Idk if it “went really hard” but I had fun playing Epistory. It was very cute.
I came for the typing fun and stayed for the emotional story.
What a great game!
frog fractions
Bugsnax starts out like a fun cross between Pokemon and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, but it gets weird and dark.
Factorio
one shot, Celeste, A Hat In Time, Castle Crashers, kingdom hearts, goat simulator (fun fact it recently got a remaster!), hollow knight, rain world
Escape from Tarkov
Pony Island
Ristar!
I mentally think of it as “Sega’s Kirby”. Not because it has any specific similarities to Kirby in gameplay. But simply because it is similar in tone and vibe. A super cute game that is secretly about fighting an eldritch entity.
… And as every Sega game in the 90s, it is exciting arcade action from beginning to end.
Kirby. The only note on its official age rating is “fear”
Celeste is pretty cute but can get quite difficult if you try to complete everything.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Honestly, Minecraft.
Everyone remembers the moment they first realized nighttime and darkness is unsafe.
And as the years go on, more and more lore and items and events have been added that makes the game even more unsettling when you stop to think about them.
makes the game even more unsettling when you stop to think about them
respectfully disagree. I ive recently been playing a Minecraft version 1.5 mod and omg it’s so much more eerie than modern versions. It doesn’t help that torches burn out after a while lol
When real-world horrors are too existential and complex to implement, more tangible, definite horrors must be created to make a game world a better approximation of reality.
The first time you heard that sssssSSSSSSBOOM right behind branded every player with an eternal fear.
Also, shoutout to the moment they added fire spread. Way back in ye olde alpha days, you’d just randomly set stuff on fire to keep monsters out. Then fire spread suddenly made this dangerous and the world feel a whole lot more risky.
That brief period where fire spread was super op- you’d stumble upon decimated wastelands from natural fires.
Momodora?
Hollow Knight
But depending how you feel about bugs it might not be as much cute as it might be nightmare fuel
The entire Parodius series.
