I don’t actually like haunted homes or leap scares. However you realize what I do love? An excellent spooky RPG setting.
Quite a lot of our employees feels the identical, so we determined to place collectively a listing of our favourite “spooky” settings in RPGs! You’ll see some you’ll count on, some you may not, and all the things in between. Actually, there are a few settings which are so spooky I’m unsure I wish to play these video games once more.
Who did we miss? What are a few of your favourite settings? Are you as terrified of Demon’s Souls as I’m? Remember to tell us on X, Fb, Instagram, Threads, Discord, Bluesky, or nevertheless you most get pleasure from interacting with us!
Intro by Zach Wilkerson
Demon’s Souls – Tower of Latria
Writeup by Rob White
I discover the world of Demon’s Souls probably the most intriguing, bleak, and nightmarish of all FromSoftware’s darkish fantasy choices. I can also’t consider anyplace else in RPGs that scares me fairly as a lot because the Tower of Latria. I think about most individuals would in all probability recommend the Valley of Defilement is worse, and people ranges are fairly unhealthy too, however it’s Latria that impacts me probably the most.
This place fills me with dread from the get-go—a jail made up of slender, maze-like corridors and cells that you should navigate in darkness. Horrific sounds echo within the distance, and Mindflayer enemies quietly lurk all over the place, able to shock you, paralyze you, and one-shot kill you if you happen to’re not paying consideration. I can’t play the Latria ranges with out feeling so anxious and tense that my coronary heart races and I’m on the sting of panic at any second. Props to FromSoft for completely nailing the Lovecraftian ambiance right here, however yeah… that is significantly scary stuff.
Suikoden – Neclord’s Fort
Writeup by Jimmy Turner
I don’t have a lot expertise with the Castlevania collection, however that doesn’t imply I haven’t had my fill of trouncing by a vampire lord’s fort in video video games. Neclord is without doubt one of the most difficult bosses that the Liberation Military should face in Suikoden. Tir, Victor, and firm storm his fort to rescue a Warriors’ Village chief’s daughter from changing into his bride. All of the tropes you’d count on from a spooky fort are right here as gamers should overcome sorcerers, specters, and hell unicorns?!
When gamers meet Neclord in Suikoden, it feels misplaced. Nevertheless, in a recreation recognized for its half-baked concepts and fewer fleshed-out content material than its beloved sequel, a journey to place an finish to a Dracula clone’s tyranny with the help of a speaking sword is without doubt one of the most memorable components of the expertise.
Kingdom Hearts – Halloweentown
Writeup by Jimmy Turner
Being an enormous Disney fan as a child definitely fed my love for Kingdom Hearts. The Nightmare Earlier than Christmas has at all times been a cult favourite amongst Disney followers, and I’m a card-carrying member of that cult. Of all the long-lasting Disney worlds Sq. Enix included within the first recreation, none does a greater job of incorporating the Heartless storyline into the setting. Jack Skellington would completely wish to make the most of the mysterious shadow monsters to create a extra horrifying Halloween celebration.
Sadly for Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack, Oogie Boogie interferes in Jack’s efforts to make scarier Heartless, resulting in a enjoyable boss combat beneath Oogie’s manor. Kingdom Hearts does a improbable job capturing the visuals, sounds, and characters in Halloweentown that make the film so beloved. The spooky hamlet appeared in later video games, and it stays one of the best instance of why I like Kingdom Hearts.
Mass Impact 2 – Collector Base
Writeup by Audra Bowling
In area, nobody can hear you scream, however you might be completely unsettled by what’s uncovered there, just like the Collector Base in Mass Impact 2. Recognized for its downright creepy ambiance and setting, the entire space screams “sci-fi horror” as you progress and uncover extra of its terrifying secrets and techniques. It definitely doesn’t assist that, all through Commander Shepard’s harrowing trek by nightmare-fueled areas, you’re additionally actually battling in opposition to time because the destiny of the Normandy SR-2’s kidnapped crew hangs within the steadiness. Plus, the choices you make about who does what in several gameplay phases alongside your Collector Base journey decide who lives and dies through the “suicide mission” you-as-Shepard sends the get together on.
The Collector Base is a memorable expertise that’s each intense and aggravating. It combines gameplay choice loops with a horrific ambiance and an total disturbing thematic presentation, inflicting you to grip the controller tightly as you sit taking part in on the sting of your seat.
