Zero Brightness - A Podcast About Horror Video Games

We're talkin' Disaster Report 4, the brand new PS2-style survival game that time-traveled to use from 2011 with all of its weirdness fully intact. We discuss what makes this game good-bad, its budget-game lineage and how its out-of-place lasciviousness gives it "Big Boomer Energy." It's Disaster Report, dawg, we had to get weird on this one.

We're talking Yuppie Psycho, a 2D Survival Horror game that mixes 16-bit gameplay with classic survival horror and garnishes the whole thing with a dark but quirky slice-of-life workplace character drama. Topics discussed include hiding under desks, work efficiency trends, monster energy drink and capitalism. Now get back to work, ya slackers!

Ali finally gets his way as we discuss Prey, the massively underrated and mostly forgotten 2017 immersive sim that managed to marry sci-fi scares to open-ended gameplay. We discuss the finer points of the Immersive Sim genre while trying to figure out why no-one will play our favorite games. For the record: I did install Hitman and I'm gonna play it.

We are joined by very special guest Pam D (of Cannot Be Tamed) to discuss the over-the-top PC horror adventure game The Cat Lady - a game that plays out like an unholy combination of The Babadook, Kill Bill and Harvester. Topics discussed include weird voice acting, industrial goth music, excessive gore and smoking cigarettes for breakfast. Remember to feed your cats!

Listen, if Resident Evil 2 wants to wear a dinosaur costume then I AM HERE FOR IT. Join us as we grab some popcorn and experience the TBS original movie of first-gen survival horror, Dino Crisis. To quote the game itself: It's just like that movie!

The much anticipated Resident Evil 3 Remake is here and we're diving deep into its wildly different take on the source material. We discuss this action-packed thrill ride of a game as well as the weirdly polarized response it has received from critics and fans. Guess they weren't ready for the John Wick of the RE franchise... but I was.

We tackle the beloved indie adventure game Night in the Woods but something's a bit... different. Topics covered include mental health, secret murals, cute cats and Depression - both the emotional and economic types. No tiny crimes were committed in the making of this episode!

Monica Coleslaw (of Demon Daddies) joins for a discussion of Sinking City, the open-world horror game set in an H.P. Lovecraft-inspired city full of fishmen, monkeymen and era-appropriate racism. Come with us on a journey into our mind palace as we discuss janky gunplay, weird Switch ports and phlegmy demons.

We had a brief discussion of the RE3 demo and realized that it would've appeared in an episode that's coming out after the game's release, so we're releasing it now! A few lil hot takes on that crazy demo. Jump in our discord and tell us what you think.

It's our 50th episode and we're spending this special time tackling Silent Hill 4, the divisive end of the original series run. In classic ZB fashion, we can't agree and end up debating the merits of obtuse progression, enemy gauntlets, weird lore and a main antagonist who basically amounts to incel Freddy Kreuger. You can' t make this shit up. Thanks for sticking with us for 50 episodes!

A quick status update and another preview of our Patreon-exclusive bonus episodes. This is a discussion of Disco Elysium, with more available every week at patreon.com/zerobrightness

Another topic episode where we discuss some great scary moments from non-horror games. We run the gamut from Ecco the Dolphin's alien exploits to Half Life 2's haunted house.

We discuss all the horror games/creepy games that you can't play, from creepypastas to weird youtube series and everything in between. Let's get weird!

We take a look at the Haunted PS1 Demo Disc, a collection of lo-fi indie horror games inspired by the gloriously chunky days of PS1 horror gaming. We talk the highlights (and lowlights) of this surprisingly large and diverse collection of bite-size spook-em-ups that finds you doing everything from hacking coffins and collecting cats to outrunning sentient ramen packets and solving zombie crimes. G...

We continue our discussion of Kentucky Route Zero by breaking down the plot and talking about the finer points of the game's sprawling, reference-heavy narrative.

We start our discussion of Kentucky Route Zero - the long-gestating, densely-layered indie game that was recently collected in a complete edition - by picking apart its influences and aesthetics. We talk about Lynch, Magical Realism, Socialism, Gas Stations, Cinematic Platformers and one-legged ghosts. Get in the car, loser, we're cruisin' the zero!

We're talking about the weird, often overlooked PS1 classic Galerians, one of the very few games that cops the late 80s/early 90s Japanese Cyberpunk/Techno Goth aesthetic (think Akira meets The Prodigy). We break down the many film and music influences on this genre as well as wax poetic about the joys of exploding heads with psychic angst. It's all tank controls and ornate chokers from here on in...

We tackle the PS1 Clock Tower sequel (sensibly titled Clock Tower II in Japan, annoyingly called Clock Tower in the US) and end up debating the merits of this contentious title. Is is a rare gem in the tiny canon of Argento-inspired games or is it complete and utter garbage?

We're throwing it back to the original Echo Night game, which also happens to be the original Walking Sim. We discuss the many facets of this 1998 PS1 classic, from its forward thinking design to its super crusty controls - stopping along the way to discuss, among other things, why all From Software NPCs end their sentences with "Heh heh heh..."

We're back at the Indie Horror Rodeo, exploring a couple of games that made waves by combining vintage aesthetics with downright bizarre approaches to narrative and gameplay. Paratopic takes us on a disjointed, dystopian journey while Claire guides us to the heart of Silent Hill - by making us constantly check the map, of course.

After pulling our punches in the Red Candle Games episode, we decided to circle back and go full tilt on discussing Devotion (2019). We leave no stone unturned and no spoiler unspoiled as we dissect the sadly de-listed Taiwanese horror masterpiece. Fair warning: Ali won't stop bringing up his shitty childhood and going on political rants. James is pretty well behaved, though, so that's a win. That...

We pick apart the Resident Evil series' big, striking comeback/reinvention and find that it's a lot weirder and thornier than we remember.

We discuss our favorite Horror games of 2019 and the best older Horror games we played this year. We also spend a lot of time talking about how bad all the "best of 2019" lists have been this year. Wait, another episode of effusive praise and uninvited hot takes? What a shocking twist ending to the year!

We dive into discussing two very meta, very weird indie horror games when we talk about Doki Doki Literature Club and IMSCARED. These games raise all sorts of questions, like: Am I on a list for playing these? Did I really get a virus? What the heck is an eversion? Answers to these questions and more await you inside! The Polygon article mentioned within: https://www.polygon.com/2012/11/14/3590430...

16-bit month comes to a close as we tackle Yume Nikki, the bizarre and mysterious Art-PG game that I like so much that I named a band after it. We talk about its many strange quirks and weird characters, as well the heavy influence its had on the many internet-based horror stories, walking simulators and indie games that have been made in the years since its original release.