Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Poor Alex ... his momma don't seem to like him much. We wonder why in here ...

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Skele
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by Skele »

Homecoming is up there as my favorite in the series (it's probably in a 3-way tie between SH and SH3). it's mainly due to the enjoyment i get with the combat, and i actually dig the otherworld/monsters in Homecoming. as much as i like SH2, i can't play that game now without falling asleep. there's simply no enjoyment to be had while playing the game, as the monsters offer no challenge at all and the controls are so dated. i already know the story, so there's no point in ever really playing it again.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by warfare315 »

Favorite, no. I like it a lot for what it is, though. It's better than the Room and Origins. The room could have been amazing with some changes, I liked the story and ideas. But to me, Homecoming just turned out to be a better game. And I just... don't like Origins. It's the only game I just DON'T like.

So, it's pretty good, it's more of a weird side-story to me...haha. it would only be my favorite if I never had played SH, SH2, SH3, and SM.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by 46n2 »

warfare315 wrote:Favorite, no. I like it a lot for what it is, though. It's better than the Room and Origins. The room could have been amazing with some changes, I liked the story and ideas. But to me, Homecoming just turned out to be a better game.
I agree with you there. Homecoming is in my top 4, with it's placement varying to suit my mood. It's probably the most "fun" for me.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by trai has cake »

To me Homecoming is good. I'm not an original SH fan, only getting into the series through the films, but I've played 1-3 as well as Homecoming and I can't see why people would be upset about it. I hear a lot of fans saying that after four all the games went to Shit, but I think a real fan of the series should at least be able to appreciate Homecoming. 3 is my all time favorite followed by Homecoming. 2 would be second place, but I just didn't care for, however Pyramid Head is my all time favorite ! !
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by Miette »

Sad to say, no, it isn't my favorite. That belongs to The Room. But Alex is my favorite protagonist. He really interests me. It kind of sucks, though. This game had some major potential, what with the graphics and enhanced combat system. Maybe if it wasn't for the limited inventory, I'd like it more.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by c-words »

More like Sharted Memories. Nah, I enjoyed it.

SH2
SH1
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SHO
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SHH
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by Trauma_ »

It's not my favorite Silent Hill game but it definitely has my favorite atmosphere out of all of them...
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by c-words »

Trauma_ wrote:It's not my favorite Silent Hill game but it definitely has my favorite atmosphere out of all of them...
I wouldn't say homecoming is near my favorite atmosphere, but definitely enjoyed the easier character movements. Now I'm curious what your least favorite atmosphere is...
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by Trauma_ »

Either The Room or 2. Both were just boring, More so The Room than 2 but both of them were pretty bland on the first play through.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by butters »

Finally finished homecoming so i can rank them all.

Sh2
Sh
Sh3/Shsm
Sh:0/shhc
Sh4

It was pretty good, but I feel like it was too hollywood. But I was more than pleasantly surprised with shattered memories. I absolutely loved it, but not to the degree of the first two of course.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by DistantJ »

Kinda. Gameplay-wise it is, and I love the HD recreation of Silent Hill (and Shepherd's Glen) in all its glory, finally with a proper movable camera so you can look up and down and really feel like your surroundings are coming to life. I love little things like the fact that, if you do look up, you can see the electricity cables, traffic lights, etc. and there are even moths flying around. It's amazing to see the SH1-3 world recreated so accurately in HD and to be able to freely move around it in a modern way, and it's great to play a loyal SH game with such smooth and modern controls, and the slick combat is great, as well as some fantastic monster designs and areas, and some absolutely EPIC bosses.

So I'd say that it's my favourite 'traditional' (I use the term lightly, I mean as in set in the original universe as a survival horror. Not Shattered Memories in other words) SH game for gameplay, but for story and scares I'd take SH2...
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by Girl Interrupted »

Oh what the hell, it's my favorite game of the series- flaws and all, I love it.
I've probably played it the most out of all the other games; it has a lot of replay value and set at a good pace.