The Legend of Dragoon – Phantom Ship
Writeup by Neal Chandran
A hanging CG FMV cutscene about midway by The Legend of Dragoon introduces a really creepy ghost ship that requires extra fortitude than conquering many video games’ closing dungeons. The Legend of Dragoon’s phantom ship claims numerous victims to fill the bottomless void of its regretful failures in life. As an alternative of the standard random encounters, seen wisps set off battles, although they’re unavoidably all over the place, really punctuating the ship’s insatiable starvation. Battles themselves are not any joke, and solely extend the get together’s length on this dank dungeon. The music’s dissonant instrumentation and eerie sound results make this creepy dungeon much more unsettling. Surviving The Legend of Dragoon’s phantom ship (which gamers usually hail as one of many recreation’s most irritating dungeons) felt just like the hell of driving a bike-a-thon I had not adequately ready for. However as soon as it was over, I used to be left panting, “Whew! I actually survived one hell of a ghost ship!”
Remaining Fantasy VI – Phantom Forest & Phantom Practice
Writeup by Patrick Gann
In the event you haven’t performed Remaining Fantasy VI shortly, you might have forgotten the specifics of the three break up eventualities early within the recreation. For many who do keep in mind, recall Sabin as he heads east and encounters Cyan and Shadow. They work collectively in an try to cease the Empire’s forces from encroaching on Doma Fort, when Kefka reveals up and does one thing despicable. As Sabin and crew flee, they discover their means right into a misty, spooky forest with extremely spooky music. The spookiness goes from eerie to exhilarating on the Phantom Practice, the place gamers can recruit ghosts to combat alongside them. After a chance to suplex the practice, Sabin and Cyan exit the ghostly state of affairs solely to see the not too long ago deceased boarding this practice in a somber ending to the state of affairs.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Nevarra
Writeup by Tina Olah
Observe a mischievous glowing wisp and make your means right down to Nevarra, an ever-changing kingdom of necromancers, each pleasant and in any other case. Begin your go to by serving to the town’s loss of life mages filter out some nasty demons and cult members lurking within the halls of the Necropolis (however please don’t break the costly vintage furnishings). As soon as issues have settled down a bit, you’ll be able to get pleasure from a calming stroll by the gorgeous Memorial Gardens, and maybe even sit down for a spot of tea served by an animated skeleton with fashionable emerald goggles. In the event you really feel like travelling past the Necropolis partitions, I like to recommend visiting Blackthorne Manor, a sinister haunted home the place evil rituals have taken place. Pay no thoughts to the crumbling ceiling and random our bodies; this luxury abode is unquestionably definitely worth the journey, particularly for its in depth library, splendid suites, and… oh no. I assumed this massive and elaborately-sealed door would result in a good bigger library, not… ah heck, I want to exit the premises now!!
XCOM: Enemy Inside – Web site Recon
Writeup by Pete Leavitt
XCOM: Enemy Unknown has penned its place in historical past as one of the vital profitable reboot efforts to this point. Developer Firaxis’ improvements in UI, management, and mechanics made the sport approachable in a style that beforehand solely catered to probably the most hardcore, with out compromising on what made these experiences so rewarding: the punishing problem, the emphasis on decision-making, and cerebral gameplay.
Within the glorious enlargement Enemy Inside, the Web site Recon mission comes from the mysterious Council, who prices you with investigating a fishing village in Canada. The zombified villagers and occasional arachnid chrysalid hinder your strategy to the obvious supply of a chrysalid an infection: a big fishing boat. A whale carcass is a breeding hive for this horrible enemy, and the extra time passes, the extra chrysalids will burst from the rotting mammal.
You have to shortly activate the boat’s transponder and run by the entire map again to your evac level, whereas being accosted by enemies that pressure your workforce to cowl one another. It’s sweaty stuff, and lots of first-time gamers could have skilled the bitter necessity of leaving a squad member behind to cowl the workforce’s retreat, making the mission one thing of a talent gate for a lot of newbies.
This glorious mission make clear one thing that didn’t happen to many individuals again then: Tactical video games might be atmospheric, creepy, and heart-poundingly thrilling. Web site Recon encompasses all of these qualities superbly.
Dragon Warrior – Hauksness
Writeup by Jerry Williams
Think about you simply received a free copy of Dragon Warrior along with your Nintendo Energy subscription, and also you have been unknowingly about to dive into your first RPG ever. That was me in 1990. Cute visuals, a continuing sense of surprise as I explored the open world—I used to be hooked. At six years outdated, my coronary heart was (form of) mild and pure. I had sufficient sense to know that the little homestead icon on the map represented a bastion of security, and as I ventured daringly down the west coast of the map, I noticed an oasis within the desert. I didn’t comprehend it, however I used to be staring down Hauksness. Drained of assets, I barely received in and was met by sheer horror. With elements of a city—these shopkeeper tables stood out to me—I spotted there was one thing fallacious. A couple of steps in, I used to be completely slaughtered by a Wizard. I used to be alleged to be protected! After that, I appeared on on the city from afar with precise worry.
