Low Poly Horror - Why were the aesthetics of the PS1 so unnerving?

[@bourkey1567]

Well lads, I'm just gonna pin this at the top here for any newcomers to the channel. This is a very dated video, at the time I was so inundated with college and work that I didn't put a huge amount of research into the video. It's full of really silly mistakes on my part, like saying the PS1 was a 16 bit console despite the fact my script clearly said 32 bit. It's a video I hope to revisit because as it stands, it's a mess. That being said I'm glad it's brought a whole heap of people my way and I do appreciate all the comments critiquing and praising it. You're all legends :)

[@freshboy3968]

Can you play these on VR?

[@bourkey1567]

As far as I know you can't, but even if I could I wouldn't be nearly brave enough to.

[@MetaITurtle]

@@bourkey1567 This is actually a sign of you becoming a successful KZbinr. Also I liked the idea of new developers using this old PS1 technology to make scary games. For some reason I like scary games lol

[@herbjergens6350]

Your ability to explain just what it is to make these games creepy is fantastic!! I always found playing Resident Evil on this console to be more eerie for some reason but could not put my finger on as to why. You nailed it, so thank you.

[@inspectahtech]

I wish I would have read this before I commented 🤦

[@holden6104]

To me, it's no different than the film grain and low quality of movies in the 70s. The poor tech actually enhanced the horror by giving films a dreamlike quality.

[@D33J3nk1]

Great way of thinking.films and games are far to polished these days.

[@solarpanel9085]

Exactly

[@andocobo]

Also felt kind of underground and crazier, like the film maker might’ve been insane. I get the same vibe from the low quality graphics.

[@benjamin1720]

This is why HD is bad. High frame rates make it worse.

[@richardtucker5938]

@@D33J3nk1 Although i understand what you mean, out of context i think lots of people would be like 'what? TOO polished?'

[@krusenator123]

I always tell people that old games with bad graphics are way more immersive than any new game with ultra realistic graphics and 4k resolution.

[@epicshibexd5049]

Ditto. Your imagination and your mind fill in the blanks and make the world and game feel more active. Another thing is, games these days aim for *photorealism*, not exactly realism, which is why it doesn't feel immersive as it looks more like a high quality photo of the subject rather than what you may actually see with your own eyes if you were there.

[@jujubear9909]

@@epicshibexd5049 I would disagree (respectfully) although I understand what you're trying to say. Ultimately, I think it's how they deliver it. I love both an old school looking game and a hyper-realistic one but if the old school game is trying hard to sell itself in its "nostalgic" feel and the hyper-realistic one simply for eye-candy with neither having any real substance as a game, then I drop both like a hot plate. It's why I still love playing games like Spyro (PS1 version) because you just don't care about its low graphics since they sell their brand of the colorful and magical world Avalar, which has a plethora of interesting characters, so well. On the other hand the world of Horizon Zero Dawn is also not there simply to look pretty (which it really is imo) but is also rich in lore which is a treat to discover while playing through the main plot of the game.

[@Walamonga1313]

The thing is that these graphics gave every game its own distinct atmosphere. RE felt nothing like SH or Parasite Eve. But nowadays everything has realistic graphics so they all feel the same. Sure the gameplay and monsters are still different, but the atmosphere doesn't really change anymore

[@tiamod]

I wouldn’t say more, but in a different way. Leaves way more to the imagination - but that can sometimes leave a game feeling empty. Also I don’t have issue with ultra-realistic graphics as long as it’s still a good game - but there are countless amounts of games that are retro looking or use stylized graphics.

[@greatwavefan397]

Especially if you use a CRT

[@mephistoxarses8585]

The opening sequence of the PS1 needs to go down in history as the greatest console intro. I'm 51 now and it still sends a pleasurable shiver down my spine.

[@Robahue]

ps2 intro is really great too!

[@mephistoxarses8585]

@@Robahue Yes i would say so to...but the PS2 intro seemed to be "Quieter" compared to the "Bombastic" Ps1. I just booted up the PS2 recently and it was nice too see it again.

[@Robahue]

@@mephistoxarses8585 yeah both posses the feeling of something amazing is going to happen

[@terryhaircastle5702]

@@Robahue nice way to put it

[@Gamesta100]

Me too

[@NumberJuancho]

that akamano gameplay almost gave me a heart attack

[@christopherbowers7236]

same, when it turned up and she sound just exploded in out of nowhere i almost needed new pants

[@puchaleplay2449]

Hizo llorar a mi hijo 🤣

[@MC_1993]

@@puchaleplay2449 hahah I’m watching half awake and it completely woke me up. That noise is pure death and agony ..will scare any creature 7:00

[@speculative]

I haven't played the game, but the enemy almost seems too powerful. I would like to play the game some day to see how the mechanics work. For me, it might break immersion if the enemy is so powerful that it's not believable my character would escape an encounter alive. I had this same problem with F.E.A.R., because really Alma (I think that was her name?) should have been able to kill me at any time effortlessly. So, to me the paranormal aspect of that game wasn't scary. Instead, I experienced it as simply a good shooter...

[@nicholasgeere5125]

The panic on the players end was hilarious

[@AngryShooter]

That chase sequence is honestly more terrifying than anything in Outlast.

[@Agaettis]

The PS1 opening screen itself even scared the shit out of me as a kid...it was wonderful

[@LTKK]

The white screen sound was okay, but something about the 2nd sound during the black screen was always kinda erie for some reason. The menu when using the PS1 as a CD player always felt bleak and unnerving as well in a way I can't fully explain

[@radicalthunder5740]

The red screen of death on the ps2 was scary

[@potatohyde2950]

I feel like the graphics and low poly aesthetic Leaves you to interpret things with your imagination. The human mind can create some horrible things no other person could possibly imagine Basically you create your own horror in your head. That's why low poly game that were not meant to be scary can be unnerving. Low textures and low poly lets your mind fill in the gaps.

[@desertmoonlee6631]

Like reading a book. That’s why the games were better. I don’t want games that look real our brain is already overstimulated

[@karelpipa]

its exactly like that.

[@truewalter4193]

Same for adaptations of horror books. The movie is nothing compared to the book. Because the movie is just the imagination of the director, which he finds scary. But when you read the book YOUR imagination kicks in. What you specifically find terrifying. Reminds me of back when my father was a soldier and he borrowed the copy of "IT" by Stephen King from my mother, so that his comrades can read it (It was just released recently and they want to give it a read). They had a maneuver and had to cross a bridge when it was foggy. The one who read the book where too scared to cross the bridge. Some even said they saw a red ballon flying...Imagination plays a huge part in horror because what makes us utterly scared differs from person to another.

