#i just NEED to have everything done by sh2

[babymorte]

drank a double espresso at midnight for gears and royally fucked myself

[gamersagainstthemachine]

i hear sh2 remake is good? i know nothin about silent hill. got my sister into RE and just beat dmc1 with her watching, hoping she starts to like 3 and 4 when i get there. but yeah, vido games! love em

ive been playing these games because i found the ps2 which i thought had died and i also frequent thrift stores and have been able to find these games cheap (not the silent hill games obviously collectors have scalped those) but my friends got me dmc1 because it "seemed like something id like" yeag. it cracks me up especially the devilman references. but it seems like these games are also just popular again with the general person?

i havent played sh2 remake myself yet im busyyy and also tired of people rushing me to play things instead of doing it in my own pace. but ive been following along the release and it has some good things to it like environment details and even more endings. people have always been praising the little things in the writing and art direction which arent in the remake and they havent been replaced with better content so its lesser in this way. absolutely no way replace plauing the original with this one lol

i like games that are like interactive theatre with a great soundtrack and silent hill is often this. there is a lot of silent hill content, from installments that prove games are art to b movies that facilitate stupid cliches and it also encompasses other franchises like forbidden siren which i have played a bit of and team psyskallars fangames which are better silent hill games than some silent hill games and also hit closer for me because they take place in urban scandinavia. You know me its all been indie game supremacy because i didnt want triple A bullshit but ive made friends that have introduced me to the value of Big Gaming because its a part of them and because they are important to our culture and they are creative and its fun and there IS a lot of bullshit done in the name of marketability like blatant sexism and racism which i complained about the other day completely devalues the new dragon age for me because once i start thinking the authors are idiots with no other values than representing a power fantasy it really just feels like a waste of time to visit their work. Not that i dont want a power fantasy but i need it to address what matters to me especially the unattrative parts of life. Silent hill 2 is exactly this its what marias character is all about. i set my standard for video games when i first heard about silent hill 2 and similar games. the thing to like about it is that it is just so honest. its not really about people being horrible and ugly it makes a point about people being multifaceted and realistic and it is a sufferfest sure but its to drive a point home about ultimately love and gotta like media that examines the concept of love. they never try to censor themselves which i like because adults dont need content censored for themes they have specifically sought out depictions of. because it doesnt dumb down or glamourize it is entirely different from other commercial experiences which makes it weird that it is a popular franchise and video game with things like remakes coming out because you just cant treat it like any other consumable product its not anonymous or universal like that which lends itself to waifus and merch. but at the same time its also a video game made for an audience of adult gamers so it was made to create a fanbase around it. the best thing about being a silent hill fan is the gatekeeping and elitism it has resulted in and im serious because they arent games for everyone and it shouldnt be treated like they are. everything in moderation and all and the overexposure and bad retellings completely undermining or missing the sophisticated point is really prevalent. mr ito said it best https://x.com/adsk4/status/1495530138922283008 but seriously i have to even ask silent hill cosplayers and fanartists if theyve even played/seen the games and they often say no. a bit alienating. i think its fair to say the reputation overshadows the actual content for better or worse. it gets more exposure with the remake delightfully making history repeat itself like dis

i think you would like silent hill games for their thoughtfulness i rec emulating 1-3 maybe 4 and maybe give siren a try even though its difficult. it is pure japanese horror and the face model scans are very haunting the plot is also more resident evil-scoped. but yeah very big franchises, tap out when you get tired.

personally i think any remake should be played as a sequel although triple a games are usually finished products when they come out so they dont really need more content? but people talk about remakes all the time so playing through an old game series like dmc made me think about it. DMC4 has a lot of things to like that were never realized or only realized in pachinko games because it wanted to be this big final fantasy hero adventure but had rushed development. playing it feels very stiff and vague and it should have been much longer story wise but it was padded out with nonsense gameplay. it "needs" a remake or prequel for sure! DMC2 was also never realized and i personally like its tone more and i think it could be remade to be the sequel that DMC never got.

DMC truly feels like the designers just did whatever they think is fun and throw it at you and thats good because media should be challenging and the gameplay and puzzles definitely felt like the game was treating you like an adult. I was really surprised when DMC turned out to be important to me. Because it wasnt really where id look for a game experience that is intelligent or subversive. But i was surprised when its an emotionally smart game. ill be honest what makes DMC work is the camp, which isnt necessarily profitable or what a straight audience of noncreatives want so i think thats why it kinda has been worked out since DMC1. but dmc1 güde. i dont remember the last time i noticed i was smiling while playing a game my genuine and& honest reaction

i thought dmc was final fantasy for the longest time which is why i got pleasantly surprised by the dmc1 cutscenes you know the ones when they happened ahahah. that game is just entertaining i hope you and your sister had fun with it too! i have played all of the dmc games now except for the reboot which i am very interested in playing because even though its a bad dmc game from what i have seen it looks like an excellent devilman game it seems their train of thought was very similar to crybaby. dmc4 was almost my least favorite moreso than 2 but i can imagine DMC4 is very good if youre a catholic teenager. dmc5 is worth playing the other games for, its like the details and continuity keep hitting you and V is goth incarnate he is the character ever. his official manga is that good and it has no official english release at all. fucked. the dmc1 anime is fun its very 2008 anime. The franchise overall feels like it keeps giving.but it also feels like its thinning out by relying too much on happy reactions in the reader like jokes. it really hurts vergils character the most i think.

i was so excited to play 4 more games like dmc1 but they are very different which also has its merits i guess but i miss the darker stuff and difficulty. dmc5 gives you gold orbs just for starting the game... the novels can def be skipped for fanwritten lore dumps

its pretty common for people to say that dmc is for kids but i think its exactly for people that have seen all the tropes genres and series it draws on before and want a fresh spin on them that doesnt take itself seriously when it comes to plot but does handle emotional maturity carefully. its different from resident evil in this way right? when they arent implementing internet discourse, then franchises are increasingly asking us to take their stories seriously marvel is prime example of this and i just cant bring myself to gaf so i lov dmc way more than resident evil. i also got into that franchise by chance because i won a copy of re8 village and some of my ps4 games were stolen so i needed things to play. im peeved by the shallowness of the series but they do haunted house experiences SO well. i get a bit scareds. RE engine is also insaaane they really spend so much money on rendering every single wrinkle on dantes ass in leather and dynamic wetness its excellent to play with

the thing about these games is that you can really help getting an attachment to them after playing because they are really effective. i understand the dedicated audiences. I hope you take your time with them and its so awesome to bring somebody else along for the ride. it can be challenging to visit old media that has its installments in perspective to eachother because old players view them retrospectively. but there is also some cool historical fan content to find. and its one of those beloved franchises once you know it you just remember seeing it everywhere. i think my friend had pictures of trish and nevan on her computer when we were like 9 and had no idea what it was from but our favorite activity was of course Google Images

so ya i wrote much but that was all i wanted to say. youll have to list the replies in numbered order or something if you want to add anything XD

clown lady 4 u V have a wonderful day

[gwynndolin]

so far my biggest gripes with the SH2 remake are ones that I've had with the project conceptually from the very beginning.

