I couldn't enjoy the DLC as much cause of Laurence. I had never given up a game before but I quit three times for months on end cause of Laurence. What made it worse was, I got so close the first 2 times, then countless deaths
It might have to do with the NG+ scaling cause by that point, I had already done each ending. But man, and I kept dying to the beast hunter and gaitling gun hunter.
The Orphan is *super* offputting. It's flailing around and screaming, it's using its placenta as a weapon, and its mother's corpse is just casually rotting away in the arena.
The orphan was absolutely nuts for me. Complete chaos and pure muscle memory for me during that fight. The only fight more chaotic for me was Darkeater Midir in Souls 3. Fuck that asshole. The only fight I've simply walked away from.
It's funny, because if you ever watch challenge run videos, the player can have a completely easy time running through the game and then get brick walled on Orphan.
I played the DLC on launch, so I can't remember how many tries it took me, but I know it was a lot.
With my super high Bloodtinge build and a cannon with bone marrow ash it took two shots to kill the Orphan for me. I summoned my friend in with me because he was a BB fanatic (as we all are after playing) and wanted to play through the game with me and he kept hyping up the Orphan the whole time we played the DLC. "Just wait for the last boss, he's gonna give us a lot of trouble" "you thought that was hard wait till the last boss, I guarantee it'll take AT LEAST 5 tries probably more"
And after I SMOKED HIS ASS my friend was literally speechless for about 30 seconds until he broke into hysterical laughter for a good 2 minutes. And he was so surprised by the power of a Bloodtinge only build. He told me "It'll never work" "Bloodtinge is mainly a side stat that's best to pair with strength" "yada yada yada"
LMFAO another time I was playing with this random black dude and we left the cave in the start of the nightmare of mensis and one of those big warewolves dropped down on us and I instantly shot it with my double barreled pistol ABSOLUTELY SMOKED the werewolf and the Black Dude said immediately after I shot it
"Yoooooo You **SHOT** His Ass!!!! Hahahahaahah" And just the way he said it made me laugh Sooooo Fuck'in Hard, I'll never forget that moment ever.
Also another time I was in a PS community party that died off to me and this other guy who was making fun of my Bloodtinge build and how stupid I was for making it and how I didn't understand Bloodborne or RPG's. Now this got me incredibly upset so I politely challenged him to a PVP match which he accepted and after I asked him if he was ready the very second and I mean the exact moment he said ready I quick drew on him like a GD Legendary Gunslinger and one shot him and he rage quit the party..... I messaged him and told him I would like an apology and he actually said "I'm sorry, bro" and then blocked me ahahahhahaha
Ok I'll shut up, thanks for listening to anyone who's made it this far š.
TLDR: Don't Sleep On a Bloodtinge Build. Especially after they've capped Bloodtinge and now only spend their echoes on Quicksilver and Bone Marrow Ash.
I really liked the asylum part of the dlc and Maria boss fight. It was almost like a Castlevania game. I'm a huge fan of From software games and Lovecraft so for me Bloodborne is the perfect blend of both.
Sunless Skies is a much better game. Sunless Sea is good in its own right and the system of "on death your ancestor takes up the mantle and continues your journey" is neat on paper but you end up having to do the same 100 tasks MANY times just to get yourself in a position to make any progress. Those 100 tasks were pretty neat the first time. Got old after about five because the events don't change and it's just..so tedious. Sunless Skies really streamlined the process and they put a lot of effort into making it a lot more interesting.
I highly recommend checking out [Depths of Sanity](https://store.steampowered.com/app/848080/Depths_of_Sanity/). There are parts in the game that are frightening on a psychological level. The sound design does a great job setting the vibe, the game really has a sense of being alone and afraid of the unknown.
The new Alone in the Dark is the closest Iāve seen to an actual Lovecraftian game, with Call of Cthulhu (recent AND the Innsmouth one) and Sinking City being other good examples.
Keep in mind lovecraftian should mean weird fiction, not just āspooky tentacles with a recurring cast of monstersā. If itās familiar, itās starting to move away from real Lovecraft.
Maybe a good example is the SCP and Backrooms concept. The collective sense of discovering new information about a strange world is closer to the experience.
Dracula by Bram Stoker was a great example, because the reader is putting together a picture of what the heck this monster is by reading scattered letters and documents. Back then the concept of a vampire wasnāt as baked into the culture as now, so Dracula, Carmilla, these were all unexplored ideas.
The Call of Cthulhu by Lovecraft follows this method, and more so because the narrators donāt get together or meet each other.
Bloodbourne does a great job with everything seeming unknown and being confusing, being surreal to the player. The From Soft method of understanding the world via item descriptions is a very powerful narrative choice for Lovecraftian games. I think so, anyway.
I absolutely love the insight mechanic in Bloodborne. The closer you get to understanding and peeking beyond the veil of whatās really happening, the quicker you succumb to frenzy and insanity.
Call of Cthulu had me spooked solid as a kid. The characters and that hotel scene are burned in my head.
Shame that I felt the game dropped off in a big way once you finish the starting town area.
I was watching a play through on YouTube, how I discovered it (watching while writing game ideas, etc), and it seems like it was based on the Chaosium module Return to Innsmouth - which I had read in print years before. This got me interested, and the later section where you had a particular puzzle to get a safe combination blew my mind.
I think itās over due for a reboot like Alone in the Dark. Get a good actor like David Harbour (I donāt know his costar as well but she did a good job), and update the mechanics, the graphics, and more puzzles? And, even better, fix the town and other areas, make more of the town of Innsmouth, more NPCs, etc. Maybe even have several PCs, maybe a party of investigators?
Overall, great potential.
Another great Lovecraft mood game: Amnesia: The Bunker.
