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Silent Hill Community Thread: "There was a title here...It's gone now"
- Thread starter Gintoki313
- Start date
Slappers Only
Junior Member
Man, I spent years on the Silent Hill Forum.uk and Silent Hill Heaven sites. I've still never cared as much about a game series as I did this one.
Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 are my favorite games of all time. Both wonderful experiences in drastically different ways.
Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 are my favorite games of all time. Both wonderful experiences in drastically different ways.
ShalashaskaEx
Banned
The first four are some of my favorite games of all time and it really saddens me to see the way the series has gone. 
SoldnerKei
Member
played from 1-3, never got a PS2 but I played 2 & 3 in the HD collection, after the patch of course... and then I played that one for the Wii, and lastly Downpour I found it quite enjoyable but not scary at all
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Cool thread, but question, why is Silent Hill Shattered Memories list as a 'side story'?
It's every bit as much valid in the main line as Downpour and Homecoming.
It's every bit as much valid in the main line as Downpour and Homecoming.
indigo-cyclops
Member
How you can royally misuse staff is beyond me, what in the fuck...
I'd love to see Toyama, Ito, Owaku and Yamaoka just team the fuck up and make a new SH game. Dreams...
Gintoki313
Banned
It's mostly because it's a different spin on the story of Silent Hill 1. It's not really a main title like the others are.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I still love Silent Hill, but I've officially been half-checked out of the series for a decade now. I guess what was good about these games wasn't really the trappings of the world (zombie nurses, rust, static, punishment, urban decay), but rather the bizarre creation of one particular team.
Not to say that another team couldn't grab the reigns and make something interesting with the concept but... I just can't count on it.
Not to say that another team couldn't grab the reigns and make something interesting with the concept but... I just can't count on it.
Yeah, that's right and they also did a song for Book of Memories too.
Wow, those forums. I never registered but I lurked constantly. Good times.
Did you ever try Shattered Memories? It's my favorite post-Team Silent game in the series because it succeeded at being something entirely different while still staying true to the spirit of the franchise.
SolidSnakex
Member
I think the biggest problem with other teams is that they're imitating what Team Silent did. Each SH from that team had a completely different flavor. SH2 in terms of tone was very different compared to SH1. SH3 was a much more straight forward approach to storytelling than any other game in the series, and then you have the oddball in SH4. They all stand on their own. But every time you hear another team talking about making it they're always talking about how they're pulling from this game or that game. They really aren't doing anything to make it their own.
It's never going to go anywhere good until someone has the balls to come in and do what they want with the series and stop worrying about fans. That doesn't mean that someone needs to do to it what RE4 did to that franchise, but someone has to at least want to put their own stamp on it. They're never going to outdo what Team Silent did no matter how many times they try.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I have it and enjoy it. But it doesn't really feel like the same thing...
It's an okay scenario for a post-Team Silent world... but it still feels like the "real" SH is dead.
Absolutely agree. What made this series was the original ways the team would guide us through the uncanny and unknown.
All successors can do is copy the window dressing.
That's why I say SH is NOT about nurses, rust, etc etc. They should be going back and asking themselves "what is scary/weird/unsettling" and starting completely from scratch.
Broder Salsa
Banned
I played SH1 all the way back when you could rent a PS1 at Blockbuster. I was around 10 at the time though and got shit scared at the very first sight of a creature and shut it down, forget about that, I'm going back to Tekken.
Fast forward a few years though and I was now fairly into horror movies which my dad would take me to, and we had read previews and such of SH2. Had this local guy at a local book store that also just happened to sell video games and he got us the game early, we played through it together and it was fantastic, we used to have played adventure games together and such but this was a fantastic story on top of a lot of puzzles and such, we were left shocked at that twist, but also just enjoyed reading the notes around and figuring out what the hell was up.
That was pretty much the moment I fell in the love with the franchise and it has never stopped since, despite Konami and Hulett's best tries to make me to hate it, I actually quite enjoyed The Room despite the many obvious problems, it also had a lot of interesting things going for it.
After that though I've not really loved any of the games, there was some bright moments in both origins, shattered memories and even downpour, but they always had far too many problems for me to truly love. Homecoming was the only one I found to be truly shit, terrible predictable story, combat sucked as much as ever but was not harder (and on PC that scarlett boss was fucked), graphics were terrible and the game was just... Buggy. Soundtrack was fairly good but fuck that game.
I could never get over the puzzles in that game, which has always been quite a big factor for me in SH games. But yes, there was some really good things to it and I liked that they tried to do a lot of different stuff, not just trying to poorly copy like Homecoming.
