Sounds like a lot of conent. Are you enjoying it? Does the gameplay stay the same throughout or does it get switched about?
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Silent Hill: Book of Memories |OT| A Different Way Forward
- Thread starter Oyashrio-Sama
- Start date
Sounds like a lot of conent. Are you enjoying it? Does the gameplay stay the same throughout or does it get switched about?
Picked this up today too, currently sitting at level 6. Pretty fun, so far, but then again I kind of like anything that is Silent Hill, so I'm easy to please. Tried a little multiplayer and actually got into a 4 player game, but it seems a little buggy; I got trapped in a room without any way to exit and couldn't pick up any items, so I had to quit out. Voice chat is actually pretty decently implemented, as the other three players were using it, so it seems to be a nice group type of game if you want it.
Graphics are pretty decent, and the lighting is really nice. Seems to be some customization options in terms of looks, but those cost some extra cash that I'd rather burn on abilities, so I haven't picked any of those up yet.
PSN ID is geestack, so I'm up for any multiplayer shenanigans if people are interested.
Graphics are pretty decent, and the lighting is really nice. Seems to be some customization options in terms of looks, but those cost some extra cash that I'd rather burn on abilities, so I haven't picked any of those up yet.
PSN ID is geestack, so I'm up for any multiplayer shenanigans if people are interested.
BomberMouse
Member
I'm interested on this game too, but not at full price. There's too much competition right now.
Is the final build more polished than the demo? The UI was pretty bad on it.
Is the final build more polished than the demo? The UI was pretty bad on it.
Oyashrio-Sama
Member
I'm having quite a bit of fun with it, its starting to get pretty challanging now.
If I had to give it a numbered score........ its at about a 7 out of 10 for me.
Each zone has a different mission to do, Kill a certain mini boss type monster, Find certain items, Kill certain monsters first or last. I even had one where I had to lead a dog to the end of the level. It keeps stuff fresh. You also get some pretty good rewards for doing them.
Just finished up Zone 3.
I'm digging the game so far, it's not too bad.
Graphics aren't the greatest and the framerate could be better, but it's very serviceable.
To be honest the game is deeper than I thought it would be. There's a lot of shit I don't understand, like the Karma system. I don't understand why it's there. Why do some enemies give off light karma and others give off bad karma? Are we supposed to select and choose which enemies to dispose of? This never amounts to anything other than my karma being smack dab in the middle all the time. And those flashback rooms or whatever where there can be 3 outcomes are confusing me so far. I've only ever gotten middle karma on each outcome in those rooms, not quite sure what the hell I'm supposed to do in those rooms.
I'm really enjoying the exploration aspect of it though, each level has tons of rooms, and they're all fun to go through. Checking each door that leads off into its own path through the level is great. If there really are more than 100 zones this game is going to take a looong time to get through.
Going to try multiplayer a little bit later.
If there is anything else you guys wanna know just ask.
Oh, and right after you defeat the first boss, I picked up the note first and then the game blacked out so I didn't get to pick up the Fire Sword, if I don't have it when I continue I'm going to rage.
I'm digging the game so far, it's not too bad.
Graphics aren't the greatest and the framerate could be better, but it's very serviceable.
To be honest the game is deeper than I thought it would be. There's a lot of shit I don't understand, like the Karma system. I don't understand why it's there. Why do some enemies give off light karma and others give off bad karma? Are we supposed to select and choose which enemies to dispose of? This never amounts to anything other than my karma being smack dab in the middle all the time. And those flashback rooms or whatever where there can be 3 outcomes are confusing me so far. I've only ever gotten middle karma on each outcome in those rooms, not quite sure what the hell I'm supposed to do in those rooms.
I'm really enjoying the exploration aspect of it though, each level has tons of rooms, and they're all fun to go through. Checking each door that leads off into its own path through the level is great. If there really are more than 100 zones this game is going to take a looong time to get through.
Going to try multiplayer a little bit later.
If there is anything else you guys wanna know just ask.
Oh, and right after you defeat the first boss, I picked up the note first and then the game blacked out so I didn't get to pick up the Fire Sword, if I don't have it when I continue I'm going to rage.