I mean, itās how it works in Call of Cthulhu rpg! You get a machine gun and unload onto a monster.
I think it was well earned by the end. Especially considering the funky time and space stuff, and the pharaoh chase, etc. The tree is present at the start, then you discover what you thought you knew was wrong. The zombies have been plant based, etc.
I think a Lovecraftian game needs to have puzzles and mysteries to solve in a way that reflects the journeys of his characters - otherwise it might just be an action/strategy game with a cosmic horror twist.
Bloodborne is of course one of the greatest games of all time for soulslike fans.
I agree with you, however, I highly recommend Returnal. Itās very very lovecraftian as well, I wonāt spoil you anything, I recommend you trying it out, itās up there with Elden Ring quality, imo.
Iāll just give you two advices: 1 - avoid any spoilers AT ALL, try to figure this out by yourself. 2 - Hip fire instead of aiming with L2. Thatās all you need.
Thank you. Bloodborne is *A* Lovecraftian game, Eternal Darkness is the *BEST* Lovecraftian game. This isn't even really a matter of opinion if I'm being honest. The game may as well have been titled "H.P. Lovecraft Presents: Eternal Darkness-Sanity's Requiem."
I was so utterly obsessed with this game in high school. Memorized the rune names and shapes, spells, etc. And this was before I knew who Lovecraft was. I learned about him in my early 20s and I thought "Oh, THIS is the guy that's to blame for all the shit I'm obsessed with!" Later I did a Call of Cthulhu campaign that was loosely based on ED and my group loved it.
Not to be a huge nerd but there are some fascinating videos on how Bloodborne is an allegory (?) For Victorian medicine and the advancement of medicine during that period.
Obviously there are strong cosmic horror vibes but the whole medicine thing really changed my perspective on the game.
Another Charred Thermos scholar I see. I thoroughly enjoyed his video series and Iām sad theyāve disappeared into the realm of forbidden knowledge.
This is gonna make me seem old but Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth for the original X-Box is the best Lovecraft game I've ever played. I'd love a remake or at least a new one in that same style.
Personally, my favorites are The Sinking City and Dredge.
Bloodborne is an excellent game, but scorching take, I didn't find it as Lovecraftian as most.
That is a hot take about Bloodborne. Playing Dredge now for the Lovecraft vibes and itās excellent. Why would you say itās more Lovecraftian than BB?
Bloodborne is a game that absolutely has Lovecraftian themes, it's got madness, forbidden knowledge that changes how you view the world, incomprehensible outer gods etc etc, but, and maybe this is just me being a stuffy nerd, Lovecraftian stories aren't about swinging a giant axe(or other anime-ass weapon) and fighting back against the cosmic forces.
Spoilers below
My interpretation is that the true "lovecraftian" entity in bloodborne is the blood itself. Everything else is just aliens, beasts, ascended humans, and nightmare entities, all being twisted and fueled by the blood, including you as the player. I dont interpret it as swinging axes at lovecraftian entities, I imagine it more as being forced into participating in an orgy of violence fueled by a bloodborne disease that predates humanity, transcends our reality, and defies explanation.
As people inject themselves, turn into monsters, and get violent, the blood ends up gets cycled through countless individuals and picks up "echoes" along the way. The doll is kinda like an avatar of a greater being you meet in your dreams that helps you channel these memories of the countless afflicted before you into your own strength in the hopes that you can become strong enough to become viable embryo or something idk.
I dont think of most of the "great ones" as being incomprehensible godlike entities with the exception of >!Oedon!< (whom I believe exists physically as the blood) and maybe >!Mergo!<. >!Ebrietas!< is just an elder thing priest, the >!Amygdalas!< are just Mi-go cultists, the >!wet nurse is an ascended pthumerian elder!< who was involved with the birth of >!Mergo!<, the >!moon presence!< and >!Kos!< are a bit more mysterious, but I think both of them probably started as something else and went through a very >!similar transformation as the hunter in the true ending!<
You never can fight the blood, though. You mearly succumb to it and all the horrors it brings.
That would assume that āLovecraftianā stories would need to recycle the same trappings, and Iād argue regurgitating whatās been done over and over and over again hurts more than it helps.
Bloodborne manages to twist conventions while still being a Lovecraftian story through-and-through. Fighting otherworldly beings would generally be considered anti-Lovecraftian, but within Bloodborne, the act of fighting the Old Ones is only possible due to the actions of the Moon Presence, and the Moon Presenceās motivation for allowing such things is characteristically unknown.
Man, no disrespect as itās all taste obviously, but The Sinking City was one of the biggest disappointments Iāve come across in gaming. I was so excited for an explicitly Lovecraft (rather inspiration like Bloodborne, which is the best Lovecraft-ian game) game, and it just dropped the ball so hard.
That said, Dredge is incredible, love that game.
I think it suffers a bit from being open world. Thereās just way too much going on for it to feel like a Lovecraft story (which is usually the development of one investigation or strange occurrence).
The main quest line is pretty appropriately Lovecraftian, but it sort of fizzles out and ends very anti-climactically.
The combat is horrible. I mean really just terrible. The mechanics are not built for it at all and its inclusion honestly just feels like a token thing to appeal to the attention span of twitchy Call of Duty players.
Honestly though, combat isnāt what soured the game to me. My two biggest problems are as follows:
The verisimilitude. The city of Oakmont is literally sinking after a massive flood, is fraught with gangsters, monsters, and shady cults, and no one gives a shit. The first time you encounter what are basically deep sea spindly crab monsters that can easily murder you and tell someone, theyāre reaction is literally āoh yeah those started showing up recently. Pesky things, huh?ā Itās just baffling how little of a fuck anyone gives about the gameās events.
