I’ve tried to find Japanese horror games from the PS2 era that has this same feel, but I can’t :(
Some quick facts:
The VAs for Siren were British, so every Japanese person had a posh accent and didn’t pronounce Japanese words so well
Siren 2’s main setting, Yamijima Island, was inspired by an actual Japanese Island, Hashima island. The Island was an industrial hub for coal mining and was known for forced labor involving Korean and Chinese slaves.
Both games used facial scans from multiple angles to create the uncanny, and horrifying, expressions of the various protagonists and enemies
These games were written by the writer for Silent Hill. So if you havent played the original first or second games, those will most likely be most similar.
Maybe Kuon? FromSoft developed game, and a horror game on PS2, but its not got the same unique feeling to it. Just a Japanese PS2 horror game.
I’ve played Kuon. The story line and horror was great, but the combat was very clunky and I felt like the storyline was too vague, if you didn’t pay very close attention. I really didn’t notice the big plot twist until I played through a second time and paid VERY close attention to who was being dragged into the red chest, when, and by who, lol.
Never played the ps2 games of them only the ps3 :D
I think i know what i gonna do tonight.
Also: how about fatal frame? Not a forbidden siren but fighting ghosts with a camera was more scary than expected.
All the games are pretty good, but do get gimmicky after the 3rd one. The storylines, and story telling are pretty solid (!), each game builds on the camera based combat and uses, but the plots do get out there. The overall themes of abuse (mostly of women and children), loneliness, filial responsibility over self preservation (and the rejection of it), helplessness, and star-crossed relationships are pretty consistent. Depressing and fun.
Aww, man. I saw this post and was immediately excited, thinking that these games were being remade or re-released on a modern system, only to find that no, it is merely a post rightfully dedicated to how good these games were.
I don’t want these to be re-made tbh.
Siren: Blood Curse, on PS3, is the closest to a remake of the first one and it missed the mark. The timeline was taken out, the random, episodic, chaotic, feel was entirely ruined (Bloodcurse was linear and an episodic release). Combat was a lot better, the actual gameplay was easier (sightjacking was vastly improved along with stealth mechanics), but the game was too linear, the plot was fed to you, the characters were far too annoying and forgettable, and storyline westernized, too obvious, and overly dramatic.
The original two games gave the player the context of the game as it happened from the POV of the characters (mostly). This was great because you were constantly kept in the dark and confused as to why one character you played has turned into a flying Shibito and is now trying to blow your head off. You didn’t really piece together the whole story until you completed every characters 1st and 2nd mission goals, read all the files, and used a bit of common sense (not really complicated, Siren 2 was a bit more confusing with the dueling Gods thing).
I did like the cast change to show that the Siren curse affects different people with the misfortune of stumbling upon the village (the overly emotional dilemmas and drama between the characters was too western and annoying), but the execution was just lazy. If the core mechanics, plot devices, pace, and story telling style were kept, along with the improvements to combat and sightjacking, then it would have been a great game, much better than the first (the British accents still send me).
