There are very few truly perfect games out there. Once or twice in a generation we get a game that reaches those heights, but for the most part, even the best games are thought of as classics of their era despite their flaws. It could be narrative issues, clunky combat, or uneven pacing, but most games miss the mark in at least one area, even if the rest of the experience is exceptional.
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All of these horror games delivered something unforgettable, whether it’s their impeccable, terrifying atmospheres or addictingly stressful gameplay.
That’s exactly the case with these next horror games. They’re not perfect, but they’re nearly perfect, just falling short of that lofty peak that so many creative endeavors strive for. These games are all excellent in their own right, and well worth your time, but there’s always just one little thing that holds them back from true greatness.
These games are ranked based on how significant of an improvement they would undergo by removing their one biggest flaw.
10
Little Nightmares 2
Hinting At The Twist Sooner Would Make It Hit Harder
The first Little Nightmares is a strong horror game with a surprisingly detailed narrative for its lack of dialogue. Little Nightmares 2, while effectively just being more of the first game from a gameplay perspective, doubles down on the narrative elements to great effect. There’s a superb story here with a surprise ending that will linger with you long after you’ve moved on to your next game.
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The thing is, the build-up to that ending is really understated until you reach the game’s fourth chapter. There are indications, mostly in the form of brief, dreamlike cutscenes that open each chapter. The thing is, when the crux of the narrative gets rolling, it feels like it has to rush through about seven different beats to set up the ending. With a more balanced narrative progression, Little Nightmares 2 would be talked about in the same breath as Limbo.
9
Cronos: The New Dawn
Do I Have Time Powers Or Not?
The protagonist in Cronos: The New Dawn, known only as The Traveler, has a device that allows her to reverse time on certain objects she targets. Typically, she uses this tool to manipulate the environment, while combat involves shooting enemies with her modular pistol. Both of these elements, separately, are fantastically implemented. The balance of excellent shooting mechanics and scarce resources is some of the best work in survival horror history. It’s just unfortunate that The Traveler’s time powers don’t play into combat as well.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
This is especially true because of Cronos: The New Dawn’s other signature mechanic: enemy merging. If an enemy is allowed to absorb the body of another enemy that you’ve killed, it becomes stronger. This seems like a natural fit for implementing The Traveler’s time powers to reverse that effect on occasion, but you never have that option. Cronos could have gone further and let you catch and reverse enemy projectiles, returning them to their sender. For a game with exceptional combat to go along with its engaging story, top-tier atmosphere, and engaging puzzles, it’s a shame it didn’t take that one extra step to bring all those elements together.
8
Luto
Starts Out Feeling Like A PT Clone When It’s So Much More
Luto is one of the more underrated horror games of 2025. It’s a psychological horror game where you play a character who is trapped in their house, forced through looping pathways as they spiral deeper and deeper into madness. Sound familiar? Yes, that is more or less the premise of the now legendary PT. The first hour or so of Luto plays very similarly, and while that’s not inherently a bad thing, that comparison actually does it a disservice.
There’s also a British narrator dictating events as you play, which may remind you of The Stanley Parable. However, there is a shoe-drop moment a little way into the game that changes everything. The narrator starts breaking the fourth wall in terrifying ways, and the house you’re trapped in gradually transforms into something much more horrific. Once you reach that key moment, Luto becomes an unforgettable experience, but that first hour does it no favors in standing out from the crowd.
7
Resident Evil 4
Taking Care Of Ashley Takes The Wind Out Of Its Sails
No, this isn’t rage bait. Resident Evil 4 is widely considered one of the greatest horror games of all time, and we’re not here to dispute that. It genuinely is that good, even its somewhat-dated 2005 original release. Combat is finely-tuned, the story is a perfect mix of camp and horror, and the enemies are wonderfully creepy. There’s very little to criticise about RE4, but even its biggest fans will likely admit that the sections where you have to deal with Ashley are a pain.
Leon travels to the game’s vaguely European small town setting to rescue the President’s daughter, Ashley Graham. He finds her, but then he has to get her out. Cue what is essentially one long escort quest. Ashley’s AI isn’t the greatest, and that’s really just a product of the time, but several encounters where you have to protect her while enemies are coming at you from all sides, and she does nothing to protect herself, are undeniably frustrating. Thankfully, 2023’s Resident Evil 4 Remake largely resolves this issue.
6
Visage
Needlessly Confusing In A Momentum-Killing Way
Visage
- Released
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October 30, 2020
- ESRB
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m
- Developer(s)
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SadSquare Studio
Much like Luto, Visage is a horror game heavily reliant on atmosphere. There’s no combat to speak of, and you spend the majority of your time exploring the same house, albeit during several different time periods and while several different occupants live there. The scares, therefore, aren’t things you fight, but things you flee from. While that may sound simplistic, Visage uses this formula to fantastic effect, resulting in what many consider to be one of the scariest games ever made.
However, amongst those scares are a series of puzzles. These typically involve finding items throughout the house and using them in specific ways to progress. While that design isn’t an issue on its own, in Visage, the solutions to these puzzles are extremely obtuse. Often, the item you need to use is only loosely connected to the way you need to use it. Finding story lore around the house can help you put together a solution, but even then, the answers often feel indecipherable, which drags down the otherwise fantastic atmosphere and storytelling.