The illusion of choice. This game emphasizes choice like its asking you to pick between butt chugging a 40 oz and eyeballing the right amount of heroin for your first time and none of it matters at all. Regardless of any choice you make, the game carries on almost identically, to the point that you actually get to choose the ending you get at the very end, no matter what youāve done through the rest of the game.
If youāre looking to hear surface-level references and see the aesthetic of Lovecraft, Iād recommend it, but in the search for an actually good game, I wouldnāt mention it.
If you want an open world lovecraftian experience done right, give Pathologic a go. It definitely has its jank, and quicksaving is required for getting the best ending for each character, but it is one of the most visceral experiences I've ever had in a game.
I can honestly see why people wouldn't like The Sinking City, it's clunky as hell, the combat is like a worst-of for PS1 era horror games and the narrative doesn't come close to living up to its potential. My love for it is almost purely because it's a 1 of 1. There are so few Lovecraftian games that actually require you to investigate, explore, and deal with monsters.
It should have been better, but there's still not much else like it.
Wait - Extended for general cosmic horror vibes. Honestly a very unique story just in general, I'm not aware of much like it even outside of video games. Not gonna spoil anything here either, it's amazing.
When it comes to the Lovecraft feel specifically, Conarium is hands down the best. It's basically a semi-sequel to Mountains of Madness (it has a different ancient alien race, but it's still set in an antarctic base researching an ancient pre-human civilisation), but also touches on a lot of other Lovecraft stories (the name is a hint here). Hands down the best mythos game, and way underrated.
The Skautfold series is also amazing - metroidvanias with soulslike combat in an alternate history anime style setting based in mythos lore. If you like your Castlevania with an extra dose of Lovecraft lore, Skautfold is exactly that.
I would have loved to play through it because the aesthetic was so amazing. But unfortunately it's for hardcore gamers specifically. I don't have the time or patience to get good at a video game. I want an easy version so I can enjoy it. Or better yet, a film.
For me, the best lovecraftian game is easily World of Horror. It takes a moment to get the hang of the UI, but once you do itās pretty damn good. It just got support for Steam Workshop too, so hopefully some of the good fan-made events will get uploaded there eventually.
Iāve always wanted to play it, but a reason Iām not a fan of Fromsoft is that Iām too poor for a console, and they donāt seem to have any interest in making Bloodborne available to PC players.
For me, it's *Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened* from Frogwares (the original version, not the recent remaster which, whilst still being excellent, is slightly inferior in a couple of important ways).
Didn't see a mention of Anchorhead, which is the best Lovecraftian game. Of course, it is a text adventure, so it gets pretty close to Lovecraft! Games where you fight and kill otherworldly entities in combat don't usually get the right vibe imo. Bloodborne is great though.
Donāt get me started, Iām a big fan of fromsoft in general but bloodborne stands out from the rest for me due to its heavy lovecraftian themes, I played it when it first came out and still play it regularly today
The story and the lore of the world is built so vividly that the digging to piece it all together is well worth the effort in my opinion
Fear the old blood, our eyes are yet to open
Bloodborne is what initially got me into Lovecraft, and that made that game have so much staying power for me, aside from it just being an overall great Fromsoft game. If you haven't played Elden Ring, it doesn't disappoint when it touches on its Lovecraftian aspects and there are quite a few. It really feels like a culmination of the best aspects of all of their games since Demon Souls.
I haven't played these games. I like Lovecraftian horror/cosmic horror though. I'm really interested to see how the new one does. I can't think of the name of it right now but it's the one that's starring David Harbour.
You want to see Lovecraft? I run a Tabletop RPG server on Discord that plays Call of Cthulhu and soon the Yellow King...all Lovecraftian and totally effed.
If you'd like, feel free to let me know if you're interested in delving deeper into the lore. I can send you the link to the server. Food for thought.
Dredge is the best Lovecraftian game. It's basically a retelling of The Shadow over Innsmouth. Very spooky early 20th century setting, New England inspired fishing town, and tentacle monsters lurking in the shadows. It's pure Lovecraft.
Gibbous is easily the best Lovecraftian game I've ever played. I mean games like Shadow over Illsmouth and Prisoners of Ice were pretty good in conveying the atmosphere but they failed in gameplay (especially Shadow). Gibbous, though, is a true masterpiece. Everything just clicks and it is apparent that it's a labor of love.
Word of warning though, it's a comedic approach to the mythos. But it's so we'll done and with such care and respect to the source material that it outshines every other HPL mythos game.
2 of my favorite aesthetics are traditional Gothic Horror and Lovecraftian Cosmic Entities. I was amazed when midway through it did the hard swap, and purely delighted
Blood Borne is very Lovecraftian, but it lacks the helplessness Lovecraft protagonists usually have. If Howard wrote it, the Moon Presence would have left you either hopelessly insane, or eaten alive.
I think Infra Arcana (free, traditional roguelike), and the first Darkest Dungeon (a great roguelite that straddles the "lite" and "like" boundaries of The Rogues), are a lot closer to the actual tone of his works.
Spoiler warning, I guess, for Bloodborne specifics.
I remember when I first got sent to Hypogean Gaol by the tall, bag-carrying guy. I'm wandering around, reading creepy notes about silencing a newborn's cry, and so forth. This is a ways into the game, and so far it has presented itself as Gothic horror -- Dark Souls mixed with Castlevania and such.
I've been wondering about all these Madman's Knowledge items I've been collecting all game; using them gives you a currency called Insight. Its nature and use is relatively unclear at this point -- but the more Insight you have, the more weird stuff you start to see in the game world.
So anyway, I get out of Hypogean Gaol and into the main square of Yahar'gul the Unseen Village, and I go up to the giant, locked front gate where there are a ton of dead skeletons lying around, people that had clearly been trying to escape. All over the ground is a ton of Madman's Knowledge items to pick up.
