Silent Hill 2 Remake - PS5 Tech Review - An Authentic UE5 Recreation... But What About Performance?

[@Tintin_desi_billa]

In my restless dreams, i see that upscaler. You promised you'd upscale without artefacts, but you never did.

[@Geraltofrivia12gdhdbruwj]

It is up to the devs who implement and optimize it. Dont solely blame the upscaler.

[@olimphus26]

Lmaooooo

[@jenscee7679]

That is a brilliant comment.

[@Elderath86]

PSSR, our saviour coming soon

[@leonthesleepy]

@@Elderath86 Is it though? At least from the early previews, its better than FSR but still a lot worse than DLSS

[@samburke8693]

There used to be a stable 60fps here. It's gone now.

[@flush_entity]

im hoping for a performance mode to be optimized at 60fps and a visual mode to have 30fps. Luckily for PC users, they're probably gona get more than 60fps without update

[@abysswalker3357]

@@flush_entity i bet the ps5 pro is gonna run this game at 60 fps and with pssr

[@zainmalik9666]

@@samburke8693 who would’ve thought that games got more demanding as time passed😂😂

[@VegasAceVII]

I was the 100th person to like this. Thanks for the laugh.

[@MattBee84]

@@flush_entity Alex has already tweeted that pc has the dreaded stutter issues

[@CakeSublime]

It never ceases to amaze me how incredible the original pre-rendered cutscenes look.

[@geoffdb8118]

They really were good

[@corey2232]

The hair on characters looks way better in those 2001 pre-rendered scenes than they do on the modern renditions.

[@KaiHarizor]

@@corey2232I completely agree with you. The remake kinda looks bland. Not enough fog, not enough…something. It’s just off, which is disappointing for me.

[@lum26akua28]

​@@KaiHarizorIt's the textures. The original looks grimey and gross, and the remake looks too clean. It still looks good, it just needed more dirt and roughness to really feel like Silent Hill 2.

[@PlasticCogLiquid]

@@corey2232 +The uglification of the women.

[@robertcarr4172]

Watching this reminds me of what a massive jump it was from ps1 to ps2.

[@CaveyMoth]

Yeah, seeing that James' hair had actual, you know, hair texture, was mind-blowing right from the get-go.

[@g2jxGhF5G8z1gL7S]

yep, peak gaming

[@AmiteshwarSingh-u3k]

Yeah, I still can't believe that mgs 1 and mgs 2 are 3 years apart, but the graphical jump was unimaginable

[@eldenringer6466]

buuut not such a jump from ps2 to ps5 / pro. Some of the original looks better. The original cutscenes still kick ass...as do some other things...while the new can look a little too static and lifeless at times failing to capture the atmosphere of the og masterpiece

[@beardalaxy]

@@eldenringer6466 the original cutscenes were pre-rendered, so that's part of it. it is pretty amazing how well they hold up in such a low resolution honestly.

[@hersnab]

I've got really good at guessing who is doing the review when clicking the thumbnail before the video starts playing. Thanks for the review Tom.

[@Stephen_Black]

My guess was either Tom Selleck or Tori Spelling. I think I’m getting worse at predicting these things.

[@phant0mdummy]

@@Stephen_Black while those are bespoke predictions, there's an element of disillusion here. You have inherited a nearest neighbor mindset, and seem to live nearby an asylum (as it were). What can be done, then? It's clear that in the here and now, we are going to have to downsample our expectations for your future contributions. Erstwhile, our judgment of the sort of thing you bring to the fore can be considered speculative at best. The lumen GI is certainly bringing to light the bugbears in your unorthodoxy. Meanwhile, there is no sight of Alex. Fellow seems to have gone auf vider.... Schnitzel.

[@Gryzor88]

⁠​⁠@@phant0mdummyimpressive analysis indeed. Alex might perhaps best describe it as ausgeschnitzel or krauskefarben.

[@MysteryD]

@@hersnab yeah, me too. Except it's so I can avoid Oliver's lisp

[@lukek945]

@@phant0mdummy LMAOOO

[@ragenfio]

I recently replayed the original on my CRT in RGB. A mystical experience that made me feel the same sensations as 23 years ago. That fog is as suffocating as it was back then...

[@nikitos3558]

Yes, I would even say the PS2 version is the best way to play the original, if you have a CRT of course

[@GameslordXY]

​@@nikitos3558 Well these new machines can be connected to TVs. Either via some adapter or natively via HDMI .

[@robertkorth2911]

​@nikitos3558 the enhanced edition on pc is wayyy better it's not even a competition.

[@juanme555]

@@robertkorth2911 No its not.

[@kammerdude4928]

Yeah, I replay the original often, most notably the Greatest Hits version since it uses the updated lighting and shadow engine. I had been eyeballing the 26 inch flatscreen Sanyo CRT my grandparents had for a good 4-5 years and finally asked them if I could have it, and they said yes. As for the enhanced PC edition, where do you think they pulled all the assets from to get that version to the quality it is? The PS2 version. It's still the best, highest quality, bug free, stable, all fully functioning visual effects/music/sound effects version that exists. It's not even a competition.

[@victornguyen1175]

The complete lack of that dream-like feeling in all of the prerendered cutscenes is really frustrating. There's this odd foggy glow and wispyness to everything in the original that the remake doesn't capture at all. Everything is far too clear, and they've done very little using it as a visual element. If there's anything that's been lost, it's that.

[@ahmedp8009]

YES! the remake is way too clean! Why? they should've kept that static-filter at the very least!

[@KaiHarizor]

It looks like it was trying to copy Resident Evil.

[@gfcomiano]

There's a 90's filter that makes the game look better.

[@VegasAceVII]

@@KaiHarizor It sure does and that is exactly what they were instructed to do most likely.

[@60weHoodsta]

I wanna go off the limb and say that it was probably due to hardware limitations 😂😂😂 I mean. The old version is still here if you wanna have that🤦🏾‍♂️ Sheesh. The gaming community gets weirder with each generation

[@LockeLeon]

Imagine sending this back to 2001 with a 65' OLED TV

[@PyromancerRift]

65" is low PPI. It suck ass.

[@bodacious12]

​@@PyromancerRiftPPI is highly dependent on distance, 4K is fine on very large tvs

[@Pawnband]

People would wonder why games from 2024 have worse performance than PS2 games.

[@Thifurious]

65ft?

