Category: Horror

2016 Mid-Year Wrap Up – What’s Left?

We’re halfway through 2016 and my Game of the Year prediction list is already in the trash. Surprise! Four of them aren’t even coming out this year and two of them weren’t that good. Dark Souls and The Witness were pretty sweet, and the verdict’s still out on Zero Time Dilemma and No Man’s Sky. We’ve had a few great releases this year like Salt and Sanctuary, SUPERHOT and Pony Island, but so far I’m feeling a bit down on 2016’s game output.

HOWEVER: We’re far from sending this baby off just yet.

There’s a load of cool games still coming this year, and *hopefully* some of them will actually be good. Let’s run through the ones I’m most excited about.

Zero Time Dilemma:

I’m finally getting to play Zero Time Dilemma, a game I’ve been hoping would actually get made since 2012’s incredible Virtue’s Last Reward.

Inside:

The follow-up to Limbo, Inside, is also on its way. I’ve got some very high hopes for this one, especially after hearing some early thoughts on it during E3.

BoxBoxBoy!:

The sequel to one of the best games nobody played last year. Nintendo’s best puzzle game in a long time, and one of my favorite things HAL Laboratory has done.

Song of the Deep:

Song of the Deep looks like a promising Metroidvania, and Insomniac tends to not make anything that’s outright bad.

No Man’s Sky:

You’ve probably heard enough about No Man’s Sky by now, but I don’t know how anyone can write it off yet. There’s no way this thing can deliver on all of its promises, but even if it manages to be a decent version of what Hello Games’ is envisioning… it’s going to be something very special.

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2:

Gunvolt 2 is nearly topping my most anticipated games right now. After finishing Mighty No. 9 and well, not thinking about it much anymore, I’m ready for a good action platformer that can deliver the goods. The first Gunvolt was sooooo cool. Please don’t mess this one up.

Final Fantasy XV:

Final Fantasy XV is somehow just a few months away and I still don’t have any idea what kind of beast it’s gonna be. It seems like such a mishmash of so many disparate ideas that I can’t fathom how any of it is going to work together. And maybe it won’t. But, wow…what if it does?

The Last Guardian:

The Last Guardian is finally, really, truly coming out. The follow up to one of my favorite games of all time, Ueda’s next game has a lot to live up to.

Dishonored 2:

I never finished Dishonored. I never even got halfway through it. But a lot of people I respect seem to love it, and I’m willing to give the series another chance.

Below:

Below is a mysterious adventure game that I’ve heard whispered of in the same breath as Dark Souls, and that’s about enough for me.

Cuphead:

Cuphead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2D platformer. Cool boss battles. Wonderfully drawn art style. Cuphead!!!!!!!

Nioh:

I have no idea if Nioh is actually going to make it out this year with all of the changes they’ve been making to it, but that alpha demo was promising. It definitely needed a tweak or two, but there are neat ideas there that I want to see more of.

The Intruder:

The Intruder has been talked about in hushed tones for what feels like a decade now. It’s an indie Slender-like thing, but supposedly has way more going on than your average “get chased by spooky man” game.

We Happy Few:

We Happy Few reminds me of BioShock at its prime. Terrible world that’s totally fallen apart but a subset of the population seems cool with it? Sign me up.

The Pedestrian:

The Pedestrian is a simple platformer with a cool aesthetic, and sometimes that’s all I need, ya dig?

DARK SOULS III DLC (at some point)! Yay.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided:

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is the sequel to a game I love, in a series I should probably play more of. Human Revolution was my introduction to Deus Ex, but what a wonderful, memorable introduction it was.

Pokemon Sun and Moon:

Also Pokemon Sun and Moon is coming and if you don’t know why someone might be excited about that I don’t know what else to tell you. Rowlet 4 lyfe.

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And I’m sure there’s more stuff coming, too. I always get blindsided by some cool indie thing that comes out of nowhere, so don’t take this as the law of everything cool coming out for the rest of the year. And, yeah, there are other games I plan on playing, like Infinite Warfare (yes, space shooty will probably be fun), but those just didn’t feel special enough to make the “excited about” list. 2017 is already looking ridiculous with all of the currently announced games, consoles, delays, etc, but there’s still plenty to occupy our time until then.

Here’s to a good rest of the year. And please let most of these actually come out in 2016. Please.

June 29, 2016
Getting Spooky in 2015

It’s baaAAAack.

If you’re not familiar with how to Get Spooky, I’ll send you to these first: 01, 02, 03, 04. Are you done? Alright, let’s do this all sequel-like. There’s still a whole buncha spooky left to dig up. Get it? Like digging up a spooky body. Like, it could be a skeleton with a worm in it or something. Wow. (more…)

October 11, 2015
Until Dawn is the Heavy Rain Sequel You Wanted

It’s like Heavy Rain without bad French accents and most things end up making sense!

Going…ahem…Beyond my wildest expectations, Until Dawn does a deserved genre justice. Rarely does a big budget developer get to put a lot of time into a horror game, but when they do, man do I wish they could more often.

