Silent Hill in First Person

Come here to chat about Kojima's now sadly defunct Silent Hills.

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New SH in First Person?

Yes, awesome!
11
15%
Nope. No way!
20
28%
Combination (both first and third person perspective)
39
55%
I want SH to be a FPS huurrrhushdfushdfnsk
1
1%
 
Total votes: 71

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Little Wise Owl
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Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Little Wise Owl »

Please understand that I know that P.T. is not a reflection of what the final product. I understand Kojima was trying to hide the fact that this was a Silent Hill game.

I hate to be that person but I completely dislike the idea of a new SH being in first person. Like, I can't stand it (this coming from someone whose absolute favourite game in the series is The Room). Lately we've seen a massive surge of horror games in first person and quite frankly, I can't remember the last third person horror that was successful. P.T. was great for what it was but it didn't scream Silent Hill at me (though I believe that was the point). I feel like first person also utilizes jump scares way more than third person. Don't get me wrong, jump scares are great in moderation but too many simply become a nuisance.

I wouldn't hate if the series did something like what SH4 did but if it's all first person I will be rather disappointed. While the demo certainly surpasses games like Outlast, Amnesia and the like in the scary aspect, it still looks just like them.

I also can't stand Oblivion style combat. uhguhgughg no.

What are your thoughts on this IF by chance the final product is in FP?
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by NanayaShiki »

I'd give it a shot but I'd be disappointed. I seriously doubt it's going to be first person, though.
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HeartlessBastard
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by HeartlessBastard »

Well, one of the coolest things in Silent Hill were always the clever camera angle. Like, in the first game, the camera sometimes tended do go too far from Harry, giving the impression the town was bigger and Harry was smaller. I liked this.
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golden filter
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by golden filter »

deep down inside, we all know we want SH to be a FPS huurrrhushdfushdfnsk
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Little Wise Owl
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Little Wise Owl »

golden filter wrote:deep down inside, we all know we want SH to be a FPS huurrrhushdfushdfnsk
I knew it. :P

Oddly enough, I've seen quite a few people liking the idea of FP for the new SH. It's weirding me out. When Downpour was in development people would absolutely lose their shit if the dev. team even DARED to step out of bounds. lol
Last edited by Little Wise Owl on 16 Aug 2014, edited 1 time in total.
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Kenji
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Kenji »

Clearly, my man, the answer is huurrrhushdfushdfnsk, even if it isn't an FPS.

Personally, I was disappointed by The Room, but those apartment sequences were pretty damn effective... until I figured out (in short time) that the hauntings were just damage zones with animation loops. :?

P.T., from what I've seen, demonstrates the ability to go beyond that, even though it's basically the same idea (minus damage zones).

For me, the advantages of a first-person view go hand-in-hand with strong atmosphere. If the atmosphere is strong enough, all the places you're not looking by necessity of the format will introduce tension. There's a lot of untapped potential here. You can get away with less monsters, not super-aggressive but not easy to kill, randomly-spawned, able to roam the area at "will," and give both psychological and gameplay reasons for the player to never stop looking over their shoulder.
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Huknar
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Huknar »

Needs a fifth option "I don't mind". Because I truely do not. While I'd prefer third person (if it is done right with fixed and cinematic cameras), I wouldn't be an less happy if it was in third person. Seven games in, I think we can deal with such a change.
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Tillerman »

I'd prefer all 3rd person. When you can see your character, it's easier to connect with them, and it seems like a waste to not use 3rd person if you're using a big name actor. And I'm hoping that this game uses a lot of cinematic camera angles and doesn't just rely on the boring over the shoulder viewpoint the whole time. That viewpoint might make sense for an action game where you need to do lots of shooting, like Resident Evil, but it's terrible for a Silent Hill.

Another thing I don't like about first person is the way movement feels, as it feels floaty, but I'll say this: I did like the way movement felt in Silent Hill 4. I think that has to do with how you moved a bit more sluggishly than a lot of FPS's. If there have to be first person scenes in Silent Hill, and that seems likely, then I hope they take a cue from that and make the movement slower than usual.

And in an interview, Kojima said that he may make the game a combination of 1st and 3rd person. Which I'd be fine with, just so long as first person view doesn't dominate the game too much.
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golden filter
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by golden filter »

ACTUALLY

I simply hate 1st person views cos i have such a hard time with the controls and stuff ugh bye
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Little Wise Owl
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Little Wise Owl »

golden filter wrote:ACTUALLY

I simply hate 1st person views cos i have such a hard time with the controls and stuff ugh bye
I don't have a tough time with the controls, I just hate HOW it controls. I've never, ever been a fan of first person games. They do nothing for me.
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Yuki
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Yuki »

I definitely think it could work--there were instances in Mirror's Edge where I was terrified despite it not being a horror game, and it worked well in Gone Home and Amnesia, and looks great in Outlast.