[@Widderic]

Exactly. Wonderfully put.

[@Alejandro-Luna]

I think the same. That is probably why we remeber things being better than they actually were. Years later to be disapointed when we revisit those old games or movies. Same with remakes that fell short accused of failing to bring back the glory of that old piece when it reality it probably existed only in our imagination.

[@dontmindme2246]

Reminds me that the brain percieves things it cant recognize as a threat. So seeing these shapes might subconsciously tell us somethings wrong even though we know its just crappy graphics

[@thrasher2753]

The PS1 felt like it was just ment for horror games, just like how VHS for horror was.

[@killahill88]

That is such a great point now that I think about it. RE1, Bloody Roar, MGS1 are great examples of what you just pointed out...

[@littlebiits4216]

i remember we use to hear about how its a haunted ps1 game out there that how the disc was actually a tracker used for a group of people to come and take you but i think it was just a virus

[@CC_Reads]

do you mean VHS like video tapes or the movie VHS

[@uneducatedgamer8881]

Sony Beta people, Sony Beta!!!

[@KBlade1]

Even the startup sound. What an energy that console had.

[@Vespyr_]

Silent Hill didn't just use fog. It used the flashlight for the same purpose. Instead of fog it was the darkness itself. At the time that flashlight effect was really impressive. Few games ever used light you could just control and paint onto the dark around you.

[@andrewlair5917]

You're spot on.

[@motivatorsoftheheart0007]

Mix this with a deep bgm and some God tier fixed camera angles its why SH is supreme.

[@DoctorSess]

I played Silent Hill when I was so young and it was more terrifying than any horror movie I’ve ever seen. My dad still talks about me freaking out over the ghost in the classroom.

[@1986emix]

Silent Hill was probably the most unsettling experience I ever had. A dense and static sensation of abandonment never accomplished in a game until then

[@independentthought3390]

Doom 3 comes to mind. True, a different kind of game, but the flashlight mechanic worked much in the same way, and achieved a similar result.

[@BanHelsing]

I think a fairly important and overlooked aspect is the low resolution, having low poly graphics but at 1440p just doesn't hit the same

[@lgolem09l]

AND Scanlines. I played SH2 a few years ago, but went for the software mode with original resolution and Scanlines. It looks like a VHS tape, while in 4 k you can just see that everything is simple 3d assets.

[@radicalthunder5740]

​@@lgolem09lwhich emulator?

[@DelaryHap]

@@radicalthunder5740 PCSX2 does all that. It's basically the only emulator for PS2 really. AetherSX2 if you're on Android, though I'm less familiar with that one

[@MrNiceChai]

I'll never forget my first time in Silent Hill walking down a school hallway and hearing the radio static go off, alerting me of a hostile presence. The hallway was pitch black but I could hear the sound of a muffled child's cries. As I turned on my flashlight, I was greeted by decayed, rotting hands reaching toward me as I realized this school was full of demonic children. The play of sight, sound and fear of the unknown was incredible and still holds up today.

[@Daniel_Delayne]

These kinds of graphics often makes it seem, at least subconsciously, like your surroundings are alive in some half-broken metaphysical way as they warp and shift in that sharp, blocky fashion, hinting at something endless and vast even within their tight limitations

[@robokill387]

paradoxically the fakeness makes it feel more real in a way, like it looks like something constructed out of cardboard by a human being rather than a digital world made in a computer.

[@SHINOBI-03]

For me a combination of the uncanny valley graphics and the black voids. Even something meant to be cute and fun like Crash Bandicoot gave me the creeps at some levels.

[@Cr4z3d]

The temple levels...also the ones in Cortex's castle where you literally need to go through the dark lol

[@Kalishta00]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3W7pJyphtipe7c&ab_channel=GarlandTheGreat Generator Room still creeps me out lol

[@demoniack81]

The original Crash wasn't really that cute compared to crash 2 and 3, some of the levels were creepy as fuck and most of the music was too, especially for a kids' game. "Fumbling in the dark" is one of the creepiest levels ever put in a platformer imo.

[@dyhockane7506]

Crash Bandicoot gave me nightmares almost every time i played it when i was a child. Apparently i couldn't stand Papu Papu or Ripper Roo or the dog with the rifle dressed like a mobster... unnerving to say the least

[@sh1n0bu2]

i recently went through the first few armored core games to see if i'd like the rest of the franchise, and my god, the pure pitch black void of a good percentage of areas in the game creeped me out. that and 90% of your time in the game being spent in complete silence outside of a few segments.

[@danhughesartist]

The PS1 era was the perfect blend of graphics, sound and creativity! Before then we had high creativity, but that creativity was stifled by the limitations of the 2D consoles. Nowadays, we have the best graphics and sound imaginable, but creativity has waned. Games today- you are just watching them… but in the PS1 era- you were fully immersed.

[@1.800zZzZzZz]

Puppet Combo’s Murder House is what made me fall in love with this aesthetic! They perfectly nailed the PS1 style, both visually and audibly.

[@bourkey1567]

Murderhouse and more recently Bloodwash really stuck with me. I also appreciate that a lot of these newer games are adding customizable filter effects, adds a lot more variety to the aesthetics.

[@LornaEGL]

Nun Massacre is the scariest game I have ever seen! Love Babysitter Bloodbath too

[@DevanHorror_]

@@LornaEGL also Power Drill Massacre which is getting a big update soon.

[@richardtucker5938]

@@bourkey1567 Can i ask, how do you find games like this? Do you hear about them somewhere, or do you think of the genre and go and search on steam etc? I don't come across these 'low poly aesthetic' modern games. Although i absolutely get the whole deal. I didn't complete it but Silent Hill was absolutely dreadful, and i mean that in a 'good' way. It is definitely because of this graphics constrained aesthetic..

[@XombieLejon66]

I love Puppet Combo's aesthetic, but I hate the jumpscare audio from their earlier games like Nun Massacre, I get sound is supposed to startle you and keep you on edge, but its so obnoxiously loud and shrill it just causes me physical pain rather than immersing me. Fortunately, he got a bit better about it for Murder House.

