Nearly Completed it (i guess), a shame.....

[DistantJ]

I see you like slurpers a lot, Springs. Heh. I never thought much of them really, noisy little bastards XD... I also remember SH3 for having it's most common enemy being a purple roast turkey with a sphincter for a head... different people different interpretations I guess. I mean I love the design of the Schism, it's freaky as all hell, the way it's head swings like a pendulum, and the way they behave when they haven't spotted you etc, freaked me out a lot, and the fact that they made them so tough and therefore so frightening when they showed up helped a lot too, I might even say they're one of my favourite monsters from the whole series.

Just different people different preferences really. Having Wheeler help you I can't see how different it is to having Eileen or Maria follow you around, just that Wheeler has a gun with him, and it's only in a few moments.

The real difference I've noticed is that in Homecoming it seems everybody is as much aware of what's going on around them as you are. In some of the older ones I found some of the scariest parts of the games were the way people spoke as if they weren't seeing the same things you were or something and it felt really quite alien. Wheeler and Elle's dialogue completely destroyed any sense of that for me, but, ya know, I got over that, it's a different game. I guess this is also people's levels of tolerance etc. The way Wheeler acts I don't think is necessarily anything which is harmful but obviously it is something you wouldn't expect in a Japanese SH game.

I found the companionship to be quite good and it reminded me of Alyx in Half-Life 2 or Resident Evil. It kinda brought Silent Hill down to earth a little, which could be seen to go either way I guess, for some people the fact that it was so far up in the clouds was what made it so great, for other people bringing it back to earth takes us right back to the Silent Hill 1 roots where everything made a little more sense and the people were more human (as much as they were in most 32 bit games anyway).

I'm not going to say I was a fan of Wheeler's character, or him running around shooting enemies for you (for about 2 minutes total during the game) but I never really thought that was the kind of thing that can hurt a game with great controls, environments, combat, story, monsters, puzzles, etc.

[Travis]

I'm having way too much fun in these threads.

Comparing SH3 with Homecoming has to be one of the most ridiculous and laughable things I've ever come across in my life.

[Aldo]

Especially considering they're both entirely different types of games.

[DistantJ]

Comparing SH3 with Homecoming has to be one of the most ridiculous and laughable things I've ever come across in my life.

Good job you were here to belittle our conversation.

[SPRINGS02]

"The real difference I've noticed is that in Homecoming it seems everybody is as much aware of what's going on around them as you are. In some of the older ones I found some of the scariest parts of the games were the way people spoke as if they weren't seeing the same things you were or something and it felt really quite alien. Wheeler and Elle's dialogue completely destroyed any sense of that for me, but, ya know, I got over that, it's a different game. I guess this is also people's levels of tolerance etc. The way Wheeler acts I don't think is necessarily anything which is harmful but obviously it is something you wouldn't expect in a Japanese SH game. "

Exactly this is one thing i really didn't like it felt more resident evil style because of how aware everyone else is. And trust me i hated the escort missions in sh4(eileen is so damn slow) sh2 not as much because maria wasn't really real. And i felt more isolated with those 2 because maria and eileen don't really help with attacking monsters(well eileen has her little weapons but they don't really do shit) and eileen could get possessed which is pretty freaky. And yeah i do have a thing for slurpers(that sounded weird) the way the look is just disturbing i mean the way they twitch and their bodies just look disfigured. But the sounds they make are what really makes em' creepy never heard any sounds like that in my life. Honestly for me making a monster hard to kill doesn't make it scary its the looks and sounds that do it for me.

[DistantJ]

Well I meant the Schisms creep me out in their appearance and behaviour too, but knowing how easily they can kill you makes you fear for your life when they're around as well, like Pyramid Head.

Homecoming is a cross between the two, I find. I mean it's partially very abstract but also boasts a fear of being killed etc. which is more Resident Evil style, but for me, personally, that doesn't make it a bad game, just different. The way I see it, Resident Evil turned into an action game and Alone in the Dark turned into a thriller, but Silent Hill stayed as a survival horror but also embodied elements from Resi and AitD before they changed, best of both worlds is the way I see it...

