What games would you pick that aren't really a part of the horror genre, but maybe have horror vibes, or fall vibes, or something else that makes them really suited for fall?

Inscryption is an inky black card-based odyssey that blends the deckbuilding roguelike, escape-room style puzzles, and psychological horror into a blood-laced smoothie. Darker still are the secrets inscrybed upon the cards...

(From the game's steam page)

Inscryption appears to be a simple computerized card game at first.

"Okay! Time to figure out what's on this thing," says someone who turns out to be you, the protagonist, before presenting you with a game menu. New game isn't an option, so you'll select continue, and you'll be greeted by a pair of glowing, spiral eyes across a rough wooden table otherwise shrouded in darkness. The spiraling eyes speculate that you've probably forgotten how to play, as if you've played before, and the tutorial starts.

You're given 4 basic cards-a squirrel, a stoat, and 2 wolves. You're instructed to play the squirrel, so you do, and you immediately sacrifice it to play the stoat, again as instructed.

Next turn, you play another squirrel, and sacrifice it plus your stoat for the wolf. "Fear not... the beast is sacrificed, but not removed from your deck. Its suffering was real. But you will see it again," explains your mysterious, spiral-eyed opponent.

Wait, its suffering was real?

At the conclusion of the tutorial, the stoat (that is, again, one of your cards) starts to talk to you. It says it understands why you sacrificed it, and asks for your help.

Part card game, part RPG, part lots of things, this game has stories within stories. There's the story of the protagonist, loading up this game to play it on his personal computer, there's the story within the game, and then there's the story of how this game came to be. There were even some real-world lore pickups that could help you put all three of those plots together--by decrypting some in-game Easter eggs, players discovered real floppy disks that enhanced the backstory. You can find all of it explained on youtube now if you want to get deep into the lore.

Personally, I think the story gets a little too complex, and the game's setting and even play style changes throughout in a way that I found to be middling compared to the beginning. But I'm probably in the minority there, and I think everyone should give it a try for themselves. The first part of the game is definitely peak October vibes because you're just tossed into this dark, unsettling cabin with puzzles to solve and a deck you better build wisely, unless you wanna lose a bunch of teeth.

$19.99 on steam.

What you are about to do has not been approved by the Vatican. As a young priest, struggle against demons, cultists, and your own weakening faith in this pixel horror game inspired by the era of classic 8-bit gaming and the "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s.

(from the game's steam page, here).

I didn't think I could be scared by a game that looks like it came right out of the Apple II era, but the smoothly rotoscoped 2 - 4 color animations in Faith are plenty freaky. The story is delightful, too, with multiple endings possible and interesting lore to discover as rookie priest John Ward is forced to confront his own weaknesses.

I still find the death screen so memorable and haunting, even though it's just a black screen with an electronic voice reading the text "MORTIS" to you.

It was originally released in 3 individual chapters, but with Unholy Trinity, you can get all 3 at once on steam for $14.99 right now.

Supposedly a 4th chapter is in development, although it's been a long time with no news. Still, I think the first three are satisfying enough.

I was reminded of this title looking at a list of the most expensive horror games ever made.

To me, it seemed like a case of putting the cart before the horse. They had all these lofty ideas about this stunning environment and super realistic character graphics, but little direction in terms of story or gameplay.

If you're unfamiliar, The Callisto Protocol was directed by Glen Schofield, one of the Dead Space creators, and supposedly a spiritual successor.

The game got stale and repetitive fast. I honestly don't remember it that well, but one moment stuck with me: a story event brings the main character back to the cell he essentially started in, and instead of feeling like, oh cool, I get to quickly retread some ground knowing a lot more than I did when I started, or maybe some tension about what I'd find now with stronger enemies lurking about, I just felt... really frustrated, like, annoyed that I hadn't actually progressed and I'd have to engage in the same mechanics that had already gotten super old.

The story was also just kinda meh. Dead Space had this cool, well-built backstory with Unitology. I remember reading a rumor that Isaac Clarke's mother was a unitologist and gave away all their money to the church, including funds earmarked for Isaac's college education. That small connection really intrigued me. But there was still lots of mystery, too--the creatures and the marker seemed otherworldly and unknowable, more cosmic horror than space zombies.

The Callisto Protocol is just, they found an alien on a planet and started experimenting on some prisoners. Not every story needs to be unexpected and unique, and it's not like Dead Space was completely cliche-free, either, but The Callisto Protocol already so little going for it that it NEEDED an intriguing story, and it just... didn't have it.

That's my 2c.

Image source: TheGamer

Out of these three, I think it's easiest for a modern player to get into Dead Rising. the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster was very well-done and is currently $25 on steam.

Dino Crisis I really think has a good chance of getting remade one day. Nothing's been confirmed, but I just feel it.

I almost forgot about this game until I saw this meme on reddit. It's only $5 on steam.