[@MB-gl2bl]

The jagged, jerkiness of the graphics added to it for sure for me. I wanted to play SH1 and Resident Evil, but they really were scary simply for the fact that you actively had to figure out what it was exactly that was attacking you, lol. Hated it especially when they REALLY added details, too. You just couldn’t win either way, and that made it terrifying. Wonderful video! Keep up the good work 🥰

[@jvader4187]

Nobody ever knows what I'm talking about when I say this. It seems old 90s pc games and ps1 games just had a darker dirtier atmosphere. Games that come to mind are sanitarium, twisted metal black, diablo, thrill kill, nightmare creatures, even bully on ps2 had a darker feel than gta. They just all have a dark gritty nihilistic view.

[@Leeki85]

PC games in the 90's had to use 256 color modes. 16-bit and 24-bit modes were available, but were too slow. 256 is still a lot if you're making a game with static lighting like Wolfenstein 3D was, but DOOM introduced dynamic lighting and 256 color palette had to fit all the colors and their darker variants. This forced artists to use stylized palettes, with less saturated colors, since such colors would build various color ramps easier. Quake 2 pushed this even further. It has 256 color palette that not only contains darker variants, but also transparencies. This limitation lead to darker art style and such style was popular even into 3DFX and PS2 era where artists could use colors freely.

[@EggBastion]

it's why for me none of the re-do's of Shadow of the Colossus will ever really surpass the original an that's not even a PS1 game!

[@themonsterunderyourbed9408]

100pts for mentioning Sanitarium. You're the only other person I've ever heard mention it. Great game.

[@YoungYahtz94]

I get what you are saying, I think the graphics for sure have a lot to do with that. To me, it’s similar how 80s to early 2000s anime has a different, darker and grittier feel than new anime that kinda can’t be re-captured. It’s more than just the nostalgia..something about the overall aesthetic just hits different. I feel part of it however is how less flashy, vibrant and fluidly animated older anime was

[@YoungYahtz94]

@@EggBastion I hear you man, it may sound weird but I almost feel like in some ways better graphics and mechanics and what not is actually what takes away from the newer stuff rather than make the experience better. Like idk if a newer, cleaner looking SotC would necessarily be “better” lol

[@Disconnect350]

Long time ago, remember playing Silent Hill 1 at night at my cousin's house, the intro freaked me out so much I couldn't sleep all night. The scariest thing for me were the graphics. The rough "ugly" and gritty PS1 graphics definitely enhanced the horror.

[@cardboardking577]

I absolutely love this style of horror. It's at its absolute best when mixed with cosmic horror because the PS1 "tampered with" vibes adds a LOT to the cosmic horror's. Coming back later, whoa this video exploded. Swear it had only a hundred or so comments.

[@bourkey1567]

I love the blend of PS1 aesthetics with Lovecraftian horror, they perfectly feed off one another.

[@E-dotaway]

Ironlung is the perfect game for you

[@bourkey1567]

Funny you should mention Iron Lung ;)

[@crabfaced]

Which cosmic horrors come to mind?

[@olympicjbrag5913]

PS 1 has some of the weirdest sounds. We used smoke a bit and in early 2000s played all types of games in a commune in London...you know...as you do.... While playing Brian Lara cricket, it struck me how strange the crowd ambient noises were and the weird murmurs started sounding freakishly like some sort of demonic dungeon shit happening in the background after a few days.

[@marlondaniels7912]

Used to go to the Dread commune at Kennington Park sometimes for a draw, it's all knocked down now.

[@troubledseed]

7:01 Had me in instant panic mode as im at the office and it got very loud for all to hear. Jesus christ did that ever scare the piss out of me and embarrass me all at once.

[@scorpionwins6378]

That part got me too. Fucking hell.

[@pikaers]

@@scorpionwins6378 I’m watching this before I go to bed and it shocked me lmao

[@RetroEduardo]

We need games like this one nowadays. Perhaps a PT 2.0 in the future on PS5?

[@killahill88]

The PS1 had some extremely terrifying moments. This one just gave me PTSD...

[@michaelcrowland7347]

@@pikaers I’m watching this whilst having a drunk 2am poo and it scared half the life out of me

[@vmbo]

It's like abstract art. It communicates a feeling/atmosphere more than presenting a scene

[@daygon128]

I'm not going to lie, I was scared to death of the original Tomb Raider. I laugh about it today but something about it at the time was so strange, especially underwater areas. I felt the same with Ocarina of Time and Mario 64. THAT FREAKING EEL!!!

[@SomberTwilight_]

The og tomb raider was very scary. The atmosphere in that game was amazing.

[@dropstopandroll]

OOT freaked me out when I was young haha. Had to play wind waker instead lol

[@somethingsinister8493]

Yeah there was a gold statue at the start of Tomb Raider 1, first level, that no matter where you stood it was always looking at you, it used to freak me the hell out but they obviously only had the image from one angle so it rendered the same image from every angle.

[@ronaldmaday]

Dude, the fact that so many areas would render in as you ran terrified me.

[@theforgottenera7145]

tomb raider one, I was 6 the bears use to always me jump or if I failed the jump on the 1st level and accidently land in the bear pit.

[@jonbourgoin182]

7:30 I'm watching this in broad daylight in my backyard and that segment still scared the shit outta me

[@snoochieboochies6957]

Actually, with the PlayStation’s sound chip, audio comes through not really all that compressed or bit-crushed. It does have a unique charm of kinda rolling off the lows and highs and focusing on the mids with its audio. It also has an even-harmonic distortion that gives its audio its charm. I think overall it is unsettling still because rather sounding weak its more just punchy and crisp and that can do a lot for horror games too.

[@calebmatthews4644]

The distorted harmonics are so sick

[@dannyghostt]

It also depended on TV speakers cause there was no headphone port in PS1

[@SkemeKOS]

Yeah, the sound chip is probably fine. They most likely just compressed the sounds themselves to fit it all onto the CD.

[@turismofoegaming8806]

This is another reason that made the static radio from silent hill so unnerving whenever it would start to go off!! The PS one in my opinion is the best generation in gaming I ever experienced!! From 11 to 17 years of age, it was the Best!! Imho, Games back then Had the Most Charm!! from the Games themselves and just how many Unique and amazing experiences you had, to the Actual Games themselves and Just how Nice Everything was!! Truly (for me) the Best Time to be an Young Gamer!!

