(New) Horror video game thread

[suicidewristrag]

I found a thread here about horror video games but it was pretty old, so I'm making a new one to discuss this topic.

So, are you a horror game fan? Do you enjoy playing them yourself or watching someone else? If so, are they someone you know or an internet streamer?

What have you been playing / watching then? Do you prefer new or old, big releases or small indie titles?

Personally, I've been playing through Silent Hill 1 & 3 for the first time right now. As you can probably tell, I'm a bit of a fan of the second entry, but I never actually had any interest in the other games since they lean more on the cult side of the lore instead of exploring Silent Hill as a location you go to face your darkest thoughts as reality. But damn, I missed out big time at least on 1, it's actually a pretty heavy game even considering you don't necessarily battle your inner demons and stuff (Spoiler Alert: you battle someone else's!), and the ps1 aesthetic needs no glazing over how perfect it is for rendering an other-world so disturbing yet quietly familiar as the town of Silent Hill and its nightmare counterpart. And the soundtrack... When you're not being chased by harsh, industrial noise music, you're being treated to the most ethereal ambient tracks ever made, seriously, no other horror game soundtrack can make me feel this comfortable.

 

[Grasp of darkness]

I enjoy visual novel games a lot. Can recommend Tiny Bunny.

 

[roastedpotato5230]

ive only really played 2 games that you could really even describe as horror but they both cracked my top 10 games of all time so yeah

(omori and doki doki literature club i love them sm)

 

[Mr.Ruben]

Darkwood and SOMA (devs who made amnesia) and currently playing outlast
I don't think I like these games because they scare me, for example with Darkwood(cheap asf highly recommend checking it out) they are simply good at making you scared by how the design is really well. which I really like

 

[SweetChariot]

Silent Hill f is the last one i finished, i liked it a lot
Though there are a lot of flaws in the overall game and how they choose to present it, i get why it's a divisive title for fans
But the story is very engaging and meaningful to me

 

[RoachClassified]

kind of. i enjoy playing horror games and watching my favorite streamers play them, i don't care whether the game is old or new, released by a small or big studio, it all don't matter as long as it's good in gameplay
i think Outlast, Amnesia: The Dark Descent and The Bunker would be my favorite horror games. those three games have great atmosphere and they freaked me out the most, especially Outlast

 

[suicidewristrag]

Darkwood and SOMA (devs who made amnesia) and currently playing outlast
I don't think I like these games because they scare me, for example with Darkwood(cheap asf highly recommend checking it out) they are simply good at making you scared by how the design is really well. which I really like

I agree with you! I don't really get scared by anything horror these days as I grew up with FNAF and other cheap jumpscare heavy stuff, so my attention goes towards only the good stuff with meaning behind the core designs, stuff that isn't scary for the sake of being scary. I actually bought SOMA on Steam a few years ago but never got to play it, but will do eventually for sure!

Silent Hill f is the last one i finished, i liked it a lot
Though there are a lot of flaws in the overall game and how they choose to present it, i get why it's a divisive title for fans
But the story is very engaging and meaningful to me

I actually got to play and finish SHf earlier this year and.... it just didn't do it for me. The overreliance on combat with no way to just avoid the enemies altogheter made playing it feel like a chore. The story was not bad, I actually liked the twist on the first ending, but it didn't really feel like a Silent Hill game and having played 1 and 3 now I can tell it probably would have done better as a brand new franchise. I can totally see why it has its fans though, it never felt like a cheaply made game, the acting was superb (at least I think it is, can't speak Japanese), the scenery of the foggy town was gorgeous, and "that scene" was one of the most gruesome scenes I ever seen in a video game outside of like, Mortal Kombat, lol.

kind of. i enjoy playing horror games and watching my favorite streamers play them, i don't care whether the game is old or new, released by a small or big studio, it all don't matter as long as it's good in gameplay
i think Outlast, Amnesia: The Dark Descent and The Bunker would be my favorite horror games. those three games have great atmosphere and they freaked me out the most, especially Outlast

Oooh, The Bunker! It was the first game to make me audibly gasp as the Beast found me in the chapel! You're right, the atmosphere in it is really top notch, it's just a really really well made survival horror that plays on its strenghts and ended on the perfect time for me.