Fast forward a few years though and I was now fairly into horror movies which my dad would take me to, and we had read previews and such of SH2. Had this local guy at a local book store that also just happened to sell video games and he got us the game early, we played through it together and it was fantastic, we used to have played adventure games together and such but this was a fantastic story on top of a lot of puzzles and such, we were left shocked at that twist, but also just enjoyed reading the notes around and figuring out what the hell was up.
That was pretty much the moment I fell in the love with the franchise and it has never stopped since, despite Konami and Hulett's best tries to make me to hate it, I actually quite enjoyed The Room despite the many obvious problems, it also had a lot of interesting things going for it.
After that though I've not really loved any of the games, there was some bright moments in both origins, shattered memories and even downpour, but they always had far too many problems for me to truly love. Homecoming was the only one I found to be truly shit, terrible predictable story, combat sucked as much as ever but was not harder (and on PC that scarlett boss was fucked), graphics were terrible and the game was just... Buggy. Soundtrack was fairly good but fuck that game.
I could never get over the puzzles in that game, which has always been quite a big factor for me in SH games. But yes, there was some really good things to it and I liked that they tried to do a lot of different stuff, not just trying to poorly copy like Homecoming.
SolidSnakex
Member
Agreed. While SH was obviously inspired by Jacob's Ladder and Twin Peaks, the look and enemies were very unique to it. There really wasn't anything like it. The whole setup for SH allows you to do so much since the town is really the most important character in the series. Try to do some unique things with that town.
But if you're going to be inspired by other horror designs, then please don't let it be Clive Barker
Gintoki313
Banned
I think it's because once you find out, that
the monsters only come out when the world is ice
While it's up there with my favorites, I can kind of see why someone wouldn't like it. It sort of depends on what you're looking for in the series. SM ditched all the macabre elements that are synonymous with SH going so far to remove combat in lieu of creating an entirely narrative and atmosphere driven experience.
Also, the puzzles weren't very great. Still love it to death though! I've easily beaten it more times than any other SH game. Very replayable, and one of my favorite story's in a game.
I also loved exploring everything there. Very well done in that regard.
RadioHeadAche
Member
Have any of you ever read those mobile-phone, Silent Hill manga released only in Japan? Were they any good?
Ichabod
Banned
Unless the OG Team Silent kickstart a spiritual successor or something, I'm doubtful we'll ever see another SH-styled title capable of capturing the essence of the original quadrilogy. The franchise lost its way after 4 and I'd rather have the series dormant than continue its downward spiral. Best to let sleeping dogs lie.
disappeared
Banned
I am at somewhat of a loss for words.
I have been with the series since '99. I rented Silent Hill from a video store, and after that it was history. SH2 was basically the Empire Strikes Back of sequels. It honed and perfected every aspect the original laid down.
SH3 was not the Return of the Jedi. It was basically more ESB, like a 2.5.
SH4 changed direction, attributed to the fact that it was not a Silent Hill game to begin with.
After that I've sat back and watched the series slowly change. Not for the better.
Although I do have to say that calling the Konami Hint Line in Shattered Memories was pretty fucking cool.
I played the Game Boy Advance game when I lived in Japan for a year.
Never touched the Arcade game.
The series, wholly, is gone. I would suggest to anyone to play through the first four games, and leave it at that.
I have been with the series since '99. I rented Silent Hill from a video store, and after that it was history. SH2 was basically the Empire Strikes Back of sequels. It honed and perfected every aspect the original laid down.
SH3 was not the Return of the Jedi. It was basically more ESB, like a 2.5.
SH4 changed direction, attributed to the fact that it was not a Silent Hill game to begin with.
After that I've sat back and watched the series slowly change. Not for the better.
Although I do have to say that calling the Konami Hint Line in Shattered Memories was pretty fucking cool.
I played the Game Boy Advance game when I lived in Japan for a year.
Never touched the Arcade game.
The series, wholly, is gone. I would suggest to anyone to play through the first four games, and leave it at that.
Rhazer Fusion
Member
I really feel like SH3 was underrated and arguably the best of the franchise. Nothing beats SH2's AMAZING storyline and atmosphere, but imo SH3 played better(SH4 played a little better), by far had the best graphics and it was definitely the creepiest game out of all of them. I haven't played Downpour yet so I cannot comment on that, but I think SH1-4 were all great in their own ways and I do admire SH4 because it tried something different. Honestly, SH: HC wasn't bad either and I had fun with it.
MisterArrogant
Neo Member
He actually did. Regardless of what ending you got.
He killed the child molester that killed his son at the beginning of the game. That's why he's in Silent Hill. The only thing that changes between the endings is whether or not he ended up killing the guard.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
But most of them aren't connected at all?
Other than the obvious ones like 1 and 3, each game more or less is its own interruption of 'silent hill' - I see no difference with SM. It should be counted just as valid as mainline as the other console versions,
Nope. Whatshisface Guard says that he had to finish the job for him, Murphy didn't have it in him to actually kill Napier or Coleridge. Although in 1 ending he does kill Coleridge.
