Dark Fantasy style settings in video games.

Crow_Black said:
Alright so since hardly any topic here of is being made may as well make one.

Castlevania,Dark Souls,DMC and ShadowHearts are my favorite use of the setting and more obscurely, Witches Tale a nightmare before christmas style story inspiration and fairy taile styled story as well too for example for the ds is an interesting one.

So whats you're favorite dark fantasy style setting in video games.

@GlennMagusHarvey this one is for you btw.

GlennMagusHarvey said:
hahaha thanks for tagging me

I'm quite fond of the Castlevania games, though I don't think I've ever thought of them as dark fantasy until now. (Ironically I haven't watched the Castlevania anime series yet.) (inb4 someone scolds me for calling it an anime series) I've played most of the major entries in the series, and my personal favorites are Symphony of the Night, Harmony of Dissonance, and Order of Ecclesia.

Like I mentioned in the other thread, I've played A Witch's Tale and am rather fond of the soundtrack. But the very encounter-heavy gameplay means that I've only played it once through.

I don't think I've played much in the way of dark fantasy. Mary Skelter: Nightmares has been vaguely on my radar for a little while though I expect it to be a bit too dungeon-crawly and fanservicey for my taste.

I guess I've played some modern dark fantasy stuff. Like LSD Dream Emulator, Dreaming Sarah, Cellar, and The Mummy Demastered. And I think Finding Teddy is somewhat modern-ish dark fantasy, though probably heavier on the fantasy side.

There's Momodora: Reverie under the Moonlight. The first three Momodora games aren't as dark, though the third game kinda starts going there I guess.

I've also played The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King. And then there are a handful of Halloween-themed things I've played -- an indie platformer called Halloween Forever is probably the best of these, but there's also Monster Force and Barnyard Blast.

The fact that I don't play much in the way of horror games might contribute to this. Though I'm more likely to have encountered horror elements in sci-fi stuff. I've played a bunch of Metroid games and particularly like it when they do atmosphere well. I've also played Environmental Station Alpha and Holdover.

That said, when you say "dark fantasy", my first thought is what I'd call dark fantasy in anime -- Chaika the Coffin Princess is probably my premiere example. Luger Code 1951 might count as well. And I can't really think of anything I've played which really has this same sort of feel. (A Witch's Tale has that Nightmare Before Christmas feel, which is definitely not the same as what Chaika has.)

Akataken said:
My fave would Be the Castlevania Series, Specifically Sotn since its the game that got me into metroidvania games, and i like vampires

And Hollow knight and The wither 3 is also on my list.

Then some honorable mentions like The middle Earth Series, Dishonored 2, etc.

I haven't played a dark souls game yet tho so im still planning on what souls game i should play

Momoiro_Hime said:
Alice in Madness Returns was very good dark/fantasy game
Coraline on Ps2 was amazing game

epidemia78 said:
idk guys I have great difficulty thinking of Castlevania as dark fantasy. My interpretation of dark fantasy is strictly limited to gritty medieval settings. a relatively low magic to realism quotient also helps. LOTR is high fantasy. GOT is dark fantasy.

My favorite dark fantasy game is definitely Dark Souls. No other modern title can compete. Diablo 1/2 also nails that particular oppressive and hopeless vibe.

Legend of Grimrock is another fairly recent game that evoked that feeling. It was unabashedly a throwback to 90s first person dungeon crawling RPGs such as the early Might and Magic games.

Sega Genesis sucked in comparison to the SNES but the one place it shined the brightest was ironically dark fantasy. This game right here is a classic:

Crow_Black said:


Interesting find you found and sounds like the earlier smt games since they were first person before moving to third person.

GlennMagusHarvey said:
Aquaria. Not really a dark fantasy thing but it is fantasy and some of the late-game elements are kinda dark.

Lucifrost said:
I'm not entirely sure what qualifies as dark fantasy. I hear Dark Souls, Berserk, and Game of Thrones are the best. Since I don't like any of those, I guess it means I'm not a fan of the genre. 🤷‍♂️
I'm a fan of the Shadowgate remake, however. I want to see that company remake more of its games.




OMG, you've played Aquaria too? I love that game so much and I thought I was the only one. 😭

GlennMagusHarvey said:
Some other dark fantasy setting games I thought of:

* Blasphemous. This game seems to be inspired by a Spanish Catholic tradition of penitence? (At least, that's where the point hat, called a "capirote", is from.) https://www.gog.com/en/game/blasphemous_digital_deluxe_edition
* Minoria. This is from the same developer as the Momodora series, and I've heard it described as a spiritual successor. Looks to be vaguely the same aesthetic as Momodora 4 to some extent. https://www.gog.com/game/minoria
* Bloodrayne. The title character of this franchise is a vampire, I think. These seem to be action games, mostly in 3D but there's a recent 2D entry. https://www.gog.com/game/bloodrayne_absolute_bundle
* Dark Devotion. This seems similar to Blasphemous but otherwise I don't know much about it. https://www.gog.com/en/game/dark_devotion
* Aquaria. Not really a dark fantasy thing but it is fantasy and some of the late-game elements are kinda dark. https://www.gog.com/game/aquaria
* Dandara. I don't know much about this but for some reason it gives me some Aquaria-like vibes but with a lot more quick action. https://www.gog.com/en/game/dandara_trials_of_fear_enhanced_edition
* Shadowcrypt. This one is relatively short. I'll just let the store page speak for itself. https://onebitpunch.itch.io/shadowcrypt

Crow_Black said:


late response but you may like a witches tale i can't remember if i did rec'd it to you but i've rec'd it to Fario a long while back and you may also like rhapsody a musical adventure as well

GlennMagusHarvey said:
Oh I already played A Witch's Tale. Thanks though!

