Silent Hill Heaven

TNAJeffHardy13 wrote:The Story was the 2nd-3rd best from the series.

Really? I thought the story was one of the weakest things about it. Not very original and the ending was so obvious.

^Painfully.

I didn't mind the graphics of the environment all that much. I like the bichromal vibe of grey/orange. I thought it was a neat way to break up the real vs. the nightmare. Some of it was over done but I liked the choice of colors and the rust was nice.

I also didn't mind the escort mission as much as I thought I would. She didn't constantly bitch at me like Eileen, so that was a plus. I was DREADING that portion of the game, but when it was over, I was like "That's it? Really? Damn. Only like one of the Needlers made it past me after her. Ok, well guess we are done. 'KBAI!" I was expecting a lot more hard work and there just wasn't. I guess I should be thankful but w/ how hard the game was getting to be to the point, the sudden drop in difficult felt like it was too easy. It was fun though, even if she did keep getting stuck.

Silent Hill endings have never been all that good or satisfying, though. I think some of you are looking at the other games in the series with rose-tinted lenses. I ask you to look long and hard at the other games before you jump all over this one.

Smart people -- re: those who put the subtitles on and can.. well, HEAR things clearly -- will know what James did in SH2 as early as the scene when he gets the damn radio. Also, the scene when he leaves Brookhaven Hospital and wonders, briefly, if Mary is taking revenge on him.

We all know by the third inner monologue thing that Heather spouts off that she's Alessa. That's not even worth putting behind a spoiler tag -- you figure it out really early on in the game.

You find out either half-way through or a little earlier that Henry is SOL and planned to be a victim in the new burst of murders. You know this can only end a few ways. You know this. And yet you continue to play the game and when you get one of the four endings your assumptions are either proved wrong or right.

Shattered Memories... well, look closely at the scene when Harry crashes his car. I've only gone through this game once and I really don't like it enough to waste my time doing any more play throughs, but I might just so I can figure out HOW easy it is to take apart. And trust me, it's not that hard.

Really, the only game in the series that I DON'T think you could easily predict was the first one.

And you know why? Because that's what stories and games do. They leave hints and clues along the way for you to figure out what's going on, because if they flat out told you, then it isn't a story. Being told a story is an anecdote, and people can only be so patient for those things. On the other hand, if they DIDN'T leave clues -- obvious or "painful" ones -- then they'd be obscure and strange and people wouldn't like them because they couldn't figure them out. You're insulting your own intelligence by saying that something is obvious and weak just because you were able to piece a story together.

In a less subtle version: .... So people should really just think twice about this being so predictable, because guess what? NONE OF THE GAMES HAVE BEEN ALL THAT SUBTLE ABOUT THEIR MAJOR PLOT POINTS (to the point where you can't figure it out if you pay attention and think enough) AND THE ENDINGS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MEDIOCRE AND THROWN TOGETHER IN 25 SECONDS OF "OH... I JUST SPENT MY TIME ON THAT? REALLY?"

And nothing is original. All ideas come from something else.

Mis Krist. wrote:Silent Hill endings have never been all that good or satisfying, though. I think some of you are looking at the other games in the series with rose-tinted lenses. I ask you to look long and hard at the other games before you jump all over this one.

Smart people -- re: those who put the subtitles on and can.. well, HEAR things clearly -- will know what James did in SH2 as early as the scene when he gets the damn radio. Also, the scene when he leaves Brookhaven Hospital and wonders, briefly, if Mary is taking revenge on him.

We all know by the third inner monologue thing that Heather spouts off that she's Alessa. That's not even worth putting behind a spoiler tag -- you figure it out really early on in the game.

You find out either half-way through or a little earlier that Henry is SOL and planned to be a victim in the new burst of murders. You know this can only end a few ways. You know this. And yet you continue to play the game and when you get one of the four endings your assumptions are either proved wrong or right.

Shattered Memories... well, look closely at the scene when Harry crashes his car. I've only gone through this game once and I really don't like it enough to waste my time doing any more play throughs, but I might just so I can figure out HOW easy it is to take apart. And trust me, it's not that hard.

Really, the only game in the series that I DON'T think you could easily predict was the first one.