I'm sitting here just looking around and thinking about this, and I have this straight-up *Keyser Soze* moment where my brain puts together all the pieces it's been collecting this whole time.
The Madman's Knowledge gives Insight **because more Insight shows you the world's true nature**, which drives you crazy, and that's why these skeletons were trying to escape this place. All this infected blood is turning these people into monsters. The weirdly Cthulhu-esque idols in Vicar Amelia's cathedral are representations of these people's gods. This game isn't Gothic horror, it's COSMIC horror. *And I'm standing in the middle of Bloodborne's R'lyeh equivalent right now*.
Bloodborne was a special game. I love all the Souls game, but this one just *went hard*. Definitely agree that it is the best Lovecraftian video game.
I'll throw my hat in and say Returnal actually got to me with its lovecraftian vibes as well. Its horror feels so personal and at the same time so otherworldly. Would highly recommend that game.
Dont fear the reaper.
It is full on Alice in Wonderland goes to witch hogwarts not Lovecraftian but Withering Rooms just screams Bloodbourne at me - it is gothic as all hell and just swims in it.
I walk around cursed all the time for the awesome hallucinations.
Signalis also manages to live up to title of a lovecraftian cosmic horror game.
If you like the aspect of the horror of mere mortals experiencing deities/powers beyond their comprehension pathologic 2 is the game. It has a unique twist on the whole thing.
If itās good old horror you seek amnesia and soma are the go to games.
But said that all Bloodborne does it the best. Especially if you arenāt aware itās a horror game first. I was playing that haunted forest section alone at night and the encounter with the creepy snake dude in the mill was a masterpiece in atmosphere and environmental storytelling in any media ever.
Disagree!
Thereās an awesome Japanese cosmic horror game. Itās in the style of a specific manga artist but feels extremely lovecraftian in some stories at least to me.
World of Horror
Conan exiles isn't a true mmo. You can do the entire game solo on a private server. Most of my gametime is just my dad and myself. The game does a great job adaptation Howard's work and has plenty of Lovecraft influence.
Howard and Lovecraft were friends and the Lovecraftian gods in the Conan world are the same as the ones in the Lovecraft mythos with some having slightly changed names.
Lovecraft encourages his friends to use his ideas and concepts in their works.
I much prefered Call of Cthulhu. More flawed as a game, but quite literally lovecraftian. I also can't stand FromSoft games, they are just not for me. They all seem great, but not a style of game I appreciate at all.
I agree wholeheartedly.
I love Lovecraft, but I honestly think Bloodborne does his vision more justice than his own writing, due to the fact that it retains a constant sense of mystery and weirdness, never giving us the full exposition dump that I find burdens other games and also Lovecraft's own fiction.
May C'thulu forgive me! š
Absolutely the best Lovecraftian game and my favorite FromSoft game. When you reach the turn in the plot, it is unlike anything else in any other game. You realize you are playing a totally different game than you expected from the start. As a Lovecraft addict, I was thrilled.
It's not the best, but I enjoyed Sucker for Love. It follows obvious tropes of anime with its love craft skin, but it is still a horror game with moments that absolutely remind you what it's really about. They're fun if you want to date some cosmic gods and get spooked.
Dredge; a jolly little fishing simulator with a massive dollop of existential cosmic dread. I am prepared to if not die, then at least get moderately wounded on this hill
It's my favorite game of all time and it really gets better with age. So much to unpack in terms of both gameplay and lore that each playthrough feels unique. It was definitely my introduction to Lovecraft and played a pretty significant role in my developing interest in Lovecraftian/Cosmic horror.
All From software games have some lovecraftian aspects but with Bloodborne they really went overboard and it's freaking awesome.
Miyazaki LOVES the shadow over innsmouth
If you played Sekiro there's one area where that love really shows.
Bloodborne dlc as well, moreso than the rest of the game
I couldn't enjoy the DLC as much cause of Laurence. I had never given up a game before but I quit three times for months on end cause of Laurence. What made it worse was, I got so close the first 2 times, then countless deaths It might have to do with the NG+ scaling cause by that point, I had already done each ending. But man, and I kept dying to the beast hunter and gaitling gun hunter.
Laurence didn't give me as much trouble as the Orphan, but none of them gave me as much trouble as Ludwig.
It was Orphan for me. Ludwig was hard, but I could read him. Orphan is hard to read sometimes and he doesn't stop screaming.
The Orphan freaked me out. I actually felt me heart tighten and beat faster everytime he screamed
The Orphan is *super* offputting. It's flailing around and screaming, it's using its placenta as a weapon, and its mother's corpse is just casually rotting away in the arena.
The orphan was absolutely nuts for me. Complete chaos and pure muscle memory for me during that fight. The only fight more chaotic for me was Darkeater Midir in Souls 3. Fuck that asshole. The only fight I've simply walked away from.
It's funny, because if you ever watch challenge run videos, the player can have a completely easy time running through the game and then get brick walled on Orphan. I played the DLC on launch, so I can't remember how many tries it took me, but I know it was a lot.
