Games You Don’t Remember the Name of - The PS1 Game I never rediscovered

[The Real Me]

A thread where you can describe and help others find lost childhood games that you don’t know the names of.

When I was around 7 or 8, my mother and I were at a flea market and that day she picked up 3 games for me: Destroy All Humans 2, Croc and one other game for the PS1 that despite playing, enjoying and remembering so much of, I have never found after so many searches, even going down the Wikipedia articles for every game released on the PS1.

It was top-down turn-based dungeon crawler with a very gritty dark-fantasy aesthetic, the walls and floors were all grey bricks and tiles and the enemies were all demons and monsters. The only things I properly remember about the gameplay is that each level was a grid and that each turn, you had to roll two six-sided dice to determine how far you moved though I don’t think dice rolls were required for actions.

All I can remember of the box art was that it featured a large black-grey monster crawling towards the camera though it was at a slant so perhaps he was on a wall. It had tons of sharp teeth and large claws and I want to say it was hairy. The best thing I could liken it to is kinda like how El Chupacabra is sometimes described. The title font I want to say was blood red and real edgy, something akin to the Chiller font style.

The last thing I know about the game was that it was released in Europe since I live in the UK, for all I know, it could be a PAL exclusive.

Anyone who can help me out on this gets my eternal gratitude and the satisfaction of knowing I’ll finally die happy.

 

[Prince Lotor]

Is it 'Battle Hunter'? In EU it was titled 'The Hunter'. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Hunter

Anyway, I feel your pain. I just went through a looong search trying to remember a side-scrolling shooter for the Sega Genesis I played as a kid. Found out there are an insane number of ship based side-scrolling shooters for the Sega Genesis. Finally found it after a few hours of scrolling through lists though.

 

[DamageJoy]

I have plenty of games like that, for the Commodore 64. I remember super vague things about them, but I was like 4 so I can only say:
Game with maze, game where you had to dodge steam puffs while you are on a train etc.

 

[Prince Lotor]

I have plenty of games like that, for the Commodore 64. I remember super vague things about them, but I was like 4 so I can only say:
Game with maze, game where you had to dodge steam puffs while you are on a train etc.

Same. A few neighbors and I had something like 300+ games for the Commodore through copying each other's games on a dual disk-drive, but that was all from when I was like 3 to 4 to like 9 or 10. I gave up trying to find some and others I wouldn't even begin to know how to look for unless I saw an exact screenshot of the image I have in my memory.

 

[DamageJoy]

Same. A few neighbors and I had something like 300+ games for the Commodore through copying each other's games on a dual disk-drive, but that was all from when I was like 3 to 4 to like 9 or 10. I gave up trying to find some and others I wouldn't even begin to know how to look for unless I saw an exact screenshot of the image I have in my memory.

I found some missing games by listening to C64 music on YouTube. Sometimes you just see a screenshot and everything pops back into memory.
Also the SID chip could make some fancy tunes.

 

[Kuchipatchi]

I think I may have found your game, is this it?

As for me:
There's a mobile game from back in the day of flip phones that I know the name of it but I can't find a single bit of information about it!
It's called C'est La Vie (99% sure, might be a little different?). I've googled the hell out of all possible keywords but can't find anything that matches the game.
It's an isometric game when you start out in your home and you can go to other places. I only went to the park so that's the only other place I know exists...and the house bathroom. There was no point in going in there but I did anyways, I think.

I think you can talk to people because I may remember talking to an NPC, idk, I only played the game to mess around on it cuz I was that young.
You control the character because it's not a point and click game.

I highly doubt anyone knows anything but it's worth a shot.

 

[The Real Me]

Is it 'Battle Hunter'? In EU it was titled 'The Hunter'. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Hunter

Anyway, I feel your pain. I just went through a looong search trying to remember a side-scrolling shooter for the Sega Genesis I played as a kid. Found out there are an insane number of ship based side-scrolling shooters for the Sega Genesis. Finally found it after a few hours of scrolling through lists though.

It seems likely, especially since the PAL box art seems to hold that edgy aura that would’ve attracted me as a kid but I remember the game being a lot more gritty than this.

In my memory, the characters were realistically proportioned as opposed to this game’s chibi art style. I also thought I remembered the enemies all being visible on the map as opposed to being random encounters but I’m pretty confident that it has to be this game because of how all the floors are just grey bricks, I known that I didn’t misremember that.

Thanks for the help, I never expected that the reason I never found the game would’ve been because I only thought it was edgy and dark because of the box art. I always instantly disregarded even slightly cartoonish games when looking for it.

 

[The Real Me]

I think I may have found your game, is this it?

As for me:
There's a mobile game from back in the day of flip phones that I know the name of it but I can't find a single bit of information about it!
It's called C'est La Vie (99% sure, might be a little different?). I've googled the hell out of all possible keywords but can't find anything that matches the game.
It's an isometric game when you start out in your home and you can go to other places. I only went to the park so that's the only other place I know exists...and the house bathroom. There was no point in going in there but I did anyways, I think.

I think you can talk to people because I may remember talking to an NPC, idk, I only played the game to mess around on it cuz I was that young.
You control the character because it's not a point and click game.

I highly doubt anyone knows anything but it's worth a shot.

That wasn’t my game but I’m pretty sure that I’ve found yours, I found a download link for a Commodore 64 version of C’est La Vie, as well as footage of versions for the Apple II and Atari 8-Bit. All the versions look very similar and it definitely seems like it could run on a flip phone. One of the video descriptions describes the game as kind of like a blend of Pacman and Monopoly so I can only assume it was based off of the board game of the same name.

