D: The Game
As a fan of the late Kenji Eno (R.I.P) and the now defunct WARP Studios games, I was really happy to see that D (WARP’s first game to be released outside of Japan) is now easily accessible on Steam.
D was originally made for the short lived 3DO in 1995 and was ported to the Sega Staurn, PS1, and MS DOS (which is this version). The gameplay is akin to 1993’s Myst, with the entire game being an fmv. Yet, unlike Myst, everything is fully animated. So if you want to get somewhere, you are going to have to walk there using a pre-set path. It’s kinda slow, but it really helps build the atmosphere.
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game
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I own this game on Playstation, 3DO, Saturn and now on Steam, and I don’t regret paying for it again, even though it hasn’t aged well, and even though this is a fairly mediocre DOSBox port.
D is an on-rails horror-suspense game from the 90s. You play as Laura Harris, daughter of Dr. Richter Harris, a famous physician who, for some reason, has suddenly decided to murder everyone in his hospital and disappear inside the building. You have two hours (in real time) to figure out why, with no saving, interactive movie-style.
– Real player with 4.1 hrs in game
Tattletail
So, this is one of my scariest games yet, but SCP was definetly the more challenging, besides that they are many pros and cons that i found while playing this magnificent game, each one will have a detailed explanation about why I beleive this.
PROS
The atmosphere was simply fantastic, it kept me on my seat, something most horror games just couldnt coprehend, the sounds and spooky sounds always kept the feeling eerie and creepy, which should always be a Pro for Games like these
The mechanics are also fairly decent and amazing, took me 2 hours to figure it out but in the end, it turned to an easy yet challenging experience that i personally find enjoyable and Reasonable for these type of horror survival games
– Real player with 36.1 hrs in game
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Tattletail follows an unknown but presumably young main protagonist during the week of Christmas engaging various questionable activities with their newly mysterious toy Tattletail. Although they’re aware opening this present prior to Christmas is risky, it becomes unexpectedly encouraged once strange supernatural events occur after the toy is removed from its packaging. Tattletail is seemingly a good toy made for the whole family until it’s later revealed something more threatening is prepared to reign over the protagonist’s household.
– Real player with 10.3 hrs in game
Emerald Lake
I must say, I like this a lot. It has one of the best scenes I ever saw in an fps creator game. I really appreciate the effort the developer has put into this! The Levels are looking great and the game got me good on some spots lol… I was actually scared. The game could also use some more ambient music tho, it would thicken the atmosphere even more!
Didnt play through yet, because I got stuck, but I will try again very soon.
Great Job Dev!
~Duchenkuke
– Real player with 2.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Horror Hack and Slash Games.
Emerald Lake is the best overall FPSC game I have ever seen.
It manages to include dynamic and interactive environments on a scale never before seen in an FPSC game within the dire limitations of the engine. Its visually extremely well crafted and manages to keep you interested with enough variation on the “find the key” mechanic and enough well made scripted encounters to fill its run time. If you enjoy these hobbyist horror adventure games, this one is certainly among the better ones. For an FPSC game, this is just legendary.
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
Killing Time
This is the second FPS I played when I was young (Doom 2 was the first). This game was so scary back then. It took me 12h to complete it. This FPS is different from others as it has only one huge map. It is not a classical get the red/yellow/blue keys to complete the level. There is some short videos that reveal the story peace by peace. The weapon are great.
Only drawback are the controls. But once you get use to it you’ll almost forget about them.
I finally finnished that game I started 23 years ago :)
– Real player with 12.6 hrs in game
This game took me years to get up and running simply because it does not run well on modern systems out of the box; going from garbled graphics one year, no sound the next and then just refuses to boot after that - I had given up hope trying to get it up and running. But thanks to the wonderful work of the Killing Time community and the fan patch they have been updating for years; I can finally play and enjoy the game and I’ll confidently say that this game is a real hidden if very flawed little gem of a classic 90s boomer shooter! Time may have forgotten it but after discovering it for the first time myself, I really hope more people will give this game a try.
– Real player with 10.4 hrs in game
Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh
My friend and I have recently gone down the rabbit hole of these fmv games. I’ve learned a lot on the way, and we’ve both lost even more. With this unique experience however, comes the perfect tool set to judge these games.
We started with harvester and there couldn’t have been a better game to get our toes wet. 5 hours later we became the kidders we need to be to take on phantasmagoria 1. Harvester’s story direction (or lack thereof) really made phantasmagoria 2’s story shine through. The acting was mostly good or at least good enough to not take us out of it and the characters were well written. Trevor please email me. Phantasmagoria 2 is nothing like it’s predecessor. It starts you as a white dude named curtis but the real main character, blob, is introduced quickly. A story filled with weird physics and entertaining emails, this game will take you on an mindboggling journey. Walkthrough is highly recommended especially at the end where the game crashes if you don’t do the puzzle right..
– Real player with 48.8 hrs in game
I see a lot of reviews that try to compare Phantasmagoria (1) with Phantasmagoria 2. And then the reviewer draws a conclusion that one is better than the other. My take - they share the title and they are both point-n-click adventures. That’s about where the similarities end. I think this is why so many critics loved the first and disliked the second. They weren’t letting both games stand apart.
Phantasmagoria 2’s horror is more focused on the cerebral… an analysis of insanity. Although there are a few bloody moments, the story focuses on Curtis' psyche and how it affects his relationships. Because of this, there is a distinct focus on interpersonal exchanges between Curtis and his friends/co-workers. You come to know each character fairly well and it’s easy to love some and hate others.
– Real player with 22.6 hrs in game
Alone in the Dark 2
Probably the first survival horror games ever made and boy they done it right!
