October 2021 Part 2 - Non-Steam
The fear of blood tends to create a fear of the flesh - Silent Hill
Hewie! …Good boy! - Haunting Ground

Here are the final games for the Spooktober event I hosted. I also ended up doing a Night 6 marathon of all the FNAF games, but I’ve already reviewed those, so I am not reincluding that. As well, including some alternate game cover art in the links below. Mostly just putting my brand image over some of the major titles I played, but I really enjoyed putting the mask over the dog. Anyways, hope everyone enjoyed their October and I’ll slowly be catching up to the new year!
Haunting Ground
Dino Crisis
Bonuse Bayonetta 3 Excitement

• 

  Eternal Darkness

  • Gamecube

  NA trophies
</li>

• 

  Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

  • Wii

  NA trophies
</li>

• 

  Happy’s Humble Burger Barn

  • PC

  NA trophies
</li>

• 

  Dino Crisis

  • PS1

  NA trophies
</li>

• 

  Silent Hill

  • PS1

  NA trophies
</li>

• 

  Haunting Grounds

  • PS2

  NA trophies
</li>

• 

  Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight

  • PS Vita

  NA trophies

  0

  1

  9

  23
</li>

• 

  Persona 4: Golden

  • PS Vita

  NA trophies

  0

  1

  3

  33
</li>

• 

  Resident Evil: Code Veronica X

  • PS5/PS4

  NA trophies

  0

  1

  4

  9
</li>

• 

  Until Dawn

  • PS5/PS4

  NA trophies

  0

  0

  2

  1
</li>

Dino Crisis
PS1
(Revisit) What if Resident Evil and Jurassic Park had a baby? Well, it would probably be this, Dino Crisis. A survival horror game that has heroine Regina and her team search an island facility for a high-value target. Things are not what they seem on this island and I’m pretty sure it’s snarling and hissing in the darkness.
That’s right, dinosaurs baby, and unlike zombies… these are not so easy to put down. You’ll have to not only run but get crafty because these lizard-like creatures are fast and deadly. If you are resourceful, you can combine items to make a plethora of products to help you deal with these including healing, status heal, bullets, and tranquilizers to assist your survival.
It’s not all action as you will be faced with many interesting puzzles. These puzzles are tough, varied, and will require your ability to keep track of information (remember those note sections in the game manuals? Yeah, necessary for this). Even when they use the same style of puzzle, the method for solving it differ amongst areas (files/notes will assist in your deductions).
Like RE3, you’ll be put into various situations that will cause you to make choices. These not only set up your immediate situation and possible rewards, but will slowly build up to what ending you get. Endings and continued playthroughs unlock various modes and costumes.
Though I absolutely love this game (as I love a many classic survival horror), this game does have a few flaws. The more immediate ones that come to mind are some of the major battles may not be so obvious in how to deal with them along with the timing to actually deal with them.
Lewd? Nope
Recommend? Yes, for those who enjoy the classic Resident Evil and survival horror games.

Eternal Darkness
Gamecube
This was a highly recommended game and I’ll admit it wasn’t entirely to my fancy. This was in part because I did not realize I could save at my leisure and thus lost a lot of progress on my first death. This game starts in the present where a young woman learns about a death in the family and begins to investigate at their house. As she finds mysterious papers you take control of various people who have come in contact with important and dangerous artifacts. The surprising part of this game is that you are only the lead character for a few seconds between the big chapters of the other heroes of the past. There isn’t much combat in the game, it more revolves around casting spells. This is done by unlocking a rune/spell recipe (usually one per chapter) and combining them to create spells. There is a bit of a rock paper scissor system in the form of rgb magic. So, it’s not only important what magic to cast, but the color variation as well. Probably the biggest appeal is that there are technically 3 routes you start the game with which decide what type of bosses and enemies do for damage as well as the ending.
Lewd? Nope
Recommend? Though there were some cool concepts, the game just didn’t appeal to me, not to mention some parts of the games are complete slogs.

