I'm actually liking it this time...

Poor Alex ... his momma don't seem to like him much. We wonder why in here ...

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Skele
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Post by Skele »

good to see you're really enjoying Homecoming this time around.
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Nyarlathotep
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Post by Nyarlathotep »

DistantJ wrote:It's not psychologically disturbing me like Silent Hill 2, but it's really putting me on edge while playing it, much like a good Resident Evil would, and I'm finding I feel a lot more connected to the game world since the oddness is a little toned down. The only thing I am finding it is missing is some of the really weird things you used to see in the previous games which didn't harm you in any way just freaked you out. This one's more about fearing for your life than being traumatised by imagery, heh, but man I love it.
I felt it was just as disturbing on a psychological level, especially on subsequent playthroughs... There's quite a bit of stuff that's easy to miss on the first run.

And there's still some strange events that aren't directly tied to enemies...

-Scarlet's shadow lying on her bed in the hell descent.
-Bodies in the walls of the sewer.
-Adam being seen through the plastic sheet in the basement (until you cut it)
-The twitching, caged body bag in the descent.
-The incubator in which the burnt doll was in from the Hospital is open with the doll missing, once you re-visit that room after the Otherside shift. (Also, this incubator is right in front of the hole in which Robbie gets pulled into)
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DistantJ
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Post by DistantJ »

Thanks for pointing all those things out, Nyarlathotep :) I didn't notice all of those, no. They're awesome though!

I do remember the silhouette of Adam in the basement actually, that was cool, and I've noticed a few really awesome things since posting that last thing, but I was thinking more along the lines of having Pyramid Head standing there, staring at you, with a red aura, or some of the weird stuff made out of pictures or scenery in Silent Hill 3 etc. or the subtle eerieness of SH4's apartment (though I think Homecoming is far better than SH4).

Anyway, since that last post the game's really scared me, heh, I just got past the infamous drill scene, some of the moments in the church really did startle me and I did actually scream in surprise when a Schism (which I had already seen staring at me across a gap from the other side) popped out and roared at me after cutting through the portrait.

Very scary and very awesome game. I am going to have to disagree with any of the 'not scary' remarks I've heard, if it was released on the PS2 in place of SH4 I imagine we'd all be happy with it, just that a certain amount of time has passed and we've become desensitised to SH (hence why Shattered Memories is so different), I've so far found it to be very frightening, very exciting and very atmospheric and definitely a valuable entry in the series! Since I don't have a PS2 I'm perfectly happy for this to be the only Silent Hill game I can play and revisit (unless I get myself a PSP with Shattered Memories and Origins) because I think it recreates the physical world of Silent Hill excellently, just not the emotional world of SH2.
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Aldo
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Post by Aldo »

Not wanting to start a new thread on this, I felt this would be an appropriate place to put it (as I too am liking the game a lot more now that I've started it again).

I didn't make it far the first time I played it as I lost interest, so I've restarted completely. I'm at the Hotel (first save point after the elevator ride), and I currently have near full health, six health drinks, one first aid kit and a serum. I post this because I'm curious if that's a good amount to have at this point in the game. I've read that it's best to save the serum's so I'm holding off on that for as long as I can.
One more soul to the call, for all, in silence...
Comes two more souls to the call, for all, and in time!
Three more more souls to the call, they fall...
Unknowing that four more souls to the call, won't be all, and you know it!
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paladin181
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Post by paladin181 »

Yeah that's good. You could probably have a few more health drinks (I really don't remember where I was at this time, but I know I had 12 when I faced Sepulchre, and never dropped below 3 or 4 at the worst through most of the rest of the game).

Save the serums for when you are on zero health. Don't hoard them though, because using them increases your over all HP counter, meaning you can take more damage throughout the game. An average player should have little trouble getting 4 of the Serums in the game, with the others being a little tougher to find. If you ever have more than 2, conserve your health drinks and wait until your health is very low, then just pop one. First aid kits are so rare as to be nearly useless in this game.
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Post by DistantJ »

Based on my experience so far (I'm very close to the end now) it's a good amount, so long as you learn to dodge. Basically the needlers in the hotel followed so closely by the Schisms in the police station (followed by a short detour through the sewer with more needlers) is the real dangerous part which can cost you a lot of health drinks, once you're out of there the game becomes much more generous with both health drinks and save points. A bit of tough love to get you used to the combat system methinks.