Oyashrio-Sama
Member
Walk over either Red blood or White blood to collect it. It builds your Karma meter towards Light or Blood respectivly.
Every notch the meter goes up, lets you use Karma magic (just tap the Meter). Light is curing and protective magic, Blood is destructive magic. At first you only have one spell, but you get more as you level up.
Using magic depletes the meter back towards neutral.
On the rooms its basically doing good or bad things.
The first rooms has the crying little girl, She tells you to stay away. Do noting and staying away gives you Light Karma, continuing to walk to her gives you neutral, and I guess attacking her is Blood Karma...
PapaEmeritus
Member
'Just finished up Zone 3.
I'm digging the game so far, it's not too bad.
Graphics aren't the greatest and the framerate could be better, but it's very serviceable.
To be honest the game is deeper than I thought it would be. There's a lot of shit I don't understand, like the Karma system. I don't understand why it's there. Why do some enemies give off light karma and others give off bad karma? Are we supposed to select and choose which enemies to dispose of? This never amounts to anything other than my karma being smack dab in the middle all the time. And those flashback rooms or whatever where there can be 3 outcomes are confusing me so far. I've only ever gotten middle karma on each outcome in those rooms, not quite sure what the hell I'm supposed to do in those rooms.
I'm really enjoying the exploration aspect of it though, each level has tons of rooms, and they're all fun to go through. Checking each door that leads off into its own path through the level is great. If there really are more than 100 zones this game is going to take a looong time to get through.
Going to try multiplayer a little bit later.
If there is anything else you guys wanna know just ask.
Oh, and right after you defeat the first boss, I picked up the note first and then the game blacked out so I didn't get to pick up the Fire Sword, if I don't have it when I continue I'm going to rage.
Sounds like you are trying to fool yourself that the 40$ you spent is worth it. Let me ask this. If you had to buy it again, right now after playing. Would you spend 40$ on it or no?
I swear I read a note that said killing the enemies also nets you Karma, walking over their blood pool just gives you an opportunity to get more karma. I just don't like how I'm supposed to tip toe around the pools of blood to only get one kind of karma.
If the karma only came from your actions during those consequence rooms, that would be fine, but making the whole combat system revolve around karma in a game where I just want to kill everything that moves is dumb.
What the hell? What did I say above that makes you think I'm trying to convince myself it was a good purchase?
Oyashrio-Sama
Member
Attacking does but it seems such a small amount, the real Karma comes from the blood and the Ghost rooms. I kill every thing that moves and still go to one end or the other.
What a stupid question. Yes I would buy it. Its a fun game.
Sound like you already made up your mind that this game is not worth your money, troll elsewhere.
Oh yeah, I bought the game too, $40 well spent.
What the fuck is wrong with you?
Just finished up Zone 3.
I'm digging the game so far, it's not too bad.
Graphics aren't the greatest and the framerate could be better, but it's very serviceable.
To be honest the game is deeper than I thought it would be. There's a lot of shit I don't understand, like the Karma system. I don't understand why it's there. Why do some enemies give off light karma and others give off bad karma? Are we supposed to select and choose which enemies to dispose of? This never amounts to anything other than my karma being smack dab in the middle all the time. And those flashback rooms or whatever where there can be 3 outcomes are confusing me so far. I've only ever gotten middle karma on each outcome in those rooms, not quite sure what the hell I'm supposed to do in those rooms.
I'm really enjoying the exploration aspect of it though, each level has tons of rooms, and they're all fun to go through. Checking each door that leads off into its own path through the level is great. If there really are more than 100 zones this game is going to take a looong time to get through.
Going to try multiplayer a little bit later.
If there is anything else you guys wanna know just ask.
Oh, and right after you defeat the first boss, I picked up the note first and then the game blacked out so I didn't get to pick up the Fire Sword, if I don't have it when I continue I'm going to rage.
I did the exact same thing with regards to the fire sword... so pissed because that would've been really useful later on.
Also, definitely deeper than I thought. The first zones were easy to steamroll through, but the zones after that required some more skill and precision on my part to avoid dying and to kill efficiently. Definitely addicted, haven't put it down since I've started.
