Nightmare Creatures

Nightmare Creatures, a 1997 game made by Kalisto Entertainment for PlayStation, Windows, Nintendo 64 and Cell Phone. It was a third person adventure/beatemup set in 19th century London where a cult leader named Adam Crowley uses alchemy to make all manners of nasty (and usually lankey) creatures to go bump in the night. Now it's up to Ignatius Blackward and Nadia Franciscus to run around and fight monsters... Yeah.

A second game was released in 2000. A third game, Nightmare Creatures III: Angel of Darkness, was planned but it went to Development Hell after Kalisto went out of business.


 * Action Girl: Nadia
 * All There in the Manual: Everything concealing the game's history, the creatures created by Crowley and what happened after.
 * An Axe to Grind: The only weapon Herbert need is a standard woodcutter's axe he'll use to butcher and execute any monster in his way.
 * Ax Crazy: The protagonist of the sequel, Herbert Wallace. Subverted in that he's surprisingly lucid, well-spoken and, above all, good.
 * Battle Amongst the Flames: The final boss of course, fought on the roof of Westminster Abbey while burning.
 * Big Bad: Adam Crowley in both games.
 * Blade on a Stick: Ignatius uses a Simple Staff, but it can be upgraded to a Double Weapon halbeard, Morningstar and later Axe.
 * Deadly Gas: The first boss in the second game attacks by breathing venomous gas at the player.
 * Deadly Lunge: While not exactly slow to begin with, a lot of enemies do this.
 * Also the Mutated Mice and the Giant Bugs, which are weak but can knock you down with fast, powerful attacks.
 * Eldritch Abomination: The second games, at one point, features the humongous tentacles of an unseen horror chasing after Herbert and forcing him to seek refuge inside a museum. The Final Boss is a colossal, green mass of flesh, tendrils and fanged maws taking part most of the tip of the Eiffel Tower.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Nadia's 360 gun attack.
 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: All the bosses except the last one. Seriously, will you expect to face a fire-breathing multi-headed serpent near a sewer, or a Yeti in a church, or Jack the Ripper in a storehouse? The sequels has it even worse, with random monstrous bosses attacking Herbert without a proper introduction or setup.
 * Giant Spider: Despite looking more reptilian than insectoid...
 * Heart Container: A literal heart. No, not a pink, heart-shaped talisman but a pulsing red organ with white stripes and blue veins protuding from it.
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: Nadia uses a thin sword, which can be upgraded to a spiked blade, then to a falchion and then to a broadsword.
 * Heroic Sociopath: The hero of the sequel was a former victim of Crowley, and now looks for him in order to kill him again.
 * Historical In-Joke: The Great Fire of London is blamed on attempts to destroy the cult. Later, The Great Fire of 1834 is caused by Adam Crowley.
 * Improbable Weapon User: The penultimate boss of the second game tries to smash Herbert to bits wielding an overly-long metal cross in the first phase of the boss battle.
 * Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence: Averted, you can smash said Waist Height Fences, but the other walls are really tall.
 * Jack the Ripper: A.K.A. Jose Manuel, described as a Knife Nut psycho who slaughtered many people. And Crowley has infected him with a strange serum, turning him into a monster.
 * Kill It with Fire: The Torch item. It won't work on Hell Hounds.
 * Kill It with Ice: The Frost item, which turns into popsicles and later shatters all enemies. Except the Hell Hounds.
 * Kleptomaniac Hero: Well, justified, since at least you're stopping a blasted monster invasion.
 * Ludicrous Gibs: High levelled weapons or the Chainsaw item will allow you to cut enemies to ribbons one limb by one.
 * Monster Mash: Werewolves, Zombies, Gargoyles, Harpies, Giant Spiders, Snow Monster and Jack the Ripper (sort of). The sequel mostly relies on more generic, humanoid monstrosities.
 * New Game+: And you can play with infinite items, or as a monster or both!
 * Noodle People: Most of the monsters in the second game have an extremely thin, gangly design, with very long and wiry limbs paired with emaciated bodies.
 * Of Corsets Sexy: Nadia goes around fighting monsters in a low-cut, sexy red corset.
 * Off with His Head: Crowley's eventual fate.
 * One-Winged Angel: A cornered Crowley use his last potion to turn himself into a large, powerful demon who can be damaged only with full combo attacks. Have fun.
 * Only a Flesh Wound: Don't be surprised if you see a monster still trying to mauling you after losing his arms and jumping on one leg.
 * Puzzle Boss: All of them. The second game has a more mundane approach.
 * Rodents of Unusual Size: And they have won where the Ogres and Thames Monsters have failed in depopulating the docks. Think about it.
 * Serrated Blade of Pain: One of Nadia's sword upgrades is a silly-looking spiked sword.
 * Slasher Smile: Most of the creatures in the second game showcase creepy, rotten smiles of sharp teeth at the player.
 * Simple Staff: Ignatius start with this one.
 * Super Drowning Skills: Your characters can't swim. Neither the monsters. Since the waters are infested by large tentacled monsters with huge jaws, it seems justified... Averted in the sequel, where Herbert can swim and some leves have underwater areas to explore.
 * Sword and Gun: In both games, you're armed with a melee weapon but can also use firearms (Flintlock pistols in the first game, a shotgun in the second) as "items" to kill/wound monsters.
 * The Unfought: Despite being a hunt for Crowley, the second game doesn't feature him at all, instead pitting Herbert against his army of monsters, undeads and demons.