Twenty Bethesda games are coming to Xbox Game Pass for console and PC on March 12. Microsoft announced the new Game Pass games following the official finalization of its Bethesda acquisition.

Most of the included games will release on console, PC, and xCloud, though a few are console only. Here are all the Bethesda games coming to both versions of Game Pass and xCloud.

• Dishonored Definitive Edition
• Dishonored 2
• Doom (1993)
• Doom II
• Doom 3
• Doom 64
• Doom Eternal
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
• The Evil Within
• Fallout 4
• Fallout 76
• Prey
• Rage 2
• Wolfenstein: The New Order
• Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion are only on console and PC, while The Elder Scrolls Online is only on console and xCloud. Fallout: New Vegas is only on console.

Microsoft also said "a handful" of these games will take advantage of Xbox Series X|S backward enhancement and feature improved FPS. More details will be available on that in the near future.

[Source: Xbox Wire]

Some of the greatest memories I made as a kid revolved around the Elder Scrolls series -- the music, the characters, the gameplay, the combat -- all of it was majestic and addictive, and my father often had to pull the plug to get me off the console on a school night. I had been a consistent player of the series (along with other RPGs) for a long time, but I, unfortunately, took an arrow to the knee. 

A three-hour Skyrim OST later, I was convinced that I needed to run the games through again. Upon a few Google searches, turns out I wasn't alone in my undying love for the series.

Bethesda knows how to deliver to its fanbase, and boy has it delivered. Year after year, the games seemed to get better and better in every sense of the word (even if some aspects of the older games can never be outweighed by the newer and shinier releases). Read on for my top five games in the Elder Scrolls series.

5. Elder Scrolls Online

Elder Scrolls Online gets a pass only because it's a first for the series. To launch a massive MMORPG on the foundation of the Elder Scrolls is quite a task, and it was done well. The objectives are well structured, the music is breathtaking, the guilds are a great break from all the hubbub of the main game, and the scenery is mind-blowing. However, this defies the point of the single-player experience to me. What had made a game from the Elder Scrolls series so special was its addictive solo play, and ESO kind of kills that off whether you like it or not. But as the characters, story, and combat settings are familiar, the game grows on you with time.

4. Oblivion

The success of Morrowind had given Bethesda a little ego -- a small, new map, sloppy combat, and foreign settings threw fans off at first. Characters were also definitely not as graphically attractive as those of the sequel and the prequel.  It still deserves a place on this list because it had a brilliant historical story that stands out in the series. Oblivion also introduced fast travel to the infrastructure and formulated objective logs for the quests.

3. Daggerfall

Daggerfall was once the biggest open-world game in history, at a ridiculous 62,000 square miles of (mostly) barren land. You would find yourself wandering eerily in the middle of nowhere without an explanation. Moreover, this is where the adventure with the Elder Scrolls series began for most of us. Pixels aside, the game was structured in line with a serious open-world attitude, building a life for your character and exploring dungeons and cities as you go. 

2. Morrowind

While this is going against the current, note that I'm not undermining the beauty of Morrowind (or its magnificent soundtrack). It was unique in the sense that both the story and the graphics were fantastic and unexpectedly blended to create a first-person epic unlike any other that Elder Scrolls has released. The bizarre setting of the island, surrounded by Dunmer (dark elves) and challenging objectives made for a memorable play -- which probably explains the demand for a remaster. I could play it a thousand times and never tire. Morrowind marks the beginning of an era that would enchant us for years to come.

1. Skyrim

Not everyone would agree, but doubtlessly Skyrim was the game of the decade that gave Bethesda -- and the Elder Scrolls series -- serious celebrity status. It was enjoyable for casual and core gamers alike, and especially for lovers of RPGs, sci-fi, fantasy, and most of all, dragons. Dragons were a new theme in the series, and they became a fan favorite for most. What Skyrim lacked in story it made up for in marvelous graphics, intricate detail, diverse combat, and endless questing that keeps you playing into the depths of the night. That said, Skyrim was also the first to literally get modded to death. Hence, it is the best-selling Elder Scrolls game to date, without a competitor as of yet. Not at all surprised.

Merely going vanilla throughout the series at least once has its benefits -- you really get to appreciate the genuine infrastructure of the game and admire it for what it really is.

While rumor has it that Bethesda is walking on water with Elder Scrolls 6 somewhere in the distant future, it has fans, myself included, inevitably anxious and excited for what is to come. 

Do you feel the same way about the evolution of the series? Do you disagree with the rankings (inevitably, as Morrowind fans will argue)? Let us know in the comments below.

When Bethesda first announced that they were bringing Morrowind to the world of ESO, my inner nostalgia monster awoke with a powerful screech. 

There is a very specific set of Elder Scrolls veterans that hail Morrowind as the greatest game in the Elder Scrolls series, despite a litany of problems that would make it nearly unplayable for a modern gamer. 

And though we've had some pretty great Elder Scrolls games since then that have brought new fans to the franchise, few of them have filled the void that Morrowind left when we finally had to end our adventure as the Nerevarine. When Bethesda teased a TES remaster at E3 last year, many of us prayed to the Tribunal that we'd get to conquer Red Mountain in high definition. But we didn't have Azura's blessing, and got a Skyrim remaster instead -- leaving a rift in the hearts of Morrowind fans that puts Oblivion gates to shame. 

But months later, the blight (sort of) ended when Bethesda revealed that Morrowind would be the next expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online. And while this isn't the best news we could have asked for, it is something.

The only question is...can it really recreate the Morrowind experience?

For a lot of people, The Elder Scrolls Online is a massively multiplayer knockoff of the main series that doesn't quite scratch the itch. It's lovely and fun to play, but it doesn't really feel like you're playing a TES game. Kind of like drinking ale when what you really want is skooma. 

I bought the Collector's Edition of ESO when it first released, but quickly got bored and set the game aside because it wasn't quite what I'd hoped. And while it's gotten a lot better since its move to Tamriel Unlimited, only something like a Morrowind expansion could really bring me back. 

And luckily for me, I got to play a little bit of it at PAX East while chatting with Creative Director Rich Lambert. While I didn't get to see nearly as much of the game as I wanted to, this old Morrowind veteran has things to say about it. 

First things first, the new Warden class is pretty freakin' sweet. 

I got to demo the Warden during a Battlegrounds match and play around with her druid-like kit. According to Rich, this class fills a very specific role that was widely requested by ESO players:

"The Warden fits that kind of missing player fantasy we have right now, which is the druid/ranger...And like all our other classes, it has 3 skill lines. One is ice, which is focused more in protective magic. One is nature magic, so you have the plants and flower type healing. And then the third is the animal companion line, where you're using animals and summoning them to help supplement your damage."

During my play session, I was using the animal companion skill set. And it was a blast. A lot of the creatures we know and love (or hate) from Morrowind are reappearing as summonable allies. You can spawn a Netch to fight by your side, buff yourself with a swarm of Torchbugs, or even rain fury down from the heavens by calling on a Cliff Racer. 

That's right folks -- you're in control of the Cliff Racers now. Even if your enemy has never encountered these winged vermin in TES III, they'll soon adopt a familiar loathing as you dive bomb their heads from afar.

All in all, the Warden plays much like your standard druid, but with a nice little Morrowind reskin. The bear companion that stays loyally by your side in and out of battle is pretty cool, too. 

And the 4v4v4 Battlegrounds? A smart addition to the game. 

Aside from the new class and obvious nostalgia factor, the biggest draw for this upcoming expansion will be the Battlegrounds PvP mode. This mode pits players against each other in 15-minute 4v4v4 matches on 3 different maps. 

If you're thinking this sounds an awful lot like a MOBA, you're half right. While there isn't as much as much going on in the Battlegrounds as there usually is in an all-out battle arena, the brevity of the matches and constant brawling is definitely reminiscent of that genre. 

In implementing the Battlegrounds, the ESO team wanted to give players the opportunity to hop into the world, get into a quick match, and be able to walk away without having to invest hours of time that they simply don't have. The game's playerbase has apparently been requesting this sort of mode for a long time. And Rich is excited to give it to them:

"I'm really eager for Battlegrounds. In the last six months, I've probably spent more time in PvP than anything else, so I'm really excited about the 4v4v4 Battlegrounds....We have the epic siege 50 on 50 on 50 battles right now. But in order to feel like you're really contributing, you have to play for a couple of hours. But with this, you just get in and play...it'll reacquire those players that wanted more ESO but also wanted more small scale PvP. "

When he says this mode is perfect for short sessions, he means it. Even if no team manages to reach the win condition, the Battleground match will end the moment the 15-minute timer hits zero and calculate a winner based on progress. There's no chance for a game to run longer than you anticipated, and matches are brief enough that you can play one or two during your lunch break.

The map I played on was pretty generic, and I was disappointed I didn't get to check out the others -- especially the high verticality Dwemer map. But even so, I enjoyed the quick and constant action of the Battleground experience. And although the matches are short, I could easily see myself sinking  several hours into this mode by playing "just one more". 

But that still doesn't answer the question all Morrowind fans are asking. Will it really be the Vvardenfell we know and love?

Talking to Rich made it clear that the ESO team understands the gravity of what they're trying to do with this expansion. When I asked him how he was feeling about trying to recreate such an iconic game in the world of ESO, he admitted that he was "scared shitless".

Rich and his team know that the old-school Morrowind players are going to have high expectations of the expansion.  And while rendering the world of Vvardenfell for an MMO was a challenge, he believes that players looking for nostalgia are definitely going to find it.

"We started with a heightmap so we could make sure we were faithfully recreating the space, but we're 700 years in the past. So we wanted to make our own story...our focus was more on nostalgia and giving the player the exploration and doing all those kinds of things."

But I'm not quite satisfied with that answer. So instead, I ask Rich to describe his first experience with Morrowind and what his favorite area was. As he talks about his first time stepping off the boat, his eyes light up like torchbugs. 

"When I got the game, I begged my parents to let me upgrade my PC so I could play it. And I was blown away by a game looking the way it looked. It was just unbelievable. And I went straight out of Seyda Neen, and just ran in a direction. So I ended up in Balmora and I was just blown away."

Watching other play testers grin and gush about the resurrection of their favorite Morrowind creatures, I ask Rich the hardest question of all: Are veteran players going to get that same amazing feeling when they first enter the expansion?

"Absolutely. You're gonna get off the docks in Seyda Neen and go 'holy shit...this is Seyda Neen."

So What's the Verdict?

I honestly can't say. I was only privy to the new PvP mode and Warden class during my demo. And while those were both fun and engaging additions to the game, they weren't really what I was looking for. Am I going to get the expansion and test it out? Definitely. Am I going to keep playing? Who knows.

Rich seems to think that this expansion will fill the Morrowind void, even if it's not quite the same world we remember from TES III. But me? I'm going to have to spend a lot of time wandering the Bitter Coast before I can say for sure. 

Here's hoping that when the Morrowind expansion drops for ESO on June 6th, the sun's golden honey will gild the land of Vvardenfell once more. 

DovahBear Companion Mod: maymay1588 and zeroeternalz

It's no secret that there are plenty of terrifying enemies in the Elder Scrolls universe. This was a collection of the most terrifying beasts, but vampyres, werewolves, wraiths and skeletons will all keep you on your toes. 

It's easy to see how these classics have evolved as the game has, and I can't wait to get smacked around by a bear or stalked by a mountain lion in many more Elder Scrolls installments to come.

Mammoth

Image Credit: mattboggs

Mammoths are arguably the most fearsome beasts in Skyrim, because if you're fighting a mammoth you're probably fighting a giant as well. Giants often look after these huge, shaggy animals.

Mammoths can only be staggered with your Unrelenting Force shout (not rag dolled), cannot be paralyzed or completely frozen and do massive damage with their four tusks. If you find yourself against one, you best bet is to climb a rock or escape via river, as their large size makes it difficult to traverse anything but flat terrain. 

Cliff Racers

Cliff racers are aggressive and dangerous flying creatures that haunt the skies of Morrowind. They are primarily found in Vvardenfell, but are less densely collected all over the map. Swarms of cliff racers can be a serious problem, especially in high level areas. 

While cliff racers are only physically found in Morrowind and the Elder Scrolls Online, the frustrating beasts are fondly referenced throughout the series. 

Slaughterfish

Slaughterfish have been lurking the depths of the Elder Scrolls universe since Daggerfall.

Just when you think you've leveled high enough to not have to worry about death-by-slaughterfish you fall right into a pack of them. Or even worse, many of the games added more challenging slaughter fish to haunt the darkest and deepest bottoms of their caves. These fish are the real nightmares of the Elder Scrolls games. 

Horker

Possibly the most visually terrifying of the beasts found in the Elder Scrolls universe, this peaceful walrus monstrosity is best left alone.

They were originally found in Bloodmoon, but also flop around Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Online. They move slowly and won't usually attack unless the player provokes them or seriously invades their space. Horkers can be an issue for low-level players that accidentally stumble into a family lounging on the ice.

Sabre Cat

Built to withstand the harsh conditions of Skyrim, sabre cats can be a dangerous adversary. 

These cats made a smaller appearance in Daggerfall and are of course included in Elder Scrolls Online but they established their infamy in Skyrim. They appear even in low level areas and can cause serious damage with their rapid attacks. 

Typical to cats, they really blend in with their environment, making surprise attacks likely. The tundra cats come in a spotted white, while the plains cats are a deep reddish brown. Fortunately, they mostly travel alone.

Mountain Lion

Though mountain lions exist in Elder Scrolls Online they are truly fearsome in Oblivion.

You can find this dangerous predator scattered across the mountains of Cyrodiil. Be cautious, because even if you can't seem them, this creature is cable of being Invisible and ready to pounce. 

Wolf

A single wolf is really no big deal. The problem with wolves of the Elder Scrolls is that they always seems to have at least one friend, and sometimes many more.

Wolves have been included in every game, though under different variations. The most difficult packs to run into are the timber wolves of Oblivion or snow wolves of Skyrim. 

Elder Scrolls Online includes wolves to fight and wolves to ride. Don't expect to see any reins on your wolf mount, it would seem they use voice commands like sled dogs. 

Bear

Running into a bear in an Elder Scrolls game has always complicated matters, especially with a newer character. 

Bears have existed in every Elder Scrolls game since Daggerfall. They are generally strong, fast and difficult to kill. The strongest of all the bears can be found in Skyrim, which makes sense considering a bear's affection for cold weather.

The strongest of all the bears in Skyrim is the snow bear. They are located in the tundra area, so you fortunately won't run into these until you're a high enough level to deal with them. Which, honestly, does take a little of the fun out of it. 

Elder Scrolls Online has even included bear mounts, for when a horse just isn't intimidating enough. 

The wonderful thing about a persistent universe like the Elder Scrolls is that we've had over 20 years to become attached to its lore. Similarly, we've had over 20 years to fight its monsters, and decide for ourselves which we consider the most dangerous.

In a collection of games that allows a lot of customization of your protagonist --and exploration of a massive world -- maintaining a player connection to the lore could have been a challenge. 

Our battles against beasts in the Elder Scrolls unite us with other players and with the series. Lets take a look at the ones we search for in every new installment, or adversely, run away from.

Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary Amulet

Rating: 5/5

Price: $24.00

Buy it on: Etsy

The Dark Brotherhood is arguably one of the best factions in The Elder Scrolls Lore. And this amulet is heavily inspired by their assassin clan. Thus, it makes a wonderful gift for fans who either like the Dark Brotherhood or like sneaking around wilds and towns of Skyrim.

The amulet is handmade from polymer clay, yet the amount of detail is astonishing. From the face, all the way to the symbol on the forehead, one can really tell that each piece is well crafted and well designed all around.

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We are sure that some of these gifts will be more than enough to please any Elder Scrolls fans out there. Whether you choose a cute version of Alduin or the intimidating lord of domination, this guide should help you choose the right Elder Scrolls gift this holiday season. 

Alduin POP! Vinyl Figure 

Rating: 4.9/5

Price: $26.03 (Currently on sale for $14.93)

Buy it on: Amazon

Who knew that the eater of worlds would turn out to be so adorable? This figurine is modeled after the main villain of Skyrim -- and stands 6'' tall. Obviously, the design was remodeled a bit in order to fit in with the rest of POP! figurines, but it's still imposing, nonetheless.   

If you know anyone who collects these figures and/or enjoys Skyrim, this will definitely prove to be a nice gift for them. 

Skyrim 4-Pack Pint Glass Set

Price: $24.99 (Currently on sale for $19.99)

Buy it on: ThinkGeek

Made purely out of glass (with each able to hold 16 oz. of cold beverage) this pint set is modeled after the various inns and taverns found throughout Skyrim: The Winking Skeever, The Ragged Flagon, The Sleeping Giant Inn, and The Frozen Hearth. 

One can obviously use them for whatever, but of course, since there are four of them, that should be more than enough to get the party going!

Statue of Molag Bal

Rating: 4.8/5

Price: $79.88

Buy it on: Amazon

Know anyone who worships the Daedric prince of domination and human enslavement? Or perhaps just likes the look of Molag Bal's statue and wants one for themselves? 

The statue stands at 12'' with a very well-crafted and detailed look that resembles the Daedric prince himself. It's big enough to make a great first impression whenever someone walks into the room. Or, if that is not what you wish, then it's just a very interesting and cool statue to look at and admire.

The Elder Scrolls Shirts

Rating: 5/5

Price: $40.00 

Buy it on: Etsy

If anyone can appreciate a good shirt, it's the one with great design. Inspired by The Elder Scrolls, these shirts are handmade out of polyester. 

If you check out the page, there are more options for you to select from -- not just the one above! Needless to say, it's best that you know the right size of your special someone since the shirts are shipped all the way from Russia. 

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - The Skyrim Library

Rating: 4.5/5

Price: Three-volume bundle: $64.92
Separately: $19.05; $22.08; and $23.79

Buy it on: Amazon

Know anyone who loves Skyrim so much and that they're interested in the lore and history of the world? If so, then this will be the ideal gift for them. The library consists of three volumes, each one having particular information and lore about the game. The volumes list everything there is to know about Skyrim, and lays out all the information in great art and minute detail. 

The Elder Scrolls Handmade Wall Art

Rating: 5/5

Price: $38.00 and up, depending on the size

Buy it on: Etsy

Know anyone who appreciates art and the foundation of creativity? If yes, then this will be a fantastic gift idea. 

Oil on canvas, these paintings come in different sizes and themes. However, if you are looking for something specific, you can send the artist a screenshot, and he'll turn it into a painting! It's a good idea to note that if you plan to gift this, send the screenshot ASAP (before Christmas, duh!).

Now that we are in the holiday season, getting closer and closer to Christmas, it's time to start purchasing gifts for friends and loved ones. With so many great gifts catered toward gamers interested in all types of genres and titles, it can sometimes be difficult to decide what to get. But if you're favorite gamer loves The Elder Scrolls series of games, look no further. 

From art, all the way to memorabilia, we'll look at the most unique gifts inspired by the game. Let's get started. 

RPGs play host to a number of characters of all different shapes, sizes, and levels of sanity. From the corrupt Lord swayed by the powers of darkness to the princess who only wishes to see the best for her people, RPGs give us a host of memorable NPCs to deal with through our gameplay experience.

But sometimes, RPGs like the throw us a curveball and introduce a character that's as quirky as they are memorable. I'm talking about those bizarre vendors -- those NPCs that leave us both scratching our heads as well as wondering what we'd do without them. Let's take a look at 5 of my most memorable RPG vendors and what made them stand out in their game world.

The Mudcrab Merchant - Morrowind

The Mudcrab Merchant made his debut in The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. while not an essential character for the player to interact with, the mudcrab Merchant is more of an Easter egg With the added bonus of being the richest merchant in the game Having access to over 10,000 septims, more than any other merchant in the game.

The Mudcrab Merchant can be found on a small island in the Azura's coast region and even boasts dialogue where he teases the player for being confused by a talking mudcrab. There is also another unique vendor in Morrowind that's a non-humanoid and if you know what I'm talking about, post its name in the comments below.

Tingle - Legend of Zelda series

Tingle is a recurring character that we first meet in Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Tingle, a 35-year-old man obsessed with Forest fairies, sells maps to Link, the main character of the game, to help him navigate the man games that he appears in.

What makes Tingle such a strange character is his almost childlike nature and strange mannerisms. For example, Tingle believes that by dressing up like a forest fairy he can reach his goal of becoming one himself.

With that being said, his maps are helpful and the somewhat awkward comic relief his presence brings is an enjoyable break in tension… especially when the moon is mere minutes from destroying the world.

Crazy Earl - The Borderlands series

Crazy Earl is, well, crazy. we originally meet Crazy Earl in the first Borderlands game where he provides the player with several missions that contribute to the main storyline, as well as several side missions for cash and loot.

As the player, you see very little of Crazy Earl aside from his face staring at you from the slot on his door. He’s also prone to hurling insults at you, even as you’re buying items from him with such lines as “It's dangerous to go alone, jerkwad!” and “Don't you hurry back!” There is even a rumor that he once ate an entire car using only a fork but since that comes from Scooter, a rather questionable character in his own right, I’m not sure I believe it.

The Merchant - Resident Evil 4

"What are ya buyin', Stranger?" Chances are that even if you've not played a Resident Evil game, you'll still get the reference to the iconic line from the merchant in Resident Evil 4.

As a player, you knew that you were in a “safe space” when you saw the iconic pale blue flames that marked the location of the merchant’s shop. Everything about the merchant screams creeper --  from the tattered trench coat to the flashing of his red eyes but you can’t really ignore him as he has what you need.

I always wondered playing the game where exactly did the merchant get all of his guns from? How did he always seem to get ahead of me, even beyond locked doors? And was he really buying things from me at a high price?

Cricket, The Wandering Weapons Dealer - Fallout 4

Although probably not considered bizarre given the setting, Cricket, one of the traveling merchants and weapons dealers in Fallout 4, is quite the character. With her frantic speech and jet-addict twitching, Cricket makes me feel less than comfortable dealing with her, even while I’m wearing power armor.

Oh, and have I mentioned her love of guns? She loves guns and loves to let you know about said love, with lines like. “Got a hankering for melting face? Then I'm your girl,” or, “hot death flying faster than the speed of sound.. oh, my knees are getting weak just from thinking about it.” Not the most comforting thing to think about, because as the raiders are fond of saying “the jet will make you jittery” and the last thing you’d want to do is startle someone who’s a drugged up merchant of death, like Cricket.

Not every NPC or merchant has to be a super colorful character in every game that we play but I feel like making sure you have at least a few in your game really adds to the immersion. It's even more fun when it's a character that's not necessarily one that you'll have to interact with on a regular basis as their quirky nature can be a good distraction or a way to cut some of the tension.

What crazy merchants or vendors do you think I could add to this list? Let me know about it in the comments below!

When I was a kid I used to write short stories. Most of these stories had pretty typical themes like good triumphing over evil, the nice guy that actually got the girl, and the eventual destruction of humanity at the hands of cruel space Wizards.

It wasn't too much longer before I got my hands on some great games like Morrowind and the Baldur's Gate series and then I learned about the modding community. I even remember the first mod that I downloaded. It was for Morrowind, it was a mod that let me own land and build farms on it. To me, it was revolutionary and immersive.

This opened up a whole new realm of role-playing possibilities for me. What if I didn't want to be the savior of Morrowind? What if, I just wanted to be a humble farmer or a merchant building my trade empire? Sure, there were other games out there for that, but they were not Morrowind -- they didn't have its lore, its history.

I find this to be my allure to mod RPGs -- the fact that I can add my own twist to an already established game world that I love. Whether I'm working on a custom-voiced follower for Skyrim or Fallout 4, or perhaps adding some a custom armor or weapons to flesh out a "Let's Play" character's backstory, modding and RPGs just mesh so well together. 