I think everyone looks far too young, notably Angela, whose entire character I feel is diminished by appearing much younger than she actually is.

The game is over the shoulder now (the original was in some places but mostly was full of fixed camera angles) which unfortunately means that, like most other over the shoulder games, interiors are way, WAY bigger than they actually should be, which really runs perpendicular to the original game's commitment to making you constantly feel trapped and extremely claustrophobic, especially while trying to contend with the combat. (This could either be seen as good or bad depending on on how hard of a time you had with the original game's controls; I'd argue that part of the point of it was that it is supposed to an uncomfortable and difficult experience to do combat, but I also understand that if it was a limiting factor in your ability to enjoy the original game that it is an issue regardless)

The game still is creepy but the move of turning the game into an over the shoulder game as opposed to a more fixed camera focused game necessarily means that the devs have less control over what the player is going to see and when they'll see it. Scenes can't be nearly as intricately crafted as the ones in the original game because they can't be as intentionally designed. First example I can think of is the room with the flashlight

In the original when you walk into this room, the camera is very intentionally placed behind the mannequin wearing Mary's outfit. The sudden shift in the visual space is jarring; you get jumpscared by both the mannequin AND the fact that it's well lit, in contrast to how dark the apartment complex had been up until that point.

When you finally approach the mannequin, the camera offers a more tight viewing angle, revealing the light is coming from the flashlight in the mannequins shirt, and you're given a moment of uneasy relief when you are made to mistakenly assume that this scare was just meant to make you uncomfortable rather than be a fight or something.

But because of the camera angle and because of how DARK everything else is, you don't get to see the Mannequin monster hiding in the darkness behind the mannequin. As soon as you pick up the flashlight and it auto equips, resulting in the light being directed in front of you, the Mannequin springs to life and attacks you. It is a leg sweep of a scare.

Remake tries to do this, at least a little bit. But even here you can tell that the room is too bright, likely by virtue of modern lighting techniques and bounced lighting. Like, obviously this is more realistic to how a room probably would be lit by this flashlight. But you can so easily see the mannequin that attacks you when you walk into the room if you're being vigilant.

Silent Hill 2 intentionally worked with the ps2 and xbox's limitations in order to deliver an amazing horror experience, but even more so, the original team silent knew that horror doesn't need to be realistic, it just has to work. Bloober team has done a sincerely remarkable job revitalizing the game for modern audiences without sacrificing too much of what made the original game so amazing (I was genuinely expecting mostly positive reviews AT BEST on steam, a lot of "it works I guess" but I was so astounded to see overwhelmingly positive), but some of the modernization has definitely sacrificed a bit of what made the original so iconic and stand the test of time.

I still honestly and sincerely believe that the original is about as close to perfect as anything could be, and I really hope interest in the remake will bring a lot more people to engage with the original! And for that matter, if it does well enough, I'd love to see them work on a remake for 3. And honestly I would love to see a remake of 4, a game that I think doesn't even get a third as much love as it should

[sapphybandit]

Mini life update just to not like, keep everyone in the dark:

Yeah I've been kinda going Through It but I don't want to get into the details. I'm doing better now, I'm even trying a new medication and it seems to be helping.

Live streaming is still on pause, same for indie dev work. I'm wanting to spend a bit focusing on some higher priority life things that, frankly, have been put off for too long (thanks ADHD). I was very tempted to do a binge stream of the SH2 remake like how I did with the RE4 Remake, but I don't think I have that in me right now.

Work has fluctuated between Very Intense and Where Did All The Pressure Go, so I'm trying to advocate for more balance so I don't get burnt out. Uphill battle, unfortunately, but I know that the current state of things is untenable, and is influencing my own ability to be present for myself and my folks around me. I need energy so I can actually engage with life around me, and connect with my inner self. I worry this may involve a career change, as game dev is all I've ever done, but, something has to change here.

So, yeah, that's where I've been at. Sorry if folks were worried about me. I'm just, trying to do my best with what I got, and I can't do everything all the time.

[sliphole]

Questions/complaints I currently have about SH2 Remake:

Why does Silent Hill look like a complete shithole? It was a tourist town, for goodness' sake, they cared about their image! I mean, I do understand that Bloober Team made the decision to make it look old and dilapidated because it's abandoned, but did they understand why and how it was abandoned in the original? As far as I remember, it's not as if the town was known to be abandoned for years, it was as if all the residents just...vanished, all at once. There was evidence in the original SH games that people had very recently lived normal lives in town. That eerie feeling that something more is wrong is gone with this lack of detail.

the game is way too dark, is anyone else complaining about this? The way James is navigating and interacting with memos and items in near darkness early in the game should mean he'll have no trouble blindly inserting a key into any unlit locks he may or may not find. No need to open any cans of light bulbs this time around.

This is a general grievance with modern video games, but I hate damage effects that take up the boarders of your entire screen. The enemies are a lot more aggressive and also there are a lot more of them in this remake (like everyone has already been saying). It also takes less hits to get you to critical health, and you will take damage. But this is also a survival horror game, right? Naturally you'll want to hoarde your health items until you really need them, so get used to seeing that red vignetting and hearing James moan and groan for most of your playthrough.

Flavor texts and James' little comments about items, messages, etc. are gone! Holy shit, why? It makes me appreciate only now how important those texts are to James' character, as removing them subsequently means James has about zero personality. Beyond that, we're missing so much important context and information, such as James' alcoholism which was only mentioned in one text in the original if you happened to examine some discarded bottles.

The ability to explore different locations in town that were inaccessible before would be cute for long-time fans if the game were a faithful adaptation and it were optional, in my opinion. Instead, it's another aspect of this entire game being padded to Hell in an attempt to lengthen the play time, therefore justifying the $70 price tag that's been attached to a 23-year-old video game. In a better remastering, I would understand adding new clues, items, or puzzles to encourage exploring the new environments they worked on, and I understand this is why they did so. But Team Silent made the decision not to add any of these extra environments in the first place, and I'm sure it's because it's tedious and unnecessary and doesn't serve the plot in any meaningful way.

For Silent Hill in general but SH2 especially, I personally don't like the constantly free-moving camera. So many of these scares and set pieces were designed with the fixed camera angles in the forefront of their collective mind, so taking that away makes them a lot less effective. Watching this playthrough, for example, the hallway scream in the apartments was caught at such an awkward angle that James' big, stupid head clipped through the camera as he looked around all startled. Besides that, everything just feels very flat and a lot less cinematic. And of course they had to add annoying interact icons to everything because it all blends into the environment now.

I really don't like what they've done to Eddie. He's like a cartoon caricature of his original character. He's way more overtly pathetic, and him asking to come with James when they meet is so out of character and is such a bizarre creative change. I know it's been said before, but I don't understand why everyone who works on a remaster/remake of the Silent Hill games can't just leave well enough alone. Why do they always have to make creative changes that are unwanted and unneeded?