 

[RoachClassified]

Oooh, The Bunker! It was the first game to make me audibly gasp as the Beast found me in the chapel! You're right, the atmosphere in it is really top notch, it's just a really really well made survival horror that plays on its strenghts and ended on the perfect time for me.

what i really like about The Bunker is that it demonstrates a psychological method other games failed to demonstrate: the illusion of safety
you have a gun, so you might think "oh, i have a gun, i can fight back and kill everyone" but no, the gun doesn't kill the beast, only scare him away and make him more aggressive. you still feel like you're in danger even if you have a gun with you, that's just great game design

 

[limenlux]

My last exposure to a horror game was through watching a let's play of the Silent Hill 2 remake back when it came out. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Unfortunately I don't own anything but a Switch and can't really afford games anyway.

 

[SweetChariot]

I agree with you! I don't really get scared by anything horror these days as I grew up with FNAF and other cheap jumpscare heavy stuff, so my attention goes towards only the good stuff with meaning behind the core designs, stuff that isn't scary for the sake of being scary. I actually bought SOMA on Steam a few years ago but never got to play it, but will do eventually for sure!


I actually got to play and finish SHf earlier this year and.... it just didn't do it for me. The overreliance on combat with no way to just avoid the enemies altogheter made playing it feel like a chore. The story was not bad, I actually liked the twist on the first ending, but it didn't really feel like a Silent Hill game and having played 1 and 3 now I can tell it probably would have done better as a brand new franchise. I can totally see why it has its fans though, it never felt like a cheaply made game, the acting was superb (at least I think it is, can't speak Japanese), the scenery of the foggy town was gorgeous, and "that scene" was one of the most gruesome scenes I ever seen in a video game outside of like, Mortal Kombat, lol.


Oooh, The Bunker! It was the first game to make me audibly gasp as the Beast found me in the chapel! You're right, the atmosphere in it is really top notch, it's just a really really well made survival horror that plays on its strenghts and ended on the perfect time for me.

Oh yeah the combat in SHf is definitely way too clunky, it's one biggest flaw in my opinion
I think their main goal with is is to provide replay value with upgrade and builds because the story is not really complete until 4 playthroughs at least not really but they made it really quite linear and repetitive which is just a flaw in how they overall implement it to service the story
But yeah, if you finish the first ending it's a so-so horror game, it truly becomes a Silent Hill game after the true ending in my opinion

 

[passthisnote]

I found a thread here about horror video games but it was pretty old, so I'm making a new one to discuss this topic.

So, are you a horror game fan? Do you enjoy playing them yourself or watching someone else? If so, are they someone you know or an internet streamer?

What have you been playing / watching then? Do you prefer new or old, big releases or small indie titles?

Personally, I've been playing through Silent Hill 1 & 3 for the first time right now. As you can probably tell, I'm a bit of a fan of the second entry, but I never actually had any interest in the other games since they lean more on the cult side of the lore instead of exploring Silent Hill as a location you go to face your darkest thoughts as reality. But damn, I missed out big time at least on 1, it's actually a pretty heavy game even considering you don't necessarily battle your inner demons and stuff (Spoiler Alert: you battle someone else's!), and the ps1 aesthetic needs no glazing over how perfect it is for rendering an other-world so disturbing yet quietly familiar as the town of Silent Hill and its nightmare counterpart. And the soundtrack... When you're not being chased by harsh, industrial noise music, you're being treated to the most ethereal ambient tracks ever made, seriously, no other horror game soundtrack can make me feel this comfortable.

corpse party is really good i highly recommend it

 

[Set Real Goul]

Just some random thoughts:

I see horror more as a style than a genre, or even as a subgenre of action games. Gameplay is what I care about the most. That's why I'm a fan of Resident Evil 1–4, the RE4 remake and berserker mod, the first chapter of Resident Evil 7, Cry of Fear, and Afraid of Monsters (though the melee combat in those games is absolutely terrible).

Cry of Fear was probably the second scariest game I've ever played. I was around 12 years old when I beat it, and I couldn't make it through without constantly checking the Steam guide. Nowadays, nothing really scares me anymore, and anhedonia certainly doesn't help.

