The Safe Room (Abnormal Mapping)

Join Grace and Ryan as they introduce The Safe Room by talking about their history with horror movies and games! Next month: Silent Hill!

In the foggy shroud of anonymous America, Ryan and Grace talk about Silent Hill. We break down a truly masterful and confident Survival Horror game, laugh at the ways it can be kind of silly, get excited about its eerie level design and camera work, and get confused about what exactly the game is saying about drugs. We also answer fantastic listener questions about the population of Silent Hill’s eating preferences. 

Content warnings include: animal death, body horror, child abuse, references to drug use, medical malpractice, references to self harm, forced impregnation

NEXT TIME: The Thing for PS2

Grace is on Twitter @grace_machine

Ryan is on Twitter @bluestrose430

In this second episode, Ryan and Grace discover what lurks in the hearts of men… The Thing! This 2002 spin-off/sequel to the horror classic is janky and silly as hell. We try to unpack how it works as an adaptation, what it preserves and what it leaves behind, as well as swap stories about the ways the game broke in usually hilarious, but sometimes haunting, ways. We also talk about fried eggs, other potential John Carpenter spin-offs, and the frequently ludicrous dialogue.

Content warnings include: body horror, gore, suicide, references to drug use

NEXT TIME: Silent Hill 2

Grace is on twitter @grace_machine

Ryan is on twitter @bluestrose430

Through the mist, through the ages, the town of Silent Hill calls us once again. We talk about this survival horror classic, which is still a shockingly powerful video game. We discuss the ambiguities of what exactly Silent Hill is, and who it is a danger to, its measured and appropriately horrific discussion of dark subject matter, and how the game’s humor is underrated.

We talk about cult classic Fragile Dreams and its melancholy apocalypse, sad and warm short stories, and anime bullshit. We also talk about the distinct differences between Fragile Dreams and other games of its kind, swap our favorite moments, and joke about Nier and BioShock. A listener even comes in clutch with a silly email!

You can email us as thesaferoompodcast@gmail.com and find our podcast (and its discord) at spookygame.club

In this chaotic and offbeat episode, Grace and Rose visit the foggy streets of Silent Hill once again! Silent Hill 3 inspires talk about sequels, the perils of game preservation, what it means to care for or have reverence for a medium’s history. It’s also a very funny (and scary) game, so we talk about our favorite individual moments and try to fit its themes into the broader collection of Silent Hill and Horror Games.

Next Time: Luigi’s Mansion

You can email us as thesaferoompodcast@gmail.com and find our podcast (and its discord) at spookygame.club

Grace is on twitter @grace_machine

Ryan is on twitter  @bluestrose430

Rose and Grace won a mansion! But it turns out it was haunted. :( We talk about the beloved Luigi’s Mansion, the survival horror influences it wears on its sleeve, and just how good it feels to use that vacuum. We also take some time out to talk about the recent Silent Hill news, as well as some discussion on celebrity gossip.

cw: blood, gore, murder, suicide, immolation, parental neglect, possession, entrapment

Rose and Grace wander the haunted halls of Silent Hill 4: The Room. There’s much to discuss in this both maligned and beloved entry and we touch on its prediction of modern horror gaming trends, its fantastic terror of places re-contextualized or written over, and goofy enemies and burb.

cw: suicide, self-harm, murder, body horror, strong horror themes

It’s a double feature here in the Safe Room, with Japanese-only cult classic Nanashi no Game (The Nameless Game) from Square Enix and itch horror classic Anatomy by Kittyhorrorshow. We talk about the limits, and power, of formal cleverness, the interplay of text and play, and how much it hurts our hands to hold our DSs sideways. We also bring up Tár, The Haunting of Hill House, and rank all the games we played this year in absurd categories.

Grace is on twitter @grace_machine

Rose is on twitter  @bluestrose430

Content warning: dinosaurs

In our first podcast of 2023, our hosts talk about the Capcom survival horror classic Dino Crisis! We discuss the game’s similarities and differences to Resident Evil, the usuage of survival horror mechanics to create tension for the player, and it’s various homages to 80s sci-fi horror films. Afterwards, we take some of your questions, and Rose learns about Deep Blue Sea.

Grace and Rose play the yuri-tinged, sci-fi horror hit and try to identify how the game manages to forge its own path despite its constant barrage of influences. We talk about its tricky and well-telegraphed puzzles, its lack of fixed camera angles, how much of the game is about maps, and what the meat is (don’t worry about it).

