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You can often make a horror game more manageable by using its content warnings, accessibility settings, and scene-skip options—while keeping the story and core gameplay intact. The controls differ from game to game, so check that title’s own menus and official documentation rather than assuming a setting will be available.
Check content warnings before you play
Read the game’s content information and accessibility documentation before starting. If the game offers warnings, enable them and use them to decide whether to continue, pause, or skip before a particular scene. Microsoft recommends warnings before players enter areas, cutscenes, or dialogue that could cause an adverse emotional or psychological response. Its Xbox Accessibility Guideline 123 explains that the aim is to inform players about content before purchase or before it appears in the game, not to direct artistic choices.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Resident Evil Requiem Amazon Exclusive Edition - PlayStation 5 | $49.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Project Songbird - PlayStation 5 | $29.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Cronos - PlayStation 5 | $28.15 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Resident Evil 4 - PS5 | $15.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Resident Evil 7 biohazard Gold Edition - PlayStation 5 | $15.99 | Buy on Amazon |
A warning gives you information; it does not change what follows. If you want to alter the experience itself, look for a separate setting or an option to bypass the scene.
Look for settings that address the specific stimulus
Open the game’s accessibility and content settings and look for features that match what you want to reduce. Labels vary, so check the official documentation if the menu wording is unclear.
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- Amazon Exclusive - 2 sided poster included in every game!
- Grace Ashcroft, an FBI intelligence analyst who is introverted and easily scared, representing a new type of character for the Resident Evil series. Grace will experience horror from the same perspective as the player as she learns to overcome her fears throughout the course of the story.
- For the first time ever in Resident Evil history, players will be able to freely switch between both first- and third-person perspectives throughout the game.
- An Anniversary to Remember: With March 2026 marking the Resident Evil series’ 30-year anniversary, Resident Evil Requiem marks its own milestone in the franchise.
- Pre-orders for Resident Evil Requiem are now open, with the bonus of Grace’s costume: Apocalypse. Please note that the picture weapon does not come with the costume, but it can be obtained in-game.
- Named fear or content modes: A mode may change how a particular creature or other stimulus is presented.
- Visual substitutions or content filters: Check whether the game can change or hide the content that bothers you.
- Gore or profanity controls: Look for these only if they are relevant to the specific content you want to avoid.
- Scene or mission skips: See whether you can bypass a cutscene or section rather than changing its presentation.
Choose an adjustable setting that keeps the story understandable and the game comfortable for you. Don’t assume that lowering brightness or volume removes a particular trigger unless the game says that it does.
Example: Grounded’s Arachnophobia Safe Mode
Microsoft points to Grounded as an example of a targeted visual option. Arachnophobia Safe Mode changes the appearance of spiders to make them less spider-like, while leaving gameplay and difficulty unchanged. It shows how a game can reduce one fear stimulus without removing its mechanics; it does not mean other horror games offer an equivalent mode. Microsoft’s guideline discusses this example.
Rank #2
- A dark, enthralling 4-5 hour narrative to keep you hooked and guessing until the end. Gorgeous visuals as you traverse numerous and diverse environments, presented with a cinematic, film-like aesthetic. Ranged and melee combat with upgradeable weapons to help you survive your nightmarish journey.
- A stellar voice cast, starring Valerie Rose Lohman (What Remains of Edith Finch, Wolfenstein: Youngblood), Jonah Scott (Dying Light 2: Stay Human, Date Everything), and Aleks Le (Persona 3: Reload, Marvel Rivals, Ghost of Yotei).
- A beautifully dynamic and haunting soundtrack composed and performed by Jacob Noska, and Jonah Henthorne: members of the band Auric Echoes.
- The puzzles you encounter are more than your standard key hunt. Project Songbird rewards those with an eye for detail, making each puzzle a challenge of creativity and wits.
- The combat of Project Songbird offers a variety of approaches inspired by the classics of the survival horror genre. Melee and gunplay is slow and weighty, and ammo is incredibly scarce. However, combat isn't your only option, as you have a multitude of tools at your disposal to aid in sneaking past any creatures that wish to do you harm.
Use skip or bypass options when changing your mind
If a particular cutscene or mission is the problem, check whether the game lets you skip or bypass it. Microsoft recommends that these controls remain available after a scene has begun, so a player can change their mind rather than being locked into content they find difficult.
A skip is different from a warning or a visual change: it bypasses content instead of preparing you for it or changing its presentation. Whether the surrounding story remains clear depends on the game, so check its options and documentation for what the skip covers.
Rank #3
- Cronos: The New Dawn is a brutal third-person survival horror where you fight for the future by salvaging the past. Burn monsters before they merge. Extract souls from the living. Adapt or die.
- Set in a grim world where Eastern European brutalism meets retro-futurist technology, Cronos: The New Dawn lets you experience a gripping story that straddles the line between past and future.