[@therobotFrom94]

focusing on the mids you say...turns out the entire of Justin Chancellor's bass playing is one pig PS1 reference

[@KunjaBihariKrishna]

7:05 The way it has you running into a locked gate is fucking perfect. Imagine having to fumble with a key while this thing is bolting down the hall

[@SamuelBlack84]

The thumping sound effect sounds like heavy footsteps doesn't help either

[@stargazer162]

Sorry to be that guy but what you were referring to as "field of view" is actually draw distance. Not that the field of view wouldn't add to this feel too, a low FoV would mean that we are always tunnel-visioned and can't see too much around us because it's like if we were constantly zooming in, giving a claustrophobic feeling that complements the very limited draw distance in making us feel like there could always be a threat around the corner, it would be literally standing next to us but because of our lack of peripheral vision we wouldn't see it, or it could be a few mere meters in front of us, but we're not going to see it until it's right up our face. I don't know if PS1 games had a low FoV though, but some old games were terrible in that sense, for example the original Halo kinda makes me sick if I try to play it nowadays because of the ridiculously low FoV.

[@NoName-ik2du]

I was thinking the same thing. A game that comes to mind with a low field of view is Bubsy 3D, which was especially nauseating because it's a third-person game. I vaguely recall a tunnel vision effect in Jumping Flash! as well, but that may have been due to the crowded HUD and not the FoV.

[@miguelandresforerodelgadil3059]

Could you explain me the FoV with Halo: CE? I still play it and honestly, I don't understand what you mean.

[@FTWSamFisher]

@@miguelandresforerodelgadil3059 Probably refering to how the crosshair is below the half point of the screen which makes you look up all the time limiting your vertical field of view idk thats always my problem with the old halo games but the fixed it in mcc

[@stargazer162]

@@miguelandresforerodelgadil3059 It has a default FoV of 70 degrees, most modern games use 90 to 120, so if you're not used to it, it feels a little zoomed in. It apparently can be changed though, there are tutorials showing how to change the FoV. What it means is that you have a more limited peripheral vision, you see less all around and specially to your sides.

[@miguelandresforerodelgadil3059]

@@stargazer162 Well, yeah. The game literally runs on a 4:3 screensize, so it makes sense.

[@kukujun]

Great video! Also some nice choices of RE1&2 tracks for the background. 1:25 Resident Evil 2 OST - The Marshalling Yard (The Latter Half) 4:15 Resident Evil 1 OST - The Underground 11:53 Resident Evil 1 OST - Save Room

[@seinfeldfriends]

Even the Sony Computer Entertainment screen's sound scared me as a kid. These games look really cool, but Jesus that Aka Manto part scared the shit out of me. Great video, keep up the good work!

[@briannorris1548]

That followed by the Capcom splash screen when launching residential evil always got me

[@KarolYuuki]

Me too! I didn't know why but that Sony screen always made me nervous, maybe it was the way that the sound faded. The PS logo and sound were always calming, tho.

[@dannyf21]

Funny , i always was allowed to play the ps1 at my grandparents lol i was spoiled with my uncle, we always got ps1 games Id be up in the middle of the night being 3-4 years old and that startup always scared the sht outta me

[@Made_In_Heaven88]

Everything about the PlayStation was creepy during that time when you think about it even in their advertising where you hear the whisper "PLAYSTATION!"

[@thommohawk1216]

Twitching polygons, scanlines and warping textures have a lot to do with it plus the scratchy visuals also the fact of CRTs themselves give off a certain feel and flavour as well. All contribute to that unsettling feeling even when playing Tenchu lol

[@HollowRick]

A dirty Composite signal also helps

[@GlitchBytes]

Silent Hill was my all time favorite horror. The music in that was never steady or even. It never gave your mind anything to get comfortable or familiar with. I remember walking around the school and there was that little grey or black ghost child and it never bothered you so you learn to ignore it. Then BAMB the next time you walk through it sure as heck goes to attack you. Nothing was safe lol. Great game. GREAT game.

[@bourkey1567]

There's a game I'd love to cover sometime, I'm a HUGE Silent Hill fan

[@KOTEBANAROT]

you remembered it wrong. the ghost children never attack you. they just walk around you as if seeking help FROM you before disappearing

[@lanadelkim6203]

@@bourkey1567 Please do, this whole doc reminded me of trying to play Silent Hill when I was like 6, it was terrifying, couldn't get past the first chainlink fence level, also used to use the soundtrack many years later as horror fanfic inspiration lol

[@Torthrodhel]

@@KOTEBANAROT they do attack when you get to the amusement park area. They make a "hua-ha!" sound instead of the usual squeak. It might be easy to miss if you ran through the area very quickly, which you can do.

[@hitpeppens2932]

@@Torthrodhel hmm...need to test this out, SH 1 was my first game on PS1, playing it all my life and the ghosts never attacked me. Just the squeaks and falling on the ground.

[@JHllll42278]

Even the start-up sound was unnerving

[@Legoluigi26]

Also the midi music on PS1 can make the experience pretty unnerving since the instruments sound to be not of this world. Take One Winged Angel. Later reorchestrations show Sephiroth's splendor and fearsome power, but the original PS1 version always sounded more unnerving to me. You can usually tell what the instruments are supposed to be, but they always sound off, fake, and like they cannot exist. Combine that with Safer Sephiroth's indistinguishable polygonal lump of a body, and that's a recipe for unsettling.

[@bourkey1567]

Ah I completely agree, in all honesty this is a video I'd love to revisit. Though I like the way it turned out I definitely could've mentioned things like the midi music in greater detail.

[@thejapanarchocommunist]

If you want a really, REALLY good example of how to make the PS1's music so unnerving, look at Aubrey Hodges work on the PS1 versions of Doom, Doom II and Final Doom. He was able to take the limitations of the system and make some of the most deeply unsettling dark ambient music out there, and it gave the games a completely different feel than the normal versions the PC and other consoles got.

[@motivatorsoftheheart0007]

Looking at modern Bigs, Wedge, and Jesse models really made me cringe and now I see why with your comment. Thankfully games like Suikoden 2 used that animation art style that still holds up so well in 2022.

[@theotakone]

This is really good point! I somehow always felt something "lacking" in the grand reorchestrations of One Winged Angel, now I understand it - the real orchestration took away that unsettling feeling of "fake" instruments. The clash of midi + REAL choir vocal samples also gave the original a shock value. That mix of natural and unnatural made it even more creepy.

