Examining The (Mostly) Mediocre Western Silent Hill Games

[@BoulderPunch]

Support the channel on Patreon (John Locke may or may not be a Patron): • www.patreon.com/boulderpunch Be sure to subscribe if you haven't already done so! Related Videos & Playlists: • Silent Hill Playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PL9iyzUyf92M89eZV-s5q3m3GEk0i49d3A • Survival Horror Playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PL9iyzUyf92M_eIyPV5Nf5G4XeI-7uLCqO • Silent Hill Homecoming PC Patch: unknownproject.github.io/silent_hill.html • Silent Hill Orphan Doom WAD: forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?t=52429

[@derrickemerine1040]

How can you call yourself a Silent Hill fan and still make one of the dumbest arguments in Silent Hill fandom? I'm referring to the " Pyramid Head only makes sense in SH2 " argument. Obviously someone is forgetting SH3. In that game it is pointed out that not everyone who goes to Silent Hill gets monsters based on their sins or trauma. The town itself chooses what monsters you may face. That's why one of the overlooked creatures from SH2 was a return and more prominent creature in SH3. So you're argument is invalid.

[@snakeeaterstbk]

@@derrickemerine1040 Literally every Silent Hill fan disagrees with you

[@-pressxtostart-]

Sound cuts out near 48 minute mark 👍

[@ThndrMge]

Wonderful video! As noted by the previous reply, the audio cuts out around 47:19, right as you're about to explain what happens in the conclusion of Silent Hill Shattered Memories, made the follow up discussion a little disjointed, especially since I was listening more than watching.

[@bernardorodrigues7048]

42:28 no sound ?

[@lerogal3663]

I’m surprised you didn’t mention the secret ending for Silent Hill downpour it doesn’t change much but really shows at the very least the love the developers had for the series over Konami

[@FourEyesFive]

No it didn’t. It was just ripped models from the HD Collection. If anything it wasn’t more evidence how unworthy they were.

[@AlynRapi]

@@FourEyesFive well considering it was a secret ending that was absolutely unnecessary to be made i can't really see how it would be ill intended, to me it was a pretty cute gesture

[@FourEyesFive]

@@AlynRapi a cute gesture is a lot different from “shows the love they had for the series”

[@AlynRapi]

@@FourEyesFive but aren't cute gestures meant to be for the things you love?

[@FourEyesFive]

@@AlynRapi not when they’re boring cop outs like some ripped models repeating a passive animation. And some with sleeves.

[@FaZzy4K]

The PS3/360 era was crazy for most Japanese devs like Capcom, Square Enix etc. Glad they found their footing in the PS4/X1 era.

[@BoulderPunch]

Too bad the west lost itself.

[@anaveragegamer359]

@@BoulderPunch yea now japanese games are better

[@luminosity01]

@@anaveragegamer359 Not really

[@morkgin2459]

Sonic team devolved though

[@anaveragegamer359]

@@morkgin2459 sonic team nevwr recovered from last decade

[@Tenchigumi]

I love how Harry Mason in Shattered Memories is basically an Anti-Maria.

[@GG256_]

Shattered memories is a banger. The Wii has a vast library of hidden gems. Buy one for $10 and put an SD card in and wander into the fog of piracy

[@beatapfizer3601]

I agree. It’s actually a really really good game. And even if it’s not an “original” silent hill, I still view it as such.

[@WerseVarsity-jk9bh]

This is how I discovered Rhythm Heaven Fever and Ghost Squad, such addicting games. I played this game on PCSX2 with HD texture pack though because I couldn't play it on my Wii at the time.

[@mushymcmushington7176]

Troy Baker's performance in Silent Hill 2 makes it seem like James is constantly in the middle of taking a fat poo.

[@slyloxm.6260]

Makes me so exited for the silent hill 2 remake *Sarcasm Intensifies*😢

[@gRinchY-op5vr]

And Maria/Mary sound like they have a vibrator left on full power 24/7, the original actress was great at switching between sweet sickly Mary to tempting Maria while still keeping the same voice just changing the tone. The new voice acting? May as well just be the exact same person which misses the point

[@smart.but.stupid]

That's a nostalgia blinded opinion, obviously. I've been listening to the new voice acting and the only ones whom I have problems with were Maria (sorta) and Eddie. Baker had truly great moments here and there. Like, the way he read his lines to Maria at the prison were of a genuinely scared and confused person. His particular "No...I'd never..." line at the Angela's "boss" scene also sent chills down my spine. While, I'd say, in the original va James's "That's why I did it, honey!" line killed the moment for me with how fake it sounded. Also Angela sounded like a drunk middle-aged woman and I disliked it as well. Even though I had no problems with the original va, I can see the negatives. Why people decide to be less objective, I have no idea. The "new" voice acting isn't bad, like at all. It's just not the same.

