Haunting Ground

 

Back in 2005, Capcom released the video game Haunting Ground, known as Demento in Japan, which shared many similarities to their prior Clock Tower series to the point it’s considered a spiritual successor. Although it received mixed reception when it originally released and sold poorly due to competition with the widely renowned Resident Evil 4 (RE4), is has gained a reputation as part of the “Trinity of PS2 Survival Horror” with Kuon and Rule of Rose, all three of which are known for their expense and rarity due to poor sales, as well as their (arguable) status as “hidden gems” of the PS2 library.

What drew me to Haunting Ground, however, was not necessarily its newfound reputation, but its relation to the development of RE4. The short version is that there were four previous attempts at developing RE4 before the final build. The first of these builds is informally considered the “stylish” build and would famously spawn the Devil May Cry franchise, while the other three builds were known internally as “Castle”, “Hallucination” (aka “Hookman”) and “Zombie”. “Hallucination” and “Zombie” were scrapped due to technical limitations, the latter also for sticking too closely to the traditional Resident Evil formula, while one of the “Castle” scenario writers, Noboru Sugimura, would donate his draft to Capcom Production Studio 1, who had started work on a Clock Tower game that morphed into what we know as Haunting Ground. The elements that ultimately made their way from “Castle” to Haunting Ground were a girl and a B.O.W. dog companion, both of whom would have helped Leon S. Kennedy as he infiltrated the castle of Oswell E. Spencer, one of the founders of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals.

Due to the cost of a physical English copy reaching $350-400 at the bare minimum (exceeding the value of even the most expensive Silent Hill game in my collection), I ended up buying the game through the Japanese PSN on my PS3, where you have to search for the Japanese name Demento (デメント). This did require creating a Japanese account and buying two digital gift cards through Playasia, though this meant I only spent ¥1257 (under $10 at the time of this writing) with tax. Since Demento had English audio but rendered all the text in Japanese (with no option otherwise), I had to play while following an English video guide (via Survival Horror Network on YouTube) and a GDQ speedrun while imperfectly filling in any gaps with the Clock Tower Wiki and the Google Translate app on my phone (as well as my own very limited knowledge of Japanese). Despite jumping through so many hoops, I found the experience ultimately worth the effort, even with its rough edges.

The version I actually played.

Eighteen-year-old Fiona Belli awakens in a cage in the cellar of an old castle. When she makes her escape, she roams the castle and, after receiving a change of clothes, learns that not only was she the only survivor of a car crash that had killed both of her parents, she has inherited the mysterious castle she currently resides in, Belli Castle. Soon after, she stumbles upon a trapped dog, a four-year-old white German Shepherd named Hewie, and rescues him. Out of gratitude, Hewie accompanies Fiona and helps her escape from dangerous pursuers as they search for answers and a way out.

Since I played Haunting Ground in Japanese, I was fortunate that the game’s story is told entirely through the occasional well-placed cutscenes and that the English voice acting helps non-Japanese players follow along. There is a little bit of minor world building through item descriptions, although reading them isn’t necessary in any way to understand what’s going on. Depending on what events Fiona witnesses, including optional encounters, the player can also read her inner thoughts through the Memos screen, though these are, again, not necessary for following along unless you want more flavor (I couldn’t read them anyway and suspected Translate would only help so much).

At least seeing Japanese subtitles doesn't matter that much.

As for the journey itself, there are some elements that set it very much apart from other survival horror games. For one thing, in contrast with other female horror characters like Heather Mason or Claire Redfield, no matter what happens to Fiona or how many horrors she witnesses, she’s always very much frightened and fragile. She never gets stronger or desensitized. Even when one of her pursuers, aka stalkers, is (potentially) rendered harmless, she’s always cautious around them and has fear in her eyes. She’s almost completely helpless, but the game presents this in the best possible way, as the player skirts the line between participant and observer in a way that not only makes them worry about Fiona’s safety, but also effectively lets them feel at least some of the fear she feels. Though this is more anecdotal evidence, I personally got invested enough in the story that while dodging the second stalker, I felt short of breath for a noticeable amount of time. Fiona’s reactions to the various narrative twists and turns within Belli Castle are also written very realistically, since as far as she knows, she’s a normal person whose life was suddenly upended and now has to worry about people trying to kill her for reasons she doesn’t quite understand.

Fiona’s relationship with Hewie is another highlight. After she saves his life, the two of them gradually form a strong and believable bond of trust. While Fiona takes care of Hewie, he willingly defends her out of gratitude and acts as the only positive constant in her nightmarish adventure. The circumstances under which they meet also highlight the contrast between Fiona’s caring nature and the abusive one of at least one of the antagonists. This bond is to the point where I got emotionally attached to Hewie and, on top of worrying for Fiona’s safety, felt bad whenever he got seriously hurt, either from a stalker harming him or accidentally kicking him (I did this once during the third section of the game and immediately reloaded my save). He'll also perform certain impressive feats within cutscenes that are an extension of his mutual trust with Fiona, such as throwing a slab into a statue’s mouth situated higher than she can reach. Although his inclusion primarily served as a way of giving Fiona some way to indirectly defend herself against her stalkers, I found him overall one of the better animal companions in gaming thanks to his narrative significance.