And you know why? Because that's what stories and games do. They leave hints and clues along the way for you to figure out what's going on, because if they flat out told you, then it isn't a story. Being told a story is an anecdote, and people can only be so patient for those things. On the other hand, if they DIDN'T leave clues -- obvious or "painful" ones -- then they'd be obscure and strange and people wouldn't like them because they couldn't figure them out. You're insulting your own intelligence by saying that something is obvious and weak just because you were able to piece a story together.

In a less subtle version: .... So people should really just think twice about this being so predictable, because guess what? NONE OF THE GAMES HAVE BEEN ALL THAT SUBTLE ABOUT THEIR MAJOR PLOT POINTS (to the point where you can't figure it out if you pay attention and think enough) AND THE ENDINGS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MEDIOCRE AND THROWN TOGETHER IN 25 SECONDS OF "OH... I JUST SPENT MY TIME ON THAT? REALLY?"

And nothing is original. All ideas come from something else.

I don't think SH2 story was as obvious or bland as HC. Also, the whole Maria thing was very well done and i don't think many people would have worked out who she was before the end.

HC was more cut and dry where as SH2 had many layers to it and there was much more beneath the surface with regards to the story. People are still discussing the story/ characters all these years later so i think that says a lot about the quality of it.

Homecoming's story is exactly the same basic layout as SH2's. A person forgets what they've done and is tormented by their subconscious guilt. They even have specters pursuing them to REMIND them of what they've done wrong.

Really? No one would realize that the temptress named MARIA, who looked a lot like James' dead wife MARY, was in ANY WAY CONNECTED TO HER AND JAMES? Jeez, how slow can people be?

>People are still discussing the story/ characters all these years later so i think that says a lot about the quality of it.

Or that people are pretty freakin' thick if they can't figure out that Maria/Mary stuff. My god. That wasn't even subtle.

Mis Krist. wrote:Homecoming's story is exactly the same basic layout as SH2's. A person forgets what they've done and is tormented by their subconscious guilt. They even have specters pursuing them to REMIND them of what they've done wrong.

Really? No one would realize that the temptress named MARIA, who looked a lot like James' dead wife MARY, was in ANY WAY CONNECTED TO HER AND JAMES? Jeez, how slow can people be?

>People are still discussing the story/ characters all these years later so i think that says a lot about the quality of it.

Or that people are pretty freakin' thick if they can't figure out that Maria/Mary stuff. My god. That wasn't even subtle.

I didn't say people wouldn't work out that she was connected to Mary, that's kind of a given. I just meant it kept you guessing that's all.

When i said people are still talking about the story all these years later, i didn't just mean the Mary/Maria thing. Geez...

I was using the Mary and Maria thing as an example. One of many, you see.

People could talk in depth about the other games, like they do with SH2, if they wished, but they don't because there's this bizarre idea of making SH2 into a godlike installment in the series, and there's just this odd stigma 'gainst the later SH games, sans Team Silent, as if that makes them any less of a game or an installment in the series. Now, for the record, I really like SH2 and think it's a lovely game, one I always like to play; I don't like Origins and I'm not all that impressed by Shattered Memories because I think as games themselves they're pretty subpar and blah. But that doesn't mean I'd stop myself from looking deeper beneath the surface of them to understand their stories or their inner workings.

The fact that so many people in this fandom are just willing to dismiss shit once and bitch about it forever will never cease to drive me mad. It's SH4 all over again.

Mis Krist. wrote:I was using the Mary and Maria thing as an example. One of many, you see.

People could talk in depth about the other games, like they do with SH2, if they wished, but they don't because there's this bizarre idea of making SH2 into a godlike installment in the series, and there's just this odd stigma 'gainst the later SH games, sans Team Silent, as if that makes them any less of a game or an installment in the series. Now, for the record, I really like SH2 and think it's a lovely game, one I always like to play; I don't like Origins and I'm not all that impressed by Shattered Memories because I think as games themselves they're pretty subpar and blah. But that doesn't mean I'd stop myself from looking deeper beneath the surface of them to understand their stories or their inner workings.

The fact that so many people in this fandom are just willing to dismiss shit once and bitch about it forever will never cease to drive me mad. It's SH4 all over again.

