Horror Games Megathread

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Turpitude II: Nov 10, 2014

Yardbomb posted:

Some of those newgrounds horror flash games were pretty neat back then, jumpscares or not I still remember a couple of them, while the names get away from me.

i remember covetous, because it freaked the absolute poo poo out of me as a teen, to the point where i'm not going to hunt down the link to it for you so i don't accidentally see any of it again, and i'm now 30 :v:

Bert of the Forest posted:

This might be a weird tangent for this thread, but out of curiosity, do folks here have recommendations for good "spooky, but not scary" games? Like family-friendly "horror" games that I could play to celebrate spooky-season with my scaredy cat family members? Luigi's Mansion is like PERFECT for this specific thing, but I'm curious how many more games are out there up that alley.

smile for me has some spooky elements while still being, overall, benign. tonally it reminds me a bit of psychonauts, but with a more sinister undercurrent.

# ? Aug 20, 2020 13:23

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 15:04

Morpheus: Apr 18, 2008; My favourite little monsters

Flannelette posted:

There's a chapter that sticks out in "A hat in time" like this.

The house in that spooky forest legitimately frightened me, that was such an wild departure from an otherwise fairly cheery game.

# ? Aug 20, 2020 15:31

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.

So I've been watching a gameplay video of Haunting Ground and I have a question for you guys: does anyone else think that this Ricardo guy sounds uncannily like Liquid Snake?

# ? Aug 21, 2020 13:32

Danknificent: Nov 20, 2015; Jinkies! Looks like we've got a mystery on our hands.

what's he doing telling you to follow the rats or something?

# ? Aug 21, 2020 13:36

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.

Just the voice and intonation, I guess.

# ? Aug 21, 2020 14:48

Bert of the Forest: Apr 27, 2013; Shucks folks, I'm speechless. Hawf Hawf Hawf!

Thanks for the suggestions y'all!

I'll definitely be checking out some of these. Smile For Me, Ghostbusters, Darkside Detective and Death Road To Canada seem to hem fairly close to what we're looking for! And since it was mentioned, come to think of it Psychonauts may have enough spookiness as well to be counted. Thanks!

# ? Aug 21, 2020 19:42

CommunityEdition: May 1, 2009

Bert of the Forest posted:

Thanks for the suggestions y'all!

I'll definitely be checking out some of these. Smile For Me, Ghostbusters, Darkside Detective and Death Road To Canada seem to hem fairly close to what we're looking for! And since it was mentioned, come to think of it Psychonauts may have enough spookiness as well to be counted. Thanks!

No one mentioned Castlevania for spooky-but-not-scary?

# ? Aug 21, 2020 19:50

Dreadwroth2: Feb 28, 2019; by Cyrano4747

The official Ghostbusters game with the og movie cast is decent, I'd say also Haunt the House is a cool chill game with a good score where you play as a lil ghost spookin people is another good "spooky" game.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/270630/Haunt_the_House_Terrortown/

# ? Aug 21, 2020 19:53

el oso: Feb 18, 2005; phew, for a minute there i lost myself

I see Moons of Madness is on sale for PS4. Anyone here play it?

# ? Aug 21, 2020 23:48

Len: Jan 21, 2008; Pouches, bandages, shoulderpad, cyber-eye...

Bitchin'!

I've asked in here before and got the below

Cardiovorax posted:

I watched a playthrough of Moons of Madness and it seemed pretty okay for the first two hours, but the later half of the game was pretty forgettable - so much so that I don't even remember how it ended.

Hungry posted:

Moons of Madness started strong-ish, but then got progressively more boring when I realised it was going to keep throwing dumb puzzles at me with no real payoff, and reading all the log things was mind-numbing. Didn't even play 2 hours.

Judgement posted:

I actually finished Moons of Madness, and I'd rate it as pretty much the platonic ideal of "Eh it's okay." It's a pretty slow paced walking simulator with some jump scares and a few really tedious puzzles, and it does have some pretty good set piece moments, but overall it wasn't anything special.

Even it's ties into The Secret World don't really bring a lot to the experience; you can practically see the seams of where they took whatever it was they were originally working on and just bolted the TSW lore onto it, because some of it just doesn't quite fit into the game, and it also doesn't really take the lore anywhere interesting either. None of the characters or writing are even particularly interesting, which is probably the biggest crime if you're going to associate yourself with TSW.

