Silent Hill

Thanks for the spoilers, without irony. It seems my weak hopes for this old franchise are completely gone now.

I have never had any interest in the Silent Hill 2 remake, but I thought I might give a real remake of SH1 a chance. Then I heard Bloober Team are actually going to make one, and... I think I'm good. Silent Hill is still dead, and I'm glad.
Flying Meat Wagon said:
I don't understand why every horror game needs to have combat. Even in Soma I felt it played better in safe mode. The dodge and hit combat just seems like retard bait. "Oh no, the adhd retard that bought the game needs his dopamine fix. Quick, jingle some keys."
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Be careful what you wish for. You could end up with Shattered Memories 2.
 
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frozen_runner said:
Be careful what you wish for. You could end up with Shattered Memories 2.
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Haven't played that one but people seem to think it was decent even if it didn't have combat.

I just think combat has to be more thought out in a horror game. If it's too hard you get frustrated and stop fearing for the character. If it's too easy it's not scary since you can just walk through the enemies.

The combat doesn't fit the character and the setting. I don't expect a 90 pound Asian girl to be able to effectively kill paranormal creatures with a piece of pipe. It just kills my immersion. Combat should be a struggle to juggle items and use tactics, more like a puzzle. Currently it's a shitty hack and slash.

James could get away with killing monsters with a plank, he's a decently big guy. And part of his guilt is him using his physical strength to kill. It fits his story.
 
Flying Meat Wagon said:
Haven't played that one but people seem to think it was decent even if it didn't have combat.
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The problem with Shattered Memories is that outside of piss easy nightmare sequences there is literally no danger at all. It is barely a game, despite being solidly atmospheric and kinda cool. It is far closer to a walking sim.

The new game being so combat heavy and soulslike is just one of about a billion different problems with it. It would be so fucking easy to make Silent Hill but in Japan work but these devs clearly had no interest or love for the franchise. Can't believe I am saying this but at least Bloober kind of tried to be a bit respectful to the source in terms of plot, lore, and atmosphere, minus the weird shit done to Angela's face.

It is a real indictment to how far the franchise has fallen when F comes out and does literally everything Homecoming, Downpour, and Origins was ripped on for but even worse and somehow gets glazed by modern gamers with zero standards.
 
Deus Exica said:
The problem with Shattered Memories is that outside of piss easy nightmare sequences there is literally no danger at all. It is barely a game, despite being solidly atmospheric and kinda cool. It is far closer to a walking sim.
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I give Shattered Memories a pass mainly because of how honest it was about not trying to supplant the original Silent Hill. From day one, they were calling it “not a remake or a port” and emphasising how things will differ beyond the basic plot (that being “Harry Mason is searching Silent Hill for his daughter Cheryl”). Had it just been called “Silent Hill” like Bloober’s SH2 or the Resident Evil REmakes, then that would have opened it up to far more scrutiny and comparisons with the original in my opinion.

Another point is more retroactive, but after 20 years of Western (and now Japanese, too) Silent Hill gameplay/combat that fails to match the Team Silent games, Shattered Memories manages to stand above the others by not even trying to have combat and focusing instead on what unique gameplay can be introduced using the Wii. Yes, the chase sequences get a bit procedural but they always take you through a different environment and service the plot in a key way.
 
Nobunaga said:
You say it like thats a bad thing
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There's a lot to admire about Shattered Memories. (Not as a reimagining of SH1, but as its own thing.) But the "other world" sequences were straight ass. And there's nothing frightening about the game at all.
 
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RotatoBear said:
not trying to supplant the original Silent Hill. From day one, they were calling it “not a remake or a port”
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That was a dishonest marketing tactic for gullible retards. "Nonono our game where we literally recreate SH1 scenes like Lisa bleeding is just uh a reimaginationinging or something! Look, we call it ShatMe! Anyway, enjoy Harry trying to find his daugthter Cheryl!"

Sad thing is it worked. Fell for it award winners line up to argue how ackshually it doesn't conform to their strawman of a remake therefore it's le not one. They literally made up a buzzword to con midwits into being ok with a remake that nukes the cult from the story.
RotatoBear said:
focusing instead on what unique gameplay can be introduced using the Wii.
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What? Generic OTS walking around + retarded minigames where you shake the wiimote? Or maybe you mean a horror game that makes it obvious that nothing scary will ever happen outside of the crappy chases.
 
An hour in and it feels very meh so far. The environments are bland and I think only saved by the novel sensation of it being set in a foreign location but somehow it looks only marginally more detailed than fucking Forbidden Siren... how? The combat is fine, whatever, I don't love the durability on weapons, feels like an unnecessary gimmick. The whole shrine praying thing is strange too, combined with charms.

