/vr/ - Retro Games

Ocarina of Time to some degree.

It has this subtle feeling of melancholy and sentimental yearning.

The title theme isn't based on Satie's Gymnopedie No.1 for no reason.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0k1WCPWZ8Q

Played Dungeon Master, or the Ultima Underworld games OP?

Since you mentioned King's Field and Demons' Souls i'll assume you're familiar with it, but i'll still throw in Shadow Tower if you haven't played it.

Vagrant Story

>>1390697
Yeah, I know it. I thought it count's as part of the King's Field series.
Although I have to admit that I liked it more than the KF titles I tried.

>>1390695
Can't say that I have.

>>1390701
I really want to like this game. It looks really great
but the combat doesn't click for me and I hate box puzzles with a passion.
It just felt tedious.

I think most of the Shin Megami Tensei games fill that niche, though on retro consoles I've only played If..., which hasn't yet been translated.

I would honestly say Metal Gear Solid
Everything is cold and grey and the music gets pretty gloomy

But I understand how all the action can erase that atmosphere

>>1390705
Did you play the combat until you get chains?

D. Your in a big old castle. Myst as well to some extent.

7th saga has that vibe for me.

Hexen?

>>1390714
I played up until I got into the city after that long dungeon.
Then it went back to another dungeon and I gave up.

Thief 1 and 2

>>1390739
It's a dungeon crawler, the entire game is like that.

>>1390667
Arx Fatalis

playing that game always made me feel claustrophobic and depressed

>>1390667
Severence Blade.

>>1390745

This

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndYFbR1dBTs

Gothic

Kagero Deception 2.
Invent and combine traps. Kill everyone.

Enclave
great action rpg.

>>1390753
>>1390803
I was reluctant about naming those two because they are more comedic than melancholic.

>>1390762
>>1390721
These two aren't really melancholic either.
I can recommend you Die by the Sword though.

>>1390667
Shadow Tower series.

Loom

>>1390692
When it comes to atmosphere, Majora's Mask is the Zelda to go to.

>>1390667
The Whispered World is highly melancholic and gloomy.
Oknytt is the same to a lesser extent.

From what little I played of Syberia it too seemed to have a similar feel to it.

>>1390842
I like them both equally.

Cosmology of Kyoto

>>1390739
>Then it went back to another dungeon and I gave up.
Well, it's a cryptic dungeon crawler.

Actual gameplay happens in the workshops. Then you just go out and see if you've equipped yourself well enough. The game is great, but it can be very misleading.

Also, it's a Yasumi Matsuno game. No video game enthusiast should go without having beaten it.

>>1390842
no, ZElda 2 IS!!!!

I joke, I joke. Majora's Mask is the best Zelda for any non-gameplay elements ie story, atmosphere, even music if you ask me. And it retains OOT's gameplay so... well I'm not saying its the best Zelda, but its my favourite. Definitely fits what OP is looking for.

Sword & Sworcery

>>1390667
Thief: The Dark Project
Thief 2: The Metal Age

Treasure Hunter D. Dont ask, just play!

Pathologic, Tension/the Void.
Not retro but if you want atmosphere and forgive some bad gameplay elements it will suit you perfectly.

Brandish 1 and 2.
The crawling, secrets, atmosphere, and simple but hands-on combat reminded me very much of demon's souls when I played them.

>>1391000

I gotta second Pathologic.
Absolutely fantastic atmosphere.

>>1390987
errr....sorry i meant Treasure Hunter G.

Guess i've been hanging out with Descartes for too long, eh?

>>1391000
>some bad gameplay elements
You mean "the bad gameplay". Pathologic is a mess. Everything is either broken (combat, economics) or shallow (the rpg and adventure elements). And the final day is a big "fuck you" to the player (nothing you do matters, except collecting medicine). Neither retro nor worth recommending.

>>1391231

Did you even read the OP, or are you just a whiny piece of shit with an axe to grind?

>>1391243
I assume OP doesn't want to waste his time with bad games.

I dunno why, but I felt Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire always had kind of a dark vibe.

>>1390802
mahnigga.jpg

>>1391243

>with an axe to grind

He's right, though. Plus he didn't even mention the bad translation and the fact that 90% of the game consists of empty running around. It's not really atmospheric unless you are extremely forgiving.

>>1391254
Those sewers man..

And the train level. Pure isolation and decay.

All three of the original Metroid trilogy fits that description well.

>>1391470
>>1390858
>>1390692
>>1390842
Have you people played ANY of the games OP mentioned?

>>1391481
I don't think there are enough cloudy sky gray castle games to recommend.

>>1391498
So recommending completely unrelated games is fine? How about Mario, that made me feel like I was alone, struggling alone in a world of hostile monsters to save a princess from a castle.

It's not /vr/. but the Otogi series is made by from, and it's essentially a eastern demon's souls/king's field in terms of athmosphere.

The soundtrack is pretty unique, using mainly traditional japanese instruments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUTAZPMJ7pY
http://youtu.be/XE0Tw2kr76c
http://youtu.be/u7sutpclv20

Mega Man X5 has a sort of final, apocalyptic feel to it.

Sanitarium
Planescape Torment
Dungeon Keeper (1st is best!)
Blood (by Monolioth)- Pic is related!

Doom 64
Silent Hill 2
The Cat Lady

>>1391481
OP here. The first reply is mine
and I can also agree with Metroid to some degree.

I agree with >>1391498
But yeah, there were several recommendations that were way off the mark.

Damn, I remember a game on the PS2 that played like King's Field and was pretty gloomy ( you' re a warrior who has to travel to hell to seek his judgement )

Echo Night

>>1390710
Shin Megami Tensei 1 also has that atmosphere in loads but it gets kind of unbearable to play further in due to stacking encounters.

Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne is amazing at this and amazing in other regards as well. Op should try that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RdbZeOxL2o

Hungry Ghosts for PS2. Hope you read moon.

>>1393270
>all these japanese games and books I'm missing out on
I really need to learn japanese one of these days.

>>1390667
Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder. It came out circa 2005, but very minimalistic. Persons you'll encounter will have low poly count, dreadingly poor quality but mixes congruently. Soundtrack is top notch and so is the atmosphere. Atmosphere may feel mawkish to some people though. Best panoramic point-and-click I've played so far. But I advise reading wiki and watching YouTube about it first.

I always felt Shenmue had that kind of atmosphere. Just walking around town all day and playing old video games at the arcade.

>>1393437
It was 2007 actually. The wiki page seems edited, different from the last time I visited it.

>>1390745
>>1390802

I'm not so sure, Thief's atmosphere seems more dark/horror than gloomy. Maybe not quite what OP was going for.

>>1390667
Divi Dead

realm of the haunting

System Shock.

>>1390851
Holy shit I just got chills from watching a video of this. Looks amazing.

Tomb Raider 1.

Metal Mutant

terrorpods.
Shadow of the beast.

Alien VS Predator 1, the alien missions.

Darkseed.

I have no Mouth and I must Scream.

The vindicator
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opyrsjfsrmc

>>1395408
I wouldn't call it horror.
It's more like film noir with a gothic vibe.

Unreal.

Robinson's Requiem ?

Oddworld.

>>1395504

That sounds about right, except horror really is an integral part of the games, especially T1.

>>1390667

Drakan: Order of the Flame, Wheel of Time, Revenant, Hexen, Hexen II, Heretic, Heretic II, Thief.

Not retro but try The Dark Mod for DOOM 3.

Fist II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4YRJ155z7w

Faxanadu is pretty melancholy, and gets moreso when you get into the mist.

>>1395518

TDM is standalone now, too, and got an update recently.

I wonder why it's still called mod, just because of how it started out?

How about the Metroid Prime series? Or even Metroid for snes...

Pathways into Darkness

bump

>>1397384
Holy shit I remember playing that on my Mac Performa in elementary school.

>>1395448
Came here to post this, I'm playing it now.

Pathologic and The Void are pretty gloomy.

>ctrl+F 'clock tower'
>0 results

Dude. The original SFC Clock Tower. It's hella creepy and unsettling. The knowledge that the game's scares and traps are rearranged randomly, the fact that you don't get to see an exact number to represent your character's strength, the slow trickle of occult strangeness until you hit the game's final act.

Demon's Crest also manages this pretty well, especially with its haunting all-organ soundtrack. Visually, despite being dark it's surprisingly colorful and varied in its creatures and environments, yet it also has some truly macabre moments.

>that fucking flesh monster in the tower

Myst and Riven. (not the sequels)
Silent Hill 1-4

This is from The Void. The characters are all depressing or frightening.

>>1397384
I'm actually playing this for the first time right now, because I'm on a Macbook Air and it's free in the App Store.

The enemy designs look like a twelve year old scribbled them in his notebook during math class, but the game kicks ASS.

>>1390852
>actual gameplay happens in the workshop

I started playing and quit Vagrant Story maybe two or three times now, but this makes it finally make sense.

>>1390667
>Shadowgate 64
>crossing the log
>suddenly fucking ghost appears out of fucking nowhere
>player gasps
>shit myself

Thank you OP for reminding me of this awesome piece of a game.

Temple of Apshai!

I would say Command & Conquer: tiberian sun. The soundtrack, the few civilians, the tiberium, EVA,...

I prefer Red Alert above the Tiberian series at any time but Tiberian Sun was the most atmospheric one of the series imo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aR7QLX4nx8

>>1404425
Now we're really going into bullshit territory.

Nightmare Ned
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp1MD6CjPdE

Shining in the Darkness
Ultima Underworld

westwood's blade runner for obvious reasons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGC9mV39BfI

>>1390667
Shadow Tower, Abyss

>>1391661
the atmosphere in doom 64 is god tier, so much more eery than the thrash metal filled pc versions

>>1390667
>Shadowgate 64, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, King's Field and Demon's Souls.
Check out Riven and Azrael's Tear.

>>1390667
Myst series.
The Void.

>>1390667
The Path.

Severance
Bad Mojo
Sanitarium
I have no mouth and I must scream
Realms of the Haunting.

>>1390667
Dungeon Kepper.
Get it on Gog, it's free right now.

>>1390667
Shivers 1 and 2.