/vr/ - Retro Games

Gothic

Shadow Tower on the Playstation is a slow, brooding affair that sounds like what you're looking. Absolutely brilliant sound design - there is no music, the only things you'll hear are your echoing footsteps and the screeching of monsters. There are people to talk to, however.

Echo Night series
Hell Night
The Note
...Iru!
King Field's series

silent hill 1

From software games on the playstation: Shadow Tower, King's field and Echo Night. Koudelka is much goofier and a bit of a trainwreck in terms of mechanics, but has a good, gloomy aesthetic too.

Thunderscape could be this if it wasn't such an unwieldy and badly designed mess.

Daggerfall too, but for slightly different reasons.

>>779556
The first Summoner game for ps2
Sage for not retro

Sentinel Returns.

>grimdark

Vagrant Story
Didn't care much for the gameplay,
but the visuals are god tier, considering the playstation's limitations.

>>779576
>Shadowgate 64
>not retro

Also this board is way too slow to slavishly adhere to an arbitrary time limit like 1999.
Also also, the sticky doesn't even refer to GAMES from 1999.

>>779595
*forgot pic

>>779591
The games named here aren't grimdark.

Nuns strapped to battering rams and dead infants being sold as provisions are grimdark.

Vampire Hunter D for the Psx.

>>779562
>>779564
>>779569

The PSX had lots of those dark games.
I'd add Baroque to the list

Nightmare Creatures
Deathtrap Dungeon

Playstation action games with Resident Evil-syndrome, dodgy mechanics=more fraught gameplay

King's field, and while not /vr/, the Otogi games if you can find them.

When it wants, From can be quite athmospheric.

Silent Hill

>>779595
He was sage-ing his own response, as it contained a non retro game. He was using the function correctly, not implying that the thread wasn't retro.
Another polite sage for an off topic post.

>>779648
dat ass

>>779648
Nightmare Creatures is fucking awesome, though.
Especially the 2nd one, holy shit.

>>779665
Oh, my bad.
I also thought the pc version of Summoner was older.

Castlevania 64

metroid, pokemon RBY, berzerk, first castlevania, turok n64, doom, diablo, silent hill, resident evil, nethack, bodyharvest, shadowman, perfect dark

Zelda 64 can be like that at times.

Especially the future marketplace and shadow temple.

Vampire Redemption

>>779562
I've seen many people refer to Shadow Tower as King's field 3.
Are they the same game or is this just a misconception due to King's field 3 being called King's field 2 in the US since the original King's Field wasn't released there?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbfx2vTKkYk

Azrael's Tear

The Cat Lady

Vampie: The Masquerade

Harvest Moon.

Hell Night for PSX is what you're looking for. Google it, youtube it, download it. Basically, it's a "cat & mouse" survival horror with a fucking scary music and atmosphere. Used to terrified me as a kid, and so does today.

Not retro, but painkiller has many levels like that.

>>779750
Misconception.
Check out Shadow Tower: Abyss and Hungry Ghosts for PS2 as well. It's not retro, but it's pretty great.

>>779775
this shit tripped me out

>>779792
Goddamn, Hell Night was a fucking creepy game.

Too bad the ending is practically nonexistant.

>>779603
And what int he name of fuck is this? A Warhammer FB action game?

>>779912
MMO

castle master

Is Shadowgate 64 any good? I liked the original on the NES.

Since you listed non-vr titles I'm gonna say Haunting Ground. Capcom's last true survival horror title.

Some gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeIh7iW0W9U

>gloomy, misty, brown, earthy, creepy

Quake. Others I'm thinking of have already been mentioned or aren't /vr/.

FUCKING SHADOWMAN!
not the ps1 or ps2 sequel, just the dreamcast/n64/pc versions

I always found the first clutch of oddworld games to have kind of a blackish setting.

Planescape Torment is 2D brown areas : the game. It's also has some of the best writing in a video game.

>>779967

The only problem with this game is that it is bad

not retro but eternal rings for the ps2 might be worth a look

I know them Shadowgate 64 feels very well, OP. great feels.

also, King's Field on PS1 fits the description pretty well.

anything retro castlevania of course. PS2 titles if you want 3D. Castlevania 64 and Legacy of Darkness of course too.