I don't just like SH2. I've played 2,3,4 and Homecoming. I actually enjoyed SH4. I don't think SH2 is a perfect game or "godlike" i was just saying that compared to Homecoming, to me, it felt like a lot more effort and detail went into it, that's all.

I'm not "bitching" at all, this forum is for people to express their opinions and that's all i'm doing. I'm not dismissing anything, i just think Homecoming was a huge dissapointment because i had high hopes for it and to me it was a big let down. Now if you think that counts as "bitching" i quite frankly couldn't care less.

I can see some good ideas in Homcoming, i just thought overall it was pretty flawed and not very orignal. It didn't feel like a SH game at all, more like a movie cash in.

Ahh see, I wasn't accusing YOU of bitching. That's why I didn't address it to you, and put that statement in a new paragraph entirely, thus expressing a new train of thought not connected to my statements aimed at you.

I like the Leave ending of SH2 and the Good + ending of SH1.

Also, I try not to infer things while playing a game because I like to be surprised. I had no idea what was coming when James watched that videotape. The only reason I knew who Heather was was because I had read online before.

I'd also like to say that I liked the new fighting style. Yeah, the buttons constantly being on screen were annoying, but I liked the slash/dodge/slash/slash/stab fighting. It was repetitive and hard to get a hold of at first but after awhile it was fun, at least for the melee. I wouldn't mind having the same melee style again in the future.

I just hated the gun controls and limited ammo.

Agreed, the ammo limits were horrible, I ended up hardly ever using ranged weapons because I was never sure when I would be able to find more ammo, which in a survival horror game I guess is kind of a good thing, but it still felt like an arbitrary limitation.

However, I actually liked the ots aiming which I think was a step forward, and I really enjoyed the melee combat even if the knife was way too good and left the game lacking any real challenge apart from a couple of the boss fights.

I'd like to see ots aiming in future sh games, but I think it might be cool if the in-game camera is largely cinematic and only goes into ots when the aim button is held down.

stopped_clock wrote:but I think it might be cool if the in-game camera is largely cinematic and only goes into ots when the aim button is held down.

This is how the prototype builds of Resident Evil 4 were and it looked pretty awesome. I'd love to see a game actually do this one of these days.

Actually I just realised that Cold Fear has that exact camera set up. It works really well too, you get all of the benefits of cinematic shots but without the problems that such camera angles can cause for combat, or you can just play the whole thing ots, it's nice to have that choice.

I've gotta get that, then.

Really enjoyed this game. I loved the sense of dread, that anything could jump out, although most of the time nothing did.

stopped_clock wrote:Actually I just realised that Cold Fear has that exact camera set up. It works really well too, you get all of the benefits of cinematic shots but without the problems that such camera angles can cause for combat, or you can just play the whole thing ots, it's nice to have that choice.

Cold Fear was really good. Nice soundtrack too.

Obviously the best thing about Silent Hill:Homecoming, is the soundtrack! Best soundtrack in the entire series imo. One More Soul To the Call is by far the best vocal track aswell. I wonder if the new one will still have the vocal tracks? I hope so.

Other good things about SH5 is graphics and a decent plot.

So many people didn't read the title of this thread, nearly half the posts are whining and complaining about the game and the 'cons' thread is more than double the size. People really like to be snobbish about this game even with the most minor things, it is very amusing.

Anyway, I haven't played it in a couple of years but from what I remember:
-Graphics were very nice
-Atmosphere was thick and had a great sense of dread
-Excellent monster designs (especially the bosses)
-Combat system was definitely improved
-Engrossing story and characters
-I actually enjoyed the otherworld sections
-Great sound design (voice actors in particular were much improved from the older games, though I'd say this has a lot to do with an English development crew. I'm guessing since the first 4 games were Japanese developed the script/lines were roughly translated and that was why there was some atrocious dialogue and nonsensical reactions/emotions)

That is from what I can remember, I'll play it again soon and post more specifics.

What I LOVED abotu SH Homecoming is when Alex comes home and you wach all the photos and read all the stuff. It was so amazing for me. And how you see that the family only loved Josh... GOD! I have never had anything like that in any game.
For me the story was AMAZING! I don't know why so many of you hate it.