Lovecraft game recommendations from Lovecraft readers?

[StaceyPowers]

There are a number of Lovecraft-themed games out there now, and I haven’t played any of them yet. Can anyone here recommend your favourites, specifically those among you who have read HP Lovecraft’s stories?

[Reality vs Adventure]

I'm confused on the whole Lovecraft thing that you and @Withywarlock  mentioned. I've watched Lovecraft Country on tv and really liked it. What are the recommendations of where to start as far as reading material and games to play? Are the games and books related at all? Do they have similar or different stories? Read first or does it matter? And what exactly is it all about and the lore?  

 

 

 

[Withywarlock]

7 hours ago, Reality vs Adventure said:

What are the recommendations of where to start as far as reading material and games to play?

I can only recommend Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft as it's the only book of his I've owned and read (just this morning have I finished The Call of Cthulhu, despite having owned it since my college days), but I think it does a good enough job of showing off his 'Cthulhu Mythos' (what he's most famous for) and some of his 'standalone' horror works.

7 hours ago, Reality vs Adventure said:

Are the games and books related at all?

Not really, no. Despite how generously fleshed out Lovecraft's works were during his life, they're still very cryptic and most adaptations revolve around others' work. Take for example the Call of Cthulhu (2018) video game - as I've just discovered it had virtually nothing to do with the short story of the same name, barring the tone and lots of green. However it was developed in collaboration with the rights holders of the tabletop roleplaying game, Call of Cthulhu, by Chaosim Inc.

7 hours ago, Reality vs Adventure said:

Do they have similar or different stories?

As said before, some stories are part of the Cthulhu Mythos (a 'Lovecraft Cinematic Universe', one might say), wherein the Great Old Ones are incomprehensible and more hauntingly, inevitable. Others are simple eerie stories about rats.

7 hours ago, Reality vs Adventure said:

Read first or does it matter?

I personally would recommend looking up some Lovecraftian imagery to get a better idea in one's mind's eye when reading the original work, however what's said in the book has been lovingly recreated since. I'm surprised how true to the source material the look of Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones has remained over a century later, if a lot of the themes of the books have been downplayed because it's easier to acknowledge that Cthulhu's a big bad tentacle monster.

7 hours ago, Reality vs Adventure said:

And what exactly is it all about and the lore?  

I'm afraid I can't fully answer this question, but here's my observations as to the central themes of good Lovecraftian writing:

1. The monsters don't can't die. While a Call of Cthulhu game can have combat, it's usually a pointless affair. While many cultist worshippers of the Great Old Ones are mortal and can be gunned down, some have been blessed with near invulnerability and features akin to their tentacled gods. As for Cthulhu Itself.... It can't die. It can be made to go away, but it will come back because its cult has existed since the first men, and will be there long after the last. This is always at no small cost to life and sanity.
2. 'Tis better to die than to go insane. Dying is considered the win state in the grim darkness of the Cthulhu Mythos. You can't possibly hope to lead a normal life knowing what you do about the Necronomicon, the non-Euclidean architecture of Cthulhu's resting place, and shooting as many loathesome hellspawn as you'll encounter. Alternatively, being ignorant of these things is for the best. Chances are we won't see Cthulhu in our lifetime given how many countless millenia It and Its kin have existed, and it's a good idea to keep it that way.
3. A product of its time. While Cthulhu's exploits have been recorded in Ancient Rome, the Cold War all the way to the Cyberpunk future of 1994, Cthulhu is at its best in my opinion when it's set in its gaslight era of the early 1900s, or before its author's time in the 1800s. I don't say this just because of the unfortunately liberal use of racist language common for Lovecraft's region of New England, but because nobody could conceive his eldritch horrors at the time. They'd thought the worst was over with the decline of religious supernatural belief, the rise of world-changing political ideologies and the Great War finally ending, and now they have to contend with the notion they don't have everything figured out? It was the perfect time to say science didn't have all the answers, for all the advancements it had made.