[willowthewiisp]

Some initial thoughts on the remake

I love the dreaminess of the original, but it does come across as awkward first playthrough because you don't KNOW that's the point of it, but playing through you appreciate it more. The remake deviates from this dreamlike state but what they replace it with actually makes it rather terrifying in comparison in a sense of helplessness. It genuinely feels like you're STUCK here, like you've done this before, like you're struggling over and over just to suffer all the same but. But this is you're first time doing this right? Sure buddy :) I wasn't sure about it but I actually love this. As "happy" as the leave ending is I never thought that was the appropriate ending. In water was always my favorite because it made the most sense. How could James go on living with himself knowing he took her life, how could Laura leave with James knowing he killed her mother figure? James ending his own life makes the most tragic sense, and that's why I like this feeling of "you can't escape this" feeling they've given the remake, from the flashes of memories of locations you've seen in the original to little comments and callbacks. Everything feels like youve been here in this situation much longer than you need to be because you just haven't learned. And oh you're gonna learn. That's why PH acts the way he does, as opposed to the original game. He feels FED UP. He feels much more aggressive and frustrated, even his design makes me think of frustration and struggle more and I can't explain why. I wasn't too sure about it, but I love it. I do miss the dreaminess of the original, like you're not sure if you're real, but I don't hate this new feeling either. It makes it terrifying. And again, I've only gotten to the hospital after like, 6 hours or so. I'm taking my time.

I gotta say the OG apartments in sh2 didn't necessarily scare me, more like kept me on edge and kept me confused but the remake apartments have managed to fill me with so much anxiety and dread that I couldn't help but smile so wide at times. It's sooooo different yet still feels appropriate. I love the rust from water instead of the blood and rust aesthetic, it reminded me of the Titanic wreckage and how spooky it is if you've ever seen pieces of the wreckage in person. It feels like the first plunge into the subconscious and granted I've only gotten to the hospital, I really like the vibes they put out with the apartments. The PH fight was so much fun I like how frustrated the vibe of the fight is, like ph is annoyed with you.

Also I was really really worried when I saw the initial screenshots of the hospital but man. Man man man the choice to give the first area of the hospital that type of lighting gives me so much anxiety and dread and I can't explain why. It feels wrong it feels like you're not supposed to be there right now it feels like the hospital wants to eat you alive if you go any further, and I can't wait to see more...

[skaruresonic]

Wood and I watched an LP of OMORI a couple of weeks ago and the entire experience left me feeling cold because I've literally seen everything it tries to do done in other games, oftentimes better. If you've played or watched an LP of Yume Nikki, trust me, you're not seeing anything new. At no point was I frightened or moved. In fact, it had maybe one (1) semi-original idea. Beyond that, it was just stereotypical RPG Maker fare. Also, it's one of those games people hype up because OMG Feels, but when you really start scrutinizing the plot and characterization, it falls apart. For example: the game really wants us to sympathize with Aubrey, a girl who canonically decided to bully her former friend based on nothing more than her wrong assumptions, because she Has a Rough Home Life (a sentiment that borders on victim-blaming; also conveniently neglects the fact that her victim has an equally rough home life) and Has a Sad about the death of her other friend. This ignores how A.) everyone is impacted by her friend's death, not just her, B.) does assuming your former friend is a creep warrant verbal abuse and physical harassment that you then rope other people into flinging at him for four years? Why are you crying about being a bully when, by your own admission, you are one? The manner in which Mari's death occurred and the actions the characters took thereafter is loaded with so many unfortunate implications that it almost makes the game's entire premise seem disingenuous. The game wants to frame itself like SH2 for Tots. To wit, Sunny feels guilty over causing his sister's death, but that guilt is largely undeserved because his depression is simply bullying him into thinking he's unlovable uwu. Well, that's not precisely true. Not if you look at the situation objectively. His guilt is largely earned for covering up her death and framing it as a suicide, and letting his friends, family, and community suffer the pain of believing his sister's death was a suicide for four years. OMORI wants to be a narrative about the redemptive power of forgiveness in a situation where forgiveness would absolutely not be guaranteed or even expected. Yes, the death was accidental, but the framing it as a suicide and keeping silent were deliberate acts which, whether Sunny wants to admit it or not, did cause harm. This isn't a situation where our buddies Depression(tm) and Anxiety(tm) are exaggerating one's guilt over imaginary crimes into suicidal ideation, he's suicidal because he wants to escape the very real guilt HE SHOULD FEEL over the wrong HE DID COMMIT.

This isn't even getting into the fact that OMORI dangerously trivializes suicide. In order to wake up from White Space and thus progress, you need to force Sunny to stab himself in the gut with a knife. You are forced to do this at least three times in the game. Because making suicide a game mechanic a la fucking Mario warp pipes in no way trivializes it. :) There's an RPG Maker game, Blank Dream, which deals with very similar subject matter. The protagonist wakes up in limbo after having attempted suicide. The objective is to hop inside her memories, represented by mirrors, and commit suicide in each of them, or break the mirrors, in order to fulfill her wish of never having been born. At some point, you obtain a knife. Stabbing yourself is a free action that can be performed at any time in the game after acquiring the item. The player is equally free to choose NOT to do it as they are to indulge their curiosity, thus bolstering the game's theme that even though suicide may be an option, it is not the option. Choosing to stab yourself results in a Game Over. As it should. Somehow OMORI didn't quite get the message.

on a somewhat more morbidly hilarious note, I laughed my head off when I learned that Basil had hanged Mari with a jump rope. oh the bathos

[nietr]

since people were interested here are the links;

(heres the full rip of sh2 with the restless dreams DLC)

(here's the enhanced edition mod you simply extract and place into the same folder as you did the sho2 folder)

this is the absolute best way to play the game even rivalling playing the game on and actual ps2 with a CRT-TV.

sure, you can get that same grimey feeling with going that route but unless you already have both, a ps2 and a working memory card its going to set you back at least like 300 or 400 bucks... even more if you dont still have your ps2.. and its how i recommend enjoying the game in 2024

thought id add to this for new players cause its actually even easier than emulating.

simply extract the SH2 rip into a new folder, dont install it yet

extract the enhanced edition folder and run the install (or just extract it if thats all that needs to be done, cant remember)

then run the sh2.exe (i dont think theres a sh2 installer, just rip and run but cant remember its been a few days.) simply just dont run the sh2.exe until you install or extract the enhanced edition mod first.

Wanna play with a controller? Luckily the PC port got u

it may not work with a dualshock but i got around that with DS4windows and simply mapping the keys to the controls i needed. took like 10 minutes for me to set everything up opposed to emulating which can be a whole fucking thing and the experience isnt worth it when this has been available for years.

anyone got a link to buy pc version of silent hill 2 (2001) legit or a copy that is malware free for PC?

I'm not sure if I trust the abandonware link I see everywhere when I google it and I'd much rather play the enhanced version than the psx2 version...

