Silent Hill 2 Remake

Samtemdo8

Elite Member
Legacy
Apr 25, 2020
1,512
613
118
Country
Private
I still live.

So yeah, it seems Konami finally released something worth a damn.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

PsychedelicDiamond

Wild at Heart and weird on top
Legacy
Jan 30, 2011
2,084
946
118
Being done with the Wood Side Apartment I like it okay so far. The combat is functional, the atmosphere mostly captures the look and feel of the original, the voice actors are doing their best to do justice to the original performances. I don't really care very much for the new content, it seems mostly like filler and with how close the game is sticking to the original story it's clear that there aren't gonna be any new plot beats to go with the new locations. But I guess you get to explore a bit more of Silent Hill.

The one thing that I think is an actual improvement to the original is the sound design. It was already great and they made it better. Really worth playing with headphones.
 

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,786
12,385
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
Never would’ve thought the overall reception for the game would be this good, but glad to be proven wrong.
Same here.

I still live.

So yeah, it seems Konami finally released something worth a damn.
You doing okay? I missed ya!

seems mostly like filler and with how close the game is sticking to the original story it's clear that there aren't gonna be any new plot beats to go with the new locations.
Some of the expanded areas work, while some others don't. People complain about the hospital being too long, but I give that to the hotel section and the prison area. The hotel should have been a lot shorter, similar to the original game.
 

Samtemdo8

Elite Member
Legacy
Apr 25, 2020
1,512
613
118
Country
Private
Same here.


You doing okay? I missed ya!


Some of the expanded areas work, while some others don't. People complain about the hospital being too long, but I give that to the hotel section and the prison area. The hotel should have been a lot shorter, similar to the original game.
Discord happened. It mopolized my social media attention
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
Legacy
Jul 18, 2009
20,224
5,005
118
The one thing that I think is an actual improvement to the original is the sound design. It was already great and they made it better. Really worth playing with headphones.
What sound design are we talking about here? Because most of it seems lifted from the original game. Even the scream you hear after picking up the gun is identical.

OT: After getting to the hospital I kinda called it quits. It's a fine enough game, but it's just not for me. It doesn't have the personality I want from Silent Hill 2. The voice actors sound too not-particular. They don't give me the sense that they're weirdos who could leave this town anytime they want, but just don't. The combat feels ill-fitting for James' story. He's a dude wandering around Silent Hill in a daze, he's not someone desperately clawing and fighting against the odds to get to the truth. It doesn't fit the monsters themselves either. These aren't the usual demon dogs or flying nightmares, they're pathetic sickly wretches lacking in teeth or claws or anything to really attack with. The Lying Figures have vomit, and the Mannequins only have stumpy appendages, that's it. Even Pyramid Head himself doesn't pose much threat to James in the Original, he's really just there to remind James that he's there. Oh, and to kill Maria; the only time he's actually eager to kill. Making them this bloody thirsty feels like they're just the usual horror game monsters now. The combat itself also feels too demanding for how little it provides in terms of satisfaction or clear gameplay benefits. Adding to this the fact that you really only fight three enemy types the whole game. Which was also true for the Original, but with how set the Remake is in making you fight it just really stands out.

Overall I don't mind not liking this remake, I left my passion for Silent Hill by the roadside decades ago. It'd still be nice if Konami could get off their ass and make the original game(s) available on modern systems.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Drathnoxis

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,786
12,385
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
The combat feels ill-fitting for James' story. He's a dude wandering around Silent Hill in a daze, he's not someone desperately clawing and fighting against the odds to get to the truth.
I hard disagree. Just because someone's in a self-denying ldaze does not mean they don't have the capability to fight back nor search for the truth they hid from themselves. It's not like he's bobbing and weaving like a boxer. It actually fits his character further in the Eddie boss fight. James actually gets scared, has heavy breathing, and you can never fully aim correctly because he's fighting a psycho human with a gun and doesn't want to take another life. A life taken in self defense.
It'd still be nice if Konami could get off their ass and make the original game(s) available on modern systems.
They lost the original source code for most of the classic games. And it's hard to get the fog to look right on modern systems. They could just hire the modders and fans that do this thing, but they obviously don't want to do that for everyone. I'm just happy Silent Hill got recognition again and new people are discovered.

