Most Underrated PSX Horror Game?

[John Cruelty]

Id argue its Galerians
Even tho its not that unpopular, the popularity/quality ratio is absurd, its one of the best games on the system

 

[Dani.]

I've played the big ones, the Resident Evil PS1 games, Silent Hill, Dino Crisis the first Parasite Eve (didnt finish the final boss out of frustration but liked most of it). I remember trying a sci-fi horror One but dont remember its name. Clock tower 1 and 2 this games are good Horror games too.

 

[Vexicrypt]

I'd say Echo Night and Echo Night 2: Nemuri no Shihaisha are a bit more forgotten, which is funny because everyone seem to love FromSoftware these days. There is also Hellnight (aka Dark Messiah in Japan) and while there are couple big videos about it on YT, I don't see it being mentioned pretty much anywhere.

 

[qw90700]

In the era that Clock Tower and Twilight Syndrome games were popular despite I dislike horror games (except few examples like Silent Hill games) I really liked this game: https://retrogametalk.com/repository/psx-iso/yuuyami-doori-tankentai-japan/

Because it's not just a "horror" game I like the way the game is but only relatively recently people started to appreciated it. Too bad it doesn't still have an English patch.

 

[RustySK]

I see your vaguely obscure horror titles and I raise you another: Soul of the Samurai, kind of a proto-Onimusha title.
Is it great? No. Does it have a devoted cult following? No. Is it worth a bored weekend when you have nothing better to do? Sure, I guess. Whatever.

 

[Sorion]

I would say it's Hell Night, it's setting it's quite Unique and the monster it's truly terrifying, Hell Night is one of those games that really makes you feel week against impossible odds but unfortunately it can be a bit frustrating at times.

 

[Vexicrypt]

I see your vaguely obscure horror titles and I raise you another: Soul of the Samurai, kind of a proto-Onimusha title.
Is it great? No. Does it have a devoted cult following? No. Is it worth a bored weekend when you have nothing better to do? Sure, I guess. Whatever.

Oh damn, I've never met another person who played Soul of the Samurai before. I find that game very charming but that might be my nostalgia speaking, since I played as a kid. I even started speedrunning it for that reason few years back, wasted so many hours looking for that perfect random and gave up at some point

 

[GrimRiven]

Koudelka would be my pick. What a fantastic game!

 

[JPchicre]

Clock Tower is great. I think most of the good ones are very well known. Dino Crisis Is the least popular of the "main ones" i feel. Martian Gothic has a cool name. So while i think the game is lacking and bad, i am going to say that Martian Gothic is underrated because I like the name and the cover art.

 

[Vardalis]

I would say it's Hell Night, it's setting it's quite Unique and the monster it's truly terrifying, Hell Night is one of those games that really makes you feel week against impossible odds but unfortunately it can be a bit frustrating at times.

Beat me to it. I played it before the video and it was quite intriguing. Kind of shocked it was never remade or anything when the first person horror trend was super popular.

 

[Muklas]

Clock Tower is great. I think most of the good ones are very well known. Dino Crisis Is the least popular of the "main ones" i feel. Martian Gothic has a cool name. So while i think the game is lacking and bad, i am going to say that Martian Gothic is underrated because I like the name and the cover art.

Martian Gothic is a case study in almost reaching greatness and then falling flat halfway to the finish line, it's sad really because I like what it was trying to go for but at one point it just turns into a pixel hunt you just want to get over with.

 

[bjork]

I see your vaguely obscure horror titles and I raise you another: Soul of the Samurai, kind of a proto-Onimusha title.
Is it great? No. Does it have a devoted cult following? No. Is it worth a bored weekend when you have nothing better to do? Sure, I guess. Whatever.

Soul of the Samurai is really fun. I remember my dad loving it too.

I was originally coming to say Overblood, but Soul of the Samurai is a better pick for sure.

 

[solnK!]

I´d say Planet Laika, is not really a survival horror with all words but it´s pretty scary and brutal sometimes, and I think there aren´t enough people who talk about it

 

[pissstain]

koudelka or some random crazy shi like paranoiascape just for how out there it is

 

[kalervo]

i second Koudelka, Laika, samurai, martian gothic, echo night 1-2, and Hell Night. Juggernaut, germs, and mizzurna falls are great ones too.

 

[moonbits]

I would say it's Hell Night, it's setting it's quite Unique and the monster it's truly terrifying, Hell Night is one of those games that really makes you feel week against impossible odds but unfortunately it can be a bit frustrating at times.

I made my best friend play this game one Hallowen night when we were in college, he almost cried in the underground city

 

[UnDubious]

I see your vaguely obscure horror titles and I raise you another: Soul of the Samurai, kind of a proto-Onimusha title.
Is it great? No. Does it have a devoted cult following? No. Is it worth a bored weekend when you have nothing better to do? Sure, I guess. Whatever.

It's pretty good IMO, long as you play as Kotaro. Lin makes combat too easy and simple.

Edit - looks like the game is fairly popular on this forum, anyway.

 

[RustySK]

It's pretty good IMO, long as you play as Kotaro. Lin makes combat too easy and simple.

Edit - looks like the game is fairly popular on this forum, anyway.

Oh, to be clear - I like the game as well! Definitely underrated and underappreciated, I wouldn't have brought it up otherwise. I just don't think it's some kind of forgotten masterpiece.

 

[dropsmegamega]

Definitely Hellnight, it's actually easily my favorite horror on ps1, yet its completely forgotten, even compared to Koudelka. I've played a few others like Echo Night, ...Iru and Yaku, but can't say I liked then that much.

 

[Viviana Santos]

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Planet Laika and Moonlight Syndrome are both very cool, very unique, and have fascinating stories and themes. (they also have great atmosphere and music).

 

[Bandini]

the only game that a ritual(based on The case of Charles Dexter Ward) can be performed.

 

[Muklas]

i second Koudelka, Laika, samurai, martian gothic, echo night 1-2, and Hell Night. Juggernaut, germs, and mizzurna falls are great ones too.

The thing with Juggernaut is that nothing quite reaches the heights of the cyberpunk section where Lucifer is running an organ-stealing business.

 

[gwardojones]

I've heard diehards say that the PSX version of Baroque is trash, but I love it (and I can't get the Saturn version to run on my computer without graphical issues). One of my all-time favorite games. The atmosphere, music, story, art, and even the Mystery Dungeon-style gameplay do it for me.

 

[underhandwriter]

I was also thinking Hellnight, so I'll just give a shoutout to D. It has a great unsettling atmosphere, even if it gets kinda silly by the end.

 

[John Cruelty]

View attachment 119669
I've heard diehards say that the PSX version of Baroque is trash, but I love it (and I can't get the Saturn version to run on my computer without graphical issues). One of my all-time favorite games. The atmosphere, music, story, art, and even the Mystery Dungeon-style gameplay do it for me.

Its not as big a difference with the Saturn version as they make it out to be

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Planet Laika and Moonlight Syndrome are both very cool, very unique, and have fascinating stories and themes. (they also have great atmosphere and music).

Planet Laika is def a contender, very unnerving and oddly high quality