Lurker > Snake5555555555

Skinamarink would probably be a really great short Analog Horror film on YT or something. Trim it down to 20 mins and you could have something genuinely enthralling I think.

Mei
Sienna
Anya
Radahn

D

A

I thought Shadow of War was great and an improvement over Mordor in every way (though screw the endgame stuff).

Eddie
-
Rosa
Santa
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Top 2 get #10 seeds
Grounded

Last place is a #12 seed
Powerwash Simulator

Top 2 get #13 seeds
Last of Us Part I

Top 2 get #14 seeds
Midnight Suns

Top 3 get #15 seeds
Iron Lung

#17 seed order, vote in each match
Star Ocean 6
Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel

Last place gets #19 seed
Mortuary Assistant

Top 2 get #19 seeds, bottom 2 get #21 seeds - VOTE FOR TWO
Ghostwire: Tokyo
Closing Shift

Top game gets #21 seed
Valkyrie Elysium

Top 3 games get #23 seed - VOTE FOR TWO
Heilwald Loophole
Excavation of Hob's Barrow

ONLY ONE GAME GETS IN OUT OF THIS GROUP
Evil Dead

Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Dead Space
Dead Space 2
Devil May Cry 4
Grand Theft Auto V
Hotline Miami
The Last of Us
Mass Effect 2
Max Payne 3
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Outlast
Resident Evil 5
Shadows of the Damned
Spec Ops: The Line
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

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Moon
Chef

Sadly I found Skinamarink pretty boring. I love the aesthetic and idea of it and everything but in execution it's just not really worth sitting through for me.

D

Definitely The Room. Watching that with my brother was an absolute blast. Never had to pause a movie so much because we were laughing too hard.

Pretty good, about what I expected - a near 1:1 copy of the game with some creative flourishes here and there. My favorite stuff was definitely the pre-apocalypse expansion. Tess seems a little too passive here for my liking though.

The St. Vincent cover is excellent too!

Mika - Life in Cartoon Motion > Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News > Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?

Yeah, they're fantastic! The Convenience Store store was definitely my favorite, really interesting and scary concept.

Night Delivery was another great one, loved how that one slowly unfolded the horror and played with psychological tricks.

They're not all bangers (The Night Way Home was pretty bland) but in general their games are great.

Y

Raka_Putra posted...

Larry vs. Clodsire R1 is pretty hilarious.

Potentially setting up Blaidd vs Ranni is hilarious too

Eddie Munson > Chef Julian Slowik
Anya Forger > Blaidd

Pearl > Grabber
Jean Jacket > Marissa Marcel

Anya Forger > Eddie Munson
Pearl > Jean Jacket

Pearl > Anya Forger

Sienna Shaw (Terrifier 2)
Tess (Barbarian)
Yor Forger (Spy X Family)
Aki Hayakawa (Chainsaw Man)
Gordy (Nope)
Jen (The House)
Malenia, Blade of Miquella (Elden Ring)
Margot Mills (The Menu)
Power (Chainsaw Man)
Rebecca Owens (The Mortuary Assistant)

Pyukumuku

*presses start instead*

Fears to Fathom

You're home alone when you hear a knock at your door. You see a person on your front step, and your heart starts pounding.

You open the door. No one is there. You're safe.

But you keep hearing noises and knocking. You go to your room and hide under your bed, knowing that if you come out, you will die. You don't know when they will come in. All you know is that they will.

You want to wake up, go back to a life without fear. But it's too late. It's already here.

Sounds scary, right? Frightening situations like the one described above and more are depicted in the episodic video game Fears to Fathom. The game comes from the developer Rayll, a one-man team with the idea to create short games based around supposedly true events and universally common fears. Their first title, Home Alone, kickstarted the series, depicted a teen home alone while their parents are on a work trip, then has an encounter with a shadowed individual.

The series has since evolved, and has branched out to include two other episodes that reference even darker or unsettling fears in our day-to-day lives. I was hooked on this series from Home Alone - Fears to Fathom utilizes lo-fi aesthetics to create a work of horror that fits in perfectly with today's horror gaming climate. By preying on your own nostalgia and memories, the game makes you realize just how much you still harbor those fears from long ago and brings you back to your child-like imagination with surprising scares.

Part of what makes this series interesting is the fact that the scares are so built up through tension and suspense; in each of the horror game's episodes you never quite know when or where the next scare will be. When you're at the beginning of the episode, the complacent normalcy of everything that's going on feels like it's not that bad. But the closer you get to the actual scare, the more a sense of dread spreads throughout your mind and everything around you. In any given episode, Fears to Fathom transforms itself from ordinary life to a surrealist, ethereal nightmare at a pace that is perfectly paced to highlight the tension of just how scared you probably are at that point in the game.