I think it's better to do third person if we're watching someone else's story, though--sometimes it can work, a la Bioshock Infinite, and it's great for immersion, but third person is great too. My only real big deal with first person is that it limits my field of view a little too much (ie if something is behind me and they didn't program in a quick-turn button).
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by alone in the town »

I personally think it's more important for the game to be good and scary, than it is to adhere to familiar Silent Hill tropes. There appear to be many who seem to think that the tropes are necessary for the game to be good or scary, and a few who think that the tropes are even more important than the game being good or scary.

I love the perspective because it's not as scary when you can see what's behind you, and first person limits your immersion into a character only if the writers don't do a good job. And if they don't do a good job, you're not going to be immersed regardless of the perspective.

This is a chance to start over and cast off a lot of the dead weight that the series has accumulated over the course of 15 years. I want this to be fresh and different. Silent Hill hasn't been scary in a very long time, mostly because of all the changes the different developers tried to make over the course of the series, they never really tried approaching the horror differently. Some people are fine with that, but Downpour used pretty much the same formula as the first game, and it's far too old and overdone to be effective anymore.
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Solaire
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Solaire »

No way. I hate 1st person.

Don't fuck this up Kojima.
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Little Wise Owl
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Little Wise Owl »

Ryantology wrote: They never really tried approaching the horror differently. Some people are fine with that, but Downpour used pretty much the same formula as the first game, and it's far too old and overdone to be effective anymore.
I'm sorry but I don't see it as too old or "overdone"... When was the last time you saw a survival horror that was in 3rd person w/ fixed camera angles? It's been a loooong time.. There are TONS of first person horror games (in fact I think there might be too many) so if anything, I think that's overdone.

Since SH left Japan the newer game devs (minus Origins which basically mimicked its predecessors) have tried new ways to scare the player. Shattered Memories and Downpour had chase sequences. SM also removed combat and left you helpless. Homecoming... well, I'm not sure what Homecoming did. They relied A LOT on jump scares and fierce/deadly enemies. All these new games also removed fixed camera angles and replaced them with controllable CA. We haven't seen anything like the original 4 in YEARS. Or heck, any other games of the same formula (Haunting Ground, Rule of Rose, original Resident Evil, etc)

As time goes on, Silent Hill feels less and less like Silent Hill. Sure, try new formulas but if it stops FEELING like a SH game, why is it even one? I'm not trying to be a nostalgia freak or an elitist who thinks the only good games are the Japanese ones (I really liked Downpour and the story of Shattered Memories) I just haven't felt or experienced anything like the originals. And I don't understand why that's now a bad thing.

SH4 was MUCH different than the first 3 and yet still felt exactly like a SH game. Even when it wasn't meant to be one originally. Like SH4, I wouldn't mind a combo of camera angles.

If the new SH is solely first person, it will suffer from looking EXACTLY like any other new indie horror. Yeah, it'll be scary and sure it might have a great story and design but it won't be as unique, in my opinion.
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Arachnid1 »

I'll take third person over first any day of the week. I hope to god the final game isn't like that.
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by HillsideSkoomaAddict »

Third person. I wouldn't mind if some parts of the game were in third person, but not the full game please.
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Matt S
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Matt S »

I am open; I play 1st and 3rd person and in a campaign, I have no preference
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Tillerman
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Tillerman »

Ryantology wrote:Some people are fine with that, but Downpour used pretty much the same formula as the first game, and it's far too old and overdone to be effective anymore.
That's not why Downpour wasn't effective, though. Downpour just wasn't that great of a horror game. It has too many flaws dragging it down, even to a larger extent than Silent Hill 4.

Anyway, 1st person horror games are ridiculously overdone this day and age. If Silent Hill takes a page out of that book, it will be correctly labeled as an Amnesia / Outlast ripoff. I think there's new directions that Silent Hill needs to go in, but that is not one. It needs to strike a balance between feeling like a Silent Hill game and offering something new, while also being a high quality horror game on it's own merits. That is much easier said than done, and hopefully Kojima can pull it off.
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Kenji
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Kenji »

I think that's a fair point that we can all agree on, and has been kinda overlooked (understandably) in all this excitement.

Silent Hill has very suddenly been elevated to a AAA console-seller. The last time it's been anywhere near that was 2001. It's got big-name Hollywood talent behind it. And the job is very difficult.

There's a friend of mine who I told about this, of course he had to see it for himself 'cuz it sounded like some bullshit rumor, but he said something that I think bears reminding: If this doesn't work, it's the end of the series.

Now, for me, the series was more-or-less over, as it was, so I don't mind it going out with a bang, but I can't claim to speak for everyone else here.
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Re: Silent Hill in First Person

Post by Soulless-Shadow »

I'd be ok with a combination of 1st and 3rd person so long as everything is used effectively. I loved the use of the different camera angles in the first three games. The most memorable of which would be the alleyway at the start of SH1. Having said that, I also liked being able to explore Henry's appointment more thoroughly in SH4, which wouldn't have been possible without a 1st person perspective. All in all, as I already said, if used effectively I think a combination would be great.
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