Parasite Eve – Carnegie Corridor
Writeup by Noah Leiter
Clack. Clack. Clack. Aya Brea’s 6-inch platform heels echo by a deafened Carnegie Corridor; charred piles are all that’s left of her fellow spectators. Moments in the past, the storied theatre was lit up by a passionate stage efficiency, however now it has fallen to lifeless silence—save for the siren track of the titular Eve, and the echo of Aya Brea’s heels in pursuit of her.
The opening moments of Parasite Eve are an exhilarating cortége; they’re a procession by silence, emotion, and hearth, backdropped by the surreal ambiance of New York Metropolis on a snowy Christmas Eve evening. It’s no surprise one of the best Halloween media is Christmas media. Don’t imagine me? Try Nonetheless Wakes the Deep (2024), Black Christmas (1974), Brom’s Krampus (2020), and The Gremlins (1984). Christmas horror guidelines, dude. There’s a haunting parity between the heat of vacation custom and the stifling silence of snowfall exterior that makes for glorious spookytime. And Parasite Eve completely embodies that custom in its introductory scenes.
Fallout 3 – Tranquility Lane
Writeup by Noah Leiter
Word: dialogue of the current second. Additionally gentle spoilers.
Horror by no means modifications, and Fallout 3 would know. It’s a recreation filled with horror tropes: a post-apocalyptic setting, monsters of all sizes and shapes, creepypasta-worthy audio/pc logs, skeletons in bogs, and an overwhelming inexperienced movie tint, to call just a few. However none of those give me the heebie-jeebies fairly like Tranquility Lane, which surprisingly comprises zero of this stuff.
Actually, Tranquility Lane, because the identify would recommend, is an ostensibly peaceable place punctuated by good music and peppy, pleasant residents. Nevertheless, one thing darkish lurks beneath its Pleasantvillian air — that’s, it features each as a torture system and as a mirrored image of the promise of the vaults. Tranquility Lane is a simulated neighborhood made to experiment on folks, sandwiched someplace between the reminiscence of pre-war America (now a wasteland, notably borne of the identical tradition that will produce Tranquility Lane and different locations prefer it) and the vicious mindscape of its creator, who invented this digital universe as an ethical (and literal) torture entice.
What’s actually scary, although, is Tranquility Lane’s reflection of our present actuality, one which turns towards censorship, misinformation, and surveillance, issues we thought have been reserved for speculative fiction however now present up in our every day lives. Maybe it has been that means for a while, and speculative fiction is merely a automobile for media like Fallout 3 to transcribe the fears of a tradition in disaster. Maybe Fallout 3’s proximity to the 2008 housing crash produced Tranquility Lane, and our present cultural second is an uncanny replica of that second’s terrors. Which simply goes to indicate: horror by no means modifications.
Shadow Hearts – Zhaoyang Village
Writeup by Scaredy Sybydlo
Shadow Hearts is THE important horror RPG. Choose any half: The creepy orphanage that experimented on folks, the seaside village Dalian that curses these unnoticed at evening, the creepy dollhouse the place dolls wish to play with the folks, or the 4 cursed masks that relentlessly observe Yuri as penance for his personal internal darkness (even when “defeated,” they hang-out him so long as his curse stays).
However I wish to single out how Shadow Hearts makes a powerful first impression. After narrowly escaping seize on a practice, Zhaoyang Village is a quaint first city to go to and would make for a humble starting! Till you study that the native shrine is stacked with human bones and the land itself is cursed. Meaning guests can’t depart, and the residents don’t have any compunction about admitting that they’re cannibals and that Yuri and Alice look scrumptious. We combat again and win—however this was not the enjoyable first evening with new get together members we’d have anticipated!
EarthBound – Threed
Writeup by Gio Castillo
EarthBound is way from a horror recreation, however it packs a good variety of twisted set items beneath its cute exterior (that it’s capable of pull off such dissonance attests to why it’s one of many finest ever made). One such sequence sees Ness and Paula hitch a experience with the Runaway 5, and the vibes abruptly change from triumphant to oppressive as soon as they get exterior the van. Whereas Joyful-Joyful Village was run by a cult and Onett had a police brutality downside, Threed is simply straight-up haunted.