 

[Dark Edea]

Descent was my unknown game. They had it on a computer in the lab at summer camp. And I would just wander off and play that all day.

 

[40 Year Old Boomer]

I've seen this game exactly once in my life and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what it was.

It was 1989 or 1990 at a coin op laundromat somewhere in Pensacola, FL. From what I remember it was a horizontal screen cabinet with joysticks on all four sides. It was some kind of space shooter with a big green head that spat enemies out of its head tentacles. Unfortunately, I did not get to play it.

 

[Pissmaster]

I think I may have found your game, is this it?

As for me:
There's a mobile game from back in the day of flip phones that I know the name of it but I can't find a single bit of information about it!
It's called C'est La Vie (99% sure, might be a little different?). I've googled the hell out of all possible keywords but can't find anything that matches the game.
It's an isometric game when you start out in your home and you can go to other places. I only went to the park so that's the only other place I know exists...and the house bathroom. There was no point in going in there but I did anyways, I think.

I think you can talk to people because I may remember talking to an NPC, idk, I only played the game to mess around on it cuz I was that young.
You control the character because it's not a point and click game.

I highly doubt anyone knows anything but it's worth a shot.

What kind of phone did you have? Do you still have it anywhere?

I searched this archive for C'est La Vie but there wasn't anything named that. Most flip phones ran J2ME software, though a few ran Symbian.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

I recently came across some Japanese horror PS1 game after someone on here shared a video of it. The imagery was extremely unsettling, made even worse by the primitive PS1 graphics. I recall looking up the name and finding it was based on a larger franchise in Japan, I think it was about ghost/demon hunters. Unfortunately, I couldn't find more information on the game itself because Wikipedia didn't have an entry on the game (though it did have one on the franchise) and videos on YouTube were exceedingly rare beyond the one shared here.

I wish I remembered what it was because it looked really interesting.

 

[The Real Me]

I recently came across some Japanese horror PS1 game after someone on here shared a video of it. The imagery was extremely unsettling, made even worse by the primitive PS1 graphics. I recall looking up the name and finding it was based on a larger franchise in Japan, I think it was about ghost/demon hunters. Unfortunately, I couldn't find more information on the game itself because Wikipedia didn't have an entry on the game (though it did have one on the franchise) and videos on YouTube were exceedingly rare beyond the one shared here.

I wish I remembered what it was because it looked really interesting.

Do you remember anything about the genre or gameplay?

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Do you remember anything about the genre or gameplay?

I recall it being first person. The music was either non-existent or creepy ambiance. Outside of that I don't remember too much. The monsters had these weird human-like faces, it kinda reminds me of LSD Emulator in a way except it wasn't as dreamlike if that makes sense.

 

[Trashfire Garbagefuck]

I recently came across some Japanese horror PS1 game after someone on here shared a video of it. The imagery was extremely unsettling, made even worse by the primitive PS1 graphics. I recall looking up the name and finding it was based on a larger franchise in Japan, I think it was about ghost/demon hunters. Unfortunately, I couldn't find more information on the game itself because Wikipedia didn't have an entry on the game (though it did have one on the franchise) and videos on YouTube were exceedingly rare beyond the one shared here.

I wish I remembered what it was because it looked really interesting.

Vampire Hunter D, Dark Tales: From the Lost Soul, Hell Night, or D (that's the whole name) maybe? There's a Saturn game called Baroque that kinda reminds me of what you're talking about too.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Vampire Hunter D, Dark Tales: From the Lost Soul, Hell Night, or D (that's the whole name) maybe? There's a Saturn game called Baroque that kinda reminds me of what you're talking about too.

I looked them all up but I don't think they were it. If it narrows it down, it was fully 3D and in first person. I recall the video showed the player exploring an outdoor area at night.

 

[The Real Me]

I looked them all up but I don't think they were it. If it narrows it down, it was fully 3D and in first person. I recall the video showed the player exploring an outdoor area at night.

You said it was based off a larger franchise, do you know what kind of media it was? Like, was this based off an anime or manga?

 

[Trashfire Garbagefuck]

I looked them all up but I don't think they were it. If it narrows it down, it was fully 3D and in first person. I recall the video showed the player exploring an outdoor area at night.

Well here's everything else I know of that's first person ps1 horror

Echo Night
Reikoku
Shadow Tower
King's Field 3 (I don't think you go outside in 1 or 2)
Juggernaut

and that's probably only a fraction of the games that fit the bill.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

You said it was based off a larger franchise, do you know what kind of media it was? Like, was this based off an anime or manga?

I'm pretty sure it was an anime, with some animated movies here and there. The Wikipedia article was quite large from what I remember so I'm guessing it's not too obscure, at least not in Japan, though I don't think it's too well-known in the West (though I'm not a weeb so I can't say for sure).

 

[WinchesterPremium]

I recently came across some Japanese horror PS1 game after someone on here shared a video of it. The imagery was extremely unsettling, made even worse by the primitive PS1 graphics. I recall looking up the name and finding it was based on a larger franchise in Japan, I think it was about ghost/demon hunters. Unfortunately, I couldn't find more information on the game itself because Wikipedia didn't have an entry on the game (though it did have one on the franchise) and videos on YouTube were exceedingly rare beyond the one shared here.

I wish I remembered what it was because it looked really interesting.

Are you SURE it was in 1st person? Most examples I can think of that fit your description are 3rd person.

Edit- You said that you checked out the Wikipedia page. Is that page still in your search history?