Anyone ever seen a stylized horror game?
All most all of the horror games feature a very realistically rendered visual style!
Can horror really be transmitted via a stylized world?
Any thoughts?
Can horror games take place in stylized world?
Yes, they can. Why would they not? Bendy and the Ink Machine comes to my mind. Hello Neighbor too.
Of course, horror can be a broad term, so it depends which kind of horror you want. Many horror games these days are just jumpscare sequences. Good psychological horror (think "The Shining" movie, or even "It") seems hard to achieve, so many devs go to the easy route of jumpscares. It's not a bad thing per se, just overused and shallow.
A "cute" non realistic art style can also be used as a tool in a horror game, because you don't really expect such cute characters and sceneries to be so dark. It can be use to creat a great contrast to the theme of the game.
4 hours ago, TerraSkilll said:A "cute" non realistic art style can also be used as a tool in a horror game, because you don't really expect such cute characters and sceneries to be so dark. It can be use to creat a great contrast to the theme of the game.
I call this "The Betty White Effect". In her later years Betty White did a few roles where she played an evil character. The fact that she seemed so over-the-top happy and nice just made her seem even more evil and she did very well in those roles, which you wouldn't expect her too. The opposite look and feel of what you are going for can sometimes actually enhance the effect, rather than detract from it as you would expect it too.
Of course!
There are a million ways to stylize art, and there are plenty of ways to make it creepy. I think some of the best ways are digging into the Uncanny Valley to play on our instincts, giving stuff a lack of definition or making it rather abstract to let the player's imagination run wild, and playing with contrast as the others above said.
There are a lot of horror games made with RPG maker (like corpse party, so popular it was adapted into a manga and anime series). Of course, likeTerraSkills said, there are a lot of horror types; this ones survival horror.
But I can't help but think of how psychological horror can even work in word form. You just have to plant a creepy idea in someone's head and the their imagination does the rest.
If you are looking for recent examples, last year's Inside comes to mind. It has a very defined style, and yet conveys horror with striking effectiveness.
Darkest Dungon springs to mind, if you're looking for more inspiration. It's good looking, effective at conveying horror, and I suspect relatively cheap to produce.
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