On the hunt for extremely captivating atmospheric games. Help me out please!

[Macroplasm]

You're probably looking for more obscure games.

Pathologic
The Void
gyossait
all of our friends are dead
au sable
suteF

 

[guitarsniper]

I cannot recommend Shelter highly enough. Beautiful art design, you are a mother badger who needs to protect her cubs. You feel loss when one dies, terror when hawks first show up, it's really wonderful and also pretty damn cheap on Steam.

 

[lolcatize]

S.t.a.l.k.e.r Shadow of Chernobyl should be right up your alley

 

[Auberon]

Torment translates nature of Planes(cape) really, really well.

 

[Karoshi]

I can't believe that nobody suggested Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. It's very atmospheric games and the style often reminded me of Bioshock, not even mentioning the shared taste in music. You can buy both games right on Steam for 5 bucks each, but only during Halloween sale.

Seriously, Fallout has one of the best dystopian/apocaliptic worlds I have ever seen. You are missing out a lot if you don't check them out.

 

[piinyouri]

I'll put in another rec fr Amnesia. It really builds and maintains it's thick atmosphere very well. Shame the game wasn't really scary though.

The PS1 Clock Tower game is also another I'd add to a list of games with amazing ambiance. I don;t want to spoil anything, all I'll say is silence can be terrifying.

 

[Alhazred]

I'd say A Machine For Pigs has the edge over the first Amnesia when it comes to atmosphere. The first game was set in a fairly nondescript European castle, but AMFP is set in the grim, fog-choked heart of London.

There are less monsters this time round, which gives you a chance to stop and appreciate the surroundings; and try and figure out just what role each part of the complex you find yourself in is for, building up an increasingly disturbing picture. Roast "Product", anyone?

 

[SquidVicious]

Haven't seen anyone recommend this but The Swapper from earlier this year is a great little indie puzzle platformer set on an seemingly abandoned space station. It's also on the Steam Halloween Sale and is definitely worth your time.

 

[Kittyhawk]

I'd say Outlast, Dead Space 2 and 3, Dead Space Ignition.

If you are really feeling like it Metro 2033 and Last Light.

 

[Asinarath]

Someone mentioned it earlier, but a billion goddamn votes for Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines.

But if you check it out, make sure to dump the unofficial patches on it, Treyarch kinda died before fixing that game up.

 

[piinyouri]

Was just listening to the soundtrack for Otogi, and it reminded me how great the feel and ambiance is.
Imagine a hack n slash done by From Software, set in one of those old stylized japanese wall scrolls, with a soundtrack that seems ever determined to unnerve the fuck out of you.

Shit I need to play that thing again.

 

[Exhuminator]

Treyarch kinda died before fixing that game up.

I believe you mean Troika [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troika_Games].

 

[Entitled]

If you are interested in a bit more whimsical fantasy atmospheres, more like Shadow of the Colossus than the other listed games, the horrors, then you should look into some adventure game classics: For example the two Syberia and two Dreamfall games both had really nice atmospheres.

 

[Strelok]

You have probably seen S.T.A.L.K.E.R. here enough, but the atmosphere cannot be beat in all three games. They form quite a great story as well if you are willing to talk to NPCs and read a bit. Second Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light as well, just turn on Ranger mode hardcore and brace yourself. Outlast, is fantastic I am loving it, when I can play it, cause it scares the hell outta me, same for Amnesia: The Dark Decent. Might also want to try the alpha of Among The Sleep:


A survival horror where you play a two year old, can't get much more vulnerable than that.

 

[NoeL]

I wonder why no one has stated the obvious yet...

Yes, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is ridiculously atmospheric, but unlike many of the games you mentioned it's diverse and punctuated atmosphere. In Shadow of the Colossus or Limbo or The Path you get a constant mood the entire game (though they're all significantly shorter than Zelda), and while Majora's Mask has a general aura of unsettling it's set in a much more dynamic and real world. So some parts are happy, some are sad, some are spooky... but it always manages to feel a little off. Strongly recommend if you're looking for something a little deeper.

 

[Tumedus]

Most of the games that I would recommend based on your list have been said, but I'd like to throw Alan Wake into the mix. It has that dark claustrophobic feel, but it also has its own very unique personality owing its style to old thriller TV like the Twilight zone replete with lots of allusions to those types of stories.

If atmosphere is your thing, its definitely worth checking out.

 

[Fox12]

I learned that now as I have aged, the certain genres and particular games of old just don't really stick with me. My time is so much more precious now that I work 12+ hours for roughly 5 days out of the week. I barely have time to really sit down and appreciate a good gaming session, but there is a lot of filler stuff out there I can't afford to waste time on. It would be much easier for me to list some of my favorite games I consider atmospheric, and maybe based off my list it can help spur a "Eureka!" moment. These are not just games I have played, these are my favorite games. Some are better than others to me, but that's neither here nor there. I am too tired to rank them. I am just going to list them from memory. In the event I don't list one, it means I may have forgotten to list it, or I never played it before.

List: (again the stuff listed is stuff I have played and enjoyed massively)

That's about it. There were a few more, but I am drawing a blank. I am really tired. I am going to head to bed, but feel free to leave recommendations and I will check/respond when I wake up later today. Thanks in advance to anyone who helps.

Ico is a must, if you enjoyed Shadow of the Colossus.It's by the same studio.

Journey is a similar experience, if you like arthouse games.

I can't really recommend The Walking Dead (by Telltale) enough. So just go buy it. It's short, sweet, and to the point. It's also pretty cheap for what was EASILY the game of the year (and the surprise hit of the entire console generation). Even if you hate the awful show, even if you hate zombies (it's not really about zombies), even if you hate adventure games, this is a must buy.

 

[Do4600]

I came here to recommend Dark Souls and Shadow of the Colossus, but you have those well in hand.
I'd recommend STALKER Call of Pripyat and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines as safe bets.

The following games I've found have very compelling atmospheres and are games you might not have played or might not have heard of:

Dead Island (Yellowy sunlit nightmare with good sound design)
Far Cry 2 (Immersive African Safari)
Evil Genius (Ernst Stavro Blofeld Simulator)
Fallout 2 (True apocalypse, Reno on fire)
Ghostbusters the Video Game(recent)(Is facinatingly good; in particular is a level where you are searching for the ghost of a sailor in a New York hotel and every corner you take slowly makes the hotel into a sunken ship)
Psychonauts(Really does simulate much of the logic you find in dreams and nightmares also This: http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a179/flibble_2000ad/PsychonautsTwisted.jpg)
LA Noire ( LA Confidential the game)
Alan Wake (As if every ghost story you heard as a child was distilled to it's purest form and made into a video game)
System Shock 2 (the creepiest of cyberfutures)
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the World (Simulates what it's like to go insane, literally)