[horrorknife]

here it is yall. the famed mary and james tumblr essay that i keep talking about doing

i’m gonna break this up into chunks because it’s just. easier for me to think that way. also wrote this in one sitting so im really sorry if some of it is grammatically horrific or phrased weirdly lol

part 1: james and misogyny

so first off, yes, james’ misogyny is prevalent and actually a bit of a theme throughout the game--this mostly manifests as his struggle with his sexual frustration (as the meme goes). it’s so potent that people who don’t even know anything about silent hill know that a theme of sh2 is sexual frustration.

looking at the bubble head nurses and mannequins, we can see that james’ sexual frustration may have led him to fantasize about the nurses tending to mary. the mannequins are just two sets of legs put together at the hips, which suggests that james sees women only as sex objects. whether or not he was always like this is uncertain, though i believe these thoughts were always present in the back of his mind since...i mean he’s living life as a white man somewhere between the 70′s and 80′s.

more misogyny springs up with maria’s appearance. maria looks facially identical to mary, but she’s got a less conservative hairstyle and shows much more skin, complete with a tattoo on the exposed skin of her stomach. i find maria’s sexualization to be the most in-your-face of all of these examples, simply because her colors are so loud compared to literally everything else in the game--it really gives you the feel that, before all else, james wants to have sex with his wife. this idealized version of her that silent hill provides to him is what he wants from mary. we don’t know much about their marriage prior to the game’s events or mary’s sickness, but it’s possible that she was once a lot more sexually present. i believe this to be true simply based on the fact that their relationship is described as being “very intense” in the first few years before plateauing into a normal, homey love.

part 2: did james really love mary?

of course james loved mary! everything that happens in the game suggests that james loves his wife more than anything. i don’t believe that their relationship was ever onesided or abusive prior to mary’s sickness, and even then, i strongly hesitate to use the word “abusive” in reference to their relationship at any point.

anyway--james’ devotion to mary is the driving force of the game. as far as we know until the end, james got a letter from mary, who has been “dead for 3 years”. when angela tells him that the town is dangerous, james’ response is that he doesn’t really care that it’s dangerous. from what the player knows, james has fallen into a depression so deep that he is passively suicidal and without hope for pretty much anything. the mere possibility of seeing his dead wife is all the excuse he needs to thrust himself into the pits of hell, because that would make any suffering at all worth it.

i would say that, in my personal opinion, the most damning evidence to prove that james loves mary is the fact that he was so distraught by what he did to her that he became delusional to the point of driving back to their beloved vacation spot in the hopes that he would see her again. he has her body in the back seat of his car and is so horrified by what he’s done that he forces himself to forget.

part 3: if james loved mary, why would he kill her?

okay. now we’re getting into the meat of this. i’ve seen people argue that james couldn’t possibly have loved mary because he killed her. this take is problematic because it completely disregards all of the onscreen evidence that suggests the complete opposite. is james a horrible person for murdering his wife? YES! is that what you are supposed to understand about him? YES! silent hill, and pyramid head in specific, is literally punishing him for his sins. pyramid head is a product of his own desire to be punished for his actions, which he realizes at the end of the game.

so, why does james kill mary? let’s dissect the complete situation first.

part 3 part 1: mary’s sickness

silent hill 2 does something very effective (at least in my opinion) by putting you in the shoes of someone who is watching a loved one die in real time from a terminal illness. despite james’ unforgivable actions, the player gets a very close and personal look at what he was going through while watching his wife wither away. james indicates to us that he did as much research as he possibly could about what could possibly be wrong with mary, to no avail.

it’s implied that james stopped visiting as frequently and instead turned to drinking. we’re allowed to overhear mary’s end of a conversation from when he visits, bringing her a bouquet of flowers. mary, at this point, is convinced that she is ugly and unlovable, and above all else, is suffering through a disease that is killing her. she’s frustrated and upset, shouting at james to leave, get out of here, don’t look at her, etc. i’ve seen people reference this as abusive behavior, which, like i said before, is something i hesitate to call it. this is typical behavior from someone who is dying. it doesn’t justify her treating him poorly, but i don’t think james is mary’s victim at all. i don’t think james sees it that way, either--he knows she’s suffering. directly after this, we hear mary break down and apologize. she tells james that she wants to die, for her pain to end, etc, and then quickly takes it back, because as any sick person would be, she is having a very complicated relationship with her mortality.

part 3 part 2: mary’s death

james kills mary when she is allowed to come live at home for a few days because she is clearly nearing the end of her life. james kills her via suffocation with a pillow, directly after kissing her on the forehead. at the end of the game, when james is speaking with mary, he first says that he killed her because he wanted her to be free of her illness, and then backtracks and says that, no, it’s because he despised her and wanted his life back. mary (who is not actually mary, remember, but james’ projection of her) responds by saying something along the lines of, “if that’s true, then why are you so sad?”

since we understand that this is not james and mary conversing, we know that this is an internal conflict that james is resolving by talking it out with his approximation of mary. james’ resentment for mary is not deep; it’s quite common for these feelings to arise in people who have to watch their significant other die when they can do nothing about it. i don’t read this as resentment specifically for mary, rather a frustration with the entire situation that ends up seeing its fruition in the only place it possibly can: the person causing the pain. he can’t be angry at something intangible, so he ends up feeling angry with mary.

this is as true as it is that he also wanted mary to be relieved of her suffering. james did not have one singular reason for murdering mary--he had justified it to himself as both of them getting relief. in the end, this clearly wasn’t what he wanted, but it does speak volumes to his desperation that he actually went through with it. i don’t believe that he thought this would solve anything; i don’t think it was even premeditated. it’s presented to the player that he just wanted both of them to stop going through what they were going through.

james’ instant horror at his own actions (the ultimate betrayal of his wife, the murder of another human being, and the intrinsic selfishness of the act) speaks volumes to me from a character standpoint. i’m not sure how people are able to miss this, but then again, *gestures to the silent hill fanbase*

btw, i wasn’t sure where to fit this in, but mary’s up and downs are clearly reflected in maria, based on how her attitude fluctuates so intensely with james.

anyway: james’ love for mary is ultimately what ended up killing her, because it became unsustainable the worse her situation got. i think it’s worth pointing out that despite everything, james never cheated on her (as far as we are told--though i think if he had done this, it would have been seen or mentioned in the game). also, please don’t come away from this with the idea that i’m defending james, because i’m not--i just think that he actually has a lot of depth and he gets very one-dimensionalized by fans! james isn’t innocent, he’s a horrible person who let his love warp him into a toxic, angry person. this can coexist with the fact that he loved his wife beyond all measure!!!!

i’m not super sure on how to wrap this up but this is...most of my thoughts on their relationship. it’s skewed towards james just because we don’t have too much of an idea of what mary was like but i will defend her with my life because this woman was not abusive, she was fucking dying and lonely. honestly i could say a lot about her, laura, and james as a group but i feel like that’s probably suitable for another post sometime. :-)

[brokenightlight]

How to Play Silent Hill on PC

1. Silent Hill 4 can easily and safely be downloaded through Good Old Games for $10 at this link here.

2. Silent Hill 2 is not as easily downloaded, but you don’t need to go through the arduous processes of pirating it or running it on an emulator. You can safely download the game from here. After installing this game, you can then install Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition from here. I would highly recommend this, as the developers of this project have done tremendous work making Silent Hill 2 a beautiful experience on the PC without adulterating it. They have taken the broken PC port and fixed it and upgraded almost everything that you would want to if you were trying to play Silent Hill 2 today. Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition takes some time to install, but the walkthrough I linked above is extremely easy to follow and they spell out exactly what you need to do through each step. They also provide very heavy configuration to the install if you want to customize it. A complete install of SH2 with the Enhanced Edition upgrade is only about 8GB. You can copy it, paste it, throw it on several hard drives and give it to all your friends like I may or may not have done, etc.