>>779787
Those fucking cows man

>>779556
wait a minute. the last pic bottom left in OP's collage of SG64 is not in the game. I can't remember it. must be on of those rare beta screenshots of Shadowgate Rising which was never released to this day.

I wanna play that game so bad but Zojoi are such retards and sooo fucking slow when it comes to releasing a decent SG game.

btw new Shadowgate will come out next year or something but it's another NES remake.

SG64 was entirely made by Kemco btw and Karl Roelofs and Dave Marsh had very little to do with it. they could make a HUGE franchise out of Shadowgate if only they wanted.

>>779854
>Shadow Tower: Abyss

great game. the translation was released not all too long ago. if anyone's interested, find it on theisozone.com

I don't think emuparadise has it. isozone is the place for such rare games.

>>780065

>must be on of those rare beta screenshots of Shadowgate Rising which was never released to this day.

http://www.unseen64.net/2008/04/04/shadowgate-rising-n64-cancelled/

it's true. check those screenshots.

>>780083
I want to suck on Raven's huge tits. I have a thing for redhead sorceresses.

Sanitarium

>>779556
Try "Blood".

>>780065
Which Shadowgate titles are good?
I only played the 64 one.

>>779564
Thanks to you I've discovered ...Iru! , but I can't say I'm really impressed at it actually. Everything is slow and there's not that much actually happening.

>>780456
The beginning of the game IS very slow because you need to talk from person to person to trigger stuff. After that it becomes a little more interesting as you keep going on.

Do you speak japanese? If not you'll end up being stuck at the 2nd monster blocking the path, on the lower floor. I've made a playthrough here (it's got the good ending but not the best one, I was never able to figure out how to get it even when watching a playthrough on niconicovideo)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwP7RohDMlg

I'm sorry about the sound being off sync. It's due to the file coming from livestream to begin with and it did that when uploading it on youtube.

I also wrote a review of the game here
http://thisshitaintscary.blogspot.fr/2012/11/blog-post_26.html then this fucker copied me if you want another opinion on the game http://www.dreamdawn.com/sh/info.php?name=...Iru!

>>780491
Actually, I watched a LP off of youtube of the whole game.

Of course, the player knew what to do so it's not the same as playing and really being lost and all, but that didn't feel that interesting still. It feels like you're stuck on the first level of another horror game, and that it is 80% of the game.

So that blog really is yours! Nice reviews man.

>>780498
>So that blog really is yours! Nice reviews man.

I wish I wasn't lazy and made more reviews... but my survival horror autism has been fading away more and more with time.

>>780491
Sounds interesting, is there an English patch?

>>780504
I really love horror games too. I'm sad the industry doesn't feed me any more nice titles.

Some of the older ones I didn't grow up with are quite hard to get into sometimes (poor interfaces or gameplay...)

Bought The Note last year, I really should try and do it somedays. I'd also would love to find Hell Night.

Did you read IG Magazine hors série 3 on horror games? That was an interesting one, I discovered some neat titles in there.

Legend of Grimrock

Try Carrier for the dreamcast, its resident evil in spaaaace

Completely non-retro but
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
would be a good choice to look at if youre really struggling for a game

>>780512
A friend of mine was working on a translation (he amde an HTML version, the links are dead though) and another person (a coder) contacted him. So, supposedly, it's "in the works"....

>>780516
I like The Note a lot, the only "bad" thing about it is figuring out the precise-pixel where to use the goddamn rope!!

and nope i haven't read that, but I've got pic related

>>780525
>resident evil in space

aren't you mistaking carrier with Marthian Gothic?

>>780525
Aww fuck yeah for Call of Cthulhu. The first half of the game is fucking awesome.

Then it turns to mediocre

>>780530
Nice. I'll have to check that book too.

BTW OP, maybe you could try Scratches on PC. That game was really good IMO.

Deus Ex? Not only does all of the game happen during the night, but it always felt very opressive and dark.

>>780532
Watched an LP of that

It actually seemed pretty neat, I heard it came out very late in the PSX's life cycle though and was marketed as a budget title

>>780535
>Nice. I'll have to check that book too.

