Author Topic: Let's talk about Silent Hill (Could be a Downpour thread if anyone plays it) (Read 3637 times)

Bebpo · « **on:** March 11, 2012, 05:28:54 PM »

Silent Hill is a series that's gone through A LOT, much like it's characters. What started as a tale of a dude getting attacked by pterodactyls and broken radios became a psychedelic trip through the minds of its stars and drove everyone crazy, including Konami, leading to it's current mental patient like status of schizophrenia.

I like it a lot.

It's one of those series that grew up with me and for the horror fan in me, in a market where truly frightening games and strong narrative games were always scarce, each Silent Hill game was something to look forward to. The old history of the town in the early games was creepy and the character plots were interesting.

The quality of the games have been alllllll over the place. But! I still feel compelled to play them. Even when Team Silent was disbanded and sent to work on Rumble Roses, even when the last man standing of the team Yamaoka finally got sick of Konami's shit treatment of the series and left to Grasshopper, I still am down to play Silent Hill games. Why? Because at its core, all "Silent Hill" is, is a setting device to tell a horror story about personal demons and make a creepy as hell game. Any developer is free to make their own horror tale and every game can be different and is a fresh start.

Let's talk about Silent Hill.

Bebpo · « **Reply #1 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:30:49 PM »

Silent Hill 1

This game was scary as hell! I remember the school with the midgets with knives was incredibly unsettling and creepy and I just wanted to be OUT OF THERE. The adrenaline rush of survival was unmatched for the time. And the intro with the corpse on the gate and being cornered is unforgettable. A really great start for a new horror franchise.

Bebpo · « **Reply #2 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:32:56 PM »

Silent Hill 2

Is there really anything left to say about this game? One of the greatest accomplishments of the PS2 era. The town was fleshed out (OLD PRISON), the narrative nailed the Lynch feel, and the plot was on a mature level that hadn't been dealt with before in gaming. Absolute classic, and I really should replay it one of these days.

magus · « **Reply #3 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:34:00 PM »

personaly i never was into survival horrors but a friend of mine was,i remember some real bullshit puzzle with a piano... i don't even remember the solution

obligatory dog ending video

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #4 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:34:22 PM »

I really like 1 & 2, but I just couldn't work up the enthusiasm to play any of them after that. I kinda want to get back into them, maybe I'll play 3 HD or Downpour.

Bebpo · « **Reply #5 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:35:17 PM »

Silent Hill 3

Say you will about the plotline, Silent Hill 3 nailed the atmosphere and fear factor of Silent Hill. With gorgeous art, Yamaoka stepping up his game with the introduction of harsh, dark, vocal tracks, incredible graphical tech for the time; the presentation and experience of Silent Hill 3 was amazing. No other game in the series was as unsettling to play in the dark, alone, as Silent Hill 3.

Bebpo · « **Reply #6 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:38:47 PM »

Silent Hill 4: The Room

Look at that trailer. Silent Hill 4 looked incredible. It's too bad the game was bogged down by so much padding in the 2nd half that it couldn't live up to what it promised to be. A creepy ghost story. Still, it was a good game. The 1st person room segments were fantastic; both creepy and creative; bringing a new experience to PS2 gaming. The soundtrack, again, was godly, and the story was interesting even if a little far fetched. Still a good SH game that I'd be down to replay at some point, but it deservedly got a lot of flak because there's a lot of flaws in the game design aspect of it. Also the last Team Silent game.

Positive Touch · « **Reply #7 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:39:10 PM »

loved the first three, and zero was good if a little stale. the series was great but went downhill as soon as the developers felt compelled to stick to things they thought defined silent hill. predictability does make for good scares. a town that's affected by nightmares of it inhabitants should have been the only thematic element that carried over. instead teams just started recycling sh1's "otherworld" and got bogged down in fleshing out a stupid backstory on cults and everything turned into straight-to-video territory.

siren was (unsurprisingly) the only other game i felt actually pulled off what sh1 was trying to do - make a stealth-horror game. i LOVE that shit and wish there more good examples of that out there.

cool breeze · « **Reply #8 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:39:32 PM »

I was hoping to replay 2 and 3 with the HD collection but apparently they botched that up bad.

