SHHF Exclusive Interview with Tomm Hulett - READ IT HERE!

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

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Varg6
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Post by Varg6 »

Vixx wrote:
NanayaShiki wrote:
DrainDeimos wrote:For me, I was always more interested in the personal side of Silent Hill. The cult, flauros and related explanations over the supernatural aspects of Silent Hill never did it for me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed them as very good macabre background noise but I really like Silent Hill as more of an unexplainable Freudian hell.

If anything, I liked to take the occult stuff as allegories. Sort like a twisted understanding of events similar to how physical reality is twisted by Silent Hill. If you have ever seen The Machinist then you will know what I mean when I compare it to the difference between Trevor's truth and Trevor's fiction(Route 666). The only difference is that Silent Hill does it in a more Lovecraftian way.

I think by bringing the Alessa mythos to the fore in multiple games they give it a lot of weight. Maybe more than is necessary because it makes me feel like I understand the metaphysics of Silent Hill more than I should, making it lose some of it's alien qualities and perhaps causing it to take precedence over the personal histories and demons of the protagonists.

I have a feeling that Shattered Memories is going to focus less on the occult explanations and more on OUR personal demons. To me, that's good design.
Quoted For Truth
And dittoed again.
Agreed as well. I know I'm rehashing your point a bit, but I feel like Silent Hill is so rich because of its mysteriousness and by constantly hitting us over the head with more information as to "why this", and "why that", it explains too much. It takes the fun out of not only the forums, but the game itself as it loses its integrity as far as I'm concerned. So, again, I agree completely that the focus of this game being on our own personal demons is an excellent idea and will further add to the mysteriousness of Silent Hill, its powers, and the sheer terror one can experience in that town.
Det Som Engang Var...
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Post by DrainDeimos »

Wow, thanks guys. I thought for sure that I was risking being chased off this website. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one here that feels this way about the story elements of Silent Hill.
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alone in the town
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Post by alone in the town »

I agree with you 143%.

Furthermore, in the days before Freud, such experiences in the [otherside] could very easily be interpreted as religious in nature rather than psychological. The theology of the Order features prominently in the series, but my very favorite aspect of it is that there has never been any confirmed factual basis for these beliefs. I am of the school of thought that believes the gods and angels of the Order are not at all divine, but rather creatures just like the regular monsters, given tremendous power and size because they are derived from the shared thoughts and emotions of large religious groups instead of single individuals.

I don't think it is at all a stretch to imagine that the entire theology of the Order may stem from a handful of people (or even a single individual) accidentally entering the [otherside], staring down his or her own psyche, and interpreting the experience as a religious revelation so powerful that he (or they) considered the foundation for an entirely new dogma. Finding a way to access this plane of existence willingly, the new religion attracted converts, whose own beliefs and interpretations further served to develop the imagery and context. Certainly, there are real religions out there founded on weaker pretexts than this.
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Post by jdnation »

Thanks for the interview! I wasn't feeling this game eartlier, but I'm now more interested!

Also thanks for asking two of my questions. Although I didn't like their answer to how Shattered Memories can be considered 'canon' on the same plane as the various endings for each game. Being that those are only endings and the gameplay/initial story is consistent, but maybe there are surprises in store for us, perhaps this isn't really Harry, but somebody who's a resident of SH with a psychological problem that doesn't know who he is and the town is feeding off of that and making him think he's Harry Mason while recreating the events of the first game in a twisted form... that would be awesome! Newcomers can get into it and everyone else can also dig it.

One other question I had that wasn't asked was whether some of the cool mechanics of this game will find their way into the next HD entry of the series. I guess they don't have anything in mind now but hearing that they would love to consider it would at least be cool...
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Post by PyramidFace »

alone in the town wrote:I agree with you 143%.

Furthermore, in the days before Freud, such experiences in the [otherside] could very easily be interpreted as religious in nature rather than psychological. The theology of the Order features prominently in the series, but my very favorite aspect of it is that there has never been any confirmed factual basis for these beliefs. I am of the school of thought that believes the gods and angels of the Order are not at all divine, but rather creatures just like the regular monsters, given tremendous power and size because they are derived from the shared thoughts and emotions of large religious groups instead of single individuals.

I don't think it is at all a stretch to imagine that the entire theology of the Order may stem from a handful of people (or even a single individual) accidentally entering the [otherside], staring down his or her own psyche, and interpreting the experience as a religious revelation so powerful that he (or they) considered the foundation for an entirely new dogma. Finding a way to access this plane of existence willingly, the new religion attracted converts, whose own beliefs and interpretations further served to develop the imagery and context. Certainly, there are real religions out there founded on weaker pretexts than this.
If I remember correctly, there is a note/memo in Homecoming that suggests this too.
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Post by DrainDeimos »

alone in the town wrote:I agree with you 143%.

Furthermore, in the days before Freud, such experiences in the [otherside] could very easily be interpreted as religious in nature rather than psychological. The theology of the Order features prominently in the series, but my very favorite aspect of it is that there has never been any confirmed factual basis for these beliefs. I am of the school of thought that believes the gods and angels of the Order are not at all divine, but rather creatures just like the regular monsters, given tremendous power and size because they are derived from the shared thoughts and emotions of large religious groups instead of single individuals.

