Silent Hill

[UrbanBeard]

What Asian man?

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"The Spiritual Power" isn't necessarily Native American in nature; the idea of particular places that are genius loci for hostile and unpredictable supernatural forces is something that occurs in animist religions all over the world. In Japan they have such locations, and native peoples who had animist religions (Jomon and Ainu).

The Asian Man has a very broad Asian accent, so it'd be fair to consider Team Silent wanted to imply a possibility that he was a traveller from somewhere in east Asia who was assisting The Order in their eschatological exercise.

This isn't to condone this creative choice you understand, just to explain how it could be justified from the existing lore going back to the very beginning of the franchise.

 

[Jerri's Kid]

Consider that back in Silent Hill 1 we never got an explanation of who The Asian Man was, who consulted with Dahlia, Dr Kaufmann and the other unnamed cultist during the vision of Alessa's hospital room you encounter while in Nowhere.

I can see this hook working. Silent Hill was built on a place of great spiritual power. They don't really describe it in much detail. Maybe it's where the walls between dimensions are thin or where the energies that make up the building blocks of reality are concentrated. Such places would not be limited to America.

Also, I always thought that Silent Hill was a lot like the spiritual places in Stephen King novels since he was another major influence on the series. The Overlook and the Micmac burial grounds were built on areas with strong energies that over time went "sour" due to various events happening there. As a result, these places became magnets for troubled and malevolent people.

The cult was attracted to Silent Hill because they were malevolent and the place (like The Overlook) could feed off of the misery they spread, but before the cult even arrived there were disappearances and deaths. The place has quite a dark past. What happened to Alessa put whatever was wrong with the town into overdrive because she had tremendous psychic powers like Danny Torrance did in The Shining.

That's why I believe that the cult's god never existed outside the town but that it was born from a wish like Maria was. This would explain why the god is presented differently in SH3 compared to SH1 and it also gives the devs an excuse to make stories that are not connected to the cult or its American locale.

 

[UrbanBeard]

I can see this hook working. Silent Hill was built on a place of great spiritual power. They don't really describe it in much detail. Maybe it's where the walls between dimensions are thin or where the energies that make up the building blocks of reality are concentrated. Such places would not be limited to America.

Also, I always thought that Silent Hill was a lot like the spiritual places in Stephen King novels since he was another major influence on the series. The Overlook and the Micmac burial grounds were built on areas with strong energies that over time went "sour" due to various events happening there. As a result, these places became magnets for troubled and malevolent people.

The cult was attracted to Silent Hill because they were malevolent and the place (like The Overlook) could feed off of the misery they spread, but before the cult even arrived there were disappearances and deaths. The place has quite a dark past. What happened to Alessa put whatever was wrong with the town into overdrive because she had tremendous psychic powers like Danny Torrance did in The Shining.

That's why I believe that the cult's god never existed outside the town but that it was born from a wish like Maria was. This would explain why the god is presented differently in SH3 compared to SH1 and it also gives the devs an excuse to make stories that are not connected to the cult or its American locale.

The other major inspiration for Silent Hill was the film Rosemary's Baby, and the ambiguity surrounding the Bramford Apartment Building. Why does it have so many horrible events connected to it? Do people who are inclined to horrible acts just naturally drawn to such a place due to its history, or is it a malevolent genius loci that provokes these horrible deeds in the tenants?

"The Spiritual Power" is a clay that moulds the hands that form it, lets say.

 

[Shartavius]

dumb take. you're missing the forest for the trees. have you played silent hill 4? it is still very much a team silent silent hill game, unlike every single entry that we've got since then

The post you quoted was discussing the Fatal Frame series with someone else.

 

[Hard R]

The post you quoted was discussing the Fatal Frame series with someone else.

lmao how extremely retarded of me

 

[cactus]

"The Spiritual Power" isn't necessarily Native American in nature; the idea of particular places that are genius loci for hostile and unpredictable supernatural forces is something that occurs in animist religions all over the world. In Japan they have such locations, and native peoples who had animist religions (Jomon and Ainu).

I get this, but the idea of an American cult, especially one as niche as the Order, making it to Japan makes no sense on top of the sacred area. You don't even see sects like Seventh Day Adventism making it into the populace. The best you get is a Japanese interpretation of Christianity. Like I said, it just reeks of the American Grudge remakes and their making the curse somehow move to America when the curse was only ever tied to that one specific house. The stuff with Silent Hill can only be tied to Silent Hill because of not only its past, but because of Alessa, who clearly never left the town.

