Meh, Silent Hill hasn't been scary since the 3rd game. Ultimately, this franchise is dead unless they figure out something new to do with it. They are clearly not going to be able to replicate the early Silent Hill games. They should try something new with it and give it new life.
Meh, Silent Hill hasn't been scary since the 3rd game. Ultimately, this franchise is dead unless they figure out something new to do with it. They are clearly not going to be able to replicate the early Silent Hill games. They should try something new with it and give it new life.
I don't really see how SM was fresh when it was just a poor imitation of the gameplay found in Frictional's titles with dreadfully shallow story and gameplay. Not to mention an atmosphere that failed to be scary in any way (literally on or off), and chase scenes that became old after the first one.
It was okay, but if Downpour end up being worse I'd be very disappointed as SM set the bar going forward pretty low.
I still need a mid-game spoiler; be it location, scenario, enemy, what have you; to convince me to pick this game up. Something that would make me "WTF!?" like past titles.
I don't really see how SM was fresh when it was just a poor imitation of the gameplay found in Frictional's titles with dreadfully shallow story and gameplay. Not to mention an atmosphere that failed to be scary in any way (literally on or off), and chase scenes that became old after the first one.
It was okay, but if Downpour end up being worse I'd be very disappointed as SM set the bar going forward pretty low.
I agree, timetokill, but it isn't going to happen. It will either be because Konami wants to play things safe enough to guarantee a return, or the devs won't be able to pull it off.
The psychology aspect gives the false impression of depth, but upon further analysis it doesn't hold up. Sure, Cybil may show more cleavage and her hair color might change, but does that have any effect on the story at all? No, no it does not. Nothing changes based on that other than the simple aesthetics of it. It's cheap parlor trick to fool people into believing the game is deeper than it actually is. Cybil isn't the only thing in the game to suffer from this, but it's just an easy example. The game is loaded with it. Playing through it twice makes it easily apparent how constant everything remains with simple aesthetic details changing here and there based on how you respond to the psychiatrist. The worst part is the endings, which are purely arbitrary and contrived (noticing a bottle of booze makes me a drunk? XFD)
I've always found it hilarious Climax got by with what they did in that game given how shallow of an experience it is. It was an interesting concept that they ultimately did nothing with.
I agree, timetokill, but it isn't going to happen. It will either be because Konami wants to play things safe enough to guarantee a return, or the devs won't be able to pull it off.
The psychology aspect gives the false impression of depth, but upon further analysis it doesn't hold up. Sure, Cybil may show more cleavage and her hair color might change, but does that have any effect on the story at all? No, no it does not. Nothing changes based on that other than the simple aesthetics of it. It's cheap parlor trick to fool people into believing the game is deeper than it actually is. Cybil isn't the only thing in the game to suffer from this, but it's just an easy example. The game is loaded with it. Playing through it twice makes it easily apparent how constant everything remains with simple aesthetic details changing here and there based on how you respond to the psychiatrist. The worst part is the endings, which are purely arbitrary and contrived (noticing a bottle of booze makes me a drunk? XFD)
I've always found it hilarious Climax got by with what they did in that game given how shallow of an experience it is. It was an interesting concept that they ultimately did nothing with.
Regardless of how well developed or deep the psychology aspect of the game is, the core of the story is always the same. And that story is absolutely fantastic by gaming standards.
Climax actually managed to do something different from any of the other post-4 devs. They also managed to (I believe) successfully use my expectations and experience with the games against me.
If they would quit dancing around SH1 so much, I think they would make a fantastic SH game.
Regardless of how well developed or deep the psychology aspect of the game is, the core of the story is always the same. And that story is absolutely fantastic by gaming standards.
Except the story is just a ham fisted roll-up of the first three games. The SH 2 twist is painfully obvious, Harry's search is much less interesting, lacks the same sense of urgency and drive, and features a much more painfully uninteresting cast and the core relationship that you are supposed to buy into misses all the subtlety, warmth, and excellent writing of SH3 and just replaces it with every cliche in the book.
Climax actually managed to do something different from any of the other post-4 devs. They also managed to (I believe) successfully use my expectations and experience with the games against me.
If they would quit dancing around SH1 so much, I think they would make a fantastic SH game.
So playing through the game right now, and I just got to a part I had to share. So I'm going through an area that has a ring of nostalgia to it and I don't know why, I keep on going and... Location (not story) spoilers but it might be best to experience this one for yourselves...
...I walked right into the apartment from Silent Hill 4: The Room. The room looks exactly like it did in SH4, and it really was an unexpected twist for me. I haven't nostalgia'd this hard in a game for a long time.
Leave more thoughts once I beat it and let it all process in more.
