Blindy Showcase
Blindy 
1) Resident Evil 4 Remake"I remember those lost in the dark, the bullet or the blade that kept us apart"
My 2023 GOTY, does Resident Evil 4 Remake beat the original? Not quite but it's really a photo finish and I had so many questions going into this game that I was worried if Capcom would do one of my favorite games of all time properly. I mean a parry system with the knife? What are we doing?
Then the demo came out and my reaction went from "No! No! NO!" to "YES! YES! YES!"
It's very tough to ruin a 10/10 game like Resident Evil 4 is so credit Capcom for not over thinking things and keeping much of the game the same. Again, the knife parry system is a pure game changer, the jaw drop I had when I perfect knife parried a OHKO Chainsaw swipe from Dr. Salvador, a move where if he catches you, heads will literally roll was otherworldly. Ashley was useless in the original, this one she still keeps the element of realism where she feels helpless but she still shot calls enemies around you and will find spare ammo around and throw it to you to help you, think Ellie of The Last Of Us 1. Different characters like Luis and Krauser have different stories in this game so this does not play out fully the way Resident Evil 4 does.
Graphical touchups and even open world esque elements to this as well where you can explore with the boat to some areas for optional content, this game took some risks that RE4 purist might not like but they went for it. My lone gripe is not enough Leon shit talk in this one, particularly Saddler isn't featured enough like he was in Resident Evil 4 original. The Codec shit talking with the one liner puns by Leon Kennedy were top tier, just wish we had a bit more of that.
Ada Wong Separate Ways slaps in the Remake too if you were wondering. A popular boss that was a huge omission in Resident Evil 4 Remake's campaign debuts in her DLC and it was totally different.
Such a different take on the original Resident Evil 4 but it was a bold but great one at that.)
2) Castlevania: Circle of the Moon(So many great Castlevanias. What do you even choose if you're limiting yourself to just 1 is the biggest question.
I went with my 1st true love of the series with Circle of the Moon, the 1st of 3 Game Boy Advanced games. This and Golden Sun were the 2 games I got when I got a Game Boy Advanced and I was so happy. I played this game to mastery where I had Dracula figured out as a 7th grader!
The gimmick of Circle of the Moon is there is a card system where you can mix and match cards to create new weapons or abilities. You can get a flame whip or poison whip or summon meteorites or chuck a giant bone. So many different possibilities! Game also had a cool protagonist in Nathan Graves which was a departure from most games being a Belmont led protagonist or Alucard/Bloodlines duo. Having re-played this one a few years ago, Circle of the Moon still holds up extremely well. If you know Castlevania, especially Symphony of the Night, you pretty much know how Circle of the Moon goes. Game kicked my ass on the revisit as well, there's challenge to be had, especially if you tackle areas/bosses while under leveled.
I'll be the first to say it isn't the best Castlevania but for me? It was my 1st true dive into the series and that alone will always have a special place in my heart. My choice to represent this series.)
3) Alan Wake (A game I only got to play once, it was something I played years later after hearing so much positive acclaim as I never owned an XBOX console until the XBOX One. I was also still relatively new to Remedy Entertainment, having only played Quantum Break prior to this, which was mediocre to say the least. Alan Wake has a certain charm to it where the story revolves around an author getting caught up in his own creation/writing and being trapped in a psychological thriller of his own where he had no control over what is to come. Trying to save his lover, he goes through tons of shadows and diving deeper into the unknown to try and escape his very creation. The combat is alright at best as it is mainly you as Alan Wake going around trying to fend off darkness entities trying to take you where you must flash a flashlight on them to fend them off.
But the storytelling and cleverness is where Alan Wake's lure gets tons of gamers. Little things like having a song telling you the actual direction of what to do to progress the story is so clever(A good song too by a band I really like and found due to this game). It really feels like a Stephen King novel in itself and I think if you're looking for something Stephen King would write out of a video game, Alan Wake is probably the best bet.