[@Kaptainbeer]

You’d probably be like “wow the ps3 is gonna be awesome!”

[@ampo2004]

I would say that the original character desings were a bit more stylized on purpose and that gave the game this dream like idealized people.

[@robertlawrence9000]

Yep! Exactly! The dark mysterious noir look to them. Also the character models shape of the original look better in a lot of ways.

[@ARyan-nf5my]

Big time just look a the thumb of the vid. Mary too contrary now

[@walter4180]

Disagree They just look like 2001 realistic video game models

[@Sloimer]

Yeah I prefer the old designs. Slightly uncanny designs with some feline qualities. These are good too though - we’ll see how it makes me feel, though.

[@ArielCleirigh]

Watching female faces on OG SH2, you can see still better than remake

[@NegitoroIsBestShip]

Man it sucks fixed camera angles are out of style. I can recall many shots from the original but the one that will always stick with me is the shot mounted on the ceiling in the Historical Society, lookin down at James before he jumps down his 3rd(?) hole in the ground. Just watching like a sick voyeur fly on the wall, you can almost hear Team Silent chuckling when they decided on such a weird angle. The fixed camera just has tons of personality if the devs choose to actually set a mood for it.

[@unLuckyFetus]

From an artistic, cinematic, and just my own personal bias, I wholeheartedly agree 😉

[@Mr.Honest247]

Thank all the shallow people that say in mass “iT’S oUTdATeD…” They’re the ones that keep companies from using that important stylistic choice for horror games. Fixed cameras add a whole new dimension to horror and survival horror that over the shoulder can’t deliver. It forces the player to use sound which allows the imagination to work and it also gives the game an opportunity to have its own identity vs when doing over the shoulder that gives the player full control over that identity(because of being able to choose their own angles) which is just lazy and keeps it from being as memorable. Sure there are other ways that the game can have an identity with over the shoulder but it becomes tricky at that point. The original RE4 managed to nail identity despite being over the shoulder so it is possible.

[@g2jxGhF5G8z1gL7S]

yeah, zero tension with 3rd person shooter camera angles. It's just the bottom of the barrel thing that sells, but not something someone with taste prefers.

[@beardalaxy]

A lot of people keep parroting that it was a limitation, and that's why they had to use it, but nooooo it was 100% intentional to keep those fixed camera shots. That's a huge part of the game's cinematography and atmosphere. I knew they were going to have to drastically rework some parts if they were excluding that and I'm not sure they pulled it off (like was mentioned here, tight indoor spaces can be rough). Honestly, after playing SH2 for the first time around 5 years ago, it still holds up remarkably well. The fixed camera is not an issue at all because it gives you the option to use 2D controls. SH1 is a lot more brutal since it's only tank controls that are available.

[@beardalaxy]

@@Mr.Honest247 You have to build your game from the ground up with this type of 3rd person camera in mind for it to work. 1st person too. SH2 was built to be a mix of a 3rd person follow camera with lots of static camera shots. If you're going to remake it, you need to do a lot of work to change that, including things that are antithetical to the original design.

[@SLanKshoT]

I liked the camera angles and grainy look of the originals. It helped a lot setting up the mood and atmosphere and I felt like watching over the person like in a movie or through a security camera.

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

Dutch camera angles make you feel weird and uneasy, perfect for the tone of the game

[@HugoStiglitz88]

No film grain is terrible

[@Sneaky_racoon_sly]

​@@HugoStiglitz88you can turn it off in the menue

[@Coldsilfur4]

​@@HugoStiglitz88there is a 90s filter option in the menu.. curious how it looks

[@ForgedHorizons]

Really want to see a PC check in. UE5 on pc can be very hit and miss in terms of optimization. Looking forward to that, but I suppose I'll know tomorrow.

[@dr.chungusphd108]

@@ForgedHorizons same. I’m running on an older 3070ti so I’m a bit nervous but fingers crossed.

[@deang.5636]

Unfortunately they only seem to test the 4090 for pc performance.

[@IncessantWake]

@@dr.chungusphd108 3070ti is a solid card for 1440p gaming. You can't go wrong.

[@TooBokoo]

As long as you've got a higher tier card from the last couple generations, you'll, at least, be able to beat PS5 and PS5 Pro performance. That's for sure.

[@MadManCorp]

UE5 has stuttering issues. That being said, if you have even a mid ranged modern pc it should run a good bit better than the outdated ps5.

[@Harrave]

Hmm I never played the 2001 original seeing as I would be a newborn at the time, but looking at these comparisons, there's no denying that something about it just being old and grainy makes it a lot spookier no matter how much the remastered edition tries

[@beardalaxy]

that's why a lot of indie horror games go for that older aesthetic. it's got this certain quality to it.

[@ralphengland8559]

You can get it running for free on pc these days. It's worth a try.

[@BlackPaperMoon18]

Same with old japanese horror movies. We cant go back 😢 different tech and screens.

[@marcw3852]

The ghostly 'uncanny valley' of the PS2 does a lot for the atmosphere. Like some half remembered nightmare. I'm glad the remake has turned out well but don't think the pristine presentation will make this the definitive version

[@cun7us]

Yeah but those graphics are old and dated regardless of the atmosphere.

[@recover2077]

I'm still confused why Developers aren't offering more 40fps modes that aren't Sony First party titles. Seems like a great contender for a Balanced 40fps target mode.

[@lpnp9477]

Most TVs don't display at a rate divisible by 40. 40 on a 60hz display looks awful. You would need a 120 or 240 mode for 40 to make sense.

[@recover2077]

@@lpnp9477 Well exactly. A lot of modern TVs support HDMI 2.1 at 120hz output with VRR. Plenty of games do this already, I'm not sure why you're seemingly against the idea?

[@ayushsinghchauhan9558]

time constraints I am sure

[@desmondbrown5508]

@@lpnp9477 Yeah, but clearly this is where displays are heading. It makes little sense to restrict the option now when this is intended to last long into the future.

[@xacvhFAs]

@@lpnp9477so what’s your point?

[@martijnvanderwal3976]

I used to be excited for UE 5 games, but most EU 5 games that have come out suffer from low internal resolution with a crappy upscaler, not to mention the performance and stutters, especially in traversal.

[@GameslordXY]

Then don't use upscaler. That being said you are most likely stuck in the past and closed minded towads new things. Upscalers can look great. DLSS usually does.

