Topic: Creepy But Not Scary Games

I'm trying to come up with 13 games to attempt this coming month that are Halloween-related. Problem is, I'm a wimp when it comes to horror, so I need something that's less scary, but still fits the theme. This is kind of outside my realm of expertise, so I'm asking for a little help here.

Now there's a very fine line between "creepy" and "scary", so for the purpose of this thread, what I mean is either:

1) the game is not scary at all, but relies heavily on Halloween tropes. These usually are seen in parodies utilizes the themes in comical ways. The only example in gaming that I know of is Disgaea.

Or

2) a game that relies of a heavy, dark atmosphere, but you're either not really in much danger (due to a lack of threats and/or being able to readily deal with most threats), or the pressure isn't there most of the time to deal with frequent threats. The pressure is the key here, though. I'm not counting games like Resident Evil 4 or Dead Space where rarely go more than 2 seconds without another group of enemies coming after you. Otherwise I'd just be playing Devil May Cry...The emphasis has to be on the atmosphere, not the threat itself or your ability to deal with it.

Monster Party for NES.

Oh! Luigi's Mansion! I knew I was forgetting one!

I forgot about that one, too. Which reminds me, I had 3 questions:

Would Sweet Home count? I'm under the impression it's a creepy RPG with even more of an emphasis on resource management than usual for an NES RPG.

Would Clock Tower (SNES) count? I kinda doubt it, but I really want to see for myself if its too scary. I think it's kinda more adventure-y, IIRC.

Also, has anybody here played Silent Hill: Book of Memories? It's been a while since I've seen a horror RPG. Not since Parasite Eve.

Speaking of which, I'll probably play PE as my 13th game unless I come up with too many good ones. I need to get that off my to-do list...

Well I just found out about Game & Wario's "Gamer" mini game, it's not scary, in fact sometimes there are funny moments, however you got to watch out for Mom, if she spots your playing your game, it's game over, you are pretty much trying to avoid her.

The Dementium series would also be a good one, it's not scary but the environments and enemies are pretty demonic.

Well I got to see what I'm going to play, I need and want to beat a Resident Evil game I didn't finish, but I might download some horror games, there are a few first person games I might get, wouldn't mind trying a horror RPG like Ao Oni.

That reminds me, I may need to work in Yume Nikki, if only to knock it off the list. It'll probably be too scary, though...

Well to me that game is more strange then scary, from what I saw of the game you don't get chased by anything but there can be creepy moments I guess, I know a few fun scary RPG's but I wouldn't recommend it if you don't like scary stuff and jumpscares.

Zombies ate my neighbors (And @Undead_Terror is behind this =w=)

Indead I was!....but all those other monsters were not my doing...they be trolling the title of the game, I call it false advertising.

I mean, the game has a giant baby 0.0 The scary part must be when it needs a diaper change..........Zombies eating my (no) brains sounds good now!

Sonic.EXE. Or does that not count?

THE STARSHIP DAMREY (3DS eShop) - It's a moody atmospheric puzzle game set on a spaceship. You wake up in your stasis chamber, but unable to get out, you take command of a service robot, and progress by exploring the ship to find clues as to what went wrong with operation since you've been under. You're never in any danger whatsoever, but it makes clever use of it's moody atmosphere to come up with a couple decent jump scares (mostly the "ghost" that pops up a few times). It's only a few hours long too, so you could probably beat it in one night.

Gargoyle's Quest (3DS VC) - This sounds a bit more like what you're looking for. Never scary, it's just a classic Capcom style action platformer (with some RPG elements) that happens to be set in a Halloween-ish world.

Marvel Pinball 3D (or any of the other Zen Pinball releases that have access to the Marvel themed tables) - For the Blade table. It's just pinball with a vampire theme.

40 Winks and Scooby-Doo: Night of 1000 Frights.

Five nights of freddy might be fitting.

There isn't much to the gameplay itself.. but plot is, you're a newly hired security guard to work night shift at a pizzaria. At this pizzaria there is 4 singing animatronics that become active at night. Your job is to watch them on cameras.. and if any come near you close the doors or else they'll stuff you in a freddy suit. They become more haunted like and vicous as the nights progress.

It's not scary.. and when you are scared it's usually from a jumpscare, but the game has a very creepy atmosphere knowing you're just waiting for something to come and kill you at any minute.

Metroid Fusion. Nails the tense atmosphere without jump scares.

I can recommend Anodyne. A small PC game that makes no sense at all, and is somewhat creepy just because of that. The style is extremely minimalistic, and the design is kinda confusing at times, but as you progress, the game starts receiving a slightly dark undertone.

Majora's mask was never mentioned yet?

Can't believe I forgot that.

I'd agree with Majora's Mask; I was never scared, but often creeped out.

I would also add the Wii/PS2 RPG Baroque and Persona 3, for the same reasons as Majora's Mask.

I have failed as a fan of that game...

I could never get into Barque or Majora's Mask, not because of the story or atmosphere, but because the gameplay sucks in both games...

Metroid Fusion, Gargoyle's Quest, and Castlevania: Circle of the Moon are definitely going on my list.