5
Dead Space
Couldn’t The Ishimura Have Some Automated Asteroid Defense?
The original Dead Space was a sleeper hit back in 2008, but its legacy is undeniable. It set a standard for sci-fi horror in the gaming industry that many similar games still try to live up to (there are many Dead Space references in Cronos: The New Dawn, for example). It’s dismemberment combat system is timeless, its enemy and level design are pristine, and the story manages to not only stay engaging throughout, but delivers one of the best endings in horror gaming history.
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So where’s the flaw? It’s a minor one, but it’s also a disaster. A few times throughout the campaign, Isaac Clark needs to defend USG Ishimura from incoming asteroids. He does this by mounting a stationary turret and shooting them out of the sky. Describing the process of aiming of the turret as “off” is an understatement. There’s something about the perspective that makes actually targeting the asteroids feel incredibly imprecise. The worst part is that these sections are mandatory for making progress and can be failed quickly. They also feel completely at odds with the rest of the game. While the 2023 Dead Space Remake improved these sections somewhat, they still aren’t quite right there, either.
4
Amnesia: Rebirth
Whiplash Pacing Changes Make It Feel Disconnected
The Amnesia series, overall, is full of games that are nearly masterpieces. While The Dark Descent and The Bunker are the series’ best entries, Amnesia: Rebirth is right there with them. It has a great story, some impressive environmental design, and wonderfully creative levels that really evoke what makes this series special. The thing is, all these elements, while fantastic on their own, aren’t metered out in a way that keeps the game’s pacing intact.
While exploration is often the best part of the game, it moves along at a breakneck pace. Then, you’ll come up against a puzzle and spend the next 15 minutes looking for a solution in a small location. Exciting narrative progression stalls out as you slowly stealth your way through too-large areas, avoiding monsters while groping around in the dark for the path forward. If you’ve ever played a game that’s greater than the sum of its parts, Amnesia: Rebirth is the opposite. Each individual part is excellent on its own, but when brought together, they make for a very uneven experience.
3
Silent Hill f
Multiple Playthroughs Are Fun; Demanding Them Is Not
Silent Hill f, the latest entry in the long-running Silent Hill series, does a lot to reinvent the classic formula. Gone is any semblance of gunplay; Hinako is restricted to using melee weapons. Gone is any connection to the modern world; the game is set in 1963. It even ditches the titular setting of Silent Hill in favor of Ebisugaoka, a small Japanese town. Silent Hill f does a lot of things differently, and while the vast majority of those succeed, there’s one element that makes things drag out. No, we’re not talking about the combat.
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The story of Silent Hill f is fascinating, following Hinako as she grapples with being married off to a man she doesn’t know to pay off her father’s debts. She enters an alternate world where a fox god, called an Inari, seeks to marry her and have her join him in godhood. It’s a fascinating and thematically relevant story that will draw you in and shock you on multiple occasions. The thing is, to actually see the full story, you have to play through the game three times, taking very specific actions on your second and third playthroughs to trigger the alternate storylines. These aren’t just alternate endings; they’re lengthy cutscenes critical to understanding the game’s plot. Multiple playthroughs can be fun, but not when you’re forced into them.
2
Alien: Isolation
The Xenomorph Parts Are Spectacular. The Other Parts… Less So
Alien: Isolation is rightfully praised for having some of the most complex (and frightening) enemy AI in any video game. The Xenomorph that stalks you throughout Sevastopol Station is genuinely horrifying. It’s smart, learns your tendencies, and exploits them. Try to hide in the same locations too often, and the alien will sniff you out, but try to fight back, and it will run you down. Weapons are virtually useless against it. You’re far better off relying on your motion detector and sneaking past when it won’t notice you. These sections of the game are so good that they single-handedly made Alien: Isolation iconic.
However, there are other sections of the game where the Xenomorph is not around, and these parts are… just okay. They aren’t bad by any stretch, but they feel a little clunky and lack much of the tension that makes the alien so memorable. Fights against androids feel a little bullet-spongy (or fire-spongy), and the standard human enemies are, well, standard: nothing great, nothing awful. The Xenomorph parts are so good that they carry the legacy of the entire game, but the rest of Alien: Isolation is disappointingly normal.
1
The Evil Within 2
A Perfect First Act Leads To A Predictable Third Act
While it’s still one of the most underrated horror games of all time, The Evil Within 2 could have been an all-time classic. It’s got a convoluted narrative that we won’t get too deep into now (it makes sense when you play it), but what really sets it apart is the open world that you’re thrown into at the outset. It’s effectively a neighborhood in a small town, complete with cozy bungalows, a few small shops, and a lot of monsters roaming around.
This section is fantastic, encouraging exploration and rewarding you for doing so with new weapons, terrifying side quests, and even hidden boss fights. It’s fantastic and a perfect blend of open world and survival horror. Then, as you progress down beneath the town, the game shifts. You’ll explore some underground tunnels, which still offer a bit of open-ended gameplay, but once you emerge, you’re basically playing a linear survival horror game again. It’s a good linear survival horror game, make no mistake, but the spectacular experience that The Evil Within 2 could have been if it took an “open-field” approach like Nioh 3 or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is lost after those first 10 hours.
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