Survival Horror Games

[orangetarts 249]

I absolutely LOVE anything to do with the horror genr. Especially video games, so that I can experience the horror, just...not quite first hand haha.
Anyway, some of my favorites are:

 

 

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly

 

Synopsis: Mio and Mayu, twin sisters, are visiting their childhood home. This spot, a secret hideaway for the pair, is due to be swallowed up by a lake come the end of the summer.

Lost in her memories, Mio finally raises her head to find that Mayu has vanished. Looking around, Mio spots her sister following a crimson butterfly deep into the forest.

Mayu flees through the forest as if being led on by the fluttering insect. As she runs, her fleeting form begins to be overlaid with that of a woman dressed in white.

Chasing after her sister, Mio suddenly finds herself alone on a foggy mountain road.

Carried on by the wind, a sad song floats towards her ears. Then, she starts to see lights through the gaps in the trees.

As though accepting their unspoken invitation, Mio follows the road of festival lights.

However, when the dense forest opens into a clearing, it is Mayu who is standing there, alone, surrounded by countless crimson butterflies,

"...Mayu?"

Responding to Mio's call, Mayu slowly turns around. The crimson butterflies dance away as one,

"The Lost...Village..."

Spreading there before the twins, crouching in fog and darkness lies a mysterious village...

The vanished village, "All God's Village."

The village is said to have once stood in the forest, deep in the mountains. This forest is soon to be lost due to the creation of a new dam.

The story goes, that on the eve of a special festival, the village suddenly vanished, leaving the forest wreathed in thick fog.

Many also say that should you happen to get lost in this forest, you will be spirited away to the lost village.

The village where the crimson butterflies dance. The village held forever in the grip of a never-ending night.

- - -

- Opening description from the "Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly" Manual.

 

from: cameraslens.com

 

 

Forbidden Siren (Original)

 

Synopsis:

Siren is set in a Japanese village named Hanuda (Hanyuda in the Japanese version). With strong religious beliefs important in the area, the locals like to keep to themselves and have sought to keep Hanuda isolated from the outside world.  Following the interruption of a ritual near Hanuda, and a subsequent earthquake, the village teeters between time and space, with an infinite sea of red water replacing the mountainous territory. The crux of the story focuses on the efforts of Hisako Yao, the leader of the local religion, to resurrect or re-awaken a god through a ceremony. The 'Siren' of the title is the god's call, summoning Hanuda's residents to immerse themselves in the red water, thus creating an army of subordinates called shibito (屍人 shibito lit. "corpse people"). The shibito then go about building a nest to house the god's corporeal form once it is summoned, as well as killing and converting any remaining humans left in Hanuda. The story is told through the perspectives of ten survivors, some of whom are natives of Hanuda, and is presented out of chronological order over the three days in which the plot takes place.

 

I also just finished playing Silent Hill: Homecoming

and now I really want to play more Silent Hill games 0__0 <33

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sQnBIizW6E

 

So, what are some of your favorites?

[nullmoon 784]

I thoroughly recommend Silent Hill 2. It's not scary in the sense of things jumping out at you. Instead, in true SH style, it messes with your head and really affects you with its oppressie atmosphere. There's a bit near the start where you enter the first 'big area' (the apartments); outside it's quite bright despite the fog and noisy due to the monsters etc.

 

As soon as you enter the apartments it's incredibly dark and COMPLETELY silent.

 

I'm not a fan of horror games generally (because I'm a wimp ) but I stuck this game out until the end. Definitely worth playing for the story alone!

 

I also heard that SH3 is damn good but after watching a couple of trailers, I pooped myself

[hiroki 5521]

I've played a ton of survival horror games, including all the "classics" like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, etc.

 

My favorite is still Fatal Frame 2. I still replay it from time to time now, even after taking so long to complete the mission mode stuff lol.

 

I can't emphasize how enjoyable the game is because it doesn't really rely on jump-scares (it does occasionally [the boy ghost at the window comes to mind], but not as much as some other irritating survival horror titles). In fact, it creates so much tension alone with the music, ambience, surroundings, lighting (or lack thereof, by forcing you to play without the "torchlight" in certain areas), etc. Finally, the story is.. simply... mind-blowing. By the time you reach the end you'll be dying to play it through again just to piece together all the missing fragments of information you glossed over and never really digested.

