NightmareModeGo
BACKER
2017
The story is kind of nothing, and yer man moves far too slow for stealth to be anything but a chore, but poppin' Nazi skulls and scrotes from 300 meters just keeps me coming back.
This game has occasionally drifted into my mind for the past 22 years because I played it quite a lot on an OG Xbox demo disc way back in the day, and what with VTMB making me a partial fan of this World of Darkness, and me getting a Series X, I knew had to finally give it a proper go.
Every single moment I spent those 22 years thinking of this game would have been better used just staring at a wall.
It's janky as hell. The bad kind of janky. Enemies spawn directly in your path and are already attacking you before the model appears. It stops you dead in your tracks every single time. If enemies get too close to you, your bullets go right through them and you have to step away to connect a shot. Almost everything stunlocks you with a single hit, so you can regularly get surrounded by only 3 zombies and have to keep jumping to hope you can squeeze between their hitboxes and escape.
I get now why the only WoD series you ever hear about is Vampire: The Masquerade.
Every single moment I spent those 22 years thinking of this game would have been better used just staring at a wall.
It's janky as hell. The bad kind of janky. Enemies spawn directly in your path and are already attacking you before the model appears. It stops you dead in your tracks every single time. If enemies get too close to you, your bullets go right through them and you have to step away to connect a shot. Almost everything stunlocks you with a single hit, so you can regularly get surrounded by only 3 zombies and have to keep jumping to hope you can squeeze between their hitboxes and escape.
I get now why the only WoD series you ever hear about is Vampire: The Masquerade.
1998
It feels weird to say it's refreshing to see a Japanese game doing Lovecraft stuff when it's a game from 1998, but this just seems like something they rarely touch. I think I vaguely remember Siren having some kinda Lovecraft shit goin' on.
Anyway, game's decent. Nothing spectacular. Just good to tick another JP only thing you always wanted to play off the list.
Anyway, game's decent. Nothing spectacular. Just good to tick another JP only thing you always wanted to play off the list.
2021
I refuse to examine why I happily mastered this while sitting in a room that could really use a good clean.
God I have such fond memories of playing the original with my dad back in '87 two years before I was born.
They somehow managed to keep everything authentic while running on modern hardware. True game preservation like this needs to become the norm.
They somehow managed to keep everything authentic while running on modern hardware. True game preservation like this needs to become the norm.
2020
Gorgeous puzzler with such a refreshing take on the usual Lovecraft stuff we see in games.
Apart from the Exorcist III jumpscares that don't work anymore with these kinda games because you're constantly expecting them, this is a decent wee thing.
The most I've liked anything Puppet Combo-adjacent.
The most I've liked anything Puppet Combo-adjacent.
2020
Got three levels deep and never encountered a new mechanic. They might come later, but all I got from the game was running to the right and extremely basic platforming.
It did the same joke at the end of each level, and the cutscene humour just fell very flat for me. I was surprised to see it was only made in 2020. Felt much older.
It did the same joke at the end of each level, and the cutscene humour just fell very flat for me. I was surprised to see it was only made in 2020. Felt much older.
The word "buddy" has never carried such weight.
2010
Gnome jumpscare got me again 13 years later.
2023
I was really hoping for more here, but it's almost a perfect example of the problem with most PS1-style PC horror games. Often hollow, and always too short.
Still, on the list it goes.
Still, on the list it goes.
2023
This review contains spoilers
For what is essentially a spot the difference puzzle, it has no right being this unnerving.
I will admit to initially just doing laps thinking I was gonnae get jumpscared and then have credits roll, but I never thought it would come in the form of me noticing that the number on a sign had suddenly changed. I stopped dead in my tracks and felt a cold tingle down my back. A fucking number on a sign.
As the amount of remaining anomalies went down to the single digits, I found myself sweating at the idea of my friend not coming round that corner.
I will admit to initially just doing laps thinking I was gonnae get jumpscared and then have credits roll, but I never thought it would come in the form of me noticing that the number on a sign had suddenly changed. I stopped dead in my tracks and felt a cold tingle down my back. A fucking number on a sign.
As the amount of remaining anomalies went down to the single digits, I found myself sweating at the idea of my friend not coming round that corner.
It's 2am and I'm crying.
English game (derogatory).
2020
A nice enough wee ethereal PS1-style puzzler that's often too obtuse for its own good.