I still need to play Silent Hill PSP since I heard decent things. Heard bad things about the 360/PS3 game and Downpour doesn't look better. I liked Shattered Memories even though it doesn't have the same appeal as other Silent Hill games, except for those terribly unneeded chase scenes.

yeh Silent Hill 2 is the bess mayne

Positive Touch · « **Reply #9 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:41:20 PM »

Quote from: Joe Molotov® EDGE™ on March 11, 2012, 05:34:22 PM

I really like 1 & 2, but I just couldn't work up the enthusiasm to play any of them after that. I kinda want to get back into them, maybe I'll play 3 HD or Downpour.

i'd say go with 3 or zero. both have stupid stories but do a good job of nailing the atmosphere of 1 & 2. especially 3 since the visual design is fuckin amazing

Bebpo · « **Reply #10 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:42:39 PM »

Silent Hill Zero/Origins

The first western developed Silent Hill and, despite the fact that it pretty much borrowed from all the previous SH games, Climax UK did a good job with it. The atmosphere FELT Silent Hill. The game was creepy and unsettling, the art was good and the music was still solid Yamaoka. I felt that Climax UK "got it" in terms of what makes SH, SH; and you almost couldn't tell Origins wasn't made by Team Silent.

Also noteable was the fact that originally this project was given to Climax USA who almost butchered the franchise by releasing a horrible horrible RE clone game. Thankfully SOMEONE at Konami had the balls to scrap their work and hand it to Climax UK to redo. Climax UK is a pretty good developer.

demi · « **Reply #11 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:42:51 PM »

Silent Hill 2 is doodoo as fuck. You fight maybe 3 enemies. Boring. 3 is way better. 4 is trash. Origins is ok. Shatter Memories is worst game ever. Homecoming is good. 1 is the best and king and never will be topped.

I'll play Downpour when I get it from gamefly.

Positive Touch · « **Reply #12 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:45:07 PM »

Quote from: Bebpo on March 11, 2012, 05:38:47 PM

Silent Hill 4: The Room

Look at that trailer. Silent Hill 4 looked incredible. It's too bad the game was bogged down by so much padding in the 2nd half that it couldn't live up to what it promised to be. A creepy ghost story. Still, it was a good game. The 1st person room segments were fantastic; both creepy and creative; bringing a new experience to PS2 gaming. The soundtrack, again, was godly, and the story was interesting even if a little far fetched. Still a good SH game that I'd be down to replay at some point, but it deservedly got a lot of flak because there's a lot of flaws in the game design aspect of it. Also the last Team Silent game.

4 had great visual design, but the gameplay was SO BAD. levels felt empty and random instead of being a part of the actual town, invincible enemies were in almost every room, all other enemies had to be killed with a dumb charge attack, story was told mostly through notes and had a giant plot hole, and of course you have to play through the whole thing twice to finish it. a terrible swan song

Positive Touch · « **Reply #13 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:46:15 PM »

Quote from: demi on March 11, 2012, 05:42:51 PM

Silent Hill 2 is doodoo as fuck. You fight maybe 3 enemies. Boring.

you are a bad man. yeah the gameplay is weak as fuck, especially coming off of 1, but THE ATMOSPHERE

Bebpo · « **Reply #14 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:46:58 PM »

Silent Hill Homecoming

The next take by a Western developer. This time Double Helix, the developers of the fine game Mark Echo who later went on to do such other masterpieces as Front Mission Evolved. Yes, I'm being sarcastic. These guys suck and didn't get Silent Hill at all. Homecoming does ok with the spooky Silent Hill mood, and a few of the other realm locations are neat looking. But the action heavy element of it (how is a game scary if you have an arsenal), the focus on CULT MEMBER story including a final dungeon of fighting normal people in combat, and a bit of a phoned in Yamaoka soundtrack made it a pretty big MISS for most Silent Hill fans.

Thankfully Double Helix has not been contacted to do another Silent Hill following Homecoming.

Owl-faced Wizard · « **Reply #15 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:51:07 PM »

demi is right - Silent Hill 2 is a shitty game by any reasonable standard. The cult built up around it is the only remotely scary thing about it. First one is great tho.