I don't think it is at all a stretch to imagine that the entire theology of the Order may stem from a handful of people (or even a single individual) accidentally entering the [otherside], staring down his or her own psyche, and interpreting the experience as a religious revelation so powerful that he (or they) considered the foundation for an entirely new dogma. Finding a way to access this plane of existence willingly, the new religion attracted converts, whose own beliefs and interpretations further served to develop the imagery and context. Certainly, there are real religions out there founded on weaker pretexts than this.
I like this idea of shared reality among the members of the order. It sort of reminds me of In the Mouth of Madness.
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Post by MEGADETH »

just found this, sorry if already posted

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/24/inter ... mm-hulett/
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Post by angelofROOM302 »

^^
Thanks for posting that!
I love the idea of using the analog joysticks for the flashlight! :mrgreen:
I still feel like, idk... can't explain it. And the part where he tried to sell me the game, kind of worked a little. UGH, I need to just wait until the game comes out and just enjoy it!:D

I was just wondering, why they aren't putting this out on Xbox. Those users won't be able to play. :( Oh well, they can be jealous of us Wii and PS2 players! :mrgreen:
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Post by Komov »

DrainDeimos wrote: I have a feeling that Shattered Memories is going to focus less on the occult explanations and more on OUR personal demons. To me, that's good design.
I'm getting more and more excited about this game!
I'm waiting for the release date of the PS2 PAL version and hope they won't release it too long after the NTSC version... like... later in 2010?
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Post by Loveless_Dogg »

Wow...they actually answered some of my questions.... I'm totally in shock...*blushes*...This is a big thing for me....
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Post by Severeth »

As much as I appreciate their time to answer all of our questions, I'm still not sold on this whole "running around" thing. Thus far, I have only seen one monster design and I'm worried about all the talk of zero weaponry and zero health kits. Gradual recovery is all well and good... It just looks like we'll be running through the game the whole time without much change of exploration without being completely ambushed.

I'm starting to sort of not want to play the game. I appreciate difference, but I'm one of those 'old lady' players who doesn't enjoy much change. I'll have to play it eventually, but I'm not really looking forward to it at the moment. I'm sure that'll change over time.
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Post by Kenji »

angelofROOM302 wrote:I was just wondering, why they aren't putting this out on Xbox.
Simple. The Xbox is dead, the PS2 isn't.

Unless I'm mistaken, there hasn't been a single Xbox software release since the 360's launch, while the PS2 has continued receiving games to this day (which is why I think Sony might've been better served to have released the PS3 last year). Hell, I'm just about to finish Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon, which was released in the States last month... my Xbox, meanwhile, plays my DVDs, and that's it.
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Post by AuraTwilight »

It just looks like we'll be running through the game the whole time without much change of exploration without being completely ambushed.
It's been said that the game will basically let you look around an area thoroughly without monsters to build the psych profile, then there's a monster chase sequence.
Thus far, I have only seen one monster design
I've read it's the default "blank" monster without psych profile input. They don't want to spoil us :P
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Post by Severeth »

AuraTwilight wrote:
It just looks like we'll be running through the game the whole time without much change of exploration without being completely ambushed.
It's been said that the game will basically let you look around an area thoroughly without monsters to build the psych profile, then there's a monster chase sequence.
Thus far, I have only seen one monster design
I've read it's the default "blank" monster without psych profile input. They don't want to spoil us :P
I hope the chase sequences aren't too long.

I hope you're right about the monsters, too. Remember 0rigins before Konami intervened? *Shudder.
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Post by Vixx »

^ Konami didn't "intervene". Re-read the interview; Tomm goes to great pains to express that that's not how it works. For better or worse, depending upon your POV, Konami are involved in every step of the way.
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Post by jdnation »

Kenji wrote:
angelofROOM302 wrote:I was just wondering, why they aren't putting this out on Xbox.
Simple. The Xbox is dead, the PS2 isn't.

Unless I'm mistaken, there hasn't been a single Xbox software release since the 360's launch, while the PS2 has continued receiving games to this day (which is why I think Sony might've been better served to have released the PS3 last year). Hell, I'm just about to finish Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon, which was released in the States last month... my Xbox, meanwhile, plays my DVDs, and that's it.
The Xbox and all support for it was killed off the moment the 360 arrived. The PS2 is still being supported because Sony likes to emphasize that aspect of their consoles. The PSOne was killed off after 11 years on the market. And it wouldn't have been a good idea to release the PS3 later... just coming out a year later than the 360 has cost them considerable marketshare in the US, and it wouldn't be any cheaper either. Besides, the PS3 was also a vital strategy to combat HD-DVD and bring blu-ray to the market.
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Post by DrainDeimos »

AuraTwilight wrote: I've read it's the default "blank" monster without psych profile input. They don't want to spoil us :P
I would be interested in seeing pics posted of our personal monsters after we finish the game.
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Post by Droo »

He answered two of my questions! :D Hooray!

He seemed very candid and pleasant. I hope that the reaction to the game will mirror that grace.
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Post by Ratiocinator »

MEGADETH wrote:just found this, sorry if already posted

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/24/inter ... mm-hulett/
He sure does have a good head on his shoulders and I hope it all reflects in this game. It's a good feeling to read his level-headed, realistic responses to the future of this franchise.
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Post by rm2kking »

The monster scenes reminded me of the grey children scene in the movie (in a VERY good way).
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