10 Video Game Moments That Blew Us Away (Even Though We Saw Them Coming)

10. The Sanity Effects - Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

It's ironic how the Sanity Effects in Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem repeatedly caught players off-guard, considering it was the game's defining feature.

Throughout this cosmic adventure, our 12 heroes encounter all sorts of paranormal creatures. Every time you confront a ghoul, demon, or ancient deity, your Sanity Meter slightly depletes.

A low Sanity Meter results in various hallucinations, including creaky footsteps, statues moving, or hanging bodies appearing in the background. These mind-bending moments can get pretty meta, pretending the game has restarted or acting like the save file has deleted.

Players are warned early on the illusions can't harm them unless the Sanity Meter is empty. For this reason, there's no real reason why the Sanity Effects should bother anyone.

Nevertheless, the Effects never stop being scary, no matter how many times they're experienced. Even when you recognise the Sanity Effects can't hurt, the creepy visuals and sounds are likely to rattle anyone (especially after experiencing an audio hallucination of babies crying for ten minutes straight). 

As freaky as it is to battle Lovecraftian beings and primordial entities, there's nothing more frightening in Eternal Darkness than losing your mind.