My favorite horror shooter is probably Quake 4, even though its gameplay becomes pretty awful on anything above Easy difficulty. Still, no other horror game has given me moments as memorable. I first played it when I was seven, and the Stroggification sequence completely blew my mind—especially the part where the protagonist is almost stripped of his identity.

Horror quests games have a special place in my heart because they're all incredibly memorable and full of personality. My favorites are I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, the comedy-horror Harvester, The Mystery of the Druids, Downfall, The Cat Lady (I actually discovered Sasu because of that game's ending, lol), and the russian adventure game Scary Tales: The Sixth Sense.

I don't really understand the appeal of the Silent Hill series, and I'm not much of a fan. The games feel too monotonous to me. I can appreciate their amazing music, but they just don't click with me. Honestly, I liked the first Silent Hill movie more than the original games.
The only Silent Hill game that truly grabbed me was Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. I loved its narrative gimmicks, cinematic presentation, and overall storytelling. In my opinion, it's the best game in the series.

I also really like the visual style of Postal and Postal Redux. The story interludes between missions add a lot to the atmosphere, and they're the only thing keeping the game afloat.

My favorite stealth horror game is Manhunt. It took some serious guts to make what is essentially a reverse horror game styled like a snuff film. And the ambient music system is absolutely mind-blowing. Every track has three different layers depending on your alert level, and they blend into each other seamlessly.

If you haven't seen them, I also recommend checking out the Darkstalkers series of horror fighting games. You don't see Little Red Riding Hood carrying an Uzi very often.

 

[DownwardSpiral]

Darkwood and SOMA (devs who made amnesia) and currently playing outlast
I don't think I like these games because they scare me, for example with Darkwood(cheap asf highly recommend checking it out) they are simply good at making you scared by how the design is really well. which I really like

SOMA is sooooo good. I haven't played many horror games but that one is by far my favorite. The scariest part is how much it makes you think, & I feel like it could genuinely become reality in the future.

 

[Mr.Ruben]

I agree with you! I don't really get scared by anything horror these days as I grew up with FNAF and other cheap jumpscare heavy stuff, so my attention goes towards only the good stuff with meaning behind the core designs, stuff that isn't scary for the sake of being scary. I actually bought SOMA on Steam a few years ago but never got to play it, but will do eventually for sure!

play it for 2 hours and see if you enjoy it, great voice acting ill give you that, felt natural

 

[lahey]

although, not the standard "horror" game, but Ready or Not is insanely scary to me at times. its a realistic fps, where you infiltrate houses or such and coordinate your team to obtain evidence or neutralize terrorists or shooters and such. you also have to be careful to not kill any civilians and watch for traps. its a very tense game and having a lunatic lunge towards you in dark is pretty scary, youre always on edge. its a pretty difficult game to learn though, hard to get into as well.

 

[Lullaby]

I LOVE horror movies and Halloween is like my annual holiday but for some reason, I was always too afraid to play horror games. My dad bought me a PS2 when I was a kid for Christmas and only got Code Veronica along with it lol, I was upset because I was terrified to play it.

It's like instead of treating it like a fun haunted house, I'd feel like I was actually going to die

Back in February, I ripped the bandaid off and bought RE 9, and beat it in a weekend. I couldn't believe it. Then I bought the entire series and I just finished my marathon a few of weeks ago.

Last week, I started Alien: Isolation instead of building up to it like I was planning, and I'm so proud of myself for beating it. By the end of it, I was totally in love and I think I might try to go back platinum it.

I'm really itching now to play more and I'll have to try out the recommendations here! I was thinking Outlast or the Dead Space remake next after a little break.

 

[goodbad&ugly777]

While it's not as popular as it was when it released, Lethal Company is still super fun! Modding it and playing it with 1 or 2 friends while high is now a core memory. (if you have anyone to play with, if not, playing alone is still really fun) I also can't recommend Cry of Fear enough. It's REALLY scary, but really good!

 

[Corovaner]

Walked through Alien: isolation, Soma, Outlast, Doom 3 (my favorite doom). Now playing doom 3 phobos.

 

[KiraNosferatu]

play aka manto. not theeee scariest but great atmosphere.