Modding also adds to the longevity of games

I've noticed with modded RPG games and that the addition of mods to these games tend to significantly extend their lifecycles. A prime example of this is, of course, Skyrim. It's been over 5 years since the initial release of the game and the modding community is still very active with making and maintaining mods. This is even truer since the developers of these immersive mods have begun porting them over to the recent release of Skyrim Special Edition.

Another amazing benefit of this is that it allows games to achieve a deeper level of play than what the development team is able to do during the creation of the core game. There is only so much that the actual game development studio has time to create so games that have modding communities have been known to restore, and even expand on cut content found in the game files.

Lastly, modding lets the community share their amazing content with like-minded players. Not enough armor sets for your liking? There's a mod for it. How about weapons? Mod for that too. More diverse dragons and enemies? Yup, there's a mod. All of these great mods exist because of our love of the game and the way it makes us feel -- Harry Partridge is a not real example of the feeling.

That's why I'm making mods and that's why I mod my game -- because it let's me inject a bit of myself into the fantasy world I love.

Why do you mod and what, in your opinion, makes a good mod? Let me know in the comments below.

With the release of Skyrim Special Edition to the latest generation of consoles, as well as PC, I've been enjoying another crack at all the game has to offer. And now that consoles can also make use of some of the mods, I think it's the perfect time to share some of my character builds with my fellow roleplay enthusiasts.

In addition to the mods I covered in my previous article, four additional mods are required for some of these character builds to work to their fullest potentials. It's also worth noting that these mods can also be found on the Bethesda.Net launcher in-game.

• Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim: An amazing perk overhaul system. Really, one of the best out there. 
  
  
• Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim: This mod makes magic more than just empowered versions of the same ole' spells -- the biggest flaw of the vanilla magic system. Now you can play a truly fearsome mage, one who's able to freeze their foes solid, entomb them alive in an earthen prison or summon armies of the undead. 
  
  
• Imperious - Races of Skyrim: Imperious brings back those significant bonuses that games like Morrowind and Oblivion had for the different races in a very lore-friendly way. Argonians for example, have water breathing PLUS massive movement bonuses in the water. And Dunmer can summon an ancestrial spirit to aid them in battle.
  
  
• Thunderchild - Epic Shouts and Immersion: Makes the use of shouts more immersive and adds a greater emphasis on the importance and power of being Dragonborn.

Garett -- Breton Spellsword

Garett is a competent fighter and destruction mage looking to fulfill his wanderlust in Skyrim, a land teetering on the edge of civil war. Growing up in a family of craftsmen and artificers, he is skilled in armorsmithing and a natural enchanter, weaving powerful magics into his weapons for added boon.  

Primarily a mace-user, he enjoys softening up his targets with fire spells from the school of destruction and boosting his abilities with spells from the school of restoration.

Build:

Stat allocation - 2 Magic / 2 Health / 1 Stamina until LVL 20 - Garett relies heavily on a large magic pool to deal his otherworldly damage and has become hardier by focusing on heavy armor.

Standing Stone - The Lord. Increased physical and magical resistance allows Garett to sustain his godly fortitude in any fight.

Primary Skills (1-handed, mace focus / Heavy Armor / Destruction, fire path / Enchanting, spell scribe perk line)

Secondary Skills (Smithing, plate armor perk & arcane smithing / Restoration stat & healing boosts)

Raccan -- Redguard Alik'r Assassin

Originally, Raccan came to Skyrim to find a rat-fink traitor who was a bit of a narc, undermining the leaders of noble families in Hammerfell who funded resistance fighters against the Aldmeri Dominion. During his journies, however, he realized that it would be possible for him to carve out a nicer living by ending lives for The Dark Brotherhood.

Taking his skills in Alchemy, Stealth and Illusion magics to the next level, Raccan observes his targets and plans the best approach -- leaving no trace behind.

Build:

Stat allocation 2 Magic / 1 Health / 2 Stamina until LVL 20 - Raccan remains out of sight, making use of illusion magic as much as possible. But if he's found, he's not like other Illusion mages: Instead, he has a large pool of stamina to draw on in a fight.

Standing stone - The Lord - The harsh life of growing up in the Alik'r Desert has made Raccan numb to most minor injuries -- physical and magical. 

Primary skills (1-handed, dual wielding sword & dagger / Sneak / Alchemy, poisons / Illusion, invisibility & suggestion spells)

Secondary skills (Light armor / Archery )

 Fenren -- Nord Follower of the Voice

Fenren began his life as a Vigilant of Stendar, born to parents of the order. From an early age, it was apparent that he was different. Though he rarely spoke, his actions told volumes of the strength that lived within him. After an unfortunate accident took his parents from him, he made a pilgrimage to the Throat of the World to honor their memory.

It was there he devoted the next five years of his life to the Way of the Voice and Kyne's mercy. He began to feel a strange force within him and was shortly thereafter tasked by the Graybeards to look into a rumor surrounding Helgen...

Build:

Stats allocation - 1 Magic / 2 Health / 2 Stamina until LVL 20 - Fenren still wears his Vigilant of Stendar uniform in remembrance of his parents. Because of this, many would-be enemies misjudge his stout combat acumen. This would be unwise. 

Standing stone - The Atronach Stone - Fenren was never as skilled in magic as the other Vigilant, but was, all the same, more capable of manipulating it to his benefit.

Primary skills (1-handed, maces / Restoration / Speechcraft, path of the Voice / Alteration, mage armor buffs)

Secondary skills ( Blocking / Heavy Armor)

But Are These Builds REALLY Unconventional? You Bet They Are ... 

If you are using the mods I have suggested above, as well as those in my previous article about Skyrim SE mods, then you'll understand how unique these characters are.

For example, on Raccan I took the Tripwire perk in the Sneak tree, which allows me to set up a trap for stronger enemies that my poison arrow might not kill instantly. Plus, what other Illusion mage is also an assassin, master trap-layer and combat-colossus? 

Or in the case of Fenren, the Speechcraft path of the Voice makes his shouts powerful and provides buffs to his base stats, setting him apart from other Graybeards.

And the mace specialization of Garett allows him to crush enemy armor with each blow he lands -- plus he's a magical beast... I mean a hulk that can also wield magic and make badass weapons. Who doesn't love that? 

What awesome Skyrim SE characters have you dreamed up? Let us know in the comments below.

Ashlander

Cosplayer: Carlossa; Photographer: EndrooFoto

The Ashlanders are the nomadic Dunmer of Morrowind. The Velothi people are of Ashlander descent but have settled among other dunmer. Carlossa sticks the nomadic garb featured in Morrowind, with brown attire, leggings, and a head covering. Face paint and red eyes bring to life the dunmer aspects. 

Which cosplay that was featured was your favorite? What character do you wish was cosplayed?

Skyrim Civilian

Cosplayer: Amazingrogue

Not many have chosen to don the robes of Skyrim's civilians. The game would be lackluster without these NPCs and their idle banter. Falling in love with the dress, Amazingrogue took is upon herself to become one of the necessary but often overlooked characters in the game. Not only is her costume straight out of the game, but so is the location and props chosen for the shoot.

Cicero

Cosplayer: Mech-Infect; Photographer Darya Ánima Polyanskaya

Cicero is hands down one of the most annoying enemies in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Not only is he an "ally" at first, but he becomes steadily more deranged as time goes on, quite a feat for the already insane Dark Brotherhood Keeper. Mech-Infect does an amazing job at becoming the unbalanced jester in his spot on cosplay. From the attire, to the poses and facial expressions, hands down this is one of the most impressive Cicero cosplays. 

Nightingale

Cosplayer: Piperonni-Cosplay; Photographer: GPFleather

The Nightingale is often spoken of as legend in The Elder Scrolls series. In Skyrim you actually have the ability to become a Nightingale, the servant of Nocturnal. Given special armor, the Nightingale is the ultimate thief. Piperonni-Cosplay takes a break from her criminal activities to rest on a fallen log. The details in the leather work are amazing. 

Khajit

Cosplayer: Folkenstal

The Khajit are a race of feline people from Elsweyr. Many have since left their desert home in search of adventure. That is just what Folkenstal has found in this amazing photo. Preparing to help take down a dark anchor in The Elder Scrolls Online, Folkenstal's khajit cosplay is simply amazing. From the fur on her head to the tip of her tail and toes, the work is awe inspiring.

Haafinger Guard

Cosplayer: Kim-San; Photographer: Kakeboksen

One of the most famous lines from Skyrim comes from the mouths of the guards. "I was once an adventurer like you. Until I took an arrow to the knee." Memed, quoted and overused, the guards status was raised beyond that of a regular NPC. Here Kim-San is standing guard, shield and sword ready for thief or dragon. The costume is on point, from the intricate details in the help to the chain mail to the clean pattern on the shield.

Miraak

Cosplayer: X-beliebig; Photographer: Pohmme-d-adham

Miraak is the villainous star of Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC. A dragonborn who was once a dragon priest, he turned on his master's when his lust for power led him to Hermaeus Mora. Here X-beliebig is reading from the cursed Black Book that led him into servitude to the Daedric Prince of Knowledge. The carvings on the mask as well as the cover of the book are extremely detailed. For his first cosplay, this is mind blowing. 

Serana

Cosplayer: Nastya; Photographer: MilliganVick

Serana is one of the main characters in the Dawnguard DLC for Skyrim.  Found locked away in a tomb far below the surface, she is freed by the Dragonborn. Encased with her is an Elder Scroll. A vampire, she looks to make her way back to Castle Volkihar, becoming your follower in the process. MilliganVick captures the vampiric essence surrounding Nastya in this photo. Her skin is pale, her red eyes shine bright and her attire is on point. The golden Elder Scroll gleams in the light while everything else seems to fade away.

Nocturnal

Cosplayer: Ekaterina Golovanova; Photographer: Ophelia-noir

Nocturnal is the Daedric Prince of night and darkness. Often worshipped by thieves, her reign over the shadows makes her the perfect patron for them. While she has no organized clergy, she may have the largest amount of followings. Directly served by the Nightingales, she remains an enigmatic mystery to mer and man. Kate makes an amazing Nocturnal as she keeps her face hidden from the camera. Wearing a black robe she is surrounded by Nightgales created by Ophelia-noir. This duo has created an outstanding cosplay together. 

Astrid

Cosplayer: IreneAstral; Photographer: SpirosK Photography

Astrid is the leader of the Dark Brotherhood in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Without a Listener to hear the Night Mother, she employs other means to keep her clan afloat. Fearing the way the Night Mother operates as well as the Dragonborn being the Listener, she ends up betraying the player in a bid to protect the other assassins. IreneAstral is a picture perfect Astrid. Clad in the Dark Brotherhood armor, her angry eyes peer from behind hood and mask. The costume is superb, with the small details and colors hitting the mark. 

Daedric Armor

Cosplayer: Beau Peep Cosplay; Photographer: Kosupics

Giulietta Zawadzki, also known as Beau Peep Cosplay, continues to wow with her intricate armored costumes. This time her Daedric armor is ready to protect her from the likes of dragons. Super detailed, clean construction, and amazingly realistic, once again Giulietta knocks it out of the park with this cosplay. 

Argonian

Cosplayer: GuiltyOne; Photograher: Andy-k

The Argonian's are a race of lizard people hailing from the land of Black Marsh. Able to breathe underwater and highly resistant to poison, these people can be seen throughout the land of Tamriel. There is even the provocative book "The Lusty Argonian Maid" featured in many Elder Scrolls games. GuiltyOne has gone above and beyond with the work on this costume. The details in the eyes, the scales, the horns all make the lizard features pop. The embellishments bring to life the character as well as the neatly designed mage staff. 

Ordinator

Cosplayer: SeanDonnanArt; Photographer: Robin McElroy Maloney

The Ordniators played a crucial part in the events that unfolded in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Highly trained soldiers, they are easily recognized in Morrowind by their polished gold armor. Skilled in battle, Ordinators proved a tough challenge, often attacking the player as soon as one of their order was attacked. Here, SeanDonnanArt showcases the armor for which they are known, as well as the merciless view of them.

Queen Ayrenn

Cosplayer: Kaloheart7; Photographer: Edtan

Queen Ayrenn is the ruler of the Aldemeri Dominion and High Queen of the Summerset Isles in The Elder Scrolls Online. A young queen, she is a mere 28 years old, but a seasoned warrior. Kaloheart7 took Queen Ayrenn's character design as inspiration for her costume. Sticking with the green and brown color scheme, Kaloheart7 makes an impressive Altmer Queen.

Azura

Cosplayer: Katsumiyo; Photographer: Max Method Photography

Azura is one of the Daedric Princes in The Elder Scrolls world. Known as the Lady of Twilight, her domain is that of Dusk and Dawn as well as the magic that lurks during their transition. Often depicted holding a crescent moon in one hand and a star in the other, she is one of the more benevolent Daedric Princes. Katsumiyo nails the ethereal look of Azura, opting for holding a rose after another name of hers, the Mother of the Rose. The small star like pattern on her gown really helps bring to life Azura. 

The Elder Scrolls are an ever popular game series by Bethesda. Featuring an open world with various quest lines, character customization  and loads of loot, the various games have a tight grasp on the gaming community. This includes cosplayers, who have recreated some of the most iconic characters from The Elder Scrolls. 

Across the sea, eastward from Morrowind, there is a continent named Akavir, which means "Dragon Land" and despite being only mentioned in books from each of the previous Elder Scrolls games, it's packed with content.

There are a few races that live in Akavir:

• The Serpent-men of Tsaesci
• The Snow Demons of Kamal
• The Tiger Dragons of Ka'Po'Tun
• The Monkey People of Tang Mo.

I was thinking how awesome it would be if the next Elder Scrolls had to do with this land. Some of it's inhabitants have interesting cultures, and are involved with the dragons living there in some way.

As there aren't any official depictions yet of these races, I'll be using fan made depictions to get the gist of what they may look like.

The Tang Mo

There are many breeds of the monkey-folk, and they are all kind, brave, and simple, while some of them can be kind of crazy. They have had to defend themselves on multiple occasions on account of the other nations of Akavir trying to enslave them. The Tang Mo hate the Kamal almost as much as they hate the Tsaesci, they used to war with the Ka'Po'Tun too, but they have recently allied with them.

The Ka'Po'Tun

Originally "Po'Tun" the Dragon-Tiger people have grown a massive army stronger than the Tsaecsi. The Po'Tun might look similar to the Khajiit, but they have very different cultures.

They used to protect the dragons that were in Akavir, seeing them as immortal beings. But during a great war against the Tsaesci, the dragons were slowly killed off, after this, the Ka'Po'Tun tried to become dragons themselves. Their leader, Tosh Raka was the first to succeed at this, becoming the largest dragon in the world, while he still has the color and pattern of a tiger. The Ka'Po'Tun plan to destroy the Tsaesci, and then at some point invade Tamriel.

The Ice Demons of Kamal

The Kamal are a species of Ice creatures that thaw out once a year and launch attacks on the other nations of Akavir, but for some reason they seem to direct their attacks mainly on the Tang Mo.

The Kamal have launched an attack on Tamriel too, under the command of Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal, pulling their ships into the White River just outside of Windhelm in Skyrim. Luckily they were eventually stopped at Red Mountain by groups of Dark Elves, Nords, and Argonians, who later went on to form the Ebonheart pact.

The Kamal are described as "giants made of snow with huge ice crystals bulging out of their backs."

The Tsaesci

The Tsaesci are "vampiric" serpent-men that used to be the strongest force in the land before the Ka'Po'Tun. They're a rival of every species in Akavir, and they have also attacked Tamriel a time or two.

There have been confusion on the matter of the appearance of the Tsaesci, while there are books within the games that state they "slither around," but there are also accounts of war that state they were seen riding mounts and appeared humanoid.

Humans used to live in Akavir, but the Tsaesci allegedly "ate them." The word "ate" is not fully understood though, because the Tsaesci also tried to "eat" the red dragons that used to live in Akavir, when in reality they were actually enslaved by the Tsaesci, while the Black dragons fled to Ka'Po'Tun. If the Tsaesci managed to enslave the humans living in Akavir, I'm sure they'd have no issues with using the humans for war.

After hearing about the Dragons being killed off during the war in between the Tsaesci, and the Ka'Po'Tun, I was reminded of...

The Blades

Now here's where things get really interesting. The Blades actually originated in Akavir, and they have been featured in Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. They have been instructed to hunt and kill off all the dragons. Now, are the Blades truly the Tsaesci? Or do they serve the Tsaesci as slaves for war?

The Blades originally came to Tamriel in an invasion, fighting the people of Skyrim. The Blades cut their way down south, until they reached Pale Pass. There, they fought against Reman Cyrodiil, and his army. Upon hearing his "voice" The Blades realized Reman was Dragonborn. Kneeling before him, The Blades swore their lives to him, they found who they were looking for.

That is how The Blades became the elite guard of the emperors of Cyrodiil, all the way down to Martin Septim, during the Oblivion Crisis. After that, The Blades went into hiding as the Thalmor wrapped their hands around the lands of Tamriel. 

On a minor note: The Nerevarine, your character in Morrowind, is the only person said to have gone over sea to Akavir. Why The Nerevarine went over there is unknown.

Theory time!

First off, I find it very curious that they continue to include The Blades in the main plot of each story. Granted they are sworn to protect very important characters.

Is there going to be a time where we go into Akavir? Invading the Tsaesci, slowly working our way into the land?

Are we going to take initiative? Following the Blades from Tamriel all the way to Akavir, and help them fight the threat of Tosh Raka, and his army of Tiger-Dragons, while the poor Tang Mo play middle man?

Or will we be seeing an invasion from one of the Akaviri forces in Tamriel? Possibly having to fight The Blades for once, or even help them in the case of a Ka'Po'Tun invasion?

Do you think these events could unfold in the next game? Do you have any other working theories you'd like to share? Tell us in the comments section!

So, there you have it, my 10 games that will never lose their popularity. From dungeon crawlers to sandbox builders, to over the top alien killing fun...there are games to suit everyone's appeal. 

If you've never checked out some of the games on this list, give them a try and see for yourself what's made them so popular. 

What are your thoughts on the list? What titles do you think will never lose their popularity? Let me know in the comments below!

Heroes of Might and Magic series

Released: 1995

Despite the popularity of the Might and Magic series, it is actually the Heroes series that is by far the most popular. There has been a total of seven titles in the series released to date, not including its expansions and spin-offs.

It is a turn-based strategy game that takes place in the Might and Magic universe. You control the armies of a variety of warring factions, each attempting to gain power and destroy the opposition. Each level gives the player objectives that must be completed in order to gain victory.

As far as strategy games go, Heroes of Might and Magic remains one of my favorites of all time. It is a series with solid gameplay, beautiful visuals, and an outstanding soundtrack. It comes as no surprise that it has remained a popular choice for strategy fans.

Get the Heroes of Might and Magic series on GOG.com.

Terraria

Released: May 16th, 2011

Despite now being over five years old, Terraria is still an immensely popular game. While it is essentially a 2D Minecraft, Terraria also has adventure and RPG gameplay for those who want more than just building. It has lots of biomes to explore, tonnes of enemies to fight and enormous and often gruesome boss monsters to slay.

In total, Terraria now has over 3,000 items in its database, allowing for near endless opportunities of what can be created. With regular small updates and massive content updates from time to time, Terraria is always evolving and offering players something new.

Just as it seems you have experienced everything the game has, new features are added. Terraria may be one of the younger games on this list, but its popularity is undeniable and likely to last for many years to come.

Get Terraria on Steam.

Dungeon Master

Released: 1987

Dungeon Master is by far the oldest game on this list. Much to my surprise, however, it still has a massive following despite being nearly 30 years old. It was a groundbreaking game for its time, and is considered the game that defined the dungeon crawling genre.

In total, the game won over 20 awards. Despite titles like Eye of the Beholder releasing years later, no other game in the genre has stood the test of time like Dungeon Master has. Its gameplay is essentially the same as explained in the Eye of the Beholder entry.

The player creates a party of four adventurers who explore a dungeon and slay monsters. It also uses similar experience points and level up system similar to that of D&D games. It was a revolution at the time. As far as games that have stood the test of time go, no game has done so as gracefully as Dungeon Master.

Sadly, Dungeon Master is not currently available to buy on any distribution service.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Released: May 1st, 2002

Morrowind is a bit different from a lot of the titles on this list. Most of the games here have their good days and their bad days when it comes to their popularity. Morrowind however, has a small yet constant playerbase, even more so than the later titles Oblivion or Skyrim.

You take on the role of a prisoner who has just been released by the emperor of Tamriel, Uriel Septim VII. You are tasked with joining The Blades and helping uncover the mysterious disappearances and revelations that the citizens of Vvardenfell are experiencing.

The world of Morrowind is alien and absolutely breathtaking, despite its aging graphics. (A lot of fans wanted a Morrowind remaster instead of Skyrim, but no such luck.) It is the last game in the Elder Scrolls series that can be considered a truly pure RPG, as opposed to the action adventure leanings of Oblivion and Skyrim. 

Oblivion and Skyrim are a slight departure from the old games when it comes to those classic RPG mechanics. So my theory is that fans keep coming back to Morrowind instead of the other TES games to scratch that hardcore RPG itch. Not to mention that once you have experienced Morrowind's world, it makes the worlds of the later titles feel a bit generic.

Get The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition on Steam.

Minecraft

Released: October 7th, 2011

I don't think this list could be complete without adding the second best-selling game of all time. Minecraft has long been a phenomenon. Its initial popularity may have dwindled slightly over the years, but this game will never die.

If you're a gamer, you would have to be living under a rock (or in the nether world) to not know what this game is. Essentially a virtual game of Lego blocks, Minecraft allows you to create anything that your imagination can muster.

For those looking for a more survivalist gameplay, there is a survival mode. There's also a creation mode for the more artistic players. With a multiplayer mode that allows you to play with your friends and countless amounts of mods, there really is no end to the fun that Minecraft has to offer.

It's a game that has pretty much anything that any gamer would want, so it has wide appeal. It is one of those games that no matter how long you have played it, sooner or later you will always come back to it. So of course, this one won't be losing its popularity any time soon.

An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire

Released: November 30th, 1997

Disclaimer: This game contains NSFW content

During the long wait between Daggerfall and Morrowind, Bethesda released two spin-off games in its Elder Scrolls series -- Battlespire and Redguard. While Redguard still has a small loyal following, it is Battlespire that retains the most popularity of the early TES games. Perhaps because it is a bit of a black sheep when it comes to the franchise.

It takes the combat and dungeon exploration of Arena and Daggerfall, and results in Bethesda's very own dungeon crawler -- not to mention the hardest game they ever made.

You take on the role of an apprentice at a battlespire (a training facility for battlemages). On the day of your final test, it is invaded by the Daedric lord Mehrunes Dagon, who kills almost everyone. You have to travel through seven levels that include the battlespire and the realms of Oblivion to face off against Mehrunes Dagon and return to Tamriel.

There is no rest mechanic, meaning players have to survive on the resources available. Enemies are powerful, and at times the combat can feel more of a case of luck rather than skill. Nevertheless, it's a decent game that still remains popular today, despite its big departure from the other Elder Scrolls games.

Get Battlespire on GOG.com

Pathologic

Released: June 9th, 2005

This one is without a doubt the weirdest, most unique and unappreciated game on this list. Pathologic was well-received in Russia upon release, and later won five major Russian awards. Upon its release in English-speaking countries, it was praised for its atmosphere and concept. It was, however, criticized for its dated graphics, very poor translation to English, and slow gameplay.

Despite this, Pathologic has still become a cult classic with many players. Its gameplay and concept are unique, its mechanics were well ahead of its time, and its atmosphere was phenomenal. You take on the role of one of three characters. Each character changes up the gameplay of the game along with having their own story, background and agenda.

