15 Popular Gameplay Mechanics That Haven’t Been Cloned Excessively

Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem – Sanity Meter

In a survival horror game, the things that go bump in the night can screw with the characters, but Eternal Darkness, which somehow comes to us from a Nintendo second party, would use its sanity meter to screw with the player as well. Play too recklessly and a low sanity meter can result in the player seeing their own gun go off randomly, killing them, only for them to snap out of it, and occasionally in ways that cause real concern, like the game pretending to delete your saves, a blue screen of death or faking the player out with a “demo complete” screen. What’s more frightening to the jaded horror gamer? Blood dripping from the walls (which yeah, the game will do), or your 15 hour save just disappearing?