[@SixSioux]

I guess u must be using a console then, lmao

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

Unrealistic engine 5

[@DravenxEyeless]

Same. It goes like: new game? Oh, yes! UE5? Oh, no...

[@cdavi086]

I don’t think I’m a fan of UE5.

[@ZimpanX]

With reflections looking that poor (in performance mode especially) there should be an option to disable them all together and just fall back to cube maps, to save even more performance and possible room to increase the overall resolution a bit instead.

[@evilzinabyssranger5695]

yeah, maybe 1 extreme performance mode with no ray tracing . bEt it would gain like 10 to 15 fps

[@Nebujin383]

@@evilzinabyssranger5695 "without", and not "with no"

[@710rcr]

Wow, Ps2 still look good.

[@arioca]

There's no still. Great art is timeless.

[@hyperfocus4866]

@@710rcr 100%

[@cypher5009]

I've always found the original to have this "ethereal" feeling to it, even more so on PC once you install the Enhanced Edition mod. It's this feeling that is missing for me in the remake, despite the graphical upgrade. I really wish Konami would release a remastered collection for the original games too, so people can enjoy them after playing the remake.

[@nikitos3558]

The PS2 version of the original is the best. Especially if you play it on a CRT

[@TaiJason37]

You can‘t beat peak PS2 times. From SH2, Devil May Cry, Onimusha, FFX, Gran Tourismo 3, God of War, MGS…nothing is left. I‘m so thankfull that i experienced the best console generation and the best Playstation gen ever

[@smitty8310]

Hopefully a heavier film grain option is added in a patch. It really was essential to the original's atmosphere.

[@RipeStories]

Is it just me or did almost all the characters look “better” in the old ps2 version? The unreal 5 character look is a bit uncanny and slightly soulless. Further, it’s outrageous how well the atmosphere in the original holds up.

[@Dopamiin3]

they only looked good/better in the fmvs. their actual models lacked a lot of detail such as eye brows or facial expressions. sh3 and 4 do a much better job with models

[@marcusclark1339]

yup original was better, having higher fidelity doesn't make for a better face just more detail they butchered there faces especially pizza man and Angela its hilarious seeing side by sides of them

[@originalityisdead.9513]

​@@marcusclark1339 Angela i agree on. Pizza man now looks like a right loonatic.

[@lpnp9477]

That's not an engine thing, that's a design thing. The engine is aesthetic agnostic.

[@TootTootUSA]

I'm with you, not a fan of these new models.

[@FrozenZXCV]

Should’ve just disabled ray tracing/lumen for standard screen space reflections and global illumination on performance mode for 60fps most people aren’t going to stand still and look at puddles during gameplay anyway

[@gabrielavila7579]

Yeah like The last of us part 1 and 2 that use screen space reflections with the objective of mantain 60 fps, but I think in this case Silent Hill 2 fail in the same way as Alan Wake 2 on the performance mode

[@J0rdan912]

@@gabrielavila7579 Alan Wake 2 failed in every way. No PC without frame gen are able to run it properly with at least with RT low and medium preset, while consoles are struggling the same way as here - low settings, drops below 30 and 60 fps, unstable sub-1080p/1440p modes.

[@May1stBurst]

The game was designed around lumen global illumination so there's likely no fallback system. Ray traced gi is a huge upgrade and the lighting looks amazing in this game. I agree that the reflections should have been shut off though. They are too low resolution and end up looking worse than ssr.

[@crestofhonor2349]

Lumen GI saves a lot of development time in having to bake out each scene with the proper lighting. I do agree that they could have switched to SSR in the reflections though as it would overall be a benefit in performance mode

[@J0rdan912]

@@crestofhonor2349 That's the problem, saving time for company in exchange to worse performance for gamers and less artistic work. Backing out each scene and even shadow allowed Xbox One looking games like Halo 4 to exist and even run perfectly on a freaking Xbox 360.

[@1.N.Decent]

I feel like there's not enough haze surrounding the player character. He seems not in the same environment when the fog is heavy.

[@Tony-qe3fl]

Wasn’t expecting that 90’s Filter, honestly a nice touch. Kudos to Bloober, I was sceptical at first, but they did a superb job with this Remake.

[@enoc137]

no

[@TheProphegy]

I guess I’m in the anomaly but I don’t get the skepticism of Bloober. Observer and Medium were dripping with atmosphere and I really liked both. I never played their Blair Witch game. Bloober always been great to me though I’ve only played two of their games.

[@davidpliskin3330]

I think the performance is unacceptable.

[@Dribin]

​@@davidpliskin3330yeah playing in performance mode for it to dip into the 40s and sometimes high 30s is no bueno.

[@KevKlopper]

If they would have added a grungy film grain it would have been perfection.

[@Rocheburger]

To me, t’s just that James looks like a different dude. It’s possible modernize a character model without changing their facial identity… it’s like a television show where the actor was replaced between seasons. Here’s an example from another Konami series: MGS2’s snake model was essentially an anime character with very simplified features. But the Phantom Pain snake is photorealistic- like a real person. But somehow the features are recognizable, and it looks like an older version of that same cartoony character. It is possible.

[@captainthunderbolt7541]

In MGSV Snake has a photo-realistic look to him in terms of detail and textures - but I would say that he still has a subtle stylization to him. I don't think they were going for a 100% real look, which is why Snake avoids the uncanny valley.

[@ralphengland8559]

I like that James in the remake looks the same in gameplay as in cutscenes. James in the cg cutscenes in the original looked way too different compared to the in-engine model.

[@kichitosunow1025]

Gonna assume you mean MGS3 and suggest you edit the comment. If not, then while you're not wrong, the Snakes from these two games are different characters and, while the closest-looking of the 4 snakes, do have subtle differences in their design

[@d4mterro320]

2001's silent hill 2 had better facial animations than gta 3, vice city AND san andreas. Konami were out of their league.

[@arioca]

This was back when developers actually cared to create unique experiences pushing the available tech. This new Silent Hill 2 is mimicking the Resident Evil 2 reimagining made on last generation hardware but it's not nearly as polished. This is yet another soulless demake designed for casuals and praised by Digital Foundry, similar to the awful Dead Rising that recently came out.

[@hogan4670]

But guess which games sold the most copies and are way more known globally.

[@chanhjohnnguyen1867]

Different levels of scope my dude.