 

I short, I can't recommend FF2 enough.

 

 

Edit: I forgot to mention Amano Tsukiko's "Chou" (Butterfly) - the theme song of the game which plays during the ending FMV and when the credit rolls. Nothing short of a perfect song to wrap the the game up with.

[Pandabear 414]

Haven't really played that many games in this genre, but one of the few titles I recently finished playing that I loved was Alan. Wake. I wouldn't call it survival horror, but it does have of those elements along with  thriller, action, and shooting components. The gameplay and plot keep you interested at all times and the mood and atmospheres in this game are really spooky. It's really fun to play at night with the volume turned up. I wouldn't just recommend this game to horror/thriller fans but to any gamer out there. It launched on the xbox but it's available on pc and steam too now I believe.

 

[nullmoon 784]

Alan Wake is so much fun

[orangetarts 249]

I've played a ton of survival horror games, including all the "classics" like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, etc.

 

My favorite is still Fatal Frame 2. I still replay it from time to time now, even after taking so long to complete the mission mode stuff lol.

 

I can't emphasize how enjoyable the game is because it doesn't really rely on jump-scares (it does occasionally [the boy ghost at the window comes to mind], but not as much as some other irritating survival horror titles). In fact, it creates so much tension alone with the music, ambience, surroundings, lighting (or lack thereof, by forcing you to play without the "torchlight" in certain areas), etc. Finally, the story is.. simply... mind-blowing. By the time you reach the end you'll be dying to play it through again just to piece together all the missing fragments of information you glossed over and never really digested.

 

I short, I can't recommend FF2 enough.

 

 

Edit: I forgot to mention Amano Tsukiko's "Chou" (Butterfly) - the theme song of the game which plays during the ending FMV and when the credit rolls. Nothing short of a perfect song to wrap the the game up with.

YESSSS ALL OF THIS THAT YOU JUST SAID.

 

I have so many feels for this game and its so hard to accurately describe it so im glad that you were able to say what I couldnt. haha.

[nekkichi 6042]

silent hill 2 is where japanese horror peaked artistically tbh. get the ps2/xbox version if you can, recent hd remakes are very fucked

sh3 is good too & I like the depressive atmosphere of sh4, the game itself is quite bad though.

sh shattered menories was good gameplay wise, but gaijin modellers can not reproduce the brill Japanese characterwork --

the characters r quite ugly to me, and it's really difficult to have any empathy with those dead eyed manequinns to be frank. silent hill 2 characters more often than not feel alive, although mostly really mentally unhealthy.

[Mind of the sun 71]

Silent hill Homecoming -  My first experience with the series. Good story, enjoyable boss battles, creepy atmosphere.

 

Silent hill 2 - Love everything about this game except for the story. All the enviroments are really creepy.

 

Dead Space - Great mix of action and horror. Great tension and the soundtrack is fantastic.

 

Really want to play the Fatal Frame series, looks really good!

[nullmoon 784]

@ Mind of the sun - How can you not like the story in Silent Hill ?!. The story is the whole point of the game and the reason why it is hailed as one of the best in the series O.o

[The Bread Wolf 231]

I'm not confused why Mind of the sun dislikes Silent Hill 2. I'm confused of how can he hate Silent Hill 2 and like Homecoming! Seriously, Homecoming is like probably the worst game of the SH series of all time. The graphics are nice, yeah, but the whole gameplay is gay as hell and the story isn't too interesting either, or at least not enough to compensate the awful, boring and insane puzzles and the sucky gameplay. 

 

Mind you, I haven't actually played any SH games myself, but I'm an expert when it comes to watching any horror games. :'D From the viewers point Homecoming is the worst and pretty much all LPers I've seen playing it have absolutely HATED the game. 

 

Then again, I really liked Shattered Memories, mostly because the different gameplay it had compared to all the other SH games, and it involved a lot more exploring and plot stuff rather than combating. I would like to play it myself some day. 

 

Other survival horror games I like are, well, the famous Amnesia. I can't get enough of it. Sure it isn't the first horror game to use non-combat method when it comes to encountering monsters, but it certainly did it the best. The developers of Amnesia have said that combat makes monsters easily seen as something you just need to get rid of to proceed, instead of a plot element. Leaving the combat out of the game gives you the possibility to wonder about their existence in the game and also that creates it's own horror element. 