Regarding the OP, this may not count but for Books a small booklet came with limited editions of Silent Hill 3 in Japan (along with the Lost Memories DVD).
Drawing Block: Silent Hill 3 Program is modeled after Cheryl's sketch book from Silent Hill 1, and contains the concept art that can be seen in in the Art of Silent Hill video, along with monster arts and interviews with the staff.
Depends on what you mean by "Team Silent", but yeah, a lot of members of Team Silent were there.
Still, it started as a different project (i think it was simply "The Room") and the Konami transformed it into Silent Hill 4, which is probably why it feels half baked.
For what it's worth, Masahiro Ito has had a very active Twitter presence for years, and is very kind and takes the time to respond to people. He even got in on a bit of the HD Collection community bloodletting experience.
I miss him and the rest of the team. They need to come back together. They need a kickstarter. Seriously. Nothing stopped guys like Inafune from returning to their favorite concepts. I would back it, even if it was called something like "Quiet Mountain" or "Creepy Mound". Change just enough to not get sued, then pick up the slack and continue to evolve the main concept's flexibility, maturity and art style.
I miss him and the rest of the team. They need to come back together. They need a kickstarter. Seriously. Nothing stopped guys like Inafune from returning to their favorite concepts. I would back it, even if it was called something like "Quiet Mountain" or "Creepy Mound". Change just enough to not get sued, then pick up the slack and continue to evolve the main concept's flexibility, maturity and art style.
Zeyphersan
Banned
Just saying I love the idea of this thread. One of these days I'm going to play SH 1-4, and I'm tentatively interested in the Vita releases of the other two, will wait for the reception on those.
In fact, I consider SH 2-4 the only PS2 games I still want to get
In fact, I consider SH 2-4 the only PS2 games I still want to get
MisterArrogant
Neo Member
Forgot that part. Been a while since I've played it.
Maybe he was being punished for intent. Or maybe it was his own guilty conscience and he was punishing himself.
You went in completely blind, or did you play other survival horrors prior to it?
I first played Silent Hill from the demo that was included inside Metal Gear Solid, and instantly fell in love with it (i was 11 or 12 already, though).
Bought it D1 and been a huge fan since.
Silent Hill 2 was actually the first game i pre-ordered in my life, and the only one in the whole 6th generation of consoles.
Before i played Silent Hill, i had already played Resident Evil 1, 2 and maybe even Dino Crisis (got that on D1, don't remember if it was before or after SH1's release, but it was '99), so i guess i was kind of used to the genre, but Silent Hill still blew my mind, with its mind fuckery.
"Oh shit, a phone rings, but it isn't connected!" "Oh shit, a door leads to a geographically incoherent place!" "Oh shit, random sounds even though there's no one in the stall" "Oh shit, i went through the clock tower and now i'm in hell-mirrored school!".
Broder Salsa
Banned
I had played RE1 before this. Not quite sure what did it, but SH1 was just scarier and I couldn't handle it. Although I also was scared to death at RE1 sometimes.
I think the problem, like what Nuts and Bolts faced, is that folks aren't taking the game for what it is. A psychological story-driven adventure game with horror elements.
Which is understandable considering what we've come to expect from the series, but I think gamers are doing themselves a disservice and missing out on a fantastic experience.
MisterArrogant
Neo Member
The story was great save for the fact they wrote whatever reboot they had in mind straight into a corner. The problem was the chase sequences which were probably one on the most miserable experiences I've ever had in a game. If you can somehow tolerate those, I think it works pretty well as a really interesting one-off.
Well, SH1 is significantly scarier than even REbirth, let alone Resident Evil 1 with those silly graphics.
corpses everywhere, rusty shit, and Yamaoka's industrial sound design and music, don't compare to the "scary mansion" of RE1, as creepy as that can be.
Rhazer Fusion
Member
Rogue_Ledr
Banned
A question many of us wish we knew.
The easy answer is: Konami wanted to take a franchise that had a now-familiar name, a loyal fanbase, and turn out more games with cheaper developments... thus outsourcing to low-experience Western devs.
As far as the original masterminds who, as a collective of talent, fans lovingly refer to as 'Team Silent'?
Let's list a few major members of the Silent Hill team from SH1-4 and what they have done since:
Keiichiro Toyama (Director/Writer)- SH1
Projects Post-SH1: Creative Lead @ SCE Studio Japan; Created the SIREN series and Gravity Rush. Rumored to be making a new PS4 horror game.
