The more times I play this game...

Ten years after the original game and Harry's still searching for his daughter.

Moderator: Moderators

User avatar
DistantJ
Rosewater Park Attendant
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Apr 2009

The more times I play this game...

Post by DistantJ »

The more I love it.

Isn't that weird? Kinda awesome too. It started off as somewhat of a disappointment to me - I mean okay I never found it bad, but I did find that it didn't live up to the Silent Hill series for me. After each playthrough the more I realise that Shattered Memories is it's own entity - where things I was annoyed at being missing were things which played to it's strength as a standalone experience.

To give you an example, the normal/ice split removing the suspense and uncertainty of the series (aside from the occasional red herring so that you're never quite sure when it's going to turn to ice) gives it it's own unique feel, where the story can be experienced more deeply and the fear can be more concentrated and intense. The chase sequences may not have been as scary as playing a traditional Silent Hill the first time but unlike the previous games this one continues to be scary even after multiple playthroughs - even if you know your way around the area and you've seen all of the possible variations of monster, their AI remains unpredictable.

Even on my current play-through, which I'm trying to treat exactly the way I did my first, I'm still being surprised and getting different dialogue and versions of characters.

After initially being unsure I've come to the conclusion that Shattered Memories, at least for me, is an incredibly strong game, and one which should be experienced multiple times to see how much more you can learn and spot, and how many outcomes you can find in each situation.

I eventually warmed up to the ice world (no pun intended, haw haw haw) as well, not that I ever hated it, but I always felt that it would be less scary and iconic than the traditional otherworld and felt that blue may not have been the colour of choice - but after multiple playthroughs I think I've put my finger on why it works so well - I think it's the way it's so cold and lonely, the ice is unwelcoming and harsh, and makes you feel a million miles from home.

So I have to say, in my book, Shattered Memories is definitely one of the strongest games in the series. Second only to SH2 in my book, and I think I'm going to be playing it for quite some time to come.

In a way I am disappointed that Vatra's SH game looks so similar to Homecoming and that before it, I would gobble up another game using SM's style of play, with even more new ideas. It has been said that this isn't the last Silent Hill from Climax, so I'll be happily awaiting news on another from them.

Is anybody else finding their opinion of the game becoming more or less favourable after multiple playthroughs?
User avatar
Terminus
Gravedigger
Posts: 519
Joined: 11 Aug 2007
Gender: Male
Location: Redondo Beach, California

Post by Terminus »

I think that you described the effect and strength of the frozen otherworld very well. The ice also gives a strong feeling of danger. In many of the outdoor otherworld sequences, and especially during the high school, everything feels like it is suspended on some sort of island above the black chasms that are all around. It feels like everything could collapse and fall into that yawning blackness at any moment.

I've played this game several times, spending hours on each playthrough trying to find things that may have changed or things that I have missed, and I am still discovering things that I have not seen before. I find bits of the story that have a stronger meaning now that I understand what is really going on. That definitely makes me enjoy SM that much more with each playthrough.

I hold SM on roughly equal ground with 2. These two games are what define the Silent Hill series for me. SH2 and SM are unrivaled in creating the feelings of isolation and fear of the unknown, which are essential for generating the creeping and slow-building horror that this series is largely known for.

I had my hopes up for the next title being from Climax, but Vatra's game looks like it has some potential. The beginning of the teaser was certainly atmospheric, but I need to see some real gameplay. I still hope for another game from Climax in the future.
Image
User avatar
DistantJ
Rosewater Park Attendant
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Apr 2009

Post by DistantJ »

I probably have expanded memories of SH2 in my head too, I mean it's been so long since I've played it, I've probably enlarged the great parts and shrunk the bad parts in my memory, like ya do, heh, perhaps I'll like them on the same level one day, who knows, but it's true that it's the only Silent Hill that I've felt was able to rival it.

