Horror Games That Change Drastically Midway Through

For a horror game to be memorable, it needs to keep things fresh throughout the nightmarish adventure to ensure players feel immersed from beginning to end. While this obviously means things like enemy and environment variety will be included to help add some diversity to the game, sometimes, developers will also decide to make a full 180 and completely change up an aspect of the game midway through, which can end up drastically changing the overall experience.

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Whether it be a sudden change to a new protagonist, bizarre story twists, or even a complete tonal flip, there are plenty of ways horror titles that have subverted players’ expectations by taking the risk of making giant changes only a few chapters into the player’s story. However, whether these drastic changes were pulled off successfully or not can vary, but one thing is for sure, they certainly all threw players off guard upon experiencing them for the first time.

7

Until Dawn

Until Dawn Suddenly Turns From A Predictable 80s Horror Flick Turns Into An Intense Fight For Survival

8/10

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Until Dawn (2015)

OpenCritic

Top Critic Rating:
79/100


Critics Recommend:
48%

Released

August 25, 2015

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

At the beginning of Until Dawn, once the squabbling group of friends are able to get inside and settle down with one another, it very quickly becomes clear that a killer is on the loose, and looking to hunt down each of them one by one. For the most part, this seemed like a typical homage to horror classics of old, but what’s strange is the killer is only revealed at roughly the midpoint of the game.

The truth is, while Josh owns up to being the killer, since the teens arrived in the lodge, they have also become the prey of the dangerous Wendigo who roam the mountain and all of its underground tunnels. This twist threw everyone by surprise and managed to raise the stakes even higher, turning a fairly predictable 80s horror flick into a fierce fight for survival.

6

Doki Doki Literature Club!

There’s No Horror Game That Features Tonal Whiplash Quite As Strongly As Doki Doki Literature Club!

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Doki Doki Literature Club!

Systems

OpenCritic

Top Critic Rating:
87/100


Critics Recommend:
83%

Released

September 22, 2017

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Doki Doki Literature Club! is a psychological thriller which first guides players into a false sense of security before then breaking the fourth wall completely, resulting in terrifying results. It’s very much a game of two halves which shows its true colors a few hours in, making for one of the most unnerving horror experiences in the last few years.

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Despite it being advertised as a horror game, the tonal whiplash in this game is unlike anything else, which is why it would became such a phenomenon during the horror-game streamer era, where viewers would flock to see the top player’s reactions.

5

Little Nightmares

Six’s Persona Entirely Changes Thanks To One Eerie Moment In The Game

8/10

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Little Nightmares

Survival Horror

Puzzle

Platformer

OpenCritic

Top Critic Rating:
79/100


Critics Recommend:
72%

Released

April 28, 2017

Developer(s)

Tarsier Studios

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Six, the main protagonist of Little Nightmares, seems like a pretty innocent character for much of the game. Though they are shown to be prone to random hunger spikes, they are ultimately just trying to get away from the grotesque monsters that they face throughout the nightmarish adventure, that is, until Six has a fateful encounter with a gnome who offers them a sausage.

Rather than taking the gift, Six instead decides to chow down on the gnome like some kind of ravenous animal. This completely changes the tone of the game, making Six feel like more of a hunter rather than being the hunted, giving the rest of the game a very different feel and vibe from the first few hours.

4

Dead Space

Players Are Transported From The Ishimura Into An Entirely New Ship With Unique Enemies Halfway Through Dead Space

9/10

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Dead Space (2023)

OpenCritic

Top Critic Rating:
89/100


Critics Recommend:
97%

Released

January 27, 2023

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

After the Necromorphs show themselves in the first few minutes of the first Dead Space, the game follows a fairly streamlined path that seems like it wouldn’t stray too far off course. Simply put, Isaac needed to repair numerous parts of the Ishimura to stop it from crashing, and would then need to find a way to escape in one piece, but one monster who throws a wrench into these plans is the Leviathan Remnant.

After players take out this monstrosity, they are then sent flying into the USM Valor, a military ship that looks and feels entirely different to the Ishimura that players had been trapped in for so long. Even the enemies, who are able to teleport due to their Stasis packs, play differently, drastically changing the game and ramping up the intensity of its story tremendously.

3

The Forest

The Forest’s Story And Environment Take A Dramatic Turn A Few Hours In

The Forest is a horror-themed survival game where players must try to stay alive while stalked and hunted by a group of cannibals who reside on a faraway island. Players aren’t really given much to go off in terms of story for a fair few hours, at least not until they start using the keycards, which will eventually lead them to an underground lab that entirely changes around the environment, switching from a tropical island to an scientific facility.

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While the tone of the game entirely changes by this point, the story also takes a dramatic turn with the introduction of the Resurrection Obelisk, which instantly turns a fairly barebones story into something pretty intriguing and exciting. Though The Forest very well could have just ended with players escaping, this clever twist keeps them engaged throughout the experience by fleshing out the world a little more.

2

The Last Of Us: Part 2

A Sudden Character Change That Nobody Saw Coming Takes Place Halfway Through The Last of Us: Part 2

For fans who had managed to avoid the leaks, the story of The Last of Us Part 2 was a complete mystery. Though the trailers had shown scenes of Joel and Ellie together, making it appear like this would be focusing on another venture featuring the lovable duo, Joel’s death at the beginning of the game switched gears to instead make this a game which, many believed, was now giving Ellie the main role.

However, a few chapters into the story, players suddenly find themselves taking control of Abby, who then embarks on her own journey of redemption for what she did to Joel. Though Abby is playable for a brief period in the early game, it felt as though this was just a clever way to put players in the shoes of the villain for a few seconds, kind of like with Sephiroth in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which is why this sudden change comes as such a surprise.

1

Resident Evil: Code Veronica

The Change To Chris Not Long After Claire Enters Antarctica Is Jarring, To Say The Least

At the beginning of Resident Evil Code Veronica, players assume control of Claire Redfield, who wakes up in a mysterious prison after a failed infiltration attempt at an Umbrella base. Though Chris Redfield does appear on the front cover alongside his younger sister, many fans still assumed this would be Claire’s time to shine and a standalone game that could focus on her solo adventure.

It certainly seems that way in-game too, since Claire plays an integral role in the story, including trying to take down Alfred and escaping with Steve to Antarctica. It’s therefore jarring to say the least when, at about the halfway point of the game, players are suddenly switched over to Chris with no warning. If players don’t stash a few weapons in the item box, they’ll find themselves at a disadvantage when flipping over to the second protagonist, making it a pretty divisive mechanic for how unexpected it is.

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