Surviving Horror Games With Let’s Player MrKravin [New Blood Drops]
Ever since man first forged the joystick, horror has found itself a key staple within the gaming scene. From humble beginnings like 3D Monster Maze and Castlevania, eventually evolving into heavy hitters like Resident Evil and Deep Fear, horror permeates from many a screen and straight into the eyeballs of gamers everywhere.
The unique avenues of storytelling that video games provide enhance horror in ways other mediums can’t match. While books and films allow a viewer to experience someone’s story through imagination and visuals, video games drop them right into the story THEMSELVES. The level of agency skyrockets when it’s your choices deciding whether a character succeeds in their goal, which is more often than not surviving whatever nightmarish situation they’re in… IF you have the time and willpower to do so.
If you’re too scared to pick up a controller yourself, but you still want to experience these games, there’s a solution! Enter Let’s Plays. Turns out, some gamers like having an audience. More so, they like having a HUGE audience comprised of complete internet strangers watching them play. Lucky for them, droves of anonymous viewers are willing to accommodate their wishes. From longtime practitioners like Markiplier, CarcinogenSDA, and Survival Horror Network, to modern-day Twitch streamers like Fooster, ZenPetro, and our own Dread Central channel, there are plenty of players to watch, letting us experience games without actually having to put in the effort to play ourselves.
Today, we’re shining a spotlight on one specific Let’s Player who’s been a part of the community for over a decade now, and is as avid a fan of horror as the rest of us—MrKravin!
I’ve been a fan of MrKravin for a good while now, drawn into his chill attitude, the overall positive vibe he brings to his videos, and his unquestionable love of the horror genre, which sunk its hooks into him years ago.
MrKravin said:
“My adventures in horror and gaming started at a young age. I grew up in a very small town in Arkansas, out in the boonies, so there wasn’t much to do other than watch TV, play video games, and try not to get bitten by all manner of bugs and snakes. My first gaming system was the NES. I was absolutely obsessed with The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros, Excitebike, and (for some reason) the Jaws game… My dad had the first three Nightmare on Elm Street movies on VHS and I watched them all the time, probably way too much… I didn’t branch out much to other horror until I was a pre-teen.
When the first Scream came out… that changed everything. I saw it in theaters with my dad, and I was so scared of that movie, but I also loved it so much… I discovered the Friday the 13th [series], Halloween, the Child’s Play [series]… Also, I started renting any horror game I could from Blockbuster, with the original Resident Evil being a constant repeat rental.”
So, we now know about Kravin’s horror background, but why YouTube? What got him into making Let’s Plays and streaming?
MrKravin answered:
“In my mid/late twenties, I was working in IT in Austin, Texas. A buddy of mine that I worked with would have weekly game nights where we would couch co-op through classic and newer games. I had a tendency to verbalize everything and joke my way through games and intense situations, always trying to make my friend laugh. He had just stumbled across… a new video idea called Let’s Play that was blowing up on YouTube, and encouraged me to give it a shot… I’m a very shy and anxious person typically and the idea of talking to random people scared the hell out of me.”
Despite those initial reservations, Kravin decided to pursue the matter:
“After some goading and researching, I decided to give it a shot. It was in late 2013 that I made my first YouTube channel and started… posting videos. It was a rough start. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I did a bit of everything: horror, adventure, action, visual novels, RPGs, open world, etc. I didn’t really land on horror games until Telltale’s The Walking Dead was released. At the time, PewDiePie was HUGE on YouTube… I liked watching his playthrough… but I was curious what would happen if I did the exact opposite of him… so I started my first big horror series called The Walking Dead: Let’s Do the Opposite of PewDiePie.”
Back when titles were straight to the point, so you know what you’re getting into.
MrKravin continued:
“This was huge for my channel… I eventually started posting various indie horror games I found, as well as AA and AAA horror releases, which all performed pretty well, but above all else, I was genuinely enjoying myself. This is really what cemented me in the horror game genre. I decided to make a whole new channel and… switch to being a full-time content creator in 2016.”
Despite loving the genre, Kravin finds himself at odds with being a predominantly horror streamer at times.