Akihiro Imamura (Producer) - SH2, SH4
Projects Post-SH4: Unknown
Masashi Tsuboyama (Director)- SH2; (Art Director) SH4
Projects Post-SH4: Unknown
Hiroyuki Owaku (Writer/Scenario Designer)- SH1, SH2, SH3
Projects Post-SH3: Assisted in end-of-production work on SH4. Worked on Silent Hill: Cage of Cradle, a Japanese digital manga.
Kazuhide Nakazawa (Director)- SH3
Projects Post-SH3: Joined Kojima Productions. Assisted (unspecified) in MGS4, MGS
Suguru Murakoshi (Drama Director/Scenario Designer)- SH2, SH4
Projects Post-SH4: Joined Kojima Productions. Assisted (unspecified) in MGS4, MGS
Takayoshi Sato (CG Creation/Direction)- SH1, SH2
Projects Post-SH2: Briefly worked with EA on Goldeneye: Rogue Agent. Currently works for a small dev called Virtual Heroes, Inc.
Masahiro Ito (Art Direction/Creature Design)- SH1, SH2, SH3
Projects Post-SH3: Worked on promotional art for Origins, Homecoming, Downpour, Book of Memories, and some of the comics/digital novels. Current projects unknown.
Of course you also have Akira Yamaoka, but he's still very active in the industry and hasn't disappeared like pretty much every other former Silent Hill Team member not named Keiichiro Toyama.
It's just baffling to me.
Besides the major names listed above, you also had some amazing technicians within the teams that made absolute magic with those games (especially SH3).
Many are believed to have been shifted to Kojima Productions with the heavy development of MGS4 and it's assumed many are still there, but I don't have the time or patience to go through the lengthy list of credits for SH1-4 and try mixing and matching with the lengthy credits of MGS4 or even Ground Zeroes.
Major players, like Imamura, Owaku, and Tsuboyama being MIA in this industry is just a fucking tragedy, in my opinion.
Thanks for the information man.
Damn! What a friggin shame.
I hope they bring back the original Team Silent or at least most them for the next one.
I don't understand what Konami felt was so wrong with the series that they needed to go Western developed for SH: Homecoming.
SH3 was wonderful and SH4 was pretty good.
The series was hardly floundering in such a state that it needed a new developer behind it.
I hope Konami has learned from its mistake.
Rogue_Ledr
Banned
Hmmm interesting. Good read! Thanks!
Did the series really need to be revived though? As far as I understand, SH3 and SH4 were hits!
Yeah, you could play the whole beginning, up to the point you exit the Cafè, IIRC, and a section of the School pre Other-World, somewhat altered from the final game in enemy placement and so forth.
I could be remembering wrong, but i think it also had a different model for the claw fingers.
I know they changed it from the Japanese version, because they resembled too much actual kids, but i remember the demo i played having a different model than the final game.
Sucks to hear. I was wasn't a huge fan of those sequences either, but I've always been one to tolerate motion controls more than my fellow gamers.
The poltergeists were the worst part for me.
Straight up embarrassing stuff in a Silent Hill.
Also the art design of the levels was very weak.
RicoTheMad
Banned
I may be in the minority here but I absolutely do NOT want Kojima anywhere near my Silent Hill. If I wanted to watch a movie I'd go do that, keep him out of my games please.
I'm so sick of cinematics, they just don't work for horror for me. It kills any atmosphere leading up to that moment and takes you out of the game.
I'm so sick of cinematics, they just don't work for horror for me. It kills any atmosphere leading up to that moment and takes you out of the game.
Violence Jack
Member
You're not alone. However, I would like to see what Swery could do with the SH universe.
Imbarkus
As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
As far as I know the series never reached the height that it did with SH@ being nearly a launch title for PS2.
Chart is from this guy, and would be more useful with a data label along the right there:
http://www.dreamdawn.com/sh/
TheJollyCorner
Member
Ito is also a very versatile artist. He created a specific style for the SH games, but I have no doubt if there was ever a kickstarted spiritual successor to Silent Hill he could make the art direction equally as unique & disturbing, yet different.
I've been saying it for years, but I'd love to see Ito do the art direction of a bizarre, apocalyptic RPG.
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
My opinion on entries in the series:
SH2 > SH3 > SH4 > Downpour > SH1 > Shattered Memories > Origins > Homecoming
I think Silent Hill 4 has the best soundtrack in the series, completely memorizing and fits the atmosphere perfectly, with both some of the creepiest and most beautiful tracks in the series. Silent Hill 2 is close behind.
For the longest time, SH2 and SH3 were tied for me, but after much consideration, I decided while typical, SH2 is indeed my favorite game in the series, but SH3 is VERY close. I feel SH2 has a better story while SH3 has better characters, SH2 is more low-key, by which I mean the game has a very isolated feeling to it. There are other characters, but they all seem to be people you can't rely on. It's saying something where the person helping you the most is literally a child. But the game has an atmosphere to it that's hard to match. SH3 is a much more intense experience, and I would argue it's more fun to play than SH2. It has a number of fantastic secrets as well, and in my opinion some of the best scares and moments in the series. It's also one of the only two games in the whole series I actually had -fun- fighting the bosses in the game. But in the end, I think I like SH2 just a bit more.
