Survival Horror general

[NESfag No.1160098]

Although, contrary to popular belief, the genre is far from being dead, we all know that the 90's was the golden age of survival horror.

What were your favourites? Which ones did you play? Any non obvious one that you paritculary like? Enemy Zero? Echo Night ? Deep Fear ? The Note, etc ?

I'm currently playing through Vampire Countdown. It's nothing extraodinary, but it's a solid AITD/RE style game. In terms of atmosphere it reminds me of Parasite Eve 1 a little bit due to being stuck in a building of modern times US city; but the design also reminds me to Vampire Hunter D, another vampire themed game which sometimes had a similar look for the rooms. The controls are fine, hit detection is good (contrary to some other survival horror like Marthian Gothic) and the voice acting is as bad as you'd expect. The game seems really long as it's in 2 CDs too.

[Anonymous No.1160142]

I hate how many people emulate Silent Hill. They remove the dithering, which was used for shading. Dithering was a kind of cheat to give shading better than the PS1 could do. And then people run epsxe and just remove it and reduce the visual quality of the game.

[Anonymous No.1160145]

>>1160142

A more accurate screenshot with dithering.

[Anonymous No.1160150]

Replaying RE2. Nostalgia. It's all coming back. It holds up so well.

Replaying RE3 too. Man... this game is stupid. No "spooky mansion" setting. The whole game seems poorly thought out and rushed. Very silly. Nemesis is stupid. Just not feeling it.

Loved it as a kid. Played it 9 times to get all the Epilogues. Totally bought into RE storyline and thought it was all planned out and was going somewhere.

[Anonymous No.1160160]

>>1160145

looks horrible

[NESfag No.1160162]

The more I play Countdown Vampires, the more I find its layout annoying. It's very confusing and I keep turning in round each time I get a key or unlock something.


>>1160150
RE3 is actually my favourite. It's the perfect sequel, while 2 was just RE1 all over again with a few improvements, 3 is the logical next step.

Plus, the action is incredibly fun, giving it infinite replay value.

[Anonymous No.1160174]

Not retro, but I bought RE:Revelation because I had replayed 3 to hell and back. And I love it.

I am also replaying Dino Crisis and Sweet Home.
And...

>>1160142
...Silent Hill, which I play on the non filtered PSXfin. Seriously what's the problem to you with what others do? I prefer the comfort of playing it on my laptop in my bed even if it's not close to the actual way of the CRT screens.
I am probably gonna try emulating REmake soon if I can manage to run setup everything right.

[Anonymous No.1160182]

>>1160162
>NESfag

Into the filter you go. I'm sick of your bullshit. If you want to be read, remove the name.

[Anonymous No.1160190]

On the topic of Silent Hill: I heard there is an important latter in the pal version which the ntsc version lacks.

True?

[Anonymous No.1160193]

>>1160190
>letter

Sorry, it's early.

[Anonymous No.1160194]

>>1160190
http://silenthillforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=21150

"Article:
Fire broke out in town.
6 homes destroyed.
Charred body of Alessa Gillespie (7) found in aftermath.
Cause of fire currently under investigation.
Investigations show source as basement of Gillespie home. Blaze now believed caused by malfunction of antiquated boiler."

[Anonymous No.1160201]

>>1160194
>http://silenthillforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=21150
>censorship

God, this is why I hate those kind of boards.

Anyway, thanks for the clarification.

[Anonymous No.1160203]

>>1160194
>>1160190
>>1160201

Likely was in the JP version and wasn't added in the NTSC version by mistake. Consider that a bug fix.

[Anonymous No.1160206]

>>1160203

Yeah, the pal version is pretty much identical with the jp version. I wonder why they added those gray things in the ntsc version? An attempt to be edgy?

[Anonymous No.1160209]

>>1160206
>I wonder why they added those gray things in the ntsc version? An attempt to be edgy?

It's the other way around. That's what they originally wanted. They're in the original demo. But JP and later EU wouldn't allow it. So it's censorship.

Grey Children monsters in schools makes sense. Mole things don't.

[Anonymous No.1161057]

>>1160142
>>1160145
I found the dot-matrix filter was a nice middle-ground between the super clean high-res look, and the original hyper-dithered look.