It reached the low bar of being better than The Park, but I wonder if it might have been better off being it's own thing.

sigher posted:

Eeeh, it's ok at best but not worth going through, I beat it but I can't remember much of it and I don't see myself every revisiting it again. Not really worth the time.

# ? Aug 21, 2020 23:57

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.

Depending on the price, I suppose I'd cautiously say it's still worth getting. Like, you can definitely expect to get five dollars' worth of entertainment out of it. I wouldn't pay fifteen, though.

# ? Aug 22, 2020 00:37

Sakurazuka: Jan 24, 2004; NANI?

el oso posted:

I see Moons of Madness is on sale for PS4. Anyone here play it?

I just bought it in the same sale and finished it and my advice is don't.

There's a couple of neat atmospheric bits when you're actually doing stuff on Mars but it's mostly just throwing poo poo in your face, doing awfully timed jump scares while you character constantly goes 'gently caress! poo poo! argh!' at every tiny noise and the end is utterly ridiculous.

Let me put it this way, it's a game made by people who, when you pick up the spooky book that's totally not the Necronomicon, made the trophy that pops up an Army of Darkness reference.

# ? Aug 22, 2020 10:21

Len: Jan 21, 2008; Pouches, bandages, shoulderpad, cyber-eye...

Bitchin'!

I was under the impression that it's like The Park in that they took the good fun and unique setting of The Secret World/Secret World Legends and then threw everything about it out the window and didn't use anything

# ? Aug 22, 2020 14:54

IShallRiseAgain: Sep 12, 2008; Well ain't that precious?

Sakurazuka posted:

I just bought it in the same sale and finished it and my advice is don't.

There's a couple of neat atmospheric bits when you're actually doing stuff on Mars but it's mostly just throwing poo poo in your face, doing awfully timed jump scares while you character constantly goes 'gently caress! poo poo! argh!' at every tiny noise and the end is utterly ridiculous.

Let me put it this way, it's a game made by people who, when you pick up the spooky book that's totally not the Necronomicon, made the trophy that pops up an Army of Darkness reference.

is the main character once again the murderer in the game?

# ? Aug 22, 2020 16:41

Basic Chunnel: Sep 21, 2010; Jesus! Jesus Christ! Say his name! Jesus! Jesus! Come down now!

At least in SOMA you get to put your hand in giant buttholes

# ? Aug 22, 2020 17:21

exquisite tea: Apr 21, 2007; Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."

IShallRiseAgain posted:

is the main character once again the murderer in the game?

It was all in their head, and they murdered themselves, except that part was all a dream, and they were the murderer again.

# ? Aug 22, 2020 19:11

FreudianSlippers: Apr 12, 2010; Shooting and Fucking
are the same thing!

Wanna make a horror game where you're just a wrong person in the wrong place and did literally nothing wrong but that doesn't matter.

# ? Aug 22, 2020 20:07

The Chad Jihad: Feb 24, 2007

The whole game there's this random person showing up who keeps saying weird personal poo poo to you and at the end the spooks are like "you deluded fool it was an illusion your spouse has been dead ever since the accident" and you're like "I've literally never been married"

# ? Aug 22, 2020 20:24

Ineffiable: Feb 16, 2008; Some say that his politics are terrifying, and that he once punched a horse to the ground...

FreudianSlippers posted:

Wanna make a horror game where you're just a wrong person in the wrong place and did literally nothing wrong but that doesn't matter.

That's silent hill 4 effectively. You just got unlucky and bought the wrong apartment and now you're locked in it and there's a hole in your bathroom.

# ? Aug 22, 2020 20:25

FreudianSlippers: Apr 12, 2010; Shooting and Fucking
are the same thing!

M.R. James once wrote that a good ghost story should feel plausible and like something like the reader could stumble into.

# ? Aug 22, 2020 20:38

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.

Silent Hill 4 is exactly that, yeah. Bland Grey Guy is literally just a random bystander why no investment in what is going on except for the part where he can't leave. He hasn't done anything and he's not connected to Silent Hill in the slightest. He just lives in the wrong flat.