I actually didn't realize it's not out yet. o_o But googling it your right. The store just called me earlier today saying they had their copy in and I just went in and bought it. Guess I was just lucky.
I actually didn't realize it's not out yet. o_o But googling it your right. The store just called me earlier today saying they had their copy in and I just went in and bought it. Guess I was just lucky.
So playing through the game right now, and I just got to a part I had to share. So I'm going through an area that has a ring of nostalgia to it and I don't know why, I keep on going and... Location (not story) spoilers but it might be best to experience this one for yourselves...
...I walked right into the apartment from Silent Hill 4: The Room. The room looks exactly like it did in SH4, and it really was an unexpected twist for me. I haven't nostalgia'd this hard in a game for a long time.
Leave more thoughts once I beat it and let it all process in more.
That's possible, but I always thought of the fog world, the real world and the shit gets rusty world as all existing in the same physical location, but being different 'layers' of reality, so I'll assume the same applies to SH4, so
the apartment would still be in South Ashfield
. Still, I'd like to see how they explain that reference in Downpour.
Mind you I'm not done with the game yet, I only just exited the Centennial Building. Some things I say might change here. I'm not going into story that much either since A.) I think Silent Hill games are the type of games that are really hard to judge the story before you complete it, and B.) Don't want spoilers to spread like wildfire.
The first thing I want to say is that the people who made the game have obviously done their homework. This game is very much set in their own own version of Silent Hill, which has a different look and feel to the other Silent Hill games, but they've put in some very small details and obviously put a lot of work to make this feel like a Silent Hill game. In some ways I actually say this is almost like an anti-thesis to Homecoming, because it's almost like everything that Homecoming did badly this game does quite well. The biggest examples I can give are atmosphere and puzzles. You sort of get the feel that they sat down and thought to themselves, "Alright, what about horror games aren't prevalent anymore and how can we try and modernize it for this game?" I have this feeling that those who like old-school horror games are going to love this game, because it does feel like an old-school horror game. You've got more puzzles than I've seen in a horror game in some time, you've got clunky combat and controls that are a bit stiff, you've got exploration and a focus on atmosphere... There are a few good scares in the game but I will say so far at least their a bit sparse, but I'm not too bothered by that so far. The most "New Age" feeling things is the cinematic-aimed stuff from the game, which includes both story points and set-pieces.
Graphics are fine but it shows that this studio likely lacks a little experience since the whole style is kind of weird... But arguably it works for the game. You know how some people say part of what makes the old Silent Hill games scary is to sometimes make it hard to tell what you're looking at? That basically applies here sometimes. The game doesn't look bad but it's not exactly a graphical behemoth either, and there's this kind of... Murky look to everything, which I think might be a combination of the art style, color scheme, and how everything just sort of is... If that makes sense. There's some slow down I notice when running in big open spaces (IE the explorable town of Silent Hill) but slow-down I find to be almost non-existent in closed-off areas, buildings, and the like. Music is fantastic in my opinion and really fits this off-beat feeling the game has, though the voice acting is very hit and miss. Lots of the people you talk to and such sound very lifeless. I almost think this was some sort of intentional thing since it almost makes the whole thing feel kind of like a trance and it makes it almost feel like Murphy is in some sort of weird dream.
The monsters are not very varied in the game so far, but some of them are interesting. I don't think everyone is going to like them though as they look very different from your typical Silent Hill monsters. All of them I've encountered so far look like humans except with mutilated bodies, deformed limbs/features, and other oddities. The most interesting enemy I think I've encountered is this one female enemy that just has gaping black holes for a mouth and face that almost looks like a hooker. She's slow and pretty easy if you don't get close to her, but she has the ability to split into several shadows and move very fast, though the shadows themselves are much weaker individually in terms of health and damage. However, with the old-school horror approach I feel like the focus here isn't combat and those that come to this game for that will be disappointed. I believe some will like and some will dislike that design decision.
Back to my original point, it feels like the developers have done their homework. This game is it's own entry, but it's evident that they've taken a look at all of the other games to see what worked or might be interesting to implement here, which will lead to fans to recognize elements from the game. You've got these chase-sequences that feel like their advanced versions of the Silent Hill: Shattered Memories chase scenes. You don't really fight monsters as much in these scenes than the town, maybe? Usually there will be some twisted force and messed-up dream logic you have to figure out to continue, and often you'll be running from your life from some force that you can't kill. However, I find the chasing mechanics work much better than the combat mechanics anyway so I'm not all that bothered by it. Then you've got moments that feel like it's from Silent Hill 4, where everything is all weirdly surreal and... MINOR SPOILER TIME
Without giving to much away, this game's story is somewhat involved with Silent Hill 4's story.
You've got some strong symbolism vibes and "You're facing the town, not the cult," sort of things in the style of Silent Hill 2... And so on, and so on.