[Anonymous No.1161069]

>>1160174
I don't think you understand, he's talking about how the visuals come across during emulation. Some emulators do it correctly.

[Anonymous No.1161219]

>>1160098
>Vampire Countdown

Jesus Christ, how have I not heard about this one? 'Ey, which platform, was it a US only release?

[Anonymous No.1161225]

>>1160162

RE3 is garbage.

[Anonymous No.1161227]

>>1161225
>RE3 is garbage.

This.

[Anonymous No.1161245]

>>1161225
>>1161227

RE3 has an even shittier plot than the others.
Nemesis isn't scary and just ammo waste for some shitty upgrades. Always the same shit with Nemesis.

Carlos is a garbage mexican beaner fucking asshole who falls in love with Jill for no reason.

Jill gets infected hurr durr only vaccine in town.

Garbage music. Raccon city is too bright and colorful.

Garbage time wasting puzzles instead of "change of pace" puzzles like in RE1,RE2, Remake,RE4

Weapon Upgrading is sooo stupid...basically waste ammo to get an upgrade.

Make AMMO is garbage and doesnt make sense at all.

[Anonymous No.1161553]

>>1161245
>Garbage music. Raccon city is too bright and colorful.

The music is fine. Doesn't really have any standout tracks like RE2 but it's effective enough. Raccoon City looks great and was the first real look we had at it aside from that first three minutes of RE2. A very Japanese rendition of a small American town.

>Make AMMO is garbage and doesnt make sense at all.

No dumber than the Herb system...or honestly 90% of the other shit in this series. It was fine.

The rest of your points aren't necessarily wrong but just come off as hyper-critical nitpicking. Having recently replayed RE3 I don't think it's as amazing as I did when it first came out, but anyone who says it's garbage is a troll or fucking moron.

[Anonymous No.1161572]

>>1160098
How isn't the genre dead? What are some good recent ones? Amnesia games are basically babby's first survival horror and aren't that good. The recent Resident Evil games have obviously been shit. Deadly Premonition is just generic "lol so wacky and bad 10/10" shit.

[Anonymous No.1161582]

>>1161572
>How isn't the genre dead? What are some good recent ones?
Don't get him started.

[Anonymous No.1161594]

>>1161572
That's a lie and you know it, Amnesia is just as good/scary as the original resident evil games. I understand we are on a board for retro games but that doesn't mean you have to bash modern games for no fucking reason. Machine for Pigs did kind of suck though.

[Anonymous No.1161595]

>>1161594
It's not for no reason. Amnesia is overrated trash. The enemy design is shit and not scary. The atmosphere basically isn't there. The gameplay is just "click everything with everything". On top of that the fanbase is obnoxious as fuck because they think they're super versed in survival horror now.

[Anonymous No.1161604]

I still haven't played Amnesia but I will say Penumbra is one of my all-time favorite horror series. Can't wait for SOMA.

[Anonymous No.1161620]

>>1161595
This. It is a bad game that preys on teenaged hipsters who want to think of themselves as edgy, artistic, and hardcore.

Gentlemen, this describes just about every game these days. Its time to face it. Gaming as we knew it is dead.

[Anonymous No.1161647]

>>1161620
>Gentlemen, this describes just about every game these days. Its time to face it. Gaming as we knew it is dead.

I'll take "Hyperbolic statements" for 500, Alex.

[Anonymous No.1161772]

Devilman for Playstation. In chapter 1 it's survival horror until you transform then in chapter 2 it's a beat 'em up where you can actually fight the demons you had to run from in chapter 1 then I haven't gotten to play chapter 3 yet because my rank wasn't high enough on the first two chapters. Someday.

[Anonymous No.1161867]

Sup /vr/. Anybody here ever play/finish/love the original Alone in the Dark? What'd you think of the unforgiving format and the what part freaked you out the most?

I loved the hell out of it and running from the Outer Creature in the Library soiled m'drawers.

[Anonymous No.1161903]

HELP
>PS game
>third person survival horror
>I think you played as a female, not 100% sure though
>first level was a cemetery; could be a park or a big garden however
>enemies were human like I believe, like zombies or vampires. MAYBE there were dog-like creatures too
>I remember you had to use a lever to open a crypt passage in that level
>it's not Silent Hill or Alone In The Dark. It COULD be a Resident Evil game though, I really don't remember

What's that game /vr/? It's been a while since I dug that memory form the dark corners of my brain but I can't remember it's name. It's really bugging me.

