So I just bought a copy of Origins yesterday. I don't have too much time to browse through posts and most of them seem from around 07 or so anyways.

My question is, how does Origins hold up against the other games? I love 2 and 3 so much, and I've heard Origins has some things that people weren't too happy about, mainly that Travis could leave Silent Hill at any point but for some unexplained reason he doesn't.

It's a very solid GAME, but a lot of people find the story unsatisfying and full of plot-holes, so a lot of people consider it non-canon.

I see. I'll probably still end up playing it through anyway. /shrug

By the way, thanks for this response in my thread back in January I believe:

"In short, Silent Hill is a town that crosses over with an alternate dimension where people's thoughts are made real. People experience the dimension shift due to abnormally strong emotions (such as extreme guilt, fear, loneliness, or in some cases, even religious bliss), and the Otherworld is like a canvas where the painting uses the visitor's mind and emotions as the paints and colors."

That really helped clarify things for me a bit. I have trouble explaining the games to my best friend, who refuses to play them, but still enjoys me telling him about the experience. =)

You may or may not have noticed, but there's a thread directly under yours which is basically the same topic, you may want to check it out for more opinions:http://silenthillforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=23831

Origins is amazing. It was my second Silent Hill game and one of my favorites, (third fave tbh.) It's more expandable than the other Silent Hills in a way. You could play it with headphones in broad day light on a subway, or your lunch break, or in the dark in your bed. And it's still terrifying. It's the only game I find scary in daylight as well as the dark.

Pretty much this.

As far as gameplay goes, in my opinion, it feels more of a Silent Hill game than 4.
I absolutely loved the return to the classic gameplay mechanics.

I think Origins isn't as good as the first three games, but better than 4 and Homecoming. The level design is good, it's kinda scary, and Travis has a neat personal story. The combat controls stink through, and in general the game feels a little rough around the edges.

Origins has sticky controls like The Room, and it's very much a mixture of SH1 and SH2. From atmosphere to story to everything else (except controls, which are just like The Room, though admittedly slightly better)

The PS2 version is the inferior: It has sound glitches (BGM stops playing after several loops, some sound effects don't trigger) and doesn't match up to the other games on the same platform. The PSP has no glitches that I've run into, has good graphics for the platform, and the advantage of headphone surround sound. If you run off to some abandoned location and play the game, it might actually get to you.

It has its pros and cons. Personally, it's the other SH (the other being The Room) that I have no intention of replaying.

Please see the link posted here ^