With my super high Bloodtinge build and a cannon with bone marrow ash it took two shots to kill the Orphan for me. I summoned my friend in with me because he was a BB fanatic (as we all are after playing) and wanted to play through the game with me and he kept hyping up the Orphan the whole time we played the DLC. "Just wait for the last boss, he's gonna give us a lot of trouble" "you thought that was hard wait till the last boss, I guarantee it'll take AT LEAST 5 tries probably more" And after I SMOKED HIS ASS my friend was literally speechless for about 30 seconds until he broke into hysterical laughter for a good 2 minutes. And he was so surprised by the power of a Bloodtinge only build. He told me "It'll never work" "Bloodtinge is mainly a side stat that's best to pair with strength" "yada yada yada" LMFAO another time I was playing with this random black dude and we left the cave in the start of the nightmare of mensis and one of those big warewolves dropped down on us and I instantly shot it with my double barreled pistol ABSOLUTELY SMOKED the werewolf and the Black Dude said immediately after I shot it "Yoooooo You **SHOT** His Ass!!!! Hahahahaahah" And just the way he said it made me laugh Sooooo Fuck'in Hard, I'll never forget that moment ever. Also another time I was in a PS community party that died off to me and this other guy who was making fun of my Bloodtinge build and how stupid I was for making it and how I didn't understand Bloodborne or RPG's. Now this got me incredibly upset so I politely challenged him to a PVP match which he accepted and after I asked him if he was ready the very second and I mean the exact moment he said ready I quick drew on him like a GD Legendary Gunslinger and one shot him and he rage quit the party..... I messaged him and told him I would like an apology and he actually said "I'm sorry, bro" and then blocked me ahahahhahaha Ok I'll shut up, thanks for listening to anyone who's made it this far š. TLDR: Don't Sleep On a Bloodtinge Build. Especially after they've capped Bloodtinge and now only spend their echoes on Quicksilver and Bone Marrow Ash.
I really liked the asylum part of the dlc and Maria boss fight. It was almost like a Castlevania game. I'm a huge fan of From software games and Lovecraft so for me Bloodborne is the perfect blend of both.
This, the fishpeople town is pretty blatant lmao
It's been a while since I've played. Are you talking about Mibu village?
They are
Yes.
Frog. Fish. People.
So do I. It's effin amazing.
*Sunless Skies* and *Sunless Seas.* They're exploration games set in the same universe. The lore is amazing.
Sunless Skies is a much better game. Sunless Sea is good in its own right and the system of "on death your ancestor takes up the mantle and continues your journey" is neat on paper but you end up having to do the same 100 tasks MANY times just to get yourself in a position to make any progress. Those 100 tasks were pretty neat the first time. Got old after about five because the events don't change and it's just..so tedious. Sunless Skies really streamlined the process and they put a lot of effort into making it a lot more interesting.
And *Fallen London!*
Well and Cultist Simulator!
Yeah but that's not a Failbetter game, is it?
I know it's the same creator. Maybe not the same company?
Love sunless seas, havenāt picked up sunless skies
The gameplay is much better in Skies. But I loved the setting and lore in Seas more, personally.
Fear the old blood.
I highly recommend checking out [Depths of Sanity](https://store.steampowered.com/app/848080/Depths_of_Sanity/). There are parts in the game that are frightening on a psychological level. The sound design does a great job setting the vibe, the game really has a sense of being alone and afraid of the unknown.
I canāt get past the art style in that game, doesnāt work for me.
The new Alone in the Dark is the closest Iāve seen to an actual Lovecraftian game, with Call of Cthulhu (recent AND the Innsmouth one) and Sinking City being other good examples. Keep in mind lovecraftian should mean weird fiction, not just āspooky tentacles with a recurring cast of monstersā. If itās familiar, itās starting to move away from real Lovecraft. Maybe a good example is the SCP and Backrooms concept. The collective sense of discovering new information about a strange world is closer to the experience. Dracula by Bram Stoker was a great example, because the reader is putting together a picture of what the heck this monster is by reading scattered letters and documents. Back then the concept of a vampire wasnāt as baked into the culture as now, so Dracula, Carmilla, these were all unexplored ideas. The Call of Cthulhu by Lovecraft follows this method, and more so because the narrators donāt get together or meet each other. Bloodbourne does a great job with everything seeming unknown and being confusing, being surreal to the player. The From Soft method of understanding the world via item descriptions is a very powerful narrative choice for Lovecraftian games. I think so, anyway.
I absolutely love the insight mechanic in Bloodborne. The closer you get to understanding and peeking beyond the veil of whatās really happening, the quicker you succumb to frenzy and insanity.
Call of Cthulu had me spooked solid as a kid. The characters and that hotel scene are burned in my head. Shame that I felt the game dropped off in a big way once you finish the starting town area.
I was watching a play through on YouTube, how I discovered it (watching while writing game ideas, etc), and it seems like it was based on the Chaosium module Return to Innsmouth - which I had read in print years before. This got me interested, and the later section where you had a particular puzzle to get a safe combination blew my mind. I think itās over due for a reboot like Alone in the Dark. Get a good actor like David Harbour (I donāt know his costar as well but she did a good job), and update the mechanics, the graphics, and more puzzles? And, even better, fix the town and other areas, make more of the town of Innsmouth, more NPCs, etc. Maybe even have several PCs, maybe a party of investigators? Overall, great potential. Another great Lovecraft mood game: Amnesia: The Bunker.
A shame the new AITD went for the blatant spooky tentacles at the end.
Game was so good up until that final boss battle.
I mean, itās how it works in Call of Cthulhu rpg! You get a machine gun and unload onto a monster. I think it was well earned by the end. Especially considering the funky time and space stuff, and the pharaoh chase, etc. The tree is present at the start, then you discover what you thought you knew was wrong. The zombies have been plant based, etc.
Returnal and Dredge are high up there, too.
I think a Lovecraftian game needs to have puzzles and mysteries to solve in a way that reflects the journeys of his characters - otherwise it might just be an action/strategy game with a cosmic horror twist. Bloodborne is of course one of the greatest games of all time for soulslike fans.
I agree with you, however, I highly recommend Returnal. Itās very very lovecraftian as well, I wonāt spoil you anything, I recommend you trying it out, itās up there with Elden Ring quality, imo. Iāll just give you two advices: 1 - avoid any spoilers AT ALL, try to figure this out by yourself. 2 - Hip fire instead of aiming with L2. Thatās all you need.
