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Silent Hill 2 |OT| You promised you'd take me there again someday...

Zacfoldor

Member
Playing one go of the original before I start the remake, but that's next week.


TgBoU0o.jpeg
Nice! That is a lovely screenshot, actually. Hell, if there was no remake that screenshot would get me to replay the OG.
 

consoul

Member
That's exactly how it worked in the OG games. And yes, that's how fog works in real life. You look towards the distance and you see it. You walk to the spot you were looking at and you can see around you, but where you were now looks foggy.
How it worked in the PS2 game shouldn't be the benchmark in 2024. As someone who lives in a cold mountain town where it is often foggy in the mornings, I can say the way fog works in real life is nothing like what SH2 remake is doing.

I get that real fog is volumetric and appears thicker the more distance you look through, but it doesn't have a complete drop-off circle around you as you move through it. In real life it's a gradual dissolve the whole way, which is not what SH2 remake is doing (even though it could have).

The combination of leaves blowing in the wind and static hanging fog is obviously wrong. I guess they just thought the fluttering leaves were a cool particle effect to throw in.
 
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Power Pro

Gold Member
I only played a little bit of this last night, but even on my laptop, it really looks pretty. Looking forward to playing more on my desktop during the weekend.

I never really played the original, so this'll be my first rodeo, but I do feel kinda spoiled through osmosis over the years. We'll see.
 

keefged4

Member
Second playthrough done. Managed to get the no radio/ranged weapons/under 10 hours achievements in one run. The achievement for getting all memos cant be done in NG+ fyi - One of them is replaced with another item needed for one of the endings in NG+, so fair warning.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Anyone else find Maria sexier in this version?
I feel like they did a better job making her flirtier and making James uncomfortable. I also really like how they focused on her body language a bit more, her facial expressions, etc. It makes a lot feel even more effective. But, OG Maria rules too.

I got a Letter.

and

For me, it's always like this.

are two of the most poignant gaming moments / quotes of all time for me. Both invoke some stuff in my brain.
Couldn't agree more. There's a few other from here as well. It's just wild how much the game affected me. I was a teenager when the original came out, and so much stuck with me. Loving it a great deal helped too. But it isn't too surprising, a game with that kind of content on PS2 was pretty wild to experience.
 
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Madflavor

Member
I feel like they did a better job making her flirtier and making James uncomfortable. I also really like how they focused on her body language a bit more, her facial expressions, etc. It makes a lot feel even more effective. But, OG Maria rules too.

In terms of character, of course I like OG Maria. But I can't bullshit myself and claim she didn't have a psycho look to her.

1e4765fd2c6f212eb0ec048569ac36b5.jpg
 

Bartski

Gold Member
The achievement for getting all memos cant be done in NG+ fyi - One of them is replaced with another item needed for one of the endings in NG+, so fair warning.
That is not true. There is an additional memo in a safe in the NG+ bowl-o-rama that counts in place of the one that's missing - that's how I got the trophy.
 
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James definitely wins for best screams and grunts while stomping or bashing the shit out of enemies. Isaac Clarke dethroned.

Sometimes it seems like the sounds he emits is dependent on his health. Like at times Ive been pretty low and finishing off those abominations sounds way more agonizing.
When you're low on health they add a heavy reverb effect to his sound effects so it sounds a lot crazier.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
In terms of character, of course I like OG Maria. But I can't bullshit myself and claim she didn't have a psycho look to her.

1e4765fd2c6f212eb0ec048569ac36b5.jpg
Oh totally. I feel like new Maria just hits better and makes more sense character-wise. I know folks couldn't get over her new look and outfit, but the old one always felt like a bit TOO much IMO. I feel like the new design went a route where she was "friskier" without being TOO much, at least visually. I mean, you can make a character attractive without having to make them look like a dancer from some risque music video, lol.

I don’t like this prison.

Nope. Nope. Nope.
I can't get over how much more terrifying the mannequins are. They're so tight and even more unnerving than the OGs.
 