 

That's why I don't like shooter horror games. They aren't scary. You just shoot the stuff and keep going. 

 

I'm sure there are other survival horror games I like but Amnesia is the best, I think.

 

Too bad this isn't a general horror game thread, because I'd love to talk about adventure horror games like The Cat Lady and Sherlock Holmes series. :'D I absolutely love those games, especially The Cat Lady, in which everything is about the atmosphere and not the fear of dying in the game since you can't die in it. Or actually, you die in it several times, but it happens whatever you do.

[orangetarts 249]

I'm not confused why Mind of the sun dislikes Silent Hill 2. I'm confused of how can he hate Silent Hill 2 and like Homecoming! Seriously, Homecoming is like probably the worst game of the SH series of all time. The graphics are nice, yeah, but the whole gameplay is gay as hell and the story isn't too interesting either, or at least not enough to compensate the awful, boring and insane puzzles and the sucky gameplay. 

 

 

Other survival horror games I like are, well, the famous Amnesia. I can't get enough of it. Sure it isn't the first horror game to use non-combat method when it comes to encountering monsters, but it certainly did it the best. The developers of Amnesia have said that combat makes monsters easily seen as something you just need to get rid of to proceed, instead of a plot element. Leaving the combat out of the game gives you the possibility to wonder about their existence in the game and also that creates it's own horror element. 

 

I think Homecoming wasnt too bad, it was kind of tedious in some parts but for the most part it was ok.

I think I really need to play the other SH games to make a better comparison tho.

Non-combat survival horror is so hard man Dx

Forbidden Siren is like that in most parts of the game, you dont have a weapon so you have to hide until the zombie things cant see you anymore.

and sometimes you're given a weapon and even then it doesnt work very well LOL.

[Mind of the sun 71]

@ Mind of the sun - How can you not like the story in Silent Hill ?!. The story is the whole point of the game and the reason why it is hailed as one of the best in the series O.o

 

I had higher expectaions. With homecoming i had none.

[Mind of the sun 71]

I'm not confused why Mind of the sun dislikes Silent Hill 2. I'm confused of how can he hate Silent Hill 2 and like Homecoming! Seriously, Homecoming is like probably the worst game of the SH series of all time. The graphics are nice, yeah, but the whole gameplay is gay as hell and the story isn't too interesting either, or at least not enough to compensate the awful, boring and insane puzzles and the sucky gameplay. 

 

Mind you, I haven't actually played any SH games myself, but I'm an expert when it comes to watching any horror games. :'D From the viewers point Homecoming is the worst and pretty much all LPers I've seen playing it have absolutely HATED the game. 

 

Then again, I really liked Shattered Memories, mostly because the different gameplay it had compared to all the other SH games, and it involved a lot more exploring and plot stuff rather than combating. I would like to play it myself some day. 

 

Other survival horror games I like are, well, the famous Amnesia. I can't get enough of it. Sure it isn't the first horror game to use non-combat method when it comes to encountering monsters, but it certainly did it the best. The developers of Amnesia have said that combat makes monsters easily seen as something you just need to get rid of to proceed, instead of a plot element. Leaving the combat out of the game gives you the possibility to wonder about their existence in the game and also that creates it's own horror element. 

 

That's why I don't like shooter horror games. They aren't scary. You just shoot the stuff and keep going. 

 

I'm sure there are other survival horror games I like but Amnesia is the best, I think.

 

Too bad this isn't a general horror game thread, because I'd love to talk about adventure horror games like The Cat Lady and Sherlock Holmes series. :'D I absolutely love those games, especially The Cat Lady, in which everything is about the atmosphere and not the fear of dying in the game since you can't die in it. Or actually, you die in it several times, but it happens whatever you do.

 

I did not say that i hate silent hill 2? The story is the only thing i did not like. Everything else is perfect. Since homecoming was my first silent hill game i did not have any expectations, i would probably not like homecoming as much if i would have played the 2nd first. I am currently playing Silent hill 1 for the first time and i am enjoying it alot so far!

[Kaito-sama 1]

Theres been some really good things lately in the indie horror gaming scene.  Haunted Memories is a very polished, slenderman survival horror (Its looks beautiful).  imscared is another amazing indie game that many of my friends couldnt even get through, so we had to watch a LetsPlay xD  Both are definitely worth a look at.