Great atmosphere, amazing graphics for the time, the sounds and music so creepy that it actually gives me chills till this day.
The stories are quite familiar and considered to be a classic horror stories taken from known books.
The puzzles are freaking insanely hard, and the games (1,2,3) as a whole are not easy at all to say the least.
I’m ashamed to admit that I never managed to finish any of them as a kid but oh man now that iv’e done it it was quite a ride, an epic blast from the past!
– Real player with 15.6 hrs in game
Alot of improvements following on from the first game. At the time in 1994 the controls would of felt alot more polished compared to the original game but in today modern era they are still horrible. Some excellent game play script events in this one compared to the first one espically the bit where you get to blow up the entire sleeping quaters with a cannon. This one foccuses alot more on combat compared to the original game which you can tell straight from the start of the game where youre given a machine gun and every other guard drops ammo. The puzzles are really fun in this game and challenging and the fact half way through the game you get to play as the young lass which adds some more player variety in the game.
– Real player with 12.4 hrs in game
CARNAL
My opportunity to play CARNAL has come after hearing about it in the E1M1 Magazine blog. It sure does look and feel retro, but here are my ups and downs
Pros
-Neat and effective weaponry
-Diverse enemy lineup from your usual soldiers with weapons to T-Rexes with rocket launchers and self-operated lawn mowers, PLUS shopping carts with minds of their own
-Nice level visuals, giving the atmosphere of a pretty desolate environment overrun by the Sons of Anak clan
-Retro soundtrack, ranging from Quake levels of ambience to intensely amazing bangers
– Real player with 28.3 hrs in game
I like this game’s graphical style and level design (at least it’s not another ‘abstract sci-fi levels’ style retro-FPS) and there are many enemy types, but the whole game desperatly needs some polish.
The protagonist’s ‘pain sound’ is atrocious and the controls are sometimes very bad, you have to press jump to go up on a staircase, etc.
The enemies are too small and too silent (and too dumb) and technically they aren’t hitscan, but almost.
I understand that the creator of this game wants a life system instead of saving, but the game is way too hard in this way.
– Real player with 12.2 hrs in game
Night Trap - 25th Anniversary Edition
Where do I even begin with the remastered edition of one of my all-time favorite games? Playing this took me back to the mid 90s… back to the days of Mortal Kombat and video game magazines. I was somewhat surprised to realize I still know by heart way more of the dialogue than I should. I kinda wished I still had my old notebook from 1994 that had all of the trap times written down, painstakingly collected from hours upon hours of gameplay. They’re widely available on the internet now, but it’s really not the same, now is it?
– Real player with 23.9 hrs in game
Still too buggy. I had previously recommended this game after being able to finally playthrough it after it launched with a game breaking which caused the game to not be completable. It also had many other bugs. The updates have fixed quite a bit but I now have a bug where I can’t get a perfect game and unlock Scene of the Crime. At 6:30 the possible counter increments by two even though no trapable augs appear. There is a red light which indicates when a trapping opportunity is missed. That light never turns on indicating that I missed any augs. I haven’t tried to play to the end but I’m guessing that I’ll be at least two short even if I capture all augs. I know some people have 100% the game but I think that was prior to the 2nd update. In addition there are still audio issues, cams not updating, and crashes.
– Real player with 19.3 hrs in game
Phantasmagoria
I think Phantasmagoria surprised me the most out of the FMV games I’ve played recently, partly due to the fact that it was always reviewed as “meh” compared to other classics like “The Beast Within”. It did appear to be pretty mundane at first glance and I didn’t like the idea of puzzles in spades as I’m no good at them. I actually played Phantasmagoria 2 before this one and, though I did have a blast with it, it’s a joke in comparison to this one. The 2nd one just seemed to be a vehicle to show off the technology of the time with a ridiculously goofy story that insulted B movie horrors. This isn’t actually as campy as I expected (with the exception of a couple of ridiculously overacted scenes in the final act, it’s actually quite a serious horror). This is a dark game. Found myself feeling a bit freaked out at various points throughout and the musical score is tremendous.
– Real player with 126.8 hrs in game
So I might be a little bias to this game given that it was one of the very first point and click adventure games from my childhood and I’ve always had very very fond memories of this game.. Now that I’ve gone back and played it a bit, I remember why I loved it as much as I did when I was a kid.
To start off this is a point and click adventure game that features a actors over a green screen in a 3D rendered background. It’s got a strangely charming feeling when I go back to play this game at nearly anytime with the way the actors need to interact with the enviroment around them.
– Real player with 11.1 hrs in game
Alone in the Dark 1
For anyone who doesn’t already know, this is the very first survival horror game every made. It first released in 1992 on floppy disk, 1993 on many Japanese computers of the time and on CD-ROM, finally releasing on the 3DO in 1994.
Before this review turns into a history lesson about the entire survival horror genre, I’ll get on with the game itself.
Positives:
Despite the character models looking very rough-around-the-edges today, I think there’s a certain charm to them.
Considering this is the first game of its genre, it gets terrifying at times!
– Real player with 11.1 hrs in game
Alone in the Dark 1 AKA the first game in the Alone in the Dark series is a classic horror game, it has its problems but let’s get into the story.
First off you can play as one of two people in this game Emily Hartwood the niece of Jeremy Hartwood or Edward Carnby a private investigator dealing with paranormal shenanigans.
Anyway after the death of Jeremy Hartwood, Emily Hartwood goes to the Derceto house to find out why her uncle killed himself.
Or you play as private investigator/paranormal investigator Edward Carnby, who was hired by Gloria Allen an owner of an antique store to go to the Derceto house to get an old piano with secret drawers.
– Real player with 8.8 hrs in game