MrKravin said:
“It can be strange being a full-time horror content creator. I’ve been doing this so long that a lot of settings, story elements, atmospheres, etcetera, simply do not frighten me anymore. I’ve always strived to give genuine reactions to things… I genuinely enjoy the horror genre to this day. I love seeing how developers can find new and interesting ways to scare and unnerve their players, but sometimes I can literally predict a scare… Even worse when I have played the exact same kind of story setup before… If I find myself in a rut of horror trope repeats, then I will usually record something non-horror as a little treat to myself and a way to sort of refresh my brain and mood.”
Having a decade’s worth of experience with the genre, it’s safe to say Kravin is pretty experienced when it comes to horror gaming. After dedicating so much time to this medium, what does he believe makes a good horror game?
MrKravin replied:
“For me, a good horror game is about the story you’re trying to tell. Graphics can be important, but I’ve played gorgeous AAA horror that left me feeling nothing, whereas I can play the grungiest-looking indie game that left me shaken to my core. Any time I see something unique, or that does a clever twist on a classic trope, I will praise it for weeks afterward. It is always important to think about what you are trying to tell your players, what emotional response you are trying to trigger.
If I’m recording a game and it feels like every other game, with the same story and the same setting and the same scares, I will literally stop and erase the footage. I don’t want to post a video where you can tell I’m thoroughly unimpressed and uninspired. I want to finish recording a video and think to myself “Damn, that was good, I can’t wait to see what other people think!”
In case you couldn’t tell, MrKravin is a huge supporter of indie developers.
MrKravin said:
“Indie horror is where the real shit is. AAA and AA horror can’t really take as many risks or try anything new or controversial, they need to reach mass market appeal to make their money back… A few exceptions are games like Alien: Isolation and Still Wakes the Deep. Other than a few releases like those, the big studios seem to want big, bombastic set pieces with tons of weapons to use on the tons of monsters they throw at you. The biggest shift… recently is probably the Resident Evil games switching to a first-person perspective and focusing more on survival again, and I’m really hopeful they keep up with this…
These days, if you want something new and fresh, indie games and a few AA games are the way to go… A single developer and the Unity/Unreal asset store can come up with some of the best horror experiences around. The opposite can also be true, however, with a lot of the Steam horror section just being shovelware slop that uses AI art and AI voices.”
With his channel, MrKravin not only found new games to enjoy — he found LOVE as well!
MrKravin reminisced:
“I now live in Scotland with my husband. We actually met because he liked my channel and joined my Discord server in 2020. One day, I was bored as hell and couldn’t record, so I asked if anyone wanted to play Halo with me. He said yes, so we started playing games together. We beat Halo, then moved onto Raft, then onto Final Fantasy XIV, then the Dark Souls series. He finally got to come visit me in 2022 once the international travel restriction was lifted, and we’ve basically been inseparable since… We have a series for my Patreon where we play through the Dark Pictures Anthology together.”
Playing so many games over the years, MrKravin recommends several to check out, as well as some developers to keep an eye on:
“I love any of the Chilla’s Art games. They make some of the best Japanese horror out there right now, with Jisatu and The Kidnap being my favorites so far. 616 Games has been releasing some of the wackiest 80s/90s inspired horror games I’ve played recently, but they probably need to slow down and focus on quality control for a bit. Jonny’s Games has been releasing some real bangers lately, with Fear the Moon being one of the best werewolf horror games ever… Still Wakes the Deep is a recent AA horror release that I loved… seeing a horror game with actual Scottish representation and not just an American trying to do an accent was amazing. Crow Country is a masterful blend of Resident Evil story/gameplay with Final Fantasy VII aesthetic. Psalm 5:9-13 was a random indie horror game… that managed to genuinely terrify me. Terror at Oakheart is a SNES game meets Friday the 13th movie and has some of the best kill animations of pixel sprites I’ve seen. Akuma Kira has been making some incredible games for a while now, and has something very special that I may or may not have voice acted for. I’m also incredibly excited for Hollowbody by Headware Games.”
Well damn, looks like we have our homework cut out for us. Get playing!
With all that said, MrKravin concluded with a special thanks to his fans:
“Special thanks to all of my Patrons, and very special thanks to Giallo Julian for asking me to take part in this interview!”
Thank YOU, MrKravin! Keep doing what you do! You can catch MrKravin at his YouTube channel here, see him stream every Friday on his Twitch channel here, and join his Patreon here.
Categorized:Interviews
