Just like in movies and TV, horror games have been around in games ever since the beginning, spawning some of the biggest franchises in the medium. Whether it's Silent Hill, Dead Space, Amnesia, or Resident Evil, there are tons of big-name games that bring the scares to varying degrees of complexity and atmosphere. Even in 2021, a year that many believed was awesome for horror game fans, the genre is alive and well among some of the other most popular genres in games.
On all levels of gaming, from independent developers, to AA and AAA studios and publishers, tons of horror games and horror-adjacent games impressed fans this year. The bigger examples like Resident Evil Village or House of Ashes, paired with indie games like Little Nightmares 2 or Inscryption, altogether brought additions to the horror genre that fans loved for different reasons. There's a promising future ahead for the genre, and 2021 certainly showed that there's a place for all kinds of scary games.
Existing Horror Franchises Continue To Impress
Perhaps the most interesting examples of the best horror games in 2021 are some of the mainstay franchises, still iterating to this day. Resident Evil Village is the prime example of this; the franchise made a significant change with Resident Evil 7, and Resident Evil Village carried that tradition while harkening back to previous entries as well. Capcom producer Peter Fabiano mentioned the game was borrowing inspiration from Resident Evil 4, which is pretty clear in the setting and gameplay design as well.
House of Ashes, the third entry in the supposed eight-game-long horror game series, continues the series' ambitious stretch with a similarly successful entry. Regardless of whether or not The Dark Pictures Anthology meets the same acclaim as Until Dawn, House of Ashes still shows the series of games is still going strong. House of Ashes carried a similar degree of intensity as Until Dawn, and even if it never reaches quite the same balance between thrilling and campy, it's still a compelling entry in the series. With The Devil in Me set to end the first season of the Anthology, House of Ashes continues to move the series along at a good pace.
Another surprise was Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water Remaster on Switch, a notoriously mediocre Wii U game that was recently remastered for modern consoles. Even if this wasn't the most popular entry in the Fatal Frame franchise, franchise producer Keisuke Kikuchi hopes and believes that this recent remaster could lead to a new entry in the Fatal Frame horror franchise. Fans do consider Fatal Frame to be generally underrated, Maiden of Black Water included, but a new entry could help remedy that.
There's also some horror-adjacent experiences, like Metroid Dread, where elements of horror are injected in existing foundations. However, the mainline horror experiences like these (and others) have a bright future ahead of them, assuming 2021 is an indication of the future of existing horror franchises.
2021's New Horror IPs Impress
2021 also brought plenty of new horror IPs into the genre as well; totally new horror experiences varying in inspiration from other horror games, or other horror media in general. The Medium is the prime example of a completely new IP from a developer that's cut their teeth on horror games such as Layers of Fear, Blair Witch, and the recently remastered psychological horror game Observer. Many thought the short-but-sweet survival horror experience weaved an interesting narrative, something many want Bloober Team to bring to a Silent Hill sequel at some point. That being said, The Medium was an impressively scary game that kicked off the year's horror offering.
There's also some of the horror-adjacent games that came out in 2021, which didn't necessarily innovate or iterate on the genre in a formative way, but were steeped in horror roots. To some extent, Returnal falls under that category: The game is a roguelike first and foremost, but the elements of storytelling where Selene explores Atropos' trippy flashback sequences emulate games like P.T. with its first-person segments. Back 4 Blood is another title that is horror-adjacent, even if its ties to horror aren't exactly conventional. Back 4 Blood is an entertaining and light-hearted horror experience that's moreso thrilling than scary in any particular way.
Bright Future for Horror Games Beyond 2021
Of course, Indie games are where the horror genre tends to see the most growth, with experimental and ambitious titles exploring various ways to push the envelope of the horror genre. Little Nightmares 2 continued its side-scrolling and platforming horror success by upping the ante with grander bosses and more challenging environments to navigate. Inscryption was an experimental deck-building horror game that subverted players' expectations with its unsettling narrative and constantly shifting mechanics. In Sound Mind presented a comparatively lighter mystery that forced players to utilize all tools at their disposal to solve its secrets.
Plus, there's plenty of future horror titles that fans are looking forward to as well. Scorn, The Outlast Trials, Martha is Dead, Quantum Error, and more are all unique horror experiences coming in the near future, all with different approaches to the genre. Even if these games aren't coming in 2021, there's still a bright future ahead for horror game fans, as the genre largely impressed this year. So long as horror games continue to iterate and improve upon another, there's plenty of scary games to look forward to after this year.