Summary

• You can dive into several Japanese horror games on your Switch for an immersive experience with unique cultural references and terrifying gameplay.
• Explore a world of ghosts, monsters, and disturbing imagery inspired by Japanese esthetics in these top-notch horror games to play with friends.
• From Corpse Party to Fatal Frame, these horror games offer a chilling journey through the dark side of Japanese folklore.

Maybe it's the color palette, maybe it's the sheer amount of interesting legends and ghost stories to draw from, or maybe there's something else entirely that draw𝕴s us to Japa𒐪nese horror, but regardless of the reason, we always seem to crave just one more Japanese ghost story to send our heart rates through the roof.

The 💃Nintendo Switch is no st꧃ranger to these types of games, thankfully, but without a horror game section on the eShop, the great majority of prospective players are left scrambling in the dark withou꧒t so much as a flashlight to point them in the right direction. That's where we come in. If you're looking to be s🌺cared (particularly in Japan), here are your best options on Switch.

We're focusing on esthetics and inspiration more than anything, so while not all of these games were developed by Ja൩panese teams, all of them ꦇfeature heavily Japanese visual styles and themes.

6 Little Nightmares 𓆏

A Twisted Take On The Themes Of Spirited Away

"Japan" might not be the first thing to come to mind when you picture Bandai Namco's horror platformer series, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Little Nightmares, especially if you're more familiar with the series' recent offerings than the comparatively humble original. That said, the first game to introduce us to the iconic yellow raincoat and its owner, Six, also had a very subtle but nonetheless very clear Japanese touch that we find adds a lot to the experience.

Without spoiling anything for those who haven't yet braved the maw for themselves, the latter half of the game is filled with Japanese imagery, themes, and a very clear Japanese Western Eclectic architectural style that make it clear the game took more than a little inspiration from Hayao Miyazaki's Oscar award w🧸inner Spirited Away.

5 Fatal Fra꧙me: 🌜Mask Of The Lunar Eclipse

Say Cheese And Hopefully Don't Die

Realistically, you could get your Japanese thrills from any of the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Fatal Frame games, even the oddly titled Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir on the Nintendo 3DS, assuming you still have access to one and don't mind playing one of the more mediocre entries in the series. But for our money, and probably yours too, the best way to experience Fatal Frame on a Nintendo co🐽nsole these days is to check out Mask of the Luna💖r Eclipse.

Until recently, Mask of the Lunar Eclipse never saw a Western release despite initially launching in 2008 for the Nintendo Wii in Japan and being part of a decently successful franchise. That alone makes it an exciting release, but on top of that, the game holds up to modern standards and delivers arguably the best Fatal Frame so far, so if you're looking for good, big budget J-horror on Switch, this is your game.

4 🎀 Yomawari: The Long Night Collection

Cute... Until It's Terrifying

If Yomawari taught us nothing else, it's to 16🎶8澳洲幸运5开奖网:never judge a game based on its looks. ꦐSure, this game might look adorable on the surface, but trust us, there are some truly nasty things lying in wait for those brave or foolish enough to jump in. While there are multiple Yomawari games, the best place to start iꦍs with Yomawari: The Long Night Collection, which includes the series' first two entries.

While the series' keeps its staples over the course of all three entries to the point of the gameplay eventually starting to feel a little stale, the core idea of running through a dark Japanese town, running and hiding from 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a myriad of wildly disturওbing monsters has managed to carry the series th🎃us far. It's more modern setting contrasts with the typical abandoned shrines the genre often sees us explore without straying from the Japanese esthetics we know and love.

It should go without saying when it comes to horror, but especially in Yomawari's case, we'd like to reiterate that the series frequently includes potentially triggering topics, such as self harm, animal harm, and other highly disturbing thingꦏs of that nature, so if that isn't something you're comfortable with, we recommend passing on this series.

3 Ikai

Unique Horror Gameplay Seething With Traditional Japanese Terrors

Take it from us, if you're interested in Japanese horror at all, or even just Japanese culture, do not sleep on Ikai, whatever you do. The game isn't perfect, nor is it high-budget, but the low asking price and thematic gamep🎃lay experience more than make up for its minor shortcomings and make for an experience we think is truly special.

We could gush all day about the many amazing cultural references Ikai presents, but what really makes this game stand out from other Japanese horror games on the Nintendo Switch (or any other platform for that matter) is the gameplay, which forces you to learn to write Japanese kanji, stroke by stroke, as your only means of defense. It's immersive, tense, dark, and Japanese with a capital J, capturing the essence of its setting and themes, and bringing them🍷 to life in a terrifying new way.

2 🅺 Corpse Party ༺

The Classic RPG Maker Horror Game Made Portable

If you're a Japanese horror game fan already, chances are you've heard of Corpse Party before. The game made its rounds on YouTube with celebrities like Markiplier and PewDiePie playing and reacting to the gam✃e, and in many ways, Corpse 🌞Party is a big part of why the RPG Maker horror scene is as big as it is today. What you might not know is that the game is currently available to purchase on the Switch, so if you haven't yet given this Japanese horror classic a try, now is a pretty convenient time to give it a go.

While yes, Corpse Party does tend to lean into the gratuitous violence side of things more than we think is necessary, it's also true that the gore has always been part of the appeal, like a chibi, pixelated Mortal Kombꦏat set in an 🗹old dilapidated high school in Japan. Ergo, if you lean more toward slasher films to begin with, you'll probably have a good time with Corpse Party.

1 World Of Horror 🀅

Junji Ito Inspired, 1-Bit Roguelike Nightmare

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:World of Horror made waves in the horror community for doing something we all thought could never be done: it brought Junji Ito's art to life, and managed to keep it scary. Granted, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:none of it is really Junji Ito's art, but giveᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚn the clear inspiration and well 🥂executed art direction in the final product, it may as well be.

World of Horror is a lot to get used to, given its gameplay style, and a lot of it can feel more like you're playing a tabletop RPG than a video game, but once you get used to the UI and learn to play effectively, you can end up experiencing some truly frightening and wonderfully cosmic monstrosities in World of Horror, and that makes the learning curve feel worth it, somewhat. When it comes to Japanese horror games on Switch, this might be the least approachable, but in our opini🧸on, it's also one of the best.