10 Horror Games That Are More Complex Than They Seem

A video game world may not be vast and massive in technicality, but it can certainly feel massive thanks to how densely packed with lore said game's world is. Many may not think of a horror game right off the bat in this instance, but there are plenty with massive worlds.

The best part is: the more you learn the lore and story, the world just gets even bigger.

You have to be thorough in these games, potentially on multiple runs (equally as thorough), in order to get the full story and appreciate the world for what it truly is. The beauty in these games is the discovery of these mysteries, of answering the questions that we have while playing.

Besides, it's well established in the horror genre that if you want to survive, you have to pay attention to the details.

10 Resident Evil Requiem

30 Years of Lore to Catch Up On

Resident Evil Requiem was pretty cut-and-dry with its story — Resident Evil always is — but if you're new to the franchise, you'd learn that they're celebrating its 30th anniversary this year ... meaning there's 30 years of lore that you'd have to catch up on. It's not hard to learn or follow, thankfully, but every detail of this game's history is permeated throughout the world and everything within it.

It's clear when you're playing through Resident Evil Requiem: there is not a single person who wasn't impacted by the Raccoon City Incident, either directly or indirectly, nor is there anything that doesn't tie back to the events of September 1998.

Even for veteran fans, there is a lot that can be picked apart and learned about this rapidly changing world. Different organizations and motivations coexist in the shadows you're running from, operating beyond the events of Requiem — and even with information that we had previously known (or at least, thought we'd known), new context changes the whole story.

You feel the entire history of the series weighing down on Grace Ashcroft's shoulders, and it's all the more reason to pay attention to everything you can read.

9 Siren

So Many Characters to Unravel

If you're not paying attention while playing through Siren (called Forbidden Siren in the PAL regions), you're going to be pretty confused with the world and everything happening within it.

You play as ten different characters (yes, ten), alternating between them as they're trying to unravel the mystery of what's happening in their town (and the cult-like activity happening within it ... because it's directed by Keiichiro Toyama, of course, there's going to be cults) of Hanuda. There is a lot to this mystery, and even more to the survivors themselves, but that requires you to go through the world with a fine-toothed comb.

If you're able to handle the insanely intricate, trial-and-error controls, you'll have much to uncover — especially if you're utilizing your sight-jacking abilities to the fullest. There are secrets within secrets in this game, and as you learn, the less you know about the world around you.

Worst case, if it's too difficult (no shame there), horror remakes are on the rise, so let's hope that this will be given the same treatment.

8 Signalis

Classic Amnesiac Trope Through Artificial Eyes

There's a classic trope in horror gaming, and it's where the main character wakes up completely amnesiac, no memory of what happened that led up to the starting events of the game. Signalis is no exception to the trope — but the neat thing is as you're regaining your lost memories and dreams, the world you're navigating feels like it's getting bigger.

The lore for what seems like a small indie gem is unexpectedly massive, and it only continues to expand upon itself as you explore and uncover new details.

If you're a fan of the survival horror classics, you're going to love Signalis, because it's very reminiscent of how it packs its storytelling. This is one of those games where not a single detail is wasted, most especially with its worldbuilding — it somehow manages to make space feel even bigger.

Don't underestimate this game before you go into it; it's going to grip you and trap you in its world in the best possible way.

7 Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Fatal Frame, as a series ruled alongside the pillars of horror during the PS2 era, but they've not been easily accessible since. Enter the recently released Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake, and suddenly, not only can we dive back into the spiritually elusive Minakami Village, but a new audience is ushered into discovering its secrets.

And in this game, there are all kinds of secrets hidden in plain sight, hidden behind the mask of a world outside our own.

Normally, you use your Camera Obscura to take pictures of ghosts in order to ward them off, but in this game, you're also able to use the camera to uncover hidden spots and bits of information in the village itself. Of course, there are all kinds of cult-like shenanigans happening here, so there is no shortage of secrets to discover — with each secret giving you more questions than answers.

That just means you need to look everywhere, but not just with your real eyes.

6 SOMA

Nothing Is as it Seems

It's well-established by this point that with incredible storytelling comes incredible worldbuilding, and they often work with each other hand-in-hand. So with a game with an infamously incredible story like SOMA, it's no secret that the world will be just as rich and dense with details as the plot.

SOMA is a game that leads with one story, but completely yanks the rug out from under you — and suddenly, nothing was ever as it seemed. What starts as a plot of trying to escape an underwater facility quickly spirals upwards into peak existentialism, and this is only even more exponential of a realization if you were thorough.

While the game is a more simplistic walking simulator rather than having a big map, there is a ton that can be learned through the game's lore; you just have to go out of your way to look. The best part is you're absolutely afraid every single moment you're trying to figure things out, with an atmosphere so oppressive and terrifying that it only adds to the game's themes.