I own my own Nintendo Wii again now so I'm able to play it in it's full intended glory again as well which is excellent... I can see a lot of playthroughs of this game on the horizon.

The 'nowhere' section at the end was incredible too I felt, once again very SH2. :D
Where we're from, the birds sing a pretty song, and there's always music in the air.
User avatar
warfare315
Brookhaven Receptionist
Posts: 889
Joined: 05 Dec 2009
Gender: Male
Location: New York
Contact:

Post by warfare315 »

You're not the only one. Each time I play through it, I don't even really notice how repetitive it gets because it's a beautiful game, with a great story and the chase sequences are intense. I think of this SH as an interactive movie.. it's very well rounded and each playthrough I notice more little things that the developers threw in for fans of the series, and even just random details in the scenery that interest me. It's one of those games you pretty much either hate or love, and I find it to be somewhat of a masterpiece.
Another frequency perpetuated into context, trapped in the eternal paradox.
vaporeyesofficial.bandcamp.com
Facebook.com/vaporeyesofficial
User avatar
angelofROOM302
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 3073
Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Gender: Female
Location: Wisconsin
Contact:

Post by angelofROOM302 »

Hmm... Maybe I should give that scrappile another go, Eh? 8)
User avatar
DistantJ
Rosewater Park Attendant
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Apr 2009

Post by DistantJ »

In this next playthrough I think I'm going to play it in 'sexy' mode, haha, get Harry to look at all the women etc., see how it works out.
Where we're from, the birds sing a pretty song, and there's always music in the air.
PyrmidHeadPwner
Just Passing Through
Posts: 133
Joined: 07 Apr 2010
Location: My house

Post by PyrmidHeadPwner »

Yeah, SM is one of the best SH games IMO, because it's so different and touching. I just wrote a 38 page book on this game actually (76 novel pages approximately). I left the ending so that the reader would have to do like the game and interperet the ice, the Rawshocks, the characters, etc.
......
User avatar
AuraTwilight
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 11390
Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Location: I'm here, and waiting for you
Contact:

Post by AuraTwilight »

Hmm... Maybe I should give that scrappile another go, Eh?
Hey Angel, quick question you just made me curious of: Did you just play Shattered Memories a single time, or what?

And PyrmidHeadPwner, I'd like to read that. Do you have a link or anything?
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
PyrmidHeadPwner
Just Passing Through
Posts: 133
Joined: 07 Apr 2010
Location: My house

Post by PyrmidHeadPwner »

I'll submit it to Wattpad eventually, but it's not amazing, I wouldn't recommend it. I'm not actually 50...
......
User avatar
AuraTwilight
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 11390
Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Location: I'm here, and waiting for you
Contact:

Post by AuraTwilight »

Yea, I gathered as much.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
PyrmidHeadPwner
Just Passing Through
Posts: 133
Joined: 07 Apr 2010
Location: My house

Post by PyrmidHeadPwner »

Yea, I gathered as much.
My age?
......
User avatar
Yuki
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 2545
Joined: 12 Oct 2009

Post by Yuki »

I like the game even more than before. I get a bit bored at times while playing it (simply because I've done it all before), but I like seeing the differences, and especially discussing it with people and seeing friends' reactions to the game. It doesn't really scare me at all, though, which disappoints me... but I feel it's a fantastic game. Maybe I'm just harder to scare than I thought.

I do want to say that it would appear Vatra is trying to do a fight-or-flight system for their game, so... we'll see how that turns out.
User avatar
silenthill23
Just Passing Through
Posts: 64
Joined: 17 Jun 2010
Gender: Male
Location: Kentucky, USA

Post by silenthill23 »

To be honest, in a couple of threads I have said that I absolutely HATE this game. The only reason is because of the iceworld as the Otherworld. I still do not like that version but I have to say I have kind of grown close to the game.
I get a rush when I hide from the Rawshocks. My heart just drops and I feel like I am on a rollercoaster (only way I could describe the feeling lol). It's freaky. My heart pounds when they walk past where I'm hiding.
Although I kind of like it now, I think the type of elements and gameplay is a one time and one time only type. I wouldn't like to see this in anymore Silent Hill games. But all of that is just my opinion :D
"If I could b anything, I'd b the water in your bath darling." - Prince
User avatar
Harrys_Girl
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 7376
Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Gender: Female
Location: Couldn't tell you even if I tired

Post by Harrys_Girl »

I fall into the same category as the title author.

