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Haunting Ground....a perfect survival horror game? Well I think so at least!

VGEsoterica

Member
I know the concept of a "perfect game" doesn't really exist. No matter HOW GOOD a game is there is of course always something that could be improved / changed / modified / added or subtracted to make the experience even better. But even keeping that in mind I would def put Haunting Ground in the "perfect survival horror" category.

From start to finish this game is just legit. The story, the setting, the gameplay and especially the soundtrack. I love the "defenseless protagonist" vs what Capcom did with RE 4 where Leon was an absolute death dealing "action tank". Considering Haunting Ground was a spiritual successor to Clock Tower and made by a lot of the same team from Clock Tower 3 it 100% makes sense you are running and hiding and strategizing vs attacking everything around you. It's basically the evolution of the Clock Tower gameplay loop in a new series.

Even Huey (dog companion character) is amazing. Sure his AI is a bit janky but I like to believe his inability to listen to your commands perfectly the first time is exactly the experience of having a real dog. Sure they know what you want...but do they want to do it? I've got a puppy sitting right next to me that is smart enough to know what you are asking from her...but she may not feel like doing it the first time she's asked lol

But overall its a bummer Haunting Ground is a) so damn expensive and b) has never been re-released as I def think it's one of those games absolutely play at least once to experience if they are fans of survival horror.

But what are everyone else's perfect survival horror games? Expecting to hear a lot of RE but anyone have some deeper cuts?
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
This along with so many others is the reason PS5 needs Enhanced BC for PS2 & PSX games
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
I know the concept of a "perfect game" doesn't really exist. No matter HOW GOOD a game is there is of course always something that could be improved / changed / modified / added or subtracted to make the experience even better. But even keeping that in mind I would def put Haunting Ground in the "perfect survival horror" category.

From start to finish this game is just legit. The story, the setting, the gameplay and especially the soundtrack. I love the "defenseless protagonist" vs what Capcom did with RE 4 where Leon was an absolute death dealing "action tank". Considering Haunting Ground was a spiritual successor to Clock Tower and made by a lot of the same team from Clock Tower 3 it 100% makes sense you are running and hiding and strategizing vs attacking everything around you. It's basically the evolution of the Clock Tower gameplay loop in a new series.

Even Huey (dog companion character) is amazing. Sure his AI is a bit janky but I like to believe his inability to listen to your commands perfectly the first time is exactly the experience of having a real dog. Sure they know what you want...but do they want to do it? I've got a puppy sitting right next to me that is smart enough to know what you are asking from her...but she may not feel like doing it the first time she's asked lol

But overall its a bummer Haunting Ground is a) so damn expensive and b) has never been re-released as I def think it's one of those games absolutely play at least once to experience if they are fans of survival horror.

But what are everyone else's perfect survival horror games? Expecting to hear a lot of RE but anyone have some deeper cuts?
Capcom was on a roll at that time. Just a brilliant game and the common association I've seen others tie to Clock Tower 3. Really the atmospheres of both Haunting Ground and Clock Tower 3 were amazing. I can respect that they were standalone games too (except for Clock Tower 3 having 2 games prior on PS1). Seemed that there was never any intention to bring them back into a franchise.
 

VGEsoterica

Member
Capcom was on a roll at that time. Just a brilliant game and the common association I've seen others tie to Clock Tower 3. Really the atmospheres of both Haunting Ground and Clock Tower 3 were amazing. I can respect that they were standalone games too (except for Clock Tower 3 having 2 games prior on PS1). Seemed that there was never any intention to bring them back into a franchise.
with all the remakes Capcom has been pumping out lately would it kill them to do Haunting Ground? lol
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
with all the remakes Capcom has been pumping out lately would it kill them to do Haunting Ground? lol
Seems like it'd be worth pumping it out side-by-side with Clock Tower 3 or on it's own. I've always wondered if it Capcom wasn't trying to bury any memory of it by the time the 6th Gen had ended. A game that could have rivaled their own Resident Evil series? Well...even the RE games were slightly better during 6th Gen too if I think about it.
 