I think it's also kind of cool seeing all the enemies from previous Silent Hill games. Ran into a few from Homecoming and I believe SH2 which was cool. Enemy variety is pretty good, especially considering that they have the entire library to draw from. Hoping to see more from SH2 and SH3.
the_korben
Member
I also bought it today after hesitating quite a bit. The demo didn't really convince me when it came out, but now that I've spent about an hour with the game, I'm glad that I bought it. I'm a big, big Silent Hill fan and I love RPGs, so this really turned out to be an interesting mixture. Also, I might be fooling myself but I think the engine runs a bit better than the demo.
I'm really looking forward to see some dear old friends (= monsters).
I'm really looking forward to see some dear old friends (= monsters).
MDSLKTR
Member
Revolutionary
Member
Ha, same thing happened to me. Fortunately, you can fight the boss again rather easily from Zone Select so I was able to get another Fire Sword.
Really enjoying this. At first I was worried that it would be pretty easy but it has ramped up a bit and gotten challenging at times. Lots more systems going on than I thought from the Demo so that has been really nice to mess with. The way you are constantly having to pick up new weapons/ammo/health packs and stuff is really great. I will feel like I am fully stocked and ready to roll and after a couple rougher rooms it starts to feel very much like old Resident Evil or something where despair just takes over and you realize it isn't going to work out. Not a Silent Hill person but I love the setting as it seems pretty Lovecrafty to me and I love that stuff.
Would recommend for sure!
Would recommend for sure!
Looks fun. Don't have a Vita though. I would pick it up on Steam for sure or maybe PSN if they ever decided to port it. There's not enough Horror action-RPG out there. Lots of youtube haters though. We get it, it's not a "true" SH game.. but all anyone ever does is say they want to see SH go in different directions and this is one of them I think.
TheJollyCorner
Member
First Silent Hill release (well, other than the Play Novel for GBA) that I'm not buying. I even bought that piece of shit HD Collection. It's a sad day.
Played the demo. There's just really nothing about it that I like enough to purchase.
There's different Silent Hill (Shattered Memories), and then there's different Silent Hill... and this game interests me about as much as a microwavable box of Stouffers' Creamed Chipped Beef.
Played the demo. There's just really nothing about it that I like enough to purchase.
There's different Silent Hill (Shattered Memories), and then there's different Silent Hill... and this game interests me about as much as a microwavable box of Stouffers' Creamed Chipped Beef.
Revolutionary
Member
If anything, I think you're giving Konami the wrong idea. You support them with the numerous failed attempts to create a decent traditional SH (and the HD collection, wtf), but run away from a SH game that is radically different.. which is the direction that SH needs to go in (IMO).
I don't think it's the best game ever (I can see reviews hovering in the 7 range), but it's a welcome change to the SH formula and I prefer it to slogging through a shitty traditional SH with horrendous framerate and combat yet again.
Whatever.. I guess we can look forward to more shitty and failed attempts at matching the greatness that is SH1-3. :\
Edit: Also, I hope you're not planning on watching the movie. :| lol
Combichristoffersen
Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Downpour was a step in the right direction though, and I'd rather have more of that than Book of Memories, as this game looks awful IMO. The new movie looks pretty bad too, which is disappointing, as I quite liked the first movie despite the liberties it took in regards to the source material.
Revolutionary
Member
I didn't like Downpour at all, so that just cemented the idea that they should stray away from traditional SH in my mind. It's dead, IMO.
I agree BoM looks bad at first glance (the previews were unflattering), but I found myself enjoying the demo and how it throws traditional SH out the window. I don't know - I think I'm just completely done with traditional SH so I welcomed this with open arms.
And yes, the new movie looks godawful. I thought they would get it right this time but it seems they're aiming for Resident Evil movie territory.
brandonh83
Banned
Actually if they decide to stray away from traditional Silent Hill I'd rather them just call it something else. New IP or something. Don't make something totally different and slap an old name on it because that's not what it is. They should have did this with Resident Evil starting with 4 although I get that it wouldn't have made a lot of financial sense.
TheJollyCorner
Member
This.
I disagree that I'm running away from something 'radically different', Revolutionary.