Another intriguing part of Fears to Fathom is the attention to detail the developer paid to the gameplay and general design. They have a very minimalist aesthetic to everything that they do, but the world is highly interactable - you can cook & eat food, drive vehicles, shop, watch TV, play on the computer, etc. This added layer of realism, along with a sense of familiarity to your own experiences, really helps to deepen the game's horror. The game world feels tactile while still mixing in with these atypical architectures found in a bad dream.

If I had to pick the most stand-out episode so far, it would be Norwood Hitchhike, which plays on so many creepy fears and improves the gameplay found in the original episode. You're a 19-year old woman driving back home from a gaming convention; in one particular section, your car break downs in the middle of nowhere. As your car remains stationary, another truck rolls up, and you're unsure if it's help or simply a looming presence that wants to get the jump on you. It's these types of situations that Fears to Fathom gets so much mileage out of - there's so much to unpack behind the scenes; your vulnerability as a young woman, the motives of a stranger, the thought of leaving your car behind, fear of unknown dangers, and how it all comes together - there's so much potential there in that snapshot alone. It's disturbing, stressful, and certainly a sharp departure from the usual psychological thriller horror games that are becoming more and more prevalent today. The fact the game makes you get over your own fears and use your own intuition is what makes it so damn scary.

Fears to Fathom slowly but surely gained traction in the internet gaming community and it's clear that the developer has delivered on their ideas in a spectacular way. The entire series makes for a good gateway to newer horror games, and it's also a great example of how frightening the modern world can be. With unique character perspectives that put you in the viewpoint of actual teens and young adults, with absent parents and shady stalkers, Fears to Fathom is a solid entry into a genre that has grown up to be a booming trend in the indie space.

Give it a try for yourself as the first episode is free and only takes about 20 minutes to finish!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1671340/Fears_to_Fathom__Home_Alone/

To me, the "new interpretation" rule applies perfectly to Wednesday. I've always seen it as a chance for characters with huge years and a resurgent popularity that otherwise wouldn't be eligible to shine and get some attention, and media wise Wednesday (the series) was easily the biggest success story of the entire year. Including her makes perfect sense.

Silent Hill: Book of Memories

Close match. Obviously would've preferred if MGS3 won but FFX is a worthy winner too.

Anya Forger (Spy X Family)
Cat (Stray)
Chef Julian Slowik (The Menu)
Eddie Munson (Stranger Things)
The Grabber (The Black Phone)
Jean Jacket (Nope)
Lucyna "Lucy" Kushinada (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners)
Marissa Marcel (Immortality)
Pearl (X)
Vecna (Stranger Things)

Fuck there's so many good characters this year! I need like 30 more noms

To me Rosetta Stoned is overall Tool's third best song (I think only Lateralus and Prison Sex are better)

Nice, Slasher is an underrated series.

RE4 easily

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

My fourth favorite game of all time. And I love FFX too! Can't really lose with this final honestly.

Yes I do!

Well Delibird is definitely one of the Santa interpretations.

Another great contest, though I was a little disappointed in myself for letting the main Santas I wanted to support die so early on.

Grim Reaper sounds like a great next contest!

jcgamer107 posted...

https://youtu.be/PuiWDn976Ek

Hype

Exceeded every one of my expectations, I can't wait for this.

First thought was Portal.

Otherwise I would say The Static Speaks My Name which can be beaten in around 15 minutes but is one of the strangest, most powerful games I've ever played.

Gear

Klaus

I don't I was just keeping it positive for BCT as it's what he requested. I have WAY more negative complaints. Though I will say you'll probably get enough enjoyment out of it for what it is.

@BlueCrystalTear

The Quarry (from the positive perspective) *SPOILER FREE*

When Supermassive Games made Until Dawn, they tapped in to several modes of horror. Some of the game's scares came from the tension between the wayward teens in your party. On top of that, you had the threat of a killer looming in the shadows. And then even more beyond that, you had a supernatural element to the story. These twisted entities could be anywhere and anyone could be a victim. The tension and fear was palpable. Keeping your entire party alive was difficult and definitely a cause for stress.

Supermassive also understood that horror's precision and effectiveness is achieved through cryptic clues and a disorienting lack of clarity. There were a few moments in Until Dawn where I was genuinely caught off guard by the game's numerous twists. And even though you could find these clues or hints, there was still the chance you could be in grave danger by misinterpreting it. It was a great horror game that captured several types of genres perfectly at the same time.

7 years later, in the midst of The Dark Pictures experiment, Supermassive went back to their horror roots. The Quarry captured dark 80s nostalgia to produce a scarily compelling game. Grotesqueries lurked about. The group of teens were even more stereotypical than Until Dawn, but they fit the mold and tone of the game perfectly. And finally, you had that distinct sense of space in Hackett's Quarry. You knew the unseen forces that were drawing you closer to your demise were different and powerful. The soundtrack evoked otherworldly scares with pulse-pounding synthwave compositions. The atmosphere was consistently unnerving.

