oh god i am bad at forums

# ¿ Aug 1, 2014 19:46

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

RightClickSaveAs posted:

I've heard a lot of good things about this, I'll have to check it out at the next Steam sale. "Home" is one to avoid though right? I get the two mixed up.

Honestly, I think it's kind of overrated. It's trying super hard to be 2D silent hill but has none of the depth and all the pointlessly obtuse criteria for getting certain endings. I never finished it.

NeoSeeker posted:

Is Don't Starve of the same vein?

Not really. It has a horror aesthetic but it's not actually meant to scare you. It's more like Terraria in practice.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2014 21:25

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Sanity basically runs on how much you stay in the dark and how much you look at monsters. It restores every time you finish a main objective. I'm not gonna spoil more than that, because it's honestly a really good game and you'd miss out on the experience.

# ¿ Aug 3, 2014 01:35

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

If you gave any of the early RE games decent RE4-like controls you wouldn't feel vulnerable anymore either.

# ¿ Aug 7, 2014 20:57

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

I think a lot of people misremember how scarce ammo really was in the old games. It felt very scarce, because you wasted a lot of it by not being able to aim properly and because dodging was a nightmare, but I still regularly ended up with a pile of handgun bullets in excess of 100. The camera angles and lovely controls contributed much more to the difficulty than the actual game design did.

# ¿ Aug 7, 2014 21:05

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Hakkesshu posted:

RE4 controls exactly like the other games, the only thing that changed was the perspective

And what a difference that made. Still, they changed quite a bit more than that. Having a really good always-accessible melee attack, counters, context-sensitive dodges with on-screen prompts... The basic tank movement is a lot more bearable with all that convenience stuff.

# ¿ Aug 7, 2014 21:48

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Jimbo Jaggins posted:

Old RE games were exploration games. The difficulty of the enemies comes from the confinement of the environment RE1 was all tight corridors, tension comes from entering a room and not knowing what was in it. Entering a room and there being a single zombie in an 8x8 foot room was a big deal. Later games switched to wide open areas and crowd control. A lot of people complain about the backtracking in early RE games but thats a huge part of why I prefer them, dense levels that loop back on themselves and deciding which route to take to get somewhere was a game mechanic in itself.

The interconnectedness of RE games up to and including RE 4 is one thing I also really like about the series. I'm a sucker for open worlds like that - they give you a sense of place, like you are actually somewhere, instead of just playing through a succession of levels. It's another reason why I just couldn't really get into 5 and 6.

Dreadwroth posted:

The session I had the other day only lasted one day, if you don't find wood and nails to barricade your cabin you are probably pretty hosed. I had this jerk with black spiky tendrils instead of a face break in and beat me to death with a pipe. Ahhhhhhhh time to take a break.

Darkwoods sounds really cool, but I'm kind of conflicted on whether I should try it out now or wait until it's finished to see all the cool stuff at once.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2014 15:21

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

I think Pathologic will suddenly a lot less popular and charming once people can understand what's actually happening. The plot is actually really kind of dumb once you know what it's about.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2014 18:38

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Maybe it's just me. I thought being stuck in a place where there's not only creepy poo poo going on but where you can't even meaningfully communicate with anyone added an extra layer of loneliness and despondency that it probably wouldn't have had with a decent translation. All the crazy talk really adds to the surreal atmosphere to me.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2014 19:12

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

woodenchicken posted:

Could be, but even in Russian it never explained itself completely, and there was no stated, "canon" explanation for everything (you could ultimately choose what to believe). The remake could potentially destroy this ambiguity, but I believe Dybovsky would never do something so crass. Judging by his interviews, he's putting a lot of thought into what he wants to say with this release.

Thinking about it some more you're probably right. The Void was also very well-translated and still really atmospheric. When they have the budget to get things done probably those guys usually do a really good job.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2014 20:55

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

oriongates posted:

I like Del Toro a lot, but honestly I can't say I've ever been truly scared by his movies, but that's not so much because they're not good...fear never actually seems to be the goal. They're more dark faerie tales or fables. Or at least that's how it's always felt to me. The creature designs could be interesting at least. I'm still not sure, I'll probably have to see some really good reviews before I get my hopes up.

That wouldn't be the worst style to do a Silent Hill game in. Fairy tales are all about getting lost in weird and supernatural places, which fits Silent Hill the town to a T. There's only a pretty thin line between dream-like and nightmarish.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2014 11:37

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

oriongates posted:

It's certainly not too far off and it wouldn't be a bad theme to base a game around, I just mean that I haven't actually found Del Toro's stuff to be strong in the horror aspect: weird, surreal, even creepy (all great elements for a silent hill game) but not actually frightening and that's something that the first silent hill games were great for.

I don't really find most horror scary to begin with and I haven't seen any of Del Toro's horror movies, so I can't really comment on that. I think you're underestimating him a bit, though. When he isn't working on lovely comic book adaptations he can do some really inspired work. Pan's Labyrinth was a piece of genius and really creepy despite the fantasy stuff actually really just being the backdrop to a family drama. Hell, even the Hellboy movies an order of magnitude better than pretty much any other comic adaptation. That's not a bad achievement.

He can do some really good stuff with the resources he's given, so I'm cautiously optimistic that this can turn out pretty well if he applies himself.

