I'm a Survival Horror amateur - recommend me a good place to start

[FlaygletheBagel]

So long story short, I'm a Survival Horror amateur. And a horror amateur. I'm the kind of guy who cowered in a corner while my wife played P.T., and the kind of guy who opted out of going to see IT in theaters with the rest of my friends. Needless to say I don't do horror so well.

But with Evil Within 2 out now, my interest in the genre is piqued. Stranger Things is one of my favorite shows and it has introduced me to some horror elements. But survival horror is a genre of game I've largely avoided, and I feel like I want to get into it and see what the fuss is about.

Is there a survival horror game I can try out that is an easy introduction to the genre? I guessed that the crappier visuals in the original PS1 RE games and Silent Hill games might make it easier for me to ease into it, as opposed to hyper-realistic stuff that immediately scares the hell out of me, like REVII.

Help me out ERA. I want to like horror!

 

[Catullus]

Youtube comment section.

 

[Super Butoden]

Resident Evil HD Remaster.

 

[antitrop]

Maybe something a little more action focused, like Resident Evil 4, The Last of Us, or Dead Space, and then work your way backwards to Resident Evil Remake?

 

[Markitron]

I'd start with the original Dead Space. It's got a great atmosphere and some good scares, but your character is armed just well enough to deal with every situation. It's got just enough action to make it a good entry to the genre.

Some like REmake might be a bit much for a newcomer. The best survival horror is Alien Isolation, but it's fairly intense and unforgiving. Work your way up to it after a few games in the genre.

 

[Raptomex]

I'm not a fan of horror and rarely play survival games in general but for what it's worth, Alien Isolation is my favorite

 

[Grimminski]

Layers of Fear is free for Twitch Prime subscribers.

It's pretty good, but it runs on Unity and performance is more than a bit iffy.

 

[Gunny T Highway]

Resident Evil Remake/HD Remaster. If you want a bit more action than you cannot go wrong with Resident Evil 4.

 

[SasukeTheRipper]

The Evil Within, Dying Light or Resident Evil VII.

 

[Mike Rambo]

Honestly, Silent Hill 2 is a really good choice I think. It's the least scary of all the Silent Hill games, but it's just really really good yknow? Other than that, is say Silent Hill Shattered Memories, Resident Evil HD, Dead Space, or the Yomawari Games. The Yomawari games are spooky but not horrifying, and they're just of a really high quality.

 

[Deleted member 1759]

Alien: Isolation if you like stealth games. Not a big horror fan myself but I enjoyed it.

 

[Shard Shinjuku]

Outlast is probably among the best of indie survival horror tiles.

 

[Cabal]

Personally, I would recommend REmake or Silent Hill 2. Resident Evil 4 should also be on your radar. If you want something recent, The Evil Within 2 is quite good

 

[Kyo555]

Youtube comment section.

Click to shrink...

Oh no... You monster...

 

[Gernau Morat Gurgeh]

Play Resi 4 OP. I only played it recently, and it is both an excellent game and absolutely hilarious/

 

[Dusty]

+1 for Alien: Isolation. The design is top notch and captures the atmosphere of your characters' situation perfectly.

 

[Xtortion]

REmake, Resident Evil 4, and Dead Space 1 should all be good places to start. If you like those I would recommend jumping into Dead Space 2, The Evil Within, and its sequel.

 

[Skywalker]

Have you played anything in the genre that you particularly enjoyed? Are you looking to play the classics, or rather something newer that is still good? It's hard to recommend something as there's a lot

 

[Ravelle]

Dead Space 1 and Until Dawn are some of my favorites.

Resident Evil is also good if you don't mind tanks playing tetris.

 

[Sumio Mondo]

Resident Evil HD Remaster since the game is pretty much one of the best examples of the genre. An absolute classic. Can't go wrong with Resident Evil 2 and 3 either. If you're into Action Horror then Resident Evil 4 still hasn't been surpassed.
From there I recommend trying the Silent Hill series and Fatal Frame series if you feel more daring.

Youtube comment section.

Click to shrink...

Hahaha.

 

[Paul]

SOMA is pretty much the best horror game ever, although it is not typical survival horror in that it has no guns and stuff. Still, make sure to play it.

Alien Isolation next.

 

[Van Bur3n]

I'm playing Dead Space right now. It's the bee's knees. Much prefer it over Resident Evil.