[@walter4180]

​@@ariocaor you just don't like change Of which this game doesn't actually change much if anything when it comes to the source material Your cynicism is making you call it soulless when the most recent trailers and the gameplay shown points to the contrary You're mad at the industry, we get it Just don't be weird like this about it lol This also isn't an re2r style of remake so you were wrong from the outset.

[@kosmosyche]

They were even better in SH3. Honestly faces in SH3 look pretty good even by today's standards.

[@djayjp]

The look of the skin on the original characters was not unintentional. They're supposed to look pale and almost ghost like. So the "more realistic" looking skin of the remake is a step back in artistic direction.

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

These "fixes" to some of the '01 perceived problems have no reasoning behind them, unlike the original game where everything was deliberate. They should've had a company like Fromsoft work on this game

[@TaiJason37]

100% Artistic design was key in the OG game. Ppl don‘t get

[@danb7601]

well said, its a complete disaster and makes everything FAR less unsettling. Artistically blind and deaf

[@joeykeilholz925]

​@@jarlwhiterun7478except the pc version would be so bad if fs did it

[@MrRitchieevans]

@@jarlwhiterun7478Fromsoft😂😂😂😂😂 people are pulling stuff out their arses now

[@tehsimo]

They really need to sort out their TAA to solve this motion banding issue

[@crestofhonor2349]

Unreal engine's default TAA really sucks. It needs to be modified

[@MasterPJ86]

The remeke had to improve graphics to modern standards, BUT they lost a lot of art direction in the process. Everything is too "clean" now. Not talking about noise filter, but there is no fog between the camera and the character (mostly during dialogs). Everything is sharp, clean, with perfect focus and popping colors. The original did this aspect way better, it was just an artistic choice, nothing to do with technical power.

[@wjveryzer7985]

actually, it had EVERYTHING to do with the power at the time. You can read all about it!

[@Carfilliot]

@@wjveryzer7985exactly.

[@crackmalta]

@@wjveryzer7985 You're right, they created an artistic touch revolving around the tech they had at the time. I don't think you can capture that feel, it's one of those 'you had to be there to get it'. I won't be surprised if the same result will take place for MGS3.

[@Mr.Honest247]

@@wjveryzer7985The irony is it was the technical limitations that FORCED them to become artistic about how they can deliver horror with these limitations.

[@Mr.Honest247]

@@crackmaltaWell I don’t think so because MGS3 is following the original 1 to 1 as a remake. They even included the load screens between areas and they included the original camera views too as an option.

[@adamuser8246]

didn't M.C, say gamers prefer 60 fps..well get to it devs

[@sinfatus]

It will be 700 dollars, plz.

[@HAA2k]

Seems like it stays at 60fps for most of the game. Maybe irs me, but as long as the game is 50-60 range for the most part, I'm good.

[@SakuraAvalon]

I don't remember Master Chief saying that.

[@adamuser8246]

@@SakuraAvalon lol

[@Vomerfe1]

"The design of each character is also adjusted to suit..." Yeah, we know, what it has been adjusted to suit... Just look at 3.28

[@loucipher7782]

I think they actually listen to fans critic and added more fog?

[@-TriP-]

been watching someone stream this, it turned out better than expected! not a fan of the new voice acting but it's otherwise seeming pretty faithful. the new sound design is great.

[@robertlawrence9000]

They messed up the character designs on the human characters. They don't seem as creepy and mysterious now.

[@DoctorCyrax]

@@robertlawrence9000 😂😂😂

[@Godzilladad]

The voice acting is great

[@hatsunemiku1348]

​@@Godzilladadwas great* this ones pretty doody og voices 9x better

[@hiho9149]

I thought the original had carefully crafted lighting effects to sell you on the atmosphere. Now the lighting doesn't even sync between graphic modes?

[@fillerbunnyninjashark271]

It's a consumer product. They didn't even play the second game. It's just a skin suit

[@MisterAlerion]

@@fillerbunnyninjashark271silent hill is not high art.

[@fillerbunnyninjashark271]

@@MisterAlerion silent Hill games had a lot to say. Pretty hard for a consumer to understand

[@MisterAlerion]

@@fillerbunnyninjashark271 Oh yeah, Silent Hill is just so kino, it's so auteur and deep, it's totally high art. Nobody even understands it except for you, and all the hardcore nerds that played it when it released. Read a book bro

[@fillerbunnyninjashark271]

@@MisterAlerion bet you've read Harry Potter and thought it was good

[@itsCobbi]

Maybe I'm alone with this.. but this remake doesn't look like UE5.. could have been UE4 and running better..

[@MisterAlerion]

It's all about the lighting and effects. UE5 has much, much better lighting.

[@ehenningsen]

​@MisterAlerion I also love the UE5 feature set

[@adamdavis1737]

I just moved into a new apartment with a way bigger living room where the couch is a lot farther away. I figured, it's finally time to upgrade from my 55-in entry level 4K TV that I got back in 2018 so that I can play Red Dead 2 on an Xbox One X And we picked up a 77-in LG OLED c4. Should be hooked up by the end of today, and I am excited for this to be the first game I play on it. I am so glad that it came out in a way that surpassed so many people's initial expectations, including my own

[@fenixa2z936]

Nice

[@XiLock_Alotx]

I just upgraded my pc monitor to a LG 39 inch ultrawide OLED 240hz model. I think we r both in for a treat with this title! GLHF!

[@jrbrawlersgaming1816]

Great choice

[@Renk1]

Great TV there! I have a 83” LG G3 and I’m looking forward to playing this through that.

[@stephensearles673]

I have a 55 lg c3

[@YungRolex]

gah damn the temporal AA ghosting is real.

[@captainthunderbolt7541]

The image quality is *HAUNTED!!!*

[@nanamistie]

Maria and Angela's heads are so big relative to the body, the proportions seem so...off. I can't unsee it

[@schemar17]

That's their models

[@joseph3662]

look at Salome. Its their respective models. Research first before you comment

[@ArashiKageTaro]

Thankfully you are in a very small minority

[@herbertsapon6861]

​@ArashiKageTaro he's not. The new models suck.

[@AarturoSc]

That square jaw looks awful on the female character models.

[@DDRaHolic]

Honestly, the original cutscenes look even more amazing when put side by side with the new ones.

[@musicenjoyer4203]

There are elements of this that look impressive but ultimately the whole thing just appears sterile. There's something uniquely striking about the original and much of that is lost in the remake.

