Tis the season to be spooky and I was looking for some recommendations from the survival horror genre. I’m fairly new to horror in general but specifically I’ve been looking into survival horror games recently.
Games I’ve played:
The original SNES Clocktower!
Oh, and I don’t know if it counts, but Decarnation is a newer game and kind of survival horror but it’s a cool experience.
I just looked up Clock Tower and it appears it’s getting ported to modern platforms! I guess I’ll be waiting for the enhanced version in 2024. Already loving the spooky atmosphere and art style.
I’ve heard good things about The Forrest, but I haven’t personally had a chance to play it yet.
Yeah I just saw that today too! The original is very good though, not sure it can be “improved” much without hurting it. But, access is an issue so having it on modern consoles is nice. I do NOT recommended the PS1 version, the shitty 3D ruins it.
I wasn’t able to look up Decarnation until now but I am getting heavy Perfect Blue vibes from it. The bobbleheaded characters are kinda uggo but the rest of it looks very interesting. I haven’t heard or seen anything about this game but it’s mostly positive on Steam, so that’s being added to the list.
@BMO My friends have been playing the Forest and Sons of Forest. I haven’t decided if I want to try the first game on my own first or with them. Sometimes instead of playing, they end up waiting around forever for everybody to be ready and it can be a slog. I’d also feel guilty if I had them all install the game for me to try it, and then be like “nah. this ain’t for me.” 
I wanna give a big shout out to Dead Space, if you haven’t played it. Definitely one of my favs in the genre. You can go with either the OG or the remake from this year, both are good. I’m only around halfway into remake but I think it’s a bit improved over the original in most ways.
Also definitely play the first Resident Evil. I played through the gamecube era remake back when I was taking a tour of the whole series and it’s still among my favorites. Very cool atmosphere and a bit punishing in the best way if you don’t manage your supplies properly.
If you find you’re cool playing with tank controls Silent Hill 2 is one of my all time favs and you can’t go wrong with 3 or 4 either.
Some other ones I like very much are Penumbra: Black Plague and SOMA, both by Frictional Games.
If playing Resident Evil, definitely play the Director’s Cut. This track alone makes it a must play.
Now in terms of actual recommendations, I would highly recommend playing through the first three Fatal Frame games. They only get better in my opinion.
You’ve given me so many choices. Thank you!
I started Dead Space ages ago on the Xbox 360. I made it through most of the game (I think), got to the basketball minigame, and quit. I think I was achievement hunting at the time so I got frustrated with having to choose between ignoring the minigame and missing an achievement or grinding for it, so I lost all momentum and got distracted with other games. I completely forgot it got remade recently so I’ll check out the new version and see how I fare.
The first Resident Evil game traumatized me in preschool so as an adult, I want to defeat my biggest psychological nemesis. I was afraid of zombies until I was about 17. I think I mostly got over my fear cause zombies in media now feel much different than the zombies in RE1. Modern zombies are quicker and screechier. RE1 zombies are slow and have this horrible low booming bass groan that still hits me in awful ways.
Is the first Silent Hill bad? Or irrelevant? Everyone recommends the sequel and it’s even getting remade but no one mentions the first one, either for good or ill.
I heard about SOMA but not much about the Penumbra series. I’ll look into both of those. I’m going to try playing Amnesia again as I dropped it before. Not out of fear but I just wasn’t enjoying it. I can’t remember a particular reason I wasn’t having fun so I’m gonna give it another solid try as I don’t want it sitting ignored in my library any longer.
@Prin I have been interested in Fatal Frame for a very long time but have never tried them. I think mostly because the older ones aren’t easily accessible anymore. I started using a PS2 emulator recently so I might be able to go that route. It was acting wonky last time I was using it though so we’ll see what I can do.
I appreciate all of these recommendations. Feel free to keep them coming if you have more to share. I don’t mind increasing my backlog. 
Your’re welcome and in regards to other portions of your reply, I would recommend playing through Silent Hill if possible as it still holds up fairly well, even with tank controls. You can honestly play any of the games out of order as there isn’t really any plot connection other than between 1 and 3 and the Town itself as an evolving character.
Please do not play the PS3 collection though if you can help it for the 2nd and 3rd ones. I would go for the PC ports if possible and if not, play the Xbox version of 2 and the PS2 of Silent Hill 3.
I remember hearing about the PS3 collection not being great. Don’t remember the specific reasons why but just to avoid it.
I’ll try and play through the series then. I might wait until the remake of Silent Hill 2 to come out. I rarely replay games so if the remake is good, I’d rather just go for that experience. But since Silent Hill 1 keeps getting ignored, I will start with that one if I can get a decent version of it running.
One of the biggest is that the ports were hobbled together by a third party as best as they could using unfinished betas as it is reported that Konami lost the source code for both.
I would also strongly advise playing the original Silent Hill 2 first as you honestly can rarely beat the original imo, and Bloober Team who is very hit and miss with their games is in charge of the remake.
Basically I was going to wait until the remake released and then see what the consensus is on the new version. I very rarely preorder games or play them Day 1. I don’t have the time or the money. 
But if I play through the first game and I am itching to continue, I’ll just start with the original since it comes so highly recommended.
I want to give a huge shout for Horror Tales: The Wine.
It’s a solid game with great atmosphere and a pretty interesting story, set in a gorgeous Mediterranean locale. Made by one guy as well. It has an occasional rough edge but it has been one of my absolute favorite horror games in the past ten years or so
Plus collectable cat pictures …
Cat collectibles sound absolutely delightful. It seems there is mixed reviews on Steam but the exploration looks fun and the visuals are nice. I’ll add this to the list but probably won’t get it until it goes on sale.
I see there’s a new episode called the Beggar coming out. If you try that one and like it, let us know!
I felt the same, but ended up feeling like it was much better than first perceived, especially for a single person.
He’s actually got plans to do more Horror Tales as a series, though I’m not sure how many or if others are out.
I’ll probably try his other stuff when I can
Also if you’d like, I did review The Wine last year after playing it. Might help you decide how much you actually want to try it.
I don’t think I ever realized there even was a basketball minigame till I was looking through the achievements in the remake, haha. I haven’t decided whether to force myself to do that yet though.
Resident Evil is definitely a bit of a time capsule. You’re right that zombies have gotten a bit faster in a lot of media, lol.
I jump to Silent Hill 2 because while I think the first game’s atmosphere held up well enough, the graphics suffer from being a PS1 game and the plot turns into nonsensical goo around halfway in. There’s also a couple late game fights that just made zero sense to me and I ended up having to look up how to progress. It doesn’t make it not worth playing in my opinion, but it’s a harder sell than 2-4. I just think it doesn’t really do anything that the other games don’t do better. It does have a very cool opening sequence though.
Penumbra is a bit older than Amnesia but the plot is a bit more interesting I think. It also has a more unusual setting, which sets it apart in my mind, even if the graphics aren’t as nice looking. I like Amnesia a good deal as well too though, so maybe see if you end up liking that first haha. I’d definitely recommend playing with headphones if you are down for that. The ambience is really nice with them.
Enjoy! I haven’t played enough of the genre myself to be honest.
I managed to get copies of the first two for PS2 a while back and I’m really pumped to dive in! There’s also a copy of 3 in my local game store that I’ve been eyeing for a while, but I feel like I need to start the games before I decide to drop that amount of money on another.
I seem to have gotten extremely lucky on my purchases. I remember answering a Craigslist ad and getting Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, Silent Hill 3 along with the OST Disc, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex all for $10. Crazy to think of now, but I took a chance on meeting for these items and it paid off.