Silent Hill 4: The Room I finally fully completed later this year. I think it's one of the most underrated entries in the whole series. Here was the LTTP OP post I made earlier this year on it:
I will never understand the huge hate on Downpour. It's currently the worst reviewed entry in the series and is hated so much by fans of the series. It's got flaws, and they're easy to name, but I thought the title also got so much right, and wish that we would of had another entry in this style but to accord for things the game did wrong. I was fortunate to play this game a bit early, so I was able to experience it before opinions for the title came to be. My stance on Downpour is that the story is okay, the monster designs are the weakest in the series, the otherworld sequences were missed opportunities, and it has technical problems. The last chapter is probably the worst part of the game as well... However, I think the game had an amazing exploration sense, and the best overworld in the series. The side-quests maybe were sometimes a bit cheesy, but they were almost always enjoyable. I thought the Mines and Monastery had some good atmosphere, I thought the game had several cool moments throughout, and I enjoyed the puzzles actually. I also think it's probably the truest modernization of an old-school survival-horror game that came out last-gen. Combat is meh, but then I'd argue most of the SH series combat is meh and that's okay, and I like how you can literally beat the game without defeating a single enemy. The soundtrack was good, though not as good as Akira's music, and not really something I'd listen to on its own honestly, but it did fit the game well and did help atmosphere.
My opinion on SH1 is a bit controversial. I think it's still a wonderful experience, and as the first entry obviously some things haven't aged as well as later entries in the series. I love the music, the atmosphere, the characters... But then I actually think it's a horribly paced title. I think the game goes from being rather challenging and difficult to really easy to challenging again towards the end. The hardest thing you'll ever have to do in the overworld is the first thing they make you do in the game (collect the three keys and find the house you can open). The Pterodactyls and Grey Children are absolute nightmares to deal with for me, and they're the enemies you'll be dealing with the most early in the game. The corridors you maneuver in the school and hospital are so tightly-knit that it gets cumbersome to avoid enemies. The second half of the game has far wider halls and roads, and enemies like pterodactyls disappear, as well as while technically 'stronger' enemies come into play, they are a lot easier to avoid and there are far fewer of them. Every boss outside of the first one are bullet sponges with hardly any strategy at play. The first real puzzle you do in the game, the infamous Piano puzzle, is in my opinion one of the hardest puzzles in the game. I like SH1 a lot, but for me its pacing makes it not very fun to play, as I feel that hasn't aged at all.
Shattered Memories is a fantastic sort of 'walking simulator' game for me. It has a good story, good atmosphere, the psychological profiling system is interesting even if its underutilized, and it was a real looker on Wii as well as one of the games that utilized the Wii Remote the best I feel. It has flaws, specifically the Chase sequences are meh (even once you figure out each one has a visual cue to follow to find the escape path), you are a little too safe for most of the game, and maybe some more weight on yourself could help it... But still, I consider it to be one of the best 'walking simulator' games I have played.
Origins I both like and dislike. It's weaker than SH1-SH4 in my opinion, but on my scale of all the survival-horror games I've played it's still not a bad game. I feel that trying to connect it to SH1 actually hurts it rather than helps it, the prequel element feels kind of shoe-horned in, and some characters (*cough*LISA) look and act completely different than they did in SH1 anyways. The infinite pockets thing is kind of funny, though the breakable weapons mechanic just feels unnecessary here. The Butcher was kind of interesting (despite being an obvious Pyramid Head clone, though at least it wasn't actually Pyramid Head), but the actual encounter with him was rather disappointing. However, I think the game gets better as it goes along. I like the Asylum more than I liked the hospital, I liked the Theater more than I liked the Monastery, and I liked the Motel more than I liked the Theater. The Motel is actually a pretty fun spot for me and I enjoyed most of my way through it. On that note, I think Origins has some of the largest levels in a SH game, the Motel is notable, but the Asylum has to be the largest and longest single area in a SH game. I actually like the music in this title.
Homecoming was my least favorite SH game I've played, but still is okay. Technically the combat is better, and it's one of the only two entries in the series where I enjoyed the boss battles, but again, to me that's not specifically a good thing. Its story is really dumb and obvious. Though I kind of liked Alex, most of the other characters were really flat. The game is so inspired by the film it's almost cringe-worthy, there's hardly any atmosphere in the title, and is a lot more action-like, and just not well paced... But then there are parts of it I like. I mean, it doesn't look bad, and the music I still do like. There's a few rather cool moments admittedly, again the bosses are kind of fun (and Scarlet of course is kind of creepy in her own way), and it's okay most of the time as opposed to terrible or something. Though whoever the hell thought making most of the puzzles in the game fucking sliding puzzles-
Definitely will post more here, just thought I'd start with that. I still need to play Book of Memories, the Orphan titles, Escape, and finish the Play Novel. Also somehow play the Arcade game someday.
