Does anyone have any recommendations of horror games with no jumpscares? Games that just rely on atmosphere and still manage to be scary? Just got done replaying Silent Hill 2 to get hype for the remake and I'm kinda looking for more. They don't have to be survival horror, any genre is fine. Short itch.io indie games, visual novels, emulation, anything.
I've played a fair amount of horror games. Here are some ones I really like:
Siren 1 for the PS2 - The game has some action but a lot of it is stealth and you use an ability called sightjacking to see through the eyes of your enemies to figure out how to get around them. It can be very difficult at times, but it's nonlinear in that some of the hardest missions occur fairly early on in the game while you get some easy ones near the end. A lot of people need a guide to find all the extra lore bits from the archives you pick up, though I managed to find most of them without one. The creator of Silent Hill 1 is responsible for this one. Siren 2 is also good and a bit more combat-oriented. These games have great atmosphere and if you like cosmic horror and weird Japanese cursed villages you will like these.
The Fatal Frame series: I've only played the first two. Usually people recommend Fatal Frame 2, though I thought the first one was creepier. However the first game can be pretty janky and my friend lost patience with it. It's not a very long game, however, so he was able to finish it. If you like unusual combat involving a camera and creepy ghosts then these games might interest you.
SOMA - The game has some stealth elements but a lot of it is walking sim. It's made by the devs who made the Amnesia series but I think it's better. It's more existential horror and the story is damned good.
The STASIS/Cayne/STASIS: Bone Totem series - These are point and click adventure games but super cool. Bone Totem is by far the best of the series and since they aren't connected you can start with it, though there are references to the earlier games. I've played a fair amount of point and click games over the years, and Bone Totem is one of my favorites. If you like body horror and a dark cyberpunk universe you may enjoy these.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent - This has good atmosphere and no combat, so you hide from enemies. I also heard Amnesia: The Bunker is good, but I haven't played it yet. I didn't like A Machine for Pigs or Rebirth because they were more annoying than scary but you might like them. Darkness is the main mechanic as it makes your character behave erratically so you need to use light sources to prevent this from happening. There are also some puzzle elements.
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth - The quality of this game drops off over time, but the early parts of the game get really freaky. The PC port is notorious for being terrible but maybe an emulated version will work for you. It's an FPS horror game. If you liked Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth, you will probably appreciate this game.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem - This is the least scary game on my list so far, but it does very interesting things with sanity mechanics and you play a bunch of different characters from various time periods. This is a Gamecube game but you can emulate it. It has a pretty cool story involving Lovecraftian gods.
Alien: Isolation - This is a very tense stealth-oriented game where you're stalked by a xenomorph. You do get tools and some weapons to deal with it but most of the time you have to rely on hiding. The AI for the xenomorph is very good and the game is basically a love letter to the first film. It goes on for a bit too long and I didn't care for the ending but the Hospital level alone is worth playing this.
Dead Space 1 and 2: This might be too jumpscare-oriented for your taste, but the creature design is excellent. It's an over-the-shoulder shooter like RE4 with a good main character and excellent atmosphere. The third game is pretty lame since EA wanted to make everything co-op so I don't recommend that one unless you want to see how the story ends (which also means getting the fucking DLC since that's when the ending happens. Fuck EA).
System Shock 2 - This is kind of an old game, but the atmosphere is great and it has some of the best sound design ever. It takes place on a spaceship and it has a great story, though the quality of the game drops off a lot near the end because they ran out of money. It's still one of my favorite FPS games, and it also has some RP elements since you can build your character differently (i.e melee oriented or guns or psi powers).
Sanitarium - This is another point and click adventure and it used to be my favorite horror-themed one until I played STASIS: Bone Totem. It can get a bit goofy at times but it has a lot of eerie and disturbing moments. It's a fairly old game but I never had trouble running it on PC. You start off in an insane asylum but travel to a number of different worlds.