[Anonymous No.1161918]

>>1161867
Your favorite was mine as well. I loved the game, but hated the end boss/whatever you'd call it.

[Anonymous No.1161949]

>>1161918
Tree.

Btw, what happens if you leave your lantern someplace?

[Anonymous No.1162013]

>>1161949
I imagine you're fucked.
I got stuck on it because I kept throwing my lantern at it without having the talisman on the altar. I must've missed whatever indicated for me to do that, in a note or book someplace.

[Anonymous No.1162074]

>>1161867

I loved this game with all my heart as a kid. I played it in my room on my parents' laptop (75mhz pentium), and those scares felt so good...
I completed it five or six years ago, and I was very disappointed because the game is so short... maybe it's because I never managed to get very far back then (I never dared to go further than a few rooms below the attic) and my imagination ran wild, but still... I felt empty that day.

Also, I'm currently downloading Waxwork... should be fun!

Pic somewhat related, although it's not survival.

[Anonymous No.1162113]

>>1161903
nightmare creatures?

[Anonymous No.1162119]

>>1161647

Can anyone help me survive the horror of "hyperbolic" being used in place of "exaggerated" lately?

[Anonymous No.1162305]

>>1161245
Nemesis wasn't scary, nor was anything in RE series either. But he was stressing.
Racoon city is just about as colorful as the previous 2 entries. If anything, the arquitecture and decor are just alike the prequels as well. But this time you have even better crafted detail on BGs.

Everything else is opinion. And IMO it's the RE that takes itself more seriously after REmake.

[Anonymous No.1162319]

>>1161245
>RE3 has an even shittier plot than the others.

I would say that the scenario for RE1 and RE2 are really good and interesting. There's enough mystery to make me interested. They have really cool settings.

RE3 is an uninspired sequel, quickly made because RE2 sold so much.

>Nemesis isn't scary and just ammo waste for some shitty upgrades.

Yep. And he's a rehash of Mr. X from 2. But far sillier. I mean, he has a rocket launcher and a gattling gun? Isn't that a tiny bit too much? Comes off as goofy.

>Raccon city is too bright and colorful.

I didn't like the city. It looks like Tokyo.

[Anonymous No.1162350]

>>1160162
Countdown Vampires is pretty good, it's hard, confusing sometimes, but I like the large variety of guns. Voice acting is pretty funny and Keith is gay as hell.

It's not as good as RE, but damn, I was glad I played this game. I was itching for a new game that was similar to old RE, I was really happy to find a clone of it.

[Anonymous No.1162383]

You know what, it's a pity 8 and 16 bit had next to none survival-horror games. PSX seemed to have a few, and then they mostly died (or mutated next gens) SH2..4 and REmake beings last good ones of that era.

There's like:
Sweet Home
Firefighters (not really survival horror, but still kinda fits)

And nothing else I can recall.

[Anonymous No.1162431]

Clocktower on the SFC (never got an official release stateside, but TimeWalk makes a fan translated cart, and there's translated roms) is my favorite Survival Horror game of all time. In most other horror games you have some way to fight back, but not here. The way they make you feel so completely helpless in Clocktower is just masterful. It's just you locked in with a handful of crazies. Basically the entire game is exploration and puzzle solving, and you will die, repeatedly. It also has, IIRC 7 different endings that are marked off in the menu as you get them, which is a nice touch for such an old game. On top of this the sprite work is very pretty.

[Anonymous No.1162453]

Perhaps someone in this thread can assist. I've been playing the Sourcenext PC versions of RE2 and 3. And while I can change the resolution fine for RE3, I simply cannot find anyway to do it in RE2. And so I'm stuck either playing that in a tiny windowed box, or in horrible, stretched fullscreen.

[Anonymous No.1162463]

>>1162453

It's designed for CRT monitors in mind.

Get a CRT monitor. At 480p the game looks phenominal. I played the Sourcenext versions on a CRT TV and it looks so good.

[NESfag No.1162671]

>>1161772
Nice! I really like Devilman, at least the first part. The constant running and fleeing and having to use things to hide from the monsters or block them, while having no way to fight them, reminded me of Shattered Memories, except more than a decade earlier.