Bebpo · « **Reply #16 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:51:47 PM »

Silent Hill Shattered Memories

Climax UK's second bite at the rotten apple of Silent Hill. Unlike Zero/Origins which played it safe and tried to simply imitate past Silent Hill games, Shattered Memories took a bold step and tried to do something different, turning the Survival Horror series into a pure adventure game with "survival dungeons" spread between. The game got a very mixed reaction from SH fans. Some loved the new take, some hated it. I liked it. The dungeon running bits were kind of bad tbh, but the adventure game part where you're just exploring creepy old Silent Hill and moving the narrative along was really neat. It had good atmosphere, and the story, especially the ending, was actually kind of good! The soundtrack, again, like Homecoming was unfortunately pretty phoned in. Considering that Yamaoka left after this, I can't help but think his Homecoming and Shattered Memories soundtracks represented his own feelings of unhappiness and distance with the franchise.

Bebpo · « **Reply #17 on:** March 11, 2012, 05:55:34 PM »

And now we're at Silent Hill Downpour. The first entirely fresh Silent Hill game with no lingering attachments to Team Silent at all. A new developer (VATRA, who is a big ??), a new composer; the team has free reign to tell whatever survival horror story they please.

I probably won't be playing it right away this week because my backlog is way too big to start another game right now, but I am looking forward to giving it a fair chance and see what these guys do. Like I said earlier, I don't feel like Silent Hill is dead and this is just milking at this point, but rather Silent Hill is just a background and each time with a new developer it's a fresh start to tell their own horror game, just with the silent hill theme.

Will be interesting!

Bebpo · « **Reply #18 on:** March 11, 2012, 06:08:15 PM »

You guys who hate Silent Hill 2 are horrible people. The voice acting sucks, but otherwise it's freaking perfect. That boat ride across the lake

Then again people hate on Ico/SoTC, so every game has detractors.

Quote from: Positive Touch on March 11, 2012, 05:39:10 PM

loved the first three, and zero was good if a little stale. the series was great but went downhill as soon as the developers felt compelled to stick to things they thought defined silent hill. predictability does make for good scares. a town that's affected by nightmares of it inhabitants should have been the only thematic element that carried over. instead teams just started recycling sh1's "otherworld" and got bogged down in fleshing out a stupid backstory on cults and everything turned into straight-to-video territory.

siren was (unsurprisingly) the only other game i felt actually pulled off what sh1 was trying to do - make a stealth-horror game. i LOVE that shit and wish there more good examples of that out there.

I like Siren 1/2 a lot. Haven't tried Blood Curse yet. I think Siren really nails the gameplay and unsettling feeling. Where I think Siren doesn't stand up to Silent Hill is the stories, which are ok, but very minimal, not very personal with the characters, and it's complicated as hell trying to put everything together without a faq since it's all non-chronological. I actually didn't finish Siren 1 or 2 because I got stuck trying to figure out how to open up the next segment a few times. The game design/structure is really confusing with a lot of backtracking. Ended up just reading the plot summaries for both. Still like the series a lot, but it's a bit too "hardcore" in structure and I prefer the more streamlined Silent Hill game structure.

Quote from: magus on March 11, 2012, 05:34:00 PM

personaly i never was into survival horrors but a friend of mine was,i remember some real bullshit puzzle with a piano... i don't even remember the solution

obligatory dog ending video

The crazy endings in SH games were awesome. The UFO endings that kept having continuity with previous game UFO endings were freaking hilarious.

demi · « **Reply #19 on:** March 11, 2012, 06:13:13 PM »

Quote from: Positive Touch on March 11, 2012, 05:46:15 PM

Quote from: demi on March 11, 2012, 05:42:51 PM
Silent Hill 2 is doodoo as fuck. You fight maybe 3 enemies. Boring.

you are a bad man. yeah the gameplay is weak as fuck, especially coming off of 1, but THE ATMOSPHERE

I'm fine with enjoying a something for the atmosphere, but don't spout it as a good game. It would be incorrect to say it as such.

Like those dummies who enjoy ICO/SOTC.

Owl-faced Wizard · « **Reply #20 on:** March 11, 2012, 06:26:47 PM »

Silent Hill 2 didn't have a good atmosphere either though. The outside areas are about as creepy and unsettling as Dynasty Warriors, and indoors it's just the same immaculately-detailed room copy-pasted a million times. The gameplay is outright awful though - it's far worse than even SotC/Ico. It's actually worse than Killer 7.

Positive Touch · « **Reply #21 on:** March 11, 2012, 07:05:52 PM »

you guys are free to have your own opinions, but i hope you both burn in hell

nothing personal

spoiler (click to show/hide)

j/k

[close]

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #22 on:** March 13, 2012, 04:16:05 PM »

Downpour sounds dreadful, I'm reading about items that break with usage, respawning enemies, no lock-on system, terrible combat in general, lazy monster design, and etc. But, you know, it's got atmosphere and stuff.