I would go as far as saying that it has one of the best stories in the series. Some people do rip on it for having a similar story and twist to that of SH2, in that the main character returns to a town in search of a loved one, only to find out the "big twist" that he killed him. Clearly that's looking at it in its simplest form. There's a few major twists to the game: the fact that Alex was never really a soldier and the whole idea of the hospital ending being the legit ending makes the game seem more original and, dare I say, clever- IMO.

Also I have a lot of sympathy for Alex, his family situation is something many people can relate to- not the cult part- but the wanting to appease your parents and belonging in a family and society in general.

It has its flaws but so do the other games and, of course, the other games all have their great aspects too. My list is constantly changeing too. I've grown to really like SH2, to the point that it battles second place with SH4. SH3 always holds a special place because it was my first SH game and I love Heather. The fist game... well that's the first game so my hat's off to it. Origins has a somewhat interesting story- but I could do without it in the series and don't have much interest (if any) in playing it again. SH:SM I have yet to play (though based on some of the things I've heard about it, I'm really tempted to play it soon here).
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by Aspiring_Failure »

Well geez, now I'm inspired to write a novella about how it's my favorite, as well.

The graphics and atmosphere are top-notch to me. Lots and lots of interesting little details, all throughout the game, that I love. Quite a few references and nods to past games, too, which is cool. And of course it throws some very enthusiastic nods to the movie... but that's not a bad thing, and even if it were, doesn't stop the game from being so damn great<3

The story did have a similiar structure to SH2's, but if you ask me, it's still better than origins at least. And really, I'd consider it better than SH2's. There are more subplots going on, more tension and drama between characters, and it's just better. Alex is a deep character. At least, for a videogame. I consider him deeper and more interesting than James, and surely Harry and Travis. And even though there were a lot of other characters throughout the game, they never affected it negatively, and only made all the madness more believable and human.

And the combat in this game.... I don't understand how anybody could hate it. It added a lot more interaction, all of it defensive. With skill and focus, you can make it past most enemies with hardly a scratch, whereas if you run in blindly attacking, you're pretty fucked. All you needed to succeed in past SH titles was timing. Not to mention they were using a combat engine from, basically, a PS1 game. Homecoming's keeps you on edge, and makes every encounter more meaningful. And from what I recall, you can still run from some encounters.

There's also plenty of backstory and symbolic details. And especially because I think a lot of the symbolism in previous SH games isn't really, eh, intentional, I give this game a lot of merit here. Visible fetuses in the nurses' bellies are incredibly cool.

Double-Helix took this game very seriously. They did their best, and just because it's an American dev team, and because it takes a lot from the movie, doesn't make it any less well-made. There's no question to me that this game get's undeserved hate, because of trivial and stupid stuff.

But in closing, I haven't really played SH3 yet. And there's a lot of stuff about SH2 that I didn't pay attention to/don't remember. But from what I've read and do remember.... Homecoming thwart's 'em both.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by Typographenia »

I really, really don't want to be "that guy," but I wanted to address just a few things that I thought were more objectively wrong than subjectively about your post.

Aspiring_Failure wrote:And the combat in this game.... I don't understand how anybody could hate it. It added a lot more interaction, all of it defensive. With skill and focus, you can make it past most enemies with hardly a scratch, whereas if you run in blindly attacking, you're pretty fucked. All you needed to succeed in past SH titles was timing. Not to mention they were using a combat engine from, basically, a PS1 game. Homecoming's keeps you on edge, and makes every encounter more meaningful. And from what I recall, you can still run from some encounters.
Homecoming was exactly the same in regards to just coming down to timing. You waited for your opening and took your shots. The problem, I believe, that most people have is in regards to how the game focused heavily upon having you clear areas out. Older SH games did this as well, but it wasn't necessary as often as it was in Homecoming. The problem with the fights is the tension eventually wears thin. You get familiar with what weapons and attack patterns work best for encountering a specific enemy, as is common in many games.
Aspiring_Failure wrote:There's also plenty of backstory and symbolic details. And especially because I think a lot of the symbolism in previous SH games isn't really, eh, intentional, I give this game a lot of merit here. Visible fetuses in the nurses' bellies are incredibly cool.
While the pregnant nurses are interesting, I still don't recall ever seeing a decent explanation as to why they're there; nurse or fetus. Imagery like that ends up feeling more thrown in than intentional, and the older SH games have documented intent behind the enemies. Some of them are weaker than others (SH1, in particular), but it's still there.


