Request Games that go for an aesthetic similar to "cult" and/or avant-garde films?

[PaleFolklore]

Again, the title is pretty self-explanatory, but I'd like to know more about games that feel somewhat invested in creating an atmosphere similar to what you'd find in Slow Cinema or films often associated with a "cult" status—perhaps something that Abbas Kiarostami or Theo Angelopoulos might direct.

I'm also thinking of something inspired by the French New Wave, though I’m not particularly fond of many of its directors. Italian cinema is another good option, maybe something reminiscent of Fellini's work.

Any thoughts?

 

[Ícaro Oliveira Santos]

Planet Laika reminds me a lot of several avant-garde movies and it's a psychological horror game where the protagonists have dog faces, I don't want to talk too much about this game because it's hard to talk about it without giving spoilers but this video made by mara is very good (this video has spoilers just to warn you).

 

[Parasite_Steve]

Commenting just to keep following the thread.
I’m really not aware of any off the top of my head. Maybe some indie games? Most game devs don’t strike me as super deep into movies as art unless they’re kojima and he totally revels in obscure b-movie schlock (not an insult mind you).
The closest thing I can think of is a couple of games like trek to yomi or ghost of tsushima that take some inspiration from Kurosawa, but he’s become fairly known again and as much as I love his work I still wish devs would finally watch a second Japanese movie from that era.
Silent Hill took a lot of inspiration from cult horror movies like Jacob‘s ladder, Tenchu was a huge love letter to 60s and 70s b-movies like kagegari and lone wolf & cub, but the more I think about it the hazier does the term "cult" get. Like I kind of get what you mean, in the thread "what movie/tv show do you wish was made into a game" someone mentioned Švankmajer which would be an excellent vibe for a game.
You mentioned the nouvelle vague. While I can’t think of a game inspired by it (I’m sure it would cure my insomnia) there is definitely some dna of the Japanese new wave that was inspired by it, in the killer-themed games of suda51. I’m thinking specifically of Seijun Suzuki‘s work, first and foremost Branded to kill.

 

[Bragr]

Kentucky Route Zero is usually the go-to answer for games like this.

Ico and The Last Guardian have that special sort of "cult sauce" when it comes to silence and visual direction.

Myst can fit this bill. Maybe even The Witness.

To find slow cinema sort of games, you have to look at "walking sims". Everybody's Gone To The Rapture is haunting. What Remains of Edith Finch has some of that feel as well. Dear Esther maybe, Virginia as well.

More recently, Alan Wake 2 can feel like a cult movie. Disco Elysium perhaps.

L.A. Noire has some of that old-school movie feel.

 

[Parasite_Steve]

Ico and The Last Guardian have that special sort of "cult sauce" when it comes to silence and visual direction.

Interestingly enough these two and the last guardian make me think of paintings more than movies, especially Ico. You could probably paint literally any screenshot in oil.

The first two Max Payne (haven’t played the third one) kind of ride the line between film noir and pulp detective comics. The dream sequences have a Lynchian feel to them.

 

[Tbest25]

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

Shadow Hearts 100%

 

[UnDubious]

Tenchu was a huge love letter to 60s and 70s b-movies like kagegari and lone wolf & cub, but the more I think about it the hazier does the term "cult" get.

Tenchu is a love letter to the hitman subgenre of Japanese period fiction (jidaigeki), specifically series like Hissatsu! and the Dr. Baian short stories created by the novelist Shotaro Ikegami. There's even a playable character based on Dr. Baian in one of the PS2 sequels (the guy that uses acupuncture needles to kill).
Jidaigeki is a huge genre with hundreds and hundreds of movies and tv series and was the most popular form of entertainment in Japan for decades, it wasn't "cult" there at all. Hissatsu has over 20 seasons. (There's a Saturn Hissatsu game that's pretty decent, btw, a side-scroller like Shinobi).

I'll say something weird like Killer 7 seems pretty avant-garde to me.

If the OP is looking for an ambiance similar to European avant-garde cinema specifically, I don't know what to tell him. Someone brought up Planet Laika, it's the strangest and most philosophical game I've ever played and the only one that ever really made me think between sessions, by the same creator as Kowloon's Gate. Deserves more attention.

 

[gnome]

i dunno...

 

[Parasite_Steve]

Tenchu is a love letter to the hitman subgenre of Japanese period fiction (jidaigeki), specifically series like Hissatsu! and the Dr. Baian short stories created by the novelist Shotaro Ikegami. There's even a playable character based on Dr. Baian in one of the PS2 sequels (the guy that uses acupuncture needles to kill).

I’m seeing a lot more of the shinobi no mono series in Tenchu. At least the first two before the developer switched. There are literal quotes lifted from the movies in the first game. I stand firm that the exaggerated and very specific sound effects, the excessive use of the blood fountain effect, various magical and folkloristic elements and the enemy design align much more closely with the pulpy and fantastical side of 70s chanbara like in the movies I mentioned. Especially with movies that bordered on exploitation sleaze. These were quite popular too but by the late nineties chanbara in general was almost as dead as the dodo (at least on the big screen) and most of these movies won’t show up on the criterion collection anytime soon, so it’s not a stretch to call them "cult" at this point. I’ve seen more than a hundred jidaigeki easily from the classy to the trashy, I don’t pull my conclusions out of a hat.