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
Wii
Finally! Finally, I got to play this game. Fatal Frame 4 was never brought to the west, but thanks to the fan translation, it is now playable. Much like FF3, we control multiple protagonists across each chapter with each their own skills and obscura weapons. If you aren’t already aware, unlike traditional survival horror games, you do not use guns to defend yourself but a supernatural camera that captures ghosts. The amount of damage you do depends on the power level you charge along with various skills and film types. For the most part the game plays like the rest of the series, though the added motion controls does work with this title as aiming becomes more dynamic and quick time events/dodges are easy to pull off.
The story of the game isn’t far off of the past formulas either. We once again find ourselves undercovering a mystery dealing with taboo rituals and dark practices. The main protagonists revisit an island that suffered a huge tragedy. Unfortunately, their memories are slowly fading and they must go their to recover what happened to them and how they can escape the curse of the Luna Sedata Syndrome, a unique disease related to this island.
Lewd? Nope
Recommend? Yes! Another great entry in the FF series. The aesthetic is creepy, ambience is chilling, and the story is engaging. My only hope is that we get an official western release at some point as to avoid the hassle of the fan translation patch.

Happy’s Humble Burger Barn
PC
Before the sequel, Happy’s Humble Burger Farm, came to steam there was HBBB. A low budget game that is reminiscent of the PS1 era. Go to your grand job as a employee at the Burger Barn including serving food, taking order, cleaning up, and dealing with horrors. Enjoy your shift.
Lewd? Nope
Recommend? It’s a bit mixed. The game could be optimized as it began to lose performance quickly on segments, particularly with streaming.

Haunting Grounds
PS2
It had been several years since I got to play this game and only until now was I able to start a new game and finish. I’m glad I did. This survival horror game pits you as a young maiden who finds herself in a dangerous situation while waking up in a mysterious castle. The ambience is creepy, but not as creepy as her pursuers who chase her relentlessly throughout the different areas. This isn’t like Resident Evil where you are armed to the teeth. No, you can only hide, use limited alchemic objects, or trust in the goodest of boys (a dog) named Hewie. The dog doesn’t only serve as a defense or offense but helps complete puzzles and gain items with your command. Of course, the best part of all of this is that there is a command to praise Hewie and even pet him from time to time. Aside from the lack of combat, this game plays pretty similarly to Clock Tower where your damage is mostly mental and getting to a high enough damage state puts your character in panic causing them to run sporadically and more likely to stumble.
The setting is creepy, the music well done especially for the pursuer themes, the boss battles are generally great, and overall enjoyable experience.
Lewd? Some of the death scenes are questionable as there are strong implications that the pursuers have vulgar and terrible reasons to catch you. This only adds to the terror and fear of the game. No visuals of the act though.
Recommend? Yes! Another great game in the survival horror genre, especially since you can get the “Dog Lover” rank when beating the game.

Persona 3: Dancing in the Moonlight
PS Vita
As a series that has become more notable for the music and style in the game than much of anything else, it is no surprise that they began to release rhythm games for each installment. This is pretty standard as far as games of this genre go. You do get to customize each character as well as have characters join in on a song during a “Fever” moment. The greater downsides is that the timing for button presses does not seem as exact as I perceived. As well, even if you hit every note, it does not mean you will build your combo. Only “Great” or “Perfect” hits will actually build that, so getting perfect scores is much harder than usual. DLC is a pain to acquire, but that is more of a Vita problem than anything I am sure.
Lewd? Nope, just dance dance dance.
Recommend? Generally yes, great music, customization, and visuals. Probably get it on another platform if able, though I do prefer it more mobile.