It's the truest definition of being densely-packed and rich all the way through, like a bite of your favourite food.

5 Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

Across Time Itself

Anyone who knows about Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem typically remembers it for its moments in the Roivas Mansion, where your sanity meter influences the kind of hell you're going through as if you're not already fighting for survival. People don't tend to remember just how

Yet, the world is a lot bigger than that — in fact, you don't exclusively play as Alexandra Roivas throughout the game, but also briefly as different characters across time itself. Not to mention, towards the end of the game, these different pathways end up colliding for the Roivas bloodline (the consequences of time travel, if you will), and it's up to you to uncover what it all means.

Plus, the multiple endings create a great sense of replayability — but the game isn't quite the same the second time around. It's not just about having context and looking for more details, but there are genuine shifts in the game for you to discover even more.

This is a Cult Classic that deserves all the love it gets; that lore and how it continues to expand is only a tip of the iceberg.

4 Dead Space

There's More Than the Ishimura

Without even going into its sequels, Dead Space has a vast amount of lore to filter through and learn — and while you're on a single spaceship the entire time, the walls only continue to expand, as does the realities of the space world outside of it.

When you're first tasked with boarding the devastated Ishimura to figure out what happened to it (and where your girlfriend is), the answer seems to make itself very apparent: Necromorphs. Yet, that raises a dozen more questions that you have to figure out as you go through (and then back through) the ship and gain access to new areas.

This isn't even getting into the lore that is already given to you from the start: background information that forms the foundation for the characters and the situations they're in — so it's important to read everything that's given to you, even right off the bat. You also just don't want to be lost during character interactions; it's always important to have a basic context.

But as you go through the game, you discover a plot larger than yourself, but it's up to you to dismantle it all on your own. Knowledge is a power and a burden, but it's essential to get out of here alive.

3 Silent Hill f

Ebisugaoka is a Stunning Parallel

The entire Silent Hill franchise is already known for having insanely complicated lore, but Silent Hill f took it one step further by being somewhere else entirely. At first, veteran fans like myself were worried about what this could mean and how it would be handled, but I was beyond thrilled to see just how much effort and detail went into the world of Ebisugaoka and its residents.

The masterful storytelling is done in phases, with more details being drip-fed to you in each New Game+ that you go through — NG+, after all, continues the story — whether it's through more Journal updates, new documents, or even new cutscenes. Plus, there are countless cultural details that add to the lore all on their own, which just makes lore-hunting all the more addictive.

Even after playing this game as many times as I have (not even just four Platinums, but countless fully-Japanese and just-for-fun playthroughs), there are still more details and nuances that I'm discovering that just continue to add to the story and its world. And the crazy thing is, we fans have barely even scratched the surface with this information; there is just that much tucked into every single corner — and it's absolutely stellar.

Seriously, there is no other horror game with this kind of replay value.

2 Darkwood

Anything to Get Out

The unique thing about Darkwood is that you equally want to stay and learn everything about the world, but you are so terrified by every single sound around you that you want to get the heck out of there just as much. Then again, it's not like you can just escape anyway.

But if you're brave enough to stay a little longer than needed (and if you have the supplies to), there is so much you can unpack about this nightmare forest and everyone within it. The woods already seem vast and endless, but it only feels like it gets impossibly bigger the more you learn about the lore and its secrets — and there are indeed many, many secrets.

What's great about Darkwood is that it's equal parts a survival game and a survival horror game, and the brutality of the world reflects this. Learning about it truly is a double-edged sword in the most literal of senses.

It's a punishment of an experience, but you're going to love every second.

1 Bloodborne

The Lore is the World

The world of Bloodborne itself is the lore itself — you're given the bare minimum when it comes to story on its own, it's entirely up to you to explore Yharnam and learn the full extent of everything happening here. If you don't mind adventuring in an immensely hostile land where it's difficult for the sake of being difficult (like all Souls games), then your exploration is well-rewarded.

In fact, the truest experience of the game is to dive into the world head-on and read every single thing you can and talk to everybody (except the little girl after you learn about her parents ... it's for her own good). You truly will not know anything if you do not attempt to know the world. It truly is crucial to explore.

After a while, it won't even be as difficult for you to navigate and explore Yharnam and all of its depths (especially as you upgrade your stats and gear thanks to the help of farming Blood Echoes from that one Chalice Dungeon), so diving through won't even be as much of a problem after a while.

Considering how massive a fan Seán McLoughlin (known as his YouTube alias Jacksepticeye) is of Bloodborne and its world (and lore by extension), this makes me all the more excited to see how he plans to tackle the richness of the world with his movie.