It's only okay. The first half of the book is theorying in general terms on the genre, except that they didn't want to define the genre to begin with! For university scholars I think that's pretty rubish. How can you talk about something if you don't define what you're talking about?! As a consequence they consently bring up Resident Evil 4 in their essays... by disgreament from me here.

2nd half of the book is much more interesting because they focus on studying precise things like how lighting works in Project Zero etc

>>780545
Oh... I see.

The IG magazine is trying to talk about all horror games that existed if I recall correctly, with most of them getting at least one page, and with files on the big series such as RE or SH.

Not really deep or anything, but nice for informations.

>>780536
It's got tons of great gameplays ideas, lot's of interesting backstory to read in the game, and fantastic atmosphere. However, like many other survival horror of the era, it suffered from being rushed and feels unfinished. For example the hit detection is atrocious which makes the game play really awful. It's kinda like Rule of Rose in that regard (except it didn't get as much recognition as Rule Of Rose because it doesn't talk about childrape.)

Some puzzles are pretty hard too.

>>780552
>The IG magazine is trying to talk about all horror games that existed if I recall correctly,

This is an impossible endeavour. What is a "horror" game anyway? Horror is not a video game genre. Video game genres are defined by gameplay mechanics, not by themes; survival horror is an exception because it's defined by both)

so if you want to talk about "every horror game"; where do you draw the line? Doom's a horror game if you ask me. So are Castlevania and Ghost&Goblins.

>>780532
Is that game any good?

Thief is gloomy and dark kind of.
Castlevania games to a degree.
Warlock for the Genesis/Megadrive.
Flashback is sort of dark at times.
Alien 3 for SNES.
Alien Vs. Predator for SNES is kind of pushing it but it has some grim and dark backgrounds most of the time.
Postal

>>780563
Well, maybe not actually all the horror games, but the list of games presented in that is still pretty impressive.

http://www.ankama-shop.com/fr/159-magazine/3985-ig-magazine

Theresia.

>>780568
>http://www.ankama-shop.com/fr/159-magazine/3985-ig-magazine

I kinda want to buy that... I wonder if they talk about Zombi on Amstrad CPC which I consider the first real survival horror.

also
>ankama
Is it me or the quality of Nolife-TV has been going downhill ever since ankama saved them and gave them money?

>>780574

The first survival horror was Adventure for Atari 2600. Running from the duck/dragon was tense and scary as hell.

>>780580
Survival horror was seen before that in text-based games. Collosal Cave Adventure had you walking around with a lamp that eventually ran out of batteries, and ending up being killed by monsters in the darkness. Zork had the same thing with grues.

>>780574
Damn, actually this book doesn't have as much games as I thought it had...

And yeah, I generally don't like Ankama. They just do whatever works to sell IMO (but they really do it well). No-life is turning into Game one... And not the golden age Game one.

>>780606
Well anyway that's a nice 280 pages book with infos, fun facts and pictures of games. I really liked it.

Not retro, but I'm surprised no one has said Pathologic. Fits the description pretty well.

>>779556
ShadowMan,
gory, had some famous murderers in it, voodoo shamans. Game environment was pretty dark, very dirty (i guess earthy and brown). For the most part it kicked ass

>>780646

you realise the serial killers arent real, right?

>>780646
Is that Vin Diesel?

Personally, I love the creepiness factor that the original Playstation graphics adds to creepy games.

bump

I can't believe that no one has mentioned Legacy of Kain.

Damn, Shadow Tower is hard!

I didn't have much trouble until the skeletons fucked up all my gear.
Now I'm in the Earth Cavern and those laser shooting flowers simply one-hit me.

One of my PS1 favorites. Just finished replaying it the other day, still holds up.

Maybe it's just me, but I always found this game is tense and uncomfortable to the point of almost being a survival horror. At times, I almost had to force myself to keep playing. Maybe it's the slightly janky controls, maybe it's the moody, oppressive soundtrack, but the game really makes you feel that the Blade movie universe is a very, very shitty and scary place to live. Every once in a while, you run across the remains of some poor bastards who got torn apart by vampires in some grimy back alley.

