Is Silent Hill 2 Remake fantastic BECAUSE of fan backlash, or in spite of it?

[Vixx]

You'll see plenty of fans purport that the only reason SH2R turned out as well as it did is because of the vitriolic feedback to early teasers/trailers. That if it hadn't have been for feedback on James' face, for instance, the combat, Angela's face etc., it would've been "worse".

What do you think?

[leftshoe18]

I think things looking different between early previews and the final product was more a result of normal game development stuff than fan backlash. That said, they were obviously aware of the fan community and the kinds of things they were talking about hence the existence of the "It's Bread" reference. lol

[TerryRed]

I think its legit fantastic on its own. Bloober stayed away from the drama and quietly cooked. They knew what they had was a good thing, but didn't want to show their hand until it was ready. I'm sure they (and Okamoto) made some changes / revisions based on fan feedback... but not the "backlash".

It's easily the surprise of the year... as we've had two SH related things that didn't resonate so well (I liked TSM myself). It was easy for many ppl to say "Bloober bad... it will fail" as it was either the hip thing to do or was the easy way to get clicks. I myself hated seeing all that, and was just waiting to see how it would turn out. I always felt that if Bloober had the time and funding needed they could make a great Silent Hill game.

Everything completely changed when everyone saw the actual finished game for themselves and stopped listening to the online bs internet drama.

As much as a fan as I am... as a "game", I am legit surprised that Bloober pulled this off so damn well... in "all" regards.

I can nitpick things for sure.... but damn I'm like a kid in a candy store this week playing this game and seeing all the praise its getting.

It's great... because it simply... is.

[leftshoe18]

Agreed. Seeing a Silent Hill game that's not panned from everywhere is something I literally haven't seen as a member of the community.

[Skele]

I mean, they may have made some changes based on negative feedback from the public. We all know these games get QA and testers, so that's probably where most of their fixes came from.

[jdnation]

Some criticism definitely informed the devs, which they admitted they listened to and implemented.

Other backlash seems to have proven to be premature and overall sentiment has swung back around in their favor.

So word of mouth, and positive impressions coming from those who were initially cynical, will help give it strong legs.

[Disrupticon]

Despite it, mostly. Though there was some feedback they took into account, they were smart not to tale any and all feedback into account. And of course there's the feedback from QA testing, internal company feedback, feedback from Ito and Yamaoka...etc.

One thing I like about the remake is that it's put to bed the lie that the series needs to be exclusively in Japanese hands to produce a successful entry. The consensus I've seen around this remake is that it's even MORE intimidating, unnerving and morose than its predecessor.

[jdnation]

Despite it, mostly. Though there was some feedback they took into account, they were smart not to tale any and all feedback into account. And of course there's the feedback from QA testing, internal company feedback, feedback from Ito and Yamaoka...etc.

One thing I like about the remake is that it's put to bed the lie that the series needs to be exclusively in Japanese hands to produce a successful entry. The consensus I've seen around this remake is that it's even MORE intimidating, unnerving and morose than its predecessor.

I don't know about that... The Japanese side and its original creators were heavily involved. And I don't think anyone was opposed to the idea of Japanese creatives working with Western tech for a decade now. While Bloober has done a good job here, it's a remake of a game where the story is largely intact with a facelift, versus the higher criticism against their original IP.

Frankly, I would love for both sides to collaborate again on an entirely new original Silent Hill title. Story, and concept and art direction from Japan, and Bloober handling the active development. Naturally, Bloober can also be involved in feedback during the creative phase, but the final call will come from the Japanese leads, and by those, I mean Ito, Yamaoka, Okamoto and anyone else at Konami.

[WaffleMaker]

I think it’s fantastic because it’s fantastic. Not sure how we got here but I’m happy.

[Chris Sunderland]

The game looked good from the jump, it's all blown out of proportion. Would James looking older and looking distressed in the beginning really ruin SH2s story? Probably not.
Most of the complaining was stuff from this year, realistically you can only "fix" video games so much in a small time frame. Obviously there were things updated and changed and improved but the foundation has to be good in the first place. The most complained about trailer was the combat trailer made up of old footage from internal builds Konami decided to Jerry rig as a new trailer. Bloober didn't take an alpha looking game and fix it in 6 months.
No SH2R was made by people who wanted to do the original justice and they did, point blank.

[lain of the wired]

I am still personally baffled by the amount of negativity in some people's responses- what the hell happened with the wikipedia getting locked because people were editing lies about the reviews? I saw something on Kotaku, or something, about people being pissy because of changes made in service of some kind of "woke agenda..." but I can't for the life of me figure out what that might be? Is it because they changed Maria's outfit to be less skimpy? Like, that's literally the only thing I can imagine, and it's giving me leg cramps trying to stretch that much.

[DinoNerd89]

I am still personally baffled by the amount of negativity in some people's responses- what the hell happened with the wikipedia getting locked because people were editing lies about the reviews? I saw something on Kotaku, or something, about people being pissy because of changes made in service of some kind of "woke agenda..." but I can't for the life of me figure out what that might be? Is it because they changed Maria's outfit to be less skimpy? Like, that's literally the only thing I can imagine, and it's giving me leg cramps trying to stretch that much.

I heard the wikipedia page was getting raided by pissy fans that was upset that it got high critic reviews, which doesn't make much sense, but knowing this fanbase, it doesn't surprise me, lol.

