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[samoilaaa]

I recently finished call of ctuhlhu dark corners of the earth and its an amazing game , it has alot of mystery and suspense , the atmosphere is great , gameplay is a little clunky but hey its 2005 , i also finished call of cthulhu 2018 and bloodborne and it makes me very sad that there are only 3 games in the lovecraft universe ( maybe there are more but they are very small games ) , sinking city i didnt like

this universe is so unique it has so much mystery surounding it , they have enough material for alot of games , even with call of cthulhu they could have made more games like turn it into a trilogy and make cthulhu show at the end of the 3 games , the 2018 game's biggest enemy was the budget , im not really sure how much money they put into it but im guessing not alot , the cthulhu appearance was underwhelming because without alot of money you cant make the graphics good enough to bring stuff like that to life

bloodborne nailed the atmosphere 100% , the city , the music , the npcs , the bosses , everything is perfect , the only thing that i hated was that the story wasnt very direct , it was mostly told through lore

I would really like to see a 1920's lovecraftian game with a 100 million budget , that would be really amazing , the gaming industry should really give more attention to lovecraftian games

 

[The Cockatrice]

They do if they're good. Most are not. I can only think of 3? or so good games out of the dozen lovecraftian games.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

Ehh, lovecraftian is kind of an overused horror troupe to me in general. I love cosmic horror as well. But I don't love the tentacles and gooeyness of it.

 

[Flabagast]

No they do not, mostly because 95% of these games have ridiculous stories that barely touch upon so-called "themes" and only use a boring iconography that was never really lovecraftian in the first place. I despise them.

 

[Jonnie_Darko]

Nah, these games are not so good and only scratch the surface of lovecraftian horror that its so generic as devs copying P.T during the last years.

 

[samoilaaa]

They do if they're good. Most are not. I can only think of 3? or so good games out of the dozen lovecraftian games.

the thing is that lovecraft games are based alot on atmopshere and with a low budget you cant achieve a very realistic atmosphere , it would be a huge risk for a company to give 100 million to a dev team to make a game with kinda low fanbase , lovecraft isnt the type of universe that you can just shoot everything or have flashy addicting combat , you have to compensate with a good story and atmoshpere , make the player constatly motivated to explore and find more about the world



all these events sound very epic and would be awsome in a video game

 

[samoilaaa]

Nah, these games are not so good and only scratch the surface of lovecraftian horror that its so generic as devs copying P.T during the last years.

this video explains why lovecraft games/movies are hard to make

 

[mansoor1980]

elden ring should have included a cthulu biome instead of the dull snow based environment

 

[SJRB]

Tentacles, Cthulhu and fish monsters are like the lowest possible bar for Lovecraftian themed games.

The true power of cosmic horror is the unfathomable, the corruption of the mind and its sanity, horrors literally beyond comprehension. Which of course is impossible to translate into a videogame [or any audiovisual medium].

FROM has the best grasp of what Lovecraftian horror in a videogame could be. Bloodborne is a no-brainer both in visual design and in lore, and Elden Ring has a lot of cosmic, bizarre otherworldly, interdimensional enemies and locations.

 

[Wildebeest]

There are way too many of them. Very overplayed and stale theme at this point. Big "huh huh I'm a gamer the cake is a lie and I love creepy fish monster cults!" vibes.

 

[Kiya's Guard]

Lovecraftian yes, not just cthulhu-esque

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Eternal Darkness is very Lovecraft.

Forgive me Father is looking really good. It's on this month's humble bundle if you want to get it for cheap.

 

[Fbh]

Bloodborne is the only one I've truly liked.
I've tried some of the others but they all seem like average games that take advantage of the Lovecraft name and lore to stand out. When the only interesting thing in your game are the concepts and themes made by a long dead author I don't think you deserve more attention.

As others have mentioned, the issue with translating Lovecraft to a visual medium is that he often deals with horrors which are so great that our mind can't fully comprehend them. But I still think there's interesting ways some of these ideas could be brought into gaming, maybe with some sort of Eternal Darkness insanity where it focuses more on the effects the creature is having on the mind of the character rather than the creature itself.

 

[KiteGr]

Lovecraftian horror works best when Lovecraft him self is not involved.

If you base you story one of his stories, then the mystery is known, thus there is no mystery.
If you make an original IP that only follow that style of horror, then you don't know what to expect. It's even better if you don't expect the horror to come.
That's why Bloodborne and Junji Itoh are so successful.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Tentacles, Cthulhu and fish monsters are like the lowest possible bar for Lovecraftian themed games.

The true power of cosmic horror is the unfathomable, the corruption of the mind and its sanity, horrors literally beyond comprehension. Which of course is impossible to translate into a videogame [or any audiovisual medium].

FROM has the best grasp of what Lovecraftian horror in a videogame could be. Bloodborne is a no-brainer both in visual design and in lore, and Elden Ring has a lot of cosmic, bizarre otherworldly, interdimensional enemies and locations.

Returnal did a pretty good job with that as well, delved into the mind more than most.

 

[TexMex]

Usually when a game is described as “Lovecraftian” (almost always by someone who isn’t familiar with Lovecraft at all) it’s a red flag. As someone said, when they’re good they do get attention. They’re normally awful.

 

[NoLootBoxDev]

These are a few games I played and like it for what it was:

and I am waiting for this one:

 

[Kokoloko85]

Nah, these games are not so good and only scratch the surface of lovecraftian horror that its so generic as devs copying P.T during the last years.

Bloodborne rules lol

 

[ungalo]

I feel those games usually know they will attract their niche regardless of whether they have real qualities. Besides the atmosphere, which is the thing they don't want to miss.

I played The Sinking City and Call of Cthulhu. It's decent...if you look for Lovecraftian games.

 

[Vandole]

Darkest Dungeon, Bloodborne, and the Call of Cthulhu adventure game were all excellent. But I think overall there's a lot more misses than hits when it comes to lovecraftian games. But that's not even exclusive to gaming. Most lovecraftian movies for instance are God awful.

At its core, the genre just has a very narrow appeal. At its core, you're trying to get people to buy into the themes of helplessness and insanity. That's not usually a recipe for fun. But if you try to broaden the appeal, you likely sacrifice those concepts, and maybe just end up replacing them with tentacles.

 

[Azelover]

Yeah, I totally agree.. Bloodborne is one of my favorite games for that reason.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Yeah, I totally agree.. Bloodborne is one of my favorite games for that reason.

Yep, and it was the mystery of the lore than sucked me in just as much as the great gameplay. Had me scouring the internet for theories and write-ups, something I usually never do for games since most are so on the nose already.

Returnal has my brain racking on the top two or 3 theories as well.

Sometimes I wish devs/writers would come out with their cannon down the road, instead of leaving it to wonder.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

Bloodborne is the only game that doesn't look cheap and does the theme well. it's so intertwined with the story, too. The blood of the old ones. You cannot get more tightly knitted than that.

 

[VN1X]

Currently going through Conarium and it's like a smorgasbord of everything Lovecraftian, sci-fi and alternate history & dimensions. The atmosphere's on point and I'm interested to see where it goes but so far the puzzles have been rather frustrating unfortunately (although I guess that is a subjective thing). I'm still enjoying it though and it's not a long game either apparently so that's a plus. As far as budget Lovecraft games go Conarium seems like a decent buy.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I would really like to see a 1920's lovecraftian game with a 100 million budget , that would be really amazing , the gaming industry should really give more attention to lovecraftian games

While I would love that as well imagine a shitstorm focusing on Lovecraft opinions of race (he was a racist, there's no denying it), instead of the quality of the game based on his books.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Nah, these games are not so good and only scratch the surface of lovecraftian horror that its so generic as devs copying P.T during the last years.

Dark Corners of the Earth is a superb game. That's like saying Vampire the Masquarade Bloodlines is not good because the engine it is running on is shit (it is).

 

[jm89]

Loved call of cthulu.

Made me go buy sinking city which is a huge disappointment. I cant describe it exactly, but the atmosphere just doesn't feel the same. The gameplay is just ugh, might as well just got rid of it.

 

[Kamina]

Sadly most of them are medico at best, and especially the last two are more glorified horror-detective games than anything.

 

[GigaBowser]

 

[SkeletonQuays]

If sinking city didn't have bugs it would have been a pretty sweet lovcaftian game. I would argue that deadspace could in some form be considered lovecraftian with the obelisk. I LOVE lovecraftian stuff... OP if you're into boardgames snag a copy of Death May Die... wonderful lovecraftian game with rules somewhat like a videogame but ai is based on cards.

 

[Sgt.Asher]

Shame that Nintendo doesn't do anything with Eternal Darkness.

 

[semiconscious]

for me, sinking city was the deadly premonition of last gen, but with lovecraft in place of lynch...

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Sinking City was pretty good. I liked it quite a lot better than other attempts at surreal horror out there... only the combat sucked, and not enough to bother me since combat only exists as part of the fear & risk mechanic.

 

[fart town usa]

Go play Lamentum. Pixel-style RE clone. Released within the last 12 months or so.

I haven't finished it but played a few hours last winter. It's an awesome game, nails the survival horror experience.

 

[AJUMP23]

Cuthulu don’t need you.

 

[Pilgrimzero]

Seek out the old point and click games.

Shadow of the Comet and it’s sequel Prisoner of Ice.

If you want something a tad more modern then Eternal Darkness on Gamecube is bar none the best Lovecraftian style game made.

 

[jason10mm]

Dead Space?

Hell, I'd argue the humanity changing end to Mass Effect is pretty Lovecraftian. He was a sci-fi writer after all.

Direct "blast it in the face" action doesn't gel well with cosmic horror IMHO. It's more about discovery and fleeing before madness.

My kid plays a shit ton of games on roblox like rooms or doors, or whatever that have players fleeing before an unstoppable threat that feel pretty Lovecraftian as well.

 

[nominedomine]

Just give me Bloodborne Remastered.

 

[Ultra Donny]

Sinking City?

 

[Vlodril]

Stygian Reign of the Old Ones was pretty good. It ends abruptly (i think it was a ks and they run out of money) but great atmosphere and world.

 

[Fuz]

The moment you make those ideas tangible, they lose their strenght.

 

[TwiztidElf]

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

This video I liked seems pretty on topic...

 

[Darkmakaimura]

These are a few games I played and like it for what it was:

I was going to bring these up except on GOG.

https://www.gog.com/game/the_shore

https://www.gog.com/game/dagon_by_h_p_lovecraft

 

[EDMIX]

Sure, but you'd just get mad when its used so much, they'd be like "Souls-Craft-Rouge" lol

 

[Fools idol]

Good opportunity to post one of my favourite documentary videos.



It's a great watch, shows you the life of the man himself. I find it interesting how openly racist he was, even for the time period, and the fact he died poor.