- The enemies you’ll encounter are nightmarish creatures, born from the remnants of humanity – defeating them will require you to make full use of your arsenal.
- The creatures you kill won’t stay dead for long. Fallen enemies can be absorbed by others - through a grotesque process called Merging - to become faster, tougher, and far deadlier.
- This physical edition of Cronos: The New Dawn comes with bonus in-game content and a set of collectible stickers.
Review subtitles and other access settings
Accessibility settings can also help you follow dialogue and narrative details while you make other adjustments. Electronic Arts documents adjustable subtitles in Dead Space, including font size, capitalization, text and background color treatment, opacity, and speaker-name display. The game’s official accessibility article also describes a content warning feature and an option to hide certain potentially sensitive content. Its Dead Space PC initial-settings page lists content-warning display and subtitles.
These are documented features of Dead Space, not standard controls across the genre. Look up the specific game you’re playing to confirm which options it supports.
Rank #4
- Reawaken a Classic – Resident Evil 4 preserves the essence of the original game, now reconstructed using Capcom’s proprietary RE Engine to deliver realistic visuals and additional narrative depth to the iconic story that was not possible at the time of the original release.
- Modernized Gameplay – The team from 2019’s Resident Evil 2 returns to build upon the series’ modern approach to survival horror. Engage in frenzied combat with the Ganados villagers, explore a European village gripped by madness, and solve puzzles to access new areas and collect useful items for Leon and Ashley’s constant struggle to survive.
- Overwhelming Hordes – Face hordes of rabid enemies that threaten to overwhelm Leon with even more diverse methods of attack than in the original release.
- Survive on a Knife’s Edge – Years of intense training have taught Leon new ways to use his knife, helping to even the odds against the unrelenting onslaught of enemies. By parrying enemy attacks, you can avoid debilitating damage and evade lunging enemies seeking to grab Leon and hold him in place. Make smart use of scavenged knives to deliver precise finishing moves on vulnerable enemies, and even use the element of surprise to quietly dispatch unsuspecting foes before they break.
- Survive on a Knife’s Edge – Years of intense training have taught Leon new ways to use his knife, helping to even the odds against the unrelenting onslaught of enemies. By parrying enemy attacks, you can avoid debilitating damage and evade lunging enemies seeking to grab Leon and hold him in place. Make smart use of scavenged knives to deliver precise finishing moves on vulnerable enemies, and even use the element of surprise to quietly dispatch unsuspecting foes before they break.
If the game has no suitable option
If you cannot find a control that addresses the content you want to avoid, use official content information to decide whether to continue. You can also pause or take a break. Do not count on a general display, audio, or hardware change to reliably make a particular game less intense; the relevant support needs to come from the game or its official guidance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the options differ
| Option | What it does | What it can preserve |
|---|---|---|
| Content warning | Alerts you before potentially distressing content appears. | Lets you decide whether to continue, pause, or look for a skip. |
| Visual mode or content filter | Changes or hides a specific stimulus, if the game provides that control. | May leave gameplay and difficulty intact; Grounded’s arachnophobia mode does. |
| Scene or mission skip | Bypasses some content instead of changing its presentation. | Depends on the game and what the skip omits. |
| Subtitle settings | Changes how dialogue text appears and is attributed. | Can make narrative dialogue easier to follow; the available adjustments vary by game. |
Microsoft’s Xbox Accessibility Guideline 123 recommends warnings and customization options that can lessen, remove, or change the presentation of potentially harmful content, as well as ways to skip or bypass emotionally challenging cutscenes or missions. These are different tools, not interchangeable settings—and their availability depends on the game.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- FEAR COMES HOME -- Fear, combat, exploration, and item management: these are the four pillars of survival horror, a genre that has never been more masterfully executed than in the gameplay of Resident Evil. The horror continues in the ground-breaking Resident Evil 7. Step into the new Isolated View and experience true survival horror in a world created by the all-new RE Engine.
- DEEP IN THE BAYOU - When Ethan Winters opened his inbox, the last thing he expected was to find an email from his wife; she had been missing for three years. The message was simple: "Come get me," and an address in Louisiana. This leads Ethan to a decrepit mansion in the heart of the bayou. The place has a seriously creepy vibe, but Ethan continues his search – until a stranger attacks him and knocks him unconscious. Ethan has no idea what awaits him when he wakes up...for he is now in the clutches of the Baker family.
- A NEW PERSPECTIVE -- In RESIDENT EVIL 7, we're changing the way you interact with the world. For this next major entry in the series, play from a first-person point of view, dramatically increasing your ability to become fully absorbed in the world we have created.
- NEW FOR PLAYSTATION5 – Upgraded features new to the PlayStation5 version of the game include a higher frame rate, 3D audio, added ray tracing, and engaging DualSense support for Haptic Feedback and Adaptive Triggers.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
