As the Halloween moon glow is upon us once again I thought I’d take the opportunity to look through some of the creepiest locations in video gaming for 2022! Let’s start things off with the strongest contender for my game of the year so far!
Nokron – Elden Ring
The eternal city of Nokron can be found in Elden Ring by descending into the crater made by a falling star, caused by the defeat of the Starscourge himself, General Radahn. It takes a fair length of time to be able to reach the point in the game where Nokron becomes accessible, but I can promise you it is well worth the wait. With a stunning night sky illuminated overhead despite being a mile underground, boasting architecture unlike anything you’ve seen before in Elden Ring, simply traversing this area can raise your blood pressure as it feels anything could happen at any time.
Not only that, the ominous giant skeleton sitting atop a throne in the centre of the city make Nokron an unforgettable experience to anyone who makes it to its streets below the surface.
Tokyo – Ghostwire Tokyo
It was certainly a very surreal experience to venture into the eerie and hostile environment of post-Rapture Tokyo. Vengeful spirits and Japanese folklore creatures come to life seemingly with the sole purpose of killing you, but thankfully their attempts are kept at bay by the assortment of crazy powers you unlock as you progress through the game. Mastering the elements of fire, water and wind; you can fight back against some of the nightmarish apparitions you frequently encounter as you explore Tokyo.
The world design in Ghostwire Tokyo is simply excellent, and the sporadic Hyakki Yako spirit parades are always an incredible sight when you stumble across one. My enjoyment of the game unfortunately dipped the longer I played, but if you can pick it up for a reasonable price it’s still worth trying just to explore its rendition of Tokyo.
Caria Manor – Elden Ring
Yes, Elden Ring is a double feature on this list, and could have comfortably filled a top five list for spooky 2022 gaming locations all by itself. That said, I’m sure some players out there will have been surprised that I chose to mention Nokron over Caria Manor for this list, so I felt I had to include it as well.
Caria Manor, situated in the north-western area of Liurnia of the Lakes, seems fairly innocuous upon first reaching it. However, it quickly becomes a lot more sinister with the enemies proving to be a real handful to deal with. Even playing in co-op it takes all hands on deck to get through Caria Manor unscathed, with players often just a step ahead of the grasp of death.
Do you get it yet? The enemies are giant freakish hands! Dropping from the sides of building or springing up from the ground beneath your feet, Caria Manor is full of nasty hand-shaped surprises. As if that’s not enough, they’re also incredibly strong and will knock you down easily while smaller crawling hands slap away at your health bar. They are the worst. Just the worst.
Fortunately the boss at the end of Caria Manor isn’t hands related, but no players of Elden Ring will ever forget their first venture through this disturbing location.
Black Iron – The Callisto Protocol
The game isn’t out yet at time of writing as it is currently scheduled for release in December, but from what we have seen so far of its setting and gameplay I think it’s worth including. A spiritual successor to the Dead Space trilogy released on PlayStation 3, The Callisto Protocol has fans of the original games very excited to get stuck into this when it launches on PlayStation 5.
Gameplay shown off already looks satisfyingly gruesome and the aforementioned setting could make it a serious contender for scariest game of this year. Will I be playing it? You must be joking! I’ll leave that to the self-flagellating horror gamers.
The Castle – The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me
This game also isn’t out yet though it will be soon! Similar to the above I have no intention of playing it myself, but I will be watching Luke’s Macabre Monday videos on it later in the year. The game is based around the survival of a documentary film crew in a Saw-like haunted castle they are invited to, with sadistic potential deaths awaiting them hinging on choices made (and gaming ability) by us, the players.
I enjoyed the Macabre Monday livestreams from earlier in the year for House of Ashes, and subscribing to the Respawning YouTube channel is the best way to stay updated with future episodes!
That’ll do it for this list. Let me know your favourite spooky locations in games from 2022 in the comments section below. Can you think of a better example from Elden Ring? Happy Halloween and thanks for reading!
Written, edited and images captured by Alexx.