You'll probably do a lot of cursing the first time you try to get through the police station, but it's worth it. Once you've seen how devastating a pack of Schisms (or even just one on it's own) can be, they're absolutely terrifying later on, Pyramid Head style.

I would actually disagree with Paladin on the serums however. My advice would be to let your health go right down to near-zero before using any health drinks or first aid kits and then take the serum, as the serum actually makes you more powerful - as in the monsters' hits don't damage you as much, particularly after you've taken quite a few, they're like a 'health upgrade' really. Although the real evil creatures like Schisms can still take a huge chunk off of your health, once you've taken a few serums, you have more room to learn how to beat the bosses through trial and error etc. as their attacks won't completely pwn you anymore.
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Post by paladin181 »

Well, that's very similar to what I said. :P Our strategies aren't so different there.
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Post by DistantJ »

Yah I guess so, heh, except mine states to use them before the health drinks, etc. to let the health drain to the bottom and to use the serum first rather than topping it up with drinks and saving the serum for later.

So, I just beat the game :D

I got a rather depressing ending in which
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
Alex wakes up in an asylum with Wheeler there as one of the doctors, and he's given electro-shock treatment
and I definitely enjoyed it enough to play through again soon to see more endings!

I'm so thrilled I beat it, my original attempt at it was back when it first came out, on an Xbox 360, and I had pretty much given up on games due to how difficult they had become, but this time around on my PS3, with a controller I've had much more practice with (I had a PS1, and a PS2 at one point as well), I managed to nail the combat and I enjoyed the hell out of the challenge the game posed. Aside from the higher difficulty level, I found it to be one of the most accessible if not THE most accessible Silent Hill game due to it's strafelook controls, free camera and linear progression (sorry guys, but Silent Hill 2 only becomes a good game once you've found that hotel, and you can find yourself wandering aimlessly for hours if you're not careful, slowly draining your precious health and using up the health drinks you find), and also one of the more entertaining games I've played in a long time; say what you like about the American, less-subtle Silent Hill, but I am having a damn good time in it, it has all the fun of a good horror movie!

I'm definitely glad I gave it a second go now that I have a PS3. Thanks for the help getting me through the game as well, guys! Awesome stuff. I'll be keeping this one and re-playing it over and over.
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Aldo
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Post by Aldo »

DistantJ wrote:
You'll probably do a lot of cursing the first time you try to get through the police station, but it's worth it. Once you've seen how devastating a pack of Schisms (or even just one on it's own) can be, they're absolutely terrifying later on, Pyramid Head style.
Not exactly the first time, as I said before, I have played this game before...at least till the sewers. Though I was just reading on gamefaqs about a bug in the game which makes the police station portion of the game dark...which I believe I stumbled into. So I'm going to reload my save and fight the first boss once again in order to correct this bug (I'm getting quite good at him, as I've fought him a few times tonight).

But yeah, I hate the schisms, I have no idea how I made it through the police station the first time I played. The only reason (well two, actually) I didn't just play from my Sewer save was because I wasted a whole tone of health drinks (and my first aid kit) fighting the first boss. So when I was at the sewer section of the game I had no health drinks at all, and wasn't very good at fending off needlers (those guys are getting easier for me too).

So far I'm finding the combat to be pretty fun...except for those damn schisms, I can't seem to develope a strategy for them
One more soul to the call, for all, in silence...
Comes two more souls to the call, for all, and in time!
Three more more souls to the call, they fall...
Unknowing that four more souls to the call, won't be all, and you know it!
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DistantJ
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Post by DistantJ »

I learned to love Schisms... In the same way I love Pyramid Head - in that they make the game that much more frightening just knowing they might be around a corner somewhere.