The streets are infested with zombies, the graveyard’s overrun with trash can ghouls, and the resort’s received some shady enterprise occurring. Issues change into slightly foolish once more after we discover out about Zombie Paper and {that a} sentient puddle of puke is behind all of it, however the early goings-on in Threed are as survival horror because it will get in EarthBound.
Dragon Quest V – Uptaten Towers
Writeup by Gio Castillo
Uptaten Towers is an impressed alternative for a primary dungeon. The principle character is a wee six-year-old lad firstly of Dragon Quest V, so for him to enterprise by a haunted fort establishes his character in a “present, don’t inform” means that continues to be fairly uncommon, even as we speak. Joined by the robust and kind-hearted Bianca, our hero agrees to do some ghostbusting at Uptaten to cease some bullies from tormenting a poor sabrecat cub.
The precise dungeon isn’t all that scary, however it has its moments, particularly if you happen to consider it from a child’s perspective. The get together will get buried alive early on, they usually later meet some skeletons with a hankering for… tasty kids. The random encounters are additionally a bit taxing at this level, but none of that is sufficient to faze our intrepid duo, who finally persevere and save the day. Fairly a begin for what is kind of a exceptional little RPG, I’d say.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Backside of the Properly
Writeup by Stephanie Sybydlo
Greater than 25 years later, some piddly dungeon with Nintendo 64 graphics nonetheless provides me the creeps. Someplace between the haunting music, bloodied flooring, invisible partitions, skeletal stays, a poison lake (with arms protruding of it!), creepy faces all over the place, and a mixture of Zelda “enemy all-stars” of ReDeads, Wall Masters, and the notorious Useless Hand that makes use of extraneous limbs to seize you whereas the primary physique bites you!
The Zelda collection isn’t averse to exploring scary locations, however Ocarina of Time’s effectively is a particular form of atmospheric shift, as a result of it’s all nightmare gas. It’s straightforward to change into disoriented and laborious to determine precisely what to do. Each second misplaced delays you from returning to the candy daylight above.
I’m unsure why a torture chamber is on the backside of Kakariko’s water reservoir—and I’m unsure I would like what they’ve been consuming.
Bloodborne: Hypogean Gaol
Writeup by Aleks Franiczek
So, I used to be minding my very own enterprise, taking a stroll by Yarnham’s Cathedral Ward and having fun with its beautiful Gothic city vistas. Then, I see this large dude with a bag standing menacingly in a nook of the town streets. “I ought to kill this man,” I assumed. However oh man, was he extra highly effective than I anticipated. He bashed my Hunter’s brains in. Simply one other Souls-style loss of life—or so I assumed.
Anticipating to revive on the final cozy lamp I rested at, I used to be as a substitute bagged up and whisked away to the oppressive hellhole generally known as Hypogean Gaol (how the cool youngsters spell “jail”) with no straightforward means out. It was equal components terrifying and good. It’s unnerving sufficient to be within the gaol and face off in opposition to its creepy monstrosities in any respect, however to achieve it by such a subversion of participant expectation is what made it imprint itself in my thoughts as a really horrific expertise.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines: Ocean Home Resort
Writeup by Aleks Franiczek
The entire of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is drenched in spooky-core aesthetics, which is not any shock given its identify and supply materials. However there’s just one degree within the recreation that led to my blood stress rising and paranoia-induced neck turning.
The Ocean Home Resort is one of the best instance I’ve seen of a haunted home transformed into videogame kind. As you enter and make your means by the deserted constructing, lightbulbs pop, objects transfer erratically and may injury you, whereas voices and our bodies immediately seem and disappear. At one level, you fall by stairs and find yourself caught in a dilapidated basement with claustrophobic corridors and noisy equipment. My favourite contact is that there’s no actual “fight” in the whole degree—even when it appears like there may be at any second. It’s all about atmosphere, anticipation, and getting in your head, which has made it one of the vital memorable ranges in an RPG I’ve ever performed.
Remaining Fantasy VII – Shinra Mansion
Writeup by Mark Roddison
By the point you attain Nibelheim, the dense plot of Remaining Fantasy VII and Cloud’s private story collide together with his recollections as a younger soldier from 5 years earlier. The callbacks hit quick throughout the village and character dialogue, however the mansion—a literal haunted home—calls the loudest. This archetypal Victoriana construction, with its picket staircase and lavish chandelier, drips with overbearing pathos. Enemies prowl its halls throughout Cloud’s return, and secrets and techniques lie in await anybody who digs deep sufficient. But the true affect comes not from fight however from the creeping dread, the eerie vacancy, and the rating’s heartbeat percussion and lonely tolling bell. Shinra Mansion terrifies due to what it reveals to Cloud and the crew: a actuality twisted from the one they keep in mind. Perhaps that’s why it hits so laborious—as a result of the last word horror is in believing you’re probably not you, however one thing else.