[@riaz8783]

It feels odd saying the game looks too clean and crisp, but I think in the race for more pixels and realism, the original hazy dream-like artistic vision has been lost

[@Gronbar6]

A lot of old horror games benefits from that janky pixelated look, way batter atmosphere that new games.

[@novaca9826]

Whoever posted the pic of David duchovny's face over Angela's model has me dying and that all I can see when I see the updated version 😂😂😂😂

[@64ccd]

It's crazy how beautiful this remake is and I still feel the ps2 version feels scarier. Looking at any side-by-side comparison the ps2 version gives me the creeps, while the remake just looks pretty. Not being a great horror fan I think the new version looks more inviting, but if I was after the scariest game I think it still might be the ps2 version for me.

[@Harsh-mg2em]

It could just be because in the remake people look like people, but PS2 people are more these puppets, representations of people.

[@JimBob1937]

@@Harsh-mg2em , exactly. I think part of the issue for some people is that the uncanny and "dreamlike" look that they see in the original is down to poor lighting, low polygon animations, poor framerate rendered FMVs, and unintentionally stiff voice acting. A lot of these elements would have likely been different if they had more compute and other resources available to them at the time of the OG development. What we think of as the complete package of the OG Silent Hill 2 is actually a mixture of intentional choices, forced limitations of the time, and the unintentional. They should come into a remake with the view that things will indeed be different, and shouldn't fall in love with a specific implementation in time. It's like taking your favorite show and replacing one of the key actors... this will feel weird, as you feel like no one could take the place of that actor, yet, the actor we currently have in that show is somewhat arbitrary and was luck of the draw in casting in the first place.

[@64ccd]

@@Harsh-mg2em I think that's probably a big part of it. Also I like what they said in the video about the original feeling more otherworldly and almost like found footage because of the camera angles.

[@64ccd]

@@JimBob1937 You're absolutely right about this. And for a game where the original holds up well, I think a bit of a reimagining is a good thing, why else make a remake? I think it works less well when you change the story in the way they did with the final fantasy remakes, but changing the look and feel doesn't necessarily make things worse. I think the FF 7 remake battle system is a step up in every way, just like being able to move while shooting in the RE 4 remake is the right move. I guess for this SH remake it seems that they went for having the visuals just look better, but something was lost in the translation for sure. Someone else here in the comments wrote about the ps2 fog feeling like an entity, whereas it just feels video gamey here. In my personal opinion it feels like they didn't quite bring over those aspects of the original. I think this is a game that might've benefited from some real heavy filter, like say what they did for Fincher's Seven, or the Kurosawa mode for Ghost of Tsushima.

[@Artursamvelyan-ny9zk]

They say don’t fix whats not broken. Original had style. Remake they just went for a more realistic style

[@emulation2369]

3:24 David Duchovny looks amazing on the right

[@captainthunderbolt7541]

They got him looking just like he did in the Xfiles!

[@Kivancli79]

damn it i cant unsee David Duchovny's face everytime i see Angela ... its stuck in my head

[@halcyon6098]

That's who I was thinking of.

[@thegreatpoo2electricboogal318]

Yeah her and Maria have big jaw lines. Its weird.

[@beardalaxy]

@@thegreatpoo2electricboogal318 there's a major trend with the industry right now of giving female characters these wide jaws. it's really strange, most women don't look like that irl so i think it lends to that weird, uncanny vibe you get looking at the models, and not the sort of uncanny vibe you're supposed to get. it just really reassures you that you're playing a video game, if that makes sense. very unimmersive.

[@Fea_240]

Remakes are cursed to look worse even with all the technical improvements

[@cun7us]

Because you're stuck in the past and can't move with the times.

[@rocketpunchgo1]

Confounding they treated the grain filter so poorly for the remake. It may seem like a small detail, but I feel it's an integral part to the Silent Hill franchise.

[@Myako]

The chromatic aberration and fog too. I doubt they would have been difficult to implement, and at least offered as an option.

[@Etheral101]

It's funny because grain is the first setting most gamers turn off

[@Chobbito]

@@Etheral101 we all did just to try it but then you realise the games atmosphere just worked so much better with it, so we turned it back on.

[@HugoStiglitz88]

No. Film grain is trash

[@HugoStiglitz88]

​@@Etheral101exactly. Film grain looks awful

[@sneakycacti]

If it ain’t optimized for my system it’s not optimized for my wallet

[@semyonzhigunov671]

When stable 30 become unoptimised?

[@sneakycacti]

@@semyonzhigunov671 when it says 120fps on the box

[@semyonzhigunov671]

@@sneakycacti so, because PS5 can output in some games 120 fps, it must run everything with such framerate?

[@sneakycacti]

@@semyonzhigunov671 well I expect better performance than the ps2-ps3, why spend all this money on new consoles to play games at the same frame rate as consoles 30 years ago?

[@semyonzhigunov671]

@@sneakycacti if performance haven't changed in 30 years, why it suddenly should change now?

[@Vartazian360]

UE5 takes another casualty. It looks good but thats about it. They are ruining the industry. All these fancy features but the engine can't produce stable frametimes. This happens to 90% of UE5 games.

[@rickdiculuss6049]

@Vartazian360 the consoles can't run it properly really

[@Protege88]

Hope you get used to it because a lot more devs are going to be using it going forward

[@SajedShadi]

​@@rickdiculuss6049is that why Alex Twitting about poor performance and stutter on PC as well ?!

[@GameslordXY]

​@@rickdiculuss6049 Consoles? It runs on just 1. Pro isn't out yet.

[@rickdiculuss6049]

@@SajedShadi yes lol

[@Chasm9]

That dark moody eerie sequence around 7:00 min looked absolutely gorgeous !

[@robertlawrence9000]

Them human characters didn't turn out as good as the original. Look carefully at the comparisons. The noir look and acting is gone. It's a disappointment they missed the mark on those.

[@GameslordXY]

​@@robertlawrence9000 It's possible you are just too stuck in nostalgia to them as improvments. I should know. I do it too in some games.

[@perpetualcollapse]

The PC mods to make it closer to the original are going to be crazy

[@TootTootUSA]

James the Tank Engine when?

[@MisterAlerion]

Fixed camera angles....

[@Godzilladad]

Or just play the original on PC

[@MisterAlerion]

@@Godzilladad I'm looking forward to the Remake.