(more…)

September 17, 2015
Game of the Year 2014: #6 – The Evil Within

You like Resident Evil 4, right?

The Evil Within is the first game since Shinji Mikami’s classic that feels like it actually tries to improve upon Resident Evil 4, the greatest shooter and survival horror game ever made. Though Mikami’s new attempt at recreating that magic in The Evil Within is far, far from perfect, it’s the closest we’ve seen since.

Take almost everything you liked about Resident Evil 4, make it slightly worse, and you’ll have The Evil Within. That sounds like an incredibly backhanded compliment, but, as I’ve said before, a decent Resident Evil 4 is better than most games out there. The weird horror elements are there, along with Mikami’s excellent encounter design. Many fights feel like puzzles, with your increasingly large arsenal giving you new tools to dispose of enemies in clever ways.

The story beats fall mostly flat, and there are few great character moments to speak of. The game goes on a bit too long in and in too many directions, and some of the bosses are more irritating than scary. But the core Resident Evil experience is there, and it’s one I’ve been missing since the early 2000s.

Environments are hugely varied by the end of the game, as are the bosses and enemies. The upgrade system is satisfying, and choosing what to upgrade and when is a fun system to play around in. There just so much in the game, you’re bound to find something to impress you, even if the whole thing doesn’t gel. The Evil Within is built on unforgettable moments, stability be damned.

As much as I love The Evil Within for what it revitalizes, there’s a much better game hidden somewhere deeper inside it. I just hope Mikami gets another chance to bring it out.

January 9, 2015
Game of the Year 2014: #10 – P.T.

Are you ready for a list of arbitrarily ranked games to mark the end of another year? I know I am!

As always, I’ll begin this with the disclaimer that I think ranking things numerically is a stupid, stupid thing to do. Lists always force people to make arbitrary decisions that they’ll regret when they change they’re mind a week later, and the people reading them put way too much stock into what the list “represents.”

I also think that lists are super fun to make, and one of the easiest ways to express intangible feelings and give readers a quick way to see your opinions. Lists, like review scores, may be problematic, but I still think they’re a lot of fun. They’re dumb, but I also spend a dumb amount of time thinking about and shaping them into something I’m happy with using to represent an entire year’s worth of entertainment.

Let’s get listy! (more…)

December 22, 2014
The Evil Within is Mikami’s Return to Resident Evil 4

I can’t believe how much I’m enjoying The Evil Within. If you know me, you know that I love Resident Evil 4 above almost all other games. Imagine my surprise when I realized how closely it resembles Shinji Mikami’s masterwork, the best survival horror game of all time.

It isn’t perfect by any means, and the story doesn’t make the slightest effort to make sense. But the gameplay is there, and it feels closer to Resident Evil 4 than anything since. The extraordinary combat is back, along with RE4’s quirks, like shooting in the knee for a smartly timed, ammo-saving kill. Except now, instead of suplexing zombies, you’re lighting them on fire, and using well-timed fires to instakill other nearby creatures. You’ll always have several options to work around each combat encounter, and figuring out each tiny combat puzzle is just as satisfying as I’d hoped. Almost every encounter seems meticulously planned, and some later stages will definitely lead to moments where you’ll ask friends how they tackled each room.

Take note: This is a cool logo.

Here’s one example: I came across a pitch-black room and could hear enemies inside. I chose to shoot a weapon at the ground that produces light, and electrocutes enemies. From there, I backed onto a ledge and waited to pick out the shadows of enemies against the light on the wall, and picked off their heads with a sniper rifle. I missed one, which then tried to crawl onto the ledge I was hiding on, so I pulled my shotgun out and blasted his head off before he could stand up and feast on my tasty body. That was one segment that took about 5 minutes. There are several sections like this throughout the game, and you can tackle each of them in numerous, equally satisfying ways.

I loved exploring the environments in Resident Evil 4 for treasure and ammo, and most of that is still well represented here. Most areas have a series of optional paths to explore, usually while you’re being chased by an ungodly creature or two. Exploration will reward you with much-needed ammo caches, new weapons, new traps to use against enemies, and more. Even though you might have only found 2 shotgun shells in that abandoned house, you feel immensely more prepared for the next fight now that you found them. I watched a friend play, and he discovered a couple entirely new scenes than I found, just by exploring a new location that I never saw.

The story jumps erratically between locations, almost forcing you to question what’s going on and what you’ll see next. I can see why this is a problem for so many people, but it’s strung together like a series of horror vignettes, rather than some globe-trotting adventure story. I don’t mind having a quick burst of ideas until they run out, and immediately jumping into a new set of obstacles. Sure, I would rather there be a good story tying the events together, but the main reason I’m here is for the tension. That’s why short series like VHS and Yamishibai sit so well with me; they never have time to get boring.

Since Resident Evil 4, I’ve been waiting for someone to perfectly capture the essence of what made that game so good. Dead Space was very close, and was brilliant for different reasons, but made you too powerful to capture that same helpless feeling. If you’ve been waiting for the return of survival horror since 2005, I haven’t played something as true to the genre as this.

October 22, 2014