So with all that said, what games do I recommend? Not many as I still need to familiarise myself, but here goes:

• The Amnesia series. This was one of the earliest indie games to revitalise the horror genre for mainstream audiences after the so-called AAA industry had had enough of it. A first person puzzle and stealth game, the player is typically tasked with remembering what it is they're doing in the haunted house they're stuck in, chased by horrific flesh constructs and having to look at candles to stay sane.
• Call of Cthulu (2018) and Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth for the obvious reasons. You might also try Achtung! Cthulu Tactics for a game based on the WW2 tabletop roleplaying game of the same name (barring the 'tactics' addition).

I was going to mention a few Warhammer titles like Space Hulk and Vermintide, but they don't quite do enough to capture the whole Lovecraftian theme, not that they try to however much inspiration they take. I think once you've read a few of his stories you'll end up seeing influences everywhere, and might say "this could be a Lovecraft story if it weren't for this being explained already", like I did in regards to Resident Evil lately.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Withywarlock

[Reality vs Adventure]

8 hours ago, Withywarlock said:

I can only recommend Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft as it's the only book of his I've owned and read (just this morning have I finished The Call of Cthulhu, despite having owned it since my college days), but I think it does a good enough job of showing off his 'Cthulhu Mythos' (what he's most famous for) and some of his 'standalone' horror works.

Necronomicon Best Weird Tales is a great recommendation! That would be an awesome place to start while I sit around this fire; in the woods; in the dark; with glowing eyes; faint screams; howling; snapping twigs; slithering sounds in the dead pine needles. Oh why not do it right. Wouldn't mind giving the game Call of Cthulu a try, but I want to read about the lore first and develop my own images. Then it would be cool to compare that to a video game. I have seen Lovecraft Country on tv recently and if they have similar monsters and such, then I have an idea what they are talking about in the book. But I might get curious and look up some pics.  

I briefed over H.P. Lovecraft's history and his political views, which would be interesting to see if any of it reflects in his writings. Granted it was a different time 100 years ago when his books were written, but some philosophical viewpoints don't change. In today's climate I wonder where he would stand. 

[killamch89]

I never thought I'd see a discussion about Lovecraft on this forum and I wasn't even aware they had books either(I usually know these things). How long have these books been around and where in the timeline do they fall?

[Withywarlock]

2 hours ago, killamch89 said:

I never thought I'd see a discussion about Lovecraft on this forum and I wasn't even aware they had books either(I usually know these things). How long have these books been around and where in the timeline do they fall?

H.P. Lovecraft's poetry was published before the First World War, but his more recognised works were strange sci-fi and cosmic horror not long after the war. His works will be based on what he knew when he was born in 1890, to America's Roaring Twenties a decade before his death, so they're all gaslight penny dreadfuls/pulp fiction. He had quite a following at the time, but nowhere near the recognition until after his death. Authors like Stephen King and Clive Barker take great inspiration from his themes, and as said before many associate Lovecraft with betentacled green monsters and going doolally.

You can find Lovecraft's original works all over the place, though because he did mostly short stories for magazines you'll be hard pressed to find them sold individually. You'll see them in all manner of compilations and anthologies, so if you do decide to read them it'd be a good idea to find one with the most stories so you don't end up with too many overlapping books.

 

[killamch89]

9 hours ago, Withywarlock said:

H.P. Lovecraft's poetry was published before the First World War, but his more recognised works were strange sci-fi and cosmic horror not long after the war. His works will be based on what he knew when he was born in 1890, to America's Roaring Twenties a decade before his death, so they're all gaslight penny dreadfuls/pulp fiction. He had quite a following at the time, but nowhere near the recognition until after his death. Authors like Stephen King and Clive Barker take great inspiration from his themes, and as said before many associate Lovecraft with betentacled green monsters and going doolally.

You can find Lovecraft's original works all over the place, though because he did mostly short stories for magazines you'll be hard pressed to find them sold individually. You'll see them in all manner of compilations and anthologies, so if you do decide to read them it'd be a good idea to find one with the most stories so you don't end up with too many overlapping books.

 

Thanks for the info!