Is there proof of this Asian man being a traveler though? Or is this just conjecture? Or are certain fans looking too much onto things? And is it possible he's like Dr. Asou from Fatal Frame, just documenting weird things he finds?

 

[Jerri's Kid]

The other major inspiration for Silent Hill was the film Rosemary's Baby, and the ambiguity surrounding the Bramford Apartment Building.

Totally. They named a street in Silent Hill after Ira Levin, too, and I've seen the film so I recognize the influence. Also, the first Silent Hill used the "Moonchild" concept derived from Aleister Crowley (the first game has a music track called "Moonchild"), which involves using a ritual to impregnate a girl with a spirit or demon. This is another way that the game relates to Rosemary's Baby.

 

[UrbanBeard]

I get this, but the idea of an American cult, especially one as niche as the Order, making it to Japan makes no sense on top of the sacred area. You don't even see sects like Seventh Day Adventism making it into the populace. The best you get is a Japanese interpretation of Christianity. Like I said, it just reeks of the American Grudge remakes and their making the curse somehow move to America when the curse was only ever tied to that one specific house. The stuff with Silent Hill can only be tied to Silent Hill because of not only its past, but because of Alessa, who clearly never left the town.

Is there proof of this Asian man being a traveler though? Or is this just conjecture? Or are certain fans looking too much onto things? And is it possible he's like Dr. Asou from Fatal Frame, just documenting weird things he finds?

That's what I'm saying: The Asian Man is a plot detail that has never been filled in by any subsequent Silent Hill media, and he's depicted as being a spiritual expert of some kind who is offering advice on The Order's treatment of Alessa as if he is a learned man on the subject. There's enough clay there to insinuate this man was connected to an organisation like Aum Shinrikyo if a writer wanted to, and seeing as its a seemingly irrelevant detail from the very first game in the series, its the kind of loose thread I'd seize on if I were trying to make money out of this license.

Its obscure enough that even the grognards who have followed the series for a quarter of a century would have to say "Huh, I had forgotten about that guy, okay I guess these new writers do know Silent Hill."

 

[babadook]

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Thanks for the dolphin porn

 

[Quijibo69]

I hate the fact the boss fights are somehow easier in the remake. I'm playing normal mode. Who would have thought? Have playing half-way though the remake. I should have been kinda it's own thing and not a remake. It's pretty much a reimagining. A better title would have been HL 2: Otherworld.

 

[Armor King]

I guess we'll see if Bloober has any real talent if their new game (the over the shoulder spooky slop whatever its called) is any good. If it isn't it'll just reafirm that the remake was a fluke, in that they were basically following the blueprint Team Silent had layed out for them.

That's the one good thing I can say about Bloober tho, you didn't completely fucked it up and shat out a 2/10 like we were all expecting but had the good sense to not change the overall story. Still, I think the remake its at best, a 6/10 in its current state, it could have probably left a much better impression on me if it wasn't 70 fucking dollars, had a stable framerate, didn't destroy Mary/Marias/Angelas characters and had the Born from a wish scenario already packed in the game.

I pirated it so I don't really care but if you absolutely need to play it, I'd say play the original game with the enhanced edition patch or whatever, and wait for the dlc Maria scenario and see if they have fixed at the very least 70% of the stuttering by then.

 

[Local FloRida-man]

Oh no! Not the 2 year time table! What does that have to do with anything?

You're the one who brought up the timetables my guy

Lmao the games all have the same feel, not much has changed outside of a couple of mechanics you don't like.

"Everything's the same if you ignore the things that are different."
Sure bro.

dumb take. you're missing the forest for the trees. have you played silent hill 4? it is still very much a team silent silent hill game, unlike every single entry that we've got since then

No joke SH4 is my favorite btw. It's not the best, but they nailed the dreamlike atmosphere and it's the only game with a slasher villain that I actually find unnerving. Having everyone he kills turn into a boss is also kino, although it kinda sucks that they're optional.

 

[cactus]

You're the one who brought up the timetables my guy

No I didn't, I mentioned the year FF4 came out because you acted like it didn't come out until way later after FF3. Then you bitched about how it didn't come out 2 years apart like the first 3 games.