I thought the first SH movie was fairly good for a movie adaption, obviously has flaws but entertaining in its own right. The second SH movie is completely terrible, and should only be watched if you're in the mood for a bad laughable movie you can chuckle at as part of you dies inside.
I own most of the SH comics, will post about them in the near future.
SH2 > SH3 > SH4 > Downpour > SH1 > Shattered Memories > Origins > Homecoming
I think Silent Hill 4 has the best soundtrack in the series, completely memorizing and fits the atmosphere perfectly, with both some of the creepiest and most beautiful tracks in the series. Silent Hill 2 is close behind.
For the longest time, SH2 and SH3 were tied for me, but after much consideration, I decided while typical, SH2 is indeed my favorite game in the series, but SH3 is VERY close. I feel SH2 has a better story while SH3 has better characters, SH2 is more low-key, by which I mean the game has a very isolated feeling to it. There are other characters, but they all seem to be people you can't rely on. It's saying something where the person helping you the most is literally a child. But the game has an atmosphere to it that's hard to match. SH3 is a much more intense experience, and I would argue it's more fun to play than SH2. It has a number of fantastic secrets as well, and in my opinion some of the best scares and moments in the series. It's also one of the only two games in the whole series I actually had -fun- fighting the bosses in the game. But in the end, I think I like SH2 just a bit more.
Silent Hill 4: The Room I finally fully completed later this year. I think it's one of the most underrated entries in the whole series. Here was the LTTP OP post I made earlier this year on it:
I feel the game has one of the best trailers for a horror game ever, I should mention.
So in my quest to play every horror game ever, I recently finally got around to going through all of Silent Hill 4: The Room. This was my fifth time restarting the game, though the furthest I had gotten before was up to finishing Building World the first time. For whatever reason I also own all the versions of this game, on PC, Xbox, and PS2, and for those curious the PS2 version is the best (it has special effects that the other two versions don't have, and the other two versions have weird graphical glitches).
There's actually a lot I want to say on this game.
Silent Hill 4 has the weird position in the franchise of being both loved and hated. Some people view it as the point of which the series began to decline, and others view it as the last true great game in the series. However, what I can say is that it's definitely the weirdest game in the series, and that's saying a lot for a series as weird as Silent Hill.
Now part of this may be that the game was originally supposed to be a new game away from Silent Hill, titled "Room 302", but pretty early on Konami told them to make it a Silent Hill game. And it does feel like a Silent Hill game in many ways, but it also feels different. and sort of seems like the team were doing a balancing act of original ideas and making it a Silent Hill game that could follow the previous titles acclaim and formulas at least somewhat. Some of it is done very well in my opinion with the circumstance in mind, but what I always find funny is how much they shoe-horn Silent Hill into Henry's apartment. He has a variety of pictures scattered around from the town of Silent Hill, and oh will he remind you that they are of Silent Hill.
And in some way it controls about how you'd expect a Silent Hill game to control. Well, a correction, for some reason I feel the controls in this game are a bit worse than the older SH's.He actually feels harder to control than to previous games, at least at first before you adjust. And the weird part is I can't completely pinpoint on why that is. Maybe something about the weird camera angles in this game? I dunno. But of notable difference, in his room he takes on a first person view and observes and interacts with things. Which is an interesting and different change of pace for the series.
Which also leads to one of the most notable things of Silent Hill 4. Its story.
The story of Silent Hill 4 is both similar but also completely different than any other entry in the series. It features around a character named Henry, but unlike other Silent Hill games, Henry, while the main character, is not what the game is actually about. Sure, he has a role in the story, and eventually its his actions that change things, but he's actually hardly developed and doesn't really have much of a personality, outside of saying, "What the hell?" every once in a while. Arguably this is to help put the player in the position of Henry, who is trapped in his apartment and can't leave until one day a strange hole begins growing in his bathroom wall.
The story is more about a man named Walter Sullivan, who is the antagonist of the game. Walter was actually mentioned in a file in Silent Hill 2, and is a murderer who killed 10 people, and then was caught and committed suicide in his cell. However, he was trying to complete something known as the "21 Sacraments" to purify and cleanse his mother of this world and be able to be with her once again. But of course, the game isn't going to end off there, and spoilers,There's more than, but honestly the story goes beyond far-stretched. It is both somewhat ridiculous, but yet absolutely fascinating, and actually very well-executed. I found myself drawn-in by the story, and if handled differently it would of come out more comedic probably than interesting or creepy, but they did a good job at making the far-fetched seem plausible, and connect it all together in an interesting way.we soon find out that he actually views the apartment he was born in, Room 302, as his mother. But the ritual he is doing will bring the Devil to be born, and he must be stopped before he can kill 21 victims.