[@NeroAngelo616]

FFVII was just unnerving all around and that was for me this incoming sense of dread and overall depiction of a compression.

[@EggBastion]

"The face clearly looks like it's been tampered with" that's gonna stay with me for some time

[@bc7138]

I agree that there's something deeply unnerving about the sound design in PS1 games. The limited technology can only imperfectly mimic real world sounds. The environment is almost always deathly quiet save for some nearby objects. There's no echoes or sound reverb, giving you an almost claustrophobic impression that you are in a very small limited space, like you're trapped in a small wooden box. Meanwhile all you can see before you is a vast endless blackness. The disconnect between seeing the environment stretch into eternity, and sounds that indicate you're in a small enclosed space give PS1 games an unsettling quality. It's very close to capturing the feeling of being in a dream/nightmare state where normal everyday logic does not apply.

[@Cr4z3d]

Metal Gear Solid actually had echo

[@kloroformd]

Dude what. I got a defective PS1 mobo in a box that could be used for horror game audio that has absolutely broken reverb and other audio processing effects. Even the Playstation logo audio on bootup has hardware reverb. THAT board plays the sample but with a demonic-like reverb... sounds like the effect feeds back into itself and gets deeper, louder and more menacing until the game resets the audio chip with a pop sound and is usually fine again... until an audio processing effect is triggered.

[@Cr4z3d]

@@kloroformd epic

[@albo2591]

‘Nightmare creatures’ was like this

[@CannibaLouiST]

Many old horrifying games feature pitch-black darkness. Lots of games today, horror or not, are too bright.

[@PSXGamingMemories]

This is a cool video with some really knowledgeable insights behind the ps1 graphics & style. I love low poly horror games & its clear to see why they can be so intimidating and unnerving, the scene being chased through the corridors in aka manto made me jump and brought it all back to see why ps1 horror games really are scary even to this day. Great Video.

[@EvilSSP]

Nobody at the time was thinking this though. You're looking at it from the wrong perspective, as in....from the wrong end of the timeline. You're looking BACK at this, while back in '94 we were looking FORWARD to this, and it was such a giant leap in graphics from the SNES standard that it just looked awesome.

[@johfunut2529]

This is exactly my thoughts as well. When I first saw Tomb raider and v rally I was blown away by the graphics. Yes they look terrible now but back then I couldn't contain my excitement for how how good those games looked.

[@Faust_YT]

Perfect example of limitation breeds innovation.

[@Dr.Hoffman]

The symmetry used on wall textures in games of that era would often create demonic or distorted looking faces which I always figured had a subliminal effect on people who didn't tend to notice them. When you turned colour down on TV so it was black and white they would often pop out more visibly. The subconscious I gather would pick up on this and stimulate areas of the brain that deals with potential threats.

[@AidenRKrone]

The example you used with the screaming creature (I don't know anything about the game, so please excuse my ignorance) scared the crap out of me. I was looking through my email in a different tab when it happened.

[@phil_matic]

Imperfections make things scarier. It allows your mind to really just piece together the absolute worst. It's like when a serial killer has bad handwriting, it gives you such a feeling of discomfort, like you have no idea what they're capable of, but you can't imagine it ever being good.

[@000Chill000]

I've had many trippy dreams based off this retro horror asthetic, they were some of my best dreams. Such as one where I was in a dark resident evil game and had to hunker down in an old dark wooden phone booth for some sanctuary from the madness.

[@Ol-iveBranch-2018]

Outstanding transitions & use of sound. I was wimp to play horror games (by myself) but I was always mesmerized watching others play them. This reminds me that Super Mario 64 also has an eerie, lonely aura to it even though it’s not a horror game. I guess many games from that era that were some of the first 3D games - whether they were on the N64 or PS1 - inadvertently give off a haunting vibe

[@vince-g7p]

The lack of a hardware integrated z-buffer and lack of FPUs (Floating-point units) were very much responsible for the warping of textures and irregular movements of visual elements. The z-buffer is highly essential for computing perspective perfectly since the z-axis represents depth. With it's lack of hardware integration PS1 game devs had to resort to software emulation of the z-buffer or just employ a hacky way of substituting it, this resulted in warped textures and disappearing polygons. The lack of FPUs also explains why PS1 pixels and character models seem so twitchy. FPUs can handle sub-pixel movement and animation, effectively smoothing the motion displayed. Without FPUs the game will stick only to hard integers making it look like things just snap in place instantly; combine that with a 240p resolution you get character animations which look like they're having some sort of head twitching scene in some horror movie.

[@elimalinsky7069]

The twichy game models were also twitching randomly because each pass of the graphics pipeline the vertices on models have to be recalculated, and since there is no floating point precision the vertices will snap to coordinates approximate to whatever the game code state is at, which is determined by everything that a CPU has to do at each tick of the game code, so it's effectively random due to the sheer number of variables. It is a bit unintuitive but the camera location (the player) is always fixed and it is the entire world that moves and rotates around the camera, changing all vertex coordinates. Even if the camera is stationary the coordinates will be reassigned new values at each tick.

[@SyndicateOperative]

Egh... they aren't called "FPUs", or units in the first place. Never been a fan of head-canon terms.

[@doltBmB]

The Z buffer is not responsible for warping. A Z buffer is used to prevent overdraw by storing which pixels have already been drawn. Not having one simplifies rendering but puts more responsibility on the game engine to make sure nothing is rendered twice.

[@doltBmB]

@@SyndicateOperative FPU is the correct term, and while many processors started to include them, the PSX did not to save on costs.

[@jonpirovsky]

That low poly jittering in your face was the most realistic thing you could play with back in the mid 90's... No one thought of it as unnerving, it was absolutely fantastic...

[@kerbal666]

Just throwing my 2 pence in. I have an older brother that I didn't get on well with and he lived with my grandmother. When I visited and he wasn't home I would sneak into his room as he had a lot of cool stuff I didn't. Anyway, I remember when he got a PS and that loud droning opening noise that's become so iconic made it feel even more like I was toying with something even more forbidden than being in my brother's room already was. Still sends shivers down me years later. I wonder now if others felt the same because the sinister opening gives rise to the graphics and more adult-centric games being spooky to us more used to the kid-friendly Sega/Nintendo era.

