Psychological Horror
Before I get into things like graphics, sound, gimicks, etc. I must mention that this game's great strength is its unique dramatically unfolding storyline, which takes place over a period of 2000 years. The game's storyline is based on the life work of a famous horror author of this past century named H. P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft is known for penning a multitude of short standalone horror stories which take place within a parallel universe just like ours, but ultimately ruled by sinister beings called "Great Older Ones" in a vast conspiracy. This alternate universe was called the "Cthulhu Mythos" by one of his disciples, and that name has stuck. The developers of this game have basically created their own cohesive and consistent version of Lovecraft's literary world, in both style and substance. Regarding style, they have framed the game as a series of shorter stories, all of which are complete stories within themselves, but which are also parts of the greater overall storyline of the game. This is an obvious tribute to Lovecraft's style of writing only standalone short stories rather than novels, each of which takes place in (and adds depth to) his overall mythos. Regarding substance, practically every literary element in Lovecraft's mythos is represented in this game. Lovecraft's book of death, the "Necronomicon", is represented in this game with the book of death titled the "Tome of Eternal Darkness". The deities which are trapped outside of present reality, called the "Great Older Ones" in Lovecraft's mythos, are represented in this game as "Ancients". Lovecraft's ancient city of "Rl'yeh", buried beneath the Pacific Ocean and once inhabited by an ancient race of intelligent non-human creatures, is represented in this game as the city of "Ehn'ga", also once inhabited by an ancient advanced race of creatures, and buried beneath Rhode Island. The list goes on and on. The developers were obviously fans of Lovecraft, and it shows in every element. In fact, this game stands as one of the most effective and complete tributes to Lovecraft's work available in any artistic medium currently practiced.
As mentioned, the game is built around a plot by three deities known as "Ancients", each one trying to take over the world and feed on the souls of the human population. Each Ancient represents an aspect of the system of gameplay, and for that matter, human nature: Chat'turgha, a red crablike being, represents war and the sheer force of battle; Ulyaoth, a blue jellyfish shaped being, represents sorcery and magic, and the power of interdimensional travel; Xel'lotath, a green angel-like biped with a single eyeball, is the Ancient of knowledge and sanity (or in this case, insanity). At the beginning of the game, you are presented with a choice, as to which Ancient you will serve, which is ultimately the Ancient you will oppose throughout the game. Each Ancient is opposed by one of the other Ancients, and opposes the remaining Ancient. In other words, it acts as a god-level version of "rock, paper, scissors".
The Ancient of war has the power to easily destroy the Ancient of knowledge, the Ancient of knowledge has the power to easily destroy the Ancient of sorcery, and the Ancient of sorcery has the power to easily destroy the Ancient of war. In the middle of all of this is a single Ancient, a friend to humanity, named Mantorok. He is the "keeper" Ancient, who opposes and is opposed by all three. He is hardly easy on the eyes for being a friend to mankind, looking like a giant red octopus with many mouths and eyes on every tentacle. The design of these Ancients is incredible for sure. The goal of the game, once choosing the Ancient which is trying to take over the world, is to spend the next 2000 years playing as various humans who discover this evil plot and choose to stop the plot and destroy this Ancient, and save humanity from its fate as food for the gods, culminating in a showdown.
This gameplay isn't particularly difficult, but that's not a negative in the game, as it is certainly fun to play for reasons above and beyond just the outstanding storyline. There are traditional puzzles, which are not terribly difficult, but are fun in any case. The game has a targetting system, allowing the main character to target specific parts of the villain's bodies, making gameplay overall much better than many other survival horror games. Additionally, the 2D controls are much appreciated for anyone who is tired of the typical "Resident Evil" 3D control scheme hindering the gaming experience.
