Alone in the Dark: The Beginnings of Survival Horror 

I remember seeing a creepypasta that was done by someone who clearly never left Western Europe, likely probably never left the UK: It's set in Arizona and I shit you not here's a line from it: "We started to get freaked out because we were on the road for 30 minutes and haven't seen another car."

I have fond (I guess) memories of playing Alone in the Dark when I was a little over ten years old and I was always attacked by the... giant.. bouncing rat? Thing? That attacks you in the same room and it was (for me back then at least) the scariest thing I'd ever seen. Ah, the memories.

Your cat is the perfect lifeform and his little face makes me smile every time.

damn, those renders/graphics for 92 is insane, DOOM was considered utterly groundbreaking and it didn't hit till a year later.

"scaring those rich pricks that spend all day at Fashion Island" reminds me of childhood (didn't cost a dime to run amok at the koi pond, something my grandparents took great advantage of when looking after me, my siblings, and our cousins after summer camp)

The reappraisal of the Alone in the Dark trilogy is one of the best things to happen in modern horror gaming discussion (even though it has also revived the ultra-toxic "RE ripped off AITD" discussion as well, but alas - AITD is just one of these super important games). Now we only need Sweet Home to get its due respect from more people.

Not to make a huge deal of it, but this may be like the 5th or 6th retrospective I’ve seen on the original Alone in the Dark (over several years, of course), and I think this is the first time I’ve learned that there’s a woman player character you can select. Neat!

I still remember the night me and my friend got a copy of it from somewhere. the first room is a real classic for setting up a game - never having seen such a game engine before the game, not understanding yet the limitations and how the game works, having to figure out moving the objects was so great at that time. edit: elvira was a gore horror game at least before this. it's got nothing to do with the movie, but guts and throatpipes on ega were pretty graphic for a kid editedit: ultima underworld does have 3d objects as well like chairs and stuff, but all monsters and characters are sprites

Oh God, I played the 2008 Alone in the Day way back when and it was PAIN. Years later I got a streamer to play it for a "punishment game" and it was also PAIN.

IMHO, A New Nightmare had some genuinely great spooky moments and cool ideas to my recall. Don't want to spoil much since Charlatan couldn't get it running, but I personally had enough fun to play both characters and not regret it. It's not my all-time favorite or anything, but Carnby's emo rocker phase aside, it's a pretty solid horror title. Really hope it gets revisited one day.

CHEESE SLUDGE. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

The scariest 'Alone In The Dark' is the one with Tara Reid in it.

Nice to see AIND 3 getting some praise. That game has always felt oddly and unfairly forgotten to me. The way you can beat many enemies by what's basically paying attention is still extremely fresh. Oh, and that ending song is still a freakin' banger!

I really love your DIY aproach, keep up the good, honest work. Thats all, everyone have an excellent evening.

Just wanna say, Thanks for making videos, they are really entertaining to watch

So basically Alone in the Dark 1: Transient Evil Alone in the Dark 2: Stunlockin' Time Alone on the Web 3: Carnby discovers his fursona

Alone in the Dark 1 and 2 actually have multiple save slots. Just press the down arrow key. Can't blame you for missing that. It's an UI issue from an older era.

This is a very wholesome piece of art you're sharing with us, thanks!

New Nightmare was a decent game. Loved how two characters had two different routes through the mansion. Also Carnaby's look is different there due to the game sadly being set in modern times

Hey just wanted to say that your channel deserves way more attention, your videos are super fun to watch

I really like the cooking segment. Gives me the vibe that this is some kind of Tv show and not the average youtube video.

Charl is the only person who can ask me to like a video and can actually make me do it.

An alternative explanation for Carnby getting that far: since he shows up in a taxi, he probably just took a train.

Alone in the Dark 2 is what classic Resident Evil fans see RE4 as.

I sort of remember this game and glad it still looks good, doesnt look like what was saved in my head but has a weird nostalgia to it. I remember it as a game I had to go back a few times to get through it.

As someone who has played all these games during his childhood and teens, I can say that The New Nightmare is probably the best one of them. And I say that despite being heavily nostalgic for the first 3 games. It's sad that the only way to play it these days is on the original Playstation, if one has one.

I love this game! Played the hell of it back in the day, and when I played Resident Evil the similarities were obvious

You earned this sub so fast. Thanks for a great video, looking forward to checking out more of your stuff!

Left my phone playing the vid in one room for a minute during the cooking segment and all I heard was "MmumumumhhmmymCHEESE SLUDGEmmymymmbmbbmumumCHEESE SLUDGEmmumuCHEESE SLUDGE" fantastic work, as always.

Ohhhh my Mom and I like making potato skins! We stir together some cream, minced meat, veggies to taste and potato and fill them with that before baking them, then layer on cheese to melt. ♡

Another absolute banger from Charl!

