This year we’re putting together a list of 31 Retro Horror games: games that have come from dead console generations, back to haunt us.
Sadly, not all of these games will be available for you to play due to the complicated nature of video game preservation. However, we’re going to note if it’s possible to play them on modern hardware.
For this series, we’ll be covering games from the Seventh Generation (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii) and earlier. So basically, anything before 2006. Let's load up our pick for Day 1 now.
Day 1
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (2002)
Last year I put together 31 (mostly) horror video games to keep your October full of fresh nightmares. This year, I’m going to take a look at 31 games that are from console generations long dead, back to haunt us with their low resolution games. I'm particularly excited about this year's list, because I've always said that low res horror is some of the best, because our minds fill in the parts that aren’t clearly defined.
The first game that came to mind when I came up with this idea was Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. Released back in 2002 for the GameCube, it really made an impression on me. With mechanics similar to Resident Evil, and hot off the heels of the Resident Evil remake, I was hungry for more survival horror, and Eternal Darkness delivered in a way I didn’t expect.
Eternal Darkness was one of the first games that I played that dealt with Eldritch Horror in a tangible way. You weren’t just warned of this terrifying presence, either - you’re actively fighting its minions and their effects on your sanity.
Sanity's Requiem has an incredibly well implemented Sanity mechanic that actually fooled me on more than one occasion. If your sanity gets too low, the game starts to mess with you on a meta level. It would give you error messages, like saying your controller was unplugged while spawning enemies to swarm your character. Or your character’s head would randomly fall off. It wasn’t the first game to implement fourth wall breaking, but it did it in a way that was more effective than any other game I’ve played. There’s even a sanity effect that forces you into a menu that gives you no choice but to delete your saved games and a fake “to be continued” indicating a storyline that will be continued in the sequel–which doesn't exist.
If you've never played the game and you're curious - fire it up on your old GameCube. Failing that, enjoy some of the best of the sanity effects that I found in creator SuperHobbit's YouTube compilation here.
コメント