Key points
- Echo Night 2: The Lord of Nightmares, a FromSoftware creation, offers a unique blend of survival horror.
- Chaos Break, a survival horror game from 2000, has the potential for a comeback with its arcade atmosphere and unique combat systems.
- Dark Messiah offers a truly terrifying first-person horror experience, praised by a strong cult following.
Horror games were at home on the PlayStation 1, as the analog nature of the console helped create disturbing and surreal images, and inspired a number of indie developers in contemporary times. But despite all his outstanding horror releases, like Resident Evil AND silent Hillthere are some truly great and disturbing PS1 titles that never made it to America.
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Some of them were chasing trends, clearly taking off from the survival horror craze started by Resident Evilwhile others have focused on making something truly unique with Sony's impressive next-gen hardware. Some of the PS1's most fascinating horror games sadly never made it to America, as they were heavily focused on the stunning atmosphere and unique sense of dread that other titles in the genre became known for.
5 Echo Night 2: Lord of Nightmares
A FromSoftware game for PS1 that offers a harrowing first-person horror experience
- Platform: PS1
- Developer: FromSoftware
- Release date: August 5, 1999
The first The night of the echo the game arrived in the United States a year after the Japanese release, but unfortunately the sequel was never localized. Developed by FromSoftware, Echo Night 2: Lord of Nightmares is a first-person survival horror game that feels like a mix of From's King's Field AND Resident Evil.
Set in a haunting Gothic mansion, The night of the echo 2 is centered around ghostly apparitions and puzzle solving. Like many of FromSoftware's previous efforts, it relies on environmental storytelling and obtuse design to strengthen its world, as well as enhance the game's grim atmosphere.
4 Pause from the chaos
An arcade-style survival horror game that is one of the best on PS1
- Platform: PS1
- Developer: Taito
- Release date: September 27, 2000
Released in 2000, at the end of the console's life, Pause from the chaos is a survival horror game that almost feels like an arcade game. That's fitting, considering this is a sequel to a light gun shooter called Heat of chaosreleased in arcades in 1998.
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Pause from the chaos features full 3D environments, taking advantage of the PS1's hardware, and also makes use of some great character models. It has spectacular art direction, with some wonderfully grotesque monsters to fight and a collection of mutated human scientists. Pause from the chaos would do well in today's horror landscape, and its unique blend of different combat systems gets a second chance.
3 Dark Messiah
A first-person horror adventure and one of Atlus' most intriguing games
- Platform: PS1
- Developer: Dennou Eizou Seisakusho
- Release date: June 11, 1998
Launching in Japan as Dark Messiah AND Hellish night in PAL regions, this horror game is published by Atlus and is still one of the console's most overlooked hidden gems. In many ways, it feels like a real Atlus game, featuring a first-person perspective and a dark, surreal atmosphere that's still part of their DNA today.
Dark Messiah showcases narrow, densely packed corridors and harrowing encounters in underground sewers and labyrinthine corridors. It truly is one of the most fascinating and truly terrifying horror experiences on the PS1. Despite a strong cult following, Dark Messiah it never arrived in America and continues to be one of Atlus' most requested localizations.
2 Dark Tales: From the Lost Soul
A unique and unusual horror game featuring three stories
- Platform: PS1
- Developer: Sammy
- Release date: October 28, 1999
Similar to horror anthology franchises like Tales from the Crypt OR The twilight zone, Dark Tales: From the Lost Soul it's a bizarre and unusual experience that has never left Japan. It's one of the strangest games on the PS1, but it's absolutely worth playing for its cutting-edge exploration of murder and the human psyche.
Featuring three episodes with unique stories, From the lost soul it almost seems like a mix of Suda51 Killer7 and the offbeat worlds of Remedy Entertainment. Combining live-action elements with unique gameplay systems, it's a completely whimsical experience that dives into the darkest and most compelling aspects of humanity and the true horror found in the recesses of consciousness.
1 Mizzurna waterfalls
A horror story in a small town inspired by Twin Peaks
- Platform: PS1
- Developer: Human entertainment
- Release date: December 23, 1998
If there's one PS1 horror game that looks like it would be a hit with American audiences, it's this one Mizurna Waterfallsa title that had a clear impact on contemporaries such as Deadly premonition. Taking inspiration from the likes of Twin peaks, Mizzurna waterfalls is a whimsical examination of America, where the hunt for a missing teenager reveals the dark secrets of a modest Colorado town.
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By imposing a seven day limit on the player, Mizzurna waterfalls features three total endings and makes it difficult to see them all without multiple playthroughs. It's built on a cast of unusual and strangely charming characters and the ongoing mystery surrounding the city. It was released exclusively in Japan in 1998, which is a shame because its surreal story and gameplay system would be perfect for a remaster of some kind.
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