There are ways to obtain Silent Hill 3 on PC as well, but I haven’t tried it just yet. The last time I played it I used an emulator, but I have since removed it. When I finish playing through SH:4 I will try to see if I can install it through other methods and update this post if I am successful.

[breezeinmonochromenight]

I was thinking back to Silent Hill Homecoming which wasn't that great of a game but I was think why was Pyramid Head there. I thought because Pyramid head is a punisher to the main character Alex, just like James felt the need to be punished because of his wife's death. Then I thought this is only James punishment demon, since I think James saw the painting on his honeymoon with his wife, which was before the letter by his wife telling him hey I'm back at this place you took me before. And that every person has a creature for their punishment and I don't think Alex has even seen Pyramid head before the whole game because he lived in Shepherd Glenn or whatever the towns name that was accrossed the lake from silent hill. Another thought is because the silent hill movie in 2006 came out and they wanted to add Pyramid head because everyone love him but again I don't really know.

No you pretty much nailed it. Pyramid Head is, in reality, specific to James Sunderland and James Sunderland only. He represents James’ anger and guilt over everything that’s happened/that he’s done, and acts as judge, jury, and executioner. His bizarre appearance even comes from a picture that James saw while visiting Silent Hill three years prior to the events of the game with Mary/before she got sick. So yeah. He is exclusively a James thing lol. And it checks out, too, because Silent Hill 2 is based off of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment.

Anyway. Pyramid Head is absolutely in Homecoming and the 2006 movie solely to distract you from the glaring plot holes in both for the fan service and nothing else. He’s the most iconic character in the entire series next to the bubblehead nurses** (specifically, their ‘sexy’ iteration from Silent Hill 2), and Konami is a cesspit of greed and corruption, so of course they’re gonna slap him on everything. Like. Take a look at the JP cover for Homecoming if you don’t believe me:

(And that’s before you factor in all of his more recent cameos on pachinko machines, in Dead by Daylight, etc. lol.)

Both Homecoming and the 2006 movie tried to explain him away as “basically a bogeyman that exists within Silent Hill to ‘help’ you with your penance”, which doesn’t fucking work at all in either case because:

Alex didn’t fucking do anything wrong to warrant a bogeyman/pyramid head of his own. Like, the big plot twist is that he was never a soldier/has been in a mental hospital for years because the accidental death of his little brother after they snuck out really fucked him up. It’s really funny because it literally would have made more sense if he really had been a soldier that like. Maybe wrongfully killed a bunch of civilians and got discharged or placed in a mental hospital or something. His only crime is being born into a family of fucking insane cult people. That’s it.

Rose and Cybil are attacked by PH just like the cult members in the movie despite Rose being there for Sharon (and Alessa, by association) and Cybil being on Rose’s side. Just like Alex, they also didn’t do anything wrong to warrant it.

**What’s also funny is that the sexy nurses from SH2 were also slapped into both Homecoming and the movie for no reason other than titties fan service, either. They are also very much a James-specific monster because whatever disease his wife had left her disfigured. They even go back to more normal looking nurses in SH3 because sexy nurses wouldn’t apply to Heather. Remember when Konami actually gave a shit? Wild times, am I right?

[kainissoable]

A comparison of SH2 to SH4, in particular the openings and character storytelling choices. (contains spoilers)

I’ll preface this by saying that this is more a collection of comparisons and observations than a structured essay, and I have been informed by more knowledgable people that SH4 had time constraint issues and suffered for them. I’ve also only seen one playthrough, and given Silent Hill games often need a couple of goes to fully “get”, so these probably don’t represent my final thoughts on it.

First, a quick runthrough of the first half hour or so of each game, because I think when broken down they are illustrative of the sort of issues SH4 has with being what it wants to be.

SH2 starts with a reasonably long voiceover where you find out why James is there in the first place, and we have our long-term goal as a player set out for us – find Mary. We then have a walk through creepy forest before meeting with Angela in the cemetery. The conversation is stilted to say the least, but it immediately gives us a good feel for both characters. It establishes that there’s something wrong about the town, and that James has something of a self-destructive streak to him, or at least values his search for Mary over his own safety. This will be a driving factor in the rest of the game. James then walks on to town and through a series of short cutscenes sees and follows a figure in the fog. He finds the creature, and the player’s first introduction to monsters is having to fight one in a small space so they can escape. After this, similar monsters will be found wandering the streets for the rest of the first part of the game.

SH4 starts with some on-screen text giving a little bit of background about the PC, Henry, and establishes the major problem he has to overcome – he’s trapped in his flat and suffering recurring nightmares. Play starts in the room with general Silent Hill Yuck over everything and objects the PC doesn’t remember owning. After a bit of exploration, we get a cutscene where the room goes more to hell and a ghost pulls itself through the wall of the apartment. It seems we’re going to get thrown right into it this time – oh, no, it was the aforementioned recurring dream. We can then explore an un-Silent Hilled apartment, then crawl through a hole in the wall to a distinctly concerning kind of freedom. Original goal completed, I guess. Immediately, we meet Sexy Latina Stereotype Cynthia, who believes this to be her dream, “a pretty terrible one”, and wants to find the exit. Then she vanishes into the bathroom, and we get our first in-game enemies – fucked up dogs! Now Cynthia has apparently vanished into the ether, there’s a hole leading back to Henry’s apartment in the ladies’ loos. Henry wakes up back in his room, but the hole in his wall is still there and leads back to the bathroom he came from. This mechanic continues for the rest of the game.

The first difference between these styles of opening I want to draw attention to is that SH2 tells you what’s going on pretty much straight away. There are questions which want answering, and the questions are clearly stated. SH4 goes more with the mind screw angle and does a good job of making the player go “what the heck’s happening now?” Where it fails is explaining why Henry is doing what he’s doing. Objective: escape room. Done. New objective: Help Cynthia get out the messed up station. Oh, Cynthia’s vanished. Is Henry concerned for her and going to look for her? Does he just want to find the way out? Does he just want to know what’s going? I don’t think we ever actually find out.

The second change is the monster vs NPC introductions. In SH2, you get a vague warning that Some Shit is happening, then run into two types of common monster and the big bad Pyramid Head himself before meeting Maria, who resembles James’ late wife Mary to an uncanny degree. By the time you meet her, you know a) what the danger is and b) why James would feel protective towards her. Regardless of your feelings about Maria, James’ actions make sense in-universe.

In SH4, Cynthia turns up before any monsters in the subway world, so at that point neither the player nor Henry knows why she doesn’t want to be there except it’s dull and a bit creepy. So not only do you not get the same sense of urgency, but the emotional drive for Henry could be as shallow as getting laid. The lack of clear danger to her and apparent NPC immortality for the bits she’s with you for do serve to make it more of a shock when she dies within the first hour of gameplay, but the lack of time with her or defining character traits means her death doesn’t have the punch it should. “It’s okay… it’s just a dream” finally gives Henry some discernable character and it’s a pity nothing has been built up between these two characters before that.