A tip based on an attempt which made the police station much easier for me - as soon as you get the map and shotgun and start heading out, chop down the boards with your axe and then run backwards to give yourself some good space while the first two Schisms come. Pull out your shotgun and blast them both once, and again when they're down. That'll use up your ammo but the first two will be killed. Don't go through the doorway yet, if you stay out here, only two Schisms will come through instead of three, and you should be able to dispatch them one at a time with quick knife combos and sideways-dodging to hit them in the back. If you keep the knife combos quick, the other will just stand and watch and won't attack until you kill the one you were fighting (and if holding L2 Alex will turn to face the other one as soon as it's dead). Once you're rid of these two, finally go through the doorway and there will be just one of them for you to deal with, with plenty of space to dodge around and hit him in the butt. Feel free to use up to 2 health drinks, as once you've killed this guy you can safely grab the one from the mens' room and the reception area.

Then there's only the two in the boarded up room to deal with, which shouldn't be too much of a problem, particularly since they're not smart enough to run around the desk if you stand behind it (and if you're quick, you can grab some shotgun ammo there), chop down the boards and there's one final one hiding behind a car, if you're lucky enough to still have some ammo you can blast him before he can reach you. If you didn't get it first time, try to get the right combo for the safe in the little room next to the car because then you'll be loaded up on ammo to use against the Siam, who is easy fodder when you have shotgun shells!

Kinda sucks that there's not a save point right after all of this, because it was probably the most relentless moment in the game and if I remember rightly you gotta deal with a few needlers before you can find a checkpoint as well. Harsh!
Last edited by DistantJ on 26 Feb 2010, edited 1 time in total.
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Aldo
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Post by Aldo »

I'm not worried about the Needlers, their attacks are pretty predictable and easy to deal with. Of course I'm sure some people could say the same about the schisms, but they're attacks do extreme damage.

Thanks for the advice, I'll try that out next time I attempt the police station.
One more soul to the call, for all, in silence...
Comes two more souls to the call, for all, and in time!
Three more more souls to the call, they fall...
Unknowing that four more souls to the call, won't be all, and you know it!
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Post by Mephisto »

If you didn't get it first time, try to get the right combo for the safe in the little room next to the car because then you'll be loaded up on ammo to use against the Siam, who is easy fodder when you have shotgun shells!
Only 3 shells takes this beast down.

Anyway, the code is
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
206.
Easy, huh.
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DistantJ
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Post by DistantJ »

Yah or if you prefer to work the code out yourself, instead of reading that spoiler the clue is to look at the clock and remember what the feller trying to fix the clocks in the junk yard said.
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Post by Mephisto »

^You could do that as well :roll: :P

So, have you finished the game DistantJ? I'm curous to know which part of the game you're at.
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DistantJ
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Post by DistantJ »

Mephisto wrote:^You could do that as well :roll: :P

So, have you finished the game DistantJ? I'm curous to know which part of the game you're at.
http://silenthillforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 278#514278 :)
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Post by Mephisto »

^ Wow, I'm feeling quite stupid now. I didn't saw that post of yours before, true story. But yeah, the ending that you got, I believe that its the true one. The "canon".
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Aldo
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Post by Aldo »

I redid the first boss fight so I could make it to the Police Station without the bug. Wow they werent kidding, the lighting is noticeably brighter than it was when I was playing the police station last night.

If any of you are wondering what I'm talking about, apparently there's a bug in the Hotel that activates if you try to open up the door back to the dining room after the change to the Otherworld. It makes the police station area much darker than it normally is.
One more soul to the call, for all, in silence...
Comes two more souls to the call, for all, and in time!
Three more more souls to the call, they fall...
Unknowing that four more souls to the call, won't be all, and you know it!
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DistantJ
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Post by DistantJ »

Weird, I think I tried to open that door and I don't remember the Police Station being that overly dark... Which version is this though? I played it on PS3, maybe it's only in the 360 version?
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Aldo
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Post by Aldo »

I'm playing on the 360.

Taking your advice on the Police Station has helped me a lot. I'm in the garage about to fight the Siam, and I still have 8 health drinks, my first aid kit, and a serum. I'm feeling pretty good about my chances right now.
One more soul to the call, for all, in silence...
Comes two more souls to the call, for all, and in time!
Three more more souls to the call, they fall...
Unknowing that four more souls to the call, won't be all, and you know it!
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DistantJ
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Post by DistantJ »

Glad to hear it! :) If you have shotgun shells, the Siam is laughably easy. It's just not fun dodging it's attacks if you're going for melee.

The game gets a lot cooler very, very soon. Look out for Dr. Fitch... ;)
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