More than once, Hewie proves himself a valuable companion.

Although I don’t want to spoil too much of the story, a major aspect of the narrative is the concept of alchemy. I’m not an expert on the subject myself, but considering how deeply woven into the story different concepts of alchemy are, it’s clear that the developers did their research. For example, the concept of a sought-after Azoth, while vaguely defined within the game’s setting, is based on an alchemical concept for a universal solvent based on Mercury, similar to the more famous concept of the philosopher’s stone. There are also points in the game that require going through an alchemical process to gain an important item or advance through a later section of the game. Homunculi are also a present and integral part of the story.

What really sets Haunting Ground apart from other survival horror games, however, is its psychosexual narrative, driven by its voyeuristic elements and Fiona’s sexual objectification. Without going too deeply into spoilers, each of the four main stalkers doubles as a different aspect of this narrative in terms of their personality and actions. For example, the mentally disabled Debilitas views Fiona as a doll and not a living being, which results in him (potentially) casually harming her out of ignorance rather than malice. The other three, on the other hand, are more malicious in their efforts, including Daniella’s jealousy over Fiona being a “complete woman” (in contrast to her own infertility) and Riccardo expressing a deep desire upfront to control and impregnate her. Fiona’s more overt sexualization, which includes her state of near undress at the beginning, shots of her changing clothes in an unsettling context and the noticeable breast jiggle, doesn’t titillate the player and instead helps create a tenser and more disturbing atmosphere, as she’s explicitly viewed as a mere object by her stalkers. While sexuality in gaming is a more divisive topic nowadays, its implementation here shows how effectively someone could use it in the right context.

As with other survival horror games at the time, Haunting Ground also features multiple endings, four labeled A through D, that can trigger depending on the player’s actions. Endings A and B are the most likely that players will encounter on a first playthrough, determined by whether you respectively spared or killed the first boss. Ending C can only be obtained on a second playthrough, but cathartically ends the game early and is fairly fun for a speedrun. Ending D, however, is the worst ending and one you’d have to go out of your way to see, as it ends the game early in a different spot, but requires abusing Hewie or having an otherwise very low relationship with him. Personally, I got Endings A and C and enjoyed both of them, but wasn’t sure I could go for Ending B outside of a speedrun and didn’t want to go through the effort of getting Ending D.

The gameplay itself complements the narrative near perfectly, but is still rough in places. Keep in mind that since I haven’t played any of the Clock Tower games, I won’t be comparing any similar mechanics as presented in those games to their implementation in Haunting Ground. As such, I’ll be describing everything within the vacuum of Haunting Ground with some terminology from the Demento version.

While navigating Belli Castle, Fiona can perform very simple actions: Search (aka moving), Throw/Set items, Kick, Dash, Crouch and Backstep (pressing Square after a Backstep also lets her Charge), as well as interact with and pick up/push certain objects. On her own, she has no direct combat ability and can only hope to slow down or, if the player is brave enough, knock out a stalker with kicks or certain objects. Performing certain actions such as running for prolonged periods or taking damage will also drain her Stamina, which, due to the lack of a HUD, players can check by observing her left arm. On top of her Stamina, players will also have to watch her Panic level, indicated by the screen getting progressively distorted and washed out, which rises under certain circumstances or when she witnesses certain events. If her Panic level gets too high, she will temporarily act outside of the player’s control and can only run or open doors until she calms down. In this panicked state, she also has a chance of falling onto the ground, leaving her in a highly vulnerable state with a 50% chance of instant death if she’s attacked again. Fiona can recover Stamina or Panic by standing still for a bit or consuming certain items, as well as interacting with a Recovery Point while not being pursued; After using a Recovery Point, the phrase “Status Restored” (“Recovery” in Demento) shows up on screen. I also noticed that Fiona had a slightly wider turn radius than some other characters, though this didn’t end up being much of an issue.

A really high level of Panic.

In certain rooms, Fiona can also perform other actions, including changing costumes via chest (after a certain point in the late game), printing words onto Plate Keys to solve puzzles and exchanging certain Plate Keys for valuable wearable items like the Fairy Earrings or Burst Shoes. Throughout the game, she can also find various types of Medallions used for crafting at a Variatio Machine that’s only accessible at certain points. Crafting is a little obtuse, however, as you have to match the colors of spinning orbs on a chart based on the Sephirot, but need really good (and rather precise) timing to get the balls to land on the color you want to get good items. This process goes largely unexplained and I had to look at an outside color chart to get some idea of what I was doing, not helped by the fact that since I played the game in Japanese, I had absolutely no idea what items I got without looking them up. On top of that, even if you know what you got, the game doesn’t tell you what any of the crafted items do and unless you look them up, you have to figure it yourself, just like an alchemist.