And despite the humongous arsenal you carry, you almost never feel safe or relaxed. Later levels are all composed of tight quarters and narrow corridors with not a lot of freedom to maneuver. There could be a fucker hiding around every corner, and if you let an enemy sneak up on you, not only will you shit your pants, but you'll also find out that there is no fast turn, so you're guaranteed to take some heavy damage. And yeah, you know the basics of CQC and can even whip the sword out if necessary, but most of the later vampire types are incredibly deadly and call kill you in a couple of hits if you let them get close, so you're always on the edge.

>>780560
The Tank Controls are even worse, as well. Felt like I was doing a fifteen-point-turn in a bus on a bridge. What the fuck was that kick even used for in the first place?

Oh, and that VA for Martin. Pretty sure that was a white guy doing an impression of a black guy.

>>781481
Malek's Bastion is the worst. I just felt terrible once Kain noticed and thought about the guard whose loyalty to Malek was so great he refused to abandon his post, even when he was literally freezing to death where he stood.
And even if he was one of those fucking animated soldiers, it's still really desolate and sobering just by the way Simon delivers his lines.

>>781945

I'd like to second Shadow Tower.

The lack of music and general lack of light really makes you feel alone in the dark. Thick atmosphere, danger lies everywhere and it uses a currency system not unlike Dark/Demons Souls in that your "experience points" are your money. If you liked King's Field 1 and/or 2, you'll like Shadow Tower.

I have a non-retro suggestion but it's in retro style.

It's a cute, kirbyish platformer at first, but slowly turns dark and sinister.

http://zarat.us/tra/eversion/

Already been said a million times in this thread, but here's another vote for the King's Field games. KF2 (which I guess is actually KF3) is the only one I ever owned, but I beat it, and I still own it. It's weirdly mesmerizing.

>>783271
Eversion isn't bad, but I don't think it matches with the OP's request very well.

>>783271
>>783278
If we're talking about recent "retro-style" games,
Sword&Sworcery is a much better suggestion.

eternal darkness

>>783782
Except that game sucks and I would never be so cruel as to actually recommend it to anyone.

>>783818
Maybe we haven't played the same game,
because I thought it was lovely.

>>783821
The aesthetics are good despite using lazy "dis is totes wat retro gaems lukd liek" graphics, but there's nothing fun about it, probably because it's just another mobile/tablet game ignoring the fact that touch controls are always awful in anything other than menu-based games.

>>783821
Not the guy you're responding to but that game was absolute bollocks. It looks nice but It's barely even a game.

>>783841
>"dis is totes wat retro gaems lukd liek"
That was never the claim. The square pixelation aesthetic may have been influenced by retro games, but it was designed on its own merit. That's partly why it uses vectors and modern effects at various points. I had no problems with the controls as I can adapt and have a wacom tablet.

>>783843
I fucking loved Eversion. The physics were pretty shit but collecting all the gems in a level was a ton of fun, trying to memorise your route though the different portals felt pretty samn satisfying. Not to mention it was damn creepy.

But then it got popular and the creator FUCKED it up. For some reason, he decided to make the game playable without ever having to evert, and the effect was catastrophic. This involved hacking out about half of the level design, removing all the puzzles in the process. Not only did it spoil the reuptation of the game as many played the game without realising it was essentially a puzzle game, but it just wasn't to work as merely a conventional platformer. The new graphics were shit too.

The original version, with the old stage 1 music, is the by far the best.

>>783872
Meant to reply to
>>783271

>>783841
>>783843
The aesthetics are good, serve their purpose and are reminiscent of the classic Another World, which clearly influenced S&S.

The setting is interesting, the mind-reading gimmick is a neat idea.
I didn't use the twitter thingie, but I'm sure some people liked it.

I liked the whimsical sillyness of contemporary slang and elements paired with the epic framework of both plot and world.
It also had a couple moments where I was pretty immersed.

The gameplay is pretty basic adventure fair.
It reminded me of Machinarium very much, but I liked S&S more.

The combat parts were very simple but effective.
Fighting the trigons actually had me pretty pumped.

The music and sound is absolutely awsome.