[@joelpm7761]

Nintendo kid friendly? Play the mother saga and Kirby Dreamland 3 final BOSS really Made me un confortable and feel fear

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

@@joelpm7761 use your brain he meant ‘mostly’ kid friendly

[@kerbal666]

@@joelpm7761 come on bro you can't use Kirby as an example of something scary

[@AmbrosiusAmaimon]

Dude, even aspects in kids' PS1 games creeped me out as a kid, but the games shown take it to a whole new extreme. I had never even heard of these titles before watching this video, so thanks for that! I'm definitely a fan of low poly horror aesthetics! Not only because of the reasons you mentioned, but also because there seems to be this other sort of feeling that I can only describe as "nostalgic eeriness."

[@alexvanzyl_official]

i'm so glad that you mentioned aka manto. that game scared the hell out of me and i'm glad to see other people also talk about it as well. modern horror games are great, but the psx-styled horror games and especially low-quality ones make it so much better

[@StevieMoto]

the game 'Nightmare Creatures' will always be my biggest fear playing as a kid

[@Haku15Mitarashi]

7:01 ... I CAN'T be the only one bobbing my head to that brief banger.

[@danhughesartist]

I think a huge reason why the graphic limitations are so unnerving is that the low FOV, low draw distance, and fuzzy sound combined with clunky controls (like the tank kind used in Resident Evil) makes you feel trapped. And it’s that feeling of trapped inside of something that you can’t get out of that really makes the fear sink in deep.

[@sebastiankulche]

I love how PS1 has a "grainy filter" on its graphics. It makes some games looks very detail and colorful, better than N64 and even Dreamcast IMO.

[@brokenscart7989]

Hardware dithering I think

[@Cr4z3d]

@@brokenscart7989 Most likely, it was actually done to make the graphics look better on a CRT, and wasn't meant to be seen as the raw output.

[@brettschuller1863]

The grain you see is actually due to lack of scanlines. The emulators can correct for this in different ways by using Cel Shading, dithering (default), and 24 Bit color rendering to smooth out the color transitions. Screens back then were only 480i.

[@SammEater]

That's pretty much why I hated PC ports of PS1 games, compare how MGS1 looks on the PS1 versus the PC port of the game, everything looks so clean and shiny, like they are all made of plastic.

[@sebastiankulche]

@@SammEater It really depends on the game though, but generally i agree. PC in the 90s didnt have any game that surprass the ones of Gran Turismo 2 and Crash 3.

[@eazye619]

I was born in 1998 and I remember playing games on PS1 and them scaring me as a child. Just starting the system up with those PlayStation sounds would sometimes freak me out lol. I played Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Medal of Honor Underground and numerous others my dad and brother had. PS1 and PS2 are the best systems ever made

[@wolfheartdarnell324]

Excellent video. Had this shown up on my feed out of the blue. Definitely subscribing. That jump scare during the demo of Aka Manto though nearly gave me a damn heart attack. That's what I get for watching this at nearly five in the morning though. XD

[@elbschwartz]

LSD: Dream Emulator is for sure one of the most unnerving PS1 titles

[@tapoutluke]

of course you can convince us a game is scary by slipping in one of its jumpscares lolol 7:01

[@lobaandrade7172]

Any other jumpscares?

[@sweetmooncake6215]

I've been stressed with life lately, and this video about old horror games made me think about those long and simple days gone. Thanks, and have a sub.

[@RickGrimes807]

Same. We can talk about it if you want..

[@BACKSPACECADET]

Really really really good video on so many levels. I was already going to sub, but I’m definitely subbing after seeing Wallace as your profile pic lol

[@joebaumgart1146]

I think like VHS graphics, it's the Nostalgia mixed with fear. When you add Nostalgia it brings you back to feeling like a little kid watching your older brother playing RE 1 or Alone in the Dark late at night when you should be in bed.

[@wannabean6622]

In my opinion older consoles pull off the uncanny valley effect to great, uhh, effect. Seriously, even the title screens of some games would be pulled for being too creepy if they were released nowadays. There's a strange feeling you don't get these days, of being home alone and booting up the console, already tense because the console could decide to not load your game and instead send you to a strange debug menu. But in the event your game loaded you'd be greeted by a still image with no sound, a black background, lifeless looking character staring right into your soul... And somehow developers thought that such imagery wouldn't creep people out? Idk but shit like that is unnerving. Some argue that less is more in horror, because as they say nothing's scarier than what your mind can come up with to try and fill in the blanks when faced with something that's all flavours of wrong.

[@Mr.Honest247]

You nailed it.

[@Robahue]

indeed. Menu screen like Shadow Tower.... yeah, you know what awaits you...

[@olileoli2788]

With me it is specifically with early 3D consoles (PSX, N64, XBOX, etc)

[@ParappatheRapper]

Destruction Derby 2 has a really cool but also unnerving title screen due to the song it uses and also the sound effects of when you select items. Check it out if you aren't already familiar. What's funny is it's just a pretty bare bones derby car racing game and the actual gameplay isn't scary or serious at all it's pretty much what you expect. but that title screen was a little spooky for me if it was night time haha.

[@JustNems]

I absolutely loved your analysis in this video. I never really thought about it before but it all makes sense. Would love to see more videos like this!

[@Matt-zu2lu]

I think part of it is that the 32 bit graphics remind a lot of people of their childhood and so false nostalgia starts taking over giving you an eerie feeling that you seen this before but can’t remember in it so the mind struggles to figure out why you remember it. This actually happened to me while playing Super Metroid despite which helped give the game more of a unnerving atmosphere

[@Brandon_Y.]

I mean if your a millennial I guess.

[@Matt-zu2lu]

@@Brandon_Y. I’m not a millennial

[@Brandon_Y.]

@@Matt-zu2lu so your older.

[@Matt-zu2lu]

@@Brandon_Y. younger

[@Mr.Honest247]

It may seem that way but it’s actually not quite THAT. The PS1 era had a VERY SPECIFIC combination of a specific isolated feeling atmosphere with a certain bleakness that no game today has captured including the indie games of today! When you REALLY analyze it, there’s such a distinct uniqueness to the games of that era.. it’s really a product of the times and how that specific style ONLY EXISTED on that console and after that era was over, it was never replicated again!!! Play through all those games IN DEPTH and you’ll see!!! I recommend playing Silent Hill 1, Clock Tower, Nightmare Creatures, RE1-3, Tomb Raider 1-3, Castlevania SOTN, Syphon Filter, MGS1, Doom PS1, and Dino Crisis. There’s others but I can’t think of them at the top of my head but they all have that DISTINCT and UNIQUE atmosphere!!! Check them out IN DEPTH and you’ll see!!!

