Haunting Ground was released in 2005. It was a somewhat controversial game that challenged players with an uncomfortably suggestive storyline that centered on a vulnerable eighteen-year-old girl. It was met with mixed reviews, with some critics heavily praising its twisted nature, but unfortunately, it was rather quickly eclipsed by the release of Resident Evil 4. It fell out of being a topic of conversation long before it deserved to. RELATED: 10 Things That Make No Sensꦡe In The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s🦩 Awakening Remake It's a cult classic, but it deserves to just be a classic! It deserves the same level of attention as other games of its time, especially since 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Resident Evil 4 has been remade numerous times throughout the last decade, while Haunting Ground hasn't been touched once. In fact, other than hunting own a physical copy, the only way to even play it is by having access to the PlayStation Store in Japan. It deserves better! This list will tell you why.

Fiona Belli Is An Amazing Protagonist

There's something about Fiona that makes her existence alone a standout quality of Haunting Ground. She's young, vulnerable, and seemingly naive. That innocence contrasts noticeably with the darkness of her life's path and the unwelcome suggestiveness of those around her. However, she's also clever and shows immense bravery even in the face of absolute terror, which is admirable. For the most part, she's defenseless and must hide rather than fight. Being scared can trigger a full-on panic attack and during one, her vision is obscured and she can't fight at all. The smallest mistake can leave her crawling on the floor, completely unprotected from her pursuer. She becomes someone that players want to protect and take care of.

Hewie Is The Best Boy

Hewie is a White Shepherd that Fiona meets when she wakes up in her new nightmare of a life. He had narrowly escaped being butchered by a large, disfigured man. Fiona learns his name from a collar that she finds, and the two of them form a companionship. Hewie's health status is indicated by his tail and the noises he makes. He can be healed with certain food items, which also serve to strengthen his attachment to Fiona, making him even more protective. He will even fight for Fiona when she's become too panicked to function, giving her a chance to recover. He can retrieve things that she can't - some of which are literally key items to escape and survival.

7 Daniella Is A Truly Chillinꦯg Villain

Sometimes horror-survival games bring villains to the table that are cheesy or just plain not scary, but Haunting Ground did no such thing. Every enemy is terrifying in their own way, but Daniella stands out a🐭mong them for being especially chilling.

The contrast of the chaos around her and her cool, colleﷺcted energy is haunting.

At first, she simply moves around the house, completing the tasks that she's been given, and serving Fiona with food and clean clothes. However, she eventually snaps because, in her own words, she is not complete, and becomes the new threat against Fiona. Dealing with her is unique and stress🍨ful. She's quiet, fast, and intelligent, so evading her is hard, and the shard of glass that she uses as a weapon is surprisingly effective.

6 The Stꦑory Is Twis♛ted And Incomparable

Fiona's innocence makes a stark contrast against the dark, twisted story that is unfolding with her in the dead center of it. There's an underlying notion of perversion to every little thing about the story 💙that's being told. Trying to cope with the loss of her parents would be hard enough without the constant, oppressive presence of stalkers that all seem to have sickeningly suggestive intentions.

5 ไ The Immersion Is Second to None

While playing Haunting Ground, players will find themselves feeling the same way that Fiona does. The fear that's stricken into♔ her heart when she hears something approaching becomes theirs. The stress of trying to solve a complicated puzzle, often while dealing with an enemy, becomes theirs, too. Perhaps most importantly, so does her feeling of helplessness🙈.

There are several times where Fiona has no means of defending herself whatsoever, because her physical attacks are weak and her crafted weapons are finite. The player will be left with no choice but to hi❀de from their stalkers, especially if Hewie and Fiona have been separated. The feeling of vulnerability is palpable.

4 🎃 The Environment Deserves An HD Remജaster

A big part of what makes Haunting Ground so beautifully immersive is the environment. Poor Fiona has awoken in a sprawling castle that's filled with potential dangers around every corner. Most of the rooms are filled with elegant but aged furnishings and decorations, though there aren't very many signs of actual life. The walls and floors are made of stones and each step echoes, giving the impression that it's most likely a c♔old, empty, and unnervingly quiet place.

Fiona Belli and her companion dog Hewie inside a room with a fireplace, bed, and gramaphone.

The mechanic of being unable to properly fight defend yourself was used in games before, but Haunting Ground does it in a way that's all its own.

Relying on Hewie for most things, from retrieving items to completing puzzles to protection fosters a dependency on him, while praising him, petting him, and feeding him makes him endearing. Fiona is a vulnerable young woman who's being objectified agains𓄧t her will to a truly dangerous degree, spurring the player to want to protect her.

Growing to genuinely loജve Hewie and Fiona causes the stakes to feel even higher, because players don't want to see꧋ either of them hurt.

3 There's A Lack Of Female-Driven Survival-Horror♓ Games

Like most genres, survival-horror tends to focus on men. Of course, there are some noteworthy exceptions, such as Resident Evil's 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Jill Valentine and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Claire Redfield,🧸 though it could be argued that each of them share their spotlight with a ma꧅le counterpart.

2 🥂 It's Obnoxiously Hard To Get Your Hands On A Copy

It isn't uncommon in the survival-horror genre for games to become scarce over time, especially if they're practically an , and Haunting Ground is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:notoriously hard to hunt down. An intact version, meaning one that includes the booklet an🌟d the original case, can cost hundreds of dollars. Specialize resellers may have it, and it's always possible to hunt it down on an auctioning site, but it's not something that can be dug up in the vintage section of most popular gaming stores.

1 Capcom Literally Acknowledged It Rec🤪ently

There have been quite a few games that have fallen through theꦅ cracks with Capcom, and for a while, it was believed that Haunting Ground was one of them. Until somewhat recently in 2018, when one of the costumes for Cammy in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Street Fighter V was revealed to be Fiona's classic outfit. The official Street Fighter Twitter account even mentioned it in a .

Suddenly, the game wasn't so forgotten about after all, and there was new hope for a remake! Though it's been a full calendar year without another word, that hope hasn't entirely dissipated. There are some things that you just can't give up on, and a remastered (or remade) version of Haunting Ground that allows modern gamers to pay respect to one oꦯf survival-horror's most underappreciated games is one 🦩of them.

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