 

[Hank Hill]

Resident Evil Remake
Dead Space 1 & 2
Silent Hill 1-3
Alien : Isolation

 

[Haruka]

I don't do horror games so well myself so I think I can help you a bit

Resident Evil Remake
The Evil Within 1/2

Those are the only horror games I managed to get into other than that Meh I couldn't :/

 

[diablogg]

Resident Evil HD Remaster.

Click to shrink...

This is correct.

 

[Rotpb]

I would say start with Resident Evil 4, its story has enough cheese to offset some of the horror. I still think it's the perfect jumping in point for survival horror.

Dead Space, Evil Within 2, and RE7 are all great jumping in points. REmake, Silent Hill (1+2), and Alien Isolation might be a little harder to start with.

 

[FlaygletheBagel]

Dead Space 1 and Until Dawn are some of my favorites.

Resident Evil is also good if you don't mind tanks playing tetris.

Click to shrink...

Until Dawn is a good one. One of the only horror games I ever made it through! Even then I had to play it in the same room as my wife, lol.

Have you played anything in the genre that you particularly enjoyed? Are you looking to play the classics, or rather something newer that is still good? It's hard to recommend something as there's a lot

Click to shrink...

Until Dawn is pretty much the only horror game I've made it through. I think that one was a little easier to get through since it had some cheese and humor in it to offset the horror elements. New and old are welcome, just basically looking for any good jumping off point (although I think older games might be easier for me to deal with since the visuals aren't quite as intense).

 

[Skywalker]

So long story short, I'm a Survival Horror amateur. And a horror amateur. I'm the kind of guy who cowered in a corner while my wife played P.T., and the kind of guy who opted out of going to see IT in theaters with the rest of my friends. Needless to say I don't do horror so well.

But with Evil Within 2 out now, my interest in the genre is piqued. Stranger Things is one of my favorite shows and it has introduced me to some horror elements. But survival horror is a genre of game I've largely avoided, and I feel like I want to get into it and see what the fuss is about.

Is there a survival horror game I can try out that is an easy introduction to the genre? I guessed that the crappier visuals in the original PS1 RE games and Silent Hill games might make it easier for me to ease into it, as opposed to hyper-realistic stuff that immediately scares the hell out of me, like REVII.

Help me out ERA. I want to like horror!

Click to shrink...

The amnesia collection - this one is a PC classic re-release on PS4. Has walking-sim elements and simple puzzles. You run away rather than fight. Has a mechanic where your health is your sanity, seeing scary things causes you to lose it

SOMA - Is a lot similar to Amnesia, as there is no combat. But rather a compelling story about an abandoned underwater research station. Setting is similar to Bioshock

resident evil remake, 4 and 7. These are the cream of the RE crop in my opinion. Are all awesome games. REmake is a little dated, and plays a lot differently. RE4 is really the only essential one if you had to choose

The evil within - The Evil Within is the little brother who wishes he could be as cool as big bro Resident Evil 4, most of it is in a similar vein, almost a love letter to the game. The narrative takes a backseat to the wackyness and it takes a dive near the third act. Regardless I actually really enjoyed the game and thought it had cool ideas. I have not played the sequel

Until Dawn - Until Dawn is the Heavy Rain, choose your own adventure story of the horror genre. You play as the cliche slasher film teens and make their choices as they slowly discover a mountain getaway vacation isn't what they should have signed up for. This one is the one I play with my friends who are not super into horror. So maybe try that one

 

[Deleted member 11663]

Play resident evil 4

 

[Plasma]

Resident Evil 7 is a good recent one to get you started, it isn't nearly as scary as the opening of the game makes it out to be.

 

[Blugrass]

Resident Evil 1 Remake definitely..game contains such an intense and menacing horror vibe. I'd also check out Dead Space

 

[closer013]

Best story: Silent Hill 2
Best Gameplay: Dead Space 1 & 2 / Resident Evil 4

 

[NovumVeritas]

Try Clock Tower, really great survival horror game.

 

[Pilgrimzero]

Resident Evil HD Remaster.

Click to shrink...

This.

This is survival horror. Full stop. Play this (or the actual original) first thing.

 

[belteshazzar]

Resident Evil HD Remake.

 

[Deleted member 5593]

Resident Evil 4 will provide as much of a horror experience as Wolfenstein A New Order. That game is not a good representation of a survival horror game where ammo conservation is a huge deal.