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Kacho

Gold Member
Oh totally. I feel like new Maria just hits better and makes more sense character-wise. I know folks couldn't get over her new look and outfit, but the old one always felt like a bit TOO much IMO. I feel like the new design went a route where she was "friskier" without being TOO much, at least visually.


I can't get over how much more terrifying the mannequins are. They're so tight and even more unnerving than the OGs.
I love how they hide. It’s a bit janky at times but super cool idea.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
I’ve only gotten the jump on them maybe five times total? They blend themselves into the environment so fucking well. That and they pick the perfect spots to lay low, like in between a corner and the side of a bookcase or cabinet 😅
I was proud of myself for the few times they hopped out and startled me and I successfully blasted them before they touched me, lmao.
 

Shakka43

Member
Havent finished the game yet (tho I know spoilers from the original game), but my take is that
they know they are in some kind of purgatory. They just dont want to accept the reason why they are there. So they dont talk about it.
They seem to be in a dream-like state, weird shit happens but they don't have enough awareness to resonate what's really going on.
 
Damn, was really hoping for Italian audio. Just English/Japanese. Japanese it is.

Bought it tonight but waiting a week or so to actually play it.
 
What's the general consensus on this for someone who hasn't played the original? Would playing this one be worth it, or should I just "someday" play the PS2 version?
Definitely play through the OG on PS2 at some point. The 60fps CGI scenes are really cool. The atmosphere/music is so damn good. The voice acting is better too, it's crazy how good it is for the fever dream vibe.
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
Fuck this whole place and those fucking spider mannequins. Watching them crawl around is straight up Friedkin Exorcist shit.

EBlYyvg.jpeg

0WB0d2z.jpeg


Fuck it all in the best way possible 😅 I’m just in constant panic mode. The silver lining to the whole thing is having a bunch of ammo but even that doesn’t help me from shitting myself.

GOTY probably
 

SkylineRKR

Member
I just finished Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition, which was my first time playing the original Silent Hill 2 since borrowing a PS2 in my late teens. The game feels so small in comparison; it took me around 6.5 hours to finish, taking my sweet time exploring.

Truly a bizarre experience right after playing through the Remake twice, I enjoyed myself a ton but man, two decades of a jump in quality here is just the showcase of how far we have gone... Sorry but people saying this otherwise fantastic mod is the superior way of experiencing Silent Hill 2 in 2024 are off their rocker.

What it really shows is how amazing the Remake is as a reinterpretation of the source material, improving on it in every possible way. Yes, that most definitely also includes both writing and acting. Those "glimpses of the past" make so much more sense now. I'm blown away by how much from the original stuff is still there, yet how radically all areas got reworked in the Remake. How they managed to take somewhat weaker areas like the Labirynth and turn it into an absolute highlight of a chapter. How old puzzles were redesigned and expanded on — I would pick up items and immediately know what to do, but not necessarily where to go, as the level layout is just... a game of its time and additionally confusing to navigate due to the old-school camera. The combat is peak jank, does the job, but then again, the way Bloober upgraded those encounters, especially boss fights, while staying true to their core concepts is awe-inspiring... turning them into modern, mechanically upgraded renditions of the old designs, rather than ditching them and making something totally from scratch...

I’d definitely recommend anyone who hasn’t played the original to do so now after the Remake. It's a true eye-opener.

Yeah and this is about the Enhanced Edition, not even the vanilla PS2 game.

Ofcourse its an all time classic, but I agree, nostalgia aside I can't see how the original is better than this one. With RE2 I sort of can get behind this opinion, because the new game makes quite some drastic changes that I also didn't like (Mr.X appearing in scenario A, the raid being shown on VHS only and many other changes). But Bloober sticked more to the original SH2 than Capcom themselves did with RE.

In a way Bloober, who not many had faith in, was perhaps the perfect choice. Because they were clearly fans of the original, and weren't pompous enough to create their own shit out of it. Good supervision is what matters. We've seen it before with FeelPlus (a B-studio sort of comparable to Bloober) creating Lost Odyssey, supervised by Mistwalker. That game trounced FFXIII from Square. Miyamoto visited and roasted Retro Studios, who were doing quite awful, and they came with Metroid Prime as a result.
 
