This year we’re putting together a list of 31 Retro Horror games. Games that have come from dead console generations, back to haunt us. Sadly, not all of these games will be available for you to play due to the complicated nature of video game preservation. However, we’re going to note if it’s possible to play them on modern hardware. We’re going to be covering games from the Seventh Generation (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii) and earlier. So basically anything before 2006.
Day 26
Nocturne
I’ve been covering some pretty well known games for this series, so I wanted to change it up a bit with Nocturne. This game is a deep cut for many, and it has an interesting backstory and connection with a much larger franchise. That might be a bit of a surprise, but it makes sense in context.
Nocturne is a survival horror game that had the concept of Control before SCP or anything like it existed. You play as The Stranger, an agent in a US organization called The Spook House. Your job is to investigate and more than often eliminate paranormal issues as they pop up across the US.
The sort of things The Stranger tangles with run from the mundane like werewolves and vampires, to the absurd–like finding Al Capone’s factory that churns out undead gangsters. And this is a game that takes itself very seriously.
Nocturne never had any sequels, sadly. But The Spook House and one of its agents make an appearance in Blair Witch Volume I: Rustin Parr. I’m all for the extended Blair Witch universe. But not really.
If you want to play Nocturne today you’ll have to settle for myabandonware.com. This is a game that has faded into obscurity. But it really deserves to be remembered and even played again. The legacy of Nocturne sort of lived on for a while through the Bloodrayne Series, developer Terminal Reality’s next major franchise. But even that IP is fading into obscurity.
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