I appreciate your opinion (I've seen you chime in on this before), so please don't consider the following any kind of insult to your intelligence with my borderline hyperbole.
The last two main SH releases (Shattered Memories and Downpour) both tried to do different things to try jump-start the series, but were met with low budgets, questionable QA, and shit marketing. SM was a reimagining, which many hated, but many loved (myself included)- but it was bold. Downpour tried to tell an independent SH story, with an interesting 'otherworld' motif, without looking like a ME TOO fan-fic like Homecoming.
From what I played of Book of Memories with the demo, I place it right there with Silent Hill Arcade; i.e. let's slap the SH name on it to give it more attention. I can see where people can get enjoyment (see: most Way Forward games) on a pure gameplay level, but aesthetically? It just feels so different to me that it's beyond just 'moving in a different direction'. To me it's like calling Chocobo Racing a Final Fantasy game.
I like Way Forward, but I just didn't enjoy this demo. I don't like the 'feel' of it and it's clear to me the SH name and familiar creatures are just on there as a dressing.
What would we talk about more? A game called 'Silent Hill: Book of Memories' or 'Gothic Terror: The Awakening'?
You could say the same for Shattered Memories (without the SH link it might as well have been called "Frozen Nightmare"), but it was the psychological and emotional elements, combined with the SH link(s), to SM that made it easier for me to get pulled in. It had a huge effect on me and I still think about its themes and ending years later.
So yeah; I'd rather support the failed attempts at a traditional Silent Hill than something that is so fundamentally different that any links to this series just seem superficial.
And yes, I'm also seeing the movie because it's Halloween season and I get a kick out of bad 3D movies on a Saturday afternoon followed by beers & laughter afterwards.
Ohhh okay, I just read the manual and I kinda get the Karma system now.
If you pick one alignment, either light or blood, enemies of the same alignment will avoid you altogether, and maybe even attack enemies of the other side! Kinda makes sense now, at least there's a purpose to the whole thing in the gameplay where as I was confused what the point of the whole thing was before.
And if you, for example, want to align yourself on the light side, the manual says killing enemies on the blood side will boost your karma for light. So, kill the enemies on the opposite end of the karma system that you want to be on. Gang wars in Silent Hill lol.
But if that were true, I thought Light enemies dropped light Karma when killed? So if I want to be on the Light side, and only kill blood enemies that only drop blood karma....great, right back to being confused lol.
If you pick one alignment, either light or blood, enemies of the same alignment will avoid you altogether, and maybe even attack enemies of the other side! Kinda makes sense now, at least there's a purpose to the whole thing in the gameplay where as I was confused what the point of the whole thing was before.
And if you, for example, want to align yourself on the light side, the manual says killing enemies on the blood side will boost your karma for light. So, kill the enemies on the opposite end of the karma system that you want to be on. Gang wars in Silent Hill lol.
But if that were true, I thought Light enemies dropped light Karma when killed? So if I want to be on the Light side, and only kill blood enemies that only drop blood karma....great, right back to being confused lol.
Me, too. I look at it like I'm getting a hack and slash that isn't just another fantasy game, but instead is in a creepy, weird world. They could have easily left the Silent Hill name off of it and just made it a horror setting, but at the same time, why not use a name people know? Definitely glad I made the purchase and it seems deeper than the demo let on.
ViolentP
Member
This is exactly where my head is at. I love a good hack n slash. Not only is it a different aesthetic to the norm, but it just so happens to be Silent Hill. When announced, I knew I was day 1.
RocketDarkness
Member
Blood enemies drop light karma, and vice versa, I believe.
ah, ok. i hadn't really taken notice i guess.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
For anyone interested, Reddit led me to this:
http://imgur.com/a/VcYBY#0
It's the album in screen-cap format. I'm reading it now to see how I feel about the game before deciding if it merits a full price purchase or not (played the demo and it was p good, but not sure overall just yet).
The way I understand it...Enemies drop karma. If you kill a blood enemy and collect the karma, it moves your meter towards the light alignment. If you kill a light enemy and collect the karma, it moves you towards the blood alignment. It's sort of like you "pledging your allegiance" to one side or another by collecting the karma. Sort of like saying, "Yeah, I killed a light enemy, whatchoo gun do about it?" Hence why it moves you towards the blood side.