Crow_Black said:
few months later, now we're getting a spirtual sucessor to shadowhearts.

GlennMagusHarvey said:
Should probably link the kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doublekickstarter/armed-fantasia-and-penny-blood

Ironically, I basically know nothing about Shadow Hearts, beyond the name. (I'm a little more familiar with Wild ARMs.)
Which also brings me to the more broadly ironic observation that dark fantasy isn't that often my thing, so it's a little amusing that you're associating me with it. But I guess I've just run across it enough that the association is there.

BJuice said:
I'm still to this day waiting for some game Devs who can finally create an interesting Dark Fantasy Card-based-combat RPG/Strategy game so that I can finally throw all other game genres out of the window and forget their existence.

...still waiting, any fucking time now.

BJuice said:


But, that one has a characters gameplay thing, I was talking more about the whole game based on Cards and with text-based Story/Events, something like a Visual Novel but with a much rapid Story part and more about Turn-based exploration, and good Card-based combat gameplay mechanics.

EpicSaxGuy said:
I guess Darkest Dungeon would be a pretty good candidate for a dark fantasy. Truly a badass game. Haven't finished it tho.

digitalcocaine said:
Play Fear & Hunger

Crow_Black said:


now damn, now those are some fucked up looking enemy designs

epidemia78 said:


yep. I think the early SMT games were trapped in that weird limbo between JRPGs and just regular RPGs.

GraveGoth said:
I never would've thought that anyone else has ever played Shadow Hearts, that's like my favorite game ever. Along with Castlevania of course.

Crow_Black said:
I own the first game and there's a spirtual sucessor coming out on the ps5 iirc that was funded from a kickstarter long with a spirtual sucessor to wild arms.

Crow_Black said:
Koudelka i sooooooooooooooooo wanna get and ShadowHearts does deserve its remake honestly 4 real!! 

GraveGoth said:
Pleasee, I've seen for how much they sell online and it's crazyyy. It's unfair that most of the games I like have never gotten a remake or remaster and honestly that just makes me wish that Shadow Hearts should've been as popular as many of the rpgs of the time :(. Idk if the later games in the series killed it, I liked Shadow Hearts 2 but not as much as the first. Still, I'm happy that at least is being acknowledge with this new successor game.

Crow_Black said:
I honestly wish there was like more gothic inspired JRPGS out there. I mean imagine if Angel Sanctuary had the gameplay of Neo TWEWY holy smokes!!! and add it with a visual kei soundtrack and you already got yourself an instant hit!! :> 

GraveGoth said:
They NEED to hire you just for that idea alone omf. So dehydrated with the lack of gothic styled games, especially now that at this point I'll just take anything ;-;. Castlevania was all that was left and I feel it was kinda left abandoned thanks to konami (except the anime). I love TWEWY and its gameplay so any game that tries to do something similar would be sweett.

Crow_Black said:
Princess K and Nana Majima were my personal favorite cashiers in the game and the brands they were repping in the game were my personal favorite brands to use in combat.  I started off with Dawn Of Sorrow then eventually went to Symphony Of The Night and Symphony Of The Night is like one of the best games i got on the ps1 along with Xenogears too.  

TWEWY is such an incredible game i loved the music,gameplay,story and especially the art it really is one of the best jrpgs ever to be made!! as the prince in TWEWY would say whenever he finds something he really likes F THIS TO HIGH HEAVEN!! 

Come on Square Enix sama please hire me and my new friend here to help develop Angel Sanctuary the video game. ;-; And on the topic of Square Enix, Tetsuya Nomura's artstyle is pretty goth like you can say and his best character designs had to be from TWEWY and Final Fantasy 7.

GraveGoth said:
Haven't played the original TWEWY game in sooo long but Princess K and Nana are definitely small characters I remember loving the designs of :3. Also aaa Xenogearsss you're so real for all of these honestly, I enjoyed all other Castlevania games after Symphony of the Night but I still consider Symphony of the Night one of the best games I've played. I adore the story and art style ^^ Alucard my beloved.

I really should get back into TWEWY because I remember obsessing over it a long time ago, but I've been obsessed with other games I've kinda pushed it to the side. Obscure survival horror games are something that have been holding my attention for the past year so let me expand my horizons again lol. The edgy art style is so stunning and just reminds me of the "edgy" video game era of the mid to late 2000s, so seeing it still being represented brings me unbelievably happy.

Yea Square Enix ;v; this would make for the game of the century :D. And yea, in the topic of Nomura's art style, I remember as a child just enjoying seeing his older art in Kingdom Hearts and such. Even in his new works, you can still feel the edginess and almost goth like style with all the belts and boots and chains hahaha, it's just so lovely to see even now :3. Very aesthetically pleasing, if you will.