Alone in the dark is your favorite horror game's favorite horror game.

Woohoo - Halloween in July 🥰 Always looking forward to this!

you could make videos about anything and i'd watch it, i fucking love you my man. by far my favorite content creator

As always a great vid 🎉🎉

RU-vid's algorithm hid this until now. I usually watch your stuff right away.

THIS VIDEO REMINDED ME IT'S HALLOWEEN IN JULY TIME

There's something kinda weird going back to play games before you existed. Makes you appreciate just how far gaming has come since the "wild west" days

The fact that the enemies are VISIBLE and able to WALK THROUGH the doors is amazing to me. I grew up with Resident Evil and Silent Hill, I would have shit a brick house if any of the enemies could see me through a door and follow me through it. (Mr X and Nemesis don't count as its not the same technique)

A Charlatan Wonder video right at the time i picked up lunch? Let's fucking go

I was so happy when I got all the AITD games for like $4 on Steam especially since I have fond memories of the 2008 games on my X360. But I've tried everything including downloading those sketchy DLLs and nothing I did could get it running. Anyway, great video and looking forward to what's next!

Now, all we need is get you alone in the dark- new nightmare for dreamcast or gameboy.

I love this animal, the swag wizard car

Oh my gosh it's Halloween in July already!? Awesome! That crept up outta nowhere! :D

Og Alone in The Dark, in July? Charl you spoil me.

1. The old PC games had multiple save slots, you just had to use arrow keys to move to new / old ones. Bc 90s🤪 2. New Nightmare released to PS1 & Dreamcast. Probably not difficult to emulate.

I think it whould be worth it to try to run alone in the dark NN, it is recieved quite beloved by the survival horror fans that played it.

A New Nightmare is actually quite good from what I remember.

The cat is distractingly and upsettingly adorable

Great Vid

wow I've never been more sold on merch--see you on the list

Thx for the cool video

The 3rd game is legit one of my favorite games of all time, even if some of the puzzles are just so dumb and convoluted.

I love Halloween in July

Charlatan I have no idea if you see this, but I want to commend you for your cooking techniques. Better than 90% of the other youtubers who cook. You hold the knife correctly, i.e. your thumb and index finger grasp the blade of the knife. You carefully and purposefully place the handles of your pans facing away from you, go prevent from accidently hitting them. I just want to say, thank you for holding a knife correctly, it kills me to see everyone else holding a knife incorrectly due to ignorance.

I love Halloween in July!

12:54 My whole STATE is practically misrepresented from what I saw of it.

If you want your jalapenos hotter, get the fully ripened red ones. Also, they're pretty easy to grow and you'll can get multiple harvests right off the bat. Lets you get them the exact degree of ripeness you want for spicy lvls. oOo

This game narrated all the notes back in 1992? FFS why the hell can't we get that today?

Hey, please try a New Nightmare again - I remember it being pretty decent and the characters being fairly fun. I think even I managed to get it running a few years ago on win 7 or 10 (but didn't do a full playthrough, so no clue if the issues pop up later). The 2001 game actually had some horror elements for once, including the water monster style stuff... or teaser cutscenes like the dogs. It should 100% be runnable (I think I had GOG)

Ecstatica would make for a fun video.

You are probably happier not having had to play the 2008 Alone in the dark pc version

The Beginnings of Survival Horror... In the West. Let's not forget Sweet Home.

Imma get me that apron.

I highly recommend RagnarRox video on this series if anyone is interested in a little more background to their development

Great video! The 3 Alone in the Dark games and New Nightmare I got from GoG all worked perfectly in my 5/7 year old computer, and the trilogy works fine in my 2022 laptop Not sure if New Nightmare works on the new one haven't tried...

Wonder. You need to make a video of the Alone in the dark remake !

the narration screams harrison ford in blade runner :O

For the 2008 game you might want to try the inferno version

I love the cooking segments but unfortunately I have to skip most of them because they make me too hungry :(

COME ON, TAKE A SPOOKY DOOKYE (skeleton Sound effect)

i spaced out for a bit during the video them when i started paying attention again it was a cooking video. 10/10 just subscrbied

I don't know if you dislike that idea, but I remember that the new nightmare got several ports: ps1, dreamcast, ps2 and.. game boy color? Yeah, that actually happened.

The credits has a section for "Best Boys" XD

🤣🤣 dude your from my part of the OC!! I didn't think you were a Cali kid, let alone a beach kid!!

i was hoping for grilled cheese spoilers at 13:11 charl.

You can do this and use the insides to make twice baked potatoes.

I'm still waiting for that follow up

Charl, I love you. Not romantically, but, like, in an endearing way. I've been on a marathon watching and rewatching your videos for the past couple months. Just moved, money's tight, so becoming a Patron might have to come down the line in a few months. But really appreciate every video you make man. Hope you have a great day, and keep enjoying what you're doing!