Bebpo · « **Reply #23 on:** March 13, 2012, 04:31:16 PM »

That honestly doesn't sound bad for a game like this (outside lazy monster design).

Survival horror is a game where the worse the game plays and the more everything in the game is against you, the better the game is because you're always afraid you're gonna die.

Gonna boot this up tonight after all.

demi · « **Reply #24 on:** March 13, 2012, 05:34:05 PM »

I'm ok with weapons breaking

I'm ok with no lock-on system

I'm ok with lazy monster design (has no impact on gameplay so whatever)

I'm NOT ok with respawning enemies - though this depends on how fucking annoying it is

I'm ok with turrible combat - depending on how turrible it is

Bebpo · « **Reply #25 on:** March 13, 2012, 05:59:51 PM »

Respawning enemies aren't a big deal if you aren't fighting/killing them anyhow and just run past them.

Bebpo · « **Reply #26 on:** March 13, 2012, 08:35:29 PM »

Damn, I ordered Downpour so long ago (when it was $48 + $10 credit) that it shipped to a completely different address. Won't be playing this tonight.

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #27 on:** March 14, 2012, 01:23:34 AM »

Bebpo, you gonna play this turd?

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #28 on:** March 14, 2012, 01:28:45 AM »

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #29 on:** March 14, 2012, 02:02:32 AM »

Liked SH2 and loved SH3. Mirror scene in SH3 was the scariest shit I had ever seen in a videogame. I never tried SH1 cuz of the fug visuals. How's the remake on the Wii?

Never tried SH4 either cuz I heard it wasn't a real SH game.

Bebpo · « **Reply #30 on:** March 14, 2012, 04:37:02 PM »

Quote from: Joe Molotov® EDGE™ on March 14, 2012, 01:23:34 AM

Bebpo, you gonna play this turd?

No. Book of Memories along with Silent Hill Arcade goes in the dark corner of videogames we like to forget exist.

Bebpo · « **Reply #31 on:** March 14, 2012, 04:43:21 PM »

Quote from: Smooth Groove on March 14, 2012, 02:02:32 AM

Liked SH2 and loved SH3. Mirror scene in SH3 was the scariest shit I had ever seen in a videogame. I never tried SH1 cuz of the fug visuals. How's the remake on the Wii?

Never tried SH4 either cuz I heard it wasn't a real SH game.

Wii game isn't a remake of SH1. It's a different game that borrows characters from SH1 in some sort of alternative universe thing. It's a good, not great, game. But don't expect scary horror silent hill. Game is not very scary.

Play SH1, visuals aren't that bad.

SH4 might not be a "real" SH game, but it's a real horror game by the guys who made SH2/3 which you liked. Would give it a shot at some point.

tiesto · « **Reply #32 on:** March 14, 2012, 04:46:44 PM »

Only game I played in the series was 2. Not much of a horror fan, nor a fan of survival horror gameplay... 2's story was pretty interesting and very different from your typical game, though the mechanics were boring as hell.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

The labyrinth part was the high point in the game... really nailed the whole "descent into hell" aspect of the game. Especially turning a corner and seeing Pyramid Head hanging around randomly...

[close]

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #33 on:** March 14, 2012, 04:59:19 PM »

Quote from: Bebpo on March 14, 2012, 04:37:02 PM

Quote from: Joe Molotov® EDGE™ on March 14, 2012, 01:23:34 AM
Bebpo, you gonna play this turd?

No. Book of Memories along with Silent Hill Arcade goes in the dark corner of videogames we like to forget exist.

Haha, I'd forgotten that was a thing.

Bebpo · « **Reply #34 on:** March 15, 2012, 04:10:25 AM »

Played about an hour of Downpour. Game seems surprisingly rad so far? It really nails the Silent Hill feel. A lot of running around early on, exploring the environment/areas. Good fog and general creepsville. The otherworld section I did was fairly solid. Chase sequences seem better than the Wii chases and more just about building intense RUN RUN RUN feel.