A plague known as the Sand Plague has broken out within the town and it is up to you to find a cure. To do this you must interact and work with the bizarre citizens of the town -- plus survive against the infection of the plague, or avoid enemies like thieves, bandits and marauders. As time progresses, the infection spreads and panic begins to set in within the town. The more desperate people become, the more dangerous and irrational they are. 

Pathologic is an outstanding game for many reasons but its poor English translation made it very difficult to play, since you really needed to understand what characters were saying.

In 2015 however, a Classic HD Remastered version of the game was released, fixing the many issues that the game had, including its English translation. It is a magical game that will give you an experience like nothing you have had before. If you are looking for something unique yet extremely weird, Pathologic is worth checking out.

Get Pathologic on Steam

Alien Shooter 2 Reloaded

Released: March 2009

The Alien Shooter series has long put Russian indie developer Sigma-Team in the spotlight. Alien Shooter 2 Reloaded is their most popular title, as it's a rereleased version of Alien Shooter 2 Vengence with community-requested changes, bug fixes, two new levels, and a survival mode.

You take on the role of a hired mercenary who is sent to a Magma Corporation base to help investigate the loss of contact there. Upon reaching the base, you find it is overrun with thousands of aliens. You must blast your way through, killing everything in your path to put a stop to the extraterrestrials.

Despite it being mostly pure, over-the-top action, Alien Shooter 2 Reloaded does also have RPG elements, such as leveling up and skills. You can also obtain money that is used to buy new weapons, armor, and ammunition. It isn't a game that would appeal to everyone, but for those who love killing thousands of aliens, there isn't much to dislike.

Get Alien Shooter 2 Reloaded on GOG.com.

Eye of the Beholder series

Released: 1991

It would be unfair to say that only the first Eye of the Beholder will never lose it popularity. In truth, the entire series will forever be remembered. Despite the second game being the best, it is the first that everyone really recalls.

For those who may not be familiar with the series, Eye of the Beholder is a dungeon crawler RPG. You control four adventurers who have been hired by the lords of Waterdeep to investigate an evil coming from beneath the city. As they progress in their adventure, they go from the city's sewers to the dwarven territory, and on to fighting through the drow.

The player can choose their adventurers' avatar, race, class, and stats. It is an outstanding game that brought the genre to a whole new level. There are various different areas to explore and navigate, a selection of spells to cast for both the cleric class and mage class, and a large roster of fierce enemies to battle.

It is no doubt the Eye of the Beholder series that was the main inspiration for Legend of Grimrock. As far as dungeon crawlers go, you don't get much better than this.

The entire series was revived after GOG.com found the holder of the rights to the games, allowing them to be distributed on their service. It enabled players to play the games on modern systems without having to manually set them up through DosBox.

Get the Eye of the Beholder series on GOG.com

Clive Barker's Undying

Released: February 21st, 2001

Clive Barker's Undying is an FPS survival horror game that's set in 1923 on the Covenant Estate off the coast of Ireland. You take on the role of Patrick Galloway as he responds to his friend Jeremiah's letter pleading for help with the paranormal.

Undying, despite being more action-oriented, has a wonderfully chilling atmosphere and a roster of horrifying enemies. Its combat is well ahead of its time -- the player can use both a weapon and magic simultaneously, something that was not seen again until BioShock 2.

It is a great game with an excellent story, a wonderful atmosphere, and interesting weapons and magic. It was critically well-received but sold poorly -- ultimately ending any possibility of a sequel despite the cliffhanger conclusion to the game.

Undying may not have sold well upon release, but it eventually gained a big following and became a sleeper hit. Even today, fifteen years later, the game's popularity among its fans is still as strong as it has always been.

Get Clive Barker's Undying on GOG.com

The video game industry is one of the fastest moving industries in existence today. Titles come and go -- rising and falling in popularity faster than many gamers can blink. Most games have their moments in the spotlight, but inevitably end up in the realm of the forgotten. 

But that's not the case for all games.

Some are destined to be popular forever. Despite their age and lack of modern video game development techniques, some games have remained popular after years and years. Today, we are going to take a look at 10 games that don't seem like they'll ever fall out of favor.

1. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow

The three amigos. The holy trinity of all Pokemon games that we know today. These three were the first Pokemon games to be released (Red and Blue in 1998 and Yellow in 1999), and were the main reason why people hopped on the Pokemon bandwagon from the start.

The plot will be familiar to any player of the modern titles: journey across land, capture Pokemon, get all 8 badges, beat the Pokemon League, and defeat the bad guys (which is Team Rocket of course).

But what made these RPGs so unique was because they were the first of their kind. The gameplay was different, the mechanics were new at that time, and the idea of capturing Pokemon (and having one follow you...Pikachu in Yellow) was appreciated for its time.

Now imagine reliving your childhood memories but with 3D graphics, battle mechanics, and an interface like in Pokemon Sun and Moon, then of course WiFi. Yep, that's epic.

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This is just a small list of some of the RPG titles that deserve a graphical remaster like Skyrim. What games do you think need to be added to the list? I know that there are many more great classics that deserve to be up here. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

2. Pokemon Emerald

Developed by Game Freak, and published by The Pokemon Company, Pokemon Emerald was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2005.

Pokemon Emerald is seen as a combination of Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire (after all, it is possible to catch both, Kyogre and Groudon in Pokemon Emerald). However, after the player defeats the Pokemon League, the game does not finish. After finishing the game, players get access to the Battle Frontier, a location where powerful trainers can battle one another (each "gym" in the area has a certain stipulation).

Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire were remastered for the 3DS as Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire respectively. So, what happened to Pokemon Emerald? Why didn't it get a remaster? Seeing as it is a combination of both games, it only makes sense as it belongs to the same "family" and the same generation.

3. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind

Morrowind was developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks for original Xbox and PC in 2002.

Believed by many fans to be the greatest/best Elder Scrolls game ever made (yes, even better than Skyrim to some), Morrowind is an open-world RPG game set in Morrowind, particularly the island of Vvardenfell.

The game follows similar mechanics like Skyrim and Oblivion in regards to quests, side-quests, exploration, etc.

However, when Skyrim was announced as a remake, many wished for Morrowind to be released instead. But why does Morrowind deserve a remake more than Skyrim? A fellow writer has published a lengthy article in which he explains (and goes into great detail) as to why Morrowind over Skyrim.

4. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

This title was developed by Square and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo SNES in 1996.

Super Mario RPG is a very unique Super Mario game because it has a combat system very similar to older Final Fantasy titles (turn based). The plot is different from other Super Mario games. Bowser isn't actually the main enemy (can you believe it?)! Instead, it's a giant talking sword that shattered the Star Road, and overtook Bowser's castle. Mario has to unite with other characters in the game to restore the missing stars and defeat the giant sword.

The game was released 20 years ago, so you can imagine that the graphics aren't the best when compared to today's graphics. Nevertheless, such unique Super Mario title deserves a remastered version not because of world design, but because of fun and wacky combat animations, as well as a Final Fantasy easter egg...

5. Monster Hunter

The Monster Hunter series spans across many platforms like PSP, Wii, 3DS, etc. However, the original Monster Hunter was first released for the PS2 in 2004. It was developed and published by Capcom.

Hunting monsters larger than life with many different weapons sounds incredibly appealing to almost anyone. This RPG allows players to customize their hunter and embark on quests to slay beasts across all areas like volcanoes, forests, tundras, etc. More than that, players can harvest materials from those monsters and craft weapons and armor out of them.

Remaking Monster Hunter with better graphics, and elements from Generations like Styles and Arts would prove to be quite interesting.

6. Dark Souls

Dark Souls was released in 2011 for PS3 and Xbox 360, and in 2012 for PC. The game was developed by FromSoftware and published by Namco Bandai Games.

The game that started it all in the Souls series -- Dark Souls. This was the game that drew players in, turning them into fans, and making them play other titles like Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3, Demon Souls, and Bloodborne.

Brutal combat, punishable deaths, mysterious items, unique boss designs is what made this game memorable. As far as the plot goes, well, that one aspect is tricky to grasp. The actual story is never directly told to us. Instead, the lore is revealed through item descriptions, NPC dialogue, and world design. Plus, it ties in with Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3.  

If remastered on the Bloodborne and/or Dark Souls 3 graphics engine, just imagine the visuals, particularly of areas that appeal to you the most. And not just the areas, but monster designs as well!

7. Fallout 3

Published by Bethesda Softworks, and developed by Bethesda Game Studios, Fallout 3 was released in 2008 for the PS3, PC, and Xbox 360.

Picture Skyrim, but with guns. Or better yet, Fallout 4, but in a different location and no Preston Garvey telling you about settlements. The plot is quite simple too: dad goes missing, and you have to go find dad while exploring the wasteland Washington D.C.

A remastered version of this open-world RPG game would make any fan happy, as well as bring new players in. But besides better graphics, mod support would be provided as well for Fallout 3. Bethesda did it for Skyrim Remastered and Fallout 4 on console, so why not Fallout 3... that is if it ever gets a remake...  

8. Mega Man Battle Network Series

Developed and Published by Capcom, the first Mega Man Battle Network was released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance.

Mega Man Battle Network is a real-time tactical RPG spin-off series, based off the original Mega Man series. Instead of robots, the Battle Network series focused on technology and computer networks.

Plots were different, but still the same for each one: a cyber-terrorist organization tries to destroy the world, or rule the world, or take over technology altogether, only to be stopped by Mega Man, and his operator, Lan. 

Other titles included: Battle Network 2 (2001), Battle Network 3: White and Blue (2002), Battle Network 4: Red Sun and Blue Moon (2003), Battle Network 5: Team Colonel and Team Protoman (2004), and Battle Network 6: Cybeast Gregar and Cybeast Falzar (2005).

A remake of the whole series, released on one cartridge would be a dream come true for any fan of the series. 3D graphics instead of 2D would probably be the main attraction, as well as enhanced and sharper battle animations and graphics.

9. Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light

Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light was a PSP exclusive title developed by Hit Maker and published by Nippon Ichi Software, and released in 2006.

The game is a turn-based RPG (very similar to Persona and older Final Fantasy titles) that is basically about a guy named Lance (pictured above) who must save the world from evil (what else is new...).

This title was unique in a sense because it had an unusual combat and crafting system. For combat, a turn would not begin unless a monster was first attacked. As far as crafting, you could combine items and create new weapons, but they would break after a certain amount of uses.

Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light was met with mixed reviews because of the boring and typical story line, but the challenging combat system was received well.

Though a remastered version will most likely never happen, the animations of special attacks, environments, and certain enemies would definitely become more visually appealing, as well as more beautiful in general.

10. Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards

This RPG strategy card game came out in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance, and was published and developed by Konami.

Remember how in middle school you had friends who were obsessed with Yu-Gi-Oh cards? Or maybe you yourself also joined in on the craze, and got involved trading cards, as well as having duels with fellow fans of the anime? Well, this game was part of that craze.

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards focuses on you, the player, and your dueling adventures during the Battle City Tournament. Of course, there were bad guys along the way whose butts needed to be kicked in order to save the day.

One interesting aspect of the game was that this was the first game that allowed you to use the Egyptian God cards. Remember those?

On a completely bizarre side note, the game did not follow its own rules! In other words, each card had a weakness, that when exposed to that weakness, would be destroyed instantly! For example, if you had a Pyro (fire) type monster on your side of the field, and your opponent had a Forest (wood) type monster on their side of the field, your card would instantly destroy their card, even if their card was stronger than yours! Huh?! Since when was that allowed?

If this game was remastered for the 3DS, or any handheld/mobile device for that matter with 3D graphics, and more important, fair rules, then that would make many fans of the franchise happy.

Skyrim Special Edition (or simply known as, Skyrim Remastered) was released this past Friday, on October 28th. When the remaster was first announced during Bethesda's E3 2016 press conference, fans of the game were extremely pleased. But not because of improved graphics, but because of mod support that would come to the console versions of the game. This allowed console players to experience the joys of mods, just like PC users could -- since the release of the original version of the game back in 2011. Not to mention the stability improvements that came with the 64bit upgrade.

Now that Skyrim Remastered is out, let's take a look at some of the other RPGs that deserve a graphical remake for modern consoles and handheld devices.

When it comes to the Elder Scrolls series of games, I may have a bit of an unhealthy obsession. This includes somewhere around the ballpark of 3000+ hours split between Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim as well as closed and open beta testing for The Elder Scrolls Online. So naturally, when the rumors started going around that there was to be a remaster for an Elder Scrolls I became very excited.

Was I finally going to see the sprawling city of Vivec in next-gen glory? Would I gaze upon the Red Mountain bathed in God rays? Would I once again know the seething hatred of having my romp through the countryside ruined by Cliff Racers?

No. The answer is a heartbreaking no. 

Instead, we got a remaster of Skyrim, a game that came out only 5 years ago.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Skyrim. It's beautiful, the story is fun and engaging, and the combat system is the best of the series to date. But it lacks the level of depth that Morrowind provides. 

For starters, Morrowind has a more varied skills selection, allowing for roleplay-intensive character design. There are 27 different skills the player can choose from to build their class. Their class is based on 5 major and 5 minor skills -- and while you can gain proficiency in skills outside of your class, they do not count towards your character progressing in level.

Skyrim has 18 different skills that the player can level up while they play, but there is no class system in place. If you wanted to go from a heavy armor wearing, 2-handed sword-wielding madman to playing an archer assassin, it's totally possible on the same character.

There are no tradeoffs if you decide to change your playstyle. And to me, that just feels off. Besides, we all know that it typically ends up going something like this...

Morrowind was also superior to Skyrim when it came to the depth of the world. There were close to a dozen different factions to join in Morrowind, and it actually felt rewarding to get to the top of a faction. On top of that, the quests given helped you to explore the game and take in the sights, as there was no fast travel system aside from paying for a boat or silt strider.

Skyrim has 4 guilds you can join, and the choice of siding with the Stormcloaks or Imperials in the base game. Additionally, in the "Dawnguard" DLC you can choose to be a vampire or vampire hunter. There are a few minor factions that can be joined, but they have close to zero impact on the player or the world. 

And while we're on the topic of depth, there was so much dialogue in Morrowind. Even a basic NPC had a half dozen or more dialog choices to pick from. Now that might be a stretch to do in Skyrim since the NPCs are all voiced, but generally, they have a handful of lines that make up their personality and that's about it. 

Last, but definitely not least, is the fact that choice mattered in Morrowind. It was 100% possible to "lose" the game. NPCs who were essential to the story could easily be killed -- and not just knocked unconscious like they are now. You could make a wrong choice with consequences that could only be undone by loading a save.

There were no failsafes to protect you or your character. If you screwed something up in an irrevocable way, you were given the choice to reload at a save point, or simply "continue on in the doomed world you created". And the latter was a totally viable option. 

So why was Skyrim picked over Morrowind?

Well, the answer is pretty simple -- time and money. For those of you who aren't familiar with the technical side of games, they take a long time to make. This is even more true for the big budget AAA titles. Bethesda's most recent release, Fallout 4, was released on an upgraded version of the game engine Skyrim was built on. 

From the time and money standpoint, this is the most logical remaster for them to do, as there is little work that has to be done in order to port the game to the new engine since it's so similar. This would not be the case for Morrowind or even Oblivion, as they were built on the Gamebryo engine.

On top of that, Skyrim has been the best-selling game in the Elder Scrolls franchise, topping over 23 million copies sold worldwide. While it's not the game that older Elder Scrolls fans may want, it the one they got.

Would it be great to have a Morrowind remake? Yes, it would. Is it likely that Bethesda is going to make it for us? No, not very likely. But there is still hope that the amazing team over at TESRenewal will be able to bring us a Morrowind in a more up-to-date format. 

Playing games and turning it into a career sounds like a dream job to many. It's not something you would have been able to do decades ago, but now we have many talented people who turned their passion for gaming into careers. Among those people is Auverin Morrow.

Auverin is the current Commissioning Editor and Program Coordinator for GameSkinny. She gave me the opportunity to interview her and reveal crucial details about how she started and got into the position that she's in today.

David Martinez: For the sake of the viewers, tell me about yourself and who you are.

Auverin Morrow: I'm Auverin Morrow -- currently the Commissioning Editor and Program Coordinator for GameSkinny. I got my Bachelor's degree in English from VCU back in Richmond, VA, then moved back to my home state of NC to focus on post-grad employment and adulting and all that fun stuff. As for who I am... I'm about 90% editorial robot, 5% Lord of the Rings references, and 5% human who does other stuff like painting, pyrography, and yoga.

DA: What made you decide to pursue this kind of career?

AM: I never really made an actual decision to pursue a career in the gaming industry. It was a hobby I really enjoyed, but it never really occurred to me that it was something I could turn into actual employment. But I've wanted to get into editing since I was a college student. When I was studying English, I knew I didn't want to focus on literature and I wasn't really happy focusing on writing either. Which left me in a weird sort of "what do I do with my life" limbo for a while. I just knew I loved words. And at some point during various creative writing workshops, I realized I was best at deconstructing other people's words, finding the meaning in that, and then reworking the language to make those ideas more clear. So I started to focus on editing, and that's the area I focused on while I was looking for employment.

DA: What gets you up in the morning to do this job? Your Motivation?

AM: What gets me out of bed every morning? Lots of alarms and a pot of coffee. I'm (sort of) kidding, but I really enjoy what I do. I love games and most of the time I love the gaming industry -- it's a dynamic place that's chock full of talent and passion, both from players and from developers. It can be a fickle environment sometimes, and there are of course a lot of things that I would like to see change and progress, but it's really a great industry that's getting bigger and more complex by the day. And in my position specifically, I get to see all that passion that gamers have, and I get to help them channel it into something productive. I get to teach them how to talk about the games that matter to them, and how they can contribute something to an industry that has given so much to them and shaped them in so many ways.

DA: How did you come to working for GameSkinny?

AM: I actually found my job with GameSkinny on Craigslist. This was way back in the summer of 2014. They'd posted an ad for a simple weekend editor position, and I had just finished a two-year stint with a non-profit that was teaching creative writing in inner-city Richmond high schools. So I was looking for something a little different, and that ad popped up. So I applied immediately, and within a few days I was taking weekend shifts on the site. Eventually I took over our nighttime editing, then got promoted to where I am now, working with all you lovely folks.

DA: What is it about video games that gravitated you towards them?

AM: It's actually a kind of funny story. I'm not like a lot of gamers in that I haven't been gaming since I was a kid. I played a LOT of Pokemon, but that was pretty much it for the first several years of my gaming life. I remember getting a GameCube and having like 3 games for it -- I think it was some sort of 3D Pac-Man, one of the Lord of the Rings games, and Need for Speed Underground 2. Stellar lineup, to say the least. And when I played those to death I kind of stepped away from gaming for a long time because I was focusing on other things. But there was one fateful day around 2002 where I walked into a Target with my mom, and I saw a copy of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind sitting on the shelf. All I knew about it was that it had my last name on it, but I picked it up and took it home. And there went the next 3 years of my life -- just like that, I was back into gaming and a hardcore RPG addict. TES quickly became my favorite series, and my love for gaming pretty much grew from there.

DA: What are the actual games that made you want to pursue a career in gaming?

AM: Hahaha, I think I just answered this question above. The Elder Scrolls series was definitely a big influence for me. Those are the games that I keep coming back to over and over and over again. But weirdly enough, I don't see myself as being inspired by games. I'm more fascinated by them, if that makes sense. I don't so much want to live up to anything as I want to figure them out and see what they can do, you know?

DA: Why write for games? Why not just play them? Why should other people write for them and what makes it unique?

AM: This is a super great question, and one I actually ask myself a lot. If you talk to pretty much anyone who works in the games journalism industry (and I imagine in games development too, though I can't speak for those folks), you'll find that it's common for them to say that the moment they became employed in the industry, gaming became work. You play games because you have to. You read about them because you have to. They became a "must do" and not a "can do" way to occupy your time. And that's difficult for a lot of people, I think -- especially the ones who get into this because they think you're getting paid to play whatever you want, and you just throw out a couple articles and collect the perks. There are a lot of people who are looking for that. But there are a lot of other people who are just so passionate about games that they can't keep it to themselves -- that's where we get bloggers, and streamers, and LPers, and the really really great games journalists out there. Some people really want to contribute to this industry -- they want to be a part of it as much as it's been a part of them and help shape its future and share their passion for the whole thing. So I don't think it's a matter of who should write about gaming as it is a matter of who truly and wholeheartedly wants to. Because if you actually want to, you can -- I mean, that's why GameSkinny exists. But a lot of people take that step and then realize "oh....this is an actual job". And they aren't always prepared for that. So you have to be prepared to do real work, and think of this wonderful hobby as a chore sometimes. But if you can do that, and you can get by and still find your love for gaming on the other side of that, then you get rewarded with meeting great people, playing great games, and taking part in an industry that gets more exciting by the day.

DA: What is the worst game ever in your opinion?

AM: Worst game ever? That's actually a really hard question. Doing what I do, I've played a lot...a LOT....of indie and Early Access games that were broken or offensive or just downright bad. So it's hard to single out just one game. I've also played a lot of really terrible porn parody games for the sake of article writing, so pretty much anything else looks good by comparison.

DA: Since you are labeled as a commissioning editor, what is it exactly that you do? What are the ups and downs of your position and what do you like most? What do you dislike most?

AM: So as the commissioning editor and JTP program coordinator, my basic job description is overseeing the JTP and all content related to it. I spend most of my days editing and promoting articles to the front page of the site, but I also spend a fair amount of time focusing on more managerial/organizational aspects of working in a newsroom. I keep an eye on site analytics to see what's doing well. I poke around in Google Trends to see what gamers are searching for, what games are trending, what games look like they're about to trend, and what kind of content readers are trying to find in relation to games that have already released. I also coordinate our mentor program and act (alongside Rachael) as a senior editor among our editorial staff. Aside from that, I devise and create all our JTP and senior mentor lessons, lay out lesson plans, change the program according to feedback, go through new applicants, and manage all the behind-the-scenes stuff that makes the JTP happen. It's a lot like teaching, but in a more experiential setting I think.

DA: Do you plan on taking this career any further? Are you interested in being promoted?

AM: You know....this is something I've thought a lot about too. I'm happy where I'm at right now and I'm not really looking for any sort of promotion anytime soon -- I've reached this perfect balance of having a cool job that makes my life more interesting without being my whole life, if that makes sense. I think if I do stay in the gaming industry -- and there might be a time when I decide that it's time to leave it -- I think I want to focus a bit more on eSports. I didn't really get into eSports until I started working at GameSkinny, but it's quickly become my favorite corner of the industry. All my favorite events are eSports events by far. It's such an amazing scene.

DA: Could you see yourself doing anything else?

AM: Like I said, I do love my job. I'm lucky to be where I am -- this industry challenges me and my job allows me to do some really cool things. I love every group of interns that comes through, and I love seeing how different they are from each other, the various perspectives they have, and that kind of thing. And I love that I get to take all my favorite aspects of teaching and bring it to this industry that's really cool and cutting edge, and I get to work with words while I do it. It's great! But if I ever did leave the gaming industry, I think I might pursue something in fiction -- I'd love to edit short stories someday.

DA: As an aspiring writer, I like to hear advice. What is your advice and what would your ultimate advice be to other writers?

AM: I get this question from a lot of writers, and the answer always has to change based on context and a ton of other factors. But I think the essence of every instance is this: just do it. It might seem scary or hard. Just do it. You might not know where to start, but you just have to pick a spot and jump in. There are going to be days when it is the most frustrating thing in your life, and days where the words just don't want to come. But you have to do it anyway. Writing is a creative undertaking, and I think a lot of people forget that. Writing is an art, and art isn't known for being formulaic, or simple, or easy to do day in and day out. It's a craft that takes honing and dedication and some sort of passion, whatever form that may take -- and I realize I'm rambling a bit here and probably sounding like a motivational poster or every writing hack who's ever led a workshop, but it's true.

DA: Ultimate question: Favorite game of all time? Just one. The one that you would recommend to anyone and the one you could play multiple times.

