What’s going on guys - it’s me again, your host Jack Finch - and welcome to Top
5 Scary Videos.
Today - we’re going to be stepping into the world of digital horror - to the land
where they *arguably* do it the best - Japan.
If you’ve never stayed up until 3 AM - alone - playing Silent Hill and quietly having a
panic attack.
Well - frankly, you’ve never truly been scared.
Before we begin - make sure to hit that subscribe button, and let us know what video game terrifies
you the most in the comment box down below.
Without further delay - let’s begin, shall we?
Starting us off at Number 5 - we have Calling, for the Nintendo Wii.
Also known as Kuroki Chakushin in Japan, Calling was released on November 19th 2009.
Made for the Nintendo Wii, this terrifying survival-horror piece didn’t exactly get
the recognition it deserved when it first hit the gaming world of horror.
It’s most impressive feature, was how it took the Wii Controller to new heights - acting
as a mobile phone, the only weapon that the player could use to combat the supernatural
world.
The controller would surprise players by randomly ringing throughout the game.
And who was on the other line?
You guessed it - ghosts.
The game begins with players hearing rumours about a cursed chat room - called The Black
Page - a mysterious website that shows only a counter of the number of people who had
died visiting the page.
The story then focuses on four people who awaken in a realm between the living and the
dead - known as the Mnemonic Abyss.
That’s where the meat of the game really lives - exploring an insane, twisted version
of the Stranger Things Upside Down - but with more ghosts.
Next up at Number 4 - we have Night of Sacrifice - otherwise known as Ikenie no Yoru.
Also designed for the Wii - Night of Sacrifice was first released in Japan in 2011, but unfortunately
for us - it wasn’t released outside of Japan.
So - unless you know someone who owns a Japanese import - your chances to play this game are
very slim.
There are also very few mechanics in this game - which kind of makes it even more terrifying.
The player can walk forward, walk backwards, and wave around their flashlight.
That’s it.
Did we also mention you have to make your way through a twisted, haunted Japanese mansion
- jam packed with the ghosts of people who’d been ritualistically sacrificed?
Sounds great, right?
Next up at Number 3 - we have The Death Forest.
Now - there’s not a lot of information on this game, which kind of begs the question
- where the hell did it come from?
Originally released on July 7th 2015 for the PC - The Death Forest was created and published
by a NicoBlog user known as Kazz.
It’s readily available online and is relatively easy to download - so I guess that the only
way to really understand this game, is to just play it.
Some say The Death Forest drew its inspiration from the Slenderman game - but others claim
that the Death Forest has been passed along for years, from player to player on various
small forum boards.
The game is relatively straightforward - you’re stranded in a forest, your bike is broken
down - and you have to find 4 components to get it working again.
The rest - well you’ll have to play it for yourself.
Bringing it in at Number 2 - we have Sweet Home.
Exclusively released in Japan in December of 1989, Sweet Home was a companion piece
to a horror film of the same name.
Originally made for the NES - or the Family Computer, as it’s known in Japan - Sweet
Home is a little known classic in early video game culture.
Again - this game is /only/ available in Japan, and has been relatively untouched by a western
audience.
It is also considered as the flagship video game for the survival-horror genre, and gave
birth to the wider franchise.
The story focuses on - again, a haunted mansion - but the terrifying twist to this narrative
is the nature of the restless spirits that inhabit there.
At one point in the game, the player stumbles across a projection room - where a loop of
a couple and their baby burning in a fire is played on a monitor.
It is later revealed that the previous occupants of the mansion, had a two year old son who
fell into the house’s incinerator and was burnt alive.
His mother - attempted to provide her son’s ghost with playmates - by luring several other
children to the mansion and killing them.
Yikes.
Also - if one of the player characters dies in the game - yep - they’re dead forever.
Sweet Home is a game with no extra lives.
And finally - coming in at the top spot - we have Number One - Silent Hill 2.
Okay - I’m gonna say it - Silent Hill 2 is the scariest game ever made.
Not just in Japan - but in the world.
Released in September 2001 by Konami, you play as James Sunderland as he makes his way
through the strange town of Silent Hill after receiving a mysterious letter from his wife
- who had died - three years before.
And that’s just the beginning.
Silent Hill is a game that just makes you /feel/ weird.
Even the way the controls are designed - the way the camera can’t quite give you the
right viewpoint - or the way that James can’t move in the direction that he’s facing.
The whole thing is just unnerving - without even diving into the plot.
Because if you haven’t played it - play it.
You’ll understand that exact level of uneasiness - something about this game just feels /off/.
At its core, Silent Hill 2 is a study of real human emotions - and, essentially, the toll
that tragedy takes on the human mind.
You play the story of a man having a mental breakdown - over, and over again - from different
perspectives and angles.
It’s fear - in its purest essence.
That’s all we’ve got time for today guys - we’ve hope you’ve enjoyed today’s
video - make sure to leave a like and a comment in the box down below.
You’ve been watching Top 5 Scary Videos - I’ve been your host Jack Finch - and until
next time, take it easy.