I also want to mention that the story felt more David Lynch to me than any other Silent Hill game. David Lynch has always been an inspiration to the series, but this definitely felt like the game most inspired by his works to me. Several scenes in the game, and just the characters, scream David Lynch to me. All the characters are oddly quirky, and odd things that seem irrelevant at first grow to be far more important than one may have first thought. Scenes transition to one another, lighting and colors play a big role, and repeating themes and imagery occur through the course of the game.
I don't think it has the same level of personal journey that Silent Hill 2 has, or the enjoyable characters that Silent Hill 3 has, but its a story that takes on its own form and somehow avoids going off the rails despite how far-fetched some of its ideas are, and layers what is the most surreal Silent Hill game out there.
I've played a lot of dream games, from Yume Nikki to LSD: Dream Emulator, but none of them are actually like dreams I personally have. But Silent Hill 4 is probably the closest game I've played that feels like an actual dream I would have.The world is close to what might be plausibly real, but it's off and details you may have noticed about some environment in real life becomes greatly exaggerated. Imagination fills the holes of what you've forgotten, and what is left is a place that is close to feeling like a place but also off, and strange. The world in Silent Hill 4 works off of a dream logic, and has its own sort of warped logic to figure out and solve in each world. The game even toys with the idea of this all being like a dream, but it keeps things consistently strange and surreal, more so in my opinion than any other entry in the series.
I think the strangeness peaks for me half-way through the game and at the end. The hospital level about half-way through is almost like the developers just went crazy making rooms with odd mechanics and sights to experience. There's rooms that are all sticky and you move slow in, there's crazy wheelchairs zooming around all on their own, there is a sudden spiked ceiling that teases you with crushing, a padded room with hooks stretching out human flesh, and even rooms with giant heads and bizarre eyes. You meet enemies that make burping sounds when hit. You walk around in a room that's raining for no reason. It all feels weird and like the developers were having fun just making it weird. And the same goes for the final world, which takes thematic rooms to the next level.
It honestly to me feels like Silent Hill 4 was a big chance for the team to toy around with ideas for the fun of it and do things because they want you. I feel it's not accident this is the Silent Hill game with the fewest locked doors in the whole series. The developers had a lot of quirky ideas, and the game is just filled with oddness because of it, aided by its odd story and surreal atmosphere.
And this is all backed-up by the strange room mechanic, which starts off as a means of bringing everything together and just to uncover plot and easter eggs, but develops into its own fight as you fight off strange hauntings and otherworldly things trying to break into your apartment with spiritual items like candles. The ritualistic themes in the game are quite strong, and it featuring over other elements of the other SH games, which features stuff like cults and character journeys, is interesting. Cults and character journeys are definitely still in the story, but the rituals are actually at the forefront here, as well as a bigger emphasis on spiritual power and what place it has in out world.
So did I like it? Yes I did, actually more than I expected to after its mixed opinions. I think a level of learning is required here though. As weird as it may sound, I feel like this game is the 'Majora's Mask' of the Silent Hill series. It's very different, weird, but arguably a lot darker, and with mechanics that are maybe hard to understand at first but develop with time. I don't think I like it quite as much as I like Silent Hill 2 or 3, but it comes damn close, and in some ways there's elements about it I prefer to other entries in the series.
I also feel that Akira absolutely nailed the music in this game. Akira being good with atmospheric music is nothing new I know, but I feel with this game there could of been no better soundtrack to it other than the tunes he composed for the game. Room of Angel is an obvious choice, but honestly, all of the soundtrack is amazing, its hard to pick favorites here. It feels a lot more ethereal than other entries, and more dream-like than the other games soundtracks.
I kind of really want to talk about Silent Hill 4, so what did you all think of it? Any moments stick out in memory? Still need to play it? What say you, GAF, on this fairly mixed-reception title in the franchise?
I will never understand the huge hate on Downpour. It's currently the worst reviewed entry in the series and is hated so much by fans of the series. It's got flaws, and they're easy to name, but I thought the title also got so much right, and wish that we would of had another entry in this style but to accord for things the game did wrong. I was fortunate to play this game a bit early, so I was able to experience it before opinions for the title came to be. My stance on Downpour is that the story is okay, the monster designs are the weakest in the series, the otherworld sequences were missed opportunities, and it has technical problems. The last chapter is probably the worst part of the game as well... However, I think the game had an amazing exploration sense, and the best overworld in the series. The side-quests maybe were sometimes a bit cheesy, but they were almost always enjoyable. I thought the Mines and Monastery had some good atmosphere, I thought the game had several cool moments throughout, and I enjoyed the puzzles actually. I also think it's probably the truest modernization of an old-school survival-horror game that came out last-gen. Combat is meh, but then I'd argue most of the SH series combat is meh and that's okay, and I like how you can literally beat the game without defeating a single enemy. The soundtrack was good, though not as good as Akira's music, and not really something I'd listen to on its own honestly, but it did fit the game well and did help atmosphere.