Pokémon Purple & Blue – Lavender City
Writeup by Matt Wardell
Okay, I’ll take the low-hanging fruit—and you realize why? Lavender City was doubtless one of many first in-game areas to traumatize two generations of unsuspecting kids, if we contemplate the FireRed and LeafGreen remakes (and pass over the later softened, much less spooky Let’s Go, Pikachu!/Eevee! remakes).
Hey, youngsters! Do you know the one that you love Pokémon will sooner or later die? Even with out the countless creepypastas and concrete legends this city spawned, the best way it recontextualizes the ghost-type Pokémon is nothing if not disturbing for hundreds of thousands of youngsters remoted into their first RPG expertise. I keep in mind the haunting music of Lavender City instantly discomforting me, a lot in order that I escaped into the happy-go-lucky music of the Pokémon middle… solely to discover a bunch of the city’s residents meandering round speaking about Cubone’s lifeless mom! I’ll pin Lavender City proper up alongside Ernest Scared Silly and the Swamps of Unhappiness in The NeverEnding Story for when hundreds of thousands of therapists ask, “So the place did all of it start?”
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Chilly Metal – The Outdated Schoolhouse
Writeup by Paul Skevington
With the discharge of Trails within the Sky 1st Chapter, my ideas returned to the continent of Zemuria, so when the subject of spooky RPG settings got here up, it was the very first thing that got here to thoughts. Though I’ve picked the setting of the Outdated Schoolhouse, nestled behind Thors Academy, I may have chosen any variety of areas from the Trails collection. There are numerous locations the place the supernatural intersects with the on a regular basis, usually emphasised by the gameplay mechanics themselves, as commonplace enemy parts (water, hearth, and so on.) are changed by “larger” ones, equivalent to area and mirage. As an alternative of the innocuous, typically even cute monsters of the open roads, we meet spirits and demons rather more disturbing to behold. The burden of this place is unsettling, in stark distinction to the just about cozy nature of the world surrounding it. The Outdated Schoolhouse itself appears virtually alive—an historical building steeped in historical past, as all one of the best haunted constructions are.
Koudelka – Nemeton Monastery
Writeup by Des Miller
The Shadow Hearts collection is the poster baby for horror RPGs, but it began with that collection’ precursor, Koudelka. The sport mixes turn-based tactical fight with survival horror to create a really distinctive expertise that emphasizes dread over leap scares. The whole thing of Koudelka takes place over a single evening in a single location: Nemeton Monastery. Whereas the monastery is supposed to be sacred, it’s something however. Political prisoners dealing with life sentences have been ruthlessly tortured to loss of life, abandoning naught however ghosts to hang-out the halls.
Whereas the tortured souls and shambling corpses have been sufficient to frighten me, the monastery itself appears like a tragic villain that’s hit all-time low, solely to fall by the ground and sink even additional into distress. Each inch of the monastery is a theater of tragedy, and to at the present time, I keep in mind it simply as vividly as Resident Evil’s mansion.
Remaining Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn – Tam-Tara Deepcroft
Writeup by Des Miller
For one of many first dungeons in Remaining Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, the Tam-Tara Deepcroft is surprisingly creepy. The Deepcroft is basically a crypt the place the residents of Gridania lay their lifeless to relaxation, till a cult takes over and begins summoning voidsent monsters into the corpses inside.
Whereas the primary go to to the Deepcroft is suitably spooky, the second go to is the place the placement really shines a bloody purple. A fellow adventurer whose get together met its finish within the Deepcroft has since taken over, pushed by the loss of life of her fiancé. Weeks go as she desperately searches for methods to revive her lifeless lover—together with dabbling in necromancy—all in order that she will have the dream wedding ceremony she was robbed of. Studying her torn journal pages and counting the corpses is unsettling sufficient, however dealing with the lady and her lover’s head on the finish of the go to cement Tam-Tara Deepcroft as one of the vital unforgettable and haunting areas within the recreation.
Properly, you made it to the top! In order for you extra seasonably applicable studying from us, have you ever learn The Blood is the Life: The Greatest Vampires in RPGs? I can’t consider a greater time to, actually.
