Capcom's Most Disturbing Survival Horror | Haunting Ground (PS2)

There is something so comforting and charming about this era of graphics.

Why is that dog one of the best looking dogs in gaming I have seen? The movement and animations, the structure and personality. Something about it truly does make it seem like a real dog. It's really impressive!

The facial expressions of Fiona and movements of Hewie are better than what I have seen in most newer games. They are just realistic enough without being excessively articulated.

These villains be working their azoth to capture Fiona

"The ground is haunted! The ground is haunted! The couch is safe!"

"So Fiona is going to become a pregnant tree?" No that's Deadly Premonition.🤣

Genuinely surprised at how good the animations, specifically the facial animations, look for a game of this vintage. Creepy shit.

One of the most interesting thins I find about Daniella is that she says she can't feel pain or pleasure, but when she dies she screams in agony then smiles. I think she smiles because she realizes she Can feel plain, on top of her nightmare of a life being finally over of course.

Haunting Ground is right up there with Silent Hill 3 as the most visually impressive PS2 game, but it's also a bit of a technical marvel. I remember being pretty blown away exploring the castle with no load screens, and just the sheer variety of rooms and assets. I do feel the name and promotion strategy held it back. It seems clear that visually the art team took inspiration from Giallo films with the European setting, saturated colors, and graphic content. And then had the brilliant idea to marry that with alchemical and body horror themes. Such a unique and criminally underrated game, definitely an artistic triumph.

i clicked onto this video so fast it broke all of my fingers and now I'm in the hospital for ten years

Funny enough my fondness for this game wasn't for Fiona, but for Hewie. Years ago I was an owner of a rescued white German Sheperd myself. Blanc, my precious pup, was a foster fail. Took me 3 months to get her to open up, after being abandoned by her former owner. After being despondent and scared, she eventually came up to my now 5 year old daughter. She was having a heart murmur due to being born with congenital heart disease. Blanc sensed her discomfort, tried to calm her, till Blanc decided to bark and get my attention. After rushing my daughter to the hospital, I praised and thanked Blanc. She sensed that I was grateful to her. Weeks after my daughter's return, she became very social and never left my daughter's side. She was a constant companion, and always kept watch over her when she has her murmurs, and would instantly alert me. Blanc had the same endearing mannerisms as Hewie, especially the nuanced ear perks Hewie displays, to her light padding trot as she follows me and my daughter around my home or walks. Sadly time wasn't on Blanc's side. She was a senior dog when I rescued her. And after being with us for a mere 4 years, she crossed the rainbow bridge at the distinguished age of 13 years. It devastated me and my daughter, but I was eternally grateful that I was blessed with a wonderful dog.

Kuon, Haunting Ground and Rule of Rose... the trinity of "holy shit that game is expensive" PS2 games.

Oh, also, you mentioned that you can feed onions to Hewie and that doing so will make him like you less. So, fun (or not so fun) fact: onions are actually toxic to dogs, as ingesting too much onion can lead to anemia in dogs. So you aren't just feeding it food it doesn't like when you give it onions. You are actively poisoning him.

One note about the soup, there was something wrong with it. If you examine the pot Daniela is cooking, Fiona remarks something looks like pasta. But when the chasing with her starts, you can examine the pot again and it’s actually human hair.

Owned a copy of Haunting Ground years ago...sold it for $100, thinking I was making some money. Man, I was dumb.

Awww, you didn't mention Hewie's stuffed animal outfit, when he wears it he becomes a defensive tank. Able to take as many power hits and general attacks with ease, the downside is that he does less damage than his black and tan German shepherd outfit and his standard white shepherd look. Another upside is that he looks very cute in it.❤

I feel like Hewie might have been one of Lorenzo's experiments. You find Hewie tied to a tree instead of in one the animal cages. He also quickly he learns to follow Fiona's orders within hours, if not minutes. Where as normal dog training would take daily reinforcement of basic commands.

"Survival Horror Dog Training Simulator"? Ok, I'm listening

Beating the game on hard you get another skin for Hewie where he looks like a giant stuffed plushy which makes him not take any damage!! It's super cute! You also get Fiona's frog costume this way which makes her no stamina from back stepping!! Another thing to note, if Hewie gets hit by the enemies too much, he will become afraid of them and whine and cower when they're around. It's really sad 😢

What was immediately apparent to me when I first played this was how Daniella is obsessed with Fiona as she has a womb. SPOILER: Lacking one herself she takes the glass to Fiona so she can hopefully become "complete" (if she catches Fiona when at full panic).