Summary
- Echo Night 2: The Lord of Nightmares, a FromSoftware creation, offers a unique blend of survival horror.
- Chaos Break, a 2000 survival horror game, has the potential for a comeback with its arcade-like feel and unique combat systems.
- Dark Messiah offers a genuinely terrifying first-person horror experience, lauded by a strong cult following.
Horror games were right at home on the PlayStation 1, as the analog nature of the console contributed to the eerie, surreal visuals and has inspired a host of indie developers in contemporary times. But for all of its outstanding horror releases, like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, there are some truly outstanding and spooky PS1 titles that never made it to America.
6 Early PS1 Horror Games Almost No One Remembers
These horror games launched early on the PlayStation 1 console, and have gone into obscurity.
Some of them were chasing trends, clearly taking off from the survival horror craze started by Resident Evil, while others were focused on doing something truly unique with Sony's impressive next-generation hardware. Some of the PS1's most fascinating horror games sadly never made it to America, as these games were keenly focused on a remarkable atmosphere and a sense of unique terror that other titles in the genre became known for.
5 Echo Night 2: The Lord Of Nightmares
A FromSoftware PS1 Game That Features A Harrowing First-Person Horror Experience
- Platform: PS1
- Developer: FromSoftware
- Release Date: August 5, 1999
The first Echo Night game came to the US a year after the Japanese release, but the sequel was sadly never localized. Developed by FromSoftware, Echo Night 2: The Lord of Nightmares is a first-person survival horror game that feels like a mix of From's own King's Field and Resident Evil.
Set in a haunting gothic mansion, Echo Night 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 bolster its world, as well as enhance the game's bleak atmosphere.
4 Chaos Break
An Arcade-Style Survival Horror Game That Is One Of The PS1's Best
- Platform: PS1
- Developer: Taito
- Release Date: September 27, 2000
Released in the year 2000, at the end of the console's life, Chaos Break is a survival horror game that almost feels like an arcade game. It's fitting, considering that it is a sequel to a light gun shooter called Chaos Heat, which was released in arcades in 1998.
Chaos Break features full 3D environments, taking advantage of the PS1's hardware, and also makes use of some outstanding character models. It has some spectacular art direction, featuring some wonderfully grotesque monsters to fight and a collection of mutated human scientists. Chaos Break would do well in today's horror landscape, and it's unique blend of different combat systems is due for 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 Hellnight 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 proper Atlus game, featuring a first-person perspective and a dark, surreal vibe that is still a part of their DNA today.
Dark Messiah showcases tight, densely packed corridors and harrowing encounters in subterranean sewers and maze-like hallways. It is truly one of the PS1's most fascinating, genuinely terrifying horror experiences. Despite a strong cult following, Dark Messiah has never made it to America and continues to be one of Atlus' most requested localizations.
2 Dark Tales: From The Lost Soul
A Unique And Off-Beat Horror Game That Features Three Stories
- Platform: PS1
- Developer: Sammy
- Release Date: October 28, 1999
Akin to horror anthology franchises like Tales From The Crypt or The Twilight Zone, Dark Tales: From the Lost Soul is a bizarre, off-beat experience that never made it out of Japan. It is one of the strangest games on the PS1, but is absolutely worth playing for its avant-garde exploration of murder and the human psyche.
Featuring three episodes with unique stories, From the Lost Soul almost feels like a mix of Suda51's Killer7 and the off-kilter worlds of Remedy Entertainment. Meshing together live-action elements with unique gameplay systems, it is an altogether outlandish experience that dives into the darkest, most compelling aspects of humanity and the true horror that lies in the recesses of consciousness.
1 Mizzurna Falls
A Small Town Horror Story Inspired By Twin Peaks
- Platform: PS1
- Developer: Human Entertainment
- Release Date: December 23, 1998
If there's any PS1 horror game that feels like it would have been a hit with American audiences, it's Mizurna Falls, a title that had a clear impact on contemporaries like Deadly Premonition. Taking inspiration from the likes of Twin Peaks, Mizzurna Falls is a kooky examination of America, where the hunt for a missing teenager uncovers the dark secrets of an unassuming little town in Colorado.
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Imposing a seven-day limit on the player, Mizzurna Falls features three total endings and makes seeing all of them difficult without multiple playthroughs. It is built on a cast of unusual, oddly fascinating characters and the ongoing mystery surrounding the town. It was released exclusively in Japan in 1998, which is a shame as its surreal story and gameplay systems would be a perfect fit for a remaster of some kind.