And to elaborate on the comparisons with SH3 (sorry Travis, but I think you're wrong, they're very comparable) is that in SH3 (and SH1, though that one's so dated that it's quite vague) there were also people completely aware of what was going on, and cult members who made their intentions clear as well as the origins of all the chaos, granted SH5 is much more American in how they talk but I really don't think the difference is THAT big a deal. You should give the game another try with some of these things in mind, you might have a really good time.

[SPRINGS02]

Silent hill 3 does a great job of creating tension without you actually being in any danger. There are alot of parts in sh3 where there are no monsters that attack you but the environment makes you feel uneasy. In SHH this never really happens(at least for me anyway)
Also in sh3 there are some people who know whats going on(claudia, and vincent) but you have no idea what they are seeing i mean claudia thinks paradise is being made and we can't forget vincent's "they look like monsters to you" comment. Douglas is obviously seeing something weird but you have no idea what he actually sees. Whereas in shh its obvious that everyone sees the exact same thing. Also i thought Alessa had something to do with the alternate worlds we see in sh3. I really need to beat sh1.

[Nyarlathotep]

In Silent Hill 1, there's at least one time where it's clear you are encountering the same creatures... Saving Kaufmann from the Romper. Silent Hill 4 it's pretty clear everyone is experiencing the same thing... Especially with Eileen following you around and attacking the same creatures.

In Silent Hill 3 it's ambiguous, no strong evidence one way or the other. Only in Silent Hill 2 is it strongly suggested that each character is experiencing something different, and the events within Silent Hill 2 are very different from those of Homecoming... Homecoming involves a communal otherworld which ties into the overall story, it only makes sense for them to be encountering the same creatures, given the reason they were pulled into the otherworld.

[DistantJ]

I completely agree with everything the two of you just said... But nothing you have said, Springs, makes Homecoming a bad game. This is the point I'm trying to make. I see Homecoming as more of a Silent Hill 1 continuation like 3 and 0rigins than a SH2 derivative like Shattered Memories. The way I see it if it hadn't been for SH2 (amazing game, and my favourite in the series, but definitely the black sheep of the bunch) being so different, nothing in Shattered Memories would have felt out of place.

Each game interprets Silent Hill differently and that's one of the best things about the series.

I think that as a 'sequel', Homecoming fits Silent Hill 1 like a glove, though Homecoming's bosses are a little more meaningful.

Also, play through Hell Descent and the Church and tell me Homecoming can't create a sense of fear when there's no immediate danger.

[Catch22]

Whereas in shh its obvious that everyone sees the exact same thing.

That isn't true, it's never explicitly stated either way.

PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:

And besides, if you get the ending where Alex is in an insane asylum, every single event in the game comes into question.

[SPRINGS02]

^Yeah but thats only one ending. In sh3 no matter what ending you get you know everyone is seeing something different. And how do you explain wheeler shooting the monsters or the par where alex and elle run to the sewers after being chased by like a herd of monsters.

[Catch22]

^Yeah but thats only one ending. In sh3 no matter what ending you get you know everyone is seeing something different. And how do you explain wheeler shooting the monsters or the par where alex and elle run to the sewers after being chased by like a herd of monsters.

They all see something, but we never know what it is that they see. Their creatures could be completely different from Alex's. They never have a conversation discussing the appearance of the monsters or the otherworld.

[DistantJ]

This is all good but I still fail to see how this particular element makes SH5 a bad game. SH4 was clear that it was occurring for everybody not just Henry.

[Aldo]

And how do you explain wheeler shooting the monsters or the par where alex and elle run to the sewers after being chased by like a herd of monsters.