The discovery the main character has to take in reading the various accounts of the history of the menace, keeps you interested in what is going on -- especially as reading the accounts allows you to play each sequence the main character is reading about (you aren't merely watching history, you participate in it). There are certainly other gameplay elements that deserve mention, but there are two in particular which defy explanation, and have provided something entirely unique in the industry:
(1) The sanity meter is one of those pervasive gimicks which actually has a part in the overall story of the game, and its executed extremely well. The characters have to guard their sanity, through the sanity meter, as well as their life, as they encounter more and more nightmarish situations along the way. If the sanity meter gets too low, various mind-boggling effects start interrupting gameplay, or severely impeding it. Though it sounds like a cheesy gimmick, the sanity meter and sanity effects are probably one of the most successful gimmicks in any game, and are so original and varied that they act as an ultra-catalyst for the entire game. Some sanity effects occur randomly based on sanity level. Some occur at predetermined points in the game regardless of sanity. Some are "fourth wall" effects which are targetted at the player himself rather than the character he controls. It is this system of sanity effects that has led some to say that this is the first game to turn the tables on gaming by "playing" the player.
(2) This game has an involved and almost revolutionary magic system. The characters collect runes throughout the game which are used to create very varied spells. The runes can be divided into three major categories: "alignment" runes, "action" runes, and "target" runes. For instance, one action rune might be "protect" and a target rune might be "self". In combination, these will form a "shield" spell, which protects the casting person from a certain amount of damage. Collecting the runes automatically won't create the spell, the player must put these runes together in a meaningful combination, or the player can find the spell scroll for a particular spell, such as the "shield" scroll, which will automatically create the spell and name it. Finding the scroll is not required to cast the spell, but will almost certainly happen anyway if you are thorough. Your spells are cast against an "alignment" of one of the "Ancients" by using the "alignment" rune with the particular spell, which are the deity-like arch-villains of the game. So a shield spell cast with the alignment of "Chattur'gha", the being of war, won't do much to protect you against an enemy aligned with "Ulyaoth", the being of sorcery, but will provide maximum protection against an enemy aligned with "Xel'lotath", the being of knowledge and insanity. There is also the possibility of finding the rune of "Mantorok", which will always affect any creature of another alignment, or will have a special side effect. For instance, the "Reveal Invisible" spell reveals a hidden object with any of the villainous alignments, but with the alignment of "Mantorok", it makes the player character invisible. The magic system was, like the sanity meter, an exceptional aspect of gameplay which has a root in the storyline.
The graphics of the game don't start off well. This game was originally made for the N64, but the direction changed when Nintendo started moving in the direction of its, at the time, new Gamecube platform. On the immediate first scene, I thought I *was* playing on an N64; however, beyond the first scene, the graphics take a startling turn for the better. The detail in the graphics of the mansion and the other four locations are built on eerie effects, and are awesomely crafted. They really set the mood for the various quests. Though several locations are reused over and over (there are only five unique locations), they change dramatically in the large storyline timegaps whch take place from chapter to chapter, showing the hundreds of years of alteration that pass between chapters, both in the form of rebuilding, and decay over time. These changes over time look very genuine, and provide a solid anchor which firmly roots the epic plot.
As if these achievements in graphics were not enough, the guys at "Silicon Knights" made their soundtrack and sound effects an obvious first priority. The ambient tonal music sounds like a merge of disco-tech and celtic music varieties, and the tunes themselves really set the mood of each level. Background sound effects give a genuinely creepy feel to the game, especially those effects which are spawned by the various sanity effects. Is the music that good? It is. I spent months tracking down a copy of the soundtrack on eBay, and ended up spending far more than usual for such an item. That is how much I liked it.
There is a lot more that can be said for this game, more than I have the time or space to say here. It really disappoints me that it didn't seem to do so well in the market, because if there ever was a game worthy of success, its this one. This game isn't quite a survival horror game, as the magic system virtually eliminates scarcity or overall survival as factors. Instead, it literally invents a new genre of horror-themed gaming, which some have chosen to call "psychological horror". Yet this game started my appreciation of the survival horror genre, and even though I have played practically every horror-themed game imaginable since, I haven't found one that captivated me as much as this game does. This is one of those rare gems, an immediate classic, and one of the strongest arguments for Gamecube ownership available. It gets my vote for best game of 2002.