If Fiona is pursued by a stalker, players are advised to lead her to an Evasion Point, where she can hide, usually indicated by the phrase “Wait a second! What’s that?!” (“….!!” in Demento) in red. Successfully hiding displays the phrase “Hiding…” (“Hide In” in Demento) and the stalker will start searching the immediate area. Once the stalker leaves, the phrase “Coast Clear” (“No Enemy” in Demento) appears onscreen. Although these phrases are useful, most hiding spots are actually pretty abstract and only need to keep Fiona safe within the stalker’s blind spot, like crouching in a shadow or hiding behind an open door (Riccardo’s hood can also create more blind spots). However, the game’s AI actually learns from the player’s behavior and will more easily find Fiona if she hides in the same spot too many times. This can make some chases even more terrifying, as an already persistent stalker like Daniella can get very hard to shake off.

You may be hidden, but are you really safe?

At different points along her journey through Belli Castle, Fiona will encounter one of the four stalkers, though (thankfully) only one will show up at a time. Stalker appearances are triggered by certain scripted events and a hidden timer system that ensures they’ll appear at least once every thirty minutes, but they also have a chance at appearing if Fiona makes too much noise. Each stalker’s behavior reflects their personality, like how Debilitas is less likely to find Fiona under a bed or how Daniella will always announce her presence and is occasionally seen harmlessly cleaning. Of all the stalkers, I found Daniella the most difficult to deal with, as her weakness is hard to take advantage of and she often stayed outside of a door she closed behind her, which eventually led to me abusing a form of save scumming just to get past her.

Fortunately, there are some useful mechanics the player can take advantage of. While Fiona is crouching, the camera will follow the stalker as they search the nearby area. Though this does ramp up the tension, it can also clue a player into an opening to make an escape while the stalker isn’t looking, if necessary, plus Fiona can kick a door into a stalker’s face to potentially buy her a little bit of time. Like Fiona, stalkers can get tired if the pursuit lasts long enough and they also won’t follow her into puzzle rooms or into specific areas that would otherwise conflict with other scripted events. The biggest tool, however, is understanding audio cues. While a stalker’s music is a more obvious clue that they’ve discovered Fiona, the lack of any music usually indicates that a stalker is nearby and listening for her. As such, the player should either use this opportunity to seek a hiding spot or, if they’ve already lost the stalker, they should wait for the regular music to come back before resuming their normal activity.

One major wrinkle, however, is the presence of Luminessants, which are tiny creatures represented by balls of light that will pursue Fiona if they catch wind of her. If they catch Fiona, they’ll rupture on contact, producing a sound that will increase the chance of a stalker showing up. Although Luminessants will fade, the best way to deal with them is by reaching a neighboring area and closing the door, which cuts off their sensing ability and stops them cold, at least if there’s one nearby, otherwise Fiona will have to outrun them. Notably, these creatures can appear in certain pots that Fiona can kick open and they’re necessary for solving a couple smaller puzzles. At some point, Fiona will also start encountering a creature similar to the Luminessants that has the same effect and can be kicked into submission, though these kicks are easy to miss if the player misses the timing.

Fortunately, after Fiona saves Hewie early on, she has a loyal dog companion to help her. Since the game uses a dynamic fixed camera system (not entirely unlike the original Devil May Cry), the right analog stick issues simple commands for Hewie depending on whether or not a stalker is currently pursuing Fiona. Pressing Up on the stick commands Hewie to search the area or, in “Battle Mode”, attack and even urge him on; Down will call Hewie to Fiona’s side or back down while biting a stalker; Left will always have Fiona scold Hewie if he’s being disobedient, which will affect their relationship; Right will always have Fiona praise Hewie, which will affect their relationship and even restore some of his Stamina if Fiona is close enough to pet him; and R3 simply has Fiona command him to sit (pressing R3 again when close to him will also have him shake her hand) or, during battle, wait (the latter also temporarily boosts his attack power). On his own, Hewie will also warn Fiona about nearby stalkers and traps through barks and growls and players can check his status by observing his ears and gait. Though feeding him isn’t necessary, doing so will restore his Stamina and improve his relationship with Fiona.

How often is actually petting the dog a crucial mechanic?