REmake, RE7, Alien: Isolation are prroper survival horror games.

 

[Jackpot]

There are many, many sub-genres.

But Resident Evil Remake is "the classic", a good all-rounder.

There's action horror, like Dead Space and RE4.

There's combatless hide-and-seek horror, like Soma or Alien Isolation

Psychological abstract horror, like Silent Hill 2

Survival horror with a focus on survival and scavenging, like The Forest.

 

[what am i even looking at]

Make sure to play Dead Space 1 on hard. The enemies hit harder and resource management becomes a necessity, much more so than on normal. You'll also gain a much greater appreciation for the sound and level design, which will make you paranoid of every vent and dead body.

Beginning of RE7 is also great, but it turns into a mediocre shooter by the halfway point.

 

[shimon]

Give Dead Space a shot.

 

[Slythe]

I am also a survival horror noob!

I just played and beat Resident Evil 4, and loved it.

Next up for me are:

• Prey
• Resident Evil HD Remake
• The Evil Within 1/2
• SOMA

Any of the above I recommend based on my research. I might add, why not just start with The Evil Within 2? It seems to have gotten your attention, and it ought to be a decent entry point for newcomers.

 

[Juraash]

I really don't care for the genre, but I'd recommend Alien Isolation. Now part of my drive was because I like the IP, but that said it was a truly tense experience and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

 

[100%TrophyMaster]

Play something more action oriented like Resident Evil 4.
SOMA is really good too and more story driven.

 

[Dance Inferno]

I recommend watching the first 30-60 mins of a game on YouTube to see if you think it would be too scary for you or just right.

That being said I'd recommend Resident Evil HD Remake as a good place to start because 1) it's relatively easy, and 2) if you use the modern controls option (as opposed to traditional tank controls) you will have such a massive advantage over the enemies that you're unlikely to ever be in any real danger. So you can enjoy the horror aesthetic without actually being in danger of dying too much.

 

[FlaygletheBagel]

Thanks for the recommendations! Noticing lots of big praise for REmake, so I may go in that direction first.

I think my list will go like this, in order of priority:
-REmake
-RE4
-Silent Hill 1 and 2
-TEW 1 and 2
-SOMA
-RE2 (hopefully there's a remake out by the time I want to play this one)
-Alien Isolation
-Dead Space 1 and 2
-REVII

(I've got Dead Space lower since I started the first one a while back and couldn't make it very far. I'll ease myself into that one a bit more).

 

[Stitches]

Resident Evil HD Remaster.

Click to shrink...

This x1000 op. I fucking love that game and the originals

Thanks for the recommendations! Noticing lots of big praise for REmake, so I may go in that direction first.

I think my list will go like this, in order of priority:
-REmake
-RE4
-Silent Hill 1 and 2
-TEW 1 and 2
-SOMA
-RE2 (hopefully there's a remake out by the time I want to play this one)
-Alien Isolation
-Dead Space 1 and 2
-REVII

(I've got Dead Space lower since I started the first one a while back and couldn't make it very far. I'll ease myself into that one a bit more).

Click to shrink...

Play RE2 before 4. I think you may enjoy it more that way. 3 is great too, but it's not as integral in my humble, but oftentimes dumb opinion.

 

[Deleted member 6263]

If you want to ease your way into the genre, pick up Resident Evil 5. It's not scary enough to make you cower, but it'll get a decent amount of heart pumping moments.

 

[pennanton]

REmake is what you're looking for. I used to be way too much of a wuss for horror games but toughing out REmake desensitised me enough to begin to appreciate everything else the genre has to offer, plus you get the added value of playing one of the best games ever made.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

Silent Hill 1.

Controls are jarring but its honestly not as hard as you would think.

 

[Enordash]

I honestly think you should go with something where you can fight back pretty easily. It takes a lot of the horror out of the experience. Dead Space 2 would be good for this. It's a little more action heavy than the first one. Resident Evil 4 is also an amazing place to start. Actually, I'd say it's a little lighter on the scares than even Dead Space 2 so maybe RE4 is the best answer here. If you weren't too hot on P.T., I'd avoid games like SOMA and Alien:Isolation which are primarily focused on tension.

 

[Deleted member 5593]

Bioshock has more survival horror elements than Resident Evil 4. RE4 should still be played because it is a brilliant TPS, but don't walk into it expecting a horror experience.