Next Time: Dino Crisis 2

We finally did it… we played a bad video game. In this tangent laden episode, we talk about Dino Crisis’s silly action set-pieces, flat adventure design, and nonsensical plot. We also go off about hazy memories of Resident Evil 5, BioShock’s absurdity, and transferring survival horror ideas into an action game.

Next Time: Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk

Milk Outside a Bag of Milk Outside a Bag of Milk

content warnings: depression, suicide, self-harm, ableism, parental abuse

We (slightly) side-step normal coverage to talk about the twin horror visual novels: Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk and Milk Outside a Bag of Milk Outside a Bag of Milk. We discuss the game’s relationship to other visual novels about mental illness, the balance between spelling things out and leaving implications unsaid, and the games’ well-rendered and unsettling voyeuristic qualities. We also chat a bit about Xbox bullshit since Grace got one.

Next Time: Dino Crisis 3.

Dino Crisis goes to space in this mega episode, where we talk about Majora’s Mask, Dishonored, and answer quite a few listener questions to celebrate the launch of our new Patreon! And avoid talking about a game that we don’t like very much. Also somehow we talk about Tar again.

Next Time: Fatal Frame

The Safe Room returns to the world of survival horror with Fatal Frame! We talk about looking *as* horror, what makes a jump scare effective, and Fatal Frame’s place within found footage.

Next Time: Fatal Frame II

Hot off the heels of Fatal Frame, we jump straight into the game’s beloved sequel. We talk about the game’s mechanical improvements, its overall scarier tone, and its narrative shortcomings. During our listener questions segment, we talk Fatal Frame compared to Pokemon Snap, and discuss the games that spook us the most.

Next time: Alan Wake

The Safe Room returns with our episode on the 2010 cult hit Alan Wake! We discuss the game’s abundance of Stephen King and Twin Peaks references, its middiling combat system, and its relationship to other Remedy games. In our questions segement, we talk about games that are elevated by their memorable soundtracks.

Next time: Fatal Frame III

You can email us at questions@spookygame.club

Grace is on twitter @grace_machine

Rose is on twitter  @bluestrose430

In this episode of The Safe Room, we discuss the awe-inspiring craft of The Evil Within, its disappointing final third, and its campy, haunted-house-style level design. This is prossibly the most fun we've had with a game so far. We match that energy in a goofy and freeform ep.

Content Warnings: Self-Harm, Suicide, Freud (Oedipal Complex)

Through the electric wires, a strange image appears on your TV… it’s Serial Experiments Lain the video game! We talk about the visual novel inflected adaptation? Retelling? of the classic anime. Discussion includes multimedia storytelling formats, Lain’s place in “franchise” narrative, what exact mental illnesses Lain has, and whether this is the spookiest game we’ve played yet.

Content Warnings: Suicide, domestic violence, general horror gore

In this ocean-sized episode we tackle the FMV-soaked marvel that is Alan Wake II. We talk about how this feels both like a culmination and maturation of Remedy’s work over the past 20 years and how this is still kinda the same as Max Payne 2. We discuss the game’s delicious ambiguities and contradictions, which sometimes feel hamstrung by broader “lore” concerns. We marvel at how thick and thorny this is, and gristle at the game’s broader reception. At the end, we answer a bevy of listener questions and make a tier list of the characters. Big episode for a game worthy of the runtime.

Next episode: Resident Evil Remake

Grace and Rose close out the year with the classic Resident Evil 2002 remake. We discuss the beauty of its fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds, the weirdly arbitary difference in difficulty between the two protagonists, and about how tank controls are good, actually. Towards the end of the episode, we rank all of the games we covered this year.

Next time: The Evil Within 2

We talk about the unsurprisingly competent and surprisingly comprehensible The Evil Within 2. We discuss the game’s new “open level” structure, even while it imports most of what made The Evil Within so good, how (and whether) the conventional story landed for us, and our favorite bosses and characters.

Content Warnings: sexual assault, death by fire, suicide, self-harm

We discuss modern FMV games Her Story and Immortality. We discuss these cinematic narrative games, their sometimes dazzling, sometimes uneven structures, and have big thoughts about writing narratives games so concentrated on women on camera.

We talk about the “compilation” game Fatal Frame III: The Tormented which attempts to wrap its two prior games into an overarching narrative, with poignant and evocative results. We discuss its many annoyances, its ambitious structure, terrifying ghosts, and all-timer final cutscene.