# ? Aug 22, 2020 20:39

al-azad: May 28, 2009

Unfortunately having played the sack of crap Resident Evil Survivor it is a game where the player is tricked into thinking they�re a murderer but oops not really.

# ? Aug 22, 2020 22:21

Waterfall Watcher: Dec 17, 2018; How to ~~ruin~~ improve game sessions & family ties with one simple question.

-Would this be better if I used poison?

I finally finished painscreek killings and it was alright!

I really liked the investigation aspect. It gave you clues but didn't hold your hand with really anything. I liked that a lot of the puzzles were well designed in that there wasn't any moonlogic involved they tell you how to solve it and you just really have to find the parts.
I was eh on it being 20 bucks and there wasn't that many characters/suspect when you're investigating basically a village.
I disliked the voice acting like god drat get actual audio equipment if you're including voice acting like I could hear some of them spit while they talk. At least there isn't a lot of it.
Why was it 7 gigs download? How badly optimized is this thing?
I also disliked who the killer turned out to be. It felt like it was building up to be Derrick but nooo, it had to be the priest who for some reason didn't confront Charles for having an affair with his love interest when he was told about it 10 years prior? Also What was with that chase sequence? Like I love that they foreshadowed it and you get to see the killer enter and lock the door behind him from your position but it looked so silly, especially the end part.

Not a game I recommend to everyone, but it was had a lot of good design going on, it was clearly made by amateurs but you could see they had a lot of passion in it. Really good potential. I hope they improve on the formula if they attempt something like this in the future.

Waterfall Watcher fucked around with this message at 23:18 on Aug 22, 2020

# ? Aug 22, 2020 23:03

Cream-of-Plenty: Apr 21, 2010; "The world is a hellish place, and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering."

Ineffiable posted:

That's silent hill 4 effectively. You just got unlucky and bought the wrong apartment and now you're locked in it and there's a hole in your bathroom.

There�s always a hole in the bathroom. It�s where the poo goes.

EDIT: I actually always sit on a hole. It follows me everywhere; I cannot escape it.

# ? Aug 23, 2020 00:23

on the computer: Jan 4, 2012

Cream-of-Plenty posted:

There�s always a hole in the bathroom. It�s where the poo goes.

EDIT: I actually always sit on a hole. It follows me everywhere; I cannot escape it.

Silent Hill 4 but the portal is a glory hole

# ? Aug 23, 2020 00:39

Professor Wayne: Aug 27, 2008; So, Harvey, what became of the giant penny?

They actually let him keep it.

They look like monster dongs to you?

# ? Aug 23, 2020 00:53

Thundercracker: Jun 25, 2004; Proudly serving the Ruinous Powers since as a veteran of the long war.; College Slice

FreudianSlippers posted:

Wanna make a horror game where you're just a wrong person in the wrong place and did literally nothing wrong but that doesn't matter.

That's the Day of Atonement serious essentially. Walk to school on the same route every day? Well too bad cuz a ghost moved in Tuesday, you looked at it, and now you're hosed.

# ? Aug 23, 2020 01:06

Danknificent: Nov 20, 2015; Jinkies! Looks like we've got a mystery on our hands.

Professor Wayne posted:

They look like monster dongs to you?

# ? Aug 23, 2020 01:34

Black August: Sep 28, 2003

jesus fuckin' christ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC94L-H8LJw

# ? Aug 23, 2020 02:39

CV 64 Fan: Oct 13, 2012; It's pretty dope.

Black August posted:

jesus fuckin' christ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC94L-H8LJw

The giant hammer instantly gave me a flash of Lost In Vivo and Visage.

# ? Aug 23, 2020 07:54

Fil5000: Jun 23, 2003; HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

I don't think the protagonists of any of the Project Zero/Fatal Frame games have done anything wrong either, have they?

# ? Aug 23, 2020 08:20

Piss Witch: Oct 23, 2005

Fil5000 posted:

I don't think the protagonists of any of the Project Zero/Fatal Frame games have done anything wrong either, have they?

Breaking and entering is a crime!

# ? Aug 23, 2020 08:21

SpitztheGreat: Jul 20, 2005

Black August posted:

jesus fuckin' christ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC94L-H8LJw

Yeah, the second I saw the setting I knew where this was going. That isn't a criticism, just an observation.