Later character deaths suffer from it even more because they don’t even have the shock value after Cynthia dying at the end of the subway world. It doesn’t exactly take a genius to figure out what’s going to happen to the NPC you meet near the start of every subsequent world. After Disposable Person #2, I started to develop a pretty Walter Sullivan attitude that obviously these people need to die to get to the next bit, so there was no point in expending effort trying to find something about them to make me care.

Compare and contrast the 2-7 deaths in SH2, depending on ending and how you count Maria. They never feel cheap, even though each one could be seen coming if you read the signs, and some were obviously coming. Angela was a tragic figure, damned from the start. Eddie was pushed too far and turned to wrath. James had to kill him to survive. Maria existed purely to die and make James suffer, and yet there’s a tragedy to her as well. She was James’ futile attempts to bring back Mary, his guilt and desires. And in the ending where James took his own life, he succumbed to everything the others did. Deaths were many things in SH2, but they were never plot coupons.

[thefloatingstone]

hey what's your thought about fan theories in mass medias(games,shows). some are debatable, other do use facts and secret from the media. so what's your opinion

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with fan theories.

(Oh boy! And excuse to post gifs! 8′D)

First off;

Fan Theory =/= Headcanon!

A headcanon to me means something you know is not canon and have no evidence for, but it’s a trope you enjoy indulging in for fun.

a Fan theory is something presented as a possible truth within the canon of the work and may be considered factual within the original piece of media if analyised enough.

(I classify shipping as something else entirely as shipping is mostly for fun. Unless the person starts asserting their ship “has canon evidence” when it does not. and they have to present a fan theory as to why it IS canon within their own fan theory.)

With that out of the way;

I feel I need to once again remind people that my favourite anime is Revolutionary Girl Utena. an anime whose entire existence is visual metaphor, people speaking in double-meaning, body language, psychology, religious symbolism, feminism, myths, archetypes and a lot more I am forgetting.

When I first watched Utena, I honestly did not understand it. It took me reading several essays on Ohtori.nu written by several psychology, literary and other high academic majors before I fully understood the themes of the show as well as many of its deeper meanings. And even though I have watched the show completely through 4 times already, every time I still find new meanings within it.

(Presented here: symbolism for literally every character in the show’s motivation on a psychological level and the fact that their motivations are fueled by mindsets which are false from their foundation)

(Presented here; the song that plays during Nanami’s duel. Nanami is a character who has placed all her self worth on her brother and her being more special to him than other girls because she’s his sister, something none of his many MANY one night stands could ever be. However, also the knowledge that her brother is distancing himself from her more and more as they grow up and sex becomes more and more his focus. As well as her desire to “perserve” what their relationship were as children, because she has placed her own self worth on his shoulders and so frantically fights to keep things as they use to be.

This song plays in the background of a fight scene between her and Utena, who often have dialogue over the already difficult lyrics. Making it difficult while watching it in context to fully understand the song. But if looked into, it tells much more about Nanami’s inner workings than what she herself says out loud. Especially at this point in the show, before her psychological hang ups become much more obvious later on)

Similarly, I am a big fan of Silent Hill 2. The entirety of Silent Hill 2 is that absolutely everything in the game is meant to be a representation of Jame’s psyche as well as the truth he is trying to avoid and run from. The design of all the monsters tie into this, as does the enviornment around him, certain objects you can pick up, even down to some of the titles of the music tracks. Not to mention dialogues with other characters and things found written throughout the world. Unlike Utena, you can understand SH2 without going into the deeper symbolism, however it IS there within the game and gives extra texture and meaning to the events in the game.

(Presented without comment)

(Presented here: The world of Silent Hill responding to James’ memories of Mary and how his own memories conflict with the reality of what happened)

Both of these things are among my favourite forms of media BECAUSE of their deeper meanings. And I appreciate the deeper intellectual meanings behind things, and the fact that these two forms of media actually HAVE the intelligence within their content to make the analysis of their themes interesting and intellectually satisfying.

I use to watch the channel “Game Theory” and rather enjoyed it. Especially the video on the Portal companion cube, and I enjoyed the first episode covering FNAF.

However, I am no longer subscribed to the channel and no longer enjoy seeing it or even to see recommendations for it on my youtuber feed. To the point where I had to block it on my video blocker so I could ignore it better.

I have found that I have very little interest or even patience for “fan theories” online. And I find them irritating and, quite honestly, pseudo-intellectual.

The reason being is this;

in SH2 and Utena, the symbolism is actually within the canon of the media itself. The symbolism and depth is already present, and the analysis and understanding of it from the fans are a kind of deciphering of this deeper meaning. And it is such that the more you dig into the original media, the more clear it becomes that the symbolism is extremely deliberate and that the conclusion of these analysis cannot have any other answers. They can be EXPANDED upon with further thought. But you cannot dissect the canon work and come up with a DIFFERENT theory. Because the media has already provided you with an answer, and expects you to be intellegent enough to understand it if you look into it.

Fan theories online is not this.

I find fan theories to be either detrimental to the canon work, and actually devalue the original media rather than build upon it or to get deeper understanding from it. It feels like a stripping away of the canon to put under a microscope to try and find a deeper meaning and, finding none, to imply one you LIKE and try to form fit the canon to it.

I feel it devalues the canon to do this, as well as painting many of the people indulging in it in a way that is FAR too serious (as in not doing it as a fun headcanon but as a ~FAN THEORY~) as rather pseudo-intellectual and snobbish and smug. It feels rather immature. As if one needs to somehow PROVE just how intellectually superior one is by “theorising” something which SOUNDS intelligent on paper, but in truth has no real value to it. And many times ends up being empty in that it does not match the canon at all.

(Presented here: ….whatever the fuck this is)

Another thing you should know about me;I have a VERY deep interest in archaeology. And one of the WORST things you can EVER do in archaeology, is to START with a theory, and then try and find “facts” to “prove” your theory. THIS IS TERRIBLE. DO NOT DO THIS.

Many times, this happened (and probably still happens) because of the archaeologist’s own biased opinions or because of social constructs at the time of the discovery.

(please excuse any errors here as I am working off memory) There is a famous tomb discovered which, in ALL WAYS, points that the two men buried in it were not only lovers, but essentially life partners. From the items buried with them, the hieroglyphics around them, and the paintings which used the ancient Egyptian codes for kissing. However, because the tomb was discovered in the 50s, the couple were written and recorded as “brothers”. Because acknowledging a homosexual couple was just NOT DONE.

To this day, there is a loud debate about these two and changing the records to properly reflect them as the couple they clearly were. Despite this, many resources still have them as “brothers”. Saying that the intimacy in the paintings “meant they might have been twins! Perhaps even conjoined twins!”

The “Theory” was a big intricate explanation as two how “these two were actually brothers!!!” while the facts are very clearly something else and frankly much more simple.

(I looked this up after finishing this ask and I was thinking of Nyankh-khnum and Khnum-hotep. For the record)

(Presented here; obvious twin brothers #nohomo)

I suppose because of my interest in archaeology, I apply the same thinking to fan theories. I see them as being false when held up against the “facts” within canon. And since they are false, I do not give them any sort of weight or importance.

