Full story somewhere?

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » 26 Nov 2005

Hiya - I've been poking around trying to find a synopsis of the story of SH1 but no luck thus far, am I perhaps looking in the wrong place? I checked the sticky in this forum but that wasn't what I was hoping for.

It's been ages since I played it and I don't have a PS1 anymore

Post by **Goodnight** » 26 Nov 2005

This isn't a bad synopsis. It's detailed and pretty accurate.

http: // db.gamefaqs. com/console /psx/file/ silent_hill_plot_a.txt

Links to that site never work, so just take the spaces out.

Post by **The Adversary** » 26 Nov 2005

Just play Silent Hill 3: the trip Douglas & Heather make in the car to Silent Hill pretty much sums it up.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » 26 Nov 2005

Sweet, that was just what I was looking for. Thanks!

Post by **Goodnight** » 27 Nov 2005

You're welcome.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » 22 Feb 2006

Has there ever been a strong fan consensus as to whether or not the events of the various games are happening in the "real" world or whether they happen in alternate realities, real or imagined?

President Evil's guide, for instance, which was mentioned in the one above espouses the idea that in the first Silent Hill, for instance the town of Silent Hill we were seeing through Harry's eyes was not the real town but rather an alternate reality version of the town. Taking this a step further the "dark" Silent Hill was simply a deeper (and more sinister) version of this alternate reality.

Post by **The Adversary** » 22 Feb 2006

There are, indeed, two realities: Reality & unreality. That is: What the audience doesn't see, and what the audience does see. Unreality is a reflection of reality, and the [otherside] is a reflection of unreality.

Post by **amphreded** » 22 Feb 2006

the Adversary wrote:There are, indeed, two realities: Reality & unreality. That is: What the audience doesn't see, and what the audience does see. Unreality is a reflection of reality, and the [otherside] is a reflection or unreality.

Would you please elaborate on that? I'm a little confused of what you meant.

Post by **The Adversary** » 22 Feb 2006

Reality is what we haven't experienced--except for Heather: she starts off in reality, in the Happy Burger at the mall.

Unreality is what we have experience: the what-looks-like-a-normal town, shrouded in fog. This reality is a reflection of the real world, but an alternate reality. A carbon-copy, in a sense, but with preternatural occurrences. While engaged in this unreality, time is essentially stopped, and there's the chance to cross-over to its relfection: the [otherside].

The [otherside], seemingly another reality, is really nothing more than a reflection of the unreality. This "world" is exampled by Alessa's nightmarish delusions and Walter's dream-world.

The final "world" is the Abyss, a place that is outside of time & space.

Post by **amphreded** » 22 Feb 2006

I'm still a bit confused why you said "Reality is what we haven't experienced--except for Heather." If we, the audience, experience the Unreality by your definition, why wouldn't we experience the Reality as well since we transcend into Heather's role from the beginning of the game? The player identifies himself with Heather, thus shouldn't he see Reality if Heather sees it?

I guess you use the word Reality in a sense of "Objective Reality" (how we feel with the "real" world) rather than a subjective ones? Reality in a sense that we live in a world of physical phemonena, Unreality in a sense where the time is omitted, Otherside as "Subjective Reality" (of Alessa's, Walter's), and final "World" as an isolated space-time continuum?

To me, in SH3:

The beginning of the game, before Heather encounters any seemingly 'unreal' events, we witness the "Objective Reality"--the ideology of reality. This is the human perception of what the world should be (code and conventions). How the shadow would drop, how there's gravity, how everything can be explained through sciences and knowledge. For example, I've never been to Africa, but "I know" that it exists, therefore it is objectively real.

The fog world is a less real objectively. The town becomes dream-like. Personally, I believe the fog world signifies everything we do not know, but is true. It is not objective nor it is subjective. It represents the "Natural Reality"--what is truly real although we do not have a knowledge on it. For example, there might be an undiscovered island on Earth. You have absolutely no knowledge about it, but "it is out there".

The otherside, the hellish Silent Hill, is the "Subjective Reality". This is especially true in Alessa's case since she does not get a chance to see much of the "Objective Reality". She might hear about mountains and ocean through Lisa, but she never experiences those things first hand. Thus she fills in the closures by using her point of views and imaginations based on the limited knowledge she has--thus it becomes Subjective. The best example of this would be the images inside your head when you try to remember a place you have visited briefly or when you try to imagine a place based on someone's else (which you imbue someone's else story to be part of your subjectivity).

Well, that's my point of view.

Post by **Mis Krist.** » 22 Feb 2006

It's because we, the gamers, have never seen the real Silent Hill. The actual town. Think of it like three layers.

Real town (we never see this in the games. We only hear about it.) This is the blueprint from which the other versions are based. Meaning: while the foggy and dark town look like Silent Hill, they aren't the real town. Instead they're a different "face."
Foggy town (default setting for the characters - it's eerie and there are some monsters.) For the most part this is the "harmless" version.. it's almost like a dream.
Dark town (nightmare version.. full of monsters) is more surreal than the foggy version, but also more horrific.

This "Abyss" is Otherside, which is the darkness beyond that; I think this is what Adversary is trying to say. I'm not sure, though.

Post by **The Adversary** » 22 Feb 2006

>I'm still a bit confused why you said "Reality is what we haven't experienced--except for Heather."
Only at the very beginning of Silent Hill 3 is reality seen, when Heather wakes up in Happy Burger. That's all. The rest of the game is either unreality, the [otherside], or the Abyss. There are no other instances in the series where we see reality during gameplay.

The endings of each game, of course, occur in reality, and the beginning of SH1 with Harry & Cheryl driving together. What Henry sees out of his apartment is reality, but what's beyond the hole is not.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » 23 Feb 2006

That makes me wonder...what happened to Cybil to make her ditch her bike?

Perhaps Cybil saw Alessa, got off her bike to pursue her, and ended up wandering into the town...then Alessa appeared in front of Harry? The bike simply stopped running because of the power of the town and she ditched it, citing some unknown mechanical failure?

I dunno...Cybil seems to not even realize anything happened. The crashed bike was an illusion to distract Harry...?

F · Post by F » 23 Feb 2006

According to the GBA version, she saw the same thing as Harrold.

Post by **setsuna_PT** » 01 Mar 2006

uhmm this is something that calls me to the silent hill game.. what is real or not.. because even the characters discuss this.. in the silent hill 3 vincent says in an ironic way when heather call the "monsters" monsters, oh that is what you call them...

maibe this means that silent hill is a normal town, with a normal life.. and our character see this reality in a very deformed way... cree--py

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » 01 Mar 2006

I'm reading through the above plot analysis myself and it is pretty good, detailed and makes a lot of things clearer, that said it is a totally different style to the Resident Evil plot analysis I've seen. Justifiably so I guess with the vast differences in the games themselves and their styles. Do wish I was able to read the website itself though rather than the unfinished translated version..