That's one of my favorite cut scenes from the game (well, so far, as I'm only in the sewers now). Seeing a assload of schisms climbing the fence as Alex rushes to get the manhole cover open is awesome.

To each his own I guess.

[SPRINGS02]

^yeah for me that part had me rolling my eyes, reminded me of a scene from resident evil.

[Sirea]

Can someone please explain to me the "Homecoming is Resident Evil" argument? I get the feeling that the people who say that have never played a Resident Evil game in their life. And as someone who is madly in love with both RE and Homecoming, I'm prepared to shoot down (almost) any argument you present to me on the matter.

And I'm also a bit unsure why people keep comparing Homecoming to SH2, too. Like, throughout this whole thread I keep seeing, "I can't like Homecoming because my boner for SH2 is too hard." Well... I don't know. To me, it sounds like those crazy arguments where people try to compare Harry Potter to Lord of the Rings. You can't do that; they're two completely different things.

I don't understand why people can't judge Homecoming on its own merits instead of having to compare it to other things in order to make it seem bad. If a game's really that bad, it should speak for itself on its badness without needing something to compare it to.

Like Blue Dragon. That game was awful, and I didn't have to compare it to anything to know it was awful. Screw that game.

[ginjajacob]

Can someone please explain to me the "Homecoming is Resident Evil" argument? I get the feeling that the people who say that have never played a Resident Evil game in their life. And as someone who is madly in love with both RE and Homecoming, I'm prepared to shoot down (almost) any argument you present to me on the matter.

And I'm also a bit unsure why people keep comparing Homecoming to SH2, too. Like, throughout this whole thread I keep seeing, "I can't like Homecoming because my boner for SH2 is too hard." Well... I don't know. To me, it sounds like those crazy arguments where people try to compare Harry Potter to Lord of the Rings. You can't do that; they're two completely different things.

I don't understand why people can't judge Homecoming on its own merits instead of having to compare it to other things in order to make it seem bad. If a game's really that bad, it should speak for itself on its badness without needing something to compare it to.

Like Blue Dragon. That game was awful, and I didn't have to compare it to anything to know it was awful. Screw that game.

I don't think anybody said "Homecoming is Resident evil". Well anyway alot of people (me included) think the combat for Homecoming is a poor attempt to copy alot of what was done in RE:4.

[Sirea]

I don't think anybody said "Homecoming is Resident evil". Well anyway alot of people (me included) think the combat for Homecoming is a poor attempt to copy alot of what was done in RE:4.

I have seen the argument a few times. It's stronger in other places, but I've seen it smattered throughout these forums, too.

And I'm not sure where you get the idea that that's what they did in RE4. The combat in Homecoming relies almost solely on melee weapons to the point where using your guns can get you killed a lot of the time. In RE, and RE4 especially, if you're caught without your gun and only have your knife to survive, you can pretty much guarantee that you're dead within five minutes. The only combat-oriented thing that I can think of that Homecoming has in common with RE4 is the free aiming, but a lot of games have that-- it's not just RE4. Also, you can't run and shoot in RE4 (or even in RE5, which came out after Homecoming), whereas in Homecoming, you can.

[simeonalo]

Can someone please explain to me the "Homecoming is Resident Evil" argument? I get the feeling that the people who say that have never played a Resident Evil game in their life. And as someone who is madly in love with both RE and Homecoming, I'm prepared to shoot down (almost) any argument you present to me on the matter.

Funny. I believe it's because Resident Evil took the "Action/Combat" route and discarded the survival horror elements, and then many people saw the same thing in homecoming (more action focused).

[Sirea]

Funny. I believe it's because Resident Evil took the "Action/Combat" route and discarded the survival horror elements, and then many people saw the same thing in homecoming (more action focused).

Oh! Okay, that makes more sense to me, then. Most of the time (like with the comment that spurned my post on the matter), I see people saying that Homecoming felt and played too much like a Resident Evil game, and I guess the wording got me thinking, "Oh, people think this is like Resident Evil... okay what."