Summary
Video game genres all possess their own tropes and patterns. It is what makes them immediately recognizable and distinct to their respective fans. While players may get tired of the overuse of one particular trope - like developers' insistence on including watch towers in their open-world games -, without holding onto at least a few of them, these genres wouldn’t feel like home anymore.
One trope that seems to consistently emerge in thehorror genre is narratives based around the protagonist looking for their beloved wife. It is a set-up that players can immediately relate with, where they either admire the lengths these characters go for their loved ones, or they question whether or not they’d do the same if they were in a similar position.
Spoiler Warning: Some of the following entries delve into major story plot points.
Red Barrels’Outlast 2leaves behind its predecessors' mental asylum full of psychos in favor of a town full of psychos. Players take on the role of Blake Langermann who, with his wife Lynn, is investigating the murder of a pregnant woman referred to only as Jane Doe.
After a helicopter crash, Blake is separated from Lynn and forced to avoid crazed cultists as he braves the town of Temple Gate in search of her. As iscustom with theOutlastfranchise, players are armed with naught but a camera and a plethora of hiding spots.
The Evil Within 2is a twofer when it comes to horror protagonists saving their loved ones. In Tanga Gameworks' second foray into this nightmarish world, Sebastian is given an opportunity to save his previously-thought-dead daughter, Lily, by entering STEM once again.
While in the twisted mental simulation, he discovers thatThe Watcher, a gloopy monstrositythat appears multiple times across the course of the game, is serving his wife, who had willingly entered STEM to be with Lily. With the reveal, the game’s stakes are doubled as Sebastian resolves to save both of them from the simulation.
Yuri Stern and Barbara Wittman, the two-person team behind rose-engine, managed to balance intricate sci-fi world-building with a mind-bending, overlapping story of identity, love, and grief inSignalis, their debut title.
Players assume the role of Elster, an android or Replika, as she travels across the moon of Rotfront - fighting twitching monstrosities and navigating time loop paradoxes - in search of a mysterious woman. Said woman is revealed to be Ariane, Elster’s lover, turning what appeared to just be a psychological horror game intoa tragic sapphic love story, too.
After his wife, Alice, is dragged into Cauldron Lake by a supernatural force,Alan Wake’s titular protagonist finds himself living the nightmare all writers experience a variation of once or twice. Zombie-like Taken, residents of Bright Falls possessed by an entity called the Dark Presence, attempt to kill Alan as he realizes scattered pages of a manuscript - ostensibly written by him - are changing reality around him. Playing as Alan, players must get to the bottom of the mystery behind Bright Falls all while finding a way to save Alice.
Being thirteen years-old,Alan Wake’s graphics and gameplay can feel a little dated to gamers unfamiliar with the title, but it’s more than worthwhile to stick it out. If not for the excellent story, then those curious should at least play it to have the appropriate context forits superior sequel,Alan Wake 2.
Ethan, the leading man of Capcom’sResident Evil 7: Biohazard, is so good at looking for his wife that he did it for two games. In his first entry to the franchise, Ethan is lured to the Baker household in the swamps of Louisiana after receiving a cryptic message from his wife, Mia, who had been missing for three years prior.
Once he arrives, he suffers the typicalResident Evilshenanigans, just with aa southern gothic twist, finding himself trapped inside the house and being forced to fight through mold monsters and the infected Bakers themselves. He must also stop occasionally to solve elaborate puzzles that likely make players wonder what the architects of the house were thinking when they built it.
Silent Hill 2’s James Sunderland is the original wife guy. He’s not a very good one, as players will come to find out, but when looking back at the origins of the ‘finding your wife trope,‘Silent Hill 2is one of the titles that popularized it. Players take control of James as he enters the mysterious, fog-ridden town of Silent Hill in search of his wife, Mary Shepard-Sunderland. Along the way,they will face twisted monstrositiesconjured from James’ very psyche and encounter a cast of characters each dealing with their own demons.
Despite fans’ anxieties about Bloober Team’s handling of the franchise, their 2024 remake is arguably the best way to experience the game for the first time. Not only is the original story preserved with stunning visuals, but players can also easily experience James' story without having to dredge up a Playstation 2.
In 2023,Dead Spacegot the Capcom treatment with Motive’s remake of the sci-fi survival horror classic. Never before have gamers been able to see in such detail the gore ofa Necromorph’s crushed head clinging to Isaac’s boot. Speaking of, players assume the role of engineer turned Doom Slayer, Isaac Clarke, as he tries to escape from the monster infested USG Ishimura.
Also on this ship is Isaac’s partner, Nicole, who he had been hoping to mend his relationship with during what was supposed to be a simple job. So between cutting up Necromorphs with repurposed tools, players must work to find Nicole and devise a plan to get off the ship.