Pic related I bought the game recently.

>>1162383
Before Resident Evil, survival horror (which wasn't even called survival horror) was mainly on PC.

[Anonymous No.1163728]

>>1161867
I was there in 1992 when Alone in the Dark was first released. It was and today still is a very brutal experience if you don't use a walktrough. I'll tell you, a game like this wouldn't get made today, because today's generation of gamers wouldn't know how to beat it, it's that challenging. I personally was not able to beat it until 1996, when I finally got access to Internet for the 1st time. For the longest time I simply had no idea how to access the underground tunnels below Derceto. I had no idea that there was another entrance, I always tried to find ways to get past the big worm in the wine cellar. I also had no idea which record should I play for the dance hall ghosts, I had no idea how to defeat the library ghost, no idea how to defeat the haunted suit of armor, and finally, the solution to defeating Eliah Pickford's soul in the underground crypt eluded me until the era of the Internet.

Truly a masterpiece of horror gaming, one that would be worthy of a remake. The first one was so good, even the sequels don't hold a candle to it. Some of the puzzles were undeniably a bit unfair, since missing a key item or a particular solution could mean you had fucked your chances of progress. But that's what game saves are for, and Alone 1 is a short game anyway, only about two hours to beat if you know what you're doing. But damn, those are some quality 2 hours with wonderful atmosphere, storytelling and scares.

As for the biggest scare... The entire attic. When younger, I was seriously so afraid of the upstairs rooms of Derceto that I never ever went back there after clearing them. The zombies and the "window jumpers" got me that well spooked.

[Anonymous No.1164410]

>>1160098
I just Two Best Friends play Vampire Countdown for their Shitstorm of Scariness. according to that, you cant examine items and you get blocked by enemies far worse than in Resident Evil.

[Anonymous No.1164417]

>>1161572
>Deadly Premonition is just generic "lol so wacky and bad 10/10" shit.
Firstly, fuck you

Second, the inie and/or mod scene is where the horror is at now.

[Anonymous No.1164431]

For the longest time, I thought retro console were incapable of having a good horror game, until i played Clock Tower for SNES. This game is actually pretty creepy

[Anonymous No.1164519]

>>1163728
>it's that challenging

Random death traps is not exactly a challenge.

[Anonymous No.1164765]

>>1161903

Yep, sounds like Nightmare Creatures. Cool game.

[Anonymous No.1164770]

>>1164765
nightmare creatures is so awfull, you just go on and on killing things easily that takes like 20 fucking hits, 20 FUCKING HITS

[Anonymous No.1164793]

>>1160203
Pretty much. The document exists in the game files, but pressing X to read it doesn't work. Minor oversight, i guess... But at least it still has the proper grey children (which are the main reason why the school is so damn creepy and why SH1 still manages to scare the most).

I remember finding the ghost black child for the first time. Goddamn, that's when I realized that relying on the radio 100% of the time wasn't good.

[NESfag No.1164802]

>>1163728
> even the sequels don't hold a candle to it.

AITD2 isn't a bad game, but it's not survival horror. AITD2 is to 1 what Dino Crisis 2 is to Dino Crisis 1. It's not survival horror anymore, it's a third person action game using tank controls and fixed 2D camera angles. The horror elements are so scarce that you can't call it a horror themed game, stuff like Duke Nukem 3D have more horror elements than that. There is also not enough puzzles and survival gameplay elements to call it survival.
That isn't the main problem though, it could be a fine action game, but he problem with 2 is that it felt rushed and that they did NOT really know if they really wanted the action or not.
AITD3 is back to survival horror and has a great and rather original (for a survival horror) theme. You don't see western themed horror stories often.
AITD4 is not bad, but some of the puzzles were just terrible, and it also felt rushed with its few glitches and uncomplete hit detection.

AITD2 and 4 also have a big issue of VERY long loading times between every single camera angles in some versions. Don't try to play 2 on Saturn, just don't. Don't play 4 on PSX, either, play it on PC or Dreamcast.

Then there is also the game boy version of 4 which is a whole different game. It's short but interesting, worth a playthrough.