I will say that I think this game is better than Homecoming definitely so far. It just feels better designed and there's a lot more into it. That said, I don't think everyone is going to like it. This old-school approach will please some, but I can see some people thinking this game feels dated and to be honest, at this point I have no idea how people are generally going to compare this to the classics. I am enjoying myself personally, but then I have to note that I'm a person who really enjoys having a good balance between older and newer games in his gaming diet and I am thrilled to have a new horror game that feels like it's stylized like an old horror game, just with some more modern stuff about it. But I can see some people not liking this approach. This might not be the best example, but I think it's going to have a very NieR or Binary Domain or, hell, even Silent Hill 4 the Room reception. I think it's going to be a very splitting game that some will absolutely love due to it's offbeat old-school feel and charms and the things the game does right are things that games these days simply don't do that often, but then some will dislike the game because of it's imperfections, it's sometimes sloppy feeling in places. I guess this game has more charm than substance sometimes, but then I would argue the series has always been kind of like that anyway.
Probably going to work on the OT a bit more, mostly just out of pure boredom. I don't even know what to do with it, might spice up the logo or something or try to add more content.
Does the game have a lot of fuckupery like the older ones, like you're just strolling around and oh hey look, it's a-- hm not sure what that is but it kind of looks like a baby eating itself
Except the story is just a ham fisted roll-up of the first three games. The SH 2 twist is painfully obvious, Harry's search is much less interesting, lacks the same sense of urgency and drive, and features a much more painfully uninteresting cast and the core relationship that you are supposed to buy into misses all the subtlety, warmth, and excellent writing of SH3 and just replaces it with every cliche in the book.
sad days indeed when SM is supposed to represent some milestone in gaming storytelling for people. the psychological bs was painfully transparent and it just raped Silent Hill's proper conventions.
Homecoming was nothing to fall in love with, but at least it was poorly imitating Silent Hill instead of poorly imitating David Lynch in the most excruciatingly talentless fashion. And the gameplay...so fucking disgusting. Chase sequences are not only the worst gameplay related thing ever in the SH series, but it's one of the worst gameplay related thing in any horror series ever. SM fans love to shit on Homecoming's gameplay, but SM's gameplay is truly abominable.
i just hope this one is finally a return to decency for the series. we haven't had a genuinely decent Silent Hill game since...maybe Silent Hill PSP. And that was only decent by reference to the novelty of how amazing horror concepts are in the handheld format.
Still doesn't make much sense for Murphy to stumble onto it. The physical location isn't possible flat out. Walter's little reality could be possible I suppose but why would Murphy be able to enter it from some random location in Silent Hill?
I guess it doesn't really matter since continuity hasn't been all that important to the series since SH4 anyway.
hey guys Amir0x is completely founded in his SH:SM hatred and he already explained that his opinion is his opinion alone, do we really need to drag out something from the very first page this far with HUGE IMAGES
Homecoming was a mediocre SH game, but it shared everything in common with the SH series. it was just a very poor shadow imitation of good SH games.
SM was just its own thing, which might as well have been called something else entirely. It would have still blown ass as that 'something else', but at least it wouldn't have been squatting here shitting over my Silent Hill franchise like some retarded hobo.
brandonh83 said:
hey guys Amir0x is completely founded in his SH:SM hatred and he already explained that his opinion is his opinion alone, do we really need to drag out something from the very first page this far with HUGE IMAGES
People need to address points raised or ask questions if they are really 'not sure if serious'; but it's far easier to just complain about complaining than to try to approach a position that might seem extreme to that individual with any level of intellectual inquiry.
I assume you haven't played Shattered Memories right until the end. The ending(s), the twist in tale, the "run as fast you can" mechanics, the tension in the air as you progress to your objective and the underlying truth about your "quest" make it a very innovative and enjoyable game, me think.
At least, you can admit: bashing the game as hard as you did is not exactly fair.
look two posts above your image macro post to see addresses in your points here. Immediately I can sense a very severe disagreement in the "run as fast as you can" mechanic somehow being a positive note. If I was trying to figure out the least fun thing to add to a horror game, that probably would have still fell short of how absolutely terrible that mechanic was in SM.
But my larger point was that, however severe you feel my criticism is of SM, or even if you think it's fair... Shattered Memories is not a Silent Hill game. It shares virtually nothing in common with the series in any meaningful way. It is a Silent Hill game in-name-only. And that's the problem. They wasted an opportunity to try to make a good Silent Hill game by making a...something...whatever-the-fuck-that-was.
But I am an all purpose critic. I love the Silent Hill series. Homecoming was not a good SH game either.