Post mentioned: “Fatal Frame III: The Tormented Reemerges Today on PSN”

Grace’s “Killing Our Gods” Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ginalouisefowler/killing-our-gods

Next time: The Silver Case

We talk about the classic detective visual novel The Silver Case! We discuss police procedurals, visual novel aesthetics, mysticism vs. science fiction, and why games should be like television.

Content Warnings: general violence, suicide, discussion of abuse and child sexual assault from 59:00 to 1:06:00

Grace and Rose explore the at-once simplified and maximalist survival horror action of Killer7! We talk about the thematic power of its ~vibes~, its surprisingly sharp sense of humor, and how wonderful it feels to shoot an enemy in their weak spot. It’s good to be back.

Content warning: general gore and violence, body horror and limb dismemberment, ableism, misogyny.

In this episode, we strategically dismember both versions of 2008 classic Dead Space. We talk about differences, downgrades, and improvements across versions, decide just how good the guns feel to fire, and work through the politics, and psychology, of having a dead wife™.

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell’s essay on Dead Space

Grace’s original review of Dead Space Remake

We talk the toy-like and immaculate Crow Country. We discuss the game's elegant take on survival horror, its consideration of childhood, nostalgia, and its characterful writing. After some listener questions, we get into a sprawling convo about Souls games, the Internet Archive, and our individual plans for October aka the season of Rose!

cw: suicide, sexual assault, domestic abuse, alcoholism

It’s time. We delve into the Silent Hill 2 Remake and discuss its handling of the originial game’s themes, the new (and pretty good) combat system, and how it handles (and mishandles) key scenes from the original game. We top it all off with a flurry of listener questions, where we talk game preservation, that damn pizza, and more.

cw: suicide, bullying, animal/pet cruelty, animal/pet death

In this episode of The Safe Room, Grace and Rose discuss the cult classic 2006 survival horror game Rule of Rose. We talk about the game’s non-linear narrative, how it handles themes of bullying and abuse, and the legacy it leaves behind as a Silent Hill-inspired work. We also take listener questions and once again rank the games we have covered throughout the past few years!

I wanted to get a Handheld Talk episode out for the holiday but unfortunately, due to my own carelessness, my files for that have been lost. Instead, enjoy this little playlist I threw together featuring songs from games we played this year. Hope you enjoy! See you soon for our Pathologic 2 episode. —Rose

Playlist:

"Two of Everything" by Tori Beaumont from "Immortality"
"Kusabi Love or Die Remix" by Masafumi Takada from "The Silver Case"
"Clair de Lune" by Claude Debussy, arranged by Masafumi Takada from "The Evil Within 2"
"Fear II" by Yutaka Minobe from “Rule of Rose”
"Koe" by Tsukiko Amano from “Fatal Frame III: The Tormented”
"Miracle Workshop" by Vasily Kashnikov from “Pathologic 2”
"You Came Back" by Ockeroid from “Crow Country”
"Dead Space” by Jason Graves from “Dead Space”
"Silencio Zero" by Vasily Kashnikov from “Pathologic 2”
"The Tormented" by Tsukiko Amano and Ayako Toyoda from “Fatal Frame III: The Tormented”
"The Reverse Will (Unseen Paths)" by Akria Yamaoka from “Silent Hill 2 (2024)”
"Opening" by Nainita Desai from “Immortality”
"Fairtale Town" by Ockeroid from “Crow Country”
”Shoot Speed" by Masafumi Takada from “Killer7”
"Twyrine" by Vasily Kashnikov from “Pathologic 2”
"Backbiting" by Yutaka Minobe from “Rule of Rose”
"The Attic" Yutaka Minobe from “Rule of Rose”
"Rave On" Masafumi Takada from “Killer7”

cw: suicide, death, the plague

Grace and Rose enter the plagued town and explore its thematic shades of death and life, roles and personhood, ease and difficulty that permiate its walls and earth. Find some bread and meat and sit down with us!

The Safe Room takes a detour into the surreal and absurd with 2024’s Indika. We discuss the game’s commentary on religion, the unique and entertaining formal choices the game makes, and the second hand pain of playing a video game that features a bunch of straight people. Also, this was nominated for The Game Award’s Games for Change?

We return to the Fatal Frame franchise with its Nintendo debut, this time with a new co-developer Grasshopper Manufacture. Join us as we discuss the game’s various Wii-era “innovations,” the many facets of its bloated story, and whether this moonlit adventure shines as bright as previous entries in the series.