[Heatman]

On 1/3/2021 at 12:29 PM, Withywarlock said:

I can only recommend Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft as it's the only book of his I've owned and read (just this morning have I finished The Call of Cthulhu, despite having owned it since my college days), but I think it does a good enough job of showing off his 'Cthulhu Mythos' (what he's most famous for) and some of his 'standalone' horror works.

Not really, no. Despite how generously fleshed out Lovecraft's works were during his life, they're still very cryptic and most adaptations revolve around others' work. Take for example the Call of Cthulhu (2018) video game - as I've just discovered it had virtually nothing to do with the short story of the same name, barring the tone and lots of green. However it was developed in collaboration with the rights holders of the tabletop roleplaying game, Call of Cthulhu, by Chaosim Inc.

As said before, some stories are part of the Cthulhu Mythos (a 'Lovecraft Cinematic Universe', one might say), wherein the Great Old Ones are incomprehensible and more hauntingly, inevitable. Others are simple eerie stories about rats.

I personally would recommend looking up some Lovecraftian imagery to get a better idea in one's mind's eye when reading the original work, however what's said in the book has been lovingly recreated since. I'm surprised how true to the source material the look of Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones has remained over a century later, if a lot of the themes of the books have been downplayed because it's easier to acknowledge that Cthulhu's a big bad tentacle monster.

I'm afraid I can't fully answer this question, but here's my observations as to the central themes of good Lovecraftian writing:

1. The monsters don't can't die. While a Call of Cthulhu game can have combat, it's usually a pointless affair. While many cultist worshippers of the Great Old Ones are mortal and can be gunned down, some have been blessed with near invulnerability and features akin to their tentacled gods. As for Cthulhu Itself.... It can't die. It can be made to go away, but it will come back because its cult has existed since the first men, and will be there long after the last. This is always at no small cost to life and sanity.
2. 'Tis better to die than to go insane. Dying is considered the win state in the grim darkness of the Cthulhu Mythos. You can't possibly hope to lead a normal life knowing what you do about the Necronomicon, the non-Euclidean architecture of Cthulhu's resting place, and shooting as many loathesome hellspawn as you'll encounter. Alternatively, being ignorant of these things is for the best. Chances are we won't see Cthulhu in our lifetime given how many countless millenia It and Its kin have existed, and it's a good idea to keep it that way.
3. A product of its time. While Cthulhu's exploits have been recorded in Ancient Rome, the Cold War all the way to the Cyberpunk future of 1994, Cthulhu is at its best in my opinion when it's set in its gaslight era of the early 1900s, or before its author's time in the 1800s. I don't say this just because of the unfortunately liberal use of racist language common for Lovecraft's region of New England, but because nobody could conceive his eldritch horrors at the time. They'd thought the worst was over with the decline of religious supernatural belief, the rise of world-changing political ideologies and the Great War finally ending, and now they have to contend with the notion they don't have everything figured out? It was the perfect time to say science didn't have all the answers, for all the advancements it had made.

So with all that said, what games do I recommend? Not many as I still need to familiarise myself, but here goes:

• The Amnesia series. This was one of the earliest indie games to revitalise the horror genre for mainstream audiences after the so-called AAA industry had had enough of it. A first person puzzle and stealth game, the player is typically tasked with remembering what it is they're doing in the haunted house they're stuck in, chased by horrific flesh constructs and having to look at candles to stay sane.
• Call of Cthulu (2018) and Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth for the obvious reasons. You might also try Achtung! Cthulu Tactics for a game based on the WW2 tabletop roleplaying game of the same name (barring the 'tactics' addition).

I was going to mention a few Warhammer titles like Space Hulk and Vermintide, but they don't quite do enough to capture the whole Lovecraftian theme, not that they try to however much inspiration they take. I think once you've read a few of his stories you'll end up seeing influences everywhere, and might say "this could be a Lovecraft story if it weren't for this being explained already", like I did in regards to Resident Evil lately.

I actually didn't know much about Lovecraft game until after reading up on your content about it here which is as detailed as one of the Lovecraft books. Now, I'm very much interested in reading up more about it with the recommendations you gave already.