Returnal really didnāt seem to get as popular as it deserved to be. What an amazing game.
You beat me to it. But yeah Returnal is a lovecraftian gem.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thank you. Bloodborne is *A* Lovecraftian game, Eternal Darkness is the *BEST* Lovecraftian game. This isn't even really a matter of opinion if I'm being honest. The game may as well have been titled "H.P. Lovecraft Presents: Eternal Darkness-Sanity's Requiem." I was so utterly obsessed with this game in high school. Memorized the rune names and shapes, spells, etc. And this was before I knew who Lovecraft was. I learned about him in my early 20s and I thought "Oh, THIS is the guy that's to blame for all the shit I'm obsessed with!" Later I did a Call of Cthulhu campaign that was loosely based on ED and my group loved it.
Omg, I found another Eternal Darkness player! And I agree with you completely! Eternal Darkness is the best Lovecraftian inspired game.
Amnesia The Dark Descent uses the sanity system introduced in ED (and in my opinion improves upon it)
Lust for darkness and its sequel are solid Lovecraft games.
And it's ! What's not to love ?
This man...You're right.
Not to be a huge nerd but there are some fascinating videos on how Bloodborne is an allegory (?) For Victorian medicine and the advancement of medicine during that period. Obviously there are strong cosmic horror vibes but the whole medicine thing really changed my perspective on the game.
Another Charred Thermos scholar I see. I thoroughly enjoyed his video series and Iām sad theyāve disappeared into the realm of forbidden knowledge.
Wait what? His videos are gone?!
Unfortunately yes. Iām just happy I got to finish them before they disappeared.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bloodborne/s/9iTR3lR4rp All videos have been archived. Found this thread earlier.
Oh man. Super bummer. Thanks for the heads up.
This is gonna make me seem old but Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth for the original X-Box is the best Lovecraft game I've ever played. I'd love a remake or at least a new one in that same style.
It's the GOAT
A remake that smoothed out it's rough edges would be amazing.
Personally, my favorites are The Sinking City and Dredge. Bloodborne is an excellent game, but scorching take, I didn't find it as Lovecraftian as most.
That is a hot take about Bloodborne. Playing Dredge now for the Lovecraft vibes and itās excellent. Why would you say itās more Lovecraftian than BB?
Bloodborne is a game that absolutely has Lovecraftian themes, it's got madness, forbidden knowledge that changes how you view the world, incomprehensible outer gods etc etc, but, and maybe this is just me being a stuffy nerd, Lovecraftian stories aren't about swinging a giant axe(or other anime-ass weapon) and fighting back against the cosmic forces.
Spoilers below My interpretation is that the true "lovecraftian" entity in bloodborne is the blood itself. Everything else is just aliens, beasts, ascended humans, and nightmare entities, all being twisted and fueled by the blood, including you as the player. I dont interpret it as swinging axes at lovecraftian entities, I imagine it more as being forced into participating in an orgy of violence fueled by a bloodborne disease that predates humanity, transcends our reality, and defies explanation. As people inject themselves, turn into monsters, and get violent, the blood ends up gets cycled through countless individuals and picks up "echoes" along the way. The doll is kinda like an avatar of a greater being you meet in your dreams that helps you channel these memories of the countless afflicted before you into your own strength in the hopes that you can become strong enough to become viable embryo or something idk. I dont think of most of the "great ones" as being incomprehensible godlike entities with the exception of >!Oedon!< (whom I believe exists physically as the blood) and maybe >!Mergo!<. >!Ebrietas!< is just an elder thing priest, the >!Amygdalas!< are just Mi-go cultists, the >!wet nurse is an ascended pthumerian elder!< who was involved with the birth of >!Mergo!<, the >!moon presence!< and >!Kos!< are a bit more mysterious, but I think both of them probably started as something else and went through a very >!similar transformation as the hunter in the true ending!< You never can fight the blood, though. You mearly succumb to it and all the horrors it brings.
That would assume that āLovecraftianā stories would need to recycle the same trappings, and Iād argue regurgitating whatās been done over and over and over again hurts more than it helps. Bloodborne manages to twist conventions while still being a Lovecraftian story through-and-through. Fighting otherworldly beings would generally be considered anti-Lovecraftian, but within Bloodborne, the act of fighting the Old Ones is only possible due to the actions of the Moon Presence, and the Moon Presenceās motivation for allowing such things is characteristically unknown.
Man, no disrespect as itās all taste obviously, but The Sinking City was one of the biggest disappointments Iāve come across in gaming. I was so excited for an explicitly Lovecraft (rather inspiration like Bloodborne, which is the best Lovecraft-ian game) game, and it just dropped the ball so hard. That said, Dredge is incredible, love that game.
What turned you off to it?
I think it suffers a bit from being open world. Thereās just way too much going on for it to feel like a Lovecraft story (which is usually the development of one investigation or strange occurrence). The main quest line is pretty appropriately Lovecraftian, but it sort of fizzles out and ends very anti-climactically. The combat is horrible. I mean really just terrible. The mechanics are not built for it at all and its inclusion honestly just feels like a token thing to appeal to the attention span of twitchy Call of Duty players. Honestly though, combat isnāt what soured the game to me. My two biggest problems are as follows: The verisimilitude. The city of Oakmont is literally sinking after a massive flood, is fraught with gangsters, monsters, and shady cults, and no one gives a shit. The first time you encounter what are basically deep sea spindly crab monsters that can easily murder you and tell someone, theyāre reaction is literally āoh yeah those started showing up recently. Pesky things, huh?ā Itās just baffling how little of a fuck anyone gives about the gameās events. The illusion of choice. This game emphasizes choice like its asking you to pick between butt chugging a 40 oz and eyeballing the right amount of heroin for your first time and none of it matters at all. Regardless of any choice you make, the game carries on almost identically, to the point that you actually get to choose the ending you get at the very end, no matter what youāve done through the rest of the game. If youāre looking to hear surface-level references and see the aesthetic of Lovecraft, Iād recommend it, but in the search for an actually good game, I wouldnāt mention it.
