Silent Hill: Can I skip the first game?

[bigfatcarp93]

I kind of want to get into Silent Hill after hearing extensive praise, but I have no means of getting or playing the original. Can I go straight to Silent Hill 2? Will I be missing important info? I always try to play a series from the beginning, but I may need to do this differently, so I just want to make sure I'm not going to go in totally confused.

EDIT: Also, opinions on quality of each game?

 

[tippy2k2]

Each game is basically its own self-contained story.

A few references will be missed (specifically Silent Hill 3 refers back to 1 due to...something in Silent Hill 3) but overall, each game is pretty well self-contained.

EDIT: As for opinions, the games (in my ever so humble opinion of course)

Silent Hill 2 > Silent Hill 3 > Silent Hill 1 >>> Homecoming (with Silent Hill 1-3 being pretty equal in quality)

I have not played Downpour or any of the handheld Silent Hills. From what I've seen, most agree that Silent Hill 1-3 is where it's at and the games go downhill from there.

 

[StriderShinryu]

You won't be missing much if you jump to SH2 immediately, but you will be missing quite a bit if you play SH3 without playing SH1 as they are directly related.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

With the exception of Silent Hill (1), Silent Hill 3 and Silent Hill: Origins, which form a sort of trilogy - Origins acting as a prequel - every other game is a stand-alone affair with a self-contained story. Worst case scenario one or two references go flying over your head. Like how Silent Hill 4: The Room features characters mentioned in passing in Silent Hill 2. And so on.

Now for my opinions.

SILENT HILL - While still scary, it has aged pretty poorly in every other department. Graphics and voice-acting are bad even by PS standards, and the controls (whether you're aiming your gun or simply trying to line the PC to pick up an item) are awful. The camera tends to whip around annoyingly while running outdoors as well. Horror-wise it's has a pretty standard-issue repertoire of enemies, underlined by satanic themes and a heavy-metal motif. I think the game benefits from its nonsense storyline though. Everything feels appropriately freaky and dangerous.

SILENT HILL 2 - Best in the series. Storytelling at its finest. Drops the satanic opera vibe of the first game in favor of a more introspective (and depressing) journey. Controls are still finicky but reliable enough.

SILENT HILL 3 - Second best. Direct sequel to game #1, so the nonsense from the first game carries over, dragging both the good (the horror) and the bad (the story). Games 2 and 3 look and play very much alike, as they were developed back to back. Love the PC by the way.

SILENT HILL 4: THE ROOM - The series dark horse. Konami took a random horror game well into development and repurposed it as a Silent Hill game. As a result it looks, feels and plays nothing like any other game that came before or after, featuring first person perspective sections, a limited inventory system, unkillable ghosts that chase you through the whole game ala Nemesis from RE3, very little (and weak) gunplay, etc. I happen to like the game, though I admit it's a hard game to love.

SILENT HILL: ORIGINS - First Western-developed game in the series, works like a poor rehash of everything you loved from the first three games, incorporating story aspects from games #1 and #3 while ripping-off the monster designs from #2. Now featuring QTEs and excessive gunplay.

SILENT HILL: HOMECOMING - Haven't played it, but it's by all means even worse than Origins.

SILENT HILL: SHATTERED MEMORIES - "Re-imagining" of game number one. No combat, no health and no items, just exploring the town, solving puzzles and running away from monsters during scripted encounters. While atmospheric, it's not scary. At all.

SILENT HILL: DOWNPOUR - Haven't played it.

My advice would be to start with Silent Hill 2.

 

[stroopwafel]

The original Silent Hill was kind of the 'Twin Peaks' variant on Resident Evil back in the day and while it was unique at the time, like others have said, it aged horribly. Clunky controls, tedious mission structure, frustrating puzzles, atrocious camera and graphics that look like vomit. Even the 'psychological' scares(its one redeeming factor) have been done way better by other games since,

I still kind of like it though, but only out of nostalgic value and b/c I played it way back in '98/'99 when it was originally released. As a new player I definitely wouldn't recommend it, unless you're looking for a curiosity piece.

Silent Hill 2 is definitely the best in the series, dealing with themes and subjects I haven't seen repeated in other games since. Gameplay is still kinda meh but the game is so intriguing and atmospheric that it will probably linger in your thoughts even after playing.

All the other ones are kind of forgettable in my opinion. Of the remaining titles I only enjoyed SH3 and Downpour. With the exception of SH2 the series itself is pretty overrated though.

 

[Slitzkin]

Hell naw. The first Silent Hill is an amazing game.

 

[Mahorfeus]

Nah, I'd say that the first game is damn near essential, especially if you want to fully appreciate Silent Hill 3. I know people like to sing praises about the second game, but I honestly think that the first really nailed the hellish atmosphere, despite being dated.

I myself think that Silent Hill 4 was the best of the bunch. Not a very popular opinion, but it is what it is. But you would probably do well to avoid any of the current unnumbered titles in the series. Homecoming had some intense melee combat that was actually pretty fun, and Downpour had a pretty dour atmosphere, but beyond that, they were both pretty crappy.

 

[Hithel]

Personally I found SH2 inferior to the first game, warts and all. The simple fact is that SH2 requires such a titanic suspension of disbelief. You have all these people in SH2 witnessing the most horrible events and they barely react to them. This is a typical issue I have with Japanese games - all characters wear stoic expressions that never come off.

When the main character meets another human in Silent Hill after seeing supernatural/paranormal creatures, death and mutilation his reaction is to just go "Hey how y'doing. I'll just keep going".

 

[stroopwafel]

When the main character meets another human in Silent Hill after seeing supernatural/paranormal creatures, death and mutilation his reaction is to just go "Hey how y'doing. I'll just keep going".

That's actually what I love about it, as it adds to the surreal nature of the game. The subdued expressions of the characters also add to the 'not quite right' atmosphere. It's a game of subtle cues instead of overt emotions, which can be considered distinctly Japanese. It's also why a game like SH2 couldn't really be made anywhere else.

 

[Someone Depressing]

The games worked in a sort of mixed up duology - Silent Hill 1 and 3, and Silent Hill 2 and 4 were each unrelated to the other two, but had story elements of the other. If you're going to skip Silent Hill 1, then you might as well learn a quick sypnosis of the entire plot if you're going to play 3.

 

[Evonisia]

Silent Hill is a mostly self contained affair, even Silent Hill 3 gives you a cutscene and one item late in the game telling you all you need to know anyway. You can skip the first one easily, and you can play any of them (the main eight anyway) so long as you don't start with Homecoming.

I'm not even saying that because I think Homecoming sucks, it's because Homecoming is a wannabe that rips off Silent Hill 2's story and will likely cheapen the impact SH2 might have on you.

Edit: Oh you asked for opinions.

OK, I'm in the camp of liking Silent Hill 3 the most and I think the series is still good. Just because Origins was soul less and Homecoming was fucking awful doesn't mean Shattered Memories and Downpour didn't just pull a 180 on the series to revive it.

 

[Mikejames]

Silent Hill 2 was the first of the series I played, and it's easily one of my favorites. Great balance in subtle scares, lonely atmosphere, and intriguing story.

Silent Hill 1's a classic, and definitely scared me more than I thought it was capable of, but it's definitely aged. Still impacted me more than many a modern horror game though.

Silent Hill 3 might be the scariest of the series, and I like a few of the characters, but the story is less in-depth than the psychological journeys that other games went for.

Silent Hill 4 was very hit and miss for me. Great premise and atmospheric build-up at the start, followed by painful amounts of backtracking and a protagonist who never really goes anywhere in terms of character.

Homecoming and Downpour don't really carry the subtlety of their predecessors, but they weren't terrible in my opinion, and they fare better as standalone titles than in comparison to the rest of the series. A few interesting environments, some rehashed ideas, very different combat; bit of a mixed bag really.

Shattered Memories comes across as more of a psychological thriller than a frightening horror game, but I really did love the way the story was told. The whole mystery along with the pacing given to the psych analysis tests that parallel and shape certain aspects of the story really drew me in, even if there were less genuine scares.

 

[TallanKhan]

You can, but what I suspect you are driving at is will it diminish your experience if you do?

Well, maybe. It depends what you want from your video games to be honest. Essentially each Silent Hill game is a self contained story so if you jump to No.2 you won't be missing out on vital back story, you won't miss references or fail to recognise characters from previous games, so if your concern is that then have no fears.

However, if for you playing games is about the overall experience then you might want to play Silent Hill first, even if not all the way through. Silent Hill has the effect of kinda setting a tone which Silent Hill 2 jumps straight into and is all the better for it, but this feels significant atmospherically as a contrast to the first game. Having played Silent Hill 1, the second game was full of significance for me, but primarily because of my experiences the first time round. The pacing is tight and the atmosphere is intensified because you know the horrors that Silent Hill has in store for you, you just don't know when you will come face to face with them, and that kind of adds to the tension and anticipation.

For what it is worth I'm glad I played 1 first. But hey, that's just me.

 

[MRMIdAS2k]

Silent Hill 1 is the best in the series IMO.

1>2>3>4>Anything Else.

 

[CaitSeith]

I really can't talk about other Silent Hill games other than the first one (except Shattered Memories, which has a similar premise to the SH1, but it doesn't even compare). SH1 is perturbing (if you don't mind the PS1 graphics), but the general opinion is that SH2 is even better (even Yathzee likes it!). And as they have said, every SH game has different characters.

 

[lacktheknack]

Yeah, go ahead. You might miss a few things in Silent Hill 3, but the series is not a serial in any measure.

Also, Silent Hill 3 > Silent Hill 4 > Silent Hill 1 > Silent Hill 2 > others. I kind of recommend that you do what I did and start with 3, it's by far the best when you go in not really knowing much about the series.

 

[Gladion]

If you have absolutely no means of acquiring the first game, then I don't think it's a huge problem to directly skip to the second. I wouldn't advise it, though, I think it's one of the very very few games of its era (pre-Dreamcast 3D games, to be exact) that still work with its dated graphics and controls. Much better aged than Resident Evil 1-3, in any case.

I'd say you can start with any one game you like/can get your hands on, but do know that fans of the series generally can't agree which one's the best (or even good). SH2 certainly gets the most praise, but I don't think it's any better/more complex than 3 or vice versa. I liked the character and music of 3 a little bit better, and I think SH2 wasn't scary throughout except for the prison level, whereas 3 is my pick for scariest game ever.

The Room mixed things up a little and was really sickening and intense (especially in the second half), which I liked a lot, but unfortunately you had to play every level twice. Not as bad as it may sound, but still a minus.

I didn't beat Origins yet, it just didn't capture me when I played it, but I'll try again some day.

Homecoming I haven't played yet, either.

I appreciated Shattered Memories, but as somebody said here before, it is not a very scary game. After the second level you start to feel much safer, and it's more of a mystery story than anything else. That said, I thought it was inventive and fun to pick apart, which is no easy feat for a remake.

Downpour would be the game I'd recommend to play first, but only if you promise to play the other games, too. It's the most accessible in the series and some of the situations you get thrown in are insane. Even the introduction of sidequests worked out well in the end. That said, the main plot is a pretty bad rip-off of Silent Hill 2. Details were changed, but the gist is the same. I blame the fans for this one.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Skip whatever game you want. They're all self contained stories.