Key Takeaways
- Very Bad Dreams offers a polished horror experience with creepy visuals and varied scares.
- Organ Quarter provides a unique survival horror experience with old-school visuals and gameplay.
- MADiSON VR stands out as the scariest PSVR 2 game, delving deep into psychological horror themes.
The PSVR 2 has seen its fair share of horror games since its release in March 2023. The releases come in a wide range, from the sublime to far less solid entries. Capcom’s Resident Evil games, for example, remain at the top of the pack.
7:35
Related
The Scariest Horror Video Games Of All Time, Ranked
From the torture of Doki Doki Literature Club to the eerieness of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, here are the scariest horror video games of all time.
At this spookiest time of year, it’s only fitting to decide on the best horror games on the PSVR 2 platform. There are many contenders, but these virtual worlds are the ones that can send chills down anyone’s spine.
12 Very Bad Dreams
A VR B-Movie
- Released: October 23rd, 2023
- Developer: Creative VR 3D
Very Bad Dreams was originally released as Bad Dreams on the original PSVR headset. This revamped version for PSVR2 surpasses the original with more scenes, better visuals, and far more general polish than the first bug-ridden release.
These changes elevate the game from easy to avoid to one that horror fans should definitely check out. Despite some awkward mechanics, the variety and creativity between the games’ various chapters are well worth experiencing.
Working through each of protagonist Dean’s dreams as his sanity slowly unravels presents plenty of surreal visual moments and some scares that will keep players on their toes. The game flits between scenes, touching on many fears from spiders to ghouls, and ties it all together with a well-realized apartment hub where you can read through collected lore.
11 Organ Quarter
Old School Survival Horror
- Released: May 8th, 2023
- Developer: Outer Brain Studios
Organ Quarter is not for everyone, with its old-school visuals and even older-school game design. The game is essentially an homage to PS1-era survival horror, borrowing heavily from the unsettling weirdness of Silent Hill, rather than going for outright scares.
That said, that makes Organ Quarter quite unique among PSVR 2 horror games. In survival horror mode, players will find themselves running from fights to save ammo, and backtracking to find secrets and open new paths. This is only enhanced by the Silent Hill-style map that players can write on themselves dynamically.
10 Ovrdark
Indie VR Scares
- Released: November 10th, 2023
- Developer: Nox Noctis
Ovrdark is another attempt at recreating a classic horror feel in VR, this time adopting a Resident Evil-style puzzle mansion setting. The mansion looks great visually, with some nice, detailed environments. There’s some great, creepy sound design as well that helps with immersion.
Related
5 Best PS2 Horror Games That Never Came To America
The PS2 earned a reputation for delivering amazing horror experiences, but these games were sadly never released in America.
The gameplay is far more focused on puzzle solving than horror, though the game’s major antagonist will keep players on their toes with scenes where players have to stay totally still, and some tense chase sequences.
9 Five Nights At Freddy’s: Help Wanted
A Gorgeous Re-release Of A Classic
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted
- Released
- May 28, 2019
- Developer(s)
- Steel Wool Games
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Five Nights at Freddy’s looks great on PSVR 2, with sharp visuals and inky blacks that help sell the horror. The original Help Wanted is a classic for many horror fans, and this version packs the whole game into what may as well be an HD remaster, in VR terms.
Even though the sequel has been out on the platform for a while, Help Wanted looks undeniably better in the visual department, somehow achieving better clarity and sharpness in the headset. Some would argue Help Wanted‘s collection of mini-games is more fun, too.
8 The 7th Guest
A Spooky Mystery
- Released: October 19th, 2023
- Developer: Vertigo Games
The 7th Guest isn’t the scariest game on the list, but it’s a great puzzle game with a haunting premise. Players are spirits, as are all the other characters, and they’ll make use of a spirit lantern to reveal clues and details about the other side throughout the game.
The original 7th Guest was released 30 years ago, a PC-based point-and-click adventure using FMV video to portray characters. These scenes have been re-recorded and re-imagined with volumetric video, meaning the spirits appear in the environments in real 3D depth.
Puzzles retain some point and click obtuseness, but they never get too demanding. This game is a total rebuild in every way, so those who’ve never played the original will simply find an enjoyable VR puzzle game with a spooky twist.
7 Happy Funland
Enter The Haunted Themepark
- Released: March 22nd, 2024
- Developer: Spectral Illusions
Happy Funland is a little divisive among horror fans, but those who can push through some mediocre combat will find a lot to love in this part horror-part parody game. The premise is a horror trope that has gone woefully underutilized in VR; the haunted theme park.
Players are dumped in the middle of an abandoned theme park, with a creepy AI guide and a horde of angry animatronics. The game is light on the horror, leaning into more of a dark-humor vibe. There’s plenty of referential parody, from Disneyland rides to Simpsons references.
The game is well-paced, apart from the recurring mini-golf game that occasionally bars progress. The ending sequence of the game really ramps up and provides a great conclusion to the game that is well worth experiencing for any horror fans.
