It’s that time of the year again! Prepare to be haunted by creepy pumpkins, spooky ghosts and probably the scariest of them all: barely edible, tooth enamel destroying candy.
Unfortunately, I’ve never celebrated Halloween here in Amsterdam, but I do enjoy anything with a horror theme. It goes without saying that now’s the ideal time to fire up lots and lots of horror games until you start crying bloody tears.
Anyway, these are the horror-themed games I’ve played recently:
The Darkside Detective
An enjoyable little point-and-click adventure game with fun puzzles and quite a few laughs. Not in the least bit scary, though.
Paratopic
Me after completing this game:
The Last Door
Another point-and-click game. Unlike The Darkside Detective, this one leans harder into horror. I haven’t completed it yet (I’m at episode 4 right now), but I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s quite an atmospheric game and the puzzles are pretty good. Great soundtrack, too.
Horror-themed games I’ve yet to play:
Murder House
Looks like fun. Can’t wait to play it!
So, what ghoulish games are you guys playing this season?
While not horror exactly I usually get a hankering to play Castlevania: SOTN this time of year. Maybe it’s all the movie monsters. And while it isn’t horror as such I’ve been playing a lot of D2R which has a lot of horror elements in the art and atmosphere as well.
Some of the best music on the system, great animation and aesthetics. The gameplay isn’t totally original (think Bubble Bobble), and it could be a little sharper looking but it’s a fun game and it’s very 1CCable.
I don’t really do the typical halloween spooky game thing though so I’ll probably get around to it closer to New Years, which somehow became my unofficial horror game time.
I too find New Years terrifying. For me, it will be the usual NiGHTS and a bit more of newly acquired Mr. Bones. Maybe some Gex as well with selected levels.
Personally not all that much into Spooktober, but like to add some festivities whenever possible.
Played a few horror-themed games the past couple of days.
Butcher is a fast-paced 2D shooter with tiny sprites and an abundance of gore.
Played through it in a couple of hours and enjoyed it quite a bit.
I also played another game that features all kinds of monstrous enemies, but it sits on the opposite end of the grittiness spectrum compared to Butcher:
The Arcade Archives release of KiKi KaiKai was on sale, so I couldn’t resist downloading it. I used to play it in the arcade back in the eighties. Still a pretty fun game!
Picked up Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection since it was on sale. Played it for a bit and… I kinda don’t like it… at all.
It’s a shame, because I was absolutely obsessed with Ghosts 'n Goblins when I played it at an arcade (and on the Commodore 64) ages ago. I also loved Ghouls 'n Ghosts (played the Mega Drive version to death) and I still play the arcade versions of both games every now and then.
I was hoping Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection would have the same effect on me, but alas, it hasn’t (so far, at least). While I’m not a huge fan of the graphics, that’s not what I’m soured on. It’s the gameplay. It just doesn’t feel as solid and snappy as the earlier games.
Played DUSK for the first time last night. Pretty fun so far!
Today I played a few levels of DUSK '82 (a free puzzle demake for customers who pre-ordered DUSK). I like it!
Tonight I’m probably going to continue my playthrough of The Last Door. I’m at the second episode of season two right now. What I really appreciate about this game is that each episode can be completed in a single evening, so I never go to bed with unsolved puzzles tormenting my mind
It’s October, folks! Time to resurrect this thread!
So, I’ve finally played Murder House recently and I rather enjoyed it. It’s janky as hell, but in a way that’s quite charming and adds to the atmosphere. As someone who’s always looking for “neo retro” gaming experiences, I was pleased with the whole PS1 style graphics + eighties “video nasty” aesthetic and the use of classic survival horror mechanics such as limited saves. Also, the game made me jump out of my skin quite a few times, which is a big positive for a horror junkie such as myself.
If you like classic survival horror games, give this one a try! It’s cheap and short (it can be completed in about four hours), so even in case you won’t enjoy it as much as I did, at least you won’t have wasted a lot of money and time.
Coincidentally, I’ve also been trying to beat NES Castlevania just a couple of days ago. I was playing the version that’s featured on the Castlevania collection that was released a few years ago. I was doing pretty well and just reached the grim reaper boss, only for the game to suddenly freeze and crash. To say I was annoyed is quite the understatement!
Wow, well done! I already had to use quite a few continues to reach the grim reaper, so I bet subsequent levels would’ve depleted my lives even faster.
I’m in luck! Nun Massacre, another survival horror game by Puppet Combo (the creators of Murder House) is on sale on the EU eShop right now. I’m definitely grabbing that one.
I’m playing Virus on the Saturn. Maybe not a horror game as such but virus can be scarry.
I’ve tried playing this game many time in the past. I still own my original copy I bought on a trip to Japan in 1997 and here I am now living in Japan since 1999 with the exact same copy and finally playing through it.
A few days ago I tried to play Castlevania: The Adventure, but it’s so bad I had to drop it after a short while. Dodgy controls, weak level design and a protagonist who moves slower than a granny wearing lead shoes covered in super glue make this game a slog to play.
I remember playing this game shortly after its release and all its faults weren’t apparent to me back then. As someone who was used to playing simple Game & Watch-style LCD games, I was just happy to play handheld games that finally started to resemble its console counterparts.
Thankfully, one thing Castlevania: The Adventure doesn’t fail at is having a nice soundtrack.
Playing through Belmont’s Revenge right now. Wow, what a breath of fresh air! Graphically, it’s not that much different from its predecessor (typically for Castlevania games, quite a few sprites have been reused), but gameplay-wise it couldn’t be more different! It’s a really solid game and I’m having a great time with it.
And, as expected, its soundtrack features some excellent tunes:
