Sausage-in-training
I absolutely fucking love Silent Hill. It's the only game i'll take about in public, even though most people could care less. The length in each game is perfect; starting play at 1am then finishing at daybreak is for me an amazing experience.
Hopefully we can get some plot discussion going here. If you haven't completed all three Silent Hill games then get out, no spoiler tags here.
One of the best themes in each game are the 'monsters'. In Silent Hill 1, Alessa conjures up the monsters to halt Harry's progress. The babies and the claw children are in stark comparison to the images of Cheryl that Dahlia invokes to spur Harry on. The dogs have no skin, not unlike Alessa, who's physical manifestation is charred and held together by bandages. Either way, Alessa is in control of misty Silent Hill and the otherworld, the monsters are hers. They are a deterrence, I don't think guilt comes too much into it (regarding Harry not telling Cheryl that she was adopted).
In Silent Hill 2, it's not so clear cut. James is in poor mental health, he's completely bananas. None of the enemies have faces as it was he who smothered Mary in order to kill her. The lying figures represent poor physical health (they vomit in order to attack) but also James' insanity. The mannequins also do not have a face but are 'feminine' in form do remind James of Mary (one also props up her dress in the appartment). The nurses are obvious and pyramid head is a civil war era executioner come to make James atone for his sins by killing Maria over and over to make him suffer and also to make him remember.
In Silent Hill 3 all the monsters represent duplicity, disease or worship. The dogs are split in half, held together only by bandages. The fat blobs are called Evil Cancer which is self explanatory. The crawling enemies are pathetic and submissive whilst the Closers 'walk' around on the hands and knees.
However...
In SH2 Eddie's 'monsters' are real people who mock him, James joining this category later on. Laura sees no monsters. Angela sees her abusive father whilst James sees a door monster in the same scene. Vincent is taken aback when Heather describes the inhabitants of this otherworld as monsters. Cybil gets possessed in SH1 by the same organism that we see on the nurses in the hospital, so these could be real people that have been swept into this nightmare world by Alessa. Considering she had Samael inside her and her only friends were Lisa and Claudia, I don't think this was beyond her. Although in SH2, Laura sees the town as deserted, i'm sure there are a lot of lost and tortured souls still there (Ernest and his daughter for example). The architect of these monsters is Samael, Valtiel is the caretaker of the otherworld and I do think these creatures are physical. I guess in SH3 they force Heather to kill and build up her hatred, indeed the further she progresses the more influence Samael has on her surroundings.
What the Fonz said!
What makes the monsters work in SH is how they are a manisfestation of the minds for every person who should happen to travel through. Not everyone will see one, but those with twisted souls are who this town has the power to pray on. This also explains why others are able to still be living there (but act somewhat twisted), as they have no such details that will trouble them.
Dippity-Do!
I love Silent Hill. I love it's dark, gritty feel. I love how after I finish playing one, I feel like I just did something, something horrible, that I shouldn't have.
But, I can't play them too long. I have, I believe (as I've never been clinically diagnosed), a variant of necrophobia. I hate friggin' zombies. I can't deal with them. The "monsters" in SH are zombie-like enough to evoke negative reactions. I can't sleep for days, I can't sleep with the lights off, and other such occurances.
Originally Posted by Drewbacca
Sausage-in-Training
You know what, I never noticed or thought about why the monsters are as such, but that's a good explanation.
The Darkest Soul
Nice layout of the details and monsters Sidez. Lots of thing definately look crear if you look at them with some facts and references. The SH faq on Gamefaqs is also a great read on the history behind Silent Hill and is recommended to every SH fan
Drive By
I've been meaning to play Silent Hill 3. I never played the first one and I couldn't get into 2. Think I'll read that faq D mentions.
Can you dig it?
Silent Hill = best survival horror series, hands down. It pwns Resident Evil, and I still like RE a lot.
Gamefaqs has some amazing, in-depth plot guides written by some guy called President Evil. Really awesomely cool stuff. I'd link them but Gamefaqs won't let me.Just go to the FAQ section of each SH game.
Dolemite, the Bad-Ass King of all Pimps and Hustlers
Gymkata: I mean look at da lil playah woblin his way into our hearts in the sig awwwwwww
neurobashing
Despite the fact I'm a horror fan, I've never been able to get into this series, though I've tried, and tried hard. I love the brilliant art direction, vague story, imagery, and atmosphere, but the gameplay doesn't fit.
I have yet to play SH3, however - I will give it at least a rental.
Doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'd take RE or Fatal Frame over SH any day. It could be that zombies and ghosts really freak me out.
I agree with all of Sidez' information - the series has some amazing creativity and metaphorical content - but notice he doesn't mention the gameplay. I realize his intent is to focus on the plot, but when it's time for gaming, I want to game instead of going through what feels like a horrific interactive art gallery.
I think Silent Hill would have made an absolute masterpiece of anime, or perhaps a totally CGI film. All the themes, atmosphere, and disturbing imagery would remain intact. It's never felt like a game to me.
My intent is not to rag on the series. As I've mentioned, I think it's brilliant. But I do think it's in the wrong media genre - its strengths have never been gameplay-related.
When discussing Silent Hill, no one says, "Oh man, you should have seen how I wasted those nasty critters!" or "Wow, that puzzle was brilliant!"
They talk about the visuals, atmosphere, and story.....
Satoshi Kon: 1963-2010
I love Silent Hill. I was never a fan of RE, or Clock Tower, or any horror games until I heard about SH. Starting from the beginning, a tale of why silent hill? By Satsuki:
Being the sort of person who likes looking at Rotten.com, I was looking for a nicely disturbing game to play. According to crappy game mags and general consensus, SH3 was supposed to be disturbing enough for the masses, so I thought "wow, this sounds like an awesome game! Blood and disturbing monsters, yah!" But I was worried because I never played any previous SH's, but was assured that the story continuity wasn't much (actually, it wasnt necessary at all to understand the game itself, but it really helped to understand what was going on moreso if you played SH1)
and so I played SH3 first.
WOW!
It was the scariest damn thing I've ever seen and I've been a nervous wreck at scary movies ever since. This is coming from someone who didn't flinch at the Eye, or just about any other scarrrrrrry movie. Well, SH3 ruined me for life. everything is scary now ;_;
So after SH3, I was like, "OMG, MUST PLAY ALL SHs!!!!" And happened to have a secret copy SH1 in my library and played that. I didn't like it quite as much as SH3, but it had its share of moments and "ooooooh.........so THATS why......."
It wasn't anywhere near as scary either, but Harry was pretty ah......well, screwed up.
Then came SH2. I always have a hard time picking which one I liked best, 2 or 3, but by the time I got to the end of 2 I was screaming and crying and generally scared pantless. I loved loved love SH2's story, and it seemed scary in all the right places and sad in the right places and everything. I also really liked Maria, I thought she was a fascinating piece of story.
So, I played them in a weird order, but I still want to go back and get all the UFO endings and etc, but honestly sometimes I think about going back thru the Jail in SH2 and I can't because it scared me wayyyyy too badly. I'll do it someday tho.
Now for the breakdown:
Monsters: SH2's were the most psychologically disturbing (a raping bed monster that cries????? Great.) SH3's were the most out and out "AUGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" scary monsters. SH1s freaked me out too, especially those little babies that make squeeky noises. I can't tell you how many times I screamed because one of those things startled me.
Characters: Some of the most disturbing stories I could even fathom have come out of SH. Anywhere from Harry losing his daughter to later raising a demon god child, to Harry who is endlessly fucked up, to Heather who appears like most teenage girls.....but has some very wacky powers to come to terms with. Not to mention the side characters.....P-head, who I both love and fear, Angela who is possibly the most tragic video game character ever, Vincent who is really awesome imo...with a twist, Maria......who is really Mary, Claudia, Dahlia, and a mess of Cultists.....the list goes on. Seeing their stories is like watching a gut wrenching movie, it's almost better than just an all out game itself. It's a story.
Imagery: I still don't know how they manage to make things scarier and scarier. I read a really old interview in OPM about the guys working on SH2, and they said often they had to tone things down because it was just going "too far.." I'm kind of curious what we didnt get to see, and how in god's name could it get worse than that damn mirror in SH3?????
Music: Akira Yamaoka is a genius. That is all.
Anyway, I could talk about SHs for hours, but I'm cutting it here because my boyfriend is bugging me to come watch him play Sphere Break on FFX-2. Just what I feel like doing. =/
Drive By
...no comment on that one. Anyway, weren't the rights for a SH movie sold awhile ago? I can remember hearing about it, maybe who bought it and that they were working on a script.
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