VGEsoterica

Member
Seems like it'd be worth pumping it out side-by-side with Clock Tower 3 or on it's own. I've always wondered if it Capcom wasn't trying to bury any memory of it by the time the 6th Gen had ended. A game that could have rivaled their own Resident Evil series? Well...even the RE games were slightly better during 6th Gen too if I think about it.
who knows. I love Capcom but they have really narrowed their franchises down to just a few big ones and not much else
 

VGEsoterica

Member
This along with so many others is the reason PS5 needs Enhanced BC for PS2 & PSX games
yes this is one area where Xbox blows the doors off PlayStation. I love that I can put a large majority of my OG Xbox games in basically any piece of their hardware and play it. I know its not 100% of the library but its pretty damn solid
 

Mr Hyde

Member
Loved Haunting Ground. It had a very spooky atmosphere and some seriously deranged characters. It was a bit annoying towards the end with the antagonists chasing you around and you constantly had to hide, it was a bit repetitive. But overall the game was great, it was scary and had a great duo of protagonists in Fiona and Huey. Would love a re-release of this game for current platforms.
 
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Neff

Member
It's alright. There are some really nice locations and the atmosphere is great, but it's too easy to spend time running away or hiding which just isn't my idea of fun. It's fairly unique (the dog is really well done) and worth playing, but definitely overrated.
 

Darkman]I[

Neo Member
I have never beaten the boss at the end of the game... in my memories it was to hard, or it was a bug, I can't remember details.

But indeed, a very atmospheric title with outstanding graphics for it's time.
 
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VGEsoterica

Member
I have never beaten the boss at the end of the game... in my memories it was to hard, or it was a bug, I can't remember details.

But indeed, a very atmospheric title with outstanding graphics for it's time.
Def beatable unless you activated some esoteric bug. But weirder things have happened!
 

Codes 208

Member
For me the perfect horror survival is phasmophobia. The team continues to work on the game sporadically (phasmo today is definitely not the same game it was at launch), each match played doesnt feel the same due to various elements (type of ghost, how many players there are, what the cursed item is, what the weather is, etc) and it has the perfect amount of jump scares without feeling forced
 

Unk Adams

Banned
and Clock Tower 3 has gotten expensive itself! The whole series is pretty high
I remember seeing them in the Gamestop used bargain bins on a regular basis for barely anything. Crazy to see how expensive they are now. Limited Run games or Capcom themselves really need to do some sort of physical PS4 rerelease because no one should pay those prices for old beat up copies of games that are almost 20 years old.
 

lillars

Member
I've actually got a copy of Haunting Ground sitting in my shelves, but I never got around to playing it. I don't know why either considering how much I loved Clock Tower 3. Maybe one of these days I'll bust out the old fat PS3, pray that it works, and give it a go.

That being said I wish they'd put these old PS2 Capcom gems (including my fav, Shadow of Rome) on PSNow. I'd be an instant subscriber if they did.
 
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VGEsoterica

Member
I've actually got a copy of Haunting Ground sitting in my shelves, but I never got around to playing it. I don't know why either considering how much I loved Clock Tower 3. Maybe one of these days I'll bust out the old fat PS3, pray that it works, and give it a go.

That being said I wish they'd put these old PS2 Capcom gems (including my fav, Shadow of Rome) on PSNow. I'd be an instant subscriber if they did.
What?!?! Play that shit! lol
 
Haunting Ground is one of my favorite games, I have been strangely obsessed with it ever since it came out, I just love it's gothic, creepy environments like the room with the antique dolls, the room with the creepy marionettes hanging from the walls and ceiling, I just love, love that kind of stuff.

However I wouldn't say it's perfect, been a while since I've played the whole thing but from what I remember after you defeat Daniella the game's environments become a lot less interesting, like they were running out of time, the game definitely peaks early on, only survival horror games I would say are perfect is Silent Hill 2 and REmake, but Haunting Ground is still one of the best survival horror titles imo.

Man, Capcom was on fire for the 5 year period between Devil May Cry in 2001 and Dead Rising in 2006, one of the best runs a developer has ever had imo.
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
Even Huey (dog companion character) is amazing. Sure his AI is a bit janky but I like to believe his inability to listen to your commands perfectly the first time is exactly the experience of having a real dog. Sure they know what you want...but do they want to do it? I've got a puppy sitting right next to me that is smart enough to know what you are asking from her...but she may not feel like doing it the first time she's asked lol
But is Hewie... No Huey.
🐶
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
A legendary survival horror that I'm glad to have beaten multiple times! Too bad I lost my copy and it's too expensive to get another copy :/
Get a Free McBoot memory card off amazon and burn that shit to DVD. That's what I did the other year so I could play it. Also for Rule of Rose and Kuon, a survival horror game from From Software.


