underrated/unknown horror games?

[invaderzen]

I've been really into survival horror titles recently, but I'm only familiar with mainstream games for the most part.
Most of the games I've played are for the PS2/PSP but they're all well known franchises like silent hill/corpse party/etc.. or just games i've already played repeatedly.

Echo Night for the PSX is a pretty good one I found. Not really sure how known it is but it's a good one, I wouldn't completely call it a 'horror game' though.


Anyways leave recommendations if you have any.
Any console. Just looking for games with horror elements that will leave my timbers thoroughly shivered.

 

[MajesticSiN]

Play some Splatterhouse games. They are pretty amazing. Maybe more horror themed than horror directly but still worth a play.

 

[ProcolKrautSprout73]

.flow (2009) which is a Yume Nikki fangame is a really solid pscyhological horror game. Much more eerie and macabre than the latter. Really disturbing and freaky stuff. I quite liked it! There was an another lesser known one quite similar to it called Me (2016) that I’ve played that was also just as surreal and haunting.

.flow upper
Me bottom

View attachment IMG_3672.webp

Edit: Oh my bad, I didn’t realize you wanted console recommendations specifically. I should’ve recommended that instead, sorry about that.

 

[Viviana Santos]

Post automatically merged: Jan 11, 2025

 

[Cu-Neo]

Obscure 1

A more action oriented resident evil like game set in a highschool. You can play it with another person locally and every character has different abilities for example one has the ability to find more objects and another has the ability to open some locked doors. It has a sequel but is much more action oriented than the first one, still a good game.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Bit of a wild take, but... Veil of Darkness.

It's actually pretty spooky.

 

[Viviana Santos]

 

[tenkai star]

Clunky low budget game but man the story and characters are incredible

 

[RustySK]

Since you're specifically looking for overlooked games I'm assuming you've already heard of stuff like CONSCRIPT or Signalis, so here's a fairly recent, short one that's available for free on Steam instead - Dead Seater.
Definitely worth a quick romp, it's about an hour or two of playtime or so and I enjoyed my time with it.

I can also recommend the various Dread X Collections, those go for 5-9 bucks I believe. Mostly short, experimental fare, but there're a couple gems in there. The first one in particular is a bit rough though.

EDIT: Oh crap, sorry, I completely blanked on the part about you looking for console games specifically!

In that case I'll recommend Deep Fear for the Saturn and Illbleed for the Dreamcast for some goofy camp horror instead!

 

[Viviana Santos]

 

[Glimbo]

Deep Fear on Sega Saturn is an interesting alternative to Resident Evil. It's been awhile since I played it but oxygen is your main resource. Rooms have different oxygen levels and need to be refilled. If you like bad voice acting you'll love it.

 

[Viviana Santos]

Post automatically merged: Jan 11, 2025

 

[invaderzen]

Since you're specifically looking for overlooked games I'm assuming you've already heard of stuff like CONSCRIPT or Signalis, so here's a fairly recent, short one that's available for free on Steam instead - Dead Seater.
Definitely worth a quick romp, it's about an hour or two of playtime or so and I enjoyed my time with it.

I can also recommend the various Dread X Collections, those go for 5-9 bucks I believe. Mostly short, experimental fare, but there're a couple gems in there. The first one in particular is a bit rough though.

EDIT: Oh crap, sorry, I completely blanked on the part about you looking for console games specifically!

In that case I'll recommend Deep Fear for the Saturn and Illbleed for the Dreamcast for some goofy camp horror instead!

I'll still definitely check these out. Especially since Dead Seater is free lol.

 

[Viviana Santos]

Post automatically merged: Jan 11, 2025

 

[KillerJesusXo]

Koudelka PSX Game, actually the prequel to the Shadow hearts games. Not necessarily a horror game but has horror themes, still can be pretty creepy.

I mean most the japanese horror games for ps2 are relatively obscure/unknown to the general population

Rule of rose
Siren
Haunting ground
Clock Tower 4

Little more known ones like Fatal Frame series is a great pick.

A newer one I like is Tormented Souls. I played it on my PS5 but its a real throw back to earlier silent hill games. Which is mainly the appeal, definitely campy sometimes.

These are mainly the ones I can think of off the top of my head. For a variety of systems or platforms.

Definitely some more expensive than others lol.

 

[RustySK]

View attachment 10614

Planet Laika is a horror game? Huh, I always had this one on my to-do list, but never got around to it - I always thought it was a wacky sci-fi RPG sort of deal. Neat, that actually makes me want to check it out even more!

 

[Logi]

Nightmare of Decay on Steam

A first-person action horror game set in a nightmarish manor infested with zombies, psychotic cultists, and a horde of other horrors. Utilize an assortment of different weapons in a brutal fight for survival as you try to escape from the Nightmare of Decay.

store.steampowered.com

Curse: The Eye of Isis on Steam

Strange things are happening at Great Britain’s museum of natural history in 1890. A gang of ruthless thugs has broken into the establishment, the Eye of Isis Egyptian statue has been stolen, and a mysterious fog has overtaken a number of areas of the museum killing and transforming all it comes...

store.steampowered.com

The Chant on Steam

A single-player, third person horror action-adventure game set on a remote spiritual island retreat. To survive you must craft, fight, and escape the psychedelic horrors set loose when a spiritual ritual goes wrong and awakens a dimension of cosmic terror.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Viviana Santos]

Planet Laika is a horror game? Huh, I always had this one on my to-do list, but never got around to it - I always thought it was a wacky sci-fi RPG sort of deal. Neat, that actually makes me want to check it out even more!

Yes please play Planet Laika it is by far one of the best psychological horror games I have ever played and my second favorite horror game only behind Silent Hill 2.

 

[Logi]

JUST REMEMBERED
KUON

PLAY KUON PLEASE

 

[Viviana Santos]

Yes please play Planet Laika it is by far one of the best psychological horror games I have ever played and my second favorite horror game only behind Silent Hill 2.

It's a very surreal experience.

 

[invaderzen]

Deep Fear on Sega Saturn is an interesting alternative to Resident Evil. It's been awhile since I played it but oxygen is your main resource. Rooms have different oxygen levels and need to be refilled. If you like bad voice acting you'll love it.

JUST REMEMBERED
KUON

PLAY KUON PLEASE

due to your sense of urgency i will install kuon right now

 

[Hikari.EXE]

I'm a little bitch, I get scared really easily so for me any horror themed game scares me, so I can't recomend any "obscure" horror games since I don't like playing them... I guess I can recommend the Silent Night series? They aren't that well know, especially since they are made by FromSoft and they went on to make more succesfull games.

 

[Logi]

I'm a little bitch, I get scared really easily so for me any horror themed game scares me, so I can't recomend any "obscure" horror games since I don't like playing them... I guess I can recommend the Silent Night series? They aren't that well know, especially since they are made by FromSoft and they went on to make more succesfull games.

you're thinking of echo night, the same game the OP mentioned

 

[Hikari.EXE]

you're thinking of echo night, the same game the OP mentioned

...I should really go to bed. Thx for correcting me, gn!

 

[Viviana Santos]

This game is surprisingly terrifying and depressing.