Mr. Fortitude posted:

I'd honestly prefer a dreamlike, surreal, not quite frightening but visually striking game like The Room than yet more blood and rust or "totally symbolic but not scary or interesting" water/ice/electricity Otherworlds.

I'm down with the blood and rust, but I agree that The Room had some of the most visually interesting setpieces in the series. The main reason I didn't like it was because the characters were poo poo and so was the plot.

Cardiovorax fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Aug 13, 2014

# ¿ Aug 13, 2014 13:54

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

oriongates posted:

Part of my skepticism is just the many disappointments the series has inflicted on me.

I suppose nobody can blame you for that.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2014 14:14

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

I really liked the intro bit where you are in prison and murder the fat childfucker. It was a really harsh, brutal and emotionally intense scene. I was hoping the rest of the game would keep the same sort of atmosphere, but when it didn't I lost interest pretty fast. I wouldn't say it was bad, just not as good as it could have been.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2014 15:23

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

SolidSnakesBandana posted:

What horror films has this man been involved in?

There are also The Orphanage and Julia's Eyes, both of which were critically well received. Pan's Labyrinth is more dark fantasy, but it has some really creepy bits and ends with a father shooting his own daughter. Pretty much everybody thought it was amazing.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2014 15:49

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Clock Tower 2 is total poo poo, so that one's out. Amnesia, System Shock 2 and Fatal Frame 2 are different enough from each other that I can't really give a blanket recommendation. They're all pretty close to the top of their respective genres. I'd say it's a toss-up between Crimson Butterfly and Amnesia. System Shock 2 is tense, but it hasn't aged very well. Still worth playing, though, especially with a graphical upgrade.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2014 23:02

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Hakkesshu posted:

System Shock is the best of those games (and I'll contest the idea that it hasn't aged well), but the least scary.

I agree that it's still one of the best RPG/FPS mashups ever, but it didn't look very good even for its own time. Compared to some modern stuff, the gun handling is also pretty cludgy and primitive and PSI just isn't really valid as a playstyle at all.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2014 23:11

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

After the strong beginning, everything else about it was just kind of a letdown.

# ¿ Aug 14, 2014 00:01

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Alain Perdrix posted:

I was thinking about my experiences with horror games the other day, and I still think that the Thief series has managed to scare me more intensely than almost every purpose-built horror game I've encountered.

No kidding. The undead in Thief were loving terrifying, not in the least thanks to their amazing sound work. Although I guess it might have helped that I was like 15 when the game came out.

# ¿ Aug 14, 2014 14:45

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

They're not related, so you're really free to do it in any order you want. Penumbra goes Overture -> Black Plague. The Amnesia games have standalone plots so it's up to you.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2014 01:21

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

What's the gameplay actually like? I have no idea what you do in that game.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2014 17:46

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Smart-assedness aside, it kind of depends on what kind of game you're looking for. Horror is more of a theme than a genre, whether you're looking for a shooter or a point-and-click adventure will probably make more of a practical difference.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2014 15:47

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

I didn't enjoy playing Outlast too much, but after watching dumb rodent's LP of it I can at least say that I appreciate what it does. It's not original in any sense, but it's well-executed and has some genuinely tense moments.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2014 18:06

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

soapydishwater posted:

I think a big part of the horror to me in Freddy's was also what the phone guy says they do when they catch you. Apparently they think you're an endoskeleton without its suit on, so they stuff you into a costume, which is filled with crossbars and wires and other sharp metal parts and such, and the only thing that's left of you is your eyes and teeth. Maybe it's just my imagination playing it up a bunch, but jesus that sounds loving terrifying. It's a good game if you just turn the logical part of your brain off and soak in the atmosphere.

I don't think I could be scared anymore of this game now. Sure, it's gruesome and all, but they're just trying to be helpful! :unsmith:

# ¿ Aug 20, 2014 16:06

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Oxxidation posted:

Also I suspect more and more lately that people don't actually know what a "jump scare" is. It's a scare. It's a thing that scares you. Do not deride it in an attempt to belie your cowardice.

Nuh uh, I totally do. :colbert:

Five Nights doesn't actually contain any, though.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2014 19:03

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Oxxidation posted:

No, because jump scares are by nature unexpected and without context. The full-screen puppet-scream is literally what you are playing the entire game to avoid, and what you monitor the cameras to prevent. If you keep track of the puppets' movements, you'll know when one of them is close enough to face-munch you upon lowering your camera viewer.

Hell, it's even possible to know when you're hosed in advance, because the doors and lights stop working when one of the puppets has gotten in.

Yeah, I'd really consider it more of a death animation. It's 100% predictable and only happens when you have lost the game.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2014 19:14

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Those HarshlyCritical videos really make Freddy's look loving tense. That guy doesn't startle easily, but man does he freak out every time the robots get him.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2014 14:55

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

You mean that thing that appeared randomly on night 1? I didn't even realize that was special, I just thought one of the robots had wandered in and back out again.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2014 16:28

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

For once I am glad that the GEMA won't let me look at a video.

# ¿ Aug 22, 2014 20:18

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

You told the game you wanted to escape and it let you, what are you even complaining about. :colbert:

# ¿ Aug 23, 2014 09:49

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 12:01

Cardiovorax: Jun 5, 2011; I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

I am user-unfriendly like that.

# ¿ Aug 23, 2014 10:29

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