Simplified Story?

[Burning Man]

I've been considering the possibility that the Remake's story might be simplified or streamlined. Veterans here may remember that Silent Hill 2's story was considered to be too complicated to enjoy by the Japanese fans, which led to the scenario writer, Hiroyuki Owaku, to create a much simpler story for Silent Hill 3. And when Suguru Murakoshi, the scenario writer for the fourth game asked Owaku for guidance, he had apparently advised Murakoshi to keep the story simple. Note that SH2 was rated CERO C, meaning 15+ in Japan, making the intended audience a few years younger than US's M Rating of 17+.

The trailers may only show bits and pieces, but the presented dialog is recognizably shorter and quicker to the point. Potentially confusing dialog such as Laura retorting if James is "blind or something" seems to have been removed. Instead James simply asks about the letter she's holding to which Laura accuses James of not loving Mary and leaves.

I think it is possible to take the core of the story and tell it in a simpler way, but I hope Okamoto the Producer understands that the complexity of the story is what brought a lot of people together to discuss it.

[Chris Sunderland]

I really, really doubt they are touching the story much. They know that would leave to bad word of mouth. It might be told in a slightly clearer way just due to the nature of cleaning up the script and different voice performances but that seems to be the thing they are most concerned leaving pretty much intact judging by the interviews I've read. You can't really judge these kinda things based on trailer because they cut scenes and dialog out to make them flow better.

[jdnation]

The trailers may only show bits and pieces, but the presented dialog is recognizably shorter and quicker to the point. Potentially confusing dialog such as Laura retorting if James is "blind or something" seems to have been removed. Instead James simply asks about the letter she's holding to which Laura accuses James of not loving Mary and leaves.

It's not simply 'shortened', the entirety of that scene has been completely changed due to the dialogue and delivery.

That said, I don't believe they are simplifying the story. If anything I expect that along with the new areas for exploration, and companion character dialogue, that the story will be longer with more complexities and dialogue added in.

Unless by 'simplifying' it means they are dumbing down the story to be less vague or cryptic, which could be an issue, but we can't judge that from what we've seen so far.

[Burning Man]

It's not simply 'shortened', the entirety of that scene has been completely changed due to the dialogue and delivery.

That said, I don't believe they are simplifying the story. If anything I expect that along with the new areas for exploration, and companion character dialogue, that the story will be longer with more complexities and dialogue added in.

Unless by 'simplifying' it means they are dumbing down the story to be less vague or cryptic, which could be an issue, but we can't judge that from what we've seen so far.

We have yet to be told who the scenario writer is for the Remake. I have a hunch that it would be Okamoto since he's credited as the Main Scenario Writer for Silent Hill: The Short Message's R&D version.

It's an interesting take that new areas for exploration would imply new companion character dialog. Would they really add something more to the story? The few new dialog that Maria and James share as they enter Brookhaven appear to be mostly filler.

[Droo]

I don't have a problem if awkward dialogue from the original is tweaked.

Angela's awkward "LAWST?!?!?!" also appears to be gone from the graveyard scene, isn't it? Or am I misremembering?

[Burning Man]

I don't have a problem if awkward dialogue from the original is tweaked.

Angela's awkward "LAWST?!?!?!" also appears to be gone from the graveyard scene, isn't it? Or am I misremembering?

That part certainly seems to have been removed. James says, "I'm kind of lost. I'm looking for Silent Hill?" Angela follows up with "I think you should stay away."

But the scene has a rather subtle change in that James seems to tap Angela on the shoulder this time when he says, "Excuse me?" and startles Angela. In the original, the camera angle makes it hard to tell if there was physical contact. I always felt she was overreacting in the original even considering she was startled, but her reaction here is understandable if there was physical contact.

I don't remember the source exactly, but I think it was Okamoto that made a suggestion to fans to focus more on the environment than the words in the Remake.

[Chris Sunderland]

One of my favorite things about the remake so far is their interpretation of Angela. I always liked Angela as a character but felt her voice acting was off and not in the good way. It's not bad mind you, but just something about it always irked me. I like the more realistic dialog and I think it goes along way on selling her character, from what I've seen anyways.

[Jonipoon]

Wait, some people actually considered Silent Hill 2's story to be complicated? Jeez. It's the most simple story to get in my opinion.

[MrMeow]

I think what they mean is that bloober could remove the ambiguity from certain areas of the game. The narrative is easy enough to follow but there are certain things that can be interpreted in multiple ways which is why the game is so great. Like poetry, you can say a lot with only one sentence.

Edit: Which is why it irks me when people say "x can't mean y, because it means z". Why can't certain things have multiple intended meanings at the same time. It's a very simplistic way to look at the game if your thought process is like that.

[WaffleMaker]

Wait, some people actually considered Silent Hill 2's story to be complicated? Jeez. It's the most simple story to get in my opinion.

I agree. I feel that 1, 3 & 4 have a lot more to unpack. 2 is the most accessible imo

[lain of the wired]

Wait, some people actually considered Silent Hill 2's story to be complicated? Jeez. It's the most simple story to get in my opinion.

Maybe in terms of there being so much symbolism and more complicated psychology to the characters? I mean, ffs, we made a decade long feast out of extrapolating meaning from the tiniest scratch textures in the walls... I do think the ideas of complicated grief and having mixed feelings are lost on a lot of people, too- accepting the idea that you can love someone and be furious at them all at once is like, 90% of the anxiety patients I see now. I'm not even joking.