[@DillonJohnson216]

AMAZING doc bro! Yeah, the low poly graphics make everything unworldly, sometimes your graphics can be too good. Respect for showing some unknown games, not the obvious masterpiece that is silent hill

[@Hypno_BPM]

“Fog of War” was something that was always creepy to me, it wasn’t just exclusive to PS1 either. Also with games like the Resident Evil 1-3 and Silent Hill etc. the low graphic fidelity helped make the world seem more “gritty” and “dirty” if that makes any sense. I mean just look at RE2 and then RE Code Veronica , CV looks clean and sterile compared to RE2.

[@RockEsper]

I don't know if you're using the term "fog of war" right. RE definitely doesn't have it. It's more of a thing for overhead games to hide where you'd unrealistically be able to see otherwise.

[@Hypno_BPM]

@@RockEsper yea i’m mostly referring to the limited field of view that looks like fog on the ps1 and N64. you’re right i shouldn’t of worded it as fog of war but idk what else to call it.

[@Hypno_BPM]

@Abradolf Lincler yeah in N64 and PS1 games they would add fog in to cover the low draw distance which is what im specifically trying to describe. in some games this low draw distance and fog would make games look creepy to me.

[@ander6070]

Great video! Another aspect worth mentioning is how limited the control scheme was. I know game developers did as much as they could with the technology they had back then, but ps1 horror games have this almost minimalistic approach when it comes to control; there was not much you could do, your options were always limited and when you were to face danger you had almost no time to react. Again, I don't think that was on purpose, but it sure helps selling the feeling of defenseless that make this games so memorable and terrifying.

[@pivotalpancake5454]

This is why the Bloodbourne demake worked so perfectly. The low poly sound compression just perfectly captured the sound of pain most of the enemies give off, especially the Cleric Beast and Gilbert. Besides , I also love how crunchy and satisfying each blows sound which makes it more violent than it really is.

[@bourkey1567]

I absolutely loved the Bloodborne demake, it gave off those old school PS1 Medieval vibes.

[@Marcusml333]

I think part of what makes the sound design of the PS1 (and the time in general) so eerie, is that it lands in the sweet spot between completely artificial sounds, like the '80s had, and the more modern and realistic sound that won out in the late '00s. This mix between the two that we had in the '90s had proper uncanny valley vibes - it was just familiar enough for us to recognize it in a deeper level, yet it was also alien enough for us to feel estranged to it.

[@redfoxbennaton]

Ah yes, the PS1's impeccable 16 bit graphics.

[@uneducatedgamer8881]

Isn't it 32 years old?

[@viper13178]

it was a 32 bit system, not 16 bit

[@uneducatedgamer8881]

@@viper13178 Yea the ye olde 32 biter

[@redfoxbennaton]

@Tony Montana Time is an illusion. Dude literally has a jillion subs but can't even go to Wikipedia and look at anything about the PS1

[@pativi6643]

7:01 why. I even raised the volume right before that because the game was so quiet I wasn't sure if I'm picking the sound design you talked about. Sigh.

[@rH0und]

7:00 bro I was just listening to this at 1am while vibing and playing games, the audio and room goes quiet then this shit happens

[@ArthArmani]

i remember when we were kids playing Resident Evil and Silent Hill, was so scary...

[@xiden3559]

Bro I used to be TERRIFIED of Rainbow Six Lone Wolf as a kid. I would jump out of my chair and climb under my desk and scream for my mom. She eventually took the game away from me and I didn’t get it back for like 5 years until I was like 12 lol

[@HashanGayasri]

Even non horror games were scary to play back then at times. Dracula, Alien: Resurrection, Hexen, Resident Evil and even Doom was scary as a kid.

[@CephlonMayngrum]

All of those were horror based games

[@MrTheta-lc8zy]

@@CephlonMayngrum hard to say that Doom’s a horror game these days, but I’d imagine back then it would’ve been creepy especially after the satanic panic of the previous decade. And perhaps the PS1 version more so due to the dark ambient ost in place of the metal ost.

[@EvilXero359]

The fetus monster sequence from Resident Evil 8 brought that old school dark environment style back

[@mondrometal]

Metal gear solid 1 scared the crap out of me when is was little. That shit felt so real and important

[@wunsen95]

I ended up getting really freaked out and even starting to feel nauseous because I couldn't find the right bit of wall you had to blow up to fight Revolver Ocelot lmao, was stuck in the basement for ages. Just the ambient music, ps1 graphics, the feeling of shit being real and important like you mentioned and thinking of the death screen from the floor trap doors filled me with anxiety and made me trip the fuck out. I was fine with MGS 2, just that ps1 aesthetic man.

[@KromeLazarus]

What I like about the Playstation's aesthestics was... a lot of the Lightings are actually artificial instead of the light reflecting against the lightsource. They make it more unnerving and unreal, like that's now how you perceive light.

[@Beefsneeze9]

The ps1 intro as a child always gave me bad vibes

[@vesselinkrastev]

It feels like you are mixing up field of view and draw distance. I'm not exactly an expert myself but the higher the field of view the more the camera can show in a single frame. For instance, the wide angle camera on your phone has a higher field of view compared to the main lens. If the FoV is too high you get the so called fisheye effect. If it's really low it can make a game feel claustrophobic and reduce spatial awareness. Dead Space for instance has a pretty low FoV by default. Silent Hill on the other hand has low draw distance, which means that objects are only rendered within a few feet of the player. It was pretty common back in the day to add a fog effect in order to mask this limitation.

[@Wuki151]

Thank you! I was looking for a comment like this

[@maximisatwat]

Okay, but you didn't mention some of the most glaring reasons PS1 graphics look like this. 1. They did something like rounded all graphical positions to integers on the screen, not decimals, so there is no subtlety of vector positions - it is oddly lumpy. Also, where 2 surfaces are very close to one another, e.g. 4.6 and 4.61 then if one gets rounded up over the other one it seems to suddenly flash over the other one and then flash back is it rounds a slightly different way. It is the numbers 'quivering'. They did something bizarre again by something like representing how 'tilted' away from the viewer the gradient of a surface is as an integer, when whole numbers make no sense here so when faces get close to parallel with the camera, the textures directions start erratically switching different directions, so textures start bending and things jump around. They obviously did this to save space and increase calculation speeds but it had such a heavy impact on the visuals, it's amazing they took this decision. Also using CD's, they have huge space for audio - real recorded voices and video, but then a very low count for the polygons, so you get this strange mix of high-quality music, high quality video and butt graphics.

