5 Survival Horror Games That Deserve Way More Credit

We've all heard and butchered the heck out of Resident Evil and the Capcom catalogue. We've also spent more time scraping together every last achievement in them than actively seeking lesser-known survival horror games that happen to dwindle in the shadowy corners of the market. And it isn't usually until years down the line that many find their spotlight and reap the late rewards from the curious consumer.

Survival horror can often be a very close-knit community, with the family heads usually refusing to budge aside for another up and coming member. And that's a shame, considering the number of hidden gems there are out there, waiting to be unearthed by the target audience. Just gander over these five for example. Although receiving a steady flow of players — they definitely didn't break the flood gates with the mouth-watering figures they probably should've had. But what's your opinion? Do you agree with this list? What have we missed? Let us know on the other side.

5. Remothered: Broken Porcelain

Although struggling to live up to the hype and failing to surpass its eldest sibling Tormented Fathers, which launched back in 2017, Remothered: Broken Porcelain was still in fact an excellent submission into the survival horror hall of fame. Still bringing its bleak settings and Stephen King-inspired atmosphere, Broken Porcelain amounts to a genuinely likable portion of horror, with plenty of room for growth in the near future.

Sinking into the shoes of the rebellious Jen, you find yourself banished from an all-girls boarding school, suddenly locked into the life as a maid within the deserted Ashmann Inn. However, when memories from an obscured past come knocking, those and everything around you soon begin to show their true colours, launching you into an unforgettable nightmare with no form of escape. Your goal: seek the truth. And, well — survive whatever Ashmann Inn hurls at you.

4. Siren: Blood Curse

On top of the PlayStation 2 chapters, which also received their fair share of praise during their life span, the PlayStation 3's Siren: Blood Curse also managed to amass quite the following. At least on the Japanese market, anyway. Western territories — not so much. But given its surprisingly well-constructed gameplay and plotline, anyone would've thought it would have ranked a tad higher for its time.

There's a fine line between going in all guns blazing and plunging into the shadows with stealth being the primary focus. Siren: Blood Curse, luckily, contains both. With a whole heap of segments that rely on tucking away in lockers and chests in a bid to outsmart the possessed foes that stalk you, those moments of intensity definitely remain present throughout your time in and around Hanuda Village. Outside of that, Siren: Blood Curse captivates you with its outlandish and downright terrifying foes, all of which stem from some of the most twisted visions ever mapped out by Japan Studio.

3. Rule of Rose

Now considered to be one of the rarest survival horror games from the PlayStation 2 era, Rule of Rose is still garnering quite a lot of attention, though mainly from collectors and die-hard horror fanatics. Besides that, Rule of Rose hasn't aged all that well, excluding the fact it's currently worth a pretty penny on the market. If you can find a copy that is.

Although slammed for its controversial approach to child abuse, Rule of Rose still managed to conjure quite the collection of Grimm-like tales, with enough to keep its players edging off their chairs through the narrative alone. After all, with the word creepy being the summary for almost every used ingredient, it comes as no surprise as to why players enjoyed trucking through it. And hey, we all love a creepy orphanage filled with deranged children as much as the next horror fan. And Rule of Rose captured that world to absolute perfection, despite its mechanical flaws and hit-and-miss combat.

2. At Dead of Night

Because who doesn't love wallowing in the darkest crevices of a good old fashioned creepy hotel, right? Sure it might've been done a few times over, and you're probably only just getting over the inclusion of Remothered: Broken Porcelain and its Ashmann Inn — but for what it's worth, At Dead of Night is, if anything, scarier than most triple-A infinite-budget studios on the market. And what's more is that, beneath the lashings of gameplay lurks an entire live-action movie. Like Quantum Break — but with a completely different heart.

Playing as Maya, you find yourself tucked away in a remote hotel, torn from your friends and in the darkest halls of the disturbing complex. After meeting the proprietor, Jimmy, and ultimately rejecting his proposal to attend his unfathomable comedy night (yes — comedy night!), the world that whirls around the hotel soon begins to take a turn for the worse. Alone and without a source of escape, you must explore the haunting shell of the hotel, hoping that whatever you find connects the dots to the activity unraveling before your very eyes.

1. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

Way before Amnesia: The Dark Descent engulfed the world in flames of paranoia and anxiety, Headfirst Productions developed one of the founding fathers in the survival horror platform, inspiring countless others to step up and ignite the same torch for years to come. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, despite its minor flaws, was a gem well worth savouring, and yet lost its value as months spiraled into years. Fast-forward to present day, and what you're looking at is a tattered diamond in the rough.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth follows a similar structure to that of Amnesia, in which players are forced to take on events while maintaining sanity. Witnessing unsettling events, however, can lead to imminent death, suicide, or a flat-out game over. And with an entire asylum looming with darkness standing between you and hollow ground, you can guarantee you'll be questioning your sanity a handful of times before coming to grips with it.

So, are you ready to face the darkness? Which of these survival horror games have you played? Are there any we should've mentioned? Let us know over on our socials here.

Finished up with survival horror games? Looking for more content? You could always take a look at one of these lists:

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