# ? Aug 23, 2020 08:22

CommunityEdition: May 1, 2009

Am I missing something? That looks absolutely uninspiring and doesn�t seem to do anything to earn either its progression or its ending. Or the name for that matter.

# ? Aug 23, 2020 08:28

SpitztheGreat: Jul 20, 2005

CommunityEdition posted:

Am I missing something? That looks absolutely uninspiring and doesn�t seem to do anything to earn either its progression or its ending. Or the name for that matter.

I don't think it's anything amazing, but in case you haven't put it together (I think) the game is about a guy who goes on a killing spree in an office building after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis as a way of giving his death meaning.. If that's the correct understanding, it's super dark for a game that seemed rather innocuous.

# ? Aug 23, 2020 09:01

Flannelette: Jan 17, 2010

I thought it was just a metaphor for failing to beat cancer and the office building was just the body being smashed up by the treatment?

# ? Aug 23, 2020 09:59

al-azad: May 28, 2009

Fil5000 posted:

I don't think the protagonists of any of the Project Zero/Fatal Frame games have done anything wrong either, have they?

They usually inherit the horrible crimes of their ancestors which is much more common in Eastern stories where reincarnation and family legacies carry more weight. I think there's a lot of untapped stories for generational redemption in Western stories especially when it comes to reparations for slavery and colonialism and I would totally accept more "bad dad" stories if it's the child redeeming their family but lol if reparations aren't a hot button issue.

# ? Aug 23, 2020 15:04

Ibram Gaunt: Jul 22, 2009

Recently watched a streamer (Tomato) play Scrutinized and man...Really good idea just mired by stupid decisions, huh? The detective stuff was cool, and I don't mind the platespinning aspect inherently since it keeps tension up but the failstates just seem awful. Zero audio cue for the serial killer guy...Just have to hope you checked the cameras at the exact right moment to see him or it's just instant game over. And there were a couple times he clearly was shining the light on the guy and he didnt run away so he just lost anyways...

Don't even understand the game logic behind the kidnapper. He randomly got killed by him once and he never showed up a single time past that in like 6 hours of gameplay. The jumpscare where the serial killer pops up infront of the camera was also completely asanine and became comical after the 6th time it happened.

The devs had a real solid base and just made every possible wrong decision with it...

It got me to check out Tomato's video on Welcome To The Game 2 which baffled me with how much more crap you have to do in that one even though just like Scrutinized the base idea is golden. I think someone posted in here that the devs arent going to make any more horror games because streamers beat them too fast or something?? Shame, they could probably hit it out of the park if they tried harder.

# ? Aug 23, 2020 15:16

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:

They usually inherit the horrible crimes of their ancestors which is much more common in Eastern stories where reincarnation and family legacies carry more weight. I think there's a lot of untapped stories for generational redemption in Western stories especially when it comes to reparations for slavery and colonialism and I would totally accept more "bad dad" stories if it's the child redeeming their family but lol if reparations aren't a hot button issue.

The protagonists of Fatal Frame 2 are in yet again different kind of situation because of the explicitly religious context of what is going in All Gods' Village. They're being drawn into what is basically a human sacrifice ritual, which is implicitly commanded by the gods themselves. Shinto does not practice human sacrifice anymore, but it used to - and as with many religions that practiced that kind of sacrifice, you're supposed to consider it both an honor and a duty to willingly give your life when your gods demand it from you.

It's why the original endings are a bit ambiguous about which one is the "good" ending: the one in which Mio strangles her sister to seal the hellish abyss away for another generation, or the one in which she saves her life at the cost of being (implicitly) punished with blindness for refusing to perform her duty.

# ? Aug 23, 2020 15:22

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 15:04

Len: Jan 21, 2008; Pouches, bandages, shoulderpad, cyber-eye...

Bitchin'!

Basically their games had very little substance so nobody bought them

al-azad posted:

https://twitter.com/thewebpro/status/1293520891859656704

Reflect saying Scrutinized isn't performing as well as projected and they're pivoting towards non-horror releases which explains the accessibility options patched into their game.

# ? Aug 23, 2020 15:30

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