They suggest in the manual to designate certain folks to grab certain karma.
http://imgur.com/a/VcYBY#0
It's the album in screen-cap format. I'm reading it now to see how I feel about the game before deciding if it merits a full price purchase or not (played the demo and it was p good, but not sure overall just yet).
The way I understand it...Enemies drop karma. If you kill a blood enemy and collect the karma, it moves your meter towards the light alignment. If you kill a light enemy and collect the karma, it moves you towards the blood alignment. It's sort of like you "pledging your allegiance" to one side or another by collecting the karma. Sort of like saying, "Yeah, I killed a light enemy, whatchoo gun do about it?" Hence why it moves you towards the blood side.
They suggest in the manual to designate certain folks to grab certain karma.
ViolentP
Member
Remove the #0 from your link.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Why? It takes you to the first picture in the album?
Oyashrio-Sama
Member
Also if you lock on them with the L button, the color of the circle under them tells you which alignment the monster is.
RocketDarkness
Member
That is correct. Killing a blood enemy earns you light karma, as does picking up the light karma splatters blood enemies produce. You don't have to try to kill the enemy and then avoid the karma splatter, unless you're trying to avoid that alignment.
Either way, you can buy the Karma Swap ability in Zone 2 and trivialize most of it anyways.
Oyashrio-Sama said:
You can also touch a monster to check it's stats without locking on.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
Wrote up a mini-review based on the first couple hours.
http://zeboyd.com/2012/10/17/silent-hill-book-of-memories-review-based-on-the-first-couple-hours/
"Silent Hill: Book of Memories Review (based on the first couple hours)
Available now for the Playstation Vita. $40.
Picked up Silent Hill: Book of Memories off the PSN last night and completed 3 zones, the 1st boss, and started the 4th zone (the demo only had the first 2 zones & the 1st boss). I dont think there are any full reviews for the game yet (I dont think anyone got an advance copy so everyones scrabbling to play through it now) so heres my early review of the first couple hours of the game. Ill post again later if my opinion changes after playing through the whole thing.
First things first, Silent Hill: Book of Memories is VERY different than other games in the series. Instead of being a survival-horror game, Silent Hill: Book of Memories is a top-down Action/RPG. My initial expectation was that it was going to be like the Diablo series but with a Silent Hill coat, but in actuality, it feels much more like an old-school rogue-like RPG. You explore dark trap-filled rooms with your flashlight, you can only hold a limited number of items at a time (backpack space can be upgraded), and youre constantly low on resources.
The weapon system is particularly interesting. There are a few dozen weapons that you can find, purchase, or win from quests. Each weapon type handles differently and they may have various elemental modifiers as well. What makes things interesting IMO is that since melee weapons tend to have low durability, firearms are limited by ammo, and your backpack is small, youre constantly scavenging for new weapons, repair kits, and ammo. It gives it a very survival horror feel rather than the typical Im awesome feel you get out of your standard Diablo-style game. Also, weapons slowly gain XP & LVs through repeated use and this XP carries over for all weapons of that type so theres also an incentive to try to figure out how to use your favorite weapons as much as possible to make them more powerful.
Besides your weapons, you can gain character XP which gives you stat points which you can freely distribute between 6 different stats to customize your strengths. There are also artifacts that you can find and equip that will give various stat boosts. Depending on which class you pick at the beginning of the game, you can get small bonuses when equipping certain types of artifacts but for the most part, it feels like most of your customization depends on your in-game choices rather than your class choice. There are a handful of special moves you can buy from the store like switching enemy alignments (enemies come in blood & light forms as well as the stronger steel form) and power attacks which can be used with the games equivalent of MP (one special move = 1 MP). There are also 6 super karma attacks (3 for light, 3 for blood) that you can use if you fill up your karma meter in one direction or the other (which you do primarily by killing enemies of the opposite alignment); so far I have the rank 1 light karma move which drains health from an enemy and gives it to you.