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Deleted member 1159

Unconfirmed Member
Man the Dual Sense’s vibration adds so much to the tension. Just that very low intensity rapid shit feels like electricity in your hands
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
This whole prison really is just pure hell. I don’t get how you guys like Bartski Bartski can wipe it out more than once so quick.

I’m definitely gonna replay it, but holy shit will I need awhile to decompress. Like awhile. And I’m not even finished 🤣

That first replay is gonna be amazing.
 

Arachnid

Member
I just got to Blue Creek Apartments. When I say I am SHOOK

Also, who else is keeping James' health red and orange all game? Where my 'In Water'-ass pessimists at??
 

Madflavor

Member
This game does an amazing job making you feel like you've descended into hell.

I just got to Blue Creek Apartments. When I say I am SHOOK

Also, who else is keeping James' health red and orange all game? Where my 'In Water'-ass pessimists at??

Not me lol. "Leave" is the most fitting ending imo. To me SH2 is a story about punishment and redemption. Granted there's multiple ways you can approach the game, which will determine your ending. In "Leave" James resists temptation from Maria and remains loyal to Mary, suffers the entire game, and literally goes through hell in order to find her. In the end he forgives himself, and finds a new reason to live. I know "Water" is seen as the happy ending in Japan due to their views on death being different than ours, but I always found "Leave" to be the most fitting ending to the story as presented. It's also the only ending that resolves the situation with Laura. You never know what happens to her in "Maria" and "Water".
 

Kacho

Gold Member
Cleaned up most of the last dungeon.

Got to the part
where you dump all your stuff in a locker and have to move through an area with those arm enemies

yeah... I'll see you tomorrow, SH2
 
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Just noticed there was an update to the cutscene fix. It now still uses ultrawide with no black bars, but the frame rate is finally fixed.

It used to be the frame rate was showing to be high, but the animations, etc, were still locked at 30. Now everything is smooth.
 
One thing I really hate is something that too many games are doing these days. You open up 5 drawers or more and you find one health drink and 1-2 bullets. I know it is survival horror, but I am sick of games making me open everything I see and getting very little pay off for my efforts. I hated it in the last of us, the evil within, and in this and others. You don't have to give me 50 bullets per drawer, but I do expect at least 5-10 if you are going to send me on these pixel hunts. Even worse is when opening several in a row and they are all empty.
 
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I don’t like this prison.

Nope. Nope. Nope.
seriously. the enemies move way too fast and there are so many of them in many sections of it. A certain revolver wielding boss does WAY too much damage. Even on the easier setting. Like my dude, who gave you the 357 from dirty harry or Barry's Colt Python from Resident Evil!? I had 17 full cure items at that point, and it dropped down to 7 by the time I was done. $^#*.
 
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Hugare

Member
One thing I really hate is something that too many games are doing these days. You open up 5 drawers or more and you find one health drink and 1-2 bullets. I know it is survival horror, but I am sick of games making me open everything I see and getting very little pay off for my efforts. I hated it in the last of us, the evil within, and in this and others. You don't have to give me 50 bullets per drawer, but I do expect at least 5-10 if you are going to send me on these pixel hunts. Even worse is when opening several in a row and they are all empty.
Nah

If there's ammo in every drawer, then you dont feel the reward when you find some. You already expect it to be there. Becomes too "gamey" and predictable.

Not to mention that would be unrealistic to have ammo in every drawer in the game (I know its fantasy, but still needs to feel believable.)

I love it, for the reasons above
 
Started playing on hard combat /medium puzzle but thinking about dropping to medium combat if it gets annoying with multiple enemies later. Evil Within 1 on release was my absolute limit on how hard a horror game should be and having enemies
resurect randomly
really fucks up my inventory management. Probably do a ng+ on easy combat hard puzzles later.
 

april6e

Member
What in the heck? I'm early in the game as a player new to the franchise and the Steam achievement notifications have spoilers. After meeting a certain iconic enemy, the achievement you get for entering the new area right afterwards has a seemingly significant spoiler.
 