It's just that a lot of what you praise about Homecoming in some areas is present in the other games, and the things you hold against the other games is part of Homecoming. At least we both dislike Origins more.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by Aspiring_Failure »

Homecoming was exactly the same in regards to just coming down to timing. You waited for your opening and took your shots. The problem, I believe, that most people have is in regards to how the game focused heavily upon having you clear areas out. Older SH games did this as well, but it wasn't necessary as often as it was in Homecoming. The problem with the fights is the tension eventually wears thin. You get familiar with what weapons and attack patterns work best for encountering a specific enemy, as is common in many games.
I haven't played SH3, and really SH2 doesn't count, it's been so long. But in SH1 it was all about starting the swing at just the right time so it will make contact with the enemy, stunning them. Then proceeding to beat the shit out of them. After about two encounters I had all their patterns solid, and could pretty much make it past all of them with the hammer, taking no damage. I wasn't afraid of them at all.

And I know Homecoming's the same way, but I still think the dodging and parrying gave combat a more "tense", "active" feel. And even though the enemies certainly could've been placed better, so as to allow the strategy of running, and prolong the sense of "being on edge", I stand by my statement, I still think Homecoming's combat was best. It simply didn't feel as predictable and boring. Also worth noting: Enemy placement is a part of level-design, not the combat engine. All my praise about the combat engine was held exclusively for that. You can't seriously tell me that it wouldn't have more potential if the enemies were placed better, and if there were more/more interesting ones?
While the pregnant nurses are interesting, I still don't recall ever seeing a decent explanation as to why they're there; nurse or fetus. Imagery like that ends up feeling more thrown in than intentional, and the older SH games have documented intent behind the enemies. Some of them are weaker than others (SH1, in particular), but it's still there.
This, I can not defend. You're absolutely right. The fetuses (And probably many other details in the game) were just put there for the sake of being there, with no documented meaning or backstory. This is a flaw that I overlook though, because, mystery is what makes these games exciting for me, and while I'm playing through them I don't go googling the meaning behind all this stuff. I just speculate it when I encounter it then move on. So even though it's a very legitimate reason for others to frown upon the game, it hardly bothers me and I still love it.

And, I love the other games too! I know a lot of my reasoning was present in past games, and in many's opinions it was done better. I just think it was done best here. I'm not saying the other games are bad, though. Not even implying it. They're all great! Well... except Origins. I really don't like that one.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by HenryTownshend »

Homecoming is one of my favorite Silent Hill games. I find it more enjoyable than origins and SH3. I had no problems with the combat engine. In fact I found it quite enjoyable all together.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by pink_isnt_well000 »

Absolutely not. I can't decide which one I dislike more...Homecoming or SH3. In my opinion Homecoming was just a hot mess from beginning to end.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by Bishop Sasarai »

Aspiring_Failure wrote:And especially because I think a lot of the symbolism in previous SH games isn't really, eh, intentional, I give this game a lot of merit here.
So all of the symbolism that's been pointed out from the previous games is simply coincidence? If I were the Japanese developers, I'd be pretty offended.

While I haven't played Homecoming, it seems to simply take stuff from the other games - and the movie - and create a sort of mish-mash that didn't please many people in the end.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by SPRINGS02 »

While I haven't played Homecoming, it seems to simply take stuff from the other games - and the movie - and create a sort of mish-mash that didn't please many people in the end.
Yep, but it takes more from the movie style-wise, and add a touch of hollywood style horror to the mix and you have homecoming.
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Re: Is 'Homecoming' anyone's favourite Silent Hill game?

Post by Bishop Sasarai »

And since the vast majority of Hollywood-style horror is unimaginative and flat, I guess it's not so bad that I haven't played the game after all.
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