Silent Hill Heaven

In Water makes me cry[...]I did all that for nothing. I think that's what I like about In Water, though. It refuses to play to the happy ending trope, because James is not a hero. It provides a sort of twisted catharsis. That said, I think Rebirth is my preferred ending. I like my Silent Hill to be...

My first time through I missed the rifle and the Great Knife. Now, it depends on my goals. I find myself speed running this game when I play it now. In that case, I skip almost everything. You need the radio, flashlight, steel pipe and shotgun. Aside from that, you can skip the rest. If I'm doing a ...

About the connection between SH1 and SH2, AuraTwilight had some interesting things to say about how Alessa may have permanently changed whatever power is at work in Silent Hill during the events of the first game. It makes me wonder if the type of events we see in SH2 would have even been possible b...

the Otherworld tends to recycle various manifested content. the walls of an unreal maze are taken from James' apartment. This is all I really meant. The Labyrinth is obviously not a direct manifestation of his apartment, but it would make sense for elements to be represented there, given it's impor...

^ It is a physical location, but one that doesn't belong in Silent Hill. So if the wall textures match Mary's bedroom (and even after looking at them, I'm not totally sure they do), it lines up that as he's beginning to realize what he's done, the site of the murder would be represented. Even if it ...

I thought James' last chance was the cutscene where he yells at Laura, then blanks out for a few seconds. The real "moment of truth" (the moment he realizes he killed Mary) is in the hotel. But I see the Labyrinth as the last opportunity for his mind to conceal the truth from itself befor...

Both Solaris (1972) and Jacob's Ladder had heavy influence on the game, for sure. Another I could mention is Memento . It only came out a year before SH2, so I'm not sure how much (if at all) it influenced the creators of the game, but the similarities are numerous. While Leonard Shelby wasn't exact...

^ I think the OP was asking where in other media the idea of a letter from a dead person may have come from, not whether the letter was a manifestation or what it may symbolize. I saw this post a while ago, but didn't respond because I couldn't think of any specific examples. Which is weird, because...

@VoiDusk: There could be some significance to the two different texture types. A weird, semi-normal look above (James' demeanor on the surface) and the dark, rotting underground (the truth of what he is). Nice catch! As for jumping down the holes one after another, that's what I was talking about wa...

Personally, the biggest problem I had was some of the baffling sound design. The belching and Jasper's voice acting are both great examples of real head-scratcher moments that broke any immersion I had until then. Also, the lack of Yamaoka's score and the absence of the flashlight are both mistakes,...

Thank you! Another OG forum-er, makes me think there's some traction to this idea. Thinking more about it, I'm wondering what significance, if any, there is to the fact that James meets up with Eddie after the graveyard (graveroom?) instead of in the Labyrinth proper. I'll have to go have a think on...

First of all, I want to thank Tom Waltz and Menton3 for (in my opinion) capturing the aesthetic and atmosphere of the best Silent Hill games in graphic novel form. I enjoyed Sinner's Reward as well, but Past Life really struck a personal chord for me in the same way the most memorable entries of the...

Thanks! Means a lot coming from a forum veteran.

Hello all. I found this completed map of the Labyrinth and thought I'd post it for you fine folks along with some of my own thoughts about this extremely unsettling section of my favorite game. To be clear, I did not put this together, so my thanks to whoever did. Oh, and unmarked spoilers from here...

It's especially strange, since Yamaoka actually produced SH4 and was working on it as a separate game before it was going to be a SH title. Being involved that closely, you'd think he'd want his music to be front and center. What we did get was excellent as usual, though. Also, my 200th post! My OCD...

Silent Hill's useless locksmith is kind of a running joke around here. There's some pretty funny stuff here and here regarding the lazy bastard.

v No problem.

Very well thought out. Like thy_butcher, I like that it's a fluid and open-ended take on some of the series' most difficult to grasp concepts. I especially enjoyed your ideas about the parallels and distinctions between Alessa and Walter's respective manifest realities. In regards to Howard Blackwoo...

That's a good question. I never really thought about it. It seems to me it's kind of a non-descript, generic smartphone. Here's a link to the design company's concept art with multiple angles on the finished product... http://www.oceanbluedesign.co.uk/?portfolio=silent-hill-shattered-memories The ba...

While playing Downpour, I found myself wondering how much of the actual George Sewell we were seeing, and how much was filtered through Murphy's perspective. If he truly was exactly the man shown in the game, he was an irredeemable sociopath, for sure. But we may not have gotten a complete picture, ...

I left the forums shortly before this game was released, and I didn't realize this one was so polarizing. All in all, I was very pleased with this entry. I think my one and only complaint for this one is the monster design, for the most part. It's true what a lot of people have said here, they felt ...