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[Angst]

Haunting Ground Official

The girl's name is Fiona Belli (18 years old). The stalking guy's name we've seen in earlier screens name's Debilitas.

I'm actually interested in this game now! (I mean - Fiona, 18... who can't be interested?)

Zero replies - I gather this is one of the most awaited game releases this year...

 

[atomsk]

this is the same team as clock tower 3 right? that pretty much seals a purchase from me

 

[Solid]

I'm actually interested in this game now! (I mean - Fiona, 18... who can't be interested?)

She's not Japanese

 

[Culex]

According to the site, the ogre-like stalker is named Debitus, not Debilitas

 

[Angst]

According to the site, the ogre-like stalker is named Debitus, not Debilitas

Weird, now that you mention it, if you click "characters" his name is Debitus. But if you read the text on the left it says that his name is Debilitas....?

 

[Nick Laslett]

I finally got the chance to pick this up on Saturday.

I played for a good few hours and thought the game was excellent.

I liked the paired down game mechanic. The run'n'hide, panic attacks and hysteria effects all seemed pretty novel and entertaining to me. (I've not played Eternal Darkeness.)

Hewie is great and like Ico I have a real empathy for the two characters and their plight.

I have to mention the technical aspects of the game. I have been replaying Silent Hill 3 and going straight from that to this was a bit if a techno shock.

The way you move from room to room without any loading is pretty impressive. Perhaps Sony have lent out their streaming code or perhaps Capcom have reversed engined how it is done. But it is really impressive to play a Japanese game that has the same kind of continuous environments as stuff like Jak2, Primal and Ghosthunter. I get a bit sick of games like Onimusha 3, MGS3, Silent Hill3 - where we have to put up with continuous loading screens.

The graphics far surpass Silent Hill 3 and it is amazing to see how far the PS2 has come since that game was developed.

Haunting Ground has Prog Scan, and it makes a real difference to the image quality and picture stability. Not as impressive as God of War, but pretty good for a PS2 game.

From a technical perspective Haunting Ground is a good indicator for what the RE4 port might be like. If this game is anything to go buy a lot of people will be surprised with how good the port will turn out. (For the recrod I do not expect the PS2 port of RE4 to be at the same level as the GC original.)

 

[Ceb]

I agree. I've played through the game and it was overall an enjoyable experience.

The character design is great and the writing isn't as hammy as in RE4. It may not be jump-in-your-seat scary or action-packed, but the motivation to get Fiona and Hewie out of the castle is enough. And the underlying sexual tension (culminating in the nasty Game Over sequences) will make you want to protect her from the freaks that inhabit the castle grounds.

I disagree about it looking better than SH3 though, although it does a few technical things a lot better, like the aforementioned lack of loading times. Character models and the way they animate also look GREAT.

Don't know if I'll be replaying this any time soon though. A slow, moody game like this just doesn't have the same impact the second time through. Also, it loses a bit of focus later in the game, where some visuals and plot threads just get too crazy. The story is a tad underdeveloped too in a certain of instances, and the voice acting ranges from good to not-so-good (Daniella's laughter...).

Still, despite these nigglings, the game is a lot more enjoyable than most of the other unpolished drek in the horror genre (Fatal Frame, Siren).