[@ianmitchell5979]

I do wonder if the game will be moddable. It's UE5, but I don't know of many Bloober games that got mods any bigger than a reshade. So character designs and gameplay/camera changes are probably never gonna happen.

[@dethskullcrusher]

Playing SH2 Remake is half the fun, watching DF videos about it the othee half.

[@JustOneMoreRyan]

Please summon Alex for the PC performance review! We all are dying to know, beyond "stutter struggle" which is bound to be present, does this game scale and perform well? If it takes more time, I am happy to wait :)

[@electrikoptik]

"The quality mode runs with dynamic scaling, between 2176x1224 to 2688x1512, while the performance mode drops that range to 1536x864 to 2048x1152. There's a temporal upscale in place both sides (TSR, based on the PC version), resolving to a 4K image, but expectedly, it has a bigger uphill battle - with more reconstruction artefacts - with the 60fps mode. Frustratingly, there's no ignoring the visual artefacts that go with this temporal upscale. Even on quality mode, running at a higher target 1512p, you'll spot motion banding on grey backdrops. Notably there's banding at the edges of the screen while looking skyward, or panning across fog - which is rather unfortunate given it's everywhere." Source: Eurogamer

[@teddyholiday8038]

We need the PS5 Pro. Period. UE5 crushes current Gen consoles. Pro haters were wrong

[@fenixa2z936]

Source: What he just said in the video. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@phant0mdummy]

@@teddyholiday8038 uh. That isn't how it works. Haters are right because the pro STILL will no handle ue5 games well. This is the issue since launch. These current consoles are ue4 machines and we are forcing, what is essentially, a ue5 beta onto them.

[@teddyholiday8038]

@@phant0mdummy Stop. You’ve been debunked. We need more power. Period. And we need ML upscaling

[@Ramonis1000]

What if instead of paying $700 so devs can brute force games, we ask for better optimization or better yet we ask them to stop using UE5 on so many damn games

[@none377]

Sony: PS5 will support 8k and 120 FPS. Developers: *Laugh in 30 FPS*

[@GameslordXY]

They never said 120fps at 8K. I don't think 120fps 8K displays exist on mainstream market. Base PS5 CAN do 8K at some simpler games. 2D games, but Sony limited firmware to 4K for whatever reason.

[@none377]

@@GameslordXY I didn't say that either. I said "8K AND 120 FPS." But I think they did say 4k at 120 FPS. Point being, that they overpromised buyers for marketing. Sony even removed the 8k claim from their PS5 boxes.

[@trickshotgamingtrickshotgaming]

@@none3778k movies is a thing on ps5 and show me where they said there will be games running at 4k at 120fps please stop with the lies

[@Neb_Raska]

Nobody's laughing

[@a2raya772]

console are garbage, im glad i left it ages ago.

[@jacquesjtheripper5922]

Why many close up scenes are too closed in? You dont even see the girl hold the knife when laying on her side, dont see the main character's head in the mirror scene, etc Original seems more creepy, disturbing, and ofc characters seem less seductive, and uglier.. Bs of 2020s plus

[@AndrewEvenstar]

This is a must buy for me. Glad it's getting good reviews.

[@Frellyouall]

DF analysing SH2 Enhanced Edition would be good.

[@RieklinRideR]

i can't think of silent hill 2 while playing this game, everything is different, it's just a UE5 game with silent hill name

[@eliack95]

When the title asks "but what about performance?", you can strap in for a bumpy ride

[@DannyPost]

You can see his arm ghosting while the camera rotates at 15:40

[@simonrockstream]

Looks generic and his GLOWING hair ruins it completely.

[@cookieface80]

He's going super saiyan.

[@hupekyser]

i dont like the clean rendering in the new version. the film grain and low res look of the original lent itself to a more found footage, rough look. they should have gone down the route of vhs tape filter asthetic. would have been way creepier

[@Chasm9]

Impressive effort this. Playing this day one for sure. 🤔

[@phant0mdummy]

@@Chasm9 aight Yoda.

[@Chasm9]

@@phant0mdummy 😁

[@AbrahamZX1]

Playing it day -2

[@Nolasco.]

As a long time fan of the Silent Hill series all the way from the first alteration i can only say that Bloober team did an amazing job. Thanks for the coverage Tom 😊👍🏼

[@AvithOrtega]

I hope that John Linneman reviews this game, I am sure he has interesting things to say about the game.

[@beardalaxy]

i fully expect more wonderful teachings from the leader of the church of CRT :D will probably hear about it in a DF direct.

[@JorgeGomez-hx5uu]

Could’ve added the option for classic camera angles

[@5.99USD]

Im not a fan of how the remake changes the character designs. There was no need to change them. They should have done what MGS Delta is doing.

[@Lievan]

Keep crying about this.

[@5.99USD]

@@Lievan I wont cry I'll just play the superior original and ignore the demake. Enjoy your slop.

[@NXDf7]

@@Lievan female dog

[@Harsh-mg2em]

@@5.99USD I wish Maria had the outfit that doesn't cover her stomach too, but honestly it's such a little nitpick, especially to be calling this a demake. Fine to feel sentimental towards a game you grew up with, but you need to be objective, a lot of work and passion went into this.

[@EarthboundX]

@@5.99USD Slop? It's been getting great reviews. I believe the characters designs are based on beta ones from the original.

[@Izquierda]

Remakes never capture the magic of the original. Just play the real thing on a CRT and it'll look and feel better (or a retro scaler with interlace simulation).

[@bigt4135]

Still looking for that 34 inch Sony trinitron with hdmi.

[@Coldsilfur4]

From what i learned.. never say never.. and generalization is just dumb..

[@Izquierda]

@@Coldsilfur4 Generalization is useful when it covers a great majority of cases. But sure, let's say "almost never" then.

[@Coldsilfur4]

@@Izquierda i guess thats only for negative toxic persons with rosey retro goggles. Of course a remake will change the visuals... thats what the essence of a remake is. And i think the Remake of SH2 can quiet good capture the mood, though at some points it may be slightly different.

[@Izquierda]

@@Coldsilfur4 It's for anyone with eyes to see. But hey, if you like it all the more power to you.

