| CaptainExplosion said: Does Metroid count as a horror franchise? A few games (Fusion, Prime 2, Dread) in the franchise have me thinking yes. |
I’d say suspense, but not necessarily horror - although, it would really depend on who you ask. Horror is often incredibly suspenseful too, so there’s some overlap.
The original NES title is one of the most suspenseful games I’ve ever played… although, for a reason that would drive most people nuts. I’m ultra-cautious because one bad screwup means 20-40 minutes of farming… and it’s the ever present threat of that which gets my blood pumping.
As far as horror goes, my personal opinion is that it requires some kind of invasive supernatural or alien presence which isn’t supposed to be there.
Castlevania for example, lots of traditional horror monsters, but it doesn’t feel like horror because you’re playing a vampire Hunter killing vampires and their minions. The TV series DOES feel like horror though because of the strong sense of the invasiveness of the vampire invasion. I think Metroid falls more into the former rather than the latter.
Resident Evil totally does. But horror doesn’t necessarily need to be blood guts and gory, even some more cartoonish stuff like the zombie invasion of Threed in Earthbound has a horror feeling to it - mostly the first part, not the second part where you’re invading Belch’s lair.
Anyway, that’s just my opinion, others will have different definitions and different ideas. For example: American Psycho is considered a horror book and film by many people; to me, it’s a pure dark comedy. It has nothing supernatural, nothing suspenseful or scary, and is mostly a satirical piece (both book and film) exploring the shallowness of a yuppie who wants to fit in by imagining himself as a serial killer or being a serial killer (both book and film are unclear on that)… although, I’m the book it’s clear that Bateman is gets very stressed over very trial things and awkward moments, but when he’s murdering prostitutes with nail guns and chainsaws it’s described in the most mundane language, which indicates that it might just be his imagination - or Bret Easton Ellis’s dark humour about just how messed up Bateman is. But I’m getting into the weeds on this example - so I’ll just say To me, American Psycho is 0% horror, 0% suspense, but about as dark and comedic as they come. The point I’m trying to get across is it depends on who you ask on whether or not it would be horror.
Incidentally, I’m a big fan of dark comedy, horror, and suspense.
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