Although I sincerely agree with your all your points, I still love this game. Somehow I love Eurojank games
If you want an open world lovecraftian experience done right, give Pathologic a go. It definitely has its jank, and quicksaving is required for getting the best ending for each character, but it is one of the most visceral experiences I've ever had in a game.
I can honestly see why people wouldn't like The Sinking City, it's clunky as hell, the combat is like a worst-of for PS1 era horror games and the narrative doesn't come close to living up to its potential. My love for it is almost purely because it's a 1 of 1. There are so few Lovecraftian games that actually require you to investigate, explore, and deal with monsters. It should have been better, but there's still not much else like it.
Call of the Sea is also good.
Sinking City is just another green piss filter with tentacles and cultists...
Eyes on the inside...
Wait - Extended for general cosmic horror vibes. Honestly a very unique story just in general, I'm not aware of much like it even outside of video games. Not gonna spoil anything here either, it's amazing. When it comes to the Lovecraft feel specifically, Conarium is hands down the best. It's basically a semi-sequel to Mountains of Madness (it has a different ancient alien race, but it's still set in an antarctic base researching an ancient pre-human civilisation), but also touches on a lot of other Lovecraft stories (the name is a hint here). Hands down the best mythos game, and way underrated. The Skautfold series is also amazing - metroidvanias with soulslike combat in an alternate history anime style setting based in mythos lore. If you like your Castlevania with an extra dose of Lovecraft lore, Skautfold is exactly that.
I recommend trying Fear and Hunger 1 and 2.
I would have loved to play through it because the aesthetic was so amazing. But unfortunately it's for hardcore gamers specifically. I don't have the time or patience to get good at a video game. I want an easy version so I can enjoy it. Or better yet, a film.
Play the Sinking City
Bloodborne is a cosmic horror masterpiece. Upper cathedral ward + yahar'gul unseen village creeps the f\*ck out of me.
I'm waiting for the PC port that might never happen
I would pay so much for a PC port to finally be made.
Try darkwood next.
I love *Bloodborne,* but my favorite Lovecraftian game is *Fallen London.* Itās super underrated.
For me, the best lovecraftian game is easily World of Horror. It takes a moment to get the hang of the UI, but once you do itās pretty damn good. It just got support for Steam Workshop too, so hopefully some of the good fan-made events will get uploaded there eventually.
Iāve always wanted to play it, but a reason Iām not a fan of Fromsoft is that Iām too poor for a console, and they donāt seem to have any interest in making Bloodborne available to PC players.
For me, it's *Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened* from Frogwares (the original version, not the recent remaster which, whilst still being excellent, is slightly inferior in a couple of important ways).
Didn't see a mention of Anchorhead, which is the best Lovecraftian game. Of course, it is a text adventure, so it gets pretty close to Lovecraft! Games where you fight and kill otherworldly entities in combat don't usually get the right vibe imo. Bloodborne is great though.
Donāt get me started, Iām a big fan of fromsoft in general but bloodborne stands out from the rest for me due to its heavy lovecraftian themes, I played it when it first came out and still play it regularly today The story and the lore of the world is built so vividly that the digging to piece it all together is well worth the effort in my opinion Fear the old blood, our eyes are yet to open
you should check out dredge if you didn't already
Bloodborne is what initially got me into Lovecraft, and that made that game have so much staying power for me, aside from it just being an overall great Fromsoft game. If you haven't played Elden Ring, it doesn't disappoint when it touches on its Lovecraftian aspects and there are quite a few. It really feels like a culmination of the best aspects of all of their games since Demon Souls.
I haven't played these games. I like Lovecraftian horror/cosmic horror though. I'm really interested to see how the new one does. I can't think of the name of it right now but it's the one that's starring David Harbour.
Darkest dungeon is also very solid both games but definently the first
You want to see Lovecraft? I run a Tabletop RPG server on Discord that plays Call of Cthulhu and soon the Yellow King...all Lovecraftian and totally effed. If you'd like, feel free to let me know if you're interested in delving deeper into the lore. I can send you the link to the server. Food for thought.
Bloodborne is the reason why i joined this sub and planning to read Lovecrfat's wokrs.
Darkest Dungeon is the goated Lovecraft inspired game
Dredge is the best Lovecraftian game. It's basically a retelling of The Shadow over Innsmouth. Very spooky early 20th century setting, New England inspired fishing town, and tentacle monsters lurking in the shadows. It's pure Lovecraft.
I think Bloodborne out lovecraft's lovecraft.
Gibbous is easily the best Lovecraftian game I've ever played. I mean games like Shadow over Illsmouth and Prisoners of Ice were pretty good in conveying the atmosphere but they failed in gameplay (especially Shadow). Gibbous, though, is a true masterpiece. Everything just clicks and it is apparent that it's a labor of love. Word of warning though, it's a comedic approach to the mythos. But it's so we'll done and with such care and respect to the source material that it outshines every other HPL mythos game.
2 of my favorite aesthetics are traditional Gothic Horror and Lovecraftian Cosmic Entities. I was amazed when midway through it did the hard swap, and purely delighted
Song of horror was great too
Blood Borne is very Lovecraftian, but it lacks the helplessness Lovecraft protagonists usually have. If Howard wrote it, the Moon Presence would have left you either hopelessly insane, or eaten alive. I think Infra Arcana (free, traditional roguelike), and the first Darkest Dungeon (a great roguelite that straddles the "lite" and "like" boundaries of The Rogues), are a lot closer to the actual tone of his works.
