Asian Horror Games

[BoneSnapDeez]

I just got D in the mail, literally five minutes ago. Looking forward to playing it - in October.

[CRTGAMER]

What a great thread!

This probably seems like a bizzarely specific thread but I've noticed a lot of asian media, be it Japanese, Korean or Chinese seems to nail that specific kind of creepy as opposed to a lot of western horror, with a lot of it seeming to have mastered the method of show don't tell, not that gory, over the top schlock isn't fun, it's just not scary. So I've decided to dedicate this thread to various hidden gems that nail that specific type of asian creepy.

The first game I'm gonna bring up is the infamous White Day:

The game was unfortunately never officially released in any english speaking countries due to the game's dev team Sonnori Co. closing their doors in 2004 due to poor sales. However this has made the game abandon-ware and copyright-free, meaning it is entirely legal to download and modify, resulting in a multitude of fan patches, fixing various bugs and featuring much better english translation.

Download Link for the latest fan-updated version: http://www.indiedb.com/games/white-day/ ... -installer

Feel free to discuss and suggest any other titles you believe belong in this thread and I'm going to attempt to update you guys weekly with an interesting title that falls within this niche.

Nice Thread and thanks for the link! There is a V16 which I am now downloading though I am unsure if it has the English patch.

There are a lot of Japanese Horror games that are well done such as PS2 Siren and the PS2/Xbox Fatal Frame series. I have been holding out on Wii The Calling due to mixed reviews and Gamestop overpricing it. Maybe one day pick it up. As JT mentioned PS2 Rule Rose is a pretty cool game, that video link makes me want to attempt it again.

@ BoneSnapDeez - Is that the PC or PS1 version? I played both, the video is pretty grainy due to the era of the game. A search the rooms and get a surprise every once in a while. Funny a lot of horror games (Resident Evil/Silent Hill) took on that grainy look years later.

[Xeogred]

Atlus released a game for PS2 called Rule of Rose that I love for its unsettling creepiness. The horror isn't in the gore, it is in the humiliation and weird vaguely sexual experiences. Your character is overly helpless, which is kind of annoying, but also makes it feel more like a nightmare where you have lost your power and agility.

Here's a good scene that personifies what I like about the unusual horror in this hidden gem:

Rule of Rose -

If only it wasn't $145 on Amazon.

[J T]

If only it wasn't $145 on Amazon.

Ouch. I didn't know it had gone up so much in price. I bought it for $20 new a few years back.

[Damm64]

If only it wasn't $145 on Amazon.

Ouch. I didn't know it had gone up so much in price. I bought it for $20 new a few years back.

Iso's on the web are your friends.

[BoneSnapDeez]

@ BoneSnapDeez - Is that the PC or PS1 version?

3DO.

[CRTGAMER]

@ BoneSnapDeez - Is that the PC or PS1 version?

3DO.

Ah, have fun! Oh I forgot, there is the Dreamcast version too. A completely different style of game though.

Hardcore Gaming Review of the series:
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/warp/warp.htm

[J T]

@ BoneSnapDeez - Is that the PC or PS1 version?

3DO.

The DO stands for harD cOre!

[Key-Glyph]

I've spent the past few days watching lots of playthroughs of White Day, reading up on the story, and listening to the music. It's awesome. It also made me examine my relationship with the horror genre, so I'm just going to ramble away for a moment.

To keep things short, watching White Day made me realize that the crushing anxiety I generally feel toward the entire genre of horror has less to do with my being uncomfortable with the fictional circumstances than it does with my fear or being forced to witness something that goes too far beyond what I can "handle." Basically, I am most terrified by the possibility of the camera's eye/ear taking away my control over what I experience in contexts that I predict will disturb me too deeply.

Since I knew ahead of time that White Day was primarily psychological and extremely short on gore -- and, importantly, already fifteen years old -- I was able to enjoy it from a comfort zone that allowed me to be giddily startled, stressed out, and creeped in the best kind of way. I'm able to achieve the same sort of thing with the early Resident Evil games, which is due to my agency over my character, the lack of rendered cutscenes, and the limitations of the older hardware. I feel relatively confident about what I'm getting into and what such games are (in)capable of throwing at me in these specialized circumstances. Clock Tower for SNES is another great example of this.

I'm under the impression that a lot of modern horror leans on the conventions of shock and disgust, and while that's totally okay, I just wish I knew of more games like White Day that separated gristle from suspense. From this thread I get the sense that Asian horror might be up my alley, but I also thought Fatal Frame was one of the shining examples of this sort of style -- and alas, when I watched a cut scene on YouTube I felt vaguely ill afterwards. No comfort zone there!

Any thoughts on this or other game recommendations?

[Damm64]

Like said above Siren series are a good way to go, silent hill it's also one that emphasizes on psycological horror instead of gore. The thing that i like the most on this kind of horror it's the subtlety, yes dead space big bad monster jumping from the roof it's scary... for about two times then gets repetitive. That video that JT shown of rule of rose it's a great example of what i like, no music just atmospheric sounds no stupid jumpscare the scene just builds around the general creepyness that you see around.

I would also recommend the Penumbra series on PC, it's been a while since i last played them but i remember them being good and atmospheric.