Raynal and Toyama Trace the Lineage of 3D Survival Horror
Two creators whose games anchor the 3D horror lineage sat down together, and the exchange shows that lineage is carried by personal acknowledgment rather than any formal record.
Reporting from 1 source: Denfaminicogamer.
Frédérick Raynal, creator of Alone in the Dark, and Keiichiro Toyama, creator of Silent Hill and SIREN, spoke together at The Tenth Mosaic, a game culture festival held at the Institut francais du Japon in Tokyo on September 22 and 23, 2026. Raynal called his own game clumsy and its scenario an excuse for crude graphics, and said he long assumed nobody remembered it. Toyama said he considers Raynal his master.
Raynal had not expected the credit. He told Toyama he spent years believing Alone in the Dark had been forgotten, and that the Guinness World Records listing as the world's first 3D survival horror game did not change that feeling until recently. Toyama's answer was simpler: he called Raynal his master, unprompted. Toyama first saw the game as a few magazine screenshots and had no idea how it was made. The two met in Tokyo for a festival session that also included Makoto Shibata and Hifumi Kono.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.