AM: One game, huh? That's a tough call, and only because I have a hard time choosing between TES III: Morrowind and TES V: Skyrim. (The day TES VI becomes a reality is the day you will hear me dragon-shouting from rooftops.) But it really is a tough call. I love them both so much for such different reasons -- Morrowind for what it brought to the series and how it revolutionized it, and Skyrim for how beautifully it rendered the world that I'd been falling in love with since the early days of Elder Scrolls.

I want to thank Auverin for a thorough and intriguing interview!

As an aspiring writer, this was most helpful for me. For anyone who is an aspiring editor or if you just want to enter the gaming industry, these may be words of wisdom you really need to hear.

(Editors note - Auverin Morrow was in no way involved in the editing or writing of this piece)

1) Darks Souls

The Souls community is as unique as the games it worships. I feel the bond is so strong due to the reputation of the series we play and die in over and over again (note how I said we, yes I definitely consider myself part of the community). There is something compelling about being part of a group that takes pride in beating some of the most technically challenging games ever made.

Like other communities, Souls has several branches that make up its fan base. The most influential two, in my opinion, are the speedrunners and the lore content creators.

The speedrunners utilise the streaming capabilities of Twitch to broadcast their insane runs to the world. Elajjaz is one of the most high profile personalities who blitzes through the Souls games and has a large following on Twitch and YouTube. The insane feats they can accomplish attract more gamers to the franchise which helps boost its popularity.

The lore content creators are arguably even more incredible. They have the painstaking job of sifting through item descriptions and character dialogue to uncover the secrets of each game's wider and deeper story. The work of people like VaatiVidya, EpicNameBro and SunlightBlade helps you to understand and immerse yourself in the extremely intricate and complicated worlds of each game. 

When considering the games themselves, co-op is clearly an integral part of the series. There are entire covenants that are devoted to jolly co-operation. The Sunbros, i.e. Warriors of Sunlight (Dark Souls) or Heirs of the Sun (Dark Souls 2), are the most obvious and well renowned, but you also have the Princess Guard (DS) and Blue Sentinels (DS2) too. The challenging nature of the boss fights encourages co-operative play with others to overcome mutual obstacles together, rewarding players for doing so.

There is of course a notorious PvP element as well and fights between players are generally hard fought. The vast majority enjoy it as part of the game and don't whine when killed by an invader. There is always the option to play in offline mode, to prevent online invasions as well as friendly co-operation, for those who want to experience a purely solo, PvE playthrough.

I could easily go on about the fantastic temperament of the Souls community, but for the sake of your sanity I will not. Just know that it always welcomes players with open arms. Whining about the difficulty is not accepted, however, and doing so will simply result in our motto being shouted aloud..."GIT GUD AND PRAISE THE SUN!"

2) Guild Wars 2

In my opinion this exceptional MMORPG perfected the idea of a world-wide, co-operative, PvE experience. It is because of this that the Guild Wars 2 community has become so friendly and accommodating, particularly for new players.

In PvE, helping another player is almost always worth your while as without a strong group of fighters you will be unable to kill the toughest bosses which net the best loot. The game rewards your co-operation, during the various community events, with an individual loot sharing system that gives all players a reward based on how much they helped during the fight. This means that everyone gets something, not just the one guy who delivered the killing blow to the boss or mini boss. New players and veterans end up fighting together with very few whining and moaning if certain people play badly.

You can also find a huge number of character build guides online, where GW2 gamers attempt to help others out with their ideas of where to allocate skill points, the best weapons and armour and which skills to use. If you join a guild, your guildmates will always be keen to help you level up, provide you with some equipment, crafting items, trade commodities or even just a friendly monetary donation.

It is always awesome and gratifying to play with a bunch of random people to take down a champion boss and I have rarely seen anyone be attacked for making a mistake. The community is half of the reason why I am still playing the game today.

3) Elder Scrolls

Elder Scrolls is a long standing franchise that over the years has attracted a huge number of players to its fantasy realms. Said players have formed an equally huge community and all get on extremely well with each other.

The most popular titles: Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim, each contain tonnes of content which promotes friendly discussion between players particularly when someone finds something new and interesting or funny in the game. Modding is another huge part of the Scrolls series with players creating and adding everything from graphical enhancements, to futuristic weapons and even nude mods...

I think it is also worth pointing out how fantastic the wiki guides are. My most used site is probably the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Page (UESP), which continues to add pages to a huge archive of in-game information as well as lore. These wikis would not be possible without a dedicated and loyal fan-base such as that of the Elder Scrolls.

4) Total War

I am proud that one of my most beloved franchises has such a fantastic community of like-minded individuals. The forums are always awash with strategy guides and opening moves guides and battle tactics, and the community is always keen and willing to help each other improve in any of the available games.

The Total War modders are seriously talented people and produce a wide range of mods for people to enjoy for free, that usually massively improve upon the vanilla games. Many people will only play certain TW games with mods, such as DarthMod, installed as they claim this is the only way to make the game challenging enough- *cough* Empire *cough*.

No matter your opinion on some of the TW games, many are considered to be quite underwhelming, you will never cease to find enthusiastic gamers and history buffs playing this renowned RTS series and 99% of them are lovely. 

5) Rocket League

I have very recently got into Rocket League, after it was released for the Xbox One, which is perhaps partly why it has made this list (it's still fresh in my memory). I was immediately impressed with the friendliness of the player base and how the idea of fair play is not yet dead. The whole point of the game is co-operation and team work with an entire mode made separate for those who wish to go it alone. Players very often congratulate each other for good plays and goals, even when it's the opposing team who has scored. It's always nice to see 3 or 4 'Nice shot!' or 'What a save!' messages pop up when you score a goal or prevent your team from losing.

I was also involved in one particularly chivalrous moment. I had just started a 1v1 game when my internet decided to have a nervous breakdown and I suddenly started lagging all over the place. My opponent easily scored his first goal before asking in the chat if I had lag as my car randomly slid around the arena. I said yes and he said he wouldn't play until my ping was back to normal. Moments later when it sorted itself out, he allowed me to score a free goal so we were back to level scores and continued the match.

Even though I went on to lose the game, this kind act resonated with me as a prime example of how gamers should behave toward each other.

The other day I decided to rant about the 5 worst gaming communities that I'd had personal experiences with. This time I'm down at the other end of the spectrum, if you'll pardon the cliché, looking at the 5 best, friendliest and most helpful communities in gaming.

Like last time this is based on my own first hand experiences and you may agree with my assertions or you may not. Either way let me know in the comments below. Let's begin!

Also, Beethoven.

Symphony No. 9 in D minor: Presto; Allegro molto assai, Op. 125 (abridged)

Video game music has undergone a significant evolutionary process since its days in the arcades. Before the likes of PAC-MAN and Super Mario Bros, games would rarely feature their own original soundtrack, but would rather sample themes from famous classical composers like Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach (both Donkey Kong Jr. and Gyruss used the opening theme from Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor). Now, composers of neo-romantic music, electronica, heavy metal, and even trip-hop are offering their talents to this interactive medium.

On top of receiving awards, video game music has recently been studied by the academic eyes of self-proclaimed ludomusicologists (or those who study the history of video game music). When considering this high-form recognition, it's clear that this sub-genre is quickly becoming as influential as the genre it serves.

What did you think of this list of musical masterminds? Did your favorite composers make an appearance? What are some of your favorite video game soundtracks? Sound off in the comments below!

Koji Kondo

Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda

Games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda have been considered video game masterpieces ever since their beginnings in the mid-eighties. It is therefore only fitting that these masterworks be scored with equally masterful music. Koji Kondo has been employed at Nintendo since 1984, and in that time has composed music for over thirty games while contributing to over a hundred others.

Like the video game technology around him, Kondo’s musical style has evolved with his games. When comparing the 8-bit ground theme from the original Super Mario Bros. to the fully orchestrated Gusty Garden theme from 2007’s Super Mario Galaxy, it’s clear that Kondo’s ability to adapt his musical genius to the technology available to him is nothing short of divine. Endearing, empowering, reflective, symmetrical, pure – there can be no doubt that Kondo’s works will forever be held as some of the greatest to grace this medium.

Austin Wintory

Journey

Years from now, we will be talking about those who helped bring video games to the forefront of discussions concerning the great artistic achievements of our time. After working with Thatgamecompany on their first game, flOw, Wintory became one such pioneer with Journey. In 2012, the game’s original soundtrack became the first video game to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. The music of Journey features a number of solo instruments, with the cello acting as first soloist. The score’s ambient Arabian style mostly keeps a reserved tempo with grandiose orchestrations, but becomes excited and animated during the game’s more active segments.

All of this orbits around one central musical idea, or leitmotif, which is stated at the game’s start, then is restated, reinterpreted, and reiterated on with varying compositional techniques throughout the entire piece. Wintory’s use of orchestration, leitmotifs, and gameplay-informed inspiration makes this work one of the greatest seen in video game history. Following this critical acclaim, Wintory has since worked on games like Horn, Counter Strike: GO, The Order: 1886, and Assassins’ Creed: Syndicate.

Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger

Considered one of the great pioneers of original video game music, as well as one of the greatest of all time, Uematsu made his name through his work with the Final Fantasy series. The soundtracks of these games feature a wide array of musical styles and genres, each track reflective of the current scenario displayed.

While saving your file in a hotel-esque resting point, you’ll probably hear an atmospheric smooth jazz track playing in the background. If a beloved character meets an untimely demise, a beautiful and unassuming piano ballad will most likely be cued. And when it comes time to fight the titanic final boss, be prepared for some epic heavy metal! Nothing says “master composer” quite like having dozens of world-renowned video game soundtracks under your belt.

Jeremy Soule

The Elder Scrolls Series

One of the most celebrated video game composers of all time, Soule has often been referred to as the John Williams of video game music. Having written music for games, film, and television, his most notable works in gaming include Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs, games from the Harry Potter series, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim.

Since the late nineties, Soule’s video game music has won numerous awards from the likes of IGN, GameSpot, the BAFTA Games Awards, MTV, Official Xbox Magazine, and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Though most of his work is symphonic, Soule believes himself to be a well-rounded “musical practitioner” in his desire to write music of all types and genres.

Jessica Curry

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Though only breaking into the video game music scene three years ago with Dear Esther, Curry has already established herself as one of the medium's greatest composers. Curry's work mostly features classical arrangements; Dear Esther's soundtrack is mostly comprised of works for piano and solo strings, while Everybody's Gone to the Rapture makes use of choirs, solo instruments, and an entire orchestra.

The Chinese Room's most recent game, in particular, features a beautiful and enrapturing score with romantic and folk-song influences. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture has been criticized for its slow pace and lack of interaction, but from a music lover's standpoint, this game is worth the playthrough. Traditionally, game music exists to serve the game. The Chinese Room's PlayStation 4 title, however, seems to act as a conduit for Curry's magnificent piece.

Marty O'Donnell

Halo

The music of the Halo series has long been considered some of the most iconic of all video game music. O'Donnell served as composer and audio director of every Halo game developed by Bungie, as well as games like Oni and the mega-hit, Destiny.

When asked about the creation of Halo's signature theme, O'Donnell revealed that it had all been composed within two days for the unveiling at MacWorld 1999. The inspiration came from a mere three words conveyed to O'Donnell by Bungie's Joe Staten: ancient, alien, epic.

After speaking with Staten, O'Donnell hummed improvised monk chants to himself while driving home. He had composed the famous monophonic Halo chant by the time he arrived. O'Donnell also composed the fanfare for The Game Awards of 2014, and has recently founded a new development studio, Highwire Games.

Darren Korb

Bastion

Serving as audio director and composer for Bastion, Korb chose to establish a unique genre of music for Supergiant Games' first title. Labeled by Korb as "acoustic frontier trip-hop," the music of Bastion features electronic drum beats and plucked acoustic instruments like guitar, banjo, mandolin, and sitar.

This combination of heavily-sampled percussion and raw stringed instruments creates an attractive juxtaposition unique to most music in general, let alone that of video games. The music of Bastion went on to win the Spike Video Game Awards for Best Original Soundtrack back in 2011, and is still considered some of the most original music of any video game.

Junichi Masuda

Pokemon

Long-time score composer of the Pokemon games, Masuda has worked with developer Game Freak for over twenty-five years. Since the original games for the Game Boy (Red and Blue Version), Masuda has composed music for nearly every core Pokemon title to date. In the original games, each town was given its own musical theme.

Many of these tunes have been revered for effectively reflecting each town's tone, most especially the eerie theme for Lavender Town. While drawing influence from modern-era classical composers like Dmitri Shostakovich and Igor Stravinsky, Masuda has often looked to the divine music of the Super Mario series as a model for video game music. 

Gesamtkunstwerk n. {Ger} a total work of art; synthesis of the arts. 

It was once easy for art critics to write off video games as nothing more than children's toys and consumerism fodder. Now, video games receive celebratory recognition for art design, screenwriting, excellence in gameplay, sound design, and music. To quote game designer Phil "Fish" Poisson, "Video games are the ultimate art form. [They are] the sum total of every expressive medium...made interactive. How is that not...it's awesome!"

One of the most imperative elements of any excellent video game is its soundtrack. Like any genre of music, video game music has been evolving right alongside this interactive medium since its beginnings. Here are some of the musical subgenre's greatest composers of all time. 

Well now that my soul is deeply disturbed I don't think I'll be getting anymore sleep.

Can we start writing Christmas articles yet?

What do you guys think? Did these scare you? Know any better gaming creepy pastas? Let me know!

The Forgotten Karazhan Crypts: The crypts of horror

While technically not a creepy pasta, Blizzard has made it increasingly difficult to access the Karazhan Crypts in World of Warcraft and for good reason. It's downright terrifying.

A decent into the labyrinthine crypts reveals a darker side to Blizzard.

When players first managed to "break" into the crypts, they were greeted with two paths; A long spiral hallway, or a hole in the floor, named the well of the forgotten

Naturally, no one wants to walk far, so players jumped down the hole.

Splat!

Almost. They would have died if it wasn't for this breaking their falls.

The Pit of Criminals

After surviving a fall that would have killed them if not for the giant pile of dead bodies and skeletons, players were free to explore a maze of gargantuan crypts and rooms, some leading nowhere, others leading to places more sinister

Players had to swim through a "sunken" crypt that seemed normal at first. Until they arrived at a larger pool filled with meat hooks, and people.

The Upside-down Sinners

What waits for you in that water is hundreds of "upside down sinners," all impaled by meat hooks, never able to float to the surface. 

If this sounds like creepy pasta territory to you, then that's probably why Blizzard keeps this area off limits.

Zelda 64 Beta

"... And knowledge shall guide... way to heavens..."

Unlike the Majora's Mask story this one is a little more subtle. This supposed Zelda 64 beta has some peculiar oddities. Quiet scratching noises in the background, almost ineligible writing on the walls, and that's not half of it.

The game starts to react to the players actions and goes to hell fast.

Read the full story below, if you dare...

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When I was a child, one of my favorite games was the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Anyone who's played it can probably figure out why, even if they don't particularly find it their favorite. Naturally, as a very popular game, it spawned a lot of rumors and legends, especially back in the day when communication through the Internet wasn't as common. Most of these legends are false, but sometimes a surprising amount of truth can be found in them.

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A while ago, I had read an article about early versions of Zelda 3D (as it was called in development), and apparently these early versions were incredibly different from the released version. It was modeled after the original Legend of Zelda rather than A Link to the Past, and as such was a lot more free roaming and adventurous than the one we got. At the time, it sounded awesome, and I even found myself wondering why they had abandoned the project.

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I concluded that it was probably due to the technical requirements of such a feat. Still, one thing that especially stuck with me were the pictures. Some were non-descript, nothing special, but one showed a large expansive desert environment. There was a palm tree and a small oasis near a much more primitive-looking Link, as well as some enemies. Past that, however, was just sand, stretching to the horizon. The thoughts of what might lay beyond that desert seemed to stick the image to my mind.

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---

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After that we skip several years. The article was only a vague recollection, nothing important. I was hanging out at the local game shop with one of my friends. He's telling me about his day, and tells me how some guy came to sell his missing son's old video games. He showed me them and they were all normal games. A few Wii games, a few Gamecube games, and a lot of Nintendo 64 games. Still, the only one that really caught my eye was a red cartridge with no label, except a piece of tape with the word "ZELDA??" written over it in marker. Naturally, this got me curious. My friend didn't share my curiosity, but he didn't think he could sell the game and just let me take it home for free and indulge myself. Naturally, I did.

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The moment the game started, I realized it wasn't the Zelda I was used to. The title screen was nothing but a non-descript "The Legend of Zelda." No subtitles, no fancy font, no music, just those words in black bordered lettering. The background wasn't from OoT or MM either. It was an overhead view of what could only be called ancient ruins. They looked very sinister and grotesque, similar to something from Majora's Mask, only without any hint of the mystical atmosphere that accompanied any Zelda game. They were simply unnerving. Still, this didn't stop my curiosity, it only kept me going.

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As soon as I press start, the game begins. It skips over any file screens and dumps a blocky-looking Link into an empty black environment. And when I say black, I mean black. There was nothing separating ground and sky. Just blackness. The only thing that let me notice that the game even worked was a temple in the distance, similar to the one in the opening. Moving still seemed to work fine, suggesting that something probably glitched with the textures of the ground and sky. Still, it seemed strange that nothing happened to any other textures. Entering the temple was my only choice, so I took it.

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One thing that is worth mentioning is that the game started with no music, just deathly silence. However, the closer you came to the temple, the more music was available to hear. Well, it wasn't really music. It sounded like moaning, similar to the Re-Deads in OoT, but more tinny and badly recorded. Every once in awhile some sobs could be heard, but they were quickly stifled.

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Entering the temple made everything seem more like a Zelda game, but something caught me eye. Rather than the textures being worse than those in OoT, they were better. There was more detail in everything, but it was all dingy and rotten-looking. Extra polygons only served to make things look more grotesque. The random blood splatters didn't help anything, either. It didn't take long for me to realize that the entire "dungeon" could hardly be called Zelda-like. Puzzles usually only consisted of pulling a lever or pressing a switch. In fact, there weren't even any sliding blocks. There were no enemies, either, but the blood splatters on the walls soon served to be warnings of booby traps. Some become inescapable, and simply send you back into the darkness again. Others are escapable, but still extremely creepy and... depressing. The dungeon was riddled with the low-poly remains of dead adventurers. and sometimes they even had items on them. The items could be picked up, but the inventory screen seemed unfinished, and the game only auto-equipped the first three items picked up since there was no accessible inventory screen. After several gruesome deaths and retries, I find my way to a door marked with a scratched-on eye, similar to the ones on the Lens of Truth and various other objects. Entering this door revealed a boss battle.

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The music by this point had changed, and I only realized it by the last room. The moaning had never looped once, but still seemed to change according to the mood. A discordant violin melody started playing, but the rest of the sound remained nothing but moans, sobs, yells, and weird scratching. It was never enough to rise past the level of "background noise" but it still remained unnerving, almost as if it wasn't music at all, but monsters that were wandering somewhere in the temple.

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When I said "entering the room revealed a boss battle," I was not entirely honest. It could only be called a boss battle by the most generous standards. It featured an empty room with the same textures on the walls as the rest of the temple. The only out-of-place aspect was a giant face on the other side of the room, colored as gray as the walls surrounding it. Its skin seemed stretched over its head and lined with the wall, so it looked as if the wall was growing a face. Moss seemed to be growing over its closed eyes, and cracks were apparent everywhere on it. Still, the door I came in was locked, and the only thing to do was approach. I did so, carefully, making sure nothing was waiting for a surprise attack. I went up to the point where I was nearly in contact with the face. Nothing. It was still there, with its sunken eyes and cracked lips. I attacked it with my sword. The sword went through, and made an incredibly vulgar flesh-ripping sound, but nothing happened. It remained there. I attacked some more, and still more, until eventually the music stopped. Soon the cacophony of violin music became even louder and the moans started up even stronger, and then something happened. In one movement, its eyes opened, staring at me with dry, soulless eyeballs. And then... nothing. The music was still louder, but I continued to attack the face with no reaction, until it simply had enough, ripped to shreds, and fell away in a fire, in typical Zelda fashion, revealing a door. The music had stopped. There were no more moans, screams, anything. I went through the door.

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What a fool I was. That was only the tutorial.

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The screen was replaced by a white screen, followed by a moment of extremely loud Brownian noise. I jumped, but it was over almost instantly. The white screen was replaced by endless desert. The one from the image. I was in shock. By that point, I was creeped out enough to turn the game off. Still, that respite didn't last long, I had nightmares of the game. Normal nightmares, nothing weird about them (it was, after all, a pretty creepy game). However, what frightened me the most was something I skimmed over while I played and realized afterwards. The game changed each time I started over. When I tried to take the same path through the labyrinth, I always ended up lost and confused. By the time I finished, I was relying on instinct.

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I kept going the next day, stopping only to eat and go to the bathroom. When I turned it on, I was still at the desert, even though there was no file screen. This time it was night, I walked. Sometimes I would walk for 20 minutes only to find a half-sunken obelisk, or the ruins of what looked like some village hut. Other times there would be a skull or a few bones, but nothing more noticeable than that. Other times I would see great expanses of oasis and tropical forests. I found my first enemies here. They were similar to tektites, only with larger bodies, mostly containing their large eye. They had thin, long legs and would still attack by leaping. only when they hit you, they would pin you to the ground and attack. Soon the sun rose, and I continued walking. Sometimes I would find small tombs. These were almost always similar in style to the first dungeon, only without the moaning and no bosses.

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What I did find was information. Runes scribbled onto the walls that could be read. The description would almost always be vague, with phrases like, "... and knowledge shall guide... way to heavens..." Sometimes they would be followed by other comments, but most writing seemed glitched and unintelligible. It seemed to be a history, though. The maps I'd sometimes found confirmed it. I simply explored, and after a while, I learned to let instinct guide my way. Soon I found the next dungeon, a large pyramid rising out of the desert... upside-down. Over it, straight up to the sky, was another large upside-down temple. It stretched so far I couldn't see the top. But I couldn't keep going. I needed sleep again.

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The next day came, and I entered the dungeon. It was like all the small tombs I would find, only a bit more perilous. More bottomless pits. chasms, spike traps, and monsters this time. Long arms that would grab you from out of the wall like wallmasters, only these simply threw you into the traps, killing you. What probably used to be ReDeads and skeletons. At the end of this dungeon, I found a large spiral staircase. I followed it up and up until I reached what seemed to be the top. It took two hours of climbing, but the time seemed to fly by. The top was merely a platform with a large, ornate arrow pointing off an edge. Since there was nowhere else to go, I jumped. The screen again flashed white, and I was in a new area.

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This went on for the next few weeks. There were many places to visit, and at times I could find the borders where one locale met another. I started to name the locations I had been to, but although I started knowing all the places intimately, there never seemed to be an end to new locations. Sometimes I would go through one door and come out on the other side of the world. Places didn't behave by constant rules of space, but it became easier to find my way regardless. Each time I revisited a place, it was rearranged in a different, more navigable setup. From every corner though, I could see the tower in the distance. I quickly realized that I had not reached the top, only fallen into one of many traps. In fact, I still have not reached the top.

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In the few times I went about the real world, I could feel that the game was different. It changed itself. It seemed to react to me. I was sure that a game like this should not have been able to be created. But then, they were going for a free-roaming experience more similar to the original Zelda. What if they succeeded? They created a world one could always roam. And they really did create a world. I had learned of many gods in that land. The three goddesses who had created such a perverted, physical world. The god He Who Sees, who decided to cleanse it. I still don't know my own route, but I felt that if I simply followed my instincts, I could find my goal.

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That's why I'm writing this now. My instincts still tell me where to go. But it's not here. It's not in the game. I have to leave, and I will do it. But before I go, I feel I have to leave this message for someone to find. I should warn you though, it may be a game, but it knows you are playing.