The levels are randomly generated and though theyre not as well done as the randomly generated levels in Torchlight 2, theyre pretty good. The game gives you a special goal in each zone you enter (like find a certain item or kill special mini-boss enemies) and some rooms have challenge crystals which typically give you a wave of enemies to defeat although sometimes they have other goals (like dont take very much damage) which helps to keep things interesting. Ive also run into a few special rooms like one that gives you a temporary buff and another room that gives you a little story/puzzle that you can get 1 of 3 results depending on your actions (Good, Evil, Neutral). You periodically find notes & audio logs (ala every old-school horror game ever) that fill you in on the story and at the end of each zone, youre given a puzzle (so far, theyve just been lame Put these things in the right order puzzles) which you gain bonus money if you manage to complete it with no help (if you get stuck, you can ask for hints which lowers the reward). In short, theres more to the gameplay than just fighting.
So far, enemies havent been very dangerous (typically taking 1-5% of your life bar with each hit) but I imagine this will change as I get further into the game. If youve played the demo, know that the full game has a much bigger bestiary than the demo did. Also the 3rd zone was a lot bigger (at least in my game) than any of the zones in the demo. The environment in zone 4 switched so you wont just be playing through typical Silent Hill rust & blood industrial settings. Between the various weapons, artifacts, monsters, zones, and randomized elements, theres a lot of content here. And from what Ive heard, although the game does have several possible endings, you can keep playing it indefinitely to try to get all of the endings and see how high of a zone you can reach.
The controls deserve special mention for their excellence. I love how it mixes traditional controls with touch controls. Movement, exploration, and combat are handled with traditional controls but the UI doubles as touch controls for things like reloading firearms, swapping stuff in and out of your backpack, and using health packs. It works really well and I hope to see similar setups in other Action/RPGs on the Vita.
The graphics in Silent Hill: Book of Memories arent amazing but the game does look a lot better in motion than it does in screenshots (due to the lighting). Id say it looks like a really good PSP game rather than a full-fledged Vita game. Music & audio have been excellent so far and very Silent Hill-esque. Load times are long and annoying but at least theyre infrequent it takes about 30-40 seconds to load a zone but once youre in a zone, there are no load times and its been taking me about half an hour to fully explore each zone. Havent tried the multiplayer (and to be honest, I have no desire to do so since I rarely play multiplayer games).
All in all, Im really enjoying the game so far and cant wait to play more. Silent Hill: Book of Memories provides a very entertaining & unique survival-horror take on the traditional Action/RPG genre and comes highly recommended."
http://zeboyd.com/2012/10/17/silent-hill-book-of-memories-review-based-on-the-first-couple-hours/
"Silent Hill: Book of Memories Review (based on the first couple hours)
Available now for the Playstation Vita. $40.
Picked up Silent Hill: Book of Memories off the PSN last night and completed 3 zones, the 1st boss, and started the 4th zone (the demo only had the first 2 zones & the 1st boss). I dont think there are any full reviews for the game yet (I dont think anyone got an advance copy so everyones scrabbling to play through it now) so heres my early review of the first couple hours of the game. Ill post again later if my opinion changes after playing through the whole thing.
First things first, Silent Hill: Book of Memories is VERY different than other games in the series. Instead of being a survival-horror game, Silent Hill: Book of Memories is a top-down Action/RPG. My initial expectation was that it was going to be like the Diablo series but with a Silent Hill coat, but in actuality, it feels much more like an old-school rogue-like RPG. You explore dark trap-filled rooms with your flashlight, you can only hold a limited number of items at a time (backpack space can be upgraded), and youre constantly low on resources.
The weapon system is particularly interesting. There are a few dozen weapons that you can find, purchase, or win from quests. Each weapon type handles differently and they may have various elemental modifiers as well. What makes things interesting IMO is that since melee weapons tend to have low durability, firearms are limited by ammo, and your backpack is small, youre constantly scavenging for new weapons, repair kits, and ammo. It gives it a very survival horror feel rather than the typical Im awesome feel you get out of your standard Diablo-style game. Also, weapons slowly gain XP & LVs through repeated use and this XP carries over for all weapons of that type so theres also an incentive to try to figure out how to use your favorite weapons as much as possible to make them more powerful.
