I’ve been on a horror game kick these last few months. Maybe it’s my way of coping with what’s going on in the world. I’ve always found comfort in the macabre.
You can find my stream here: https://www.twitch.tv/stoic23 I typically stream 9pm thru 12am every night except Tuesdays which is my World of Warcraft Raid night.
I’ve been focusing on titles on the PS1 and PS2. The 32 bit era saw the rise of the survival horror genre. This shift from 2D to 3D also brought more realistic depictions of graphic violence and mature stories. While the PS1 introduced us to classics like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, the PS2 had a much stronger library of horror titles.
Here are the titles I’ve played to date. The ones marked in bold are titles I played for the first time:
- Resident Evil: Code Veronica
- Parasite Eve
- Dino Crisis 1
- Dino Crisis 2
- Silent Hill 1
- Silent Hill 2
- Silent Hill 3
- Haunting Ground
- Rule of Rose
- Clock Tower 3
- Fatal Frame 2
As you can see, most of the titles I’ve played are retreads. Many of them I haven’t played since I was an adolescent. I’ve been meaning to write articles about many of them, but haven’t been able to find the motivation. I just keep plowing through titles.
Playing through these titles again has given me renewed appreciation for them. Particularly Haunting Ground and Rule of Rose. These horror gems have been largely forgotten. Buying an actual copy of the titles is exorbitantly expensive. Especially Rule of Rose. I still kick myself for trading it back in to Gamestop back in college…
I’ll be exploring these titles more in-depth. Particularly titles like Silent Hill and Rule of Rose. These titles largely convey their story through subtext and require multiple playthroughs to pick up all the hints. This is my favorite kind of horror storytelling. I still enjoy a tightly designed survival horror like Resident Evil or Dino Crisis. And Parasite Eve really impressed me with its blend of horror and RPG mechanics and cinematic storytelling.
If you have any suggestions for horror titles for me play on stream, please let know in the comments. I’ve been focusing on PS1/2 horror titles, but I’ll be moving on to indie and Steam titles soon.