The Safe Room

Grace and Rose have returned to Silent Hill, this time summoned by Christophe Gans’ adaptation of Silent Hill 2. What awaits them on the other side of the fog?

Grace and Rose dig into Slay the Princess and discuss its many routes, surprises, and ruminations on narrative storytelling. We also talk about the game’s tone and often grating dialogue between personalities. Lastly, we contemplate perhaps the most important question of all: Why doesn’t anyone talk about how horny this game is?

On this episode of The Safe Room, we tackle the new indie horror action game Silly Polly Beast. We praise the game’s art style and presentation, analyze its kinetic and tense combat, and discuss what constitutes a “Story-driven” video game. Lastly, we react to the Return to Silent Hill trailer and contemplate the death of art.

Rose and Grace discuss the first (good) Silent Hill game since SH4! We talk over its deeply felt depiction of growing up, its introduction of real ensemble dynamics to the franchise, and its exhausting, repetitive, and thrilling combat.

We are back with Dead Space 2! Grace and Rose talk the 2011 sequel’s action focus, its silly attempts at exploring survivors guilt, and edgy marking campaigns.

Rose and Grace enter the very heart of survival horror in Sweet Home. We talk over the genre's (now mostly-absent) RPG roots, the game's campy and self-aware charm, and its systemic adaptation of the source material.

We are joined by Dovewhether cohost AP to talk the sci-fi thriller Parasite Eve! We talk over the thrills and foibles of its retro vibes, how protagonist Arya Brea fits into 90s “strong female protagonists” and its weirdo action RPG combat.Listen to dovewhether: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dovewhether/id1716976125 Follow Dovewhether on bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dovewhether.bsky.social Listen to Grace on Dovewhether talking about Hunter x Hunter https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/serving-hunter-x-hunter-feat-grace-benfell/id1716976125?i=1000685179969

cw: suicide, self-harm, drug useRose and Grace are joined by Cameron Kunzelman of Ranged Touch to talk over the Sega Saturn game D and its Dreamcast pseudo-sequel D2. We discuss how D2 at once presages the modern "cinematic" game and is something totally different, its wide swings at serious profundity, and how damn long everything takes in both of these video games. Tune in next time for Parasite Eve with another special guest!

Sorry, We're Closed is a lush and vivid look at relationships, love, and break-ups with shades of Buffy, Silent Hill 3, and Killer 7. Grace and Rose discuss its eroticism, grounded writing, and combat contrivances.

Alisa is both thematically light and aesthetically ornate, a loving, smart throwback that is super annoying. In this episode, Grace and Rose work through how exactly it curates such a clockwork feast and how it manages to grate and delight in equal measure. Next time: Sorry, We’re Closed

We return to the Fatal Frame franchise with its Nintendo debut, this time with a new co-developer Grasshopper Manufacture. Join us as we discuss the game’s various Wii-era “innovations,” the many facets of its bloated story, and whether this moonlit adventure shines as bright as previous entries in the series.

The Safe Room takes a detour into the surreal and absurd with 2024’s Indika. We discuss the game’s commentary on religion, the unique and entertaining formal choices the game makes, and the second hand pain of playing a video game that features a bunch of straight people. Also, this was nominated for The Game Award’s Games for Change?

cw: suicide, death, the plague Grace and Rose enter the plagued town and explore its thematic shades of death and life, roles and personhood, ease and difficulty that permiate its walls and earth. Find some bread and meat and sit down with us!

I wanted to get a Handheld Talk episode out for the holiday but unfortunately, due to my own carelessness, my files for that have been lost. Instead, enjoy this little playlist I threw together featuring songs from games we played this year. Hope you enjoy! See you soon for our Pathologic 2 episode. —RosePlaylist:"Two of Everything" by Tori Beaumont from "Immortality""Kusabi Love or Die Remix" by Masafumi Takada from "The Silver Case""Clair de Lune" by Claude Debussy, arranged by Masafumi Takada from "The Evil Within 2""Fear II" by Yutaka Minobe from “Rule of Rose”"Koe" by Tsukiko Amano from “Fatal Frame III: The Tormented”"Miracle Workshop" by Vasily Kashnikov from “Pathologic 2”"You Came Back" by Ockeroid from “Crow Country”"Dead Space” by Jason Graves from “Dead Space”"Silencio Zero" by Vasily Kashnikov from “Pathologic 2”"The Tormented" by Tsukiko Amano and Ayako Toyoda from “Fatal Frame III: The Tormented”"The Reverse Will (Unseen Paths)" by Akria Yamaoka from “Silent Hill 2 (2024)”"Opening" by Nainita Desai from “Immortality”"Fairtale Town" by Ockeroid from “Crow Country””Shoot Speed" by Masafumi Takada from “Killer7”"Twyrine" by Vasily Kashnikov from “Pathologic 2”"Backbiting" by Yutaka Minobe from “Rule of Rose”"The Attic" Yutaka Minobe from “Rule of Rose”"Rave On" Masafumi Takada from “Killer7”

cw: suicide, bullying, animal/pet cruelty, animal/pet deathIn this episode of The Safe Room, Grace and Rose discuss the cult classic 2006 survival horror game Rule of Rose. We talk about the game’s non-linear narrative, how it handles themes of bullying and abuse, and the legacy it leaves behind as a Silent Hill-inspired work. We also take listener questions and once again rank the games we have covered throughout the past few years!

cw: suicide, sexual assault, domestic abuse, alcoholismIt’s time. We delve into the Silent Hill 2 Remake and discuss its handling of the originial game’s themes, the new (and pretty good) combat system, and how it handles (and mishandles) key scenes from the original game. We top it all off with a flurry of listener questions, where we talk game preservation, that damn pizza, and more.

We talk the toy-like and immaculate Crow Country. We discuss the game's elegant take on survival horror, its consideration of childhood, nostalgia, and its characterful writing. After some listener questions, we get into a sprawling convo about Souls games, the Internet Archive, and our individual plans for October aka the season of Rose!

Content warning: general gore and violence, body horror and limb dismemberment, ableism, misogyny.In this episode, we strategically dismember both versions of 2008 classic Dead Space. We talk about differences, downgrades, and improvements across versions, decide just how good the guns feel to fire, and work through the politics, and psychology, of having a dead wife™.Edwin Evans-Thirlwell’s essay on Dead SpaceGrace’s original review of Dead Space Remake

Content Warnings: general violence, suicide, discussion of abuse and child sexual assault from 59:00 to 1:06:00Grace and Rose explore the at-once simplified and maximalist survival horror action of Killer7! We talk about the thematic power of its ~vibes~, its surprisingly sharp sense of humor, and how wonderful it feels to shoot an enemy in their weak spot. It’s good to be back.

We talk about the classic detective visual novel The Silver Case! We discuss police procedurals, visual novel aesthetics, mysticism vs. science fiction, and why games should be like television.