6 Propagation: Paradise Hotel
Residence Of Evil
- Released: May 4th 2023
- Developer: Wanadev Studio
Propagation: Paradise Hotel is a stand-out indie gem on PSVR 2. In its relatively short runtime, it manages to perfectly capture the feeling of a 90s survival horror game. It uses ammo scarcity, threatening enemies, and risky backtracking to create a dense and foreboding atmosphere.
That said, despite its small development team, the game certainly isn’t retro in its looks. The Paradise Hotel is a great-looking and detailed environment, packed with vibrant, if gory, visuals. There are a few boss fights and environments that are highly memorable.
Related
5 Best Open-World Games With Horror Elements
With vast worlds to explore, it’s no wonder that these games sprinkle in a few horror aspects to scare players and immerse them even deeper.
The gunplay could be described as average, with just a simple pistol and, later, a shotgun. Yet, there’s more than enough gameplay variety, and this never stands out as a flaw. The environmental puzzles are intuitive and use VR-focused mechanics. It’s a great, immersive survival horror adventure.
5 The Exorcist: Legion VR
Demonic Possession
- Released: May 28th, 2024
- Developer: Wolf & Wood Interactive
For players who want some real scares in their horror game, The Exorcist: Legion VR is a good choice. This episodic horror classic runs with its core theme of demonic possession to a terrifying degree, leaning into some unique and immersive exorcism mechanics.
Players will find themselves in several extremely haunted scenarios where the tension and sound design do as much sell the horror as the obligatory jump scares. The Exorcist really does a unique job of letting players “fight” demons, putting them right in the shoes of an exorcist at work,
4 The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR
Don’t Blink
- Released: March 16th, 2023
- Developer: Supermassive Games
After several updates to both the content and visuals, Switchback VR has become a must-own title for PSVR 2 players. Despite not being quite as terrifying as its spiritual predecessor, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, Switchback makes good use of PSVR 2 features like eye tracking and haptics to give players a real thrill ride.
For those unfamiliar, Switchback is an FPS game where players are seated in a roller-coaster car. The tracks are based on Supermassive’s Dark Pictures franchise, taking players through various haunted and horrifying scenes.
Compared to Rush of Blood, Switchback is more focused on the shooting mechanics than scaring the pants off the player. Yet, each track presents unique threats and hazards, and there are some genuinely scary moments.
3 Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice
Be The Horror
- Released: November 2nd, 2023
- Developer: Fast Travel Games
For those who’d rather be the monster than the victim, there’s Vampire The Masquerade: Justice. Seeking out vengeance for your slain sire, players travel to Venice, uncovering a conspiracy among the Cotteries there along the way.
Levels play out like free-form stealth puzzles, similar to games like Dishonored. Players are free to strike from the shadows or unleash their vampire powers and get loud, but there are consequences for being loud and bloody.
Embodying a vampire is well realized, with players able to scale high places, leap on foes, and even the ability to lean in and drain the blood from an opponent’s neck. There’s also a decent narrative for fans of the World of Darkness to dig into.
2 Resident Evil 4 Remake VR Mode
Leon’s Bogus Journey
- Released
- March 24, 2023
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Resident Evil 4 Remake is an outstanding game. Personifying Leon in VR only makes it a more intense and satisfying experience. Despite some concessions to its flat-screen origins, there is more than enough VR interaction in there to keep VR veterans satisfied.
Particular highlights are the entire lake section, where piloting the boat to explore feels like a truly unique experience and the merchant’s shooting challenges. Relying on a player’s own aim to overcome these challenges makes them satisfying to master.
Related
Resident Evil 4 Remake: Best Challenge Runs To Try
Resident Evil 4 is a game with excellent replayability, and these challenge runs can spice things up even for experienced fans.
Resident Evil 4 makes it onto the list over Resident Evil Village because there are more moments of knife-edge tension and threat. Trying to target a Regenerator’s vital organs as it shambles toward the player has never been as terrifying as it is in VR.
1 MADiSON VR
Blue Knees Is Real
- Released: May 2nd, 2024
- Developer: Bloodious Games
MADiSON VR is undoubtedly the scariest game on PSVR 2. Without hyperbole, the VR implementation here elevates a flat-screen game that was already fairly scary to absolutely chilling. MADiSON dives deeper into the psychology of horror than any other game on the platform.
It also doesn’t shy away from some dark themes, including abuse and self-harm, though they’re treated as more than throwaway tropes. The immersive nature of the medium means that even players with a high tolerance for modern horror will find their limits tested.
Though the game is a puzzle game at its core, the mechanics are unique and fit perfectly with the game’s themes. Players use a very haunted camera as their primary method of interacting and puzzle-solving. The rest shouldn’t be spoiled though, so go into this one blind and expect to be terrified.
6:28
More
Genuinely Scary PlayStation 1 Games
While it may not have the realism of today’s platforms, the PlayStation 1 had truly chilling and genuinely scary games.