If you're not familiar, Welcome to the Game is a puzzle horror game released 10 years ago now (we are all getting so old) where you take control of a faceless protagonist trying to get into an online Red Room, a colloquialism for a live streamed snuff encounter. You'll need to hunt the dark web for pieces of the URL to the secret Red Room, but spending so much time on these shady internet portals makes you vulnerable yourself, resulting in repeated hacking attempts and much, much worse.

Originally I think it was intended to be a prequel to a more ambitious game called Rides with Strangers, but that project seems to be more or less in limbo. The devs haven't really stated it's cancelled, but have been issuing refunds to anyone who asks on kickstarter and claiming that creating that game the way they want to will cost well over one million dollars, and just sounds like it might not ever happen. That's kind of a big shame.

On the bright side, we've gotten two more entries in the Welcome to the Game series: 2 and 3, both also positively reviewed on steam (Welcome to the Game 3 is brand new this year!)

AMCtheatershop.com: Resident Evil Medical Courier Popcorn Bucket

It won't start shipping until Dec 8th, though. It's being scalped on ebay for like $250. I don't blame people for wanting them. They're very cool!

Source: Y!entertainment. Resident Evil Movie Demolishes Franchise Record After Just Two Weekends

Zach Cregger's highly acclaimed Resident Evil movie had another strong showing at the box office for its second weekend, propelling the film to break another franchise record. It already broke the record for biggest opening weekend for the franchise, and now the movie has made more than $100 million domestically.

That's a new record for the franchise–before this, the biggest success domestically for the franchise was 2010's Resident Evil: Afterlife ($60 million). Globally, Resident Evil has now made $196.5 million against a reported $75 million production budget (not counting marketing costs).

The highest-grossing Resident Evil movie globally is Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which made $312 million worldwide. Time will tell if 2026's Resident Evil will catch up.

I've seen it myself, and would definitely rate it as a pretty good film! There's some back and forth about whether or not it's connected "enough" to the franchise and what makes a piece of media, well, Resident Evil. Personally, I thought it was just as well connected as any side-game or, like, RE7.

Pretty neat. Would love to have something like that, but I'm not famous enough!

Original here

originally posted on reddit

NGL, I kinda want one

Bloody Disgusting: ‘Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival’ Steam Demo Available Now; Whet Your Appetite With a New Trailer

This new trailer for Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival peels the skin back further on one of the game’s core antagonists: Marlowe and his sacred (or sacrilegious?) Scarlet Church. Backed by an army of unholy priests, deviants, and cultists, Marlowe seeks the Genesis Configuration puzzle box for his own devious ends. With every slice and drop of blood, the Scarlet Church recruits those bold enough – or foolish enough – to covet Hell’s blasphemous temptations and gifts.

Play as Aidan, who must use the power of a mysterious puzzle box – the Genesis Configuration – to help his girlfriend Sunny’s escape from the otherworldly hellscape of the Labyrinth.

This franchise in general is pretty well off my radar, so I hadn't heard anything about it until all of a sudden there's a demo available. Never even occurred to me that a video game would fit this series. I'm sure fans could weigh in more interestingly.

Gamerant: Resident Evil Director Gives Fans An Official Update on Franchise Future

I've seen it widely misreported that Zach Cregger felt so bullied by Resident Evil fans that he'll never do another adaptation of any IP again, but that's just not what he said.

Rather, he generally feels like sticking to someone else's universe limits his creativity too much. But in the case of Resident Evil specifically, he already has some future story ideas for more story, while cautioning that the first film isn't even out yet (it wasn't at the time of the interview).

Reddit has been unable to shut up about this movie for weeks now, but I think they greatly overestimate their power to influence normal people with lives and friends.

I'll probably go see the movie and try to get the popcorn bucket myself. Be mindful of spoilers, please :)

https://youtu.be/N6vzRUExoxQ

W- we can fix this.

Surreal and cryptic, exactly how I want a Silent Hill to be.

I'm sorry I think flashlight memes are funny no matter how many I see

Really reminiscent of those old magazine ads. I love it.

From the article:

Skulltulas are frightening, but they're not the half of it. In Kakariko Village, you can make your way into an abandoned mansion festooned with cobwebs. This is inhabited by a rich family who have been cursed for their greed and turned into Skulltulas. They speak from distorted masks of their own faces on the spiders' backs, imploring Link to collect Gold Skulltulas to break the curse. This leads to the game's primary scavenger hunt, but more importantly, it's absolutely horrifying.

Kakariko Village is also home to a graveyard and its hunchbacked keeper, Dampé. It's spooky in there, and haunted by creepy Poes, but again, there's another level to the horror. Below the ground is the Royal Family's Tomb, which is inhabited by ReDeads — desiccated zombies who can freeze Link in place with their unearthly screams. In appearance, sound design, and game mechanics, these cursed creatures are the scariest monsters Nintendo has ever created.

Kind of a reach, imo.