[@SteamPunk96]

fun fact if I remember correctly, SH2 on PS2 actually ran at a 512x512 square resolution before being squished back down to 512x448

[@jamess854]

Pisses me off that in 2024 that they don’t even include a motion blur slider. I can’t stand motion blur

[@mattg082]

Same, it’s the first thing I disable along with film grain for any game! Also I’ll usually disable chromatic as well. Just saw for those playing a little earlier, there is no motion blur slider..on PS5 at least it’s on both modes. I do feel we will see a near future patch on the game, more options and prob get it to stay above 48fps drops at the start to stay in the VRR window. A lot of people also taking, wait to play on Pro, but it’s not on list of supported games at this time. All boost will do is allow for it to stay at 60fps, and above 48fps for VRR to do its job. Hopefully they get it out sooner than later basic options on PS5.

[@jamess854]

@@mattg082 yeah, it’s such a shame really. I honestly hope that Bloober patch the game because Other companies like sucker punch didn’t patch Ghost of Tsushima to have a disable blur setting.

[@semyonzhigunov671]

What's wrong with you?

[@jamess854]

@@semyonzhigunov671 Motion blur causes me and many others migraines, and severe motion sickness.

[@Playerz714]

Some of the reimaging of characters are such a weird choice

[@revenant097]

Such as?

[@Lievan]

Not really but children will cry about it.

[@YeOldeMachine]

I agree, it seems like an odd thing to do. They all looked better in the PS2 version, imo. Especially Angela. Her face is weirdly round and wide. She looks chubby from the neck up, but still has a petite body. Just an odd choice

[@Playerz714]

@@Lievan What is this take lol

[@howie3601]

They look almost identical to the original. I'd saw they look alot better in the remake than the original. They look more their age.

[@JudgementNutter]

While I've grown on the design on Remake Maria, I'm still not a fan of the redesign for Angela. Even though she looks more like a 19yo in the remake, I think it made more sense she was aged beyond her years because of her trauma. Maybe it's also because her clothes are identical unlike everyone else, so in my brain it's like her ps2 model just has a different face.

[@luckyrockmore2796]

I can't not see David Duchovny 🤣

[@phant0mdummy]

@@JudgementNutter she's adorable and I want to protect her.

[@GM-Shenmue]

James face...

[@makoto4341]

@@luckyrockmore2796 Denise in Twin Peaks, the resemblance is uncanny

[@robertlawrence9000]

Yep. Pretty much every human character they messed up.

[@FaeezHendricks]

As nice as this looks... The original with its graphic limitations added to the atmosphere in a major way. More than people realise. The remake looks amazing but it's a total different experience.

[@dpyxl]

daym i still prefer the character design of the original 2001.. OG Maria looks pretty and sinister

[@thegreatpoo2electricboogal318]

Yeah new maria has a big head and masculine face.

[@TheIndulgers]

2024 and consoles can't maintain 60fps at 864p, or dips all the way down to mid 20fps in quality mode. This generation is a sham.

[@ttj7811]

True

[@Lievan]

Then do better. Also, this has happened with every generation. Try again.

[@KarlTheExpert]

Console gamers have no standards, so why try harder when they'll make up excuses for terrible framerates and bad image quality? They want to get ripped of so they get ripped off.

[@xacvhFAs]

@@KarlTheExpertexactly just look at the clown on top of you making excuses aleeady😂

[@darkcult99]

I guess it’s gonna have to be PS5 Pro then

[@heilong79]

Why does his hair glow in the dark? The PS2 version is one of my favirote games so the thing that bothers me most is the redesign of the characters, Western companies dont know how to do good looking characters it seems, Besides that the other elements look good.

[@JimBob1937]

A lot of the redesigned elements actually match the various stages of concept art the original devs documented. For a lot of changes Blooper seemed to try and go reference old documents and art so judge if it fit into the OG developer's intent. I can't say this for every change, but quite a few of the character changes I see having ties back to the art and documents made public over the years.

[@beardalaxy]

@@JimBob1937 the problem with designing new looks based on the concept art and justifying it as "the developer's original intent" is that, if it were the dev's original intent back in the day, then it would have ended up in the final product. they didn't decide to make angela look the way she did because of technical limitations or anything, that's what they settled on when it came time to finally give her a model. it would be different if the devs were required to change some things due to censorship back in the day or something like that, and then a remake comes along and undoes that (for instance, if Donkey Kong 64 was remade and they got to use real guns instead of coconut guns). so although they based these off the original concept art, they really are just CONCEPTS for the characters. not to mention, the fans have grown to really like the way that the final versions looked and they hold it as being part of the game's identity. so, throwing away part of that identity just so you can get closer to what the first person to draw made them look like seems a little weird.

[@JimBob1937]

@@beardalaxy , I can agree somewhat. However, I’m also more flexible with the changes. To some extent, you have artists the job of remaking other artists’ work. If the new artists want to stretch their creative legs, so to speak, that’s fine. It’s a bit soul crushing to have an artist just do a one to one recreation, and even if one is using a painting as a reference, it’s common for the new artist to put their own spin on it. Plus you have conflicting wants from the consumers, some want a large reimagined game, others want a carbon copy with prettier graphics. Some flexibility has to be had from both sides. I can at least give them credit for referencing older concepts when doing this. That and the original artwork wasn’t set in stone. It’s mentioned pretty clearly a few times that Mariah’s design, for example, was meant to show more cleavage, but it was difficult with the poly count they had. Yes, the final design is different, but this is an artist’s vision unfulfilled. Similarly, even original artists of a work are not set in stone in their vision, and things like the monster designs had some changes due to changes in their vision. Long time fans have, in part, simply become used to what came to be and feel this is the true form… but it’s actually arbitrary. Just like every actor in your favorite show seems irreplaceable, but the casting could easily have went differently to begin with.

[@mr_ako662]

I will wait for the remaster of the remake

[@AtomicEy]

xD

[@beardalaxy]

or you can play the best version of the game right now, the enhanced edition :D

[@Nearest_Neighbor]

I'd love to see a classic camera option.

[@arguekayes]

It looks really good now. Those first gameplay teasers looked a little rough in the beginning. But the more they showed the better it got.

[@andrewsqual]

It was horrendous. The marketing in general has been like this. Only that trailer from 2 months ago made it far more evident they are aiming for a one to one remake. The past 3 years we had no clue of that.

[@yungcigala_]

45fps drops on performance mode? pc port is going to be insane the stutter fest Edit:Playing it on a steam deck 800p 30fps on low,some stutter here and there, but i am so impressed how good it runs

[@BryceCzirr-jz7ju]

If you have a crappy PC, sure.

