do you think they'll be more to it?

[Doo-glas]

do you think they'll be more to the otherworld in this game than everything simply being covered in ice and snow?

while I applaud Climax for trying new things, I remain skeptical of the supposed "ice otherworld"

while it's a fresh concept (and the total opposite of the fiery and rusty otherworld we're used to) I can't help but think there needs to be more to it than just snow and ice

my point is this, the otherworld is classified not only by a "rust" or "fire" theme but also by the fact that they're surreal and contain all sorts of crazy hellish imagery and I have a hard time imagining how that could work with ice and snow

so what do you think? from what I've gleamed from the info known about the game so far the foggy Silent Hill has been replaced by a nighttime Silent Hill that's simply empty with no monsters and the otherworld is when everything becomes covered in ice and the monsters appear, but I suppose there could be more to it than that that we just don't know about yet

[Sake]

Well, I hope so.

We don't even know 1/4 of information about the game yet, so there's bound to be more to this "icy otherworld". I'm not too happy about the idea of a night time Silent Hill though. It won't always be night time, right? I still want it to retain the foggy overcast feel, and a night time version of the town won't really capture that feeling in it's entirety. Don't get me wrong though, I definitely want to see Silent Hill at night. Shifting between night and day would be better, however.

Anyway, what I'm really interested in seeing is the monsters, and if they'll be as fearsome as the ones from all the previous games. I don't want to see fucking Articuno flying around my head as opposed to the demon birds from the original game. I'm pretty sure Climax won't screw up though.

(Off topic; your sig always makes me laugh, especially when the bearded guy gets mad all of the sudden.)

[VIVIsect]

Especially when the bearded guy gets mad all of the sudden.

You mean... Charles Manson?

[Doo-glas]

heh, you didn't know that was Charles Manson?

[Sake]

Especially when the bearded guy gets mad all of the sudden.

You mean... Charles Manson?

Yeah.

I've heard about him, but haven't ever seen a picture of him. Odd, I know.

[AuraTwilight]

They already said the Otherworld's shape was determined by the player.

[jthomp1286]

Yeah, however I'm sure the player doesn't get to select "Fiery Otherworld" or "Icy Otherworld" though. That would be ridiculous.

[dr_worm]

i wonder how it is decided though and is there any other worlds or do we just know that there is icy world?

[jthomp1286]

I would assume the Otherworld you fall into is determined by something in the environment around you.

[crucifix]

my point is this, the otherworld is classified not only by a "rust" or "fire" theme but also by the fact that they're surreal and contain all sorts of crazy hellish imagery and I have a hard time imagining how that could work with ice and snow

stop thinking stereotypically, then. the concept of hell can easily work with a winter-like theme: winter is the season of death. animals (and people) routinely die, trees transform into skeletons, plants and flowers are smothered under snow that they can't escape from. ice is a morbid creation, one that regularly hinders rather than helps - sealing up the surface of water to determine the fate of all that live underneath it, clustering unstoppably in the veins of anyone unfortunate enough to fall victim to hypothermia. it's nearly impossible to walk across, hard to get rid of, and potentially deadly when naturally sharpened into icicles or built into massive glaciers.

i love the idea, because it's fresh and proposes a different view of "hell" - one that incorporates the lonely stigma surrounding a cold, silent world as opposed to one reveling in fire and chaos.

[jthomp1286]

Well said. If they could pull it off an Icy Otherworld would be frightening indeed.

[_Drake_]

To me, Hell is determined on what you fear, Alessa hated fire and so her Other world was Fiery with rust to represent the ancient evil of the town, James Hell was like a purgatory, to forever go through his actions in the town till he learns to forgive himself.

Heather's Hell was fleshy, bloody, and dark because of her role as Mother of God and her fear of the role, Walter's Hell was made by the various experinces that occured in his life.

While The Shepard Hell was made by the combination of the Parents Guilt and the hatred of the sacrificed children, This Hell can be different, even if its a sort of remake of the original.

~Drake

[DamienPales]

Eddie's Otherworld in Silent Hill 2 was kind of similar, what with the cold freezer-like aspect to it. Well, it was more of a giant meat locker than an ice Otherworld, but I'm just using that as an example of how a "cold" Otherworld could be scary and intriguing.

Read the novella "At the Mountains of Madness". It proves that cold environments can be frightening indeed.

[_Drake_]

And don't forget the tale of the tragic game "Winter". that looked to be a great game with a frozen setting, Climax could do the same and make it where when the Siren starts blazing, that The town becomes a Giant blizzard and Harry has to find warmth to stay alive.

~Drake

[stopped_clock]

I'm hoping for a frozen Toluca Lake.

But I get what you mean, it's all well and good that things are going to get frozen over or whatever, but are they still going to have that "WTFness" that the otherworld has always had. You could do some fairly cool stuff with weird shit frozen within the ice I guess.

Also, I get the impression that the otherworld is going to be icy no matter what your psych profile comes out like. From what they said in the interview I think it could well be a major plot point (some previous trauma in Harry's life perhaps)

[jthomp1286]

>some previous trauma in Harry's life perhaps

Perhaps connected in some way to the death of his wife.

[_Drake_]

They could make it, where Harry's wife dies from hypothermia after falling into a frozen Toluca Lake.

~Drake

[Lostkitsune]

I'm hoping for a frozen Toluca Lake.

Hmmm....I wonder if different Otherworlds open different paths, like in a drastic way. Say you get the icy otherworld, then you could walk on Toluca Lake's surface and reach an area earlier than another kind of otherworld or something.

[Burning Man]

They already said the Otherworld's shape was determined by the player.

That's certainly not the impression I got from reading the article. It sounds to me that the psychological profile system will have nothing to do with the otherworld's aesthetics. The team just wanted to try a new feel.

It's like what Climax is doing to their weapon system: stripping away the rust-blood-filled world and replacing it with an icy one.

[Doo-glas]

They already said the Otherworld's shape was determined by the player.

it's still going to be icy though, considering even the logo has ice on it