Game seems like a tribute to Silent Hill games. Same nostalgia sound effects, same creepy happy posters and notes on the history of Silent Hill. Music was what I was most interested in, since it's the first non-Yamaoka SH and I wanted to see how it would sound....and it sounds like every other silent hill

The Dexter composer guy seems to just be doing his best to copy Yamaoka note for note. Same instruments and style of sound. Also the devs know how to use music, so it's used very prominently like the old SH games. Very music/sound driven experience.

I like the Camera in the game. It's very angled and fish-eye at times in a way that works for a trippy Silent Hill experience.

Can't comment on the combat, but I don't think weapons breaking is a problem at all since there are things to use as weapons EVERYWHERE. You can pick up rocks and bash stuff, pots and pans, chairs, etc...

The graphics (art) look pretty nice but the game looks subHD, has screen tearing and the framerate is unstable ^^; I can't decide whether the jankiness of the visuals actually goes with the general wtfness of Silent Hill atmosphere, or if it's straight out bad and detracting. Looks better than the Wii game.

Only thing I'm not big on is the auto-saving every room or two. Kind of takes away some of the dread of "OMG I'M GOING TO DIE WHERE IS THE NEXT SAVE POINT?!!?". Would have rather they used the old school blood samael symbols.

But yeah, really enjoying it so far. Can't wait to dig in more tomorrow night!

fistfulofmetal · « **Reply #35 on:** March 15, 2012, 09:04:25 AM »

I loved Shattered Memories. it's not really an amazing game but I loved it.

Bebpo · « **Reply #36 on:** March 16, 2012, 01:15:40 AM »

Downpour is pretty good. The game runs like SHIT and the enemies are pretty generic monsters, but it totally feels like a real Silent Hill game. I haven't killed a single enemy yet. Been running instead because they freak me out and they're not easy to take down. Walking through caves and stuff with only your pocket lighter showing the way feels very silent hill-ish. Atmosphere is good.

Bebpo · « **Reply #37 on:** March 27, 2012, 01:11:28 AM »

I'm now a decent chunk into Downpour and it's a very solid survival horror experience. Game is creepy as hell, has a focus on exploration and puzzles, and the story is very Twin Peak-sy even if it's more straightforward and easier to figure out what is going on/went on than the Japanese games.

If you like real survival horror games, aka games that don't necessarily control/run great and you pretty much are just running like crazy from everything you see but it's all good because you are creeped out of your mind and having a good time, then definitely worth a look. It's too bad I'm sure the game will be the biggest disaster sales-wise in the franchise (until Book of Memories, but as an obscure early window Vita game, that might even outsell it), since it seems like no one anywhere cares because I'd like to see these guys get another shot at a horror game, Silent Hill or not.

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #38 on:** March 27, 2012, 01:40:29 AM »

Bebpo, why are there so few people in Silent Hill even when it's in the normal phase?

Bebpo · « **Reply #39 on:** March 27, 2012, 03:30:30 AM »

I always saw it as the town playing tricks on the main character so that they're lost in their delusions and don't see the people around them.

Bebpo · « **Reply #40 on:** March 29, 2012, 03:52:25 AM »

Got to the point of no return endgame in Downpour after about 6 hours in. Going to do all the sidequests (there's a lot) in the town before finishing it up. Game is good stuff, the "dungeons" are all really cool and well designed and don't feel like just going to a hospital, school, etc... for the billionth time in SH. It really feels like the best survival horror game in a long while. Other games (Fatal Frames, Sirens, Amnesia/Pnumbra) might do certain things better, but SH is just mainstream enough that it's actually FUN and enjoyable to play through while also being creepy and uncomfortable and makes you jump at nothing. I think that's why I like the SH games. They're not actually hard to progress in, they're pretty easy games and you're always moving forward and enjoying the dungeons and the story as it unfolds while being totally creeped out. But there's never a point where you don't want to advance because it's going to be hard and annoying and evil and you just don't want to do it. Amenesia was pretty mainstream too and that's why I liked that. Pnumbra was not, Siren is not. Fatal Frame is sorta not because the combat with the camera is so terrible it makes you afraid to fight things (which is kind of good); but then I only played FF1 and not 2-4.

Would definitely recommend Downpour to anyone who likes real horror games that you play at night in the dark with the sound up. It's at least a rental for sure. Though as a SH fan purchase feels justified.

Though I really need to push that technically the game is a eurojank PoS. The game streams the world and whenever it's loading a new section the game starts stuttering and pausing and the framerate goes to 1fps and it's reaaaaally annoying. There's also all kinds of technical hiccups, but the streaming is the only thing that really hurts the experience. The rest just makes it look uglier than it should, but since it's SH that's not necessarily a terrible thing. The game has nice art direction in general.