Haunting Ground is awesome, I love to picture RE characters while playing it. I don't know how much is confirmed but Haunting Ground definitely retains some RE 3.5 DNA.

OT: My perfect Survival Horror game is RE 1996. It's just so damn good and effective considering that it was a brand-new IP from a small team with little to no experience in 3D games. Zombi U is up there too. It just has such a limited feeling like RE96 but has so much depth to the gameplay once you get good at it. There are some game breaking bugs, I don't think a ton but I forced myself into an area that I didn't realize wasn't supposed to be accessible, I then couldn't get out and had to start a new game, lol. I was right near the end too.

I'd put the first Fatal Frame near the top as well but the controls haven't aged all that well, God damn it's scary though. First time I played it was in like 2010 and it was absolutely terrifying.
 
Get a Free McBoot memory card off amazon and burn that shit to DVD. That's what I did the other year so I could play it. Also for Rule of Rose and Kuon, a survival horror game from From Software.


Haunting Ground is awesome, I love to picture RE characters while playing it. I don't know how much is confirmed but Haunting Ground definitely retains some RE 3.5 DNA.

OT: My perfect Survival Horror game is RE 1996. It's just so damn good and effective considering that it was a brand-new IP from a small team with little to no experience in 3D games. Zombi U is up there too. It just has such a limited feeling like RE96 but has so much depth to the gameplay once you get good at it. There are some game breaking bugs, I don't think a ton but I forced myself into an area that I didn't realize wasn't supposed to be accessible, I then couldn't get out and had to start a new game, lol. I was right near the end too.

I'd put the first Fatal Frame near the top as well but the controls haven't aged all that well, God damn it's scary though. First time I played it was in like 2010 and it was absolutely terrifying.
I got Free McBoot memory card and HDD for PS2 phat, got Haunting Ground on the HDD from when I had my physical copy still. I could play it if I wanted to but it feels funny doing so having lost the disc for me
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
I know the concept of a "perfect game" doesn't really exist. No matter HOW GOOD a game is there is of course always something that could be improved / changed / modified / added or subtracted to make the experience even better. But even keeping that in mind I would def put Haunting Ground in the "perfect survival horror" category.

From start to finish this game is just legit. The story, the setting, the gameplay and especially the soundtrack. I love the "defenseless protagonist" vs what Capcom did with RE 4 where Leon was an absolute death dealing "action tank". Considering Haunting Ground was a spiritual successor to Clock Tower and made by a lot of the same team from Clock Tower 3 it 100% makes sense you are running and hiding and strategizing vs attacking everything around you. It's basically the evolution of the Clock Tower gameplay loop in a new series.

Even Huey (dog companion character) is amazing. Sure his AI is a bit janky but I like to believe his inability to listen to your commands perfectly the first time is exactly the experience of having a real dog. Sure they know what you want...but do they want to do it? I've got a puppy sitting right next to me that is smart enough to know what you are asking from her...but she may not feel like doing it the first time she's asked lol

But overall its a bummer Haunting Ground is a) so damn expensive and b) has never been re-released as I def think it's one of those games absolutely play at least once to experience if they are fans of survival horror.

But what are everyone else's perfect survival horror games? Expecting to hear a lot of RE but anyone have some deeper cuts?

I give like to the video =)
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Haunting Ground is PS2-era survival horror title that's well worth seeking out.

Released in the spring of 2005 shortly after Resident Evil 4 on the PlayStation 2, Haunting Ground (or Demento as it's known in Japan) sold poorly, but gained a fanbase over the years and has become a bit of a collector's item.

Pulling heavily from the Clock Tower and Resident Evil series, Haunting Ground has one of the best implementations of a pursuer system in a survival horror title. It also has my favorite iteration of a dog companion in any game with some wonderful AI that leads to a great bonding system.

It's very much worth a play if you're a fan of survival horror. While I'm not a huge fan of constant remasters we get these days, Haunting Ground would be a perfect candidate for one due to its limited availability.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Prelude
01:29 - On The Limited Availability of Haunting Ground
02:58 - How Haunting Ground Came Together
04:19 - Gameplay of Haunting Ground
08:56 - Hewie
12:08 - Highlights of Haunting Ground (Spoilers)
32:04 - In Conclusion
 
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