Hackett's Quarry isn't far removed Blackwood Mountain's psych-out atmosphere, but instead of the depressive freeze of the mountain resorts it's the last gasps of summer heat on your typical camp grounds. The set-up is this - one of the camp counselors sabotages the group's van in order to spend one last night with his girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend that is as she recently dumped him. The kids become stranded in the camp, though it doesn't seem all bad at first. A group of unsupervised teens can always lead to a fun night of shooting, truth or dare around a bonfire, beer drinking, and skinny dipping. The Quarry takes its time building up its characters and relationship dynamics, throwing in all the stereotypical tropes of camp and teenage life. The cast is well acted and the dialogue is cringe but fits what the game is trying to achieve. And then of course, it brings in that supernatural horror element once everything is lined up perfectly. The Quarry is pretty much 80s horror honed to a nightmare fueled edge, every typical slasher and horror trope perfected and exaggerated to chilling effect.

If this sounds like a lot of setup and beating around the bush, you're right. Anything past here is really spoiling the game's many (and arguably best) details. The Quarry goes in ways you'd never expect, keeping a sense of mystery throughout the experience. There are some clever twists that play with your expectations, as a game of decisions should.

I'd love to go in to more detail but I can't do that without giving away major plot points. This is, after all, a game that's better experienced than explained. It works as both a horror fan's wet dream and for someone totally unfamiliar with the genre, as it clues you in on everything you need to know. The developers at Supermassive have once again created an experience so good and unique that it begs to be experienced again and again.

RDR2 > Mass Effect

Fantasy

Klaus

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 > David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars > The Smiths - The Queen is Dead

1. Rosetta Stoned (a stream-of-consciousness epic covering an hilarious topic with manic vocal delivery and constant tempo changes to achieve a pulse-pounding & cinematic sound while never at any point taking it seriously.)
2. Vicarious (harshly commentating on our obsessions with real life violence while also being one of the best straight-forward rockers they've ever put out)
3. 10,000 Days (Wings Pt 2) (probably the band's most eloquent song to date, telling a strong and emotional tale as a dedication to Maynard's mother. It combines moody guitar-driven symphonies and expressive lyricism with a gut-wrenching ambience that eventually and evolves explodes into a forceful arrangement, complete with an insane climax - a beautiful song that captures all the emotional complexity of the human condition.)
4. Jambi (I mean did you hear this god damn bridge though)
5. Right in Two (more commentary on violence this time from the celestial viewpoint, it's catchy though I like how the song opens up as the story unfolds and explodes into a more diverse and interesting song the closer it gets to the end.)
6. The Pot (deceptively simple instrumentation with obtuse lyricism full of analogies and adages. A brilliant composition that proves that Tool's vocabulary can still be unique and compelling while still basically making a straight-forward pop song.)
7. Wings for Marie (Pt 1) (of course it's a lot of build up for Pt 2 but it's got a great texture all its own too and Maynard's vocal delivery after the interlude is the kind of haunting that sticks with you awhile)
8. Viginti Tres (I love post-metal ambience, it's just really enjoyable to listen to and the atmosphere reminds me of Silent Hill with that dark, sinister bend)
9. Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann) (despite its low-ranking here I actually love this track as a both cinematic prelude to Rosetta Stoned but also as this wonky experimental ambient piece of tension and release that works really well in tandem with the song's theme and I like the spoken dialogue bits too)
10. Intension (not much to say about this one, I like it but it's like a less compelling Viginiti Tres to me - it obviously works better when you listen to Right In Two immediately after as intended and if I have to criticize the album just a little is that this album definitely has an obsession with musical preludes)
11. Lipan Conjuring (cool for trying something different but yeah it's pretty forgettable honestly)

Overall, Tool hones their style down to a T on this album. Ranging from minimal ambient sections to lots of experimental approaches, I feel like 10,000 Days is a creative endeavor all its own and free from influence that pokes fun at the chaos and mayhem of modern society and tears down the wall between artist and listener. A complex, diverse, ambitious, and innovative album from a major rock act that's one of my favorite albums of all time.

Sure, I can attempt that. Though non-game spoilers (I actually didn't like Quarry very much either and don't think it's worth playing honestly)

MetalmindStats posted...

I don't know much about these games, but I've very much enjoyed reading your write-ups so far!

Thank you!

Man Axiom Verge 2 is actually really ugly, I've never looked closely at it before but the color palette and character designs are pure eyesores. It's kind of a shock because I thought the first game had a pretty cool look to it.

A

Violent Night