Also, I know it’s a silly nitpick and I wouldn’t usually stoop that low, but don’t try to out-smartass me and then misspell the name of Ikenami as Ikegami

 

[UnDubious]

stuff

Hissatsu started in the '70s too... same concept, same subject matter. All of Japanese cinema was more violent and "pulpy" in that era. Shinobi no Mono is from the '60s and more serious-minded, so it's strange to say it's the chief influence then go on to cite a bunch of things that series doesn't really have.

I get annoyed when Westerners always bring everything back to relatively minor movies like the Lone Wolf and Cub series (in terms of genre importance), so I wanted to bring in some more context. It's like if Legend of Legaia was the only RPG series to be localized in some country and people there always compared other RPGs to them. Except Lone Wolf doesn't suck or anything. I think it's cool that you're into that stuff too, though. Maybe we can talk about it sometimes when we're not arguing.

My main point was those influences aren't avant-garde or "cult" really, not in their original cultural context. There were still plenty of jidaigeki shows in the '90s on TV, including Hissatsu, and any Japanese person would have seen some growing up. Tenchu isn't so different from Kage no Gundan or other big '80s shows either. . Chanbara stopped bringing people to the theaters cause they could see infinite amounts of it for free at home. Kind of how Hollywood hardly makes cop movies anymore. The Criterion Collection isn't bad per se but they're pretty much what people have in mind when they think of art snobs. They have silly-ass Seijun Suzuki movies even he will tell you meant nothing but no Fukasaku (last I checked, anyway)?

Also, I read the English edition of Baian the Assassin and I could swear his name was Ikegami, lol. Like the manga artist.

 

[Parasite_Steve]

...

I don’t find it contradictory to assume Tenchu took inspiration from seemingly disparate elements of the past considering it is pretty obviously assembled from various different sources. The best example being the very idiosyncratic soundtrack. I can imagine what it would look like exactly if it was a 70s movie and that would work but it’s also very post-modern at the same time.

I mentioned lone wolf & cub because it’s something non-diehard fans of chanbara would be familiar with, and the whole franchise was also very successful in Japan. I disagree though that all Japanese media was intrinsically more violent and pulpy at the time, although it was certainly the high watermark for nikkatsu and daiei. Some of the cheese/pulp factor comes mostly with age. There was still a lot of classier and drier entertainment going on simultaneously, we’re just more likely to see the more outrageous stuff in the west. I mean for good reason too.

Good call on kage no gundan. That show left its mark on many video games.

There’s a jidaigeki thread in the movie section here btw.

I actually like the criterion collection quite a bit. They have a very varied selection that can be very arty-farty but they put a lot of effort in their releases. I’ve been enjoying their John Waters blurays a lot. I’m not gonna complain about Suzuki films getting a good remaster either because I love his work and I actually find Fukasaku a little bit overrated. Not to poopoo his genuine classics, I just think the quality of his output varied quite a bit over the decades.

For Japanese cinema arrow films is probably a better source than criterion, or third window films for more contemporary movies.

 

[Crabulon]

The Path and The Graveyard, both by the same development team I believe. The Path is a take on your classic little Red Riding Hood story. You can choose to either take the Path to go to Grandma's house, or deviate. You can play as 4 Protagonists of varying age, each with their own "Wolf".

And in The Graveyard you play as an elderly person walking through a Cemetery in Black & White

 

[wokewendy]

Flower, Sun & Rain from suda51 is probably the most kafkaesque game I've ever played. The main character is just as confused as you are the entire time, it's a pretty wild ride and definitely recommended

 

[enbrodo]

My top suggestion for OP would be the Siren games on PS2 - Siren and Siren 2 are absolute masterpieces and actively use their gameplays to add to the ambiance and atmosphere. While they are absolutely love letters for Junji Ito's work, they also reference a lot of bizarre arthouse cinema in how the story progresses, too.

Would highly recommend Flower, Sun & Rain as well (and any suda51 game really)

SWERY games also, especially Deadly Premonition and D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (really wish this game was continued, it was so good)

Would also second Kentucky Route Zero for Steam as a masterpiece of bizarre beauty. As stupid as it sounds, Harvester also creates a charmingly strange atmosphere for most of the early game.

Post automatically merged: Feb 24, 2025

My top suggestion for OP would be the Siren games on PS2 - Siren and Siren 2 are absolute masterpieces and actively use their gameplays to add to the ambiance and atmosphere. While they are absolutely love letters for Junji Ito's work, they also reference a lot of bizarre arthouse cinema in how the story progresses, too.

Would highly recommend Flower, Sun & Rain as well (and any suda51 game really)

SWERY games also, especially Deadly Premonition and D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (really wish this game was continued, it was so good)

Would also second Kentucky Route Zero for Steam as a masterpiece of bizarre beauty. As stupid as it sounds, Harvester also creates a charmingly strange atmosphere for most of the early game.

 

[hazys]

The Void
Pathologic
Kane & Lynch 2
Papo & Yo
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Immortality

 

[Gym Ghingham]

The Void
Pathologic
Kane & Lynch 2
Papo & Yo
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Immortality

cool.