Besides your weapons, you can gain character XP which gives you stat points which you can freely distribute between 6 different stats to customize your strengths. There are also artifacts that you can find and equip that will give various stat boosts. Depending on which class you pick at the beginning of the game, you can get small bonuses when equipping certain types of artifacts but for the most part, it feels like most of your customization depends on your in-game choices rather than your class choice. There are a handful of special moves you can buy from the store like switching enemy alignments (enemies come in blood & light forms as well as the stronger steel form) and power attacks which can be used with the games equivalent of MP (one special move = 1 MP). There are also 6 super karma attacks (3 for light, 3 for blood) that you can use if you fill up your karma meter in one direction or the other (which you do primarily by killing enemies of the opposite alignment); so far I have the rank 1 light karma move which drains health from an enemy and gives it to you.
The levels are randomly generated and though theyre not as well done as the randomly generated levels in Torchlight 2, theyre pretty good. The game gives you a special goal in each zone you enter (like find a certain item or kill special mini-boss enemies) and some rooms have challenge crystals which typically give you a wave of enemies to defeat although sometimes they have other goals (like dont take very much damage) which helps to keep things interesting. Ive also run into a few special rooms like one that gives you a temporary buff and another room that gives you a little story/puzzle that you can get 1 of 3 results depending on your actions (Good, Evil, Neutral). You periodically find notes & audio logs (ala every old-school horror game ever) that fill you in on the story and at the end of each zone, youre given a puzzle (so far, theyve just been lame Put these things in the right order puzzles) which you gain bonus money if you manage to complete it with no help (if you get stuck, you can ask for hints which lowers the reward). In short, theres more to the gameplay than just fighting.
So far, enemies havent been very dangerous (typically taking 1-5% of your life bar with each hit) but I imagine this will change as I get further into the game. If youve played the demo, know that the full game has a much bigger bestiary than the demo did. Also the 3rd zone was a lot bigger (at least in my game) than any of the zones in the demo. The environment in zone 4 switched so you wont just be playing through typical Silent Hill rust & blood industrial settings. Between the various weapons, artifacts, monsters, zones, and randomized elements, theres a lot of content here. And from what Ive heard, although the game does have several possible endings, you can keep playing it indefinitely to try to get all of the endings and see how high of a zone you can reach.
The controls deserve special mention for their excellence. I love how it mixes traditional controls with touch controls. Movement, exploration, and combat are handled with traditional controls but the UI doubles as touch controls for things like reloading firearms, swapping stuff in and out of your backpack, and using health packs. It works really well and I hope to see similar setups in other Action/RPGs on the Vita.
The graphics in Silent Hill: Book of Memories arent amazing but the game does look a lot better in motion than it does in screenshots (due to the lighting). Id say it looks like a really good PSP game rather than a full-fledged Vita game. Music & audio have been excellent so far and very Silent Hill-esque. Load times are long and annoying but at least theyre infrequent it takes about 30-40 seconds to load a zone but once youre in a zone, there are no load times and its been taking me about half an hour to fully explore each zone. Havent tried the multiplayer (and to be honest, I have no desire to do so since I rarely play multiplayer games).
All in all, Im really enjoying the game so far and cant wait to play more. Silent Hill: Book of Memories provides a very entertaining & unique survival-horror take on the traditional Action/RPG genre and comes highly recommended."
ViolentP
Member
Odd. First time I tried it took me to a blank imgur page. Could have been a load issue.
Oyashrio-Sama
Member
Nice Impressions! Looking forward to the full review after you played it some more!
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Very probable - I thought there were some NSFW pictures in a parent album or something, haha.
Anyways, the manual makes the game sound more exciting, but I just can't really afford to buy this at retail given that I imported Project Dive f recently. I really need to wait for a B2G1 sale or something (that I'm sure someone will have soon).
RocketDarkness
Member
The only effects the classes have are different voice-overs and a total of +9 or +10 (I forget) to a variety of stats, assuming you slot your artifacts correctly.
Keep your flashlight on and they are going to be in an orange highlighted container that you must have missed somehow.