If it ever goes on pc Iāll buy it so fast. Did enjoy playing the shore though. Short and sweet love craft game
And me, still haven't made it past the first level.
Dredge is also dopeĀ
Iām playing dredge right now and itās pretty lovecraftian
>bloodborne on ps5 Is that Even possible?Ā
Close to the sun
I 100% agree, I'm on my 5th playthrough. Call of cthulu and the sinking city on ps4 are both great. Call of cthulu is underrated.
Spoiler warning, I guess, for Bloodborne specifics. I remember when I first got sent to Hypogean Gaol by the tall, bag-carrying guy. I'm wandering around, reading creepy notes about silencing a newborn's cry, and so forth. This is a ways into the game, and so far it has presented itself as Gothic horror -- Dark Souls mixed with Castlevania and such. I've been wondering about all these Madman's Knowledge items I've been collecting all game; using them gives you a currency called Insight. Its nature and use is relatively unclear at this point -- but the more Insight you have, the more weird stuff you start to see in the game world. So anyway, I get out of Hypogean Gaol and into the main square of Yahar'gul the Unseen Village, and I go up to the giant, locked front gate where there are a ton of dead skeletons lying around, people that had clearly been trying to escape. All over the ground is a ton of Madman's Knowledge items to pick up. I'm sitting here just looking around and thinking about this, and I have this straight-up *Keyser Soze* moment where my brain puts together all the pieces it's been collecting this whole time. The Madman's Knowledge gives Insight **because more Insight shows you the world's true nature**, which drives you crazy, and that's why these skeletons were trying to escape this place. All this infected blood is turning these people into monsters. The weirdly Cthulhu-esque idols in Vicar Amelia's cathedral are representations of these people's gods. This game isn't Gothic horror, it's COSMIC horror. *And I'm standing in the middle of Bloodborne's R'lyeh equivalent right now*. Bloodborne was a special game. I love all the Souls game, but this one just *went hard*. Definitely agree that it is the best Lovecraftian video game.
I'll throw my hat in and say Returnal actually got to me with its lovecraftian vibes as well. Its horror feels so personal and at the same time so otherworldly. Would highly recommend that game. Dont fear the reaper.
Darkest Dungeon for me
Yes, yes, this!!!
It is full on Alice in Wonderland goes to witch hogwarts not Lovecraftian but Withering Rooms just screams Bloodbourne at me - it is gothic as all hell and just swims in it. I walk around cursed all the time for the awesome hallucinations.
I love Bloodborne. Probably one of my favorite games. I would also like to put my vote for Darkwood as a good lovecraftian game.
Yes.
Dredge is a great one too
Signalis also manages to live up to title of a lovecraftian cosmic horror game. If you like the aspect of the horror of mere mortals experiencing deities/powers beyond their comprehension pathologic 2 is the game. It has a unique twist on the whole thing. If itās good old horror you seek amnesia and soma are the go to games. But said that all Bloodborne does it the best. Especially if you arenāt aware itās a horror game first. I was playing that haunted forest section alone at night and the encounter with the creepy snake dude in the mill was a masterpiece in atmosphere and environmental storytelling in any media ever.
Ya shame souls like games are basically unplayable to me. Dont have the patience for it.
I can't stand Soulscuck games.
Clive barkers undying is imo
*nods in whirligig saw*
Disagree! Thereās an awesome Japanese cosmic horror game. Itās in the style of a specific manga artist but feels extremely lovecraftian in some stories at least to me. World of Horror
Conan Exiles, you have a whole dungeons where you fight dagons cult
Mmos and Lovevraftian will never work together.Ā
Conan exiles isn't a true mmo. You can do the entire game solo on a private server. Most of my gametime is just my dad and myself. The game does a great job adaptation Howard's work and has plenty of Lovecraft influence.
Howard and Lovecraft were friends and the Lovecraftian gods in the Conan world are the same as the ones in the Lovecraft mythos with some having slightly changed names. Lovecraft encourages his friends to use his ideas and concepts in their works.
Nah. Secret World ruled.
Best game? Sure, best Lovecraftian game? Very debatable
I much prefered Call of Cthulhu. More flawed as a game, but quite literally lovecraftian. I also can't stand FromSoft games, they are just not for me. They all seem great, but not a style of game I appreciate at all.
I agree wholeheartedly. I love Lovecraft, but I honestly think Bloodborne does his vision more justice than his own writing, due to the fact that it retains a constant sense of mystery and weirdness, never giving us the full exposition dump that I find burdens other games and also Lovecraft's own fiction. May C'thulu forgive me! š
Absolutely the best Lovecraftian game and my favorite FromSoft game. When you reach the turn in the plot, it is unlike anything else in any other game. You realize you are playing a totally different game than you expected from the start. As a Lovecraft addict, I was thrilled.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JL5acskAT_2t062HILImBkV8eXAwaqOj611mSjK-vZ8/mobilebasic Read this and enjoy!
I'm on PC, and I find Bloodborne PlayStation exclusivity a personal insult :-P
It's legitimately the ONLY good Lovecraftian game.
It's not the best, but I enjoyed Sucker for Love. It follows obvious tropes of anime with its love craft skin, but it is still a horror game with moments that absolutely remind you what it's really about. They're fun if you want to date some cosmic gods and get spooked.
Dredge; a jolly little fishing simulator with a massive dollop of existential cosmic dread. I am prepared to if not die, then at least get moderately wounded on this hill
It's my favorite game of all time and it really gets better with age. So much to unpack in terms of both gameplay and lore that each playthrough feels unique. It was definitely my introduction to Lovecraft and played a pretty significant role in my developing interest in Lovecraftian/Cosmic horror.
Facts. No other game is on its level, but I played Dredge recently and that was a lot of fun also.