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Silent Hill


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just realized, we've had reviews/hype for almost every game in the series since this board started, but not one for the series itself.

 

having not given a proper playthrough of Shattered Memories yet, ive been off the series for a while - Origins was the first one i put down (like yahtzee said, the protagonist has zero reason for staying in town, kinda bothered me amongst other things), and Homecoming was the last one i ran through completely. Though i didnt do so with the original, 2-5 i made a point to see every ending. Few of them beat 2's "In Water" but most were satisfying, even the UFO ones.

 

first, some words on what became of Team Silent (responsible for 1-3):

 

Team Silent technically hasn't been Team Silent since SH2. Team Silent is the crew that made the first two, and basically the main creative team of both titles consisted of 6 specific people - Keiichiro Toyama (who directed Silent Hill 1 and left during early production of SH2 to work with Sony), Akihiro Imamura (main programmer on 1 and producer on 2), Takayoshi Sato (character designer for 1 and 2, now working at EA in the US), Masahiro Ito (enemy designer who I believe has left Konami to do his own art thing), Gozo Kitao (producer on SH1 and exec producer on SH2 who I have no idea what he's doing now), and the publicly outspoken head of the team these days - Akira Yamaoka.

 

The group that made 3 was crippled to just Yamaoka, Kitao, Ito, and Imamura who had mostly a new crew creating the game for them. 4's only realy link to the original team was two of those original six who weren't even really hands on anymore (Imamura and Yamaoka - both with production and exec/associate producer roles, with just the music being basically put through the motions by Yamaoka, and the games production was handled by an entirely different team at Konami because it had started as a different project.

 

Looking at the history each title has continued to removed them from actual development into cushy management roles, so it's not surprising SH5 isn't even being made at Konami anymore. The only person I believe who had a fully hands on role into SH4 that worked on previous titles from the Team Silent era was Masashi Tsuboyama, who went from background designer on SH1 and SH2 to creating the art design and monsters in Ito's absence for "The Room".

 

SH3 was a technical masterpiece, but it's story forced a lot of the ideas about what made the first two so good (mostly in it's ambiguity) out the window. As we know, SH4 wasn't supposed to be a SH game and it shows. I finished the game but I hardly felt that compelled to complete the title... the ghosts idea especially frustrated me because it isn't like anything else in the series, and the limited item and item box thing frustrated me also.

 

shame, that. anyway, i linked it elsewhere but its worth reposting: Saving Ourselves: Psychoanalytic investigation of Silent Hill & Resident Evil

 

Silent Hill 2 - the making of:

 

 

 

 

 

Silent Hill 3

 

 

Map_SH1.jpg

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and now, the music, which is fantastic, as the game doesn't often use it.

 

first up: bish's find of akira playing SH2 live:

 

 

"You're not here" - SH3 intro, some of Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's best

 

 

"Room of Angel" - SH4's intro, same fantastic singer.

 

 

"Pianissimo Epilogue" (SH2)

 

 

 

 

more to come, trying to find the song that plays as the hotel burns in part 2.

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well, you dont have to go in order, but the first 3 are really fantastic (2 is one of my favorite games of all time). 1 hasnt aged too great, but the remake for wii/PS2 is out now, so its your call. what kind of horror games do you usually go for? cause psych horror is a far cry from say survival horror.

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it does, and its great despite what old skeeter said before the fact, but its more action-y/closer to RE than Silent Hill.

 

Homecoming = part 5, basically. 1 remake is Shattered Memories. i'm trying to draw examples of other good psych horror you might've played prior, but all i can think of is the Fatal Frame series.

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silent-hill-poster.jpg

 

Ah a topic close to my Pyramid shaped heart. Lets start with Shattered Memories, while still keeping it spoiler free for those of you who haven't played it yet.

 

Shattered Memories: It's simple, not just because it's on the Wii but because they really want to instill that sense of fear into you that you are in a nightmare. For the most part it plays VERY smoothly and the waggle controls while they are still waggle controls are pretty responsive. My friend moved spots on the couch while playing and his character got up and changed seats in the car he was in at the time.

 

The game throws almost everything out of SH 1 (I haven't played through all of 1 but I know most everything that happens in it) that focuses around the cult of silent hill and keeps it a story about a man looking for his daughter. The ending you might catch on to if you know what you are looking for but all and all it's a fun ride. My only main gripe was that the music didn't feel like Silent Hill music with the exception of a couple tracks. 6 Hours long, and if you can get it used is a nice time for you and your Wii.

 

Silent Hill 2: Look, i know its sad but i've been to the end of the game 3 times and right at the end of the game my 360 eats my save so I can't finish. It's good enough that i've played it 3 times and never finished it. Currently on my to do list as my friend is giving me my org XBOX back so I can just play it on there without running the risk of losing save.

 

SH 3: The first one I played. I honestly thought it was a pretty solid game all around with all the usual SH gripes (control etc). As I didn't play one I didn't realize how closely it tied into the first game. They make it way more obvious when you play Shattered Memories.

 

SH4: Sitting on my to do list after 2.

 

Origins: Excellent game, pick it up if you haven't played it. Some of it is a bit silly like carrying 5 TVs to beat monsters with but is a VERY solid SH experience.

 

Movie: So they changed a couple things, don't you people realize this is one of the best video game movies to ever come out?

 

Personal Feelings: I'm pretty invested into the SH universe, almost as much as Resident Evil or Legacy of Kain. I can hear almost any song from SH and it cheers me up and I always look forward to more SH news. It's got so much more potential and I hope it keeps going strong. Now if they could only make something as great as 2 I'd be in heaven(s night).

 

img_4197_konami36_ss1.jpg

 

pyramid_rape.jpg

Edited by Bindusara
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bindu: aw man, you make me wanna lend you my ps2 just to get through 2. shame you played 3 before 1, heh.

 

im happy Shattered Memories got a PS2 port, hope the graphics drop-off isnt too bad, as i think ill prefer the controls. I guess i oughta give Origins another go, its just...i played 1 in the day, so this really feels like been there, done that etc.

 

i'm so not touching that arcade game. the iphone one was awful enough.

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bindu: aw man, you make me wanna lend you my ps2 just to get through 2. shame you played 3 before 1, heh.

 

im happy Shattered Memories got a PS2 port, hope the graphics drop-off isnt too bad, as i think ill prefer the controls. I guess i oughta give Origins another go, its just...i played 1 in the day, so this really feels like been there, done that etc.

 

i'm so not touching that arcade game. the iphone one was awful enough.

 

I own a million gaming consoles I just happened to have lent my Xbox out to a friend while he was ill for a year or so and the emulation on 360 just eats my saves. In theory I'm getting it back here soon so on a nice rainy night (which is when I play SH games) I will tear through it in a night.

 

Origins, well maybe I just never got enough SH in my day but it was a nice lay in bed and play game. Not hard just filler and I appreciate the ties to the movie it gave it.

 

I totally forgot the phone games, I played the first one on my verizon 9800 and I see the second was was just released for my voyager. The question is, how bad to I need my SH fix.

 

As for shattered memories, I can't see myself enjoying it as much on the PS2 but if thats what you got then go for it. It just feels like a good Wii game. Homecoming is on my to do list, i just have been wanting to finish 2 so fucking bad. I'm slowing becoming a fountain of useless silent hill trivia the way I've always been with resident evil. I contemplated getting the umbrella corp logo on one wrist and the halo of the sun from SH on the other done in UV tattoo.

 

Insert pyramid heads here.

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