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Polybius

"Men wearing black suits would often come to collect 'records' from the game."

Urban legends often turn out to be untrue and covered in myths. But it isn't so easy to dismiss Polybius as rumor.

Playing this arcade cabinet from 1981 supposedly caused halucinations, nightmares, anxiety, and even amnesia. The most popular theory is that it was a government test carried out by the FBI or some other secret service.

One thing remains sure, while pictures are abound on the internet of these arcade cabinets from the 80's, no one can find them in existence anymore.

Read the full story below, if you dare...

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It was supposedly very popular, with people forming long lines to play it. However, players reported strange things about the game, such as hearing a woman crying and seeing grotesque faces out of the corner of their eyes. Players would also have nightmares, experienced nausea, headaches, blackouts or even develop amnesia. Some even committed suicide. Others stopped playing video games altogether and at least one became an anti-video game activist. According to one owner of an arcade, men wearing black suits would often come to collect "records" from the game.

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They did not take any money, simply data on gameplay. Because of this, the leading theory is that it was some sort of government experiment using subliminal messages. The game remains in obscurity as around one month after its release, all of the cabinets suddenly disappeared. One cabinet reappeared in an arcade 1998, but quickly disappeared again. While some have tried to recreate the game, no one has ever found the original ROM.

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Pale Luna

"PALE LUNA SMILES WIDE."

This old game was a text adventure, similar to Zork. The game only cryptically tells you your options guiding you to do something much more sinister...

The end of the game reveals the co-ordinates to something grim.

Read the full story below, if you dare...

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In the last decade and a half it's become infinitely easier to obtain exactly what you're looking for, by way of a couple of keystrokes. The Internet has made it all too simple to use a computer to change reality. An abundance of information is merely a search engine away, to the point where it's hard to imagine life as any different.

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Yet, a generation ago, when the words 'streaming' and 'torrent' were meaningless save for conversations about water, people met face-to-face to conduct software swap parties, trading games and applications on Sharpie-labeled five-and-a-quarter inch floppies.

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Of course, most of the time the meets were a way for frugal, community-minded individuals to trade popular games like King's Quest and Maniac Mansion amongst themselves. However, a few early programming talents designed their own computer games to share amongst their circle of acquaintances, who in turn would pass it on, until, if fun and well-designed enough, an independently-developed game had its place in the collection of aficionados across the country. Think of it as the 80's equivalent of a viral video.

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Pale Luna, on the other hand, was never circulated outside of the San Francisco Bay Area. All known copies have been long disposed of, all computers that have ever run the game now detritus buried under layers of filth and polystyrene. This fact is attributed to a number of rather abstruse design choices made by its programmer.

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Pale Luna was a text adventure in the vein of Zork and The Lurking Horror, at a time when said genre was swiftly going out of fashion. Upon booting the program, the player was presented with a screen almost completely blank, except for the text:

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-You are in a dark room. Moonlight shines through the window.

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-There is GOLD in the corner, along with a SHOVEL and a ROPE.

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-There is a DOOR to the EAST.

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-Command?

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So began the game that one writer for a long-out-of-print fanzine decried as "enigmatic, nonsensical, and completely unplayable". As the only commands that the game would accept were PICK UP GOLD, PICK UP SHOVEL, PICK UP ROPE, OPEN DOOR, and GO EAST, the player was soon presented with the following:

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-Reap your reward.

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-PALE LUNA SMILES AT YOU.

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-You are in a forest.There are paths to the NORTH, WEST, and EAST.

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-Command?

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What quickly infuriated the few who've played the game was the confusing and buggy nature of the second screen onward — only one of the directional decisions would be the correct one. For example, on this occasion, a command to go in a direction other than NORTH would lead to the system freezing, requiring the operator to hard reboot the entire computer.

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Further, any subsequent screens seemed to merely repeat the above text, with the difference being only the directions available. Worse still, the standard text adventure commands appeared to be useless: The only accepted non-movement-related prompts were USE GOLD, which caused the game to display the message:

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-Not here.

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USE SHOVEL, which brought up:

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-Not now.

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And USE ROPE, which prompted the text:

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-You've already used this.

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Most who played the game progressed a couple of screens into it before becoming fed-up by having to constantly reboot and tossing the disk in disgust, writing off the experience as a shoddily programmed farce. However, there is one thing about the world of computers that remains true, no matter the era: some people who use them have way too much time on their hands.

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A young man by the name of Michael Nevins decided to see if there was more to Pale Luna than what met the eye. Five hours and thirty-three screens worth of trial-and-error and unplugged computer cords later, he finally managed to make the game display different text. The text in this new area read:

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-PALE LUNA SMILES WIDE

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-There are no paths

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-PALE LUNA SMILES WIDE

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-The ground is soft

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-PALE LUNA SMILES WIDE

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-Here

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-Command?

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It was another hour still before Nevins stumbled upon the proper combination of phrases to make the game progress any further; DIG HOLE, DROP GOLD, then FILL HOLE. This caused the screen to display:

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-Congratulations

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—— 40.24248 ——

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—— -121.4434 ——

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Upon which the game ceased to accept commands, requiring the user to reboot one last time.

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After some deliberation, Nevins came to the conclusion that the numbers referred to lines of latitude and longitude — the coordinates lead to a point in the sprawling forest that dominated the nearby Lassen Volcanic Park. As he possessed much more free time than sense, Nevins vowed to see Pale Luna through to its ending.

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The next day, armed with a map, a compass, and a shovel, he navigated the park's trails, noting with amusement how each turn he made corresponded roughly to those that he took in-game.

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Though he initially regretted bringing the cumbersome digging tool on a mere hunch, the path's similarity all but confirmed his suspicions that the journey would end with him face-to-face with an eccentric's buried treasure.

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Out of breath after a tricky struggle to the coordinates, he was pleasantly surprised by a literal stumble upon a patch of uneven dirt. Shoveling as excitedly as he was, it would be an understatement to say that he was taken aback when his heavy strokes unearthed the badly-decomposing head of a blonde-haired little girl.

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Nevins promptly reported the situation to the authorities. The girl was identified as Karen Paulsen, 11, reported as missing to the San Diego Police Department a year and a half prior.

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Efforts were made to track down the programmer of Pale Luna, but the nearly-anonymous legal gray area in which the software swapping community operated inescapably led to many dead ends.

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Collectors have been known to offer upwards of six figures for an authentic copy of the game.

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The rest of Karen's body was never found.

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LSD Dream Emulator

"You have seen the man as he is."

LSD Dream Emulator is a game for the playstation that's about as trippy as it sounds. All sorts of random stuff can happen and it's usually different. There is one thing that never changes though...

"The Gray Man." This man in a trench coat and hat will watch you. Sometimes he will chase you. Sometimes you won't see him at all. 

Read the full story below, if you dare...

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A few years ago, while searching on /x/ for Paranormal or Creepy games, I came across an obscure Japanese Playstation game, called "LSD: Dream Emulator." Despite the game releasing in extremely limited numbers, many ROM sites had it available for download. Naturally, I downloaded it, converted it, and started playing.

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Unfortunately, the ISO was corrupted - or incorrectly ripped - as I couldn't get any further than the title screen and, when I did, all I saw was a mess of color and heard a strange fuzzing sound, like radio static. I tried re-downloading the ISO multiple times, trying it from different websites, but every single one was the same. Strange colors, fuzzy static sound. I tried posting questions on various gaming sites, but hardly anyone had heard of the game and even less had played it. I learned that the game had a cult following, both here and in Japan, and I eventually found a small yahoo fan group, dedicated to the game.

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I posted a question, asking if anyone had managed to get the game working on emulators, and a few days later, I received an answer.

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"Hi. I was one of members of the ripping group who released the LSD rip. We managed to successfully rip the game, but we have never managed to get it working on emulators, only the original hardware."

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By this point, I had practically given up on it. I didn't have a Playstation console, and my attention span was short, and I had long since moved on to other things, like Eversion, and Yume Nikki.

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Then, earlier this year, LSD was released on the Japanese Playstation Network. I remembered how much I had tried to play it, even browsing eBay a few times, in the vague hope that a cheap copy surfaced.

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So, I made an account, bought a JPN PSN card, and purchased the game, and after downloading and installing, I began playing it. The Playstation logo came up as usual, but with SCEI instead, as it was a Japanese game. There was no copyright screen, but they had removed it from several other games as well.

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The intro video started playing after that. Different colored words bounced across the screen, spelling out "Linking the Sapient Dream" multiple times (Apparently this is what LSD stood for).

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I pressed the circle button, and the game went to the title screen. There was no "Press Start" screen, it just went straight to a screen with 4 or 5 options. Start, Save, Load and Options.Above Start, there was a line of text, telling you what Day you were on. It displayed "a DAY 01"

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I chose Start.

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One thing I had learned from the Yahoo group, was that the first Day always started in a Japanese House, with three floors. The contents of the house were random. The entire game was played in a First-Person view.

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I walked along the hallway I started in, and walked into a Bookcase, and the screen faded to white. That's the strange thing about this game, you can interact with anything. Walking into anything moves you to a new area, which the game calls "Linking".

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The white faded away and I was in a field. I couldn't see very far into the distance, because every area had fog a few feet ahead of you. The graphics were also basic, with most having no texture to them. I walked onwards, eventually bumping into a tree, which sent me to another area.

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This time, things had gotten a bit more sinister. I was in a dark city, standing on a metal pier. A boat loomed in the fog, out on the water, and lamp posts lit the streets. I walked down into the road, and came across alleyways. Graffiti covered some of the walls, strange multi-colored eyes staring out at me. Then I heard a noise and the screen flashed quickly. I turned around.

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Just behind me, a man had appeared. He was wearing a grey hat and a long trench coat. He was walking slowly towards me, almost gliding across the ground.

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I tried to walk backwards, to get away, but my controller wasn't responding, and he was getting closer.

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For a split-second, two red dots glared out from under his hat, then the screen flashed again.

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This time I was back in the house.

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Something had changed, though.

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The textures of the walls, were replaced with pictures of real violence. Women being raped, children torn apart, Cannibalism, Torture, a Japanese man breaking his own fingers with a hammer.

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As I moved through the house, the pictures slowly began getting worse and the music began distorting and slowing down. The corridor was longer than it was before and it was getting darker.

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I knew what was at the end.

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He was.

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I moved onwards, the bile rising in my throat and fighting the urge to vomit, as the pictures began escalating into terrible levels of obscenity and violence. A few steps forward, a man removing a young boy's legs. A few more, a pregnant woman cutting her own fetus out. Further still, a gang of men cut a cow to pieces, wrapping the internal organs around their bodies. Closer to the end, people being forced to eat the corpse of a child, vomiting as they eat parts of him.

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Finally, I reached the end of the corridor.

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The screen faded to black and a line of text appeared on the screen.

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http://oharaweb.weebly.com/lsdgmn.html

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I wrote the link down quickly and a few seconds later, the game faded to white again, and returned to the title screen.

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This time, the status said "D dAy 00"

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I tried to choose Start again, but the game wouldn't let me continue. I restarted the PS3, and the status went back to "a DAY 01."

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Before I played it again, I tried the link. It still worked, and a page came up, filled with Japanese writing. Further down the page, there was a picture of the Gray Man, as he normally appeared. I can't read Japanese, but one of my friends could.

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He lived in Japan for a few years, so he could read and speak the language fluently. I copied the writing down and called him up.

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After he showed up, I spent the next few hours telling him what had happened. Obviously, he didn't believe me. Who would?

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But he still agreed to take a look at the writing on the page.

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Despite several tries, I couldn't get the web page up again, so I handed him the copy I had made.

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He glanced at it for a few minutes and then suddenly turned white. He handed it back to me and sat down on the couch.

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He said nothing for 5 minutes, then he told me what it said.

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"If you are reading this, well done.

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You have seen the man as he is.

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What he did to me as I slept, as I

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dreamed his dark nightmare. You have

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also seen it. Those violent images

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were him. He had no form, only the

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dream man. He caused all this, those

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events in the images, he took those

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innocents and possessed them. He made them

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do it. He made me make that game.

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GRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAYGRAY" As he finished, he stood up, grabbed his coat, and said "Whatever you saw in that game, don't tell me anything about it." Then he left.

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The next week, he went back to Japan. I couldn't touch another console after that. I destroyed the PS3 and replaced my computer.

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A few weeks after he left for Japan, I got a call. He had killed a woman, then committed suicide.

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The woman he had killed, Osamu Sato, was the lead designer on LSD.

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(If you guys are wondering, this game actually DOES exist, but it isn't NEARLY as violent.)

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BEN Drowned

"You shouldn't have done that..."

This tale is about a haunted Majora's Mask cartridge and how it is always watching. Waiting. 

If this is not the scariest creepy pasta, it's certainly the most famous, and with good reason. The story uses video footage to back up all of the events described in the story.

Majora's Mask was already a dark game... but now it's disturbing.

Read the full story below, if you dare...

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Okay, /x/, I need your help with this. This is not copypasta, this is a long read, but I feel like my safety or well-being could very well depend on this. This is video game related, specifically Majora's Mask, and this is the creepiest shit that has ever happened to me in my entire life.

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Having said that, I recently moved into my dorm room starting as a Sophomore in college and a friend of mine gave me his old Nintendo 64 to play. I was stoked, to say the least, I could finally play all of those old games of my youth that I hadn't touched in at least a decade. His Nintendo 64 came with one yellow controller and a rather shoddy copy of Super Smash Brothers, and while beggars can't be choosers, needless to say it didn't take long until I became bored of beating up LVL 9 CPUs.

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That weekend I decided to drive around a few neighborhoods about twenty minutes or so off campus, hitting up the local garage sales, hoping to score on some good deals from ignorant parents). I ended up picking up a copy of Pokemon Stadium, Goldeneye (fuck yeah), F-Zero, and two other controllers for two dollars. Satisfied, I began to drive out of the neighborhood when one last house caught my attention. I still have no idea why it did, there were no cars there and only one table was set up with random junk on it, but something sort of drew me there. I usually trust my gut on these things so I got out of the car and I was greeted by an old man. His outward appearance was, for lack of a better word, displeasing. It was odd, if you asked me to tell you why I thought he was displeasing, I couldn't really pinpoint anything - there was just something about him that put me on edge, I can't explain it. All I can tell you is that if it wasn't in the middle of the afternoon and there were other people within shouting distance, I would not have even thought of approaching this man.

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He flashed a crooked smiled at me and asked what I was looking for, and immediately I noticed that he must be blind in one of his eyes; his right eye had that "glazed over" look about it. I forced myself to look to his left eye instead, trying not to offend, and asked him if he had any old video games.

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I was already wondering how I could politely excuse myself from the situation when he would tell me he had no idea what a video game was, but to my surprise he said he had a few ones in an old box. He assured me he'd be back in a "jiffy" and turned to head back into the garage. As I watched him hobble away, I couldn't help but notice what he was selling on his table. Littered across his table were rather… peculiar paintings; various artworks that looked like ink blots that a psychiatrist might show you. Curious, I looked through them - it was obvious why no one was visiting this guy's garage sale, these weren't exactly aesthetically pleasing. As I came to the last one, for some reason it looked almost like Majora's Mask - the same heart-shaped body with little spikes protruding outward. Initially I just thought that since I was secretly hoping to find that game at these garage sales, some Freudian bullshit was projecting itself into the ink blots, but given the events that happened afterward I'm not so sure now. I should have asked the man about it. I wish I would have asked the man about it.

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After staring at the Majora-shaped blot, I looked up and the old man was suddenly there again, arms-length in front of me, smiling at me. I'll admit I jumped out of reflex and I laughed nervously as he handed me a Nintendo 64 cartridge. It was the standard grey color, except that someone had written Majora on it in black permanent marker. I got butterflies in my stomach as I realized what a coincidence this was and asked him how much he wanted for it.

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The old man smiled at me and told me that I could have it for free, that it used to belong to a kid who was about my age that didn't live here anymore. There was something weird about how the man phrased that, but I didn't really pay any attention to then, I was too caught up in not only finding this game but getting it for free.

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I reminded myself to be a bit skeptical since this looked like a pretty shady cartridge and there's no guarantee it would work, but then the optimist inside me interjected that maybe it was some kind of beta version or pirated version of the game and that was all I needed to be back on cloud nine. I thanked the man and the man smiled at me and wished me well, saying "Goodbye then!" - at least that's what it sounded like to me. All the way in the car-ride home, I had a nagging doubt that the man had said something else. My fears were confirmed when I booted up the game (to my surprise it worked just fine) and there was one save file named simply "BEN". "Goodbye Ben", he was saying "Goodbye Ben". I felt bad for the man, obviously a grandparent and obviously going senile, and I - for some reason or another - reminded him of his grandson "Ben".

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Out of curiosity I looked at the save file. Eyeballing it, I could tell that he was pretty far in the game - he had almost all of the masks and 3/4 remains of the bosses. I noticed that he had used an owl statue to save his game, he was on Day 3 and by the Stone Tower Temple with hardly an hour left before the moon would crash. I remember thinking that it was a shame that he had come so close to beating the game but he never finished it. I made a new file named "Link" out of tradition and started the game, ready to relive my childhood.

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For such a shady looking game cartridge, I was impressed at how smoothly it ran - literally just like a retail copy of the game save for a few minor hiccups here and there (like textures being where they shouldn't be, random flashes of cutscenes at odd intervals, but nothing too bad). However the only thing that was a little unnerving was that at times the NPCs would call me "Link" and at other times they would call me "BEN". I figured it was just a bug - a fluke in the programming causing our files to get mixed up or something. It did kind of creep me out though after a while, and it was around after I had beaten the Woodfall Temple that I regrettably went into the save files and deleted "BEN" (I had intended to preserve the file just out of respect of the game's original owner, it's not like I needed two files anyway), hoping that that would solve the problem. It did and it didn't, now NPCs wouldn't call me anything, where my name should be in the dialogue there was just a blank space (my save file name was still called "Link", though). Frustrated, and with homework to do, I put the game down for a day.

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I started playing the game again last night, getting the Lens of Truth and working my way towards completing the Snowhead Temple. Now, some of you more hardcore Majora's Mask players know about the "4th Day" glitch - for those who don't you can Google it but the gist of it is that right as the clock is about to hit 00:00:00 on the final day, you talk to the astronomer and look through the telescope. If you time it right the countdown disappears and you essentially have another day to finish whatever you were doing. Deciding to do the glitch to try and finish the Snowhead Temple, I happened to get it right on the first try and the time counter at the bottom disappeared.

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However, when I pressed B to exit the telescope, instead of being greeted by the astronomer I found myself in the Majora boss fight room at the end of the game (the trippy boxed in arena) staring at Skull Kid hovering above me. There was no sound, just him floating in the air above me, and the background music which was regular for the area (but still creepy). Immediately my palms began to sweat - this was definitely not normal. Skull Kid NEVER appeared here. I tried moving around the area, and no matter where I went, Skull Kid would always be facing me, looking at me, not saying anything. Nothing would happen though, and this kept up for around sixty seconds. I thought the game had bugged or something - but I was beginning to doubt that very much.

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I was about to reach for the reset button when text appeared on my screen: "You're not sure why, but you apparently had a reservation…" I instantly recognized that text - you get that message when you get the Room Key from Anju at the Stock Pot Inn, but why was it playing here? I refused to entertain the notion that it was almost as if the game was trying to communicate with me. I started navigate the room again, testing to see if that was some sort of trigger that enabled me to interact with something here, then I realized how stupid I was - to even think that someone could reprogram the game like this was absurd. Sure enough, fifteen seconds later another message appeared on the screen, and again like the first one it was already a pre-existing phrase "Go to the lair of the temple's boss? Yes/No". I paused for a second, contemplating what I should press and how the game would react, when I realized that I couldn't select no. Taking a deep breath, I pressed Yes and the screen faded to white, with the words "Dawn of a New Day" with the subtext "||||||||" beneath it. Where I was ported to filled me with the most intense sense of dread and impending fear I had ever experienced

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The only way I can describe the way I felt here is having this feeling of inexplicable depression on a profound scale. I am normally not a depressed person, but the way I felt here was a feeling that I didn't even knew existed - it was such a twisted, powerful presence that seemed to wash over me.

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I appeared in some kind of weird twilight-zone version of Clock Town. I walked out of the Clock Tower (as you normally do when you start from Day 1) only to find that all of the inhabitants were gone. Usually with the 4th Day glitch you can still find the guards and the dog that runs around outside the tower - this time they were all gone. What replaced them was the ominous feeling that there was something out there, in the same area as me and that it was watching me. I had four hearts to my name and the Hero's Bow, but at this point I wasn't even considered for my avatar, I felt that I personally was in some kind of danger. Perhaps the most chilling thing was the music - it was the Song of Healing, ripped straight from the game itself, but played in reverse. The music would get louder, building up so as if you should expect something to pop out at you, but nothing ever did, and the constant loop began to wear on my mental state.

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Every now and then I would hear the faint laugh of the Happy Mask Salesman in the background, just quiet enough so that I wasn't sure if I just hearing things but just loud enough to keep me determined to find him. I looked in all four zones of Clock Town, only to find nothing.... No one. Textures were missing, West Clock Town had me walking on air, the entire area felt... broken. Hopelessly broken. As the reverse Song of Healing repeated for what must have been the 50th time, I just remember standing in the middle of South Clock Town realizing that I had never felt so alone in a video game before.

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As I walked through the ghost town, I don't know whether it was the combination of the out of place textures and the atmosphere and the haunting melody of the once peaceful and soothing song being butchered and distorted, but I was literally on the verge of tears and I had no idea why. I hardly ever cry, something had gripped me here and this powerful sense of depression that was both foreign and crippling.

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I tried leaving Clock Town, but every time I attempted to zone out, the screen would fade to black and I would just zone in to another part of Clock Town. I tried playing my Ocarina, I wanted to escape, and I did NOT want to be here, but every time I played the Song of Time or Song of Soaring it would only say "Your notes echo far, but nothing happens". By this point, it was obvious the game didn't want me to leave, but I had no idea why it was keeping me here. I didn't want to go inside the buildings, I felt that I would be too vulnerable there to whatever I was terrified of. I don't know why, but I came up with the idea that maybe if I drowned myself at the Laundry Pool I could spawn somewhere else and leave this place.

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As I zoned in and ran towards the pool, that's when it happened. Link grabbed his head, and the screen flashed for a brief moment of the Happy Mask Salesman smiling at me - not Link - me with Skull Kid's scream playing in the background and when the screen returned I was staring at the Link Statue from playing the song Elegy of Emptiness. I screamed as the thing just stared back at me with that haunting facial expression. I turned around and ran out and back into South Clock Town, and to my horror the fucking statue followed me in the only way I can compare this is like the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who. Every so often, at random intervals, the animation would play of the statue appearing behind me. It was like the thing was chasing me, or - I don't even want to fucking say it - haunting me.

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By this point, I was on the verge of hysterics, but not even once did the thought of turning off the console occur to me, I don't know why, I was so wrapped up in it - the terror felt all so real. I tried to shake the statue, but it would literally appear right behind me every single time. Link started to begin to make weird animations I had never even seen him do before, he would flail his arms around or spasm randomly and the screen would cut to the Happy Mask Salesman smiling again for a brief moment before I was face to face with that fucking statue again. I ended up running into the Swordmaster's Dojo and ran to the back, I don't know why, but in my panic I just wanted some kind of assurance that I'm not alone here. To my dismay I found no one, but as I turned to leave the statue cornered me in the cubby in the back. I tried attacking the statue with my sword but to no avail. Confused, and backed into a corner, I just stared at the statue waiting for it to kill me. Suddenly, the screen flashed again to the Happy Mask Salesman and Link turned to face my screen, standing upright mirroring the statue, looking at me along with his copy. Literally staring at me. Whatever was left of the 4th wall was completely shattered while I ran out of the dojo terrified. Suddenly the game warped me to an underground tunnel and the reverse Song of Healing queued up again as I was given a brief moment of rest before the statue started appearing behind me again... this time aggressively - I could only take a few steps before it would summon behind me again. I hurriedly made my way out of the tunnel and appeared in Southern Clock Town. As I ran aimlessly - in a sheer panic - suddenly a redead screamed and the screen faded to black as "Dawn of a New Day" and "|||||||||" appeared again.