Dusk Golem said:
Mind you I'm not done with the game yet, I only just entered the Centennial Building. Some things I say might change here. I'm not going into story that much either since A.) I think Silent Hill games are the type of games that are really hard to judge the story before you complete it, and B.) Don't want spoilers to spread like wildfire.
The first thing I want to say is that the people who made the game have obviously done their homework. This game is very much set in their own own version of Silent Hill, which has a different look and feel to the other Silent Hill games, but they've put in some very small details and obviously put a lot of work to make this feel like a Silent Hill game. In some ways I actually say this is almost like an anti-thesis to Homecoming, because it's almost like everything that Homecoming did badly this game does quite well. The biggest examples I can give are atmosphere and puzzles. You sort of get the feel that they sat down and thought to themselves, "Alright, what about horror games aren't prevalent anymore and how can we try and modernize it for this game?" I have this feeling that those who like old-school horror games are going to love this game, because it does feel like an old-school horror game. You've got more puzzles than I've seen in a horror game in some time, you've got clunky combat and controls that are a bit stiff, you've got exploration and a focus on atmosphere... There are a few good scares in the game but I will say so far at least their a bit sparse, but I'm not too bothered by that so far. The most "New Age" feeling things is the cinematic-aimed stuff from the game, which includes both story points and set-pieces.
Graphics are fine but it shows that this studio likely lacks a little experience since the whole style is kind of weird... But arguably it works for the game. You know how some people say part of what makes the old Silent Hill games scary is to sometimes make it hard to tell what you're looking at? That basically applies here sometimes. The game doesn't look bad but it's not exactly a graphical behemoth either, and there's this kind of... Murky look to everything, which I think might be a combination of the art style, color scheme, and how everything just sort of is... If that makes sense. There's some slow down I notice when running in big open spaces (IE the explorable town of Silent Hill) but slow-down I find to be almost non-existent in closed-off areas, buildings, and the like. Music is fantastic in my opinion and really fits this off-beat feeling the game has, though the voice acting is very hit and miss. Lots of the people you talk to and such sound very lifeless. I almost think this was some sort of intentional thing since it almost makes the whole thing feel kind of like a trance and it makes it almost feel like Murphy is in some sort of weird dream.
The monsters are not very varied in the game so far, but some of them are interesting. I don't think everyone is going to like them though as they look very different from your typical Silent Hill monsters. All of them I've encountered so far look like humans except with mutilated bodies, deformed limbs/features, and other oddities. The most interesting enemy I think I've encountered is this one female enemy that just has gaping black holes for a mouth and face that almost looks like a hooker. She's slow and pretty easy if you don't get close to her, but she has the ability to split into several shadows and move very fast, though the shadows themselves are much weaker individually in terms of health and damage. However, with the old-school horror approach I feel like the focus here isn't combat and those that come to this game for that will be disappointed. I believe some will like and some will dislike that design decision.
Back to my original point, it feels like the developers have done their homework. This game is it's own entry, but it's evident that they've taken a look at all of the other games to see what worked or might be interesting to implement here, which will lead to fans to recognize elements from the game. You've got these chase-sequences that feel like their advanced versions of the Silent Hill: Shattered Memories chase scenes. You don't really fight monsters as much in these scenes than the town, maybe? Usually there will be some twisted force and messed-up dream logic you have to figure out to continue, and often you'll be running from your life from some force that you can't kill. However, I find the chasing mechanics work much better than the combat mechanics anyway so I'm not all that bothered by it. Then you've got moments that feel like it's from Silent Hill 4, where everything is all weirdly surreal and... MINOR SPOILER TIME Without giving to much away, this game's story is somewhat involved with Silent Hill 4's story. You've got some strong symbolism vibes and "You're facing the town, not the cult," sort of things in the style of Silent Hill 2... And so on, and so on.
I will say that I think this game is better than Homecoming definitely so far. It just feels better designed and there's a lot more into it. That said, I don't think everyone is going to like it. This old-school approach will please some, but I can see some people thinking this game feels dated and to be honest, at this point I have no idea how people are generally going to compare this to the classics. I am enjoying myself personally, but then I have to note that I'm a person who really enjoys having a good balance between older and newer games in his gaming diet and I am thrilled to have a new horror game that feels like it's stylized like an old horror game, just with some more modern stuff about it. But I can see some people not liking this approach. This might not be the best example, but I think it's going to have a very NieR or Binary Domain or, hell, even Silent Hill 4 the Room reception. I think it's going to be a very splitting game that some will absolutely love due to it's offbeat old-school feel and charms and the things the game does right are things that games these days simply don't do that often, but then some will dislike the game because of it's imperfections, it's sometimes sloppy feeling in places. I guess this game has more charm than substance sometimes, but then I would argue the series has always been kind of like that anyway.
