Famitsu’s List of Horror Games

Japanese game magazine Famitsu recently published an article called “The Heart of Horror Games” (part of their regular “The Heart of…” series). I’ll post a bit more about the article itself later, but first I wanted to relate the list of horror games that they came up with. You’ll notice a lot of similarities to my list, except that Famitsu counts “novel games,” while I do not. There are a lot of titles in here that I’ve never heard of before (though most are not the type of game I am looking for), so I’ve included the Romanization of each name as well as the original Japanese and a clunky translation for most tiles. I skipped doing this for games that are well known or have been released in the West.

While many of the entries sound interesting, I think it is also interesting that some titles were omitted. Games like Nanatsu no Hikan and The Note seem like they would fit right into this list, yet they are nowhere to be found.

The list is sorted in order of release (oldest games to newest games), and contains only games that were released in Japan (and apparently only console games). I’ve noted games that are novel games, as well as 3D Exploration games (MYST-style). When I was unable to find any information about a game, I’ve marked it as “??? Game.”

A note about my translations: I’m not a great translator, so while I’ve made an attempt to translate the names of these games correctly, you’ll notice that the results are often pretty weird. In fact, there may already be better translations of some of these names out there; in only a few cases was I able to find any existing documentation in English. So take my translations with a grain of salt.

Title Platform Japanese Notes

Sweet Home Famicom
Splatterhouse TurboGrafx-16
Otogiriso Super Famicom 弟切草 Sound Novel, “St. John’s Wort”
Splatterhouse 2 Genesis
Splatterhouse 3 Genesis
Mansion of the Hidden Souls SegaCD 夢見館の物語
Alone in the Dark 3DO
Kamaitachi No Yoru Super Famicom かまいたちの夜 Novel Game, “Night of the Kamaitachi”
New Mansion of the Hidden Souls – Somebody’s Behind That Door… Saturn 真説・夢見館 扉の奥に誰かが… I think this is the same game as before.
D 3DO
Yakouchuu Super Famicom 夜光虫 Novel Game, “Noctiluca scintillans”
Darkseed Saturn
Gakkou no Kaidan Saturn 学校の怪談 ??? Game, “School Ghost Stories”
Gakkou de Atta Kowai Hanashi Super Famicom 学校であった怖い話 Sound Novel, “Scary Stories from School”
Clock Tower Super Famicom
QUANTUM GATE 1 ~Akumu No Jyosyou~ Saturn Quantum Gate ~悪夢の序章~ ??? Game, “Quantum Gate 1 – Preface to a Nightmare”
Majyotachi no Nemuri Super Famicom 魔女たちの眠り Novel Game, “Witches’ Sleep”
Yaku ~Yujyou Dangi~ PS1 厄 〜友情談義〜 Novel Game, “Misfortune ~Discussing Friends~”
Alone in the Dark 2: One Eyed Jack’s Revenge Saturn
Twilight Syndrome ~Investigative Report~ PS1 トワイライトシンドローム 探索編 Novel Game, some exploration
Tsukikomori Super Famicom 晦-つきこもり Novel Game
Resident Evil PS1
HORROR TOUR Saturn 3D Exploring Game
Gekka Kiri Maboroshi Dan – TORICO Saturn 月下霧幻譚-TORICO ??? Game, “Illusion in the Moonlit Fog”
Gakko de Atta Kowai Hanashi S PS1 学校であった怖い話S Sound Novel, “Scary Stories from School S”
Twilight Syndrome ~Completed Investigation~ PS1 トワイライトシンドローム 究明編 Novel game, some exploration
Enemy Zero Saturn
Clock Tower 2 PS1 This is “Clock Tower 1” in the US.
Kyofu Shinbun PS1 恐怖新聞 Sound Novel, “Fear Newspaper”
Yaku Tsu ~Noroi no Gemu~ PS1 厄痛~呪いのゲーム Sound Novel, “Misfortune 2 ~The Cursed Game~” The “2” part of the title is a dumb play on words with the word for pain.
Darkseed Saturn I don’t understand why Darkseed is listed twice, once in 1995 and once in 1997, by different companies. Is it a typo, or are there actually two different Darkseed games?
Moonlight Syndrome PS1 ムーンライトシンドローム Novel Game, some exploration.
R?MJ – THE MYSTERY HOSPITAL PS1 3D Exploring Game
Prisoner of Ice ~Demon’s Descent~ PS1 プリズナーオブアイス〜邪神降臨〜 Adventure Game
Resident Evil 2 PS1
Clock Tower – Ghost Head PS1 This is “Clock Tower 2” in the US.
