so while for waiting for Christmas I decided to get one of my presents early and finally got a PS2 that I hooked up to my old tv in the guest bedroom

I'm now replaying Silent 1 - 4 and I'm almost finished with 2, the last time I've played any of those Silent Hills was over 3 years ago when I first joined this forum, needless to say I'm having a blast

but anyway here are some thoughts and things I noticed that I may have missed the first time around

I am amazed at how well the graphics for Silent Hill 2 hold up, I mean for a game that's NINE years old, it still looks great, the texture work is excellent (and I find that the games with really good textures are the games that age the best graphics wise)

secondly I had forgotten just how scary this game really is (I know, I know), I was one the edge of my seat walking through those foggy woods and into town

I tried to play it on hard mode at first and I found that not only does it make the game a little too hard for my tastes, it also just plain makes it too scary, I felt like a wimp restarting on normal, but I may still try to beat it on hard after a unlock the chainsaw and level the playing field a bit

lastly I found something cool that I don't remember finding before, when you're making your way to the Silent Hill Historical Society after leaving Brookhaven, in the road next to the pet center in another dead body (that's not there when it's foggy) and memos strewn about that give you tips on fighting the monsters (like they're attracted to light and sound) with the last memo simply "run away!" repeated over and over, has anyone else found this? it leads me to believe that bodies you find lying around on the streets of Silent Hill are the bodies of real people, as to why they're faceless and appear to be wearing James coat, perhaps that just how James sees them

Yeah, the corpse memos. I thought they were written by the director, or maybe they are just tips....

I've found the "monster memos" close to the beginning of the game.

I kind of can't wait to play the game on Hard mode. The scarier, the better.

The bodies aren't of real people.

Damn, making me want to replay again now.

In I go!

I also noticed the graphics holding up well. And by well I mean it looks great...had a convo with a friend today in a shop after I was looking at Shattered Memories; he was saying "Why did they remake 1? 2 is the one that needs a good remake", and I tried hard to debate that it doesn't need a remake at all.

Anyways, time to boot up this thing

are they there when it's foggy? I might have missed them, but I went over to that area and didn't find a body



are you sure? hit me with your theories

That's odd. I've found those notes pretty much before or right around the time I enter the apartments - so yeah, when it's foggy.

I think the intention was for the player to read those notes near the beginning, after you've fought off your first few Lying Figures. But I could be wrong.

You're not wrong.

Obviously, people aren't dying in droves on the streets of Silent Hill; it's not a zombie apocalypse movie. And since the corpses look like James, and write things only really relevant to James, obviously they don't really exist. James is all alone in his own little world, save for when he meets people like Angela or Laura or Eddie.

that makes sense I guess

anyway I guess I just barely missed them when I went over there while it was foggy, it was actually creepier finding them in the dark and thinking they were new

also I noticed that if you try to go back to where you encounter your first monster and find the radio, a gate is closed with police tape across it

There's a theory on that one. Might be fanfic because it uses the whole "do they look like monsters to you?" talk, which was used in SH3 that came after SH2 (no shit, Einstein).

It's something like: James killed a real person in the tunnel and the police was searching for the murderer.

if that's true, then it was probably just some homeless guy asking for "CHAAAAAAAAAANGE!? CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGE!? YA GOT CHAAAAAAANGE!?"

It wasn't a person though.

^^
I agree with you. It would make more sense that they might have been people in SH3, but not in SH2. In SH2, I firmly believe they are nothing more than delusions.

The police tape thing is probably just to tell the player they have nothing else to do in there.

When you DO use the chainsaw, here are some tips on how to use it the right way.

1) It needs a second or two to revv up, so dont just try and melee right away, it won't be effective.
2) James needs a big swing in order to get a monster. In the apartments, this is not possible. You'll just hit the walls, and the enemies will maul teh eff out of you.
3) Really not that great a weapon in the long run, but it sure is fun to use. haha.

That's my opinion anyway. Exploring these games after you know the story makes them soooo much deeper. You understand things that you didn't before, or find fake facts that can't possibly be true the mess with you. There is so much thought put into these environments. You'd be surprised at what kind of things actually effect the story. Read the articles, look at the walls. The graffiti is important a lot, or at least interesting to see if not important per sey. haha

When ever I hear "Run Away!" I automatically think of Monty Python and The Holy Grail :3

Didn't read some of these posts because of spoilers. I started playing this game years ago, but never finished it. So I am playing through it again now, and am at the Overlook Hotel. I find it held up really well as well. And it still scares me! The prison bathroom scene where you knock on the stall, then as you are leaving that loud noise happens made my heart stop for a second!

I found this notes near the beginning of the game, then the other night I decided to read through the memos again and found them quite relevant.

I love the way the game makes you scared withought anything jumping out at you all the time. I was trying to describe the game to some coworkers but couldn't do it any justice, trying to tell them about the random noises, the sense of dread etc. I don't think they make too many games like this now that rely on atmosphere to scare you rather than things jumping out at you.

/rant

So basically the memos tell you how to play the game. There is no other significance to them. They don;t really tie into the plot?

I actually just finished Silent Hill 2 for the first time ever today.

I'll always love Silent Hill 3 over the others, not simply because it was the first one I played, but because I like the character a lot and more importantly the game's soundtrack. That being said I did really enjoy Silent Hill 2. I found it to be a good bit creepier in some cases than Silent Hill 3, and being jerked around the entire time as to whether Mary was really alive or not really kept me into it. Maria following me around all the time didn't help either...

*shivers*

I think what makes Silent Hill 2 a bit scarier than Silent Hill 3 is that you kind of have to figure out the story for yourself, and by the end it still doesn't make much sense, or at least it didn't to me.

^One of the things that really helped me out with understanding 2-try to pay attention to what James has to do to get each respective ending.
Or just read one of the threads on 2. That's the quicker way.