[lain of the wired]

That's what I heard too, so I kept digging a bit because WTAF, and the best I got from there was somethingsomething woke agenda in the game. I didn't even see anything about where they got that from, though, so it feels a bit like a throw away explanation?

[EDIT] OH MY GOD I FOUND THE "WOKE" NONSENSE https://www.thegamer.com/silent-hill-2- ... ginal-game. So.... people who weren't actually fans or they would've recognized that sign was actually the OG. *facepalm*

[Caim]

Trying to find any discussion about this game without people bringing up Angela's face and Maria's outfit is difficult, which is just so pedantic. I guess those folks wouldn't enjoy anything anyways. This game isn't for them... I don't think any new SH game or remake or anything could be. They're only interested in terminally hating things online. :/

I said this in another thread, but I've only gotten to the apartments. I really like what they've done with Angela and James. The performances are great, and Angela is LEAGUES ahead in the remake. She went from completely out-of-this-world alien script-reading to way more grounded in her first scene alone. Love it.

[leftshoe18]

> I don't think any new SH game or remake or anything could be. They're only interested in terminally hating things online. :/

What an exhausting way to live.

> Angela is LEAGUES ahead in the remake.

Overall, I agree, but I do miss some of the original game's panicky Angela which is largely absent here.

[Chris Sunderland]

> I don't think any new SH game or remake or anything could be. They're only interested in terminally hating things online. :/

What an exhausting way to live.

Yeah like why? It seems so cumbersome to be that way. Like WHAT DO YOU ENJOY. The fanbase outside of here can be Star Wars fandom level of stupid.

[DinoNerd89]

^^^I am Godzilla/Kaiju, and Jurassic Park fan, and they are the only fandoms i'm part of, thats just as stupidly toxic, self loathing, and despising of the Franchise they claim to love as Silent Hill fans. I truly don't understand it, honestly. Like, if the series doesn't bring someone any joy, than... why not find one that does? Strange behavior. *Shrugs*


Can't speak for Star Wars though, or its fanbase, since i'm not into SW.

[leftshoe18]

Most online communities are like that these days, unfortunately. Rage sells so people are overwhelmed with videos, articles, and memes about why you should be mad at your favorite franchise for [insert flavor of the month]. Places like this are getting harder to find online and, as somebody who grew up in what I'd consider the golden age of the internet, it makes me sad.

[Disrupticon]

Despite it, mostly. Though there was some feedback they took into account, they were smart not to tale any and all feedback into account. And of course there's the feedback from QA testing, internal company feedback, feedback from Ito and Yamaoka...etc.

One thing I like about the remake is that it's put to bed the lie that the series needs to be exclusively in Japanese hands to produce a successful entry. The consensus I've seen around this remake is that it's even MORE intimidating, unnerving and morose than its predecessor.

I don't know about that... The Japanese side and its original creators were heavily involved. And I don't think anyone was opposed to the idea of Japanese creatives working with Western tech for a decade now. While Bloober has done a good job here, it's a remake of a game where the story is largely intact with a facelift, versus the higher criticism against their original IP.

Frankly, I would love for both sides to collaborate again on an entirely new original Silent Hill title. Story, and concept and art direction from Japan, and Bloober handling the active development. Naturally, Bloober can also be involved in feedback during the creative phase, but the final call will come from the Japanese leads, and by those, I mean Ito, Yamaoka, Okamoto and anyone else at Konami.

Would definitely have to disagree with that assessment.

I think the Silent Hill 2 remake was a success in no small part because of Ito and Yamaoka's input to be sure. Just as much is owed to the people at Bloober however, and it's a little disrespectful to take that away from them after they've single handedly made everyone eat their words. The scenario writers, the environmental designers, voice actors, voice direction, accessibility designers...etc - all a group of dedicated artisans that are near the peak of their craft after a string of very hit and miss titles. People who've no doubt learned and grown from the experience and can use this win to potentially chart a new path forward.

Ito and Yamaoka consulted on the creature design and music arrangement for this game respectively - but guess what... they also consulted on the titles that at best left the fanbase split, too. And if reports are to be believed, Bloober resisted changes suggested by Ito and Yamaoka because they wanted this to be as slavishly faithful to the original as they could make it while putting their own imprint on it.

And their gamble paid off.

Clearly, the takeaway from all of this shouldn't be " here's why only Japanese people can do Silent Hill properly" (Silent Hill: The Short Message was developed in-house and didn't recieve much fanfare if I recall), but "here's what is possible when a stable group of individuals are able to just sit there and work away at something without overbearing corporate middlemanagers breathing down their necks and underfunding their projects" (given that Silent Hill Downpour was made on the same budget as Silent Hill 2).

I'd like to see Yamaoka and Ito be involved in future projects too, but I'm not going to pretend there wasn't a good while back there where even they were spinning their wheels a bit.

[NanayaShiki]

Probably both. I think it was always going to be a pretty good game. Seeing what they made now, I can understand that they approached it with a sense of appreciation for the original. However, I think the initial feedback probably did impact it a bit. You can easily see it in James' face but I imagine there's probably other places too where the initial negative assumptions they would ruin it had them working extra hard not to.

Obviously any of the "woke" silliness should have been rightfully discarded as the nonsense it is.