I am pissed off because I can't get the bullet adjustment to work... anyhow, I've noticed something on my second run through...

Remember when Heather
[spoiler]was in the mall and the dress shop where she got her first weapon---namely the pistol--- and witnessed the death of the female shopkeeper?[/spoiler]

Before you go into that dress shop, turn up your BGM and SG sounds (I maxed them both)
After you do that, just listen to the distant mumbling of a high pitched voice and another lower one; obviously there was a conversation going on in there between two people, possibly between a female and a male.

Then you go into the dress shop and finish the cutscene, exit the dress shop to the main hall (the big empty one) again, notice that the sound/ mumbling disappeared.

So now my question is... (since the barely audible conversation didn't sound like a murder or anything close to it was going on)
[spoiler]Why did Heather see the big Closer and the dead body instead of two normal human being chatting?[/spoiler]

That's when I started to think about Vincent's "They look like monsters to you?" idea
Or maybe I'm just hypothetical, I don't know; but if they weren't monsters, what were they doing in there?

I think the Closer and the female (that is if they were actually humans) were in somekind of a sexual contact, then Heather came in and BANG! What she saw was completely different from what the situation actually was...
[spoiler]Man: "What the..."
Woman: (lying on ground, amazed) "Umm..sorry but we're closed"
Heather: "STAY BACK! (raised gun)"
Man: "Whoa! Calm down.. Please, now there's no need for anyone to get hurt (slowly approachs Heather)"
Heather: (Fires multiple shots, probably killed the man with the first few shots and took care of the lady with the last few ones)[/spoiler]
Yeah, so above is my imagination of what was really going on when Heather (and us players) saw the cutscene. Any thoughts?

There's a similar, if not identical theory here:
http://silenthillforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=10910

Why would the female you mentioned be on the floor though?

I guess if you're gonna get your ass capped by a teenage girl, it might as well be while bumpin' uglies in the middle of a department store.

IDK... having fun with her man probably? XD

humm.... the sound thing really disturbed me when I noticed it...

MOD EDIT: Please use the edit button. Do not double post. -HG

Heather's already in the Otherworld by this point, so there's no way to factor in real people.

Plus, having sex in the middle of a mall store during business hours? Really?

btw: I don't think spoiler tags are really necessary when covering events taking place three minutes from the start of the game. ;/

I thought she only enters the Alternate Mall as soon as she steps into the elevator after meeting Claudia for the first time?

Heather is in the otherworld at this point, but this still adds a whole lot to what could actually be going on.

Was it really a ghost/manifestation who pushed Heather down the train tracks? It could be a real person, perhaps. Heather could have massacred all of those people thinking that they were monsters, perhaps God corrupted her sense of sight. After all, the Scrapers are actually Cult Members corrupted by the otherworld to look like Missionaries, Vincent may even see them as normal people.

Come to think of it that Closer was "eating" the womans face. (If I remember correctly) Yeah... having sex during business hours is totally hot, what could be a bigger turn on than doing the act and knowing very well someone could walk right in? Maybe they though whoever walked in would want to join them.. then another... and another... it's the ultimate orgy! Dang Team Silent is good at hinting at stuff like this, good job guys way to sneak AO stuff into M rated games.

She is for a fact in the Otherworld at this point, but my own theory is that the poor woman was dragged into the otherworld as well. The Closer saw her and was like "Mmmmmm.... lunch!" and killed the woman. As we all know alessa Otherworld was powerful enough to drag other people in, and even though God has only just awakened withing Heather... the power God has has not went down.

Heather is definitely in the [normalside] of the Otherworld as early as when she enters the restroom at the very beginning.

Possibly, she has been there since the moment she wakes up in the Happy Burger.

^ If that's true, then she's also seem people (that looked like people to her) since she was in the Otherworld since that point. So it could have some merit. I kinda agree with he God changing her perception of what is good and evil looking personally.

I thought it was pretty obvious that Vincent was referring to the Missionary and Scraper monsters, which are volunteer cultists given monster appearances by Claudia to feed Heather's hatred, and thus the God.

Not necessarily. The game is quite clever in these opening scenes. The presence of other people is certainly implied, but do you ever actually see a single one of them?

That would also imply that Douglas was immediately in the Otherworld. I personally got the vibe that he wasn't, at first.



We know that two types of monsters are transfigured Cult members; as far as we've been told, the other ones aren't or are not stated to be. I kind of feel like if they WERE indeed humans and Heather was just hallucinating that the monsters (besides the dogs) would have more actively pursued her. From what I saw, the majority of the monsters just lumber around until you get too close, which doesn't mesh with the idea of Heather inadvertently murdering many people.

So did I, originally, but I've since changed my mind. The shift was subtle enough that it isn't really obvious until she re-enters the mall, regardless of when she entered it. He could have similarly transitioned without immediately realizing anything was wrong.

I just wanted to point out that the time of day is obviously sunset during the opening scenes, so I wouldn't call it 'normal operating hours'. I think it's totally possible that the store had just closed and two of the workers were having sex inside.
I like that theory.

Except in select situations, every mall I've ever been to is open past dark.

Also: I tried to find a nice way to convey my thoughts on the 'sex in the store' theory. The best I can come up with is "utterly ridiculous".

It is an example of OCCAM'S PYRAMID: Entities and/or situations must be depraved beyond necessity. The most morally-reprehensible solution is the correct one.

Who the hell has sex right on the floor in the middle of a department store, even if the mall was closed? Haven't these people ever heard of cars, or bathrooms, or employee lounges, or SOMETHING?

They must have been dry humping because from what I recall the woman was fully clothed.

I think department store floors do indeed fall into the "Something" category.