We also got Silent Hill f coming out whenever, but that still ways away
 

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,786
12,385
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male

  • He thought it was okay, but a copy of a copy.
  • Hates the over-the shoulder even though it's just as immersive.
  • Feels the expanded section go on for way too long. Some I agree with, some I disagree with.
  • Does a shallow insult on Eddie and Angela's faces.
  • Complains about too many healing items, even though the original gave you more than plenty.
  • Suddenly starts praising SH1 up and down and "why they didn't remake that?". Gee Yahtzee, why do you think? You would have complained either way.
  • Still has that "Waahhh, they remade something I cherished!" combative energy like his RE4R review. Though at as obnoxious in comparison to that remake review. Even he recommend going for a reviewer who never played an SH game before, nor the original SH2 for a non-biased review. Honestly, that is the best thing he said in his review.
 
Last edited:

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,786
12,385
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
Eddie I somewhat get (though still disagree when playing the actual game; it does work in Eddie's favor when he starts losing it), but Angela is fine overall, and it's just that one out of context screenshot early in the game. I see no issues and is just him jumping the bandwagon.
 
Last edited:
Jun 11, 2023
3,078
2,256
118
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Let’s talk about Angela
1729774765916.jpeg

Jokes aside, I thought it peculiar how her character changed to look less weathered than her original concept art (3 minute mark if it doesn’t skip there). IMHO it worked better since it fits the theme of the town taking its toll on her physical appearance.

Also interesting as an aside, her original cutscene beauty looks out of place more than ever in either case, seeing as how it’s such a far cry to her in-game rendering. I think if they were aiming for consistency then at least it’s one aspect where the remake can be validated in terms of character representation not being so bound to tech limitations.

IMG_3263.jpeg

IMG_2024-10-24-091020.jpeg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,786
12,385
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
look less weathered than her original concept art (3 minute mark if it doesn’t skip there). IMHO it worked better since it fits the theme of the town taking its toll on her physical appearance.
While he has only one point I wouldn't trust Hypnotic either. I've seen his upload history. He's actually part of the anti woke mob too. Going by the comments in this recent video and them constantly going on about the "uglication" of women. Not to mention he costly ends his sentences with "I'm not trying to/ I'm not calling it woke". Like he is really struggling and to say it and use it as an insult, but knows he can't.

Also interesting as an aside, her original cutscene beauty looks out of place more than ever in either case, seeing as how it’s such a far cry to her in-game rendering. I think if they were aiming for consistency then at least it’s one aspect where the remake can be validated in terms of character representation not being so bound to tech limitations.
Which only strengthens the remake even more.
 
Last edited:

Piscian

Elite Member
Apr 28, 2020
1,958
2,087
118
Country
United States
I suspect this isn't a hot take, but having played a bit of Silent Hill 2 Remake I was a little disappointed that it "felt" a bit less spooky. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I needed to fire up my OG xbox to back up the system because I'm gonna do the Stellar HD+ HDMI mod so I figured I'd play Silent Hill 2 a bit just to get a feel for the differences. I have a nice Retrotink 5x setup. Game actually looked really good with just that.

I kinda figured out what it was that was bothering me. In the original the fog is really in your face and there's no camera control like in the original resident evil games. It's very claustrophobic. I've heard there were graphical limitation reasons for the dense fog to cover most of the screen, but I think it works to the games advantage.

In the new one the fog is dialed way back. It's still spooky, but I noticed I can see the monsters way far away and can easily just run around them going from point to point.

Literally had to tear myself away from the original just now, gotta get work done. Man that game is captivating in that early 2000s adventure/mystery game way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hanselthecaretaker2

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
29,786
12,385
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
f Silent Hill 2 Remake I was a little disappointed that it "felt" a bit less spooky. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
I disagree. Both felt equally spooky. As far as the fog levels, it's not dialed back by that much. There are times where I had trouble. Seeing what's in the fog or what was coming. Wait until you get into the night time in the second half of the game.
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
Legacy
Jul 18, 2009
20,224
5,005
118
I actually think that Eddie's new design looks distractingly like Dan Schneider. Like, tell me you don't see it.

View attachment 12086
View attachment 12087
I was thinking more Garbage Pail Kid, but Scheider works too. Either way, he looks distractingly 'gross fat guy' and looks more at home in a GTA game than Silent Hill.

As for Angela, that's just what we used to call the uncanny valley, before weirdo paranoid racists decided developers were taking their hot women away. Her face looks off, but so did James' on the Original's ingame model.
Compare that to Angela's ingame face.

James-Sunderland.jpg
Sometimes a character's face doesn't pan out the way the developer might've wanted and they don't have enough time to redo it.

It's funny... Finally there IS a game character who was made deliberately uglier (Eddie) yet all these guys can talk about is how the sexual abuse victim doesn't look fuckable enough.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan