Silent Hill series

[blazeaglory]

Let me start out by saying, although I absolutely love this series, I am no fanboy...

I first played SH in the 90's on PS and then took a break for the next 14 years..lol

I just bought SH 2 & 3 HD on xbox and fell in love with 2. Im currently playing 3 and although the graphics have got much better, the story line and game play is lacking. Dont get me wrong, I am not complaining. I still love this game but it seems to short and is lacking the in depth plots/game play as #2 and #1...

What I am wondering is, why doesnt Konami just make a new SH game that is like the first 3 but with different story line, characters and monsters. We all play SH because we want to go back to that scary dark town. I could literally play FOR DAYS.

Who can I write to ask them to make the game long as hell and to basically come up with a bad ass plot combining the first 3 but making them different? You know? Dont stray to far from the darkness, puzzles, monsters and characters.

I havent played anything after 3 but 3 does seem a little too short on length of gameplay and the character are lacking. Thats not to say that I dont love it but I am almost done with it only after 5 hours of gameplay.

Please Ive heard all the flames and I am serious about this. But I am ready for the flames

 

[Darks63]

The main reason is after part 4 the original team which made the games Team Silent disbanded and development shifted from Japan to the US which have a different style of horror.

 

[blazeaglory]

I did not know that...Why would they do that? It seems like the Japanese have a better sense of "horror" for this game. That explains alot...

I have yet to play 4 and beyond but Im hoping they wont be too far from the series core...

Do you know if they plan on being made by the original developers again? Do you think they would ever get back together or sign on as a consultant for the American team?

Side not Im stuck on burned Allesa in the amusement park with no ammo and no medic packs...tough as hell..Ive got to the sub machine gun wielding Allesa but am stuck...Ill get it after another few tries..lol

 

[blazeaglory]

Wow I was just reading wiki and they all went separate ways Seems Konami disbanded them to make the series in the US...I mean, they could have at least brought the original group in on some things...Maybe they were all getting burnt out of each other? It seems a couple of them made other games...

It would be cool if the directors for 1,2 and 3 got together with the original group to make the greatest SH ever...

 

[blazeaglory]

I just dont want to see SH turn into another GTA or shoot em up bang bang slash and hack...

 

[Tanis]

The REAL question is why Konami thought it was okay to piss on the memory of SH2/3 with a HORRID, PATHETIC, EMBARRASSING 'HD' collection that looks and plays WORSE then the originals.

 

[blazeaglory]

Although I havent played the originals 2-3, I quite like the HD collection and havent found any problems with what others have said. I had read all the negative reviews and have not found one problem with any of it...

Im just hoping that the series doesnt die and they will finally come out with a SH game to match or exceed the first 3 combined..

Whats so bad about the HD? Lack of fog? lol I havent noticed much of a difference..

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

"Team Silent" is more of a fan-name to a bunch of people that worked on the first four games, though I believe it was only composer/producer Akira Yamaoka who worked on all four (and in fact remained series composer until Shattered Memories). Regardless of its members, "Team Silent" is used to differentiate Eastern-developed Silent Hill from Western-developed SH. Why did Konami move development to the US? A number of possible reasons:

-Silent Hill 4: The Room sold poorly.
-The Silent Hill movie (2006) provided an excuse for a sort of reboot.
-Konami wanting a fresh perspective on the story, they moved over the franchise to the US.

I should note, there hasn't been much consistency in the developing team ever since. Origins was developed by Climax Studios and Homecoming was developed by Double Helix Studios; the franchise then went again to Climax for Shattered Memories, and then all the way to a little-known Czech studio for Downpour. Oh and in that same year another schmuck studio called WayForward published Book of Memories. Whereas the first four games had a consistent, classy survival horror feel, everything that followed has been mixed... action, hack 'n slash, sandboxes, weirdo experiments with no combat...

Also, about the HD releases: sorry, they suck. Being new to the series you'd obviously think they look neat. But cleaning up the visuals and removing the fog and the dirt undermines the aesthetics that made the games so unique. The fog is instrumental to the Fog World, for crying out loud. And the voice-acting sucks even more. They tried to give them a melodramatic ring to the scenes that feels just WRONG.

 

[DrunkenMonkey]

because there is no horror like japanese horror, which invariably won't return until Konami hands the series to some developer like Team Silent.

 

[Vausch]

I did not know that...Why would they do that? It seems like the Japanese have a better sense of "horror" for this game. That explains alot...

I have yet to play 4 and beyond but Im hoping they wont be too far from the series core...

Do you know if they plan on being made by the original developers again? Do you think they would ever get back together or sign on as a consultant for the American team?

Side not Im stuck on burned Allesa in the amusement park with no ammo and no medic packs...tough as hell..Ive got to the sub machine gun wielding Allesa but am stuck...Ill get it after another few tries..lol

It's not so much that the Japanese have a "better" sense of horror, it's just that it's foreign and adds an unfamiliar element to it all. Japanese horror is often rooted in Shinto and Buddhist beliefs, which can get a little creepy even when it's not trying to be. Seriously, Shinto creation myths suggest some of Japan's gods were born of another's poop, vomit, and urine.

See, the majority of Silent Hill monsters have their roots heavily steeped in Japanese myth and folklore, not so much in their original design but the concept for their creation (being made from a person's mind).

The big problem that gets run into is that the American developers that took over at 4 figured that games need to be action oriented or the player will get frustrated and quit, so they made Alex a soldier but not really (it's complicated) and with that he became much more skilled with a knife and close range weapons.

Also they couldn't come up with good monster designs and didn't seem to grasp that the Sexy Nurses were not meant to be used outside of 2. Nobody seems to get that. Game developers after 4 don't get it, the movie people especially don't get it. Same with Pyramid Head. He's in Homecoming without much reason but got a redesign so you question why he's there and what the point is.

 

[NightmareExpress]

Japan favors psychological horror, the West favors visceral violence for horror.
When you get a good atmosphere going, it's always the prior that's the most scary.
I'd daresay that a good majority of us are desensitized to disproportionate virtual gore.

Unfortunately, the latter sells more. Games are largely a business venture, so you're going to get more action oriented big name "horror" games with a few indie developers making games resembling the titles of old. Japan seems somewhat convinced that the western way of horror is a good way to go for moolah, and thus have changed Resident Evil and Silent Hill to capitalize on the American market.

It's a case of Japan just having to be Japanese when it comes to making their (horror) games.

captcha: giant bunny rabbit
Oh, like the one sort of from Silent Hill 3?

 

[The White Hunter]

Because something about japanese horror translates better to videogames than american horror. American horror is all about the jumps and the gore, japanese horror is all about atmosphere, getting under the consumers skin and being outright bizarre...

As a result, japanese horror lends itself better to being a game thats actually unnerving and tense. American horror lends itself best to violent spectacle shooters like dead space that have a few jump scares littered about (every. fucking. vent.)

 

[ToastiestZombie]

The Silent Hill series is pretty much dead to me now. I got into it very late (I only finished the first one last year) so I may not have the best opinion on it, but I've played pretty much all the games since then and the US made ones are just so crap compared to the first 4 it's crazy. They have none of the depressing, oppressive and downright disturbing feel the old games gave me, they all just feel like they're trying to be Silent Hill, but not actually Silent Hill. Shattered Memories was a step in the right direction since it tried something new and fresh, and it was genuinely creepy in some areas. The other three and Book of Memories are just terrible imitations.

A very simple way to see how the series has died is by looking at how the simple line "There was a hole here, it's gone now" scrawled in blood on a window was creepier and longer-lasting than ANYTHING in the US games. I wasn't shocked when I found out the big twist in Homecoming, or Origins, or Downpour, and not even that much in SM, but the twist at the end of SH2 will stay with me forever.

 

[Itdoesthatsometimes]

I actually have a great idea for a re-reboot of the Silent Hill series. Well to be honest it is more a reboot to Silent Hill 2. That is my all time favorite game. I played it before playing the first Silent Hill. Which I did not like nearly as much. Silent Hill 2 is apart from the series, which I think is kind of dull. I liked the lightsaber in part 3. I found the room creepy even if not all that great compared to part 2. I bought Orgins and never really got around to finishing it. Homecoming was alright. Silent Hill 2 quite frankly is what the Silent Hill series needs to be.

Fuck the Silent Hill cult bullshit. Fuck so many hospitals and schools. Fuck the curse that calls upon tormented souls. In fact fuck the town of Silent Hill.

My impression based off of Silent Hill 2, is that Silent Hill is but an own personal hell. That is Silent Hill.

Not everyone is a murder. The Silent Hill series when not off in some strange canonical tangent wants to punish the murder. Silent Hill as a series needs to find a personal hell that the player can identify with. Something that makes them look inside of themselves to find the horror that will provide emotional tension, even as the game leaves you alone in the fog.

Oh, actually I meant dust. My reboot does not take place in Silent Hill. At least not until the DLC.

Doghouse ending check, Pyramid Head check, brand recognition, you know. I want to somehow get paid for this idea so I will leave it at that.

 

[Darken12]

The problem is basically nostalgia and impossible standards. SH: Homecoming was basically SH2 but crappier, because the team behind it wanted to recapture the SH2 experience without realising they were never, ever going to be able to meet the fans' impossible standards (I'm not defending the game, Homecoming was terrible, I'm merely saying that Double Helix was shooting at a target they could never possibly hit). The same thing happened with Origins, who tried to recapture the SH1 and SH3 feel, especially plot-wise, and with the HD release, where fans got up in arms because no voice acting would ever be as good as the original (nostalgia and impossible standards again). Shattered Memories was basically a crappy SH1 remake with a SH2 plot-twist at the end.

Not sure what to say about Downpour, apparently it was somewhat well received, which frankly outright shocks me (the SH fanbase is extremely unforgiving), though it could be precisely because Downpour was trying to be its own thing (though everyone jumped at Book of Memories' throat when it tried to be its own thing with the SH brand name, saying it should have been its own IP, so that is probably not a good reasoning).

Overall, the SH series was doomed by the fans. By idolising the first three (or four) games to such a degree, they basically ensured the doom of the series. Konami, at this point, is damned if they do and damned if they don't. The only thing they could do that will not earn fan ire is to re-release the original games without making a single change, and even that move is going to get panned by critics and fans alike as greedy corporate cash-grabbing.

Also, I find all the "Japanese horror is this or that" comments absolutely puzzling, since SH was extremely Western. It featured practically none of the trademarks of Japanese horror, and instead was cut and pasted from several different Western influences. All of the inspiration for SH, and every single Easter egg, pop culture reference and outright shout out (like the street names, for example) is related to Western horror.

 

[lacktheknack]

Silent Hill 3 was by far the most terrifying one (although that may be because I respond badly to body horror).

The reason they can't make new Silent Hills like the first four is because it doesn't fit the shareholders' vision of a profitable game. They have to emphasize player combat, non-subtle characters, and put a focus on graphical power. In comparison to games today, Silent Hill 4 is kind of abysmal. It doesn't give you enough inventory/storage, handles terribly, is a bit moon-logic driven, very easily results in a bad ending, and the combat is one-note and painful. All of this was great in the context of what SH4 was, but if you put forward a motion to make another game like it, you'd be laughed out of the room by the shareholders.

 

[FoolKiller]

I would like the guys at Travellers Tale to take a crack at writing Silent Hill. The Walking Dead feels as heavy the first few Silent Hill's did. The Origins game was still good and dear OP, the story is Shattered Memories is one you should play not because of the gameplay but because this version of Harry Mason's story is a great addition.

 

[roushutsu]

and dear OP, the story is Shattered Memories is one you should play not because of the gameplay but because this version of Harry Mason's story is a great addition.

I second this. Shattered Memories was OK gameplay-wise, but the story I thought was better than the first one. It follows similar themes and plot points from SH1, but threw in enough new stuff to keep it interesting. The ending caught me completely off guard and I loved how they approached it. It was very subtle and clever.

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

Also, I find all the "Japanese horror is this or that" comments absolutely puzzling, since SH was extremely Western. It featured practically none of the trademarks of Japanese horror, and instead was cut and pasted from several different Western influences. All of the inspiration for SH, and every single Easter egg, pop culture reference and outright shout out (like the street names, for example) is related to Western horror.

Actually, I was thinking about this just a couple days ago. I've been watching and reading many things that were supposed to have influenced Silent Hill (David Lynch, Stephen King, etc.) and I've come to a conclusion: SH is like bits of western horror glued together with Japanese horror.

To put it another way, it seems that it was their intent to make a western horror game, but just the fact that they grew up in Japan gave it a strong feeling of Japanese horror. (Similarly, if a western developer tried to make a Japanese horror game it would still come across as heavily influenced by western horror, unless they tried really hard to avoid it. It's just the stuff we're exposed to more often, so it influences us.)

I'm only moderately interested in both styles of horror by themselves, but SH seems to have landed in some magical middle ground that I just love.

 

[Darken12]

Actually, I was thinking about this just a couple days ago. I've been watching and reading many things that were supposed to have influenced Silent Hill (David Lynch, Stephen King, etc.) and I've come to a conclusion: SH is like bits of western horror glued together with Japanese horror.

To put it another way, it seems that it was their intent to make a western horror game, but just the fact that they grew up in Japan gave it a strong feeling of Japanese horror. (Similarly, if a western developer tried to make a Japanese horror game it would still come across as heavily influenced by western horror, unless they tried really hard to avoid it. It's just the stuff we're exposed to more often, so it influences us.)

I'm only moderately interested in both styles of horror by themselves, but SH seems to have landed in some magical middle ground that I just love.

Silent Hill had very little Japanese horror [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_horror] (note how Silent Hill is not on the videogame list). The one that comes closest to it is SH4 with its plethora of ghosts, possession and exorcism themes (and not in the typical Catholic portrayal we see in media such as The Exorcist). Silent Hill 1 and 3 (and 2, to a lesser degree) were entirely based on European occult lore, with American aesthetics, Western authors as influences and psychological horror by way of magical realism instead of classic kaidan stories.

I think what most people mean by "Japanese horror" in this thread is actually "psychological horror", which are obviously not the same thing (just because Japanese horror uses psychological horror doesn't mean it has a trademark or monopoly on it). The main influences on Silent Hill were Western horror books and films from the 70s and 80s (and a bit of the early 90s), back when psychological horror was still seen as a valid take on the genre in the West. This is also probably why Konami handed over the development to Western studios, by the way, because to them it had very little to do with Japanese culture, and the most Japanese game of the series (SH4) had sold poorly when compared to the aggressively Western first three.