It's fine if you didn't like it and I can understand why you wouldn't,
but saying it wasn't a real game or that it's "lol 2hipster4me bcus retro graphics in the 2010's" is just silly.

For a low budget / small team project is really pretty good.

I'd definitely recommend it if you liked Another World, Loom or Machinarium.

>>784125
>Fighting the trigons actually had me pretty pumped.
Try some Strider. You'll end up having a heart attack.

>>784138
Is it harder and faster than Contra Hard Cops?
I think that's the hardest shoot/beat 'em up I've completed.

>>784125
I loved S&S as well and I don't get the fury of most of its haters.
There were some things that irked me, sure. The Twitter thing was annoying and it would have improved from a "less is more" approach when it came to the injokes and the "hip" appeal, but overall it was an enjoyable experience.

>>784138
Not the same kind of experience. Strider gets you pumped trough fast action gameplay. S&S battles are more about audio/visual immersion coupled with memorization. Both do well with what they attempt, though it's a mini game aspect in S&S's case while it's the main feature of Strider.

>>784156
The point being that saying the battles in S&S are exciting or somehow a plus is silly.

>>784161
Nope. I enjoyed them as well. Deflecting the attacks directed at you became harder and harder as the game went on making for some tense moments, backed by the thick atmosphere.
It was kind of like in Silent Hill (or maybe rather, like Forbidden Forest) where the mechanics of combat aren't maybe that tight or serving if it were an action game, but coupled with the aesthetics and situational factors they work, and are quite effective at that. Also, the combat in S&S doesn't overstay its welcome which is another plus.

>>784175
>Also, the combat in S&S doesn't overstay its welcome which is another plus.
See, you know you're full of shit and that it isn't as good as in other games.
Silent Hill doesn't have very exciting combat either. If anything, it ruins the scary atmosphere because it's too easy.

>>784192
>the combat minigames in an adventure game aren't on par with fighting games
Wow, what a surprise, Johnny.

>>784235
Well that's the point, it's not something that's a plus or makes it worth playing.

>>784242
I think it is actually,
but expecting great combat gameplay from a game that's clearly just a neat little adventure game is just dumb.

Maybe you didn't like the game because you couldn't immerse yourself in the atmosphere.
Maybe you just have ADD.

>>784247
No need to get nasty professor.

>>784247
Nigga, expecting quality has nothing to do with ADD. Fact is your ability to analyze and evaluate games isn't that great and you're trying to pass something insubstantial off as worthwhile. You're obviously aware that it's lacking, yet trying to make it out to be good, and then you're comparing it to another game that's poor in the same respect. It's okay to like the game, but being delusional about its merits is pointless.

>>780230
SG Classic for GBC. but it's just the NES title remade. there only NES title remakes other than SG64 which is sad because they could really make something interesting with it.

too bad SG Rising never got a release so I could suggest it now to you.

>>784281
there was some weird point and click SG sidescroller too but I think it was as shit as Zelda cd-i and pretty cartoony. so not a true shadowgate as we know it.

>>780708
not him but I think at least two of them are.

>>784263
All I'm saying is that the combat elements are perfectly fine in relation of the game's world, style, atmosphere and gameplay.

The combat bits in the Indiana Jones adventures were pretty simple as well, but they were still fun every once in a while.

>>779558
>gothic

fuck no. nothing misty or mysterious about that game. I know because I finished it. OP searches for something way more refined

Skyrim. no really. not retro but the description fits, it reminds me of SG64 often though I always get sad because besides the fitting visuals it lacks all the substance it would need

>>780040
who else loves burning down the fucking stables and make those thieves and rogues all pay with their lives for imprisoning you? I sure as hell do. having a pet dragon for a very short time was neat as well. this game could have used more mazes with the architecture style the last tower had. really liked or a maze with the soundtrack and wall textures when you enter that apartment where the dungeon keeper and the bard are located.

I want to mod this game so bad.

Neverwinter Nights

not retro but almost. I always found the soundtrack main theme of NWN2 very fitting too when you want these specific aesthetics in a game.

sage because I speak not retro.

>>784192
>See, you know you're full of shit and that it isn't as good as in other games.