…Iru! PS1 ・・・いる! ??? Game, “It’s here!” This title is impossible to search for because the name is a common word.
Daiyuurei Yashiki ~Hamamura Jun no Jitsuwa Kaidan PS1 大幽霊屋敷 浜村淳の実話怪談 Novel Game, “Huge Ghost Mansion – Jun Hamamura’s Real Ghost Stories”
Yasoukyoku PS1 夜想曲 Sound Novel, “Nocturne”
Echo Night PS1
Juggernaut PS1 Juggernaut 〜戦慄の扉〜 3D Exploring Game, “Juggernaut – The Horrible Door”
Silent Hill PS1
WEB MYSTERY ~Yochimu wo Miru Neko~ DC WEB MYSTERY 予知夢ヲ見ル猫 FMV Game, “WEB MYSTERY – The Cat with Precognitive Dreams”
Inagawa Junji no Kyoufu no Yashiki PS1 稲川淳二の恐怖の屋敷 FMV Game, “Junji Inagawa’s Mansion of Fear”
Echo Night 2< - Nemuri no Shihaisha/a> PS1 エコーナイト#2 眠りの支配者 “Echo Night #2 – The Sleeping Leader”
Resident Evil 3 PS1
Yuuyami Doori Tankentai PS1 夕闇通り探検隊 FMV Novel Game, “Twilight Street Explorers” AKA “Season of Twilight”
Yakouchuu 2 – Satsujin Kouro N64 夜光虫2 殺人航路 Novel Game, “Noctiluca scintillans 2 – Murderer’s Sea Route”
D2 DC
Shisya no Yobu Yakata PS1 死者の呼ぶ館 Novel Game, “The House that Calls the Dead”
Resident Evil: Code Veronica DC
The Ring DC
Inagawa Junji no Mayonaka no Takushi PS1 稲川淳二 真夜中のタクシー FMV Game, “Junji Inagawa’s Midnight Taxi”
Twilight Syndrom Saikai PS1 トワイライトシンドローム 再会 Novel Game, some exploration, “Twilight Syndrome Reunion”
Oumagatoki PS1 逢魔が時 Novel Game, “Dangerous Dusk”
Yasoukyoku 2 PS1 夜想曲2 Sound Novel, “Nocturne 2”
the FEAR PS2 FMV Game
Oumagatoki 2 PS1 逢魔が時2 Novel Game, “Dangerous Dusk 2”
Silent Hill 2 PS2
Fatal Frame PS2 零 〜ZERO〜 “Rei Zero”, a play on words because “rei” can mean “ghost” or (with the character they used) it can mean zero.
Kamaitachi No Yoru 2 – Kangoku Jima no Warabu Uta PS2 かまいたちの夜2 監獄島のわらべ唄 Novel Game, “Night of the Kamaitachi 2: Prison Island’s Folk Song”
Resident Evil 0 GC
Clock Tower 3 PS2
Silent Hill 3 PS2
Kyoufu Shimbun Heiseiban Kaiki! Shinrei File PS2
Siren PS2
Fatal Frame 2 PS2
Resident Evil Outbreak PS2
Echo Night: Beyond PS2
Kuon PS2
Silent Hill 4 PS2
Hayarigami Keishichou Kaii Jiken Fairu PS2 流行り神 警視庁怪異事件ファイル Novel Game, “Fashionable God: The Strange Incident at Police Headquarters Case File”
Michigan PS2
Resident Evil Outbreak 2 PS2
Akai Ito PS2 アカイイト Novel Game, “The Red String”
Resident Evil 4 GC
Haunting Ground PS2
Constantine Xbox
Higanjima PSP 彼岸島 Novel Game
Fatal Frame 3 PS2
THE Noroi no Ge-mu PS2 THE 呪いのゲーム Novel Game, “THE Cursed Game”
Rule of Rose PS2
Resident Evil Deadly Silence DS
Indigo Prophecy PS2 AKA “Fahrenheit” I wrote some notes about this game.
Jyui Dr. Toumajyou Tarou PSP 呪医 Dr.杜馬丈太郎 Novel Game, “Dr. Tarou Toumajyou: Cursed Physician”
Siren 2 PS2
Dead Rising Xbox360
Kamaitachi No Yoru x3 Mikadukijima Jiken no Shinsou PS2 かまいたちの夜×3 三日月島事件の真相 Novel Game, “Night of the Kamaitachi Triple: The True Events of the Crescent Moon Island Incident”
Condemned Xbox360
Escape from Bug Island Wii
Vampire Rain Xbox360
Hikurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri PS2 ひぐらしのなく頃に 祭 Sound Novel, “When They Cry – Festival” (literal translation is “When Cicadas Cry”).

6 thoughts on “Famitsu’s List of Horror Games

  1. I’m shocked someone would include Horror Tour
    and leave games like The Note and Dark Messiah
    off.
    The Japanese must have an unnatural love
    for grainy CPK movies and bad puzzles.

  2. I suspect they didn’t intentionally leave them off the list; the article actually has screen shots from Hell Night and a couple of other games that are not included in the list. Maybe the list was put together by the intern? I mean, how could they miss Dark Tales – From the Lost Soul?!

  3. Its a cool list though they have missed some very good ones.

    The saturn version of mansion of hidden souls is different from the first, or so Im told as I own the saturn but not the sega CD my friend tells me its kind of like an unlinked sequel…I have the psone game Iru… it was a nightmare trying to get a copy

  4. r00t.2pt.net
    WTH, they didn’t put Countdown Vampires on the
    list. Dino Crisis… They’re 10 times scarier
    than many games listed.

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