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At the risk of sounding repetitive, what else can anyone say about the mighty PlayStation 2 at 25? The best-selling console ever, Sony’s follow-up to the original PlayStation defined a console generation, gave the DVD format a huge boost, and gave us countless hits, both horror and otherwise. And we all know the big-name horror titles on the console. Heck, we’ve talked about them multiple times over the years.

But what about the games that don’t get the recognition? The proverbial “hidden gems”, if you will. There are plenty of them, seeing as the console saw over 4,000 titles (you read that right) across its 13-year life. So rather than focus on the obvious ones, here’s small list of titles you should check out if you’re a fan of the Sony’s monolith.

ObsCure

For Josh, Stan, Shannon, Kenny, and Ashley, life at Leafmore High School hasn’t been easy.

While some classic horror franchises had a welcome return in the 2020s, there's still one deserving franchise that has not seen a new game in over two decades: Clock Tower. With classic horror games like Resident Evil 4 and Silent Hill 2 reaching new audiences with their modern remakes - and with 23 years having passed since the franchise received a full new mainline game - it's time that Clock Tower is remade for modern platforms and audiences.

Clock Tower (1995) was only released in Japan, though it was soon followed by Clock Tower (1996), known as Clock Tower 2 in Japan. The latter was the first game to be released globally, and followed the story of Scissorman, a horrifying horror figure and antagonist who would reappear in various forms throughout later games. Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within (1998) and Clock Tower 3 (2002) followed separate storylines, but each game promised terrifying scares in a very unique game world.

Nintendo just dropped one of the creepiest and most cryptic video game teasers I've seen in a while, though perhaps it would have been less shocking if it had been released by any other video game company.

As the home of colorful and beloved characters like Mario, Kirby, and countless Animal Crossing villagers, it's slightly jarring to see a video that would appear more at home in the recent Longlegs marketing campaign with a smiling Mario icon in the corner.

A trenchcoat-clad figure stands against a blank, dirty backdrop in the found-footage style clip, wearing a bag adorned with a smiley face over his head. An eerie instrumental, akin to something from a music box, plays in the background.

There are virtually no details about the game, simply titled Emio on the Nintendo YouTube page. The official Japanese website features even less, showing the ominous figure glitching into different positions.

Rule of Rose's haunting narrative captivates fans despite sky-high physical disc prices, leading to a dedicated YouTube analysis community. Misconceptions and fearmongering plagued Rule of Rose's 2006 release, causing bans in several countries and a legacy of controversy. Fans face a dilemma: shell out hundreds for a rare physical copy or settle for emulation, while holding out hope for a potential Sony remaster.

I'm in love with a horror game I have never - and possibly will never - play for myself, and I'm not the only one. Rule of Rose is a 2006 PlayStation 2 survival horror game that sports some of the most eye-wateringly high physical disc prices in the genre, so much so that curious fans are almost entirely locked out of a real playthrough on original hardware. With the success of survival horror remakes like the Resident Evil and Fatal Frame series, a Rule of Rose resurgence is improbable,...

There are those who would have you believe the last 23 years of horror gaming have been a notable low point for the genre. However, horror gaming hasn’t gone away; it’s simply changed. Like a muted monster bursting from a lab, modern horror has escaped the confines of the Triple-a gaming industry and mutated into something more terrifying than even the horror gaming genre’s creators could have ever imagined.

We’ve been “treated” to the release of some of the most terrifying games you’ll ever have the fortune (or misfortune) of experiencing. As indie developers pushed the boundaries of how much terror we’re willing to tolerate in the name of entertainment, major studios responded with a new wave of digital nightmares. It’s been an era of unprecedented experimentation that has resulted in some of the most exciting examples of horror gaming ever unleashed upon the public.

From Resident Evil 6 to Dead Space 3, multiplayer-focused horror games used to get a bad rap. This makes quite a bit of sense, as it’s hard to sustain interactive scares when players are distracted by their silly friends as they explore a spooky three-dimensional space. That being said, “hard” isn’t the same thing as “impossible,” and in recent years we’ve actually seen quite a few multiplayer horror games that manage to balance cooperative fun with legitimate digital scares.