[@TooBokoo]

It will likely depend heavily on how good your GPU is.

[@Joe-ti7qd]

4090 crew stand up!

[@Rentta]

@@BryceCzirr-jz7ju Those visuals do not warrant top of the line pc. It's just bad.

[@chexmixkitty]

​@@BryceCzirr-jz7juit's UE. Even if you have a 4090 and a 7800x3d, it'll run like shit.

[@oleost]

Never played the game, but is it just me or does the cutscenes often look «better» on the original compared to the remastered? 🤷‍♂️

[@JunKurosu]

Your talking about the CGI scenes

[@oleost]

@@JunKurosu yes, I know pre-rendered vs realtime but still. Athmosphere looks way better on the old one

[@JunKurosu]

@@oleost that's because the CGI is still more advanced in some stuff than the remake version

[@cookieface80]

@@JunKurosu There was nothing to stop them doing FMV cutscenes in the remake too, was there?

[@CB2904-l9l]

Wow you mean to tell me all those reviews, all those early copies, & no one could tell the performance was this inconsistent? Gaming being treated like movies still isn’t how you make it successful.

[@matth1621]

It really isn't noticeable by the untrained eye, remember this channel is for the most enthusiastic

[@CB2904-l9l]

@@matth1621 lol sure. everytime.

[@JimBob1937]

@@CB2904-l9l , I had a higher end VR headset that had this most terrible persistence blur, like, turn your head and feel like you're seeing double. My wife and dad both had no idea what I was talking about and it was perfectly fine for them. Believe it or not, a lot of people would barely notice the frame drops being discussed in this video. Only a specific segment of the market, like you and I, would notice to the point of being distracted. Sure, others may feel the game isn't as smooth, but that would be more of an unconscious aspect for them, rather than anything consciously distracting.

[@cookieface80]

@@matth1621 You can feel framedrops.

[@semyonzhigunov671]

But it's consistent in 30 fps

[@rodmunch69]

The original looks way more dynamic and moody as opposed to the overly bright remake. Are you guys capturing in HDR and then converting to SDR, which flattens out the image?

[@captainthunderbolt7541]

The character designs are my sticking point here. SH 1-4 had a Team Silent inhouse character stylization which really tied the series together, and moving away from that hurts the game's feeling of authenticity for me. Of course, Bloober Team couldn't have just reused the character designs as-is, but I feel like they should have stuck a bit closer to that iconic look when re-designing them.

[@nanpoe]

I’m actually scared for pc optimization dude there is a reason they didn’t give out pc preformance to ppl.

[@DD-fs9xt]

Honestly reminds me of those "Unreal Engine Remake" clickbait videos that you see on YT. The atmosphere of the original is completely gone.

[@bewater7465]

This!

[@cun7us]

How far graphics have come. Imagine how good they will look in another 23 years.

[@808Tornado]

15% better sadly..We are at a point of fiminishing returns

[@lpnp9477]

And they still won't hit 60fps

[@cun7us]

@@808Tornado You have a crystal ball?

[@perpetualcollapse]

⁠@@lpnp9477 Death, taxes, and games not hitting 60fps.

[@mancuniangamecat8288]

@cun7us You don't need a crystal ball, just look a how improvements have decreased every generation.

[@ZombieModding]

I'll be playing this on PC, but instead of suggesting a PS5 Pro, this reviewer should be saying that Lumen should be disabled on performance mode by default and we should be able to disable it in the options if we want, this should improve FPS performance significantly. This is yet another bad decision that will make achieving their absurd 10 million copies sold sales target even more impossible to achieve.

[@OfficialCrowMauler]

I didn’t read the title and only saw the thumbnail, and immediately thought that modders had butchered Ashley Graham.

[@desmondbrown5508]

I gotta say I don't think this game deserved anywhere near the criticism it got. It's looking pretty damn good to me.

[@steel5897]

Silent Hill fans are unbearable, they'd hate it no matter what. I've had dozens of SH fans literally saying that the SH2 combat is supposed to be awful on purpose and that the controls being bad is le good for le horror. You're dealing with delusional people.

[@geoffdb8118]

​@@steel5897lmao very well said. Survival horror purists are crazy like that

[@GraysonResistance]

Full of negative this days ....SIGH

[@Rubrasileiro]

​​@@steel5897they are true. Playing as someone less capable put a lot more pressure in player's elbow than playing with some cheated, skilled character.

[@teddyholiday8038]

@@desmondbrown5508 the first trailer they originally showed looked bad. All the footage after that looked great

[@twocityfoodies8476]

The remake is how my 17 year old self saw the game back in 2001. I can't wait to play through this game. I'm ready to relive the trauma of Room 312.

[@Receipt]

Nice story Grandpa Foodie.

[@BatteryBee]

I feel like there's a layer of grunginess missing from the new visuals. I want my Silent Hill to be caked in filth lol. Minor gripes aside though, I think Bloober did a tremendous job overall. It's not easy to translate a game built specifically for old CRTs, to fit modern display technology.

[@goofygoober875]

i dont think it needs to be dirty, just rusty. it's a dead town, not a rotting town.

[@BatteryBee]

@@goofygoober875 Yeah, maybe "filth" is too strong a word. Rust and aged-decay fit the vibe better.

[@Godzilladad]

Complaining just to complain

[@MrJekken]

I think the remake looks good but even the original game looks good on lcd. I've only ever played sh2 through emulator

[@jdcreative3095]

God the faces in the original were so much more evocative.

[@mosthated8848]

They should have kept or given US the old-school camera angles. I'll wait for a deep sale or hopefully, the PC community modders figure out how to add the old-school camera.

[@ordohereticus3427]

I am fine playing this in quality mode so long as it isn't unplayable or with jarring frame timing. Frame timing, stability and visual quality are far greater priority for me than much higher frame rates.

[@maegnificant]

The original still looks incredibly good tbh

[@phant0mdummy]

PC please. Purchase hinges on performance review.

[@ChanceKimber]

Both horror and gaming fans are gonna be eating this up like bowling alley pizza in the next few days.

[@geetargato]

How do people have such strong opinions on UE5 when very few games have used it?

[@-T--T-]

DF: stretching the term 'authentic' to breaking point. This really reminds me of the bad remake of Resident Evil 4 - made purely to generate money, and by the hollow modern tenet "shinier = better".

[@yousifmohammed4433]

Bro what

[@samcandles]

what is bro waffling about