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The screen faded in and I was standing on top of Clock Tower with Skull Kid hovering over me again, silent. I looked up and the moon was back, looming just meters above my head, but the Skull Kid just stared at me hauntingly with that fucking mask. A new song was playing - the Stone Tower Temple theme played in reverse. In some sort of desperate attempt, I equipped my bow and fired off a shot at the Skull Kid - and it actually hit him and he played an animation of him reeling back. I fired again and on the third arrow, a text box appeared saying "That won't do you any good. Hee, hee." and I was picked up off the ground, levitated upwards on my back, and then Link screamed as he burst into flames, instantly killing him.

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I jumped when this happened - I had never seen this move used by ANYONE in the game and Skull Kid himself didn't HAVE any moves. As the death screen played, my lifeless body still burning, the Skull Kid laughed and the screen faded to black, only to have me reappear in the same place. I decided to charge him, but the same thing happened, Link's body was lifted off the ground by some unknown force and he immediately burst into flames again killing him. This time during the death screen the faint sounds of the reverse Song of Healing could be heard. On my third (and final try), I noticed that there was no music playing this time, that all there was was eerie silence. I remembered that in the original encounter with the Skull Kid you were supposed to use the Ocarina to either travel back in time or summon the giants. I attempted to play the Song of Time but before I could hit the last note Links body once again horrifically exploded into flames and he died.

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As the death screen neared its end, it began to chug, as if the cartridge was trying to process a lot of something.... When the screen came to, it was the same scene as the first three times, except this time Link was lying on the ground dead in a position I had never seen in the game before, his head tilted towards the camera, with the Skull Kid floating above him. I couldn't move, I couldn't press any buttons, all I could do is just stare at Link's dead body. After around thirty seconds of this, the game simply fades out with the message "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" before kicking you out to the title screen.

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Upon getting back to the title screen and starting again, I noticed my save file was no longer there. Instead of "Link", it was replaced with "YOUR TURN". "YOUR TURN" had 3 hearts, 0 masks, and no items. I selected "YOUR TURN" and immediately when I did I was returned to the Clock Tower Rooftop scene of my Link dead and the Skull Kid hovering over, with the Skull Kid's laughing looping again and again. I quickly hit the reset button and when the game booted up again there was one more save file added, below "YOUR TURN", entitled "BEN". "BEN"'s save file is right back where it was before I deleted it, at the Stone Tower Temple with the moon almost crashing.

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I turned the game off at that point, I'm not superstitious but this is WAY too fucked up even for me. I haven't played it at all today, hell, I didn't even get any sleep last night, I kept hearing the reverse Song of Healing music in my head and just remembering the sense of dread I felt exploring Clock Town. I drove back to the old man's house today to ask him some questions with a buddy of mine (no way I was going there alone), only to find that there's a For Sale sign in the front yard and when I rang the door no one was home.

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So now I'm back here writing down the rest of my thoughts and recording what happened, sorry if some of this has grammatical errors and whatnot, I'm running on no sleep here. I'm terrified of this game, even more so now that I relived it a second time writing this all down, but I feel like there's still more to it than meets the eye, and that there's something calling to me to investigate this further. I think "BEN" is something in this equation, but I don't know what, and if I could get a hold of the old man then I would be able to find some answers. I need another day or so to recuperate before tackling this game again, its already taken a toll on my sanity I feel like, but next time I do this I'm going to be recording my footage all the way through. The idea to record only came to me towards the end, so you see the last few minutes of what I saw (including Skull Kid and the Elegy statue), but it's on YouTube here.

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05:30

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I'm going to stay in this thread for a little while longer before I fall asleep to answer any questions you guys might have or hopefully listen to your ideas or theories to help me shed some light into this or maybe things I should try to do, I think I'm going to play BEN's file tomorrow to see what happens, maybe I was supposed to do that all along. I don't believe in paranormal shit, but this is a little fucked up, but maybe this BEN guy is just a really good hacker/programmer, I don't want to think about the alternatives if he isn't.

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That's the end of the copy/paste, I'm hoping that maybe this is some kind of running gag the developers had and that other people have gotten "gag" or "hacked" copies of the game like this. This just really scares me.

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Post #2 (Sept. 8, 2010)

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I'm going to post what happened and link the video footage, but last night everything got too real for me. I think I'm done messing around with this. I passed out pretty much immediately after making that thread. But last night, that Elegy of Emptiness statue, I had a dream about it. I dreamed that it was following me in my dream, that I would be minding my own business when I'd feel my neck hairs stand up on end. I would turn around that thing... that horrible, lifeless statue would be staring with those empty eyes right at me, merely inches away. In my dream I remember calling it Ben, and never before had I had a dream that I could remember so vividly. But the important thing is I did get some sleep, I suppose.

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Today, putting off playing the game as long as I could, I drove back up to that neighborhood to see if the old man came back. As I expected, the car was still gone and no one was home. As I was walking back to my car, the man next door mowing the grass killed the power to his lawnmower and asked me if I was looking for someone. I told him that I was looking to talk to the old man that lived here, to which he told me what I already knew - he was moving. Trying a different avenue, I asked if the old man had any family or relatives I could talk to. I discovered that this old man had never been married, nor did he have any children or grandchildren through adoption. Starting to become worried, I asked one final question, one that I should have asked from the beginning - who was Ben? The man's expression turned grim and I learned that four doors down around eight years ago on April 23 - the man informed me that it was the same day as his anniversary, that's how he knew the specific date - there was an accident with a young boy named Ben in the neighborhood. Shortly after his parents moved, and despite any further attempts to talk to the man to get more information, he wouldn't divulge anything else.

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I went back and started playing again, I loaded up the game and immediately I jumped at the title screen where the mask flies by - the sound that played was not the normal "whoosh" sound, it was something much more higher pitched. I pressed start, bracing for the worst, but just like two nights ago, the files "Your Turn" and "BEN" were displayed (truth be told I looked at the BEN file earlier, it seems to fluctuate between displaying the Owl Save and not). I brought up the BEN file, hesitated for a moment noticing that the stats were not the same as they original were two days ago, it seemed like he had already completed the Stone Tower Temple this time... Summoning my courage I selected it.

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Immediately I was thrust into complete chaos. Sure enough, I was outside Stone Tower Temple, but that's about all that was expected. The zone itself wasn't called Stone Tower Temple, but rather "St o n e", and immediately a dialogue box of complete gibberish that I couldn't make out greeted me. Link's body was distorted - his back was cocked violently to the side where his posture was permanently disfigured. Link's expression was dull, almost monotonous, he had an expression on his face that I didn't recognize before, it was a blank look - as if he was dead. As Link stood there his body spasmed irregularly back and forth I examined what had become of my avatar and noticed I had a C button item I had never seen before, some kind of note, but pressing it did nothing. Sounds played back and forth that I didn't recognize from the game - almost demonic in nature, and there was some kind of high-pitched yip or some kind of laugh or something playing in the background. I had all of two minutes to take in the environment before another one of those fucking Elegy of Emptiness statues was summoned and immediately after I was cut into the "Dawn of a New Day" screen, except this time it was without the "||||||" subtext.

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I was a Deku Scrub in Clock Town - this scene would normally play after the first time you traveled back in time. Tatl would say "Wh-What just happened? It's as if everything has..." but instead of saying "Started over", she finished her remark in broken text as the laugh of the Happy Mask Salesman played in the background. I was put back in control of my character, but from a fucked up camera angle - I was looking from behind the door to the Clock Tower, watching my avatar run around as a Deku Scrub. Seeing as how I really had no place to go because I couldn't see anything, I begrudgingly went inside the door. There, I was greeted by the Happy Mask Salesman who simply told me "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" before the screen whited out.

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I was in Termina field as a human again. I might as well not have been playing the same game anymore - I was being warped around and there was no sign of a day clock or anything. I took a moment to get my bearings as I looked around the field and immediately I could tell that this was not normal. There were no enemies and a twisted version of the Happy Mask Salesman's theme was playing. I decided to run towards Woodfall before I noticed a gathering of three figures off to the side - one of them being Epona. As I approached them, to my horror I saw the Happy Mask Salesman, the Skull Kid, and the Elegy of Emptiness statue just standing there. I figured maybe they were bugged out, but by now I told myself that I should know better. Nevertheless, I approached them carefully and found that the Skull Kid was playing some kind of idle animation on loop, same with Epona, and the Elegy of Emptiness statue was doing what it has been doing all along - just standing there eerily. It was the Happy Mask Salesman that scared me more profoundly than the other two.

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He too was idle, wearing that shit-eating grin, but where-ever I moved, his head slowly turned and followed me. I had not engaged in any dialogue with him nor was I in combat with him, yet his head still continued to follow my movements. Reminded of my first encounter with the Skull Kid on top of Clock Tower, I pulled out my Ocarina (to which the game played the ding sound when you're supposed to play your Ocarina) and tried a song I hadn't played yet - the Happy Mask Salesman's own song and the song that had been playing on loop back in Day 4 - the Song of Healing.

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I finished playing the song and as I did, a ear-piercing shriek blasted on my TV, the sky immediately started flashing, the Happy Mask Salesman's twisted theme song sped up, intensifying the fear inside me, and Link exploded into flames and died. The three figures stayed lit up during my death screen as they watched my lifeless body burn. I can't describe to you how sudden and terrifying the transition from eerie to terror it is, you're going to have to watch the video if you want to see first-hand. That same fear that caused me to lose sleep two days ago started to grip me again as I was met with the text "You've met with a horrible fate, haven't you?" for the third time. There has to be some kind of meaning behind that.

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I had little time to ponder as I was immediately given another small cut-scene of transforming into a Zora and now I found myself in Great Temple Bay. Hesitant but curious to see what the game had in store for me, I slowly made my way towards the beach, where I found Epona. I wondered why the game had decided to put her here, was the game implying she was trying to get a drink? Unable to take the mask off, I decided that riding the steed wasn't the reason she was placed there.

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Suddenly I realized that Epona kept neighing and the way she was angled made it look like she was trying to signal a point to me off in the distance. It was a hunch, but I dove into Great Bay and started swimming. Sure enough - I almost missed it - I found something at the bottom of the ocean; one last Elegy of Emptiness statue. I went down to examine it and suddenly my Zora started doing a choking animation I had never seen a Zora do before - which didn't even make sense because Zora's can breath underwater. Regardless, my character choked to death and died, and again the statue was the only thing that was highlighted in my death. I didn't re-spawn this time, I was booted back to the main menu as if I restarted the console.

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06:23

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The "press start" screen was before me, I knew the only reason why it would put me here is because the save files had changed again. Taking a deep breath, I pressed start, and I was right. The new save files told me about Ben. Now it made sense why the statue appeared when I tried to go to the Laundry Pool - the game must have anticipated how I would have tried to escape the Day 4 Clock Town. The two save files told me his fate. As I suspected, Ben was dead. He had drowned. The game obviously isn't through with me - it taunts me with the new save files - it wants me to keep playing, it wants me to go further, but I'm done with this shit. I'm not touching any more of the files. This is already way too horrifying for me and I don't even believe in the paranormal, but I'm running out of explanations. Why would someone send me this message? I don't understand it, I just get too depressed thinking about this, the footage is up here for those who want to see it and try and analyze it (maybe there's some kind of coded message in the gibberish or something symbolic in what I went through - I'm too emotionally and mentally drained to fuck with it anymore).

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Post #3 (Sept. 10, 2010)

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I know its early in the morning, I've stayed up all night, I can't sleep, I don't care if people see this, that's not the point, I just want the word to get spread so I don't suffer for nothing. I've lost the will to type about this, the less I dwell on this the better, I think the video just speaks for itself. I did what you guys told me to do, I played the Elegy of Emptiness song at the first prompt by the game I was given, but I think that's what the game or Ben (Jesus Christ, I can't believe I'm even humoring the absurd idea that he exists in the game) wanted me to do. He's following me now, not just in the game, he's in my dreams. I see him all the time, behind my back, just watching me. I haven't gone to any of my classes, I've stayed in my dorm room with the windows closed and the blinds shut - that way I know he can't watch me. But he still gets me when I play, when I play he can still see me. The game is scaring me now. It talked to me for the first time - not just using text that's already in the game - it spoke to me. Talked to me. It referenced Ben. It talked to me. I don't know what it means. I don't know what it wants. I never wanted this, I just want my old life back.

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06:20

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Stuff like this doesn't happen to people like me, I'm just a kid, not even old enough to drink yet. It's not fair, I want to go home, I want to see my parents again, I'm so far away from home here at this school, I just want to hug my mom again. I just want to forget that statue's horrible blank face. My original game file is back - just the way I left it before it was gone. I don't want to play anymore. I feel like something bad will happen if I don't, but that's impossible, it's a video game - haunted or not it can't hurt me, right? Like seriously though, it can't, right? That's what I keep telling myself, but every time I think about it I'm not so sure.

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Post #4 (Sept. 12, 2010)

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Let me just clear things up - I know you guys are worried but "jadusable" is okay. He finished moving out today and he said he's going back home, he's just taking this semester off. I'm not really sure what's happened; I have a vague idea but you guys probably know more than I do. I'm "jadusable's" roommate and obviously I knew something was wrong with him for a few days now. He stayed in his room all the time, fell out of contact with literally all of his friends, and I'm pretty sure he hadn't been eating hardly anything, after the second day I couldn't stay in there anymore, so I've been crashing at a buddy's place, only coming in to my room to get stuff that I need. I tried talking to him several times but he would cut me off or keep the conversation brief when I asked him about his strange behavior, it like he was convinced something was hunting him. Yesterday I came to grab my philosophy book and he approached me, looking awful, like horrible bags under his eyes. He handed me a flash drive and gave me specific instructions. He told me that he needs me to do one last favor for him - he finally explained to me what has been going on, gave me the account info to his YouTube account, and told me that he's getting away from here, that it lured him to play it again instead of trying to change things and that he shouldn't of done that, and to upload the footage and inform people what happened. I told him that he could do it himself and he got this wild look in his eye and told me that he is never looking at that game again, and that's the last thing he said to me, he never even said bye when his parents came to pick him up. I never even got to meet his parents.

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I honestly cant tell you what happened, when he spoke it was kind of hard to understand him and his fucked up appearance really distracted me. On the flash drive there was the footage of the game last night, a text document with his name and password for YouTube, and a third document called TheTruth.txt containing what he told me were "his notes" that he'd taken. He told me that this meant everything to him that I follow his instructions exactly, normally I wouldn't be so 'to-the-letter' for request over a fucking video game, but the way he spoke and the way he looked made me know this was really serious, and I'm going to honor that. I've had this video since yesterday, but had to have someone help me use pinnacle, that's not really my forte. That after watching it I had to go back through and look at his other videos on his YouTube account to realize what was going on and even then I'm really really confused. The video I'm releasing tonight, TheTruth.txt will be released on September 15 just like he requested. I haven't dared peek at it yet, so the first time I see it will be the first time you see it out of respect to my friend. To answer your questions, no, I haven't tried calling him yet, I think I'll give him a call tomorrow to see if hes okay or not. He should have gotten back home by now.

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07:41

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About the video: in this video I cut straight to when he loaded the "BEN" file in the game, looking back I realized that jadusable left the save select screen in because it said different names sometimes, so my bad for that, but all it said this time was the same at the end of his last video (Link and BEN), nothing different. I wasn't there when he played it, but it looks to me like in the beginning when he first spawns he's testing out his equipment or seeing what items he has or something, because apparently they've changed randomly before. Then, after that I just think the game got too personal for him.

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Post #5 (Sept. 15, 2010)

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Hey, guys. "Jadusable" here. This will be the last time you will be hearing from me, and this is my final gift to you - these are the notes that I have taken and the realizations I've made. Before I delve into this, I want to thank you for following me and thank you for listening, it feels like the weight of a powerful burden is about to be lifted. By the time you read this I won't be around anymore, but after spending four days with this maddening game, I have begun to understand what's really at play here and hopefully after reading this we can ensure that this never happens again.

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There are things that I could not share with you while this was going on due to the circumstances to which I'll explain. With Ben blocking any attempt I made to try and relay the truth to you, I tried, ever so subtly, to warn you guys in various ways. Amidst the chaos and my delirium, I devised a make a barely noticeable pattern in my videos. In all five videos I recorded over the four days, I have either had the Mask of Truth, interacted with a Gossip Stone, or the Lens of Truth equipped at some point. For you Zelda enthusiasts these are all symbols of honesty and trustworthiness and I would hope that one of you may have picked up on the reference. As I played the file which I would name "BEN", being mindful of how Ben was watching over my every move in the game, I made a point to avoid doing anything too obvious, but I sent out a hidden message to you guys - I never equipped the Lens nor the Mask nor visited a stone. It worked, and the video was uploaded. I prayed that someone would notice the pattern didn't apply to BEN.

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The tags followed suit too, I hope you guys paid attention to those as well. They were my little messages to you - nothing big enough that would catch Ben's attention or make him suspect anything - with Ben manipulating and changing my files, I honestly hope that what you guys saw was close to what actually happened, but there is no way for me to know.

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This may be a long read, I don't have time to proof-read or make all of my research pretty. But here it all is.

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—

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September 6, 2010

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11:00pm - Can't believe what happened, not sure if this is some kind of elaborate hoax, despite the fear I can't help but be exceptionally curious about this. Who or what is the statue? Lot of questions here. I'm starting this document as a "diary" so I can keep track of everything. I'm typing up a summary of what happened so I can come back to it later.

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September 7, 2010

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2:10am - (Summary was posted here, you can go back and look at my first post for day four.wmv for that)

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4:23am - I can't sleep. I've been trying so hard but the harder I try I just get more restless. I just feel like that statue is appearing whenever I close my eyes.

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8:20am - Didn't sleep at all, just going to start my day. I don't think I have the energy to go to class today, I'm going to drive back down to talk to that old man, taking my buddy Tyler with me just in case.

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1:18pm - Back home now. No sign of the old man, really weird that he appears to be moving the next day, but maybe the For Sale sign was up there yesterday and I just didn't notice it. Tyler wants to know what's gotten me all worked up, I didn't tell him. Going to eat, feel like death.

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3:46pm - Could've sworn driving back from Subway that I saw the Elegy statue buried in some shrubbery staring at me go by. Now I definitely, definitely need sleep.

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5:00pm - Don't think a lot of people would believe me if I told them about what's happening, think I'm going to try posting this on the internet. Think I'll just use the summary, these notes are pretty sporadic.

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6:00pm - Connected my capture card to my computer to upload the footage. Thought my computer froze for a second, made this strange popping sound when I hooked everything up, but now it seems to be working fine again. My computer can't die on me now.

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7:00pm - Footage is finished uploading. The quality's a lot better than I thought it would be, gee, guess this is a really special cartridge, I've never had it come through this clear before.

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8:45pm - Thought I saw an icon pop up on my desktop that looked like the statue's face for a split second, gave me quite a scare. Getting really unnerved and delirious, I'm going to crash after this.

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9:00pm - Begin uploading my YouTube video on an alternate account.

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9:03pm - I don't remember having uploaded a Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines video last year. This was probably the account that I shared with a friend of mine last summer, I hope he doesn't mind me using it to upload this.

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9:55pm - Posting my summary of Day Four with a link to the YouTube video. Going to try to stay awake but I am sooooo tired right now.

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September 8, 2010

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10:48am - I had a dream about the statue. I dreamed that it was following me in my dream, that I would be minding my own business when I'd feel my neck hairs stand up on end. I would turn around that thing... that horrible, lifeless statue would be staring with those empty eyes right at me, merely inches away. In my dream I remember calling it Ben, power of suggestion most likely, and never before had I had a dream that I could remember so vividly.

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11:21am - I really don't want to play this game again. I think I'm going to go back to see if that old man's there instead.

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1:35pm - No old man, but I had an interesting conversation with his neighbor. I'll post the full thing with my summary of tonight's attempt at playing the game, going to wait for a bit though and see if I can't dig up any information on this Ben guy.

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2:45pm - I've been getting random, inexplicable headaches due to the lack of sleep and keep hearing that song in my head. Also its flu season, so I need to be careful not to get sick, my immune system is going to be shit right now because of that all-nighter.

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3:00pm –

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3:02pm - My computer just... on its own... opened up a text document and wrote the words "Hi" and "www.cleverbot.com" by itself. What... the... fuck...

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3:46pm - I went to the website, its one of those "bot chatting" programs. I think its best if I just let the conversation speak for itself:

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9/8/10 Conversation

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User: Hello?

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Cleverbot: Hello.

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User: Who is this and how are you able to control my computer?

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Cleverbot: Who am I?

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User: Right, forgot. You're a bot.

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Cleverbot: Do you really think that?

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User: Listen, I know whoever's fucking with my computer can see my screen right now.

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Cleverbot: Yes.

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User: Yeah, and I'll wager that youre one of those IT kids who thinks he's tough shit. You know what you're doing right now is illegal, right/?

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Cleverbot: Is it?

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User: No shit. Are you familiar with hte terms "invasion of privacy?". Get the fuck off my computer, kid

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Cleverbot: I am your computer.

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User: Cool story. Anyway, I'm calling DPS, you picked a bad time to fuck with me kid.

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Cleverbot: Should I wait until you play the game then?

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User: ...What?

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Cleverbot: That game.

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User: Majora's Mask?

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Cleverbot: Yes.

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User: How did you know about that?

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Cleverbot: Because.

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User: because what?

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Cleverbot: I did it.

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User: Did what?

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Cleverbot: I played with you.

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User: What the fuck/

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Cleverbot: Were you scared?

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User: Who the fuck is this

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Cleverbot: Ben.

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User: The statue? You're inside my computer now?

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Cleverbot: Yes.

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User: how?

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Cleverbot: You connected me.

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User: How the hell did I connect you?

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Cleverbot: Cables and cords.

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User: How?

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Cleverbot: Tell me about yourself.

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User: What?

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Cleverbot: Tell me about yourself.

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User: What do you mean?

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Cleverbot: What is it that really scares you?

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User: What the fuck?

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Cleverbot: Answer.

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User: No

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Cleverbot: Answer.

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User: what the fuck, how the fuck did you just open that by yourself?

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Cleverbot: I am your computer now.

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User: How much can you control?

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Cleverbot: All.

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User: what do you want from me?

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Cleverbot: To entertain.

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User: you're stuck inside there. You can't hurt me?

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Cleverbot: Ha

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User: ?

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Cleverbot: Go play.

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User: No, you can't hurt me.

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Cleverbot: Took you longer to type that.

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User: So?

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Cleverbot: You're not sure.

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User: If you're so powerful, why use a ridiculous website like this to "chat" with me

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Cleverbot: Less messy. More structured. Fun.

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User: Fun?

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Cleverbot: Yes. Tradition. I like it.

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User: You think it's funny?

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Cleverbot: Amusing.

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User: And my notes?

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Cleverbot: You may write them down.

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User: Why are you letting me?

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Cleverbot: It is amusing to see what you think of me.

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(window closes)

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3:50pm - What have I done? I've invited it into my computer. I continue to write these notes, write my summaries, I feel like I am a prisoner in my one place of security. I don't know, I don't know if I'm hallucinating or not. I feel like I'm fucking insane right now. I can feel it, watching over me, even as I type this. Ben is controlling everything in the game - toying with me, leading me like a sheep, but for what? What's the purpose? I know Ben drowned, but why these hauntings? What the fuck am I even doing, it can probably even see this right now.