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Deleted member 1159

Unconfirmed Member
Man the Dual Sense’s vibration adds so much to the tension. Just that very low intensity rapid shit feels like electricity in your hands
God toward the end of the Blue Creek Apartments it was pulsing in intensity in sync with the sound and it was so fuckin dope. I don’t think another game has used the dual sense as effectively outside of Astro Bot, and it’s natively supported on PC. Well done
 

Madflavor

Member
Started playing on hard combat /medium puzzle but thinking about dropping to medium combat if it gets annoying with multiple enemies later. Evil Within 1 on release was my absolute limit on how hard a horror game should be and having enemies
resurect randomly
really fucks up my inventory management. Probably do a ng+ on easy combat hard puzzles later.

I’ve been doing my first playthrough on Hard Combat. Currently in the last area. Best advice I can give people is try to get decent with the dodge mechanic, and don’t be shy about reloading if you’re not happy with how you cleared some rooms. You do really need to conserve ammo for Boss Fights. Bosses take a ridiculous amount of punishment on Hard.
 
It's like every time I think I can't possibly handle more and it can't possibly get worse, the game hits a new peak of depravity and makes a previous scenario seem almost tame. I actually sometimes have to pause and almost laugh in disbelief at how fucking dark and horrific this game looks and sounds.
 

Arachnid

Member
Just made it out of Blue Creek. My god, the relief. That was a hell of a trial. I'm legit drained (and terrified of the inevitible next otherworld section).


This game does an amazing job making you feel like you've descended into hell.



Not me lol. "Leave" is the most fitting ending imo. To me SH2 is a story about punishment and redemption. Granted there's multiple ways you can approach the game, which will determine your ending. In "Leave" James resists temptation from Maria and remains loyal to Mary, suffers the entire game, and literally goes through hell in order to find her. In the end he forgives himself, and finds a new reason to live. I know "Water" is seen as the happy ending in Japan due to their views on death being different than ours, but I always found "Leave" to be the most fitting ending to the story as presented. It's also the only ending that resolves the situation with Laura. You never know what happens to her in "Maria" and "Water".
I completely get that. It's a great ending too. This always varies from player to player, and there are great points for both endings, so neither are wrong

Maria ending is factually wrong though idgaf

To me, "In Water" always just seemed more thematically appropriate for such a sad tone/bittersweet game. When you look at all the other characters the town torments, not a single one of them forgives themselves or rises above their respective issues. Eddie gets falls to/repeats his trauma over and over until he just straight up becomes an unremorseful shooter lashing out. Angela submits to the flames and effectively commits suicide. James making it out when she doesn't of all people just rubs me wrong.

There's also this official concept art from SH4, though obviously it never made it into the game so it's nothing concrete.
LWkp2K7.png

It doesn't quite matter, but both Cihi and Ito chose 'In Water' as their personal canons too, just because it felt more thematically appropriate.

There's also the fact that both James and Mary were stated to have gone missing in Silent Hill in both The Room and Homecoming. It's possible James went into hiding, but he doesn't strike me as quite capable of dodging a manhunt or going underground with a new identity. Especially with Laura in tow.

It also just made more sense to me in that he ultimately pays for his sins and finds rest with Mary in the lake, In the beginning of the game, Mary's corpse is literally in the backseat of his car. The main thing that always rubbed me wrong in "Leave" is James just taking Laura all hunky dory back to the car with Mary's corpse there to adopt her or whatever is implied. It's weird, and almost dreamlike in how tidy and happy it is. How is Laura going to react to seeing her surrogate mothers week old body in this guys car? Does she just live the rest of her life keeping Mary's murder a secret for him?

I personally think SH2 is the last horror game that should have a happy ending.
 
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You do really need to conserve ammo for Boss Fights

The first Pyramid Head fight is on a timer, I cleared it without firing a single bullet. The rest though? Yeah

The whole screen going red when injured is a poor design choice. Good thing there is a mod to remove that effect.

On PS5 it can be turned off in the settings, PC doesn't have that option? Strange if so.

-----------------------

Right near the very end, what a ride, epic post incoming once it's all done and I've gathered my thoughts.
 
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