5 Feminist Horror Video Games

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to Hysteria. I hope everyone really enjoyed last week's article where I interviewed PINKSQUEEZE. I absolutely loved talking to them, and I have another band interview in the works for you guys that should be coming out soon! In the meantime, I wanted to talk about some of my favorite feminist horror/gothic games. I'm not adhering too strictly to any specific criteria, so as long as the game is slightly dark/frightening/has dark aesthetics and centers the perspective of a developed female character, that's grounds for me to write about it! Also, since I primarily play point-and-click/narrative-driven games, there won't be too many roguelikes or FPS games featured, though I feel like I got a good mix. Enjoy this short post and let me know in the comments if there are any others I didn't include!

1. Night in the Woods

   
   

For those who like cozy, slightly spooky, yet conceptually rich stories, I highly recommend Night in the Woods! It touches on one of my favorite themes: the death of small-town America, and it also has a queer female protagonist! This video game has excellent commentary on economic decline in small Rust Belt towns, which her hometown of Possom Springs is influenced by, while also blending the fantastical seamlessly; by no means is it stale or too confrontational. Again, this game is more story-driven, so you don't have to worry too much about difficult controls. You can focus on the narrative!

2. What Remains of Edith Finch

I've been a fan of this game since middle school, and each time I discover it, it gets even more interesting. What Remains of Edith Finch is a story-driven game with few controls beyond moving the character at hand, and it offers interesting perspectives on the members of the Finch family, who have experienced bizarre and tragic deaths since immigrating from Norway. The reason I consider this a feminist game is that it gives us the perspective of various marginalized female voices, i.e., a once child actress, a pregnant teen, a neglected daughter. I also consider this game a classic, given how moving the story is and the many awards it has won!

3. Underground Blossom

I've been obsessed with the enthralling narratives of Rusty Lake (the devs of Underground Blossom) for years, and I'm consistently impressed with their new releases. While point-and-click puzzle games may seem underwhelming, leave it to Rusty Lake to create the most peculiar storylines and interesting game mechanics inside the base point-and-click puzzle game. Underground Blossom is one of their newest releases, and I think it shows a really interesting relationship with motherhood. All of their games are fairly cheap for the enriching gameplay they offer, too, and have high replayability.

4. Silent Hill f

This one is definitely a fan favorite, and for good reason. It's critically acclaimed, has fantastic gameplay, interesting story narratives, and a complex female protagonist. One of the key reasons I wanted to include this, though, is that it feels much more accurate to the female experience compared to the other Silent Hill games. Of course, one may argue issues like motherhood, sexual abuse, gender roles, etc. are brought up in the rest of the Silent Hill franchise; I can't help but feel that this franchise only paints women as suffering creatures and tools the main character (often a man) uses and disposes of shortly thereafter. I think Silent Hill f is a nice change from what we typically see not only in this franchise, but a lot of horror games, and this time we get a woman's full perspective--not one funneled through a man's eyes.

5. Fran Bow

Oh, Fran Bow, where do I start with you?! There are a select few games I could write an essay on the aesthetic and narrative choices of, and this game is very high on that list (alongside American McGee's Alice). It's creepy, macabre, whimsical, and not for the faint of heart. Our female protagonist, Fran, struggles with a mental illness and meets otherworldly entities who are all but real. The entire game is hand-drawn and sits in the same universe as Killmonday's other game about a young girl living in a really strange, morbid world: Little Misfortune. I am a massive fan of both games, but I feel that Fran Bow is a much more complex narrative and fits Hysteria really well in terms of its gothic art style. These games, I feel, are also part of the canon of "weird girl" horror games from the mid 2010's that feature female perspectives on horror, like Sally Face, Yandere Simulator, DDLC, and a bunch more.

Hope you all enjoyed this short but sweet episode. I really recommend playing all of these games, and if you're bad at video games (like I am), that's okay, too! A lot of them are story-driven, so you don't have to do very much but move your character and interact with others. Have a nice Tuesday, everyone. Really interesting interview coming next week...;)

I have an essay I have not done due soon,

-Mila!