No, you are full of shit looking to stir up shit over something not really worth the argument. The combat is a welcome diversion as a sum of its whole. You don't go to action games for story and if you compare the one in Strider (to use your example against you) to almost any adventure game, it'll come short, but its still great to have it there as a justification for the setting. Same with S&S when it comes to the combat, same with Monkey Island and its insult swordfighting, same with Full Throttle and its bike combat.

>>784312
I beg to differ. It's not a perfect fit, but certainly one of the closer ones from the games that have been suggested so far.
I know because I am OP and I also finished Gothic.

Exploring the wildernis and ruins when you're still a low level schmuck can be very eery actually.

>>784359
This suggestion is probably the furthest off so far.
But it was to be expected that my description get's mistunderstood, re-interpreted and watered down.
Not that this makes any of the suggestions stupid are anything.
Language is just one medium of several after all,
so it's not that easy to fittingly describe a multi-media experience.

Thanks for all those suggestions btw.
I really appreciate them.

Ages ago, I used to find the aesthetic of Medievil to be quite frightening and rather grim in it's creation, even if it took a swing at the light-hearted side.

That small town level with its townsfolk was incredibly unnerving.

>>784394
>This suggestion is probably the furthest off so far.

yeah, right, huh..and so you don't bother to explain why? you're a complete retard if you think this is something way too far off and not explain why. it either fits or it doesn't. and I say NWN fits and I know for fact it does. there is nothing to debate about that

>>784394
>Exploring the wildernis and ruins when you're still a low level schmuck can be very eery actually.

Gothic lacks the sense of wonder and the atmosphere of impending doom. mostly it's a sound related issue.

>>784564
Dude, it's nothing like the games he described and the examples he gave. No need to get upset.

>>784564
I'm very sorry that I can't like this game as much as you do,
but it's not what I'm looking for. I never said it's a bad game, so please don't get your panties twisted so much.

In my opinion it lacks atmosphere, consistency and creativity.
Most D&D games do.

>>784575
Maybe. But then again, it's a rather small story about some asshole in a penal colony filled with more assholes.
I kinda liked this more down-to-earth approach to a genre that way to often aims for an epic scale.

>>780639
This.

I stumbled into Death World and don't think I can go back.
Some of my better gear broke. Am I fucked?

Strife is a Doom-engine action-RPG deal that's pretty solid and that has some of this

>dark, eery, gloomy, misty, brown, earthy
Don't mind me, just inventing the brown game meme.

>>779556
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Quake
Deathtrap Dungeon
Akuji the Heartless
>>779564
Hahaaa this nigga knows about King's Field.

>>786056
oooooo forgot about Spawn: the Eternal.
Yeah, they made a Spawn game, but it was meh.

Thief.

>>786131
OP here. Just watched the cutscenes again after years.
The writing is soo good and chilling.

Not related to OP

>>783106
>tense and uncomfortable to the point of almost being a survival horror

What is PS1 Men In Black?
Movie aimed at a young demographic? Why not use Resident Evil tank controls, dark, lonely, environments, jump scares, and tense music?
Worst rental choice I ever made as a kid.

>>786056
Had to make sure someone mentioned Soul Reaver. Good lad.

Caution: You need to have a high tolerance for box puzzles[/spoilers]

>>787624
>box puzzles
You don't know the horror of box puzzles until you played Trespasser.

6:00min

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9VSVTdqaU0

bump

Shadow Tower is essentially Shadowgate with swords.

>>787316
No game has surpassed the thief games in terms of writing, cutscenes, and character building.

>>787907
Planescape Torment did. Except for cutscenes, I guess.

>>787923
Different kinds of writing. Thief says a little to say a lot, Planescape says a lot to say a lot.

To some, the brevity of Thiefs' writing is superior to planescapes' longwindedness.

>>787928
Well, I agree that the writing in both games serves different purposes.

In Planescape it's basically the game.
In Thief it merely set's the tone of the world.

That being said, Morrowind had some pretty good writing too
at least as far as the lore goes.

prepare ur ansu

>>788448
there was too much humor in that game for it to be actually creepy

bump

Blood and Blood II

>>780708
>Jack the Ripper
>Not real

Okay

>>789235
I think he mens ingame.

bump

Wizardry 8