If you love to be scared from time to time, there’s hardly a better choice than watching a good Japanese horror movie. Japan managed to master the art of scaring and, luckily for us gamers, this applies not only to movies but also to video games.
| Name | Developer | Release | Discount | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Evil Within | Tango Gameworks | 2014-10-14 | 88% | Read more |
 | Evil Within 2 | Tango Gameworks | 2017-10-13 | 89% | Read more |
 | Resident Evil Remaster | CAPCOM CO., LTD. | 2015-01-19 | 88% | Read more |
 | RESIDENT EVIL 2 | CAPCOM CO., LTD. | 2019-01-25 | 81% | Read more |
 | RESIDENT EVIL 3 | CAPCOM CO., LTD. | 2020-04-03 | 80% | Read more |
 | RESIDENT EVIL 4 | CAPCOM | 2014-02-27 | 80% | Read more |
 | RESIDENT EVIL 5 | CAPCOM | 2009-09-15 | 74% | Read more |
 | RESIDENT EVIL 6 | CAPCOM | 2013-03-22 | 83% | Read more |
 | RESIDENT EVIL 7 | CAPCOM CO., LTD. | 2017-01-23 | 76% | Read more |
 | RESIDENT EVIL: REVELATIONS | CAPCOM | 2013-05-20 | 93% | Read more |
 | RESIDENT EVIL REVELATIONS 2 | CAPCOM CO., LTD. | 2015-02-24 | Read more | |
 | RESIDENT EVIL 8: Village | CAPCOM CO., LTD. | 2021-05-07 | 65% | Read more |
 | Silent Hill Homecoming | Double Helix Games | 2009-03-02 | 83% | Read more |
If you’re wondering which title you should play next, check out our list of the best 5 scary Japanese games down below.
Bloodborne
Let’s start with a weird one – is Bloodborne really a horror game? Definitely not in the typical sense, but it still can manage to catch you off guard and scare you to death.
Most of us would probably agree that Resident Evil and Silent Hill are the best and the most iconic Japanese horror video game franchises out there, and the entire list could be easily filled with games from both of these series.
However, it would also be boring, so in order to make things a little bit more exciting, we decided to start with a certain PS4 exclusive, Bloodborne. It’s not exactly a horror game, but its dark and gruesome world full of twisted demonic creatures that could be lurking around every corner is definitely creepy and can easily scare unaware players. It’s worth noting the game’s extraordinarily high difficulty level – it’s not unusual for one to die here much more often than he would in similar action RPGs.
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The Evil Within
Moving to the more proper Japanese horror games, we’ve got The Evil Within – a game, where paranormal phenomena play an important role in the story.
The Evil Within is a game, where you will have to face unworldly diabolic creatures as you try to solve the case of a certain mass murder. The title is unpredictable and surprising, often leaving you asking the same question over and over again – what the heck is going on, but in a very positive way. Dealing with devil powers is no joke, so running away is often the wisest choice.
However, you won’t be entirely helpless – the game will give you chance to defend yourself when you’re cornered, thanks to some guns you’ll have at your disposal. Still, weapons should be your last resort, as ammo is scarce and hard to come by – you surely don’t want to get surrounded while having empty magazines.
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Resident Evil 2
It’s a classic game that probably doesn’t need an introduction, but considering that most likely we have a fair bit of younger players on the board, we’ll do it anyway.
Resident Evil was and probably still is one of the best-known horror games ever made. It’s played from a third-person perspective and its most notable feature is the game’s locked static camera that can’t be moved – it’s similar to what you can experience in most graphic adventure games, except that instead of peacefully exploring locations and collecting items in order to combine them into something more useful that could hopefully help you solve some puzzle, here you’ll be facing evil creatures in real time, so fast reflexes are a must.
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Silent Hill
When speaking of Japanese horror games, it’s most often one of the two – either Resident Evil or Silent Hill. But which one is better?
The answer is none. Both are comparably awesome and both set new standards for entire generations of horror games. However, the differences are clearly visible – while both games look similar at first glance, it quickly turns out that they are approaching the horror genre from two different sides.
Resident Evil is more like a zombie-filled action game, and Silent Hill focuses more on creating tension and the truly scary and unsettling atmosphere without resorting too much to cheap old tricks like jump scares. Those who owned PS2 surely do remember unslept nights after long Silent Hill sessions with friends.
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Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
As we mentioned earlier, we didn’t want to fill the entire list with Resident Evil and Silent Hill games so we tried to avoid repeating these two series over and over again, but for RE 7 we made an exception.
We already included one Resident Evil game on the list. So, what’s so unique about Resident Evil 7 that made us break our own rule of not including multiple games from the same franchise? It’s the possibility to play the game with the use of virtual reality goggles.
VR brings the horror genre to an entirely new level – it’s much more immersive when you can’t look away from the screen. You are in the middle of the action and there’s nowhere to hide – wherever you’ll be looking at, there’s a chance that there will be something spooky going on, and closing your eyes won’t make the evil disappear. Are you ready to take part in the fullest horror experience up to date?
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The Best Japanese Horror Games
Japan is known for various things, and while horrors are not necessarily the first one that comes to mind when thinking of this beautiful country, when you ask “who makes the best horror movies” then Japan most often tops the lists. It’s hard not to notice how Japan excels at making truly scary creations, and these are not limited to movies – if you’re looking for an outstanding horror game for PC or consoles, the chances are high that you will have the best luck when browsing Japanese titles.
Check out the list above to find the best Japanese or Asian horror games and give them a try if you didn’t already.