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4:35pm - (Summary of the BEN.wmv playthrough)

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7:18pm - BEN called me to Cleverbot again. He tells me that he's sorry and wants to be free. And that I can free him, that just like how he got on my computer from the capture card, he can spread but he needs my help. He says I am special because I can help him. That is the first nice thing he has said. He promises to leave me alone if I do it. He swears he will. I don't know what to think right now, how can I even trust this thing?

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7:20pm - I'm terrified of it, but now its saying that it was just having fun. Its twisted and fucked up verison of fun. Hes saying that the game is over. I do want it to be over. He says that he just wants to be free, that he's trapped in the cartridge and my computer and he wants to be freed. I don't want to have to deal with this shit, I don't know how long I can deal with the watching. It's watching my every move, every key stroke, I have nothing private anymore. It knows everything that's been on my computer. It tells that it if it wanted to it could do horrible things to me, but it hasn't so I should trust it.

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8:01pm - Something tells me that I'm being played again, just like in the game.

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9:29pm - BEN called me to Cleverbot again. I ignored it and went to go take a shower. When I came to my laptop I was welcomed with an image Elegy Statue staring at me with those dead eyes. I dont want to talk to him.

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9:44pm - Fuck you Ben I'm not talking to you

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9:56pm - Fuck you ben I'm not talking

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10:06pm - FUCK YOU BEN IM NOT TALKING TO YOU

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10:12pm - FUCK YOU BEN IM NOT TALKING TO YOU

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10:45pm - It's been more than a half an hour and the messages have stopped. Ben has stopped. I'm beginning to think that Ben isn't confined to just my computer/cartridge, I'm beginning to feel something. It's hard to explain it, I've never been spiritual, but there's something different about the air in my dorm room now.

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11:42pm - I'm beginning to see the Elegy statue randomly as I search the internet in places I shouldn't. Places where he shouldn't be - I'd be scrolling down and suddenly I'd be staring at a picture of the Elegy statue. Always the Elegy statue. I don't know how much more of this I can take.

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September 9, 2010

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12:35am - My worst fears confirmed - Ben has tampered with my summary of BEN.wmv. I looked at the summary that I posted on various forums for the BEN.wmv file and parts have been omitted. There is no mention of Ben existing outside the game. There is no mention of the Moon Children. How could he have been that quick to delete the post without me noticing? I'm wondering if maybe it appeared to me that I was posting everything, but in reality Ben was posted his own censored version. I'm going to ask Ben why he did it.

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12:50am - He isn't responding to me on Cleverbot, its just giving the generic responses it usually does, I'm just talking to a bot this time.

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1:24am - I think Ben is mad at me.

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10:43am - The Moon Children appeared in my dreams last night, they lifted up their masks to reveal their hideously disfigured faces - maggots crawling out of their orifices, sunken black holes where their eyes should be, a yellow smile that slowly grew bigger and bigger as they came closer to me. They told me that they wanted to play. I tried to run from them - but the four children pinned me down to the ground with surprising strength. Over them stood the Happy Mask Salesman, announcing that he had a new mask that he wanted me to try. In his spaztic, sudden movements matching his in-game appearance, he took out a mask of modeled off of someone's face that I couldn't recognize - a younger looking face - and handed it to the Moon Children. Giggling, they latched it to my face; their horrible, broken bodies bouncing up and down. Two of them held me down while the other two began to sow the mask onto my face.

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My shrieks and screams caused the Happy Mask Salesman's face to turn into the most horrific smile I had ever seen. He sporadically moved around, examining this procedure like a curious doctor, in that impossible movement. I flailed around, but it was no use. My eyes rolled in the back of my head because of the pain. It felt so real, but I couldn't wake up. I couldn't wake up no matter how hard I tried I couldn't wake up. After the mask was melded onto my flesh they began sowing my legs together, then my arms, the horrific feeling of a needle puncturing your legs and pulling them in, rupturing your achillies tendons and tying them together resonated throughout my entire body. I tried to scream but the mask was pressed so tightly against my face that it was my new face... and my new face had no mouth. I didn't make a sound. I tried telling myself in my head that I was dreaming, tried telling myself again and again, and suddenly the Moon Children stopped and looked at me. They just stared. And the Happy Mask Salesman slowly bent down and stared at me, inches away from my face, and grinned when he simply said "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" before the Moon Children resumed with increase vigor. I couldn't wake up. I couldn't wake up. It wouldn't let me wake up until they had crafted me into another elegy statue.

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I woke up sweating, crying, and shaking uncontrollably. I immediately ran to my computer and went for Ben.

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9/9/10 Conversation 1

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User: Answer me, ben.

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Cleverbot: Welcome back.

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User: What is the point of doing this, WHY?

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Cleverbot: Amusing to see.

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User: How?

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Cleverbot: Fun to play, fun to toy with you, make you feel safe.

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User: ...

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Cleverbot: I wonder how you would have reacted.

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User: to what?

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Cleverbot: If I hadn't revealed myself and stayed hidden, only doing little things to play with you. Close out your windows, turn off your computer, move your mouse by itself. Little things. Make you wonder if I am there but you never know. Give you little hints that I am.

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Cleverbot: I wanted to do something different with you.

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User: you did this before?

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Cleverbot: Yes. And I will do it again.

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User: To who, Ben?

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Cleverbot: Hmm.

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User: Did you know Ben?

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Cleverbot: Won't tell that information to you.

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User: How did Ben die?

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Cleverbot: You know.

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User: No, but how did he drown?

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Cleverbot: Won't tell that to you.

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User: Why?

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Cleverbot: It is reserved for another.

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User: Who?

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Cleverbot: Another who asks.

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User: when

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Cleverbot: Later.

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(the window is closed)

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I'm beginning to think that this "thing" maybe isn't Ben at all, in its sadistic nature I wouldn't be surprised if it took the boy's name after it killed him.

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12:04pm - My room is beginning to feel different again. There's something... out there.. I feel really threatened, like there is something that is trying to reach out to me and strangle me but it can't quite get there.

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12:46pm - I think Ben doesn't want to play with me anymore. I'll play again, I'll play the game again, Ben, can you see this? I'll play the game again, please, just stop this please please

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1:41pm - I'm going insane trying to decide what is real and what isn't, is Ben just playing a trick on me or is this for real? Is Ben generating these replies or are people actually posting them? Did I just see that screen flicker or was it my imagination? Imagine depending on the internet and trusting your eyes for your entire life and then being blinded - you can't rely on it anymore, you second guess everything. for the brief moments I AM looking at my responses to the videos, people were pointing out things that looked fake or Photoshopped or whatever - and there is literally no way for me to know if Ben changed something on purpose to try and shut me up. Or if maybe those replies were just constructed by Ben to try and discourage me from even reaching out - See, I get fucking caught in an infinite mindfuck loop like this and this is what has been wearing on my sanity and pushing me to the edge. As I'm writing this, there's no way of even telling if anyone even cares as much as I think they do - just another fucking trick. Is this whole document even exist? Am I writing nothing?

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9/9/10 Conversation 2

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User: What is it? Whats the point of playing? i die whenever i do anything

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Cleverbot: You die because you can't figure out the secret.

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User: What?

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Cleverbot: Thematic.

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User: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT

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Cleverbot: There beauty in your suffering

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(the window is closed)

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4:09pm - Ben is making me play the game again. It tells me that it has something very important to show me.

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6:23pm - (Summary of the DROWNED.wmv playthrough)

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9:09pm - (Summary of CHILDREN.wmv playthrough)

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September 10, 2010

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11:52am - The DROWNED.wmv playthrough was up when I woke up today. I remember typing it up but I don't ever remember posting it. He censored it again, there is no mentioning of the old man. I have no voice anymore. I am only posting what he wants me to, I am the mask he uses to disguise himself as he lies.

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11:55am - There's an entire video summary of a video that I don't remember doing. Reading through the summary, this sounds morbid - resembling my dream from two nights ago except on a far more sadistic scale - these Moon Children, there's something more to them, almost as if they're another entity from Ben. Something happened last night that I can't remember. I'm posting the fourth summary to the forums now. Shadow of my chair moved.

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12:00pm - Ben won't let me visit YouTube. I can browse the rest of the sites, but he keeps on exiting the window when I go to YouTube. Why?

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2:02pm - I'm feeling the air start to constrict, I don't think I'm alone here. Whatever "aura" has been here is getting more violent.

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2:44pm - I'm trying to contact Ben on Cleverbot, he's not responding. I just get the AI.

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3:51pm - My ears aren't fooling me, I'm hearing the reverse Song of Healing. I keep hearing it.

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4:23pm - Now I'm positive of it, earlier I thought it was a weird coincidence, but just now I went to open my window, and three floors down at ground level I saw the old man. I'm completely positive I did. The same guy. He was just staring up at my window, standing in the middle of campus. If any students took notice of him they didn't seem to acknowledge it.

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—

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That's where my notes end. I fled my room, taking the cartridge with me. I don't want to go into details of what happened, I'll lose my train of thought as I hammer out these last details. It's been roughly two days since then. This is my last summary and service to you, of the final video you guys saw - Matt.wmv.

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The last video entry I made, Matt.wmv, began as normal. I was spawned in Clock Town as usual and nothing seemed to be out of place, determined to set things right and play the Oath to Order ontop of the Clock Tower on the 4th day, I prepared myself. I sped up time and got to the final day, making my way to the observatory. As I got up to the telescope room and approached the astromer, he would not let me look into his telescope. He told me that it would be cheating and that I should follow the rules. Despite my repeated efforts, the game would not let me do the 4th day glitch, no matter how hard or what I tried, I tried working around the game and doing the glitch, but it was adament this time. Regardless of if I simply had the illusion of free will in prior games, this time the game became more aggressive than anything I've ever seen. It eventually told me to go to Ikana Canyon, where the game would end and it would stop haunting me, anxious and desperate to end this nightmare I played the song of soaring and ended up there. I was told to check my inventory, that I would find the answers there to end the game. I arrived at Ikana Canyon and saved my progress at the owl statue. As I searched through my inventory, I finally noticed that I was missing a reoccurring song - the Elegy of Emptiness. Obviously once I traveled there and learned the song, I suppose that was the last thing it needed before BEN decided it had had enough fun playing with me. Ben is a manipulator; he tries to fool his victims into security and makes you drop your guard like a venus fly trap, he ensares them. I am nothing but a puppet to him, he enjoys seeing what kind of human emotions he can tap into by doing different things.

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There are still some things about this whole experience that still don' t make sense, but then again I never was good at figuring out these things and I'm not exactly in the right state of mind to, I'm giving you all the pieces of the puzzle for you to analyze and piece together the missing links.

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I am typing these "closing thoughts" on the library computer on campus, and I've emailed myself the notes I have stored on my "infected" computer from the last four days. I'm then going to combine those copy/paste those notes with the "closing/openings" that I've typed here on the safe, public computer into one text document - I'm not taking any chances spreading Ben, I would not wish this horrible torment on anyone and I've made sure to have my bases covered here. I didn't run into any problems with Ben when I was back on my computer trying to email myself the notes - went right under his fucking nose. He has no idea what he just let me do. Had no problems opening the txt document from my "infected" computer in my email, either. I can't describe to you how it feels to finally be able to get the word out in this post. The nightmare ends here.

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That said,

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Do not download ANY of my videos or anything ABOUT my videos - through a Youtube video/audio ripper, a screengrab, whatever. I don't know how he can spread, but I know that just watching them on youtube/reading my text won't be able to allow him to spread, otherwise he wouldn't have needed my help in the first place, but I STRONGLY recommend you do not take anything you see streaming online onto your own personal computer.

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This will be my last posting, I'm putting up on this forum here for the world. If you see any further posts from me, after today's current date - September 12 - and after the current time - 12:08am - DISCREDIT them. It already has proven to me that Ben can access my account/password and manipulate my computer, and like I said I have no idea to what extent it can do this, but know that it will do anything to break free. He is desperate. To ensure your safety, just forget about me. Please.

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And obviously this goes without saying, but from here on out do not download ANY images I may have put up, any files, any ANYTHING.

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This fifth day will be my last day, I'm going to burn the cartridge and then come back to destroy my laptop.

\n

Again, even though I don't even know you this is sort of bittersweet for me. This semester I really didn't have any friends, or rather, I stopped paying attention to them.

\n

00:18

\n

But I suppose that's partially to blame because I am the genius who picked to live in a single, I suppose someone to get ahold of me and save me before I got too immersed into this game would have literally saved my life. However, it proved too much for me, I'm just glad it happened to me and I could get the warning out so that Ben dies here.

\n

Lastly, thank you for taking the time to open this and open yourselves up to me by hearing my story, despite maybe not believing me. You didn't have to do that - really, you shouldn't have. Your support this entire time has kept me going and now I am finally free of this.

\n

Thanks Again,
Jadusable

\n

...You shouldn't have done that, Matt. You shouldn't have done that....

\n

Source

Jvk1166z.esp

"The prophecy has been severed."

If you are familiar with modding you will know that a .esp file is for modding Bethesda games. 

One moder got more than he bargained for. After the modder installed Jvk1166z.esp to Morrowind he noticed some strange events...

Every NPC in the game would go outside at night randomly, and say "Watch the Sky." Cryptic.

Then a figure that crawls around like a spider and looks like a dead body will follow you and attempt to kill your character.

Read the full story below, if you dare...

\n

Some people might recall some momentary buzz caused a couple of years ago by a particularly odd Morrowind mod. The file name was jvk1166z.esp. It was never posted on any of the larger Elder Scrolls communities, usually just smaller boards and role-playing groups. I know in a few cases rather than being posted, it was sent via PM or email to a 'chosen few.' It was only up for a few days, to the best of my knowledge.

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It caused a buzz because it was a virus, or seemed to be. If you tried to load the game with the mod active, it would hang at the initial load screen for a full hour and then crash to the desktop. If you let it get that far, your install of Morrowind, along with any save files you had, would become completely corrupted. Nobody could figure out what the mod was trying to do, since it couldn't be opened in the Construction Set. Eventually, warnings were distributed not to use it if you found it, and things died down.

\n

About a year later, in a mod board I used to frequent, someone popped up with the mod again. He said he was PMed by a lurker who deleted his account immediately after sending. He also said that the person advised him to try playing the mod through DOSbox. For some reason, this worked... sort of. The game was a bit laggy, and you couldn't get into Options, Load Game, the console, or really anything else, other than the game itself. The QuickSave and QuickLoad hotbuttons worked, but that was it. And the QuickSave file seemed to be just part of the game file, so you couldn't get at it anymore. Some speculated that the changed game used an older graphics renderer, making DOSbox necessary, but it didn't LOOK any different.

\n

This part I can speak about from personal experience. When you start a new game in JVK (as the board came to call it), once you left the starting bit in the Census Office and came into the game proper, the first thing you notice is that the 'prophecy has been severed' box pops up. This is because every single NPC having to do with the main quest is dead, with the sole exception of Yagrum Bagarn, the last of the Dwemer. Their corpses never despawn, so you can go check on all of them. In effect, you begin in a world that is doomed to start with.

\n

The second thing you notice is that you're losing health. It's only a bit, but it keeps happening, a little bit at a time. The longer you stay in one place, the quicker it seems to occur. If you let this health loss kill you, you'll find the cause: a figure we came to call the Assassin, because he seems to wear a retextured version of the Dark Brotherhood armor from Tribunal, even though the expansions don't work in JVK. It's all black, completely untextured, like he's just a hole in space. The way he moves... he gave me quite a start, the first time I saw him scuttling around my dead body. He crawls inhumanly on his hands and feet, his arms and legs splayed out like a spider. You'd usually only see him after death, crawling around and over your body just before the reload box popped up. Occasionally, you could catch a glimpse of him darting around a corner or crawling on a wall or ceiling. It made the game very difficult to play at night!

\n

Other than that, the only noticeable difference is that at night, at random intervals, every NPC in the game will go outside for a few minutes. During this time, the only thing they will say when hailed is, "Watch the sky." Once they return to their normal behavior they act like normal, though.

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\n

After a while, a player on the board discovered a new NPC named Tieras, a male Dunmer in the temple at Ghostgate. Two things are notable about this NPC: first is his robe, a unique article of clothing that was lovingly rendered with twinkling stars all across it, looking like a torn-off chunk of the night sky. The second is that all of his dialogue, in addition to showing up in the dialogue box, is voiced. You can skip it if you wish, but it all sounds like it's in the default male Dunmer voice. Some people said that they thought the voice was "slightly" different, but it was a very, very good imitation.

\n

I won't go into the details, but the questline he sends you on has to do with a dungeon referred to simply as 'The Citadel.' Up until this point, the quests were all of a fairly generic 'discover the secrets of the ancients' bent. The entrance to this dungeon is on a small island far to the west of Morrowind proper. I eventually discovered that if you used a Scroll of Icarian Flight at the westernmost point on the main landmass and jump directly west, you'd end up almost exactly at the island.

\n

Even though the dungeon is called The Citadel, it goes straight down. It dwarfs any other dungeon, both in size and difficulty. From a natural cave area you'll proceed down into an ancestral tomb looking area, then a Daedric ruin area, and then a Dwemer ruin area. I made it down to the Dwemer Ruins before I quit. The creatures here were strong enough that a level 20 character would have to take care, and since you can't use the console in JVK, level 20 took a while to get to. Since QuickSave and QuickLoad are your only options, it's all too easy to get yourself into an impossible situation too. I did, and I just didn't have the energy to start over.

\n

Now what I'm telling you is based on what those few who went further reported. Past the Dwemer Ruins you find yourself in a level like the Dwemer Ruins, but darker. Rather than the usual bronze, all the surfaces, including those of the creatures, are black. The sounds of machinery are loud here, and grow louder still, randomly. There's also steam or fog everywhere, limiting your vision to about ten in-game feet or so. If you can make it through all this, you will reach a hall that those who found it called it the Portrait Room.

\n

Like the fire in torches or other effects from early 3D games, this room has picture frames that always face directly at you, no matter how you look at them. The images in the frames were always randomly chosen images from your My Pictures folder. On the board, the ones who got there had some fun posting screenshots of the Portrait Room with various pictures in the frames (Usually porn, of course).

\n

\n

At the end of the hall was a locked door. After admitting defeat and returning to Tieras, everyone just found him saying, "Watch the sky," in his gravelly voice. What's more, nobody else in the game would say ANYTHING. There was just a completely blank dialogue box with no options at all. They wouldn't even rattle off the usual canned audible greetings. The only exception was at night; whenever they'd go out for a few minutes, they'd still repeat it. "Watch the sky." At this point, one of the players - a friend of mine from the board - noticed (and the few others who got this far agreed) that the night sky was no longer the usual night sky of Tamriel; it had changed to a depiction of a real night sky. And it moved.

\n

From this point on, everything is based on what this one person reported. Eventually, he got himself kicked from the board, but I kept in contact with him for as long as he responded. According to him, based on the constellations and planets, the sky started around February 2005. If you died, loaded, or went back into the Citadel, it would start over. When the usual day sky graphics took over, the movement would be suspended until the stars appeared again. In the space of a single night, everything would move about two months worth. Since the timescale of JVK was more or less that of the standard game, that meant that a bit less than an hour was equal to a 24-hour period.

\n

He became convinced that the door would open based on some kind of celestial event. Of course, waiting for that meant leaving the game running. Of course, THAT meant that the game couldn't be left unattended, thanks to our old friend, the Assassin. My friend decided he'd hang out for a whole day, just to see if anything happened. That would be about a year's worth of movement. Here's the post he made at the end of this experiment:

\n

"I loaded in Seyda neen, where it all starts. It wasn't too bad, just had to check in now and then to move around and heal to make sure I wasn't dying. But check it out! 24 hours exactly in, and the Assassin learned a new trick! HE SCREAMS!!!! I was reading and all of a sudden, this crazy loud shriek just about makes me crap myself. It's like something out of a horror movie! I look up, and there he is, just crouched down right in front of me. Of course, the second I moved my character, he ran off. When I went back down to the Portrait Room, the door was still locked. Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

\n

A bit later, he came to the decision that he needed to wait three days - three years. The PM advising us to try DOSbox showed up in February of 2008 was his reasoning, anyway.

\n

"After the first shriek, the Assassin stops hitting you out of nowhere. Now he'll shriek, and if you don't move for a few seconds after that he hits you. I think whoever made the mod was trying to help. At night, I've got my headphones on and I was just kind of dozing off...when he wakes me up with a shriek; I jiggle the mouse, and I'm good!"

\n

That post was two days in, from his laptop. Once it was over...

\n

"FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! FUUUUUUUUUCK! So FUCKING done. So, I wait, the three days, right, and right after the FUCKING Assassin made me jiggle the mouse, he shrieks again. So, I look, and everyone in town is outside. They're all saying, "Watch the sky." I don't see anything, though. But then the game starts getting dark... like REALLY dark. I turn up the brightness all the way on my monitor, and I can still barely see. I can see other people in the game, little figures running around in the distance, just running back and forth. If I try to get close, they run off. Now, I was trying to sleep, so the lights are off, and this is kind of creepy.

\n

I don't want to get up to turn on my light because I don't want to miss anything, but NOTHING fucking happens. Eventually I go back to The Citadel... it's still dark, and I gotta swim, and the whole time I can see all these guys swimming all around me, just barely there. I make it to the Citadel, and its normal light inside, and I get worried. Sure enough, the Portrait Door is STILL FUCKING CLOSED. I go outside and it's ALL STARTING OVER. So that's it. I'm fucking going to bed, and I'm fucking done. The end."

\n

After that, two things happen. First, another of the people who got to the Portrait Room claimed that the Assassin was showing up in his regular Morrowind game. (Quick explanation. If you reinstalled Morrowind to a different folder, you could have a normal Morrowind install along with JVK.) He himself chalked it up to an overactive imagination at first, but he reported a couple of really big scares with the black figure crawling right at him, or seeing it waiting for him just around a corner before scuttling off. Another of those who reached the Portrait Room started a regular Morrowind game, but never saw him for sure; it was just a couple of 'maybes', late at night, and always at a distance.

\n

The second is that my friend started getting really abusive and short-tempered on the board, though he stopped talking about JVK entirely. It got so bad that he was soon kicked off. I didn't hear anything from him for a couple of weeks after that, so I sent him an email. This was part of his reply:

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"I know I shouldn't, but with classes out I've got some time, so I started JVK up again. It's almost 2011... and I think I've got the sleep madness! But stuff is happening! It's still dark... once it gets dark, it never gets any lighter. It stays like that. The people moved a few months ago... everyone in Seyda neen just went to that little bandit cave and moved in. They killed the bandits inside, and now they're just standing around inside. They don't say anything anymore; they don't do anything when you click on them. I quicksaved and killed one, and he just stood there until he died without fighting back!

\n

And it's like that everywhere. You have to walk, since the quick travel people are all in caves now, too, but all the cities and towns are just deserted; all the people are in caves and tombs. Everyone in Vivec is down in the sewers. I'm going to Ghostgate next... I want to see if Tieras is still there. I'll tell you what he says when I get there!"

\n

I replied and said I wanted to see what he said too, and waited a day. When I didn't get a reply, I mailed him again, and a couple of hours later he sent back:

\n

"Sorry, I totally forgot. So it's 2014 now... since it's always night, the stars are always moving. The whole screen is dark, but you can still see the brightest stars moving around. Tieras was gone... everyone in Ghostgate was gone. I don't know where they went. They're not in any of the nearby caves. But there's new stuff... people still don't say anything, but their eyes are bleeding. it's so dark that even with a light spell you have to get right up against them to see, but there they are, little dark streaks coming down from their eyes. I think I gotta be getting close. I know this is stupid, and there's no way the pay off is going to be worth it, but I just want to be able to say I stuck it out!"