Overall, based on my very limited perspective this could have avoided a lot of slapfighting if they had just ditched the Silent Hill branding and called it something else. That way you wouldn't be caught between trying to appease angry jaded autists and people who only know SH2/SH2remake. Kinda reminds me of the Prey/Prey thing from a few years ago, but nuPrey was actually really good.
 
Wodanaz said:
>people are complaining about performance issues
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Really?, if there is one thing I could give the game points on, is that it runs rather well for my outdated system, it doesn't run perfectly but for my 2060 and i5 10400 it runs better than expected.
Discourteous Discourse said:
little red and white pills
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Lmaoo I knew the pills were going to be a plot element and not just a generic healing item, when I started this game I literally thought something like "will there be a different ending If I did a no pill run?", well that is cool I guess, shame the game sucks and I will not continue to play it.
 
Flying Meat Wagon said:
I just think combat has to be more thought out in a horror game. If it's too hard you get frustrated and stop fearing for the character. If it's too easy it's not scary since you can just walk through the enemies.
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Hilariously, Lisa: The Painful is the better Silent Hill game because every fight there forces the player to really buckle down and win at the skin of their teeth. Obviously, once you reach a point where you can start steamrolling enemies, it still forces you into that survivor mindset as some of the later enemies can still instakill you. That and the mess that is Brad Armstrong and his trauma.

Wasn't expecting a Joyless ending being a requirement for any other ending in F. Or at the very least not take too many damn pills.

The only Silent Hill elements about F is the fog, the monsters, and the formula. The way its handled, the whole Souls angle, it should have been its own title. They could have made it as an urban themed Soulslike with all the forced battles and the monster arena this game likes putting people through. Right down to character leveling. Could have been something new.
 
Lady Adjani said:
I wish the souls series never existed, everyone and their mother trying to copy the format.
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And the damned stamina bar that every other game seems to love nowadays. Back then, the only stamina bar you had was your own attention. I get the point. Its to make you stop attacking relentlessly and trivializing the fights. But the damn thing works against the player all the damned time which is why so many devs love it.

What made the 4 Silent Hill games work was that the game found ways to punish you for getting greedy. Your protag isn't a seasoned fighter or a warrior and so the movesets are limited and your dodge option doesn't exist. Getting mobbed by monsters tends to be the result and having to use your gun to get rid of them was something players have to think twice on especially when bosses and inescapable routes are a thing.

They should just bring back tank controls at this point. Its obvious these devs are doing this for a quick buck and don't understand the intricacies of difficulty.
 
What's the deal with the Red Capsules in the game? Reminds me of the drugs in Higurashi.
Flying Meat Wagon said:
I just think combat has to be more thought out in a horror game. If it's too hard you get frustrated and stop fearing for the character. If it's too easy it's not scary since you can just walk through the enemies.
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The main issue is QoL in regards to saving. At the very least you need to have a higher cost of failure than simply loading a save from 5 minutes before. Even making the game a Roguelike would be an improvement.
 
wtfNeedSignUp said:
What's the deal with the Red Capsules in the game? Reminds me of the drugs in Higurashi.

The main issue is QoL in regards to saving. At the very least you need to have a higher cost of failure than simply loading a save from 5 minutes before. Even making the game a Roguelike would be an improvement.
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I know Outward has a mechanic were you wake up somewhere close by if you die, but only once. With the logic that some npc saved you while you were unconscious. Far cry 2 also did something similar with a partner npc that would come and save you if you died.

A similar mechanic that moves you and makes you lose some resources or moves quest items might be a good replacement instead of just loading a save. It doesn't break immersion by killing you, but it still punishes you for failing.
 
RotatoBear said:
I give Shattered Memories a pass mainly because of how honest it was about not trying to supplant the original Silent Hill. From day one, they were calling it “not a remake or a port” and emphasising how things will differ beyond the basic plot (that being “Harry Mason is searching Silent Hill for his daughter Cheryl”). Had it just been called “Silent Hill” like Bloober’s SH2 or the Resident Evil REmakes, then that would have opened it up to far more scrutiny and comparisons with the original in my opinion.
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The devs lied to Konami about what they were making though. The devs wants to make Cold Heart or whatever instead of the remake Konami wanted, making a weird mish mash of the two. The only good part about that game is the joke/alien ending.
 
The Cheese Aisle said:
One of the developers of Silent Hill 2 (I forget which, Sato I think), said, to paraphrase, that horror and tension are more about the in-between moments, where your mind runs wild filling in all of the blanks. Since what is scary is different from person to person, this is really effective. This quote has always stuck with me as to why the first four Team Silent games were so effective.
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You would think this should be obvious to anyone making a HORROR game, but we do not live in a sane world.
 
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