Only until recently, Alan Wake was stuck on the XBOX consoles up until Remedy was able to buy the IP away from Microsoft and get a Remastered version(With all of it's DLC minus Alan Wake's American Nightmare) to go over to Playstation which was important since the sequel, Alan Wake 2 came out not too long after the Remastered edition. I've yet to play Alan Wake 2 due to it lacking a physical edition and more so being caught in my heavy backlog but I am destined to replay Alan Wake 1 and Alan Wake 2 sometime in the near future)
4) Spirit Hunter: Death Mark(Probably my top choice for anyone looking for a really good horror Visual Novels of the ones I have played. If you at all dig Japanese mythology mixed in with almost an X-Files sort of exploration of the paranormal, you will be smitten with Death Mark 1. It's pretty grotesque and there are bad endings in each chapter where a person you work with will die a tragic and painful death for revenge purposes so you gotta understand going in this game can get pretty brutal. However, the good endings if done right pretty much leave you with a deathless run of characters you will grow to like. Game likes to throw cheap jump scares at you during the Labyrinth first person segments so be weary of that. Would probably say it's 80% reading and would heavily recommend you to play with a guide to get around the confusing labyrinth exploration that Death Mark 1 has.
The story is totally worth this though and what is so good about this game is the pacing is outstanding for a visual novel. Very little filler, makes the 30+ hours this game has with you so worth it. Likewise, the game does a good job to make sure you are still on the ride and not completely fallen off the tour from a plot standpoint.)
5) 999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors(Is 999 scary? Probably not. However, is this a visual novel most closest to Halloween staple movie franchise Saw? Probably yes. People will die in this game and they die rather gorey which is why I think it's fair game to mention this as a Halloween title. I need to get into the 2nd game of the Zero Escape series, Virtue's Last Reward which some say is even better than 999! It comes from the mind of one of my favorite visual novels of all time, A.I.: The Somnium Files' Kotaro Uchikoshi. 999 was probably his first major hit in the genre and deservedly so might I add!
999 is more than a visual novel, it's one filled with so many twists & turns and creative puzzles. A lot of Titantic lore if you're at all into it, a lot of fascinating theories about the situation each person is in. As the title indicates, this is about 9 people stuck in a game in a sinking ship as an ode to the Titantic with a 9 hour mark where if the minigame isn't solved, each forced participant will drown a tragic death with the downed ship. 9 doors to be had too as each participant is a number in this game and in creepy Jigsaw-like inspiration, there's a method to the madness on how the random strangers have to work together to progress. Very Saw 2 like more than anything where each character have their own ambitions and there becomes conflict amongst each other despite this being a game that people need to work together to succeed.
Such a good game! I dropped it years ago when playing it on the 3DS but came back to it on the collection that was released a few years ago due to the QOL improvements(Most notably a chart that shows you what bad endings you got which is clutch for the true ending). If you like murder mysteries in this vein, give this bad boy a try.)
6) Pumpkin Jack(Probably one of the most "Halloween Festive" games on this list, this game is perfect for the season. Think of The Nightmare Before Christmas's Creepy humor mixed in with MedEvil's gameplay. I took Pumpkin Jack over MedEvil's gameplay since it's more revamped considering it's pretty inspired by it. Easy to platinum, it took 2 days more or less so an easy game to squeeze if you're looking for games to play this October. Game has a good amount of variety with it's gameplay and isn't too hard where I think anyone who digs Platformers, especially PS1 ones, should give it a crack.
And oh yes Pumpkin Jack can boogy down.)
7) Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo(One of SquareEnix's wilder games they published during a time they weren't gunshy to put our anything & everything. It's very much similiar to Spirit Hunter: Death Mark only this game's 1st half is horror and 2nd half is heavily lore dump/mystery. The designs in this game are pretty cool and it has a pretty wacky ending in itself.
Premise of the game is 7 mysterious figures each give a special power to a chosen user. One can create fire out of anything or one can kill if they turn their back on you for instance. Each character chosen uses this power for various means. Greed or revenge or our main character who gets one and tries to figure out who has each of these dangerous powers and their ulterior motives. Game throws out jump scare spooks like no tomorrow in the 1st half of the game and I almost wish the 2nd half had kept the theme going. Each of the paths are pretty good and keep you wondering the end game of each one.
It's another visual novel that doesn't overstay it's welcome too much and is an easy recommend if you're looking for a horror visual novel.)
