I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but Toyama is up there with Miyazaki, Kojima, Mikami and Kamiya for me. Perhaps the single most underrated Japanese video game director.
And I just noticed he was only 20 when he created Silent Hill. Holy shit!
What are we doing with our livesand only 16 years old, when he worked on Snatcher as graphic designer
Yeah, imagine a studio letting a 20 year old helming a project like this these days... lolI know this may be an unpopular opinion, but Toyama is up there with Miyazaki, Kojima, Mikami and Kamiya for me. Perhaps the single most underrated Japanese video game director.
And I just noticed he was only 20 when he created Silent Hill. Holy shit!
Some people I worked with ten years ago made a 45mn documentary about him for a french tv channel. It was really good but it's not on Youtube apparently. I may have a DVD stored somewhere, I'll have to look for it.
I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but Toyama is up there with Miyazaki, Kojima, Mikami and Kamiya for me. Perhaps the single most underrated Japanese video game director.
and only 16 years old, when he worked on Snatcher as graphic designer
lolWhat are we doing with our lives
Why doesn't he make "Silenced Mountain" or some kind of "I can't believe it's not Silent Hill"? Come on
Edit: Wait, he's the guy from Gravity Rush? Guy's versatile!
I don't want to limit Toriyama's importance for Silent Hill *too much*, but the later two sequels clearly showed that his presence and expertise weren't integral to the aesthetic value of Silent Hill.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=328251My end time was 15hours 21min, played on Normal.
Defeated 257 bad guys, got discovered 444 times.
Died 53 times, allies died 9 times. I walked 27616M.
Here's a stream of thoughts:
+ Episode intro and outro, slickly done, makes you want to play through the game in turbo time due to there being a treat around every corner
+ Love the use of all kinds of media
(Internet blogs, photos/music straight to PS3 HDD, real video footage, Episode 0 on the web, real items shown in descriptions, web browser in game..etc)
+ The navigation system governing enemies and allies is probably the cutting edge within adventure games. Enemies will track you down across larger maps navigating various difficulties (climbing, doors, check hiding spots, sound, vision..etc). The system also supports the various activities enemies do whenever you're not around. Very thoroughly done and it's also pretty convincing in sight jacking mode, hearing them speak, sing, laugh..etc
- Not all chapters are totally refined (last part of episode 5 being the main offender, very confusing imo). In all other cases I can mainly blame myself for not using sight jacking more
+ No padding to the game, every little chapter in every episode is important
+ A Japanese dev that get western voice acting right, pretty rare imo. Also, the whole game is bilingual which is awesome and realistic considering the plot
-/+ The controls are Okay. Combat is good, movement/stealth is fluid. They certainly hit a very good balance between the player feeling vulnerable and managing. I think button prompts could be detected easier though (in a worst case the main character has to stand very specifically to be able to do whatever action) and I also think we should be able to change location of the sight jacking screen (I would like it on the left, and not auto expanding, maybe a bit clearer image)
+ The music in this game is really really good
+ Stealth done right
-/+ the game can be extremely dark (doom 3 go to bed), excellent coloring & shadowing, a handful of times it can cause problems navigating (highlight paths better please), terrific mood however as I jumped at a shadow I created myself once
+ Archive is very interesting
+ Artistically a very strong game, characters and environments stand out
- Not so much technically (low res textures & lower framerate in sight jacking)
+ First person view (scarier) or third person view, all up to you how to play
+ Sight jacking is still a largely original feature today (and no one does it as well as Siren due to navigation/npc behavior system it got in hand)
+ Violent, sick imageries and hidden surprises you weren't expecting
+ The first attempt at a online distributed episodic console game and they hit it out of the park like this, thanks for setting the standard Team Siren
Siren demonstrates for me personally that atmosphere really is my most valued criteria within a game. Silent Hill 1 was probably the most engrossing game experience I ever had. I actually never played Siren 1 & 2 (I'm still shamed, though I observed the majority of 1). If I was a game critic(..) I would rate the obvious mega games like MGS4, GTA4..etc higher due to being smoother experiences with very high production values (and really, being games that scores full pot in every area really). But for me personally...
Siren Blood Curse might be my favorite game so far this generation. Pretty much everything I ever wanted from a horror game is in this game, the goal for future seasons is just that of refinement instead of additions. I finished the game half an hour ago so I'm still a bit rushed but I loved it. Oh and just for comparisons, this is the best horror game since Silent Hill 3 for me, possibly SH2.
The Pocket Shami one? Please, please, please, share it in some way. I've been literaly searching for this for years and I know it's in a copyright limbo...
Pretty detailed review. I remember the original Siren having possibly the most horrible british voice-acting I've heard. And wow... the Siren 2 later-game enemies are quite special. Release on PSN please.There's a video reviewing Forbidden Siren on YouTube made by NitroRad. It's actually pretty cool and he goes into some of the background of how both games were made. This quote from that video struck me, and goes to why I love the guy so much:
"Toyama was told that it [Siren] might have sold better if the game were easier. Toyama said that the high difficulty and confusing nature of the first game was something he planned all along. He didn't want it to be a game you could just sit and complete by playing it normally, he wanted information regarding progressing through the game to be seen spread online, being a collective effort to try and solve the game."
Yeah, it does sound like P.T in that the developers made the game so obscure, vague and cryptic on purpose so that it would spark online discussions and gain attention that way. Pretty cool stuff.
I don't want to limit Toriyama's importance for Silent Hill *too much*, but the later two sequels clearly showed that his presence and expertise weren't integral to the aesthetic value of Silent Hill.
There's a handful of champion game directors working at SIE including Neil Druckmann, Bruce Straley, Mathijs de Jonge, Kazunori Yamauchi & seemingly Hideo Kojima these days and Cory Barlog. Keiichiro Toyama should stand tall and proud with the rest...
What are we doing with our lives
Nice! Hopefully European PSN release as well to come.cool coincidence →
Siren 2 release date in Japan – 9 Feb 2006
Siren Blood Curse, without the pointless episodic intros/outros, is absolute survival horror perfection. I fucking LOVED it.
I really really hope we get a Siren PS4.Does anyone know what the chances are? I know most of the team have been working on GR2 so I guess it'll be a long time if ever :/
I would actually prefer a non-VR Siren, I kinda miss 3rd person survival horror..
This game was released for Vita, but occupies a slightly weird place as it is made in Japan, with unique controls and in a toon art style, but it is not a moe game. I feel like recent Western titles are polarized into super AAA titles and indie games, but the Gravity Rush series is a game right around the middle of the two. By the way, I go out to drink with the director Keiichiro Toyama once in a while but the only image I have of him is him being drunk, and I cant help but think how can a title like this come from a person like him?