Persona 4 Golden
PS Vita
Continuing the more stylized route of the series ever since 3, the gameplay continues to be pretty similar. Exploiting an enemies weakness allows for follow up attacks, exploiting the weakness for each enemy in time allows for an ambush attack, and only the main character gets to control different personas that they gain by contacting or fusing demons they have faced. You play as a young man who is moving in with his uncle and cousin for a year and attending school. However, mysterious murders seems to be happen and somehow seem to be related to a superstition called, “The Midnight Channel”. Make friends, defeat demons, and uncover the mystery.
Though I liked the theme of Persona 3 more, undoubtedly the story of P4 is far better structured and more relatable characters. The dungeons also seem more improved and individualized than the previous tower. Even though there is a lot of similar assets used, the use of wildly different aesthetics and theme songs per dungeon create a wildly different experience for each.
The greatest downside to the latest incarnations is that bosses cannot ever be affected by status effects. This means if a boss does not contain a weakness of the elements the fight becomes an absolute slog and fairly similar to any other boss without weakness. Had they included that some bosses could be affected by certain status effects, it would better give use of many abilities that fall short in these battles or more interesting experiences to each fight.
Lewd? Suggestive talk and of course romance routes, but no lewd.
Recommend? Yes, of the new Persona series this is so far my favorite. The music is stellar and the gameplay is enjoyable with a great story and characters.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica X
PS5/PS4
(Revisit) I always forget how much I love Code Veronica until I play it again in which I fall in love (all over again). This takes place after 2 and 3 where Claire goes off on her own to continue searching for her brother and any more information on Umbrella. Unfortunately, this leads to her capture on an island facility and, naturally, things continue to get worse. Compared to some of the earlier titles the graphics on this game, even with the more polygon state, look great. The colors are well captured, movement is fairly smooth, and the sound quality is wonderful. Not to much has changed from the original RE titles, so be prepared for fixed camera angles, tank controls, and item management. Bosses can be mixed in quality, but regardless they are all interesting even if frustrating at times. Story is wonderful, characters are well done, even if some people don’t like some of their voces coughStevecough, and this very much carries the Resident Evil name.
Lewd? Dat butt, dat other butt (lenny), but no no lewd.
Recommended? Definitely a contender for one of my favorite Resident Evil titles and recommend it to anyone who can handle the classic mechanics. Now if only we can see a well-adapted remake of this.

Silent Hill 1
PS1
(Revisit) It’s amazing how well this game holds up after all this time. Despite the older graphics and gameplay, the game is still able to give a feeling of dread while maintaining an enjoyable experience.
Waking up from your car seemingly crashed on the side of the road, you realize you are in a fog covered town. You see your daughter walking away and you pursue only to find the town seems to slowly warp between the fog and a rusty grotesque “other side”. Your goal is to find your daughter, survive, and even find the secrets this town of Silent Hill has hidden beneath the broken streets and rusted gates.
Unllike Resident Evil, this game does not limit your inventory nor does it yield on giving you a surplus of supplies. It’s not what have or the lack thereof that makes the horror here real, but rather the experiences you face. After all “The fear of blood tends to create a fear for the flesh”.
Lewd? Nope
Recommend? Yes, truly a classic.

Until Dawn
PS5/PS4
A story driven game unlike any other. You’ll take control of a group of friends throughout their stay at a lodge sometime after an unfortunate accident there. What was meant to be a night of fun and relaxation turns into something more sinister. Your choices will matter as choosing the wrong options could lead to your character or another’s death sometimes down the line. You only have clues from totems found throughout and a vague idea of how each character’s personality to help make these decisions, some of which are quick time. See who you can get to survive until the end (if any at all) and see the ending you get.
The game keeps a consistent amount of fear and feeling, that some of the later games by this developer fail to do, while keeping a nice build up. However, this game does fail in a couple of ways, namely there are sections you need to keep still. This uses the motion control functionality of the controller. However, despite saying this, the field representing you can move on its own, so you might need to move your controller to keep it within the specified area. It can be very misleading.
Lewd? Nope
Recommend? Yes, despite having been spoiled some of the twists, I was still able to enjoy this game in the end.