Alone In The Dark (5) needs no mention.
The AITD series was dommed every since Frédéric Raynal left during the making of 2 because of the action orientention the game was taking.

The fun fact about the aitd series is that it kinds of sums up the legacy of the survival horror genre, of games that were influenced by the genre. AITD2 was action oriented such as Dino Crisis 2 or Parasite Eve 2. 5 was more like a thriller, TV-series inspired, like Alan Wake, Siren Blood Curse or Deadly Promonition.
All those aren't survival horror anymore but inspired by it; and it's like AITD showed the path.

[Anonymous No.1164804]

>>1161245
Music's not bad at all. Aside from Nemesis' theme, there are other nice tracks such as:
1-Music from the beginning of the game (where Jill bursts out from)
2-The Ruined City
3-Mercenaries gameplay music
4-Missile approaching
5-Grave Digger
6-Nemesis fight (with virus)
7-That comfy as fuck credits song
The soundtrack in general is a bit quieter, but it's still pretty good.

It's true that RE3 is more of an add-on for 2 and DC was the true next RE, but it's still a nice closure for the main RE series in PS1. It took RE2 and refined mechanics (dat quick turn and dodge) while revisiting areas. It was quickly made and surely didn't cost too much - but it's still a solid title.
RE2 will forever be my favorite, though.

[Anonymous No.1164825]

>>1164804
>while revisiting areas.
All it had a was a real small percentage of the police station of RE2. Everything else was new. The streets (with lots of shots), the city hall, hospital, all the small interior points, the factory... all new areas.
I kinda get the feeling you're implying, because it reused areas (just a few screens really), that it cost less. Like, recycling that small section spared them quite a buck.

[Anonymous No.1164830]

>>1164825
True, the police station only serves to properly introduce Nemesis and give you the lockpick in the comms room. The rest is all-new - the only other thing that is used again would be the engine.
As I said, it's a solid entry and a great title. I still remember how nervous Nemesis music made me back when I just got my PS1. Good times.

[Anonymous No.1164832]

>>1164770

Yeah, thats usually what you do in games with monsters and combat.

[Anonymous No.1165003]

>>1160150
I feel pretty much the same way. Loved RE3 as a kid but replaying it I realized it's one of my least favorite RE games. It's not terrible but far from the quality of 2 or remake.

[NESfag No.1165005]

Speaking of AITD (The New Nightmare), I just realized it's on Steam, 3 bucks on sale.

Does anyone know if that the Steam version is any different than the original version? Especially resolution was stuck at 640*480 in the version I got.

[Anonymous No.1165045]

>>1165005
Seriously? Neat. I guess it's just the vanilla PC version. Doesn't the description or videos show something?

[Anonymous No.1165052]

I'm trying to emulate Resident Evil 2 on ePSXe but the anytime there is a cutscene that isn't a FMV and a sound clip is played for more than 2 seconds it all just cuts out until the next person speaks. Music stays unaffected, but all speech and some ambient or background noises like a gunshot or bang are cut out as well. I've tried changing a lot of the sound settings but I haven't found anything that works yet. I have the eternal SPU sound plugin and P.E.Op.S. DSound.

I really want to play this game.

[Anonymous No.1165056]

>>1165052

Use a better emulator. ePSXe is outdated as fuck.

Take mednafen.

[Anonymous No.1165059]

>>1165052
>ePSXe

Options:

1. PC version. Soundnext is easiest to run. But it's in JP, and a translation patch only exists for some things. Most of the things you examine are still in JP. So this is not optimal for a first time playthrough. Unless there is some full translation I'm not aware of. It also defaults to 480p, and looks best on a CRT monitor. In fact it looks freaking amazing on it.

2. Use Mednafen. Either original or RetroArch port. High quality sound emulation with native resolution.

3. If you insist on plugin emulators use this guide:
http://emulation-general.wikia.com/wiki/Recommended_PSX_Plugins

As I said, the game in general looks best on a CRT monitor. Highly recommend one. They're good to have for older games.

[Anonymous No.1165062]

Picked this up a few months ago at a yard sale. It's alright and I like it much more than RE games. Haven't played the second yet.

[Anonymous No.1165069]

>>1165059
>>1165056
thanks, I'll give it a go. I thought ePSXe was one of the most stable emulators even if it didn't have the same quality as others?