HOWEVER. Within fandom, many times the sheer popularity of an IDEA is such that a “fan-theory” the aligns favourably to tropes people ALREADY like, and the “fan theory” becomes “accepted canon” by people. Despite not actually aligning to the canon material at all. And yet, when you, as the person enjoying the canon media, speak up against a popular fan theory, you get dog piled by he rest of the fandom community for being “wrong” or “not adhering” to a fan theory that is popular. And eventually you get brow-beaten into accepting the fan theory, or simply remain a disregarded outsider since your views are no seen as favourable as the fan theory.

(Canon)((Leaning away when someone is trying to kiss you is SO ROMANTIC RITE???))

(99% of Sailor Moon fans APPARENTLY!!!)((Many people consider Seiya and Usagi to actually be a canon ship and that IN CANON she preferred them over Mamoru. Despite everything in the show illustrating Uagi’s attraction but discomfort in all of Seiya’s attention))

Also, and I beg you forgive me for my arrogance here, but I think people just enjoy feeling smart in a complicated fan theory. However, the truth for me personally is, I have no need or interest in reaffirming my own intelligence to myself or others.

I want to enjoy the canon for the way it is presented to me. If the canon has something that speaks to me personally, I do not need to create a fan theory to make it interesting. I can find things within canon I can analyse and discuss.  And if I find something shallow, I merely enjoy it for its shallowness, because NOT everything needs deep meaning behind it, or I simply indulge in it, and move on to something else I find stimulating. Or I just simply do not find it engaging at all.

So…. I guess that’s my answer.

I enjoy the analysis of deeper canon material.I enjoy discussing headcanons that are by admission not canon right from the start.I do no enjoy fan theorising on things which are not apparent within the canon itself but presented as being possibilities within canon despite evidence.and I get frustrated when, due to popularity, the obtuseness of a fan theory is treated AS canon.

….huh….. you can apply that to a lot of more important real world things, huh? ^^;

Sorry for the arrogance in this reply. However, you asked for my opinion, and since this is about an opinion regarding personal preference, I can only present the subject as I approach it with my OWN personal bias and thought process. As well as how I validate it to myself.

I am sure a counter-argument could very easily made as a rebuttle for each and every point I’ve made.

But we are dealing with opinions. Not facts. and that is all I am offering. Opinion.

[probablypartalien]

What kind of personal information do you need? Name, Appearence, etc or more personal history stuff. Or both. Thank you and I hope you are doing well.

Thank you and I hope you’re doing well too 😊

Gosh, I’m not a hundred percent sure if I’m being perfectly honest. So I apologize in advance for this being a long and kind of disorganized answer.

To me, it seems like Silent Hill is all about framing who you are as a person- both the autobiographical as well as the details you’d most like to leave out of that autobiography. It’s the regrets, deepest fears, and moments that have made you the person you are today. I think that SH2 and SH: Shattered Memories serve excellent depictions as to what those kind of person-defining situations those things can be. It could be a complicated relationship with someone you love dearly, a dependence on some form of escapism, an inability to move on.

At the same time, realistically, there isn’t going to be one defining thing. In the case of SH4, it’s hard to tell what exactly the protagonist’s life before Silent Hill was like. We can glean from in-game mechanics that he did indulge in at least some form of vouyerism. Whether this be due to him being a very socially awkward person and thus his only interactions mostly being observing what is going on versus partaking in it, or him maybe just being kind of a creep. I mean, he did for some reason happen to have a peeping hole into his neighbor’s room. In the end, the protagonist for SH4 was not responsible for being sucked into the town. He was a victim of circumstance. This heavily contradicts 1, 2, 3, and Shattered Memories where the protagonists- for some reason or the other- choose to go to Silent Hill.

I think that, when it comes to the endings, they reflect what a person sees as being a failure and/or what being a good person means to them. Does it mean being an unfaithful spouse? Does it mean being unable to forgive? It can show what the individual sees as the ultimate good or ultimate bad. For that reason, your own personal moral compass can be very important.

In the end, the information required to make an accurate depiction of your Silent Hill would be everything you see as essential to making you who you are. What have you done and not done? Who have you hurt and been hurt by? Who have you loved and been loved by? What do you want to improve? What do you wish you could forget? You may not need to answer all these questions. Some things aren’t as important to some people as they are to others. And that’s not a bad thing.

And if you can’t give definitive answers as to what makes you who you are, that’s fine. I think it’s kind of an impossible to fully answer kind of thing.

[heathbarlatte]

I forgot but looking into Crooked Man always ends up with people throwing bizarre Silent Hill 2 theories out at you

In The Crooked Man you discover that the characters you meet are all creations from the psyche of the titular character/antagonist (? I guess) (the kid with bad grades stuck in the school, Sissi in the hotel, etc) and because TCM is so obviously inspired by SH2 (”I’m waiting for you”, special place, hospital, etc), people start to theorize that TCM’s plot could be applied to SH2

Obviously Uri didn’t work on SH2 (...right?) but it is interesting. I’ve read a million American Silent Hill theories but despite spending a lot of time in the Japanese fandom, I never really looked for Japanese theories or anything, I figured I understood the games so I didn’t bother, but it’s interesting to see what Japanese people get out of a game made in Japan (similar to Die Fetten Jahre sind Vorbei, a (really good) German movie where the Germans have a VERY different understanding of the ending than American audiences do, which was interesting to discover)

The theory is that the other characters encountered in Silent Hill by James are creations of different parts of his psyche and not “real” - just created by the power of the town. Everyone says this about Maria because the game makes that obvious but I’d never seen anyone suggest that Eddie, Laura, and Angela are actually parts of James and not real people who also came to Silent Hill. It’s interesting in a way, but I wonder what this means?

Eddie is an angry and vengeful man who indiscriminately kills people who bully him - does this mean James was bullied, and has some rage inside of him for the people who bullied him? Angela is a scared and suicidal teen with family issues who suffered terrible abuse from her father and brother while her mother told her it was her fault - did James go through this? Of course, that seems pretty unlikely. It doesn’t fit with his character, and if James had these issues, I think they’d manifest in different ways. So if the theory is true, why do Angela and Eddie exist as they do?

I think it’s definitely an interesting theory but you have to look past the obvious. If James’ psyche created these people, then why? If not because they have the same issues he has, then why? Maybe these people needed to exist as they do to facilitate James’ journey in Silent Hill. Eddie exists to push James to have to kill him, to make James realize before arriving at the Lakeview Hotel that he is capable of murder, so that his first thought as he watches the videotape isn’t, “But I could never kill another human being,” because he knows he already can.