While the systems around Hewie are quick and easy, he is programmed more realistically, as Fiona must build up his relationship with him before he’ll more consistently obey her. As such, he’ll sometimes ignore her commands or wander off, at which point Fiona can scold him at the right moment or approach him and reissue the command. Fiona can also build up his abilities at the unavoidable Training Ground or playing fetch with a thrown Ball. Hewie’s realistic behaviors can understandably annoy some players, including myself at certain crucial moments, but I had success building up his relationship with Fiona through positive reinforcement. This helped with getting him to help Fiona when dealing with stalkers, which included him more consistently jumping on their backs for extra damage and preventing him from getting too harmed.

Naturally, as with other games in its genre, Fiona’s journey also involves solving a number of puzzles throughout the castle. Some of them were rather easy to figure out, mainly the ones that doubled as safe spaces from stalkers, but others felt a little more cryptic, particularly the ones involving the creation of Plate Keys. Since I played the game in Japanese, I ended up seeing the solutions through the guide I followed, though I was left guessing how I would have figured them out on my own, let alone guessed where certain items were and how to access them. I also figured that I might have had an easier time if I played in English, but even then, I might have fumbled around a fair bit. Boss battles can also have their own puzzles to deal with, though these weren’t too difficult to figure out due to their visual nature.

During my playthrough, I also ended up making a few observations, even unintentionally. For example, if you don’t push Up on the right analog stick to command Hewie during the tutorial, he’ll automatically attack Debilitas after a few seconds. While running away from Daniella towards the next area to advance the game, I noticed that she didn’t follow me outside even though she was right behind me as I opened the door. Although a scripted break from her, I felt very grateful for that development decision. I also enjoyed that despite being a horror game, it has a hidden touch of humor, namely what you see when you use a SALTATIO Plate Key on a Golem. Perhaps the biggest thing to appreciate, however, is that despite the size and scale of the environments, and all of the rendered rooms therein, there is not a single loading screen in sight during normal gameplay. No matter what you do or where you go, Haunting Ground has the smoothest transitions of any game from back then, even ditching the “disguised” loading screens that were the style at the time (and even now to an extent). In that sense, Haunting Ground truly was ahead of its time in more ways than one.

While the graphics may look a little dated nowadays, Haunting Ground has actually aged pretty well thanks to its stylized look and inserting a great amount of subtle detail without necessarily aiming for photorealism. I found myself particularly impressed by the mocap and facial expressions, as well as Hewie’s realistic dog animations. The only real blemish was that in the Tower portion, I noticed a brief framerate drop during the boss fight.

Imperfect now, but still impressive for the time.

Haunting Ground also has a very strong and memorable score that sounds haunting on its own, but also creates a persistent sense of dread in-game when combined with ambient noises heard throughout Belli Castle. I also appreciated the touch that each stalker’s leitmotif reflects their personality and is even incorporated into the boss fight music. Although the voice acting isn’t necessarily perfect, it’s pretty good for the time and helps the unsettling atmosphere of the game without feeling like it’s trying too hard (unlike many modern horror titles). Then there are the Game Over screens, which do a very good job of leaving what's actually happening in the disturbing audio to your imagination.

Beating the game unlocks Hard Mode, a higher difficulty that plays out the same with some changes, and the Secret Room. Depending on what you see on your Results screen, you’ll also learn a new Plate Key word to try on another playthrough (although you can also look them up online).

There’s not much to the Secret Room itself, as it’s a variation of the first proper room in the game that’s safe to explore. Interacting with certain objects within the room allows access to separate Art, Character, Music and Movie Galleries; Costume Change, where Fiona and Hewie can wear different costumes that manage to tie into the themes of the game while offering different gameplay effects; Play Type List; and Mini Game. Different costumes and Gallery pieces are unlocked by either fulfilling certain in-game conditions or witnessing certain in-game events, including deaths.

One reason to visit the Secret Room is the “I Am Hewie” minigame (“Mini Game”). In this mode, players instead control Hewie and guide Fiona to the exit in one of four different stages while avoiding a different stalker in each, though there are no items and (thankfully) no puzzles. Guiding Fiona is similar to guiding Hewie in the main story, though Fiona feels less responsive, as you’ll likely have to bark an order multiple times before she’ll listen. Hewie can also attack a stalker directly, but he can’t bark commands at Fiona when he does so and if he takes too much damage, he’ll die, immediately ending the minigame. Some frustration aside, this is an interesting switch of the dynamic between Fiona and Hewie and can provide a good amount of replay value outside of speedrunning the main game or unlocking extras.

Although imperfect in the execution of its gameplay, Haunting Ground is worth a look for survival horror fans, even outside of the context of its relationship with Resident Evil 4. If you do, I’d still suggest (if you’re not comfortable with emulation) downloading it off the Japanese PSN while you have the chance. You may need to play it with a guide, but it’s the next best thing until Capcom hopefully decides to rerelease it in the future so that collectors don’t have to pay outrageous aftermarket values.

Acta Est Fabula