Also worth mentioning that the "otherworld" sequences are handled a little different in this one. Instead of being a dark, red, horror hell; the normal version of the dungeons is plenty dark and creepy with all kinds of horror moments and then the otherworld version is crazy dream imagery instead of hell imagery. Sometimes you get a lot of blues and yellows and see humans and they aren't necessarily scary, but rather they're neat fucked up dream sequences they play on the main character's tale. I like them and I'm ok with how they did it. But I can see it bugging diehards of the series.

The Sceneman · « **Reply #41 on:** March 29, 2012, 04:08:21 AM »

thanks for all the impressions Bebpo, this sounds like a game I'll LOVE. I plan to play it as soon as I can. Love me some survival horror. Did you play I Am Alive? it's not a 'horror' game but it pushed all the same buttons as classic RE/Silent Hill. There is some scary ass shit in that game.

Bebpo · « **Reply #42 on:** March 29, 2012, 04:20:30 AM »

I didn't even know it came out! I thought it was in development hell or something and was cancelled then not cancelled and stuff. Will pick it up on a XBLA sale and give it a shot. Is it still a disaster movie survival game like Disaster Report?

The Sceneman · « **Reply #43 on:** March 29, 2012, 04:45:49 AM »

You missed the thread? I never played Disaster Report, but I Am Alive is a bleak, gritty apocalypse survival game. kinda similar to 'The Road' if you have seen that film/read the book. Some very shocking content and one of the best endings in recent history. game was so good I jumped in and started a new game as soon as I beat it.

Bebpo · « **Reply #44 on:** March 29, 2012, 04:53:57 AM »

Sweet.

About how long is a playthrough? If it's short I can probably fit it when I have a free weekend.

The Sceneman · « **Reply #45 on:** March 29, 2012, 05:18:52 AM »

real quick if you just slam through it, I'd say ~ 5 hours, a great way to spend an afternoon-evening with some smooth wine

chronovore · « **Reply #46 on:** March 29, 2012, 05:40:09 AM »

Quote from: Bebpo on March 11, 2012, 05:38:47 PM

Silent Hill 4: The Room

Look at that trailer. Silent Hill 4 looked incredible. It's too bad the game was bogged down by so much padding in the 2nd half that it couldn't live up to what it promised to be. A creepy ghost story. Still, it was a good game. The 1st person room segments were fantastic; both creepy and creative; bringing a new experience to PS2 gaming. The soundtrack, again, was godly, and the story was interesting even if a little far fetched. Still a good SH game that I'd be down to replay at some point, but it deservedly got a lot of flak because there's a lot of flaws in the game design aspect of it. Also the last Team Silent game.

That trailer is pretty horrifying. I remember feeling such trepidation from the trailer, then playing the game. My ever-present sense of dread and skittishness was quickly replaced by frustration and boredom when I couldn't figure out what the game wanted me to do, and nothing was pushing me forward.

Bebpo · « **Reply #47 on:** March 29, 2012, 11:13:07 PM »

There are a lot of sidequests in Downpour. They're cool when you run into them as your progressing through the story and go "hey, look it's a door; why don't I go in there?" and then find some neat quest and then jump back on the main plot. They're not cool when you get to the endgame and you turn around and have 12 quests spread across the most confusing and hard to navigate and can't see anything town ever. Even with guides this is taking a while and pretty tedious. I guess I appreciate they threw stuff in to side-dress the main narrative and add a little more exploration; but eh, looking forward to finishing them up in the next session or two so I can get back to the story and do the finale. I really like the main game; unless the final section is awful, I'd definitely put this up with SH1-4 being at least on parity with SH4.

Bebpo · « **Reply #48 on:** March 30, 2012, 03:23:05 AM »

Finished up the sidequests. Most weren't worth it. Took me 5 hours to do all the sidequests, which is as long as the main game length until the pre-final dungeon. Mostly just running back and forth around the small town at 15fps with constant stuttering and loading. Game is a technically nightmare.

Worth noting for your achievement hunters out there (demi, sceneman, etc...), the game is currently bugged and there is a random possibility that a key quest item will not appear in a game run. If it's not there, there's no way to make it appear during that game. This locks you out of the achievement for finishing that quest AND the achievement for finishing all sidequests in one playthrough. So if the bug hits you (it hit me), you might get pissed off.