[@Emnor1993]

Now I kinda wish you were involved in the making of the video, or made your own! You manage to make the technicalities of this highly fascinating. “The numbers are quivering”, damn that’s good, that describes it well.

[@chieludz]

I think it also has to do something with the uncanny valley,I mean just looking at something that isnt possible in reality like polygon structures,models are really just creepy.It isn't normal nowdays like the rest of the games now that are getting the rtx boosts,we've seen the body structure of a human being quite alot now and even in monster concept that it just because cliche and boring to our minds. rise up retro gamers :/\

[@DrsJacksonn]

That cursed school bit where the monster began chasing you was terrifying. Crazy how easily you can make survival horror games work with such limited technical capacity.

[@jessestrobel2]

0:08 16 bit? Not so sure

[@Nicec00lkidd]

Using Personified Fear as the transition sound effect scared me more than anything in my life

[@SlippyBoyOfficial]

fantastic video here my man! I've been playing a lot of survival horror games lately and anything I can find for the PS1 is an easy go-to; I just love this aesthetic so much. I seriously hope you grow! You seriously deserve it!

[@xXxAngelicKratosxXx]

I have just found you through this video, and you’re articulated what I’ve never been able to! Amazing work, and you’ve earned a new subscriber.

[@TreesOnTheMoon]

I grew up playing PS1 and have owned every generation of PlayStation & Xbox, I have also played a lot of PC games. Something I did notice is that I always found older horror games scarier, especially PS1 horror games & I definitely think the graphics is the reason why. You would think a more realistic game would be scarier but for me it's the opposite, you perfectly explained something I have thought for over 10 years now.

[@paulbryant8403]

How bout the fact you were a kid playing those older games... easier to scare a kid

[@TreesOnTheMoon]

​@@paulbryant8403 No that's not it, I still play old games regularly as well as new ones and aesthetically old horror games are creepier to me as well as other things. I think older games graphics & animations can look janky, weird and unnatural which adds to the creepiness. The limitations of those systems also made the render distances very short so you couldn't see stuff from very far away, which made you start imagine like something is out there in the distance maybe. The limitations also made the games feel very barren/ empty which is unsettling too. I think maybe why they're scarier to me is that their graphics leave more to the imagination, sort of like a fear of the unknown thing. Old games also have lower quality audio that can add to the creepiness too I think.

[@ridgejaco9185]

Great video. Personally, I always felt like games with simpler graphics force you to use your imagination. Almost like a very low resolution book or something. Not sure if that makes sense. I'm glad other people also find this era/art style creepy to this day. I felt like no one ever understood what I was experience. Resident Evil 2 scared the crap out of me as a child.

[@thecollectivegamer3600]

Here's why...a lot of these games didnt let us see what lies ahead. So we were left reacting to a scene, instantly shocking us as we play

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

yes our reaction plays a huge part unlike passively watching horror movie

[@Axelvoxel]

If the graphics warp, it's because the polygons on the PS1 are made of triangles and not squares, the more you know

[@lesterfaapaiaga9681]

Resident Evil 1 & 2 had me and my brother scared 😂 we had no memory card so we pretended to turn off the PS and left it on all night. Every step we took was calculating and all the puzzles in the game actually made us look up the dictionary to learn the words to solve the puzzle and then we had to use our herbs and ammo rationally.. it really was survival and trying to think smart because we didn’t wanna die and start again. We where 11 and 12 years old and later on we ended up getting a memory card and we clocked the game

[@DoomscrollingHub]

It might sound dumb but Gran Turismo 2 scared me sometimes depending on the track specially the tracks with forest, it was only you, all alone with a car, no one was watching you, creepy lol

[@david94549]

I remember being terrified of a demo where you swim around as a dolphin making sounds with objects, if you swim out of the circle into the ocean it looks like an empty Ocean stretching out forever, but swim into it for 5 seconds or so and you end up back in the circle, but those 5 seconds were terrifying as a child

[@bourkey1567]

No way, Ecco the Dolphin right? I was petrified of that game as a kid.

[@david94549]

@@bourkey1567 pretty sure that's the one yeah, used to have them demos from magazines and be perplexed as to why we could never get past the first level on any of the games

[@thetapedeck7437]

I appreciate the incredible amount of work and time you put into this. I just now discovered it. I bought an N64 and loved it for what it was, Goldeneye, Zelda, etc. But I also absolutely LOVED the PS1 and eventually bought it BECAUSE of it's powerful horror games. It was like watching R rated movies as a kid. My friend scared the hell out of me when he turned off his basement lights and showed me Resident Evil 1 the first time...Then Silent Hill....I bought the PS One version of the console and then the PS2 which was also equally unnerving. It's hard to describe the feeling, it's just, so mature and visceral. Thanks for the video!

[@jimtroeltsch5998]

As a young kid I used to find my first ps1 experiences so enchanting and engendering a sense of curiosity in me. I found the worlds so huge compared to the super nintendo. Despite the limited viewing of what could be generated, all the games felt so fully realized and always had me wondering what was going on in the background. It's weird, when I play newer games I don't feel that at all. Though when I play old ps1 games now I still sort of do for some reason.

[@SkemeKOS]

I had the same feeling when playing games on the Commodore 64. The world map in TMNT and Times of Lore are two examples I can immediately think of.

[@jimtroeltsch5998]

@@SkemeKOS that's cool to hear! it must be a part of being young or something

[@iitzfizz]

00:58 is just pure nostalgia fuel OMG

[@bitwize]

I don't think they're unnerving as such, but some of the games used those limited graphics to eerie effect. I'm talking things like Silent Hill's low draw distance being exploited to create an unsettling fog. Mostly, PS1 graphics just looked like ass. A few games, like FFVIII and FFIX, did something beautiful and atmospheric with those limitations.

[@BETHIADA1988]

I remember being unsettled by the trees that would always face me on one of the rally games. And that horrid face hugger attack on alien. All those pixels somehow went right through me. Same with point blank!