And while there are plenty of well-known examples of cooperative horror out there (from the Dark Pictures Anthology titles to the recent Evil Dead game), today we’d like to highlight six of the most underrated Co-op horror games for players who have already experienced most of the famous ones. After all, there’s nothing quite like sharing interactive scares with your buddies – be it online or on the couch.

Those who are listeners to our Safe Room Podcast will note that back in December, Neil and Jay talked a bit about Duonix Studios‘ retro survival horror title 10 Dead Doves. The team announced this morning that the game’s Kickstarter is now live.

10 Dead Doves has been in development since February 2021 with a 3-person team. Currently, the game has a 30-minute demo that you can check out for free via itch.io.

The Kickstarter is set at $10,000, which would “provide [the team] with enough resources to recoup the heaviest costs involved in self-funding the project.” Any additional funding would give the team more room to develop additional content. Obviously, there are a range of reward tiers for those who pledge a certain amount towards the project.

Taking heavy inspiration from titles such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame (with a bit of Grim Fandango thrown in), 10 Dead Doves is described...

Before checking out this week’s episode on The Last of Us, check out last week’s discussion celebrating the 10th anniversary of BioShock Infinite!

I’d be lying if “fool’s errand” wasn’t my first thought upon hearing about HBO’s plan to adapt The Last of Us into a series. I mean, who wants that kind of responsibility, let alone dealing with the inevitable shitstorm of precisely the type of comments we’ve come to expect when anything is adapted. And when we’re talking about one of the most beloved horror titles of the last decade, I think “fool’s errand” is a pretty justified gut reaction.

And yet, with every new announcement regarding creatives and casting being attached to the project, that notion quickly left my mind. I mean, after all, how nervous can you be with Craig Mazin of Chernobyl fame and The Last of Us...

2019's Remnant: From the Ashes is a third-person shooter Arpg that some identify as a soulslike due to its use of similar mechanics. While this is an enticing pitch on its own, Remnant quickly showed that it had far more to offer, allowing it stand out in a category all its own. While only available to PC and consoles, Remnant is making the jump to the Nintendo Switch to reach even more players and while this works for the most part, this is yet another Switch release that shows the console's age.

For those unfamiliar, Remnant: From the Ashes takes place on an alternate Earth, one devastated by realm-shifting invaders known as "the Root." These beings are appropriately tree-like in appearance and incredibly deadly thanks to their intelligence, durability, and ferocity. Much like another shooter Arpg, Destiny 2, players choose from three classes before beginning their journey to defeat the Root,...

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, from Koei Tecmo Games and Grasshopper Manufacture, is the fourth installment in survival-horror series Fatal Frame. It has now been remastered for current-gen gaming and, in conjunction with that, finally released in the West.

In Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, players follow four different characters across several environments on the desolate Rogetsu Isle, which was the site of a once-a-decade Kagura festival. During the festival, five girls were abducted, only to later be returned without their memories. After two of the five die under mysterious circumstances years later, the remaining three girls, along with the detective who found them, return to the Isle to uncover what really happened.

Related: Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Preview - Shooting for Perfect

Gameplay in Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse follows the same formula as the other entries in the Fatal Frame series.

Quick Links Standard Easy/Normal Ending True Hard/Nightmare Ending

There are several endings to Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Remaster. Each shows a different fate for main characters or allies Misaki, Madoka, and Ruka. Players will need to be prepared to play through the game at least twice, if not more, to see everything about the story.

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse was first released on the Nintendo Wii back in 2008, but was a Japanese exclusive. The 2023 remastered version retains all of the same gameplay. The only small additions are a few new costumes, unlocked at the start of the game. There are no new secrets or endings, making it entirely faithful to the first version.

Spoilers ahead for the main story of Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Remaster

Fatal Frame Preview: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Preview: Shooting for Perfect

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