The Sceneman · « **Reply #49 on:** March 30, 2012, 03:35:44 AM »

booooo

will wait for a patch

Bebpo · « **Reply #50 on:** March 30, 2012, 03:44:16 AM »

Dude, game has been out a month and no word on any patches. I wouldn't hold my breath. This game has the budget of a Denny's meal.

chronovore · « **Reply #51 on:** March 30, 2012, 09:21:41 AM »

Quote from: Bebpo on March 30, 2012, 03:44:16 AM

Dude, game has been out a month and no word on any patches. I wouldn't hold my breath. This game has the budget of a Denny's meal.

And the same level of melee prowess.

demi · « **Reply #52 on:** March 30, 2012, 09:44:59 AM »

Quote from: Bebpo on March 30, 2012, 03:23:05 AM

Finished up the sidequests. Most weren't worth it. Took me 5 hours to do all the sidequests, which is as long as the main game length until the pre-final dungeon. Mostly just running back and forth around the small town at 15fps with constant stuttering and loading. Game is a technically nightmare.

Worth noting for your achievement hunters out there (demi, sceneman, etc...), the game is currently bugged and there is a random possibility that a key quest item will not appear in a game run. If it's not there, there's no way to make it appear during that game. This locks you out of the achievement for finishing that quest AND the achievement for finishing all sidequests in one playthrough. So if the bug hits you (it hit me), you might get pissed off.

This isn't an issue as you have to play multiple times for endings.

Bebpo · « **Reply #53 on:** March 30, 2012, 01:07:43 PM »

Unless you get hit by the bug each time! (not very likely, but you never know!)

demi · « **Reply #54 on:** March 30, 2012, 01:13:28 PM »

Well by then it should be figured out why it happens. If it truly is a random occurence then it is beyond our control.

Stoney Mason · « **Reply #55 on:** March 31, 2012, 09:42:59 AM »

I watched a playthrough of Silent Hill 2 on youtube. DSP.

It was shockingly good and immersive and the ending was fucking great. Very emotional.

I played the original silent hill when it came out and loved it and I was super hyped about 2 when it originally came out. I remember buying it and starting to play it but stopping because the trappings in survival horror games had started to turn me off.

So that was kind of the end of the Silent Hill series for me.

I wish there was a way to tell stories like this and themes like this but not in such a gameplay format these games have. I hate to say it but I think the approach of something like Heavy Rain is where I would like to see these games go. Not that heavy rain isn't without a whole slew of its own flaws but it removes that high barrier of entry of feeling like playing this archaic style of survival horror. Maybe something that blends the two somehow...

Just random thoughts after being really impressed with SH 2. Not the gameplay of 2. But the themes and story of it. It would be nice to have more of that in gaming.

Bebpo · « **Reply #56 on:** April 01, 2012, 01:29:36 AM »

Finished Downpour. About 6 hours for the main story, 4-5 for sidequests. Game is alright. For a good bulk of the exploring spooky town and its maze like trippy locations, it's a good SH game like SH1-4 with great atmosphere and an interesting story. Towards the end I thought it got too action-heavy (like Homecoming) and it has its share of bad design spots, poor checkpointing, tech problems.

Don't think I'd rave and recommend putting $60 down on this. But if you like SH, it's worth a play. If you've only played Team Silent games (SH1-4), you'll probably be heavily disappointed. If you've played all the SH games you'll be somewhat satisfied by the end.

Quote from: Stoney Mason on March 31, 2012, 09:42:59 AM

I wish there was a way to tell stories like this and themes like this but not in such a gameplay format these games have. I hate to say it but I think the approach of something like Heavy Rain is where I would like to see these games go. Not that heavy rain isn't without a whole slew of its own flaws but it removes that high barrier of entry of feeling like playing this archaic style of survival horror. Maybe something that blends the two somehow...

Just random thoughts after being really impressed with SH 2. Not the gameplay of 2. But the themes and story of it. It would be nice to have more of that in gaming.

Yeah, I'd like to see something of that type myself. I thought Heavy Rain itself was fairly "survival horror" at times and that's probably why I enjoyed it so much.

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Author Topic: Let's talk about Silent Hill (Could be a Downpour thread if anyone plays it) (Read 3637 times)