"Everything's the same if you ignore the things that are different."
Sure bro.

You're the one who's upset they changed anything at all. The atmosphere was still the same and the writing was still good, that's all I care about.

 

[Wesker]

I guess we'll see if Bloober has any real talent if their new game (the over the shoulder spooky slop whatever its called) is any good. If it isn't it'll just reafirm that the remake was a fluke, in that they were basically following the blueprint Team Silent had layed out for them.

That's the one good thing I can say about Bloober tho, you didn't completely fucked it up and shat out a 2/10 like we were all expecting but had the good sense to not change the overall story. Still, I think the remake its at best, a 6/10 in its current state, it could have probably left a much better impression on me if it wasn't 70 fucking dollars, had a stable framerate, didn't destroy Mary/Marias/Angelas characters and had the Born from a wish scenario already packed in the game.

I pirated it so I don't really care but if you absolutely need to play it, I'd say play the original game with the enhanced edition patch or whatever, and wait for the dlc Maria scenario and see if they have fixed at the very least 70% of the stuttering by then.

It's definitely not a bad remake, but that doesn't make it good either. It's just there. It's not offensive in it's recreation generally, it's just the rhythm and line delivery is so bizarre and flat when you listen to it next to the original. Not to mention, all the characters are awful looking.

At least nothing but Born from a Wish wasn't cut. But then again I don't know why people are shitting blood that it's not included when I never thought it was worth playing more than once anyway. Maria just popping to existence and going to the park when James arrives makes much more sense than her having her own Separate Ways.

 

[Deus Exica]

get this, but the idea of an American cult, especially one as niche as the Order, making it to Japan makes no sense on top of the sacred area.

Why? All they have to do is buy a fucking plane ticket. The cult has many members and it's reach and influence in other places is ambiguous. There's no reason a select few members couldn't simply set up shop somewhere else.

The atmosphere was still the same

No? It is similar but they made many key changes the alters the atmosphere drastically.

and the writing was still good, that's all I care about.

With the cheat sheet of the original SH2 script they still managed to change and fumble things to make them way worse.

 

[cactus]

Why? All they have to do is buy a fucking plane ticket. The cult has many members and it's reach and influence in other places is ambiguous. There's no reason a select few members couldn't simply set up shop somewhere else.

No? It is similar but they made many key changes the alters the atmosphere drastically.

With the cheat sheet of the original SH2 script they still managed to change and fumble things to make them way worse.

I was talking about Fatal Frame in the 2nd and 3rd things you quoted. I'm deadset against the SH2 remake.

And toward your first paragraph, if I had better examples of what you said happening in Japan in the real world, I'd buy it, but there isn't so it's hard. Also I'm with the crowd who just want Konami to let it stay dead, so nothing you say can convince me about giving F a chance.

 

[El Chacal De La Trompeta]

Wow. Such insightful commentary and nuanced analysis that I've never seen discussed here nor on /v. Endymiontv really knocked it out of the park with this one.

Our boy, Andypants gaming, is pulling out all the stops with his bold criticisms of current day slop culture. Those 55 minutes gave invaluable insight into the current gaming industry and totally gave us, the consumers, a solution to this aggravating problematic. This wasn't just the useless rants from some grifter, made for the other lowest common denominator. No sir, they weren't.

Well done, Nerdrotic.

sinthetic is a legit retard and i always wonder why people quote his content.

 

[IDanceonTrannyGraves]

Wow. Such insightful commentary and nuanced analysis that I've never seen discussed here nor on /v. Endymiontv really knocked it out of the park with this one.

Our boy, Andypants gaming, is pulling out all the stops with his bold criticisms of current day slop culture. Those 55 minutes gave invaluable insight into the current gaming industry and totally gave us, the consumers, a solution to this aggravating problematic. This wasn't just the useless rants from some grifter, made for the other lowest common denominator. No sir, they weren't.

Well done, Nerdrotic.

Fuck off, commie chink.

 

[斯尼 德之王]

Fuck off, commie chink.

Seethe, weeb.

Gaming is Dying, and Remakes are Killing It (1).mp4

 

[Quijibo69]

The SH2 remake needs a mod that turns Mannequins into Chain Chomps. Overused enemy much.