So what about Angela? One thing I think is interesting is that Angela seems almost forgotten by the time you see her for the last time. She asks for her knife back, and when James refuses, she gives him a cold, “Planning on using it for yourself?” James says, “Me? No, I’d never kill myself,” no matter what ending you’re going for (not 100% sure on this, but I do think that ending is locked in by this point - which makes this conversation decidedly bitter when you’re locked in to the In Water ending by this point). Why does Angela show up when she does for her final meeting? James has faced what kind of person he is, and remembered everything about Mary and her death. The only thing left to do at this point is to confront those things. James meets Angela for the last time after he’s been forcefully shown who he is and what he’s done, but between room 312 and the final battle with Pyramid Head, he doesn’t confront it. He’s just existing with this knowledge slowly sinking back into him - he’s being forced to come out of a dissociative state his brain protectively put him into after the terrible thing he did. (Trauma doesn’t always have to be done to you by someone else. Sometimes you can inflict trauma on yourself, too.)

In this final meeting, Angela at first is confused like James was - in fact, in this short scene, Angela mimics James’ entire journey. Like James mistook Maria for his wife, Angela mistakes James for her mother, then realizes her mistake and immediately folds in on herself with guilt. James tries to tell her it isn’t her fault, and her idea of her guilt isn’t true, but Angela refutes him. She realizes she’s alone in this (as James can’t take care of her or absolve her) and goes up the stairs to confront what happened to her. 

While I obviously don’t agree that Angela’s “guilt” exists at all, much less is anywhere near James’ level of guilt, Angela’s existence and interaction with James at that moment in his journey is incredibly important. James watches Angela go to face her demons, walking through the fire, and so when he meets his demons (Pyramid Head), he realizes he can either walk towards them and surrender himself, or he can fight. Either way, he has to confront the truth of what happened and who he is, and I think that if he hadn’t seen Angela do the same only moments before, he would have been lost in that moment. Instead, James faces Pyramid Head with determination. “I was weak. That’s why I needed you. I needed someone to punish me for my sins. But that’s all over now - I know the truth. Now it’s time to end this.”

Angela, an abuse victim who killed her family after withstanding years of abuse from them; and Eddie, a victim of bullies who lashed out. Both are people who were driven to violence after undergoing terrible situations inflicted on them. While we can’t look at the specifics and see those mirrored in James (abuse, bullying, etc) we can certainly see the similarities if we pull back a little bit and focus on a bigger picture. James creates these people subconsciously because his mind is struggling to comprehend what he’s gone through. Eddie and Angela both present themselves as innocent victims who came to Silent Hill to find someone, like James. Only over time is it revealed that they killed. James creates these people and comes to understand what they did, because understanding a similar situation in two different ways, both of which are removed from him, is easier to comprehend. By the time he has to comprehend his own situation, he’s had practice. His mind can accept it, because he watched both Eddie and Angela, and learned lessons from them.

It also explains why they’re coincidentally both in Silent Hill at the same time as James, able to access where he is when others aren’t, and pop up in places that should be difficult to access, with timing that seems to benefit James.

So now we go out on a little bit more of a limb... where did the ideas of Angela and Eddie come from? James does not strike me as a creative man. While the official SH2 website was still up on konami.co.jp (is it still? I’m not sure, that was like 2002) I took great care to read and translate it - and it did list James’ profession as a “clerk”. Could it be possible that James works in a prison, or in some kind of governmental position which would allow him access to read over cases like this? Does James happen to subconsciously remember these people from his job and create them in Silent Hill because his mind made connections between them and between what he did? It’s important to remember that James also sees himself as a victim, even up until the very end. In one ending, he tells Mary, “That’s why I did it, honey! I just couldn’t watch you suffer! ...No, that’s not true. You also said that you didn’t want to die. The truth is, I hated you. I wanted you out of the way. I wanted my life back.” (Or, “The truth is, part of me hated you, for taking away my life...” depending on ending.) While Mary is clearly the victim of her disease, James views himself as a victim of it, as well. (This is pretty clear in the game, and also ties into James’ sexuality but if I start talking about that I’m going to get off track here.) I’m not sure how I feel about this personally, but whether he’s right or wrong, James sees himself as a victim of what happened to him, and because of that situation, he was driven to violence, just like Angela and Eddie.

If anyone is actually reading this I commend you by the way, this is long rambling shit and I’m pretty sure no one will read this by now. Anyway I’m not sure how much I believe this theory myself, but it is definitely extremely plausible. Previously I had figured that Eddie and Angela were two separate people going through their own journeys in Silent Hill, but the idea that it could be different is interesting.

Also, this theory has left Laura out, and I would have to do more thinking about that (although she could definitely still work into this, in different ways). 

Anyway, play Silent Hill 2 and play The Crooked Man even if you don’t think it’s worth thinking about the two completely separate games together, they’re still both very good and worth your time, sorry if you got spoilers.

[kaaramel]

Ur SO GOOD at silent hill stuff!!! any tips for coming up with silent hill things for characters?? I find it hard to get creative while still maintaining the Silent Hill Aesthetic™

oooooooooogolly this is very flattering cause i’m gonna give you a secret: I’ve Never Played A Silent Hill Game In My Life. like not even once. i’ve watched LPers do.. hmm, the first three, and PT, and shattered memories, and a decent chunk of downpour and a bit of four.. and i read about the monsters! that’s all! i’m a weenie and can’t actually handle playing most horror games pbbbt.

i refer back to bogleech’s reviews of silent hill monsters for aesthetic reference and Opinions when i need ‘em (1, 2, 3, 4: The Room, Origins, Homecoming, Downpour) - he’s pretty critical about everything past 4, but he does a lot of picking apart what he likes and dislikes about the designs. 

how can a recognizably human form be distorted into a new shape? bind the limbs, twist them, mold the flesh? i know i’m working in black and white, but i try to make the textures as unpleasant as i can, as well - wrinkled, scabby, lumpy flesh.

for starving hill specifically i’ve been drawing on the motifs and creatures of don’t starve, of course - rabbits have come up twice now, obviously i just drew a bunch of spiders, there’s hounds, clockwork, charlie’s statues. fear of the darkness. the idea of being trapped, or the idea that you’ve trapped others and must atone.

i have spent.. a disproportionate amount of time, reading over the character dialogue strings, and thinking about the characters’ pasts, so i’m in a good position there to pull from those. who would they have met, what shaped their lives? i specifically considered, what does this look like to a child?  how does a child’s distorted perspective interpret new things that we take for granted as adults? which, i realize as i type this now, i also sort of learned from bogleech, in the awful hospital sequence from the baby’s perspective, JEEZ. but yeah, for monster design, bog’s your leech. for example: what’s it like to be a kid coming to their first scout meeting and everyone stares at you? what’s it like for someone to loudly berate you in a language that’s not your first?

for environments - again i draw on the character’s past and history when i can, and i guess what i’m trying to do is make a place tailored to them that.. just feels wrong. what’s the weather like? almost always there are connective threads of rot and decay, and illogical, impossible geometry, those are good standbys.. what’s uncomfortable for them to see? what would remind them of something they’d rather not think about?

and what have they done wrong, to come to silent hill? i think this is mostly a SH2 concept, correct me if i’m wrong - but, enemies that mock the victim just by existing. now that’s a rich seam to mine. i think in my own designs i did this most strongly with maxwell, ‘cause maxwell sure has some sins to pull on - snared rabbits and caged humans, trying to grab him and drag him down.

whoops! i talked a whole lot! i hope some or any of that was inspirational or helpful? go forth, confident in the knowledge that i’m a completely fake silent hill fan