My first play through, I was.... well, to freaked out to appreciate it. My second play through I was amazed by the changes, but still thought of it as a slight disgrace tot he SH series. Skip forward to my 10th play through or so, and I am in love w/ this game. It has become my second favorite game in the series, after SH1.

And unlike any of the previous titles, I actually enjoy watching other people play this game as much as I like playing it myself, which is a feat in and of itself IMO.
User avatar
DistantJ
Rosewater Park Attendant
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Apr 2009

Post by DistantJ »

Nice Repo avatar by the way ;)
Where we're from, the birds sing a pretty song, and there's always music in the air.
User avatar
Harlequin
Cafe5to2 Waitress
Posts: 172
Joined: 29 May 2010
Gender: Female
Location: Texas

Post by Harlequin »

The first time I played I was kinda jumpy only because I hated the nightmare sequences right from the start (I'm a self-admitted button masher and the lack of combat, while an interesting concept, left my fingers itching to slam on the buttons) and I didn't know when they'd pop up. But the second playthrough I was totally relaxed (except when I knew the Ice World was about to pop up and I'd get all pissy) and more interested in what had changed. I don't know if the more I play it the more I love it... I think it's more: the more I play it, the more I find new things TO love about it. If that makes sense.
User avatar
Harrys_Girl
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 7376
Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Gender: Female
Location: Couldn't tell you even if I tired

Post by Harrys_Girl »

DistantJ wrote:Nice Repo avatar by the way ;)
Thank you. <3

Another thing I've noticed, is that even when I start guessing which ending I am going to get, I am almost always surprised by the slight variations that I was no expecting to occur. In my last playthrough, I was going for my usual Sleeze and Sirens ending, yet there was nice little Michelle in her pretty pink dress. I got slutty Dahlia and Boobzilla monsters, but Michelle is a sweet little thing. It is something slight and insignificant but I enjoy the quiet inconsistencies of this game. Not all the characters act one way or another to you.
User avatar
AuraTwilight
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 11390
Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Location: I'm here, and waiting for you
Contact:

Post by AuraTwilight »

I got slutty Dahlia
There are non-slutty Dahlias?
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
User avatar
DistantJ
Rosewater Park Attendant
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Apr 2009

Post by DistantJ »

Harrys_Girl wrote:
DistantJ wrote:Nice Repo avatar by the way ;)
Thank you. <3

Another thing I've noticed, is that even when I start guessing which ending I am going to get, I am almost always surprised by the slight variations that I was no expecting to occur. In my last playthrough, I was going for my usual Sleeze and Sirens ending, yet there was nice little Michelle in her pretty pink dress. I got slutty Dahlia and Boobzilla monsters, but Michelle is a sweet little thing. It is something slight and insignificant but I enjoy the quiet inconsistencies of this game. Not all the characters act one way or another to you.
Yeah I've also noticed that while I recently tried to play the game as close as possible to my first playthrough, I got different versions of characters and different cut scenes, and while I'm now trying to play the game with a perverted mindset to get all the sexy characters, I get a rather casual Michelle in a brown dress.
User avatar
Harrys_Girl
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 7376
Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Gender: Female
Location: Couldn't tell you even if I tired

Post by Harrys_Girl »

AuraTwilight wrote:There are non-slutty Dahlias?
Correction: I got the most slutty Dahlia of the 3 versions. :wink:
Post Reply