I actually had multiple save slots on the GOG versions of Alone in the Dark 1 and 2. For me, GOG New Nightmare works on my windows 8.1 machine but all the pre-rendered cutscenes are weird, they'll just be a black screen but if I alt-tab in/out then I can see them, not sure how to fix it. New Nightmare is a reboot in it's own continuity, one thing I liked how Carnby and Aline actually have 2 pretty different campaigns, more so than Resident Evil games with 2 characters, the big issue is that enemies respawn infinitely, now most areas DO give you enough room to run around enemies but it makes your guns practically worthless since ammo is rather scarce at the start, so you just run past enemies to save ammo for the boss fights. (Since there's no melee attacks.) The second half of New Nightmare does get more linear and gives you some massively op weapons that are super ammo efficent though, so the game kinda turns into a power trip around the half-way mark. (The Finale of the game even gives you some op weapons with essentially infinite ammo.)

9:00 They went from Resident Evil 1 to 4, 5, or 6 in one game... Although maybe not 6, that game may as well be pure Action.

So, funny story; I bought the PS2 backport version of Alone in the Dark 2008 when it first came out on a whim because I saw it came with a soundtrack from Olivier Deriviere, who I was a big fan of from the Obscure series. That version of the game is actually legitimately broken to the point of being unplayable and while not the worst game I've ever played, is the worst one I actually paid money for. I keep it in my games collection as a remind to check reviews first.

Frisk is so freaking cute. Love the jpegs of him

As someone who is very familiar with the new nightmare... its worth trying out via emulation since it does have some neat elements to it BUT its not worth finishing, because the game itself is not finished like, literally you can see money run out in real time as you play it

11:27 o God I can see it, I'm from that area

If you're already getting a capture card for the PS3, see if you can track down a PS1 copy of The New Nightmare since the PS3 is backwards compatible with PS1 games too. Whole extra game for Halloween or whatever.

Ohhh spooky

So I never knew or got into Alone in the Dark until it's remake on PS3. Which I was into but never finished it and regret it even tho I still own it, but after viewing this video I wanf to play the OG more than the remake on PS3, with all its clunkiness. But as I've grown older I find myself wanting to play the older games I missed out on in my childhood that I missed cause I was ignorant and didn't appreciate good games but focused on FPS games that were evolved from OG Doom. Cause that's what I grew up on, Doom 1+2, Heretic, Blood, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake and so on......I did branch into other slightly different games early on but it wasn't far off from shoot, kill, find a key and get to the end of the level. But since my childhood, now I'm 35 years old, I've grown in my taste of games and really opened my tastes into anything, especially the older games I ignored over the years....this game is one of them! And honestly alot of them that I've gotten around to lately have been absolutely incredible and I kick myself for not trying them back then....but at the same time I wonder if I would have been able to appreciate it back then in my younger years. But as long as I get around to them now and can most certainly appreciate them now that I'm older, thats all that matters to me. I love this channel, the old games, newer retro inspired games, imsims, the cooking segments, and of course the kitty clips! Charlatan.....you are absolutely a diamond in the rough! Never stop or change what you do! You're amazing! Ever video I watch, I love you more and more and find more and more meals/snacks to make!

Christmas in July ❌ Halloween in July ✅

I wish they would port this trilogy so I could play it.

Alone in the Dark 3 is a pretty good conclusion to the trilogy. But it commits the cardinal sin: removing the Reptile's mustache. Carnby's bare lips will haunt us all forever. Which is weird, since you'd think a mustache would be _most_ appropriate on a Yeehaw Adventure.

I love halloween in July

Carnby could probably make it from Louisiana to California pretty cheaply and easily by taking a sleeper train--Remember, the US *used* to have pretty dang good passenger rail infrastructure.

I'M THE LIGHT BRINGER! I'M THE FUCKING UNIVERSE!

Alone in the Dark The New Nightmare is the only AITD I've play, several times I must add. I really like that game. I recently tried to play the original and I don't really mind the ancients graphics however the controls are really REALLY clunky and I just couldn't get pass them and this come from someone who loves the original System Shock.

A new nightmare runs great on the Dreamcast or PS1

funny thing, Alone in the Dark A New Nightmare is very playable on the Steamdeck. its the only way i could play my steam copy

Think you might cover Nocturne by Terminal Reality? Just came to mind now.

I was always told that the potato skin contains some mild poison and that's why you should never eat the skin of bought potatoes. Is that wrong?

New nightmare is probably best played emulated on ps2. I remember it being an ok game, strong start that drops off as it goes along. It is interesting playing a game that is imitating a game (Resident Evil) that in turn was imitating its predecessors (Alone in the Dark 1-3).