[Anonymous No.1165072]

>90's was the golden age of survival horror

For me it's close but I'd actually call the 2000s the golden age, PS2 in particular:

90s had:
RE1-3, Dino Crisis, Parasite Eve, Silent Hill 1

2000s had:
REmake, RE0, RE:CV, Fatal Frame 1-4, Silent Hill 2 & 3, Haunting Ground

These are only my favorites, there are more 90s & 2000s titles ofc

[Anonymous No.1165075]

>>1165072
>RE0, RE:CV

These weren't very good.

>Fatal Frame 1-4

Always wanted to check that out.

[Anonymous No.1165080]

>>1165069

It's just one of the first good ones and is riding the coat-tails of its past success. Read this:
http://emulation-general.wikia.com/wiki/PlayStation_emulators

And then if you plan on using Mednafen:
http://emulation-general.wikia.com/wiki/Mednafen

Use a front-end as it has no GUI.

And if RetroArch -Mednafen core:
http://emulation-general.wikia.com/wiki/RetroArch#PC_Versions

Guide:http://emulation-general.wikia.com/wiki/Using_RetroArch

[Anonymous No.1165082]

>>1165075
>>RE0, RE:CV
>These weren't very good.

yes they were >:(

[Anonymous No.1165097]

>>1165075

FF series is amazing

[NESfag No.1165119]

>>1165062
Not survival horror. Because a game has 3D models in pre-rendered 2D backgrounds doesn't mean it's survival horror. Sure that visual technique was created by survival horror but Fear Effect 1 and 2 belong to that style of action games that got inspired by survival horror but which are not (like Dino Crisis 2, Parasite Eve 2 or even AitD2 if you ask me)

>>1165072
Yeah I agree that the PS2 era was great too. I just have a thing for earlier titles but I understand one would like the PS2 era more with masterpieces of terror such as Project Zero. The PS2 era had its share of average RE clones as well though (just like the PS1 one...) like that X Files game on PS2 or Carrier on Dreamcast.

[Anonymous No.1165127]

>>1165119

It had zombies and lots of dark atmosphere.

[NESfag No.1165128]

>>1165127
And it had some puzzles too... but the type of action of the gameplay is not survival at all.

[Anonymous No.1165129]

>>1165128

Fair enough. Maybe the fact it's not survival is the reason I like it.

[NESfag No.1165135]

>>1165129
If that's what you're into I recommend you try Parasite Eve 2, or Dino Crisis 2, or Vampire Hunter D; or even Resident Evil 3 which while still being survival has a rather intense action orientation.

DC2 and PE2 are my favourite in that style. I found Fear Effect 1 and 2 to be a bit unfair at times, based on heavy trial&error.

[Anonymous No.1165147]

Are there any survival horror games from the 8 or 16-bit era that are worth bothering with?

[Anonymous No.1165149]

>>1165127
>>1165119

It clearly is related to the genre and borrows from it. It plays down the horror though. Also borrows heavily from anime.

[NESfag No.1165161]

>>1165147
There is Zombi on various computers, a game obviously based on the Dawn Of The Dead movie.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/zombi

It is the earliest game with plenty of "true" survival horror elements I know. Came out in 1986 on Amstrad CPC.

Then there is obviously Sweet Home on famicom.
On super famicom there is also a rip off of Sweet Home called La Place No Ma or something but I've never seen a full translation of it. Worth checking out for fans of sweet home.
There is also the obvious Clock Tower on super famicom.
On NES, Friday The 13th is the closest you'll find to survival horror.

Still on PC you have the obvious Alone In The Dark, but also some clones like Ecstatica and that one that takes place in space I can't remember the name...

[Anonymous No.1165216]

>>1165052
I play it fine with PSXfin

>>1165005
I want to know something about this too because the existing version had problems on modern OSs

[Anonymous No.1165273]

>>1161867
I own the Alone in the Dark Trilogy (first 3 games remastered for Macintosh, released in the late 90s) pic related, but not mine

Loved the shit out of all of them really, although the first one is without a doubt the scariest. I feel as though Alone in the Dark was one of the first series to undergo the Resident Evil effect (move from survival horror to action adventure) which started after Infogrames removed the Lovecraft elements from the first game.