My opinion on SH1 is a bit controversial. I think it's still a wonderful experience, and as the first entry obviously some things haven't aged as well as later entries in the series. I love the music, the atmosphere, the characters... But then I actually think it's a horribly paced title. I think the game goes from being rather challenging and difficult to really easy to challenging again towards the end. The hardest thing you'll ever have to do in the overworld is the first thing they make you do in the game (collect the three keys and find the house you can open). The Pterodactyls and Grey Children are absolute nightmares to deal with for me, and they're the enemies you'll be dealing with the most early in the game. The corridors you maneuver in the school and hospital are so tightly-knit that it gets cumbersome to avoid enemies. The second half of the game has far wider halls and roads, and enemies like pterodactyls disappear, as well as while technically 'stronger' enemies come into play, they are a lot easier to avoid and there are far fewer of them. Every boss outside of the first one are bullet sponges with hardly any strategy at play. The first real puzzle you do in the game, the infamous Piano puzzle, is in my opinion one of the hardest puzzles in the game. I like SH1 a lot, but for me its pacing makes it not very fun to play, as I feel that hasn't aged at all.
Shattered Memories is a fantastic sort of 'walking simulator' game for me. It has a good story, good atmosphere, the psychological profiling system is interesting even if its underutilized, and it was a real looker on Wii as well as one of the games that utilized the Wii Remote the best I feel. It has flaws, specifically the Chase sequences are meh (even once you figure out each one has a visual cue to follow to find the escape path), you are a little too safe for most of the game, and maybe some more weight on yourself could help it... But still, I consider it to be one of the best 'walking simulator' games I have played.
Origins I both like and dislike. It's weaker than SH1-SH4 in my opinion, but on my scale of all the survival-horror games I've played it's still not a bad game. I feel that trying to connect it to SH1 actually hurts it rather than helps it, the prequel element feels kind of shoe-horned in, and some characters (*cough*LISA) look and act completely different than they did in SH1 anyways. The infinite pockets thing is kind of funny, though the breakable weapons mechanic just feels unnecessary here. The Butcher was kind of interesting (despite being an obvious Pyramid Head clone, though at least it wasn't actually Pyramid Head), but the actual encounter with him was rather disappointing. However, I think the game gets better as it goes along. I like the Asylum more than I liked the hospital, I liked the Theater more than I liked the Monastery, and I liked the Motel more than I liked the Theater. The Motel is actually a pretty fun spot for me and I enjoyed most of my way through it. On that note, I think Origins has some of the largest levels in a SH game, the Motel is notable, but the Asylum has to be the largest and longest single area in a SH game. I actually like the music in this title.
Homecoming was my least favorite SH game I've played, but still is okay. Technically the combat is better, and it's one of the only two entries in the series where I enjoyed the boss battles, but again, to me that's not specifically a good thing. Its story is really dumb and obvious. Though I kind of liked Alex, most of the other characters were really flat. The game is so inspired by the film it's almost cringe-worthy, there's hardly any atmosphere in the title, and is a lot more action-like, and just not well paced... But then there are parts of it I like. I mean, it doesn't look bad, and the music I still do like. There's a few rather cool moments admittedly, again the bosses are kind of fun (and Scarlet of course is kind of creepy in her own way), and it's okay most of the time as opposed to terrible or something. Though whoever the hell thought making most of the puzzles in the game fucking sliding puzzles-
Definitely will post more here, just thought I'd start with that. I still need to play Book of Memories, the Orphan titles, Escape, and finish the Play Novel. Also somehow play the Arcade game someday.
I thought the first SH movie was fairly good for a movie adaption, obviously has flaws but entertaining in its own right. The second SH movie is completely terrible, and should only be watched if you're in the mood for a bad laughable movie you can chuckle at as part of you dies inside.
I own most of the SH comics, will post about them in the near future.
Gintoki313
Banned
As far as I know the series never reached the height that it did with SH@ being nearly a launch title for PS2.
Chart is from this guy, and would be more useful with a data label along the right there:
http://www.dreamdawn.com/sh/
Is this a sales chart for survival horror games? If so, I can't believe SH4 sold more then SH3, that's pretty surprising. Speaking of sales, does anyone know if Downpour sold well? I'm curious to know if Downpour was even profitable for Konami.