However, several other titles, some underrated and others outright ignored, deserve to be remembered. It could be the port of a PC title or that one legendary movie tie-in that no one else remembers. Let’s dive into them.

The Thing

Trying to make an impact in the survival horror genre, especially with juggernauts like Silent Hill and Resident Evil around, is no easy task. Nevertheless, The Thing had interesting hooks, like the Fear/Trust system. If an NPC believes you were The Thing, they could attack, but even if unsure, they’d remain distrustful and ignore orders. They can also become scared, lash out, commit suicide or die from heart attacks. It wasn’t perfect, but The Thing presented a tense atmosphere with strong environmental variety.

Shinobi

Nioh’s “masocore” description actually describes Sega’s Shinobi way better. While it starts out relatively fine, things quickly spiral into the deepest depths of hell. Are you constantly killing enemies? If not, you’ll die from the cursed sword which is slowly draining your health. Died from the insane platforming challenges? Have fun restarting the entire level because there are no checkpoints in between. The bosses are similarly torturous. You can unlock Joe Musashi from the original Shinobi, who doesn’t suffer from constantly health loss and has unlimited shurikens that deal more damage, but only after making significant progress.