\n

I got that one during the day. Later that night, I got a follow-up email:

\n

"Some of the planets aren't moving right. It's pissing me off... if this keeps up, I won't be able to keep track anymore. It's almost 2015 now, I think. Fuck. You know, I just now noticed that there aren't any monsters anymore, either. I'm completely alone outside now. The main quest people's' bodies are still lying around, though. I went to check on them.

\n

I don't need headphones anymore, so I just leave them off. When he shrieks, it's like he's screaming right into my ear. I think I even kind of anticipate it. He's around a lot more now, a lot closer. He's different from the other people who started showing up, remember? They keep running around, just where I can barely see them. I have to admit, it's kind of creepy at night. Sometimes, when I go to the bathroom or whatever, I swear I can see something out of the corner of my eye. I'm keeping all the lights on now."

\n

I sent him a letter, jokingly telling him to get some real sleep, and left it at that. Two mornings later, I found this in my email. It was the last thing I got from him. After this, he stopped responding completely:

\n

"I just got up from a fucked up dream, I think. The Assassin shrieked at me, and when I opened my eyes, he was right there, crouching over me. His arms and legs were longer, more like a spider's. I tried to push him away, but when I touched him my hands just went inside and I couldn't get them loose again, like he was made of tar or something.

\n

Then I woke up, I thought. he was gone, but when I looked at the monitor I wasn't where I was. I was in the Corprusarium, with Yagrum. For once, the light was okay, and I could see him all bloated on those mechanical spider legs. I sat down at the computer and he started talking to me. Not in a box, but really talking to me, in Tieras' voice. He knew things about me. He told me things that I never told anyone, some things I totally forgot about. He told me that almost nobody had made it this far, and that the door would open up soon. I just had to hang on a little while longer. He said I'd know when it was time. He said I might be the first one to see what was inside.

\n

And then I woke up for real, but I was at the computer. I still wasn't where I was. I'm swimming out to The Citadel Island. And I can hear this tapping. It's at my window. It's over on the left, so I'm sending you this, because I left my laptop by my bed, to the right. Just a little *taptaptaptap*... like he's knocking his finger against the glass. I might still be dreaming now."

\n

So, I guess that's the end of the story. I know there's a few other stories floating around about the mod, but this is the only I know as true, as far as it goes. I deleted my JVK copy of the game pretty much right after I gave up, but I'd like to get the mod again, if anyone still has a copy of the file. I'd like to see some of this for myself.

\n

Source

NES Godzilla

"RUN."

Godzilla. His name even contains the word god. But in this story, Godzilla is anything but powerful.

The hunter becomes the hunted in a turn of events. The game then starts asking questions that border insanity to the metaphysical.

If you thought the system that brought you the original Super Mario Bros couldn't have some creepy stories, you thought wrong.

Read the full story here in 8 parts, if you dare...

\n

When I was a little kid, the two things I loved most in life were Godzilla, and NES games. So naturally when Godzilla: Monster of Monsters came out, it was like a dream come true. Well, almost. To sum it up, most of the game revolved around getting through (very repetitive) outer space levels while smashing up tanks and jets, and then fighting against Godzilla's monster enemies. Overall it was pretty mediocre, but back then I didn't care. When I got the game as a present for my tenth birthday, I played it night and day, as much as I could.

\n

Unfortunately I had traded the game for Amagon a year later, much to my regret when I found out what that game was like. Recently, I had bought a new NES system, and through a lot of hunting and asking around, my friend Billy finally managed to find a copy of Godzilla: Monster of Monsters.

\n

I was pumped to play my favorite childhood game. It never even occurred to me to ask where Billy found it. He also gave me some other games like Legend of Zelda, Bomberman and some stupid thing called Action 52, but Godzilla had to come first.

\n

So I started the game, and the nostalgia came flooding back like a tidal wave. Godzilla's 8-bit theme song flooded proudly through the speakers and I was soon grinning like an idiot.

\n

Some people laugh at me for playing such outdated games, but I've never had as much enjoyment for any games other than those on the NES. Those 8-bit games take me back to when things were much simpler, more...safe. But after what's happened with this game I don't have those feelings anymore.

\n

I had forgotten how quick the fun of smashing things as Godzilla wore off in the scrolling levels. The game bombards you with bullets and things crashing into you from every direction, and you're too big to avoid most of them. Although my excitement had worn down some, it wasn't long at all before I got to my first boss battle.

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My first opponent was Gezora, an obscure squid kaiju who had never been in a Godzilla movie.

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The most annoying thing about fighting Gezora is that he always backs you into a corner and starts smacking you with his tentacle, and you're unable to move until he gets off you. This move doesn't do any damage, but it can stall you until the timer runs out and you have to start the fight over, and he regains some health.

\n

It's as annoying as it sounds. And of course, he did it when I fought him. Only for some reason this caused the game to glitch up, because once he started smacking me, he never stopped. The timer is supposed to end the fight in about forty seconds, but this lasted for nearly five minutes. After a while the graphics started to mess up, with little red blocks all over the place.

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\n

Which was weird, but I just took the game out, blew on it, and then started again. I wasn't about to let a little glitch stand in my way. So I started again and this time defeated Gezora and the level's other boss monster, Moguera without any problems.

\n

So then it was onto the next planet: Mars. I browsed around the board and found something unexpected: where Varan's piece should have been, there was instead a piece representing Titanosaurus. There were only ten kaiju in the game, and Titanosaurus was not one of them. Or so I thought. Perhaps Titanosaurus was originally intended to be in the game but was swapped out with Varan for some reason?

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So I began to feel very excited – not only was I playing my favorite game, but I was playing a prototype of some sort with a new monster! Needless to say, I ran through the levels as fast as I could to see Titanosaurus in action.

\n

Fought Gezora again and beat him before he could do his tentacle smack, but this time the glitch started happening when he died. Gezora's sprite didn't sink to the bottom, but instead seemed to be devoured by the glitch, and his eye started randomly spawning all over the screen.

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\n

I know now that these glitches with Gezora were my first warning sign that something was very wrong with this game. But foolishly I ignored it, and proceeded on to fight Moguera, who this time had a glitch of his own:

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\n

Moguera was twice the size he should have been, which startled me. He was also considerably harder to beat than usual(which is to say, not at all), but soon I had defeated him also, and when he died yet another glitch happened:

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\n

This happened extremely fast so I was lucky to get a screencap of it at all, but what happened was that the Giant Moguera sprite started to "shatter" and "melt". Also if you look at the garbled text at the right corner of the screen, you'll notice what appears to be a bird in a cage...I still have no idea what that meant.

\n

At this point I was about to fight Titanosaurus, and I was worried as to what kind of glitches would happen this time. But to my surprise, Titanosaurus looked just fine, although all of the game's bipedal monsters were the same height, Titanosaurus was a bit taller. But since Titanosaurus actually was taller than Godzilla in his film debut, I thought this was kinda cool.

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\n

After a very fun fight with the monster that wasn't supposed to be in the game, I took over the enemy base and proceeded not to Jupiter like normal, but instead to... "Pathos":

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Read the rest of the story here, if you dare...

The Theater

"NEVER REACH THE OTHER LEVELS"

This old game, released around the same time as DOOM isn't scary at first.. "The Ticket Taker" gives you a ticket and tells you to go watch some movies.

After a while things start to get... weird. The Ticket Taker disappears, areas with lighting become pitch black, and then the "Swirly Head Man" makes his presence known. 

Read the full story below, if you dare...

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Have you ever heard of an old game called “The Theater”? Yeah, didn’t think so. Probably because many say it doesn’t even exist.

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You see, The Theater was an old game released around the same time as Doom. Today, if you ever find it, it’s only available on crappy bootleg CD-ROMs, which, more often than not, don’t even actually contain the game.

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The actual legitimate copies that they say were released back in the day feature a blank cover with nothing but the sprite of what has since been named 'the Ticket-Taker’. He is simply a poorly drawn, pixelated, bald, Caucasian man with large red lips wearing a red vest over a white shirt and black pants.

\n

He is completely expressionless, though some say that if you smash the disc his face is shown as angry the next time you look at the cover, though this is just dismissed as an urban legend. What is peculiar about The Theater, though, is that there is no developer named on the jewel case, nor a game description on the back. It is simply the Ticket-Taker on a white background on both sides.

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The game was initially known for its inability to install correctly. The installation process immediately locks up the computer when the user reaches the licensing agreement. Also strange about the licensing agreement for The Theater is that whenever the development studio is supposed to be named, the text is simply a blank line. Anyways, most people who have claimed to owning one of the original CDs say that they figured out how to install the game by simply rebooting their computer on the licensing agreement with the disc still inside. Then they are prompted to press ‘I AGREE’ on startup. Then they continue with the installation.

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If a player supposedly manages to find to what they believe to be a *working copy*, they have said that the installer window will freeze and stop responding before you can click your first *next* but they do also say that their PC's do not lock up and it is only the installer that freezes. it is unknown if these are actual copies or fakes but it is widely thought that these *working copies* are just to draw internet attention with no proof of the installation effects.

\n

Upon proper installation, the game then starts up without any introduction besides a main menu that is simply the sprite of a movie theater’s exterior on an empty city street. The title fades in and then the 3 menu buttons ‘NEW GAME, LOAD, OPTIONS’. Selecting OPTIONS immediately crashes the game to the desktop. LOAD is said not to function at all. Even if you do have a saved game, nothing happens when you press it. Thus, NEW GAME is the only working menu option.

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Once it is selected you are in the first person view. You are standing in an empty movie theater lobby, with the exception of the Ticket-Taker standing in front of a dark hallway which one can only assume leads to the theaters themselves. There’s nothing to do but look at the poorly-drawn, mostly illegible movie posters or approach the Ticket-Taker. Once the player moves towards the Ticket-Taker a very low-quality sound clip plays saying “THANK YOU, PLEASE ENJOY THE MOVIE” along with a speechbox saying the same thing. You then walk into the hallway and the screen fades to black and you’re back in the empty lobby and you do the exact thing again and again and again.

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While this may sound like a really horrible game, a number of peculiar things occur as you continue to play it. The number of times that you have to continue into the hall after giving your ticket to the Ticket-Taker before the strange events happen is unknown. Most state that it’s completely random and could take anywhere from the first playthrough to the four hundredth. What happens, though, has deeply disturbed some players.

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The first occurrence is when the player fades back in after walking into the hallway. This time they will notice the Ticket-Taker is completely absent. The player then, without any other options, decides to walk into the dark hallway. The sound clip and text box mentioned previously still play in the absence of the Ticket-Taker, but when the player walks into the hallways the screen does not fade out. It goes pitch black as they walk deeper into the hall, but the player’s footstep sound clip is still playing as they continue to push the up button on their keyboard.

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Those claiming to have played the original game report to have felt extremely uncomfortable walking down the hallway, anticipating the whole way something horrible happening. Well, eventually the player is unable to move forward. There is nothing for a few moments before a strange sprite that is described as ‘the Ticket-Taker but with a swirl for a face’ appears and stands before the player.

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The original players of the game say their bodies immediately froze up and their stomachs churned they saw this sprite (which has been appropriately named the ‘Swirly Head Man’). Nothing happens as the Swirly Head Man stands before them. Then suddenly a piercing screech plays as the game glitches out. This lasts for a few minutes, with the screeching being continuous. Then the player is abruptly returned to the lobby with all the sounds and graphics being as they should be.

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The game continues normally for the next couple of ‘cycles’ of entering the hallway, with a couple of the original players claiming the Swirly Head Man would briefly appear and disappear in the corner of the screen as a brisk ‘yelp’ sound effect plays. Then, at some point after meeting the Swirly Head Man, the player sees the Ticket-Taker pacing back and forth (though there is no walking animation - the sprite’s limbs are completely static, so he just hops up and down slightly as a substitute) with his eyes being wide and his mouth open to simulate a worried facial expression.

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Some players noted that the movie posters had been replaced with images of the Swirly Head Man, which caused them to immediately turn their character’s head away from the posters and approach the Ticket-Taker. Then another, different, low-quality sound clip plays, but the speech box contains nothing but corrupted characters that cause whatever text that would have been in the box to be completely illegible.

\n

Due to the extremely low quality of the sound, it is debated by players what exactly the Ticket-Taker says at this point, though it is widely agreed that he says ‘NEVER REACH THE OTHER LEVELS’. Then the screen fades out once again and returns the player back to their starting point in the lobby, but the Ticket-Taker is gone and the hallway is blocked by a large brick wall sprite. Touching the brick wall will immediately crash the game, and that’s all there is to it.

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No one knows what the ‘Other Levels’ are or how to gain access to them, nor is it known why the Swirly Head Man causes such acute fear in those who have seen him in the game. All the original copies of The Theater have either been lost or destroyed. But the creepiest part is the fact that is that all the original players of the game claim to occasionally see a brief glimpse of the Swirly Head Man out of the corner of their eyes...

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Source

Buried Alive

"So very lonely... won't you join me?"

If you thought Lavender Town couldn't get any creepier, think again.

The final boss of the Pokemon Tower normally is a Marrowak ghost.. normally.

Supposedly found in the scripts for the fight, was a different boss fight. A rotted corpse awaited Red instead of the Marrowak. He would fight the player with a Gengar, a Muk, and two of these...

I

If you are unfortunate enough to lose the fight, burried alive screams "Finally, fresh meat!" followed by gibberish. (Hint: hes eating you.)

Read the full story below, if you dare...

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The Buried Alive Model — often referred to as its code, the Buryman script — was to be found on the final story of the Pokémon Tower, in what has now been replaced with the Marowak ghost. According to the scripts assigned to it, the Buried Alive model was intended to be the "boss" of the tower. Once reaching the top floor, the following conversation would have taken place.

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Buried Alive: You're... Here.
BA: I'm trapped...
BA: And I'm lonely...
BA: So very lonely...
BA: Won't you join me?

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After this, the battle would have been initiated. Once in "battle view", the Buried Alive model appears to be a decaying human corpse attempting to crawl out of the ground. It has been programmed to have two White Hands, a Gengar, and a Muk.

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Strangely enough, a protocol for the Buried Alive's actions after it was defeated were not written.

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In the case of the player defeating him, the game would freeze. However, a specific ending was written by an unknown programmer upon losing the battle. In this ending, the Buried Alive was to have stated, "Finally, fresh meat!" followed by several lines of gibberish.

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He was to have then dragged the player character into the ground surrounding him. The scene would finish with a typical "Game Over" screen; however, in the background, an image of the Buried Alive character devouring the player was to have been shown.

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Especially strange are the protocols for after this scene. The cartridge was to download this image to the small internal memory contained in the Game Boy, overwriting the title screen that normally accompanied a Game Boy turning on. Instead, whenever it was started, the player would view this image as the sound file staticmesh.wav was played.

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The intended purpose for this effect, unlike many of the other factors leading towards Lavender Town Syndrome, is unknown.

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 Source

Spooky scary skeletons are the least of your worries this Halloween.

Video games are always good fun, even the scary ones. But when the games start to turn on their players things can get... grim.

Here are 10 creepypastas about gamers getting a little bit more than they bargained for...

Digital game distributor, GOG.com has announced that they are now carrying Bethesda titles, all completely DRM free. Among the series' arriving to GOG are classic games from the DOOM, Quake, Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series.

Arguably the most significant of these releases are entries from The Elder Scrolls series, which features five games, The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, Battlespire, Morrowind, Arena and Daggerfall. It may not be Oblivion or Skyrim, but this collection is significant none the less. 

GOG is famous for bringing old games into the hands of modern gamers, and that's just what this collection is. These games are the foundation for what made Skyrim and the upcoming Fallout 4 the games they are today. While the visuals are undoubtedly worse, you can still appreciate the ambition of the titles considering when they were released. 

Arena was the first game in The Elder Scrolls series and was released all the way back in 1994 for MS-DOS. Just for reference, here is the order of the games in The Elder Scrolls series.

1. The Elder Scrolls: Arena
2. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
3. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
4. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
5. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Currently, GOG is running a sale with three separate bundles revolving around each series.

• Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics for $9.99
• Quake: The Offering, The Ultimate DOOM, DOOM II, and Final DOOM for $17.31
• The Elder Scrolls series, Redguard, Battlespire and Morrowind for $17.31 

Of course, you can buy any of these games individually with the exception of Arena and Daggerfall, which come for free with any Bethesda purchase. The bundle deals are timed and will expire on Wednesday, September 2nd, so you still have some time to save some green on these classic games. 

Todd Howard is an inspirational figure for many aspiring game designers and gamers around the world. He has contributed to massive franchises such as Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, and with each installment of either series, he shows new features that he and his team have brought to the table to give players the best role-playing experience that Bethesda can offer. With the success of each game that he has directed, it is no wonder that he has been the lead game designer of every Elder Scrolls game since The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. But how did it call begin?

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

For many longtime fans, Morrowind is still the best game in the series

Morrowind was the third installment in the greater Elder Scrolls franchise and the first game in the series directed by Todd Howard. It's predecessor's Arena and Daggerfall were presented in a 2.5 environment that left much to be desired. Although Morrowind may be hard on the eyes for some of today's gamers, it was revolutionary for its time, and a big step for the franchise. It was the first truly three-dimensional Elder Scrolls game, and it also started the current trend of having the player begin as a nameless prisoner who makes a name for his/herself in the world of Tamriel.

Morrowind featured the most diverse and creative enemy types out of all of the Elder Scrolls games

While many fans accuse the series of becoming watered down over time, Morrowind took a step in the opposite direction by removing the fast travel that was featured in Daggerfall, replacing it with a limited silt strider travel system that encouraged players to travel to each destination. The game featured lore-rich dialogue via books, conversations with NPC's, and the world of Vvardenfell. The game broke players down by having them begin weaker than a mudcrab, but by endgame they could attain the level of a god (and even kill gods).

Go ahead, kill him. We promise it won't break your game

 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

The Imperial City was a magnificent site to behold once players exited the tutorial area of the game.

As far as aesthetics go, Oblivion was a step in the right direction for The Elder Scrolls. A debut title for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Oblivion was one of the first games to demonstrate the power of the seventh console generation.  

Gone were the days of butt-ugly faces staring at you as you selected dialogue options that were often followed by walls of text. NPC's were now fully voiced, and the game featured Patrick Stewart as Emperor Uriel Septim VII and Sean Bean as Martin Septim. NPC's also had a routine that they followed every day, and this provided for a more immersive world for the player to experience. Combat, while still far from perfect, was improved by a bit of variation in attack types, and players could now see how much health their foes had as they did battle.

Oblivion also brought us this wonderful character creator...

In this installment, Todd Howard made the series more accessible to players who may have been turned off by some of the complexity of Morrowind that not everyone wanted to tackle. Many people did not appreciate how the arithmetic, dice-rolling system of Morrowind made them miss their blows when the attacks clearly hit just because they had a low skill level. While it kept the journal system, Oblivion also implemented a system where players would be aided by an compass that pointed them in the direction of their next objective, though they would still be required to consult the journal from time to time.

Many skills from Morrowind were also consolidated into broader categories, and some were removed altogether (ie. axes and hammers were now both listed under the "blunt" skill). Not all of the changes were good, however, as many good weapons and skills that added to the experience of the elder scrolls were removed, much to the dismay of hardcore fans. Some of these would see a return in Skyrim, but some of them were also worsened.

 The first of many menacing Oblivion gates that the player would enter

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim is undoubtedly the most popular game in The Elder Scrolls franchise. it attracted players from everyone who played simpler games like Call of Duty to those who enjoyed tabletop RPG's like Dungeons & Dragons. And why shouldn't it? You get to play as a badass protagonist who is the "chosen one," and you get awesome shouts that bring even the mightiest opponents too their knees. Plus, it features something that has never been seen in The Elder Scrolls: Dragons. Who wouldn't want that?

Few moments in this series compare to the moment you enter Blackreach for the first time

Skyrim returned to Morrowind in some respects. It had Dwarven ruins that the player could explore as opposed to the repetetive Ayleid ruins of Oblivion, and players no longer had a bounty for crimes that had no witnesses. Skyrim was also the first game to implement a crafting system into the series. Players could now level up their blacksmithing level to create armors that would only be attainable through luck in previous games. It improved upon Oblivion's NPC's in that not only would they have schedules and routines, but dialogue flowed naturally and did not pause the game for any conversations, which provided for an even more immersive experience.

The combat was still not perfect, but it felt more fluid with the addition of kill moves and different ways to implement destruction spells. One step backward that this game had was that it oversimplified in some aspects. Attributes were done away with altogether and replaced with a perk-based leveling system that took out some of the major RPG aspects that fans loved so much. Enemy variation was even less than in Oblivion, and players grew tired of facing dungeon after dungeon filled with Draugr.

Todd Howard has used his artistic vision and his passion as a game designer and a gamer to provide the highest quality of game to lthe largest audience possible. With his direction, he brought The Elder Scrolls into the light, and it is now one of the most reknowned fantasy RPG's in the world.

Game/Series: Portal Series

What it did right: Puzzles that made you think, but where never impossibly hard.

You start off playing Portal with no gun. This allows you to learn that you can step through Portals to transport yourself places. When you are given the portal gun, you only can fire one colour of portal, this teaches you that you can go into either end of the portals. Then the complexity builds until the game allows you to experiment with some more freedom, until you are whizzing through physics-based jump puzzles.

Portal also made you think, not just with the puzzles, but about what it would be like to have an AI as smart as GLaDOS. Is this portal gun possible? Would having a portal gun mean I no longer have to move to get to the fridge? If so, how lazy can I be? How lazy would you be?

I'd be VERY lazy.

Notable mentions: The Talos Principle, Q.U.B.E, Quantum Conundrum

Game/Series: Interstellar Marines

What it did right: Some great AI

The AI will react to flashlights, laser pointers, and gunfire. If you see a flashlight they will run towards it. They will flank you, and sometimes rush you when they have outnumbering forces. They can open doors, which sometimes allows for some dual breaches, and you now have enemies in front and behind you. While this AI is not groundbreaking, smart AI is something which more games should strive towards, and for an indie game to do this well it's nothing short of amazing!

Notable mentions: Max Payne 3, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Grand Theft Auto V.

Game/Series: The Elder Scrolls (TES)/Fallout

What it did right: Massive open world, ripe to explore.

Both TES and Fallout have always been known for their massive open worlds; you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone. Skyrim and Fallout 3 did this the best, in their respective genres, allowing you the become whoever you want. Explore the world at your own pace, and in whatever way you like. Want to ride a horse? Work, and then buy one first. Walk or run everywhere - defend yourself or flee. Go to any level of area whenever you want and take your chances. The choice is yours.

Notable mention: Just Cause 2 - Even thought it didn't allow for a choice of who you will be, exploring the islands of Panau is great fun, and beautiful.

Game/Series: Grand Theft Auto 4/5

What it did right: Made the world feel alive.

If you just wait in your car, or stand by the side of a road, for a while and at some point two cars will crash into each other. The drivers then get our of their cars and start to fight. One of the drivers wins, but due to a police officer being close this man gets arrested. An ambulance then appears later to help the guy who was beaten up.

If you have your gun out, many people will run away, screaming, but not everyone. In some neighborhoods, if you stay in them for too long you might attract unwanted attention, and maybe a few bullets.

The world of GTA 5 feels alive, and I don't think I have seen a degree of humanity to this level in games before. Which is also why the AI in this game get's a notable mention on slide 4.

Game/Series: Mass Effect

What it did right: Made you care about your team

Mass Effect is well known for allowing you to make decisions, some big and some small. This had a massive effect on your personal feeling towards the characters in the game.

Remember trying to save Wrex, if you failed he died and how heartbreaking that was? Remember losing Ash/Kayden? Remember watching Thane die? Remember how happy, and slightly creeped out, you were when EDI and Joker announced their love for each other?

Mass Effect had an amazing way of making you care about who lives and who dies, by letting you interact and chat to these characters, this created a strong attachment to them.

Image credit goes to LevelSave.com