[@eddie142]

@@smart.but.stupid Nostalgia blinded, hm? Ok. We'll look at it objectively: "That's why I did it honey!" "how fake it sounded" ...Because it was fake. You removed it from its context. He is literally supposed to sound fake in that moment. He didn't know if he believed himself, he is putting up a persona(James is supposed to be all about struggling with persona and fantasy) and then says something different a moment later. The full quote is: "That's why I did it honey! I just couldn't watch you suffer... No, that's not true.... *voice becomes shakey*... the truth is... I hated you. I wanted you out of the way. I wanted my life back". A statement which is also not entirely true, but there is truth in. If you think it sounded fake, that means that the actor did his job and an attempt to correct that is an error of judgement. Do you remember the scene at all? "No I'd never" Baker actually messes up this line by changing its tone. James is meant to be defensive to a prickly degree. OG James says it with the sense that he's offended Angela said that. Remember that this is suppose to be the same James that reacts with anger everytime someone suggests he is wrong or did something wrong. He snaps at Laura for contradicting his timeline and he insists "I'M NOT LIKE YOU" when Angela suggests they are similar. As if, how dare she suggest he have some buried issue he refuses to address. Troy says it generically(if decently) sad because he lacks direction. Why is he downbeat suddenly in this scene? Doesn't he have a persona to aggressively preserve for himself? Angela does sound like a drunk woman. In fact, the cinematography of the game WANTS you to notice how weird she speaks. Notice how when she says "LoOSsT??", we get a close up on her face. That's the director showing us that her manner of speech and cadence are wrong and alien. We see, fully rendered in CG how far and unnaturally she contorted her face to say that and the cinematography tells us that this is significant. That's why the scene is actually more awkward when the monotone new voice says lost more calmly while Angela's facial expressions and body language remain exaggerated. It doesn't fit anymore and it starts coming off like a Godzilla dub. "Maria(sorta)". Maria(absolutely). She delivers the worst performance in Silent Hill history. Not only is she monotone and Illfit pitchwise, sounding way too old for James, she lacks all of the range the original actress had. New Mary/Maria no longer distinguishes her performance between the two personalities. She barely distinguishes between moods. She also suffers from what a lot of bad performances trying to sound professional suffer from: inappropriate breathiness. At times where she needs to be dramatic, she is so unable to emote that she relies on exaggerated breaths between lines. She uses this to mess up the most emotional line in the game: "James, you made me happy", killing the emotional climax of the ending. OG Mary/Maria gave the best performance whereas the new one gave the worst. She's not just some character who's lines can be messed up like that and still expect the story to work as well. Her performance is the one that is supposed to ground the story to a human level. I'm suppose to feel things when she says stuff. Shouldn't I feel angry when Maria emotionally manipulates me or shouts at me? Should I feel an uncanny disturbance when Maria uses Mary's memorys in the cell(she's REAL bad in this scene)? Should I feel the full weight of the tragedy when Maria reads the letter? With the new voice, that is all a no. When you actually look at it objectively, the new voices are miles worse. That's not to say the old ones are perfect, but the new ones are a hatchet job that don't fit the game or mood. The old voices are worth improving upon, but the examples you gave were just not problems and in fact, you removed them from the contexts that justified why they were the way they were. Meaning, you were criticizing the wrong stuff through the wrong lense. All of this is ignoring the horrible reverb and awful mixing unique to HD collection. From the lesser performances to the awful mixing, it may be one of the more embarrassing "professional" voice jobs of its caliber. I cannot believe they got a good actor like Troy Baker and then gave him no direction and had him come out with one of his worse performances. Such weird casting too. "We need Troy Baker to put on a deep, breathy voice to play... the infamously meek James Sunderland". Like, what? A real issue old voices had was that they could sometimes slur their words("you said your wife was dead, vrriight?") or lack intensity(James). The issue is that HD voices not only lacked intensity, they lacked range the originals had, making the originals still preferable. Nostalgia is completely aside. The new voices are outright inferior in possibly every way. Just because something is old and flawed, that doesn't make the new thing inherently better at all. They have to actually try. They thought they could just hire professional voice actors and sleepwalk the whole thing the whole thing and get something better. Whoops. There's still hope for the remake, though. Voices in that sounded fine in the trailer thus far, if different in its own way.

[@smart.but.stupid]

@@eddie142 even though it had to sound fake, it doesn't mean it had to sound like from a cheap soap-opera or smth. In the new dub it also did sound "fake" in that sense, as in James reassuring Mary (and himself) he did this in an altruistic attempt, but it doesn't at least make me cringe. And what about the next part? "The truth is...I hated you!" sounds just as bad in the OG dub, you don't really feel anything in his voice besides that they actor is desperately Trying to sound convincing.

[@theghostfacekza4549]

Ryukishi07 is an amazing psychological horror mystery writer, people are really understating how great of a fit he is for this.

[@CabezasDePescado]

We will see, is hard to be excited over the revival given the context.

[@ElectricBarrier]

I feel like people forget that most of Higurashi was just girls putting on edgy scary faces and laughing maniacally while covered in blood, and that Umineko really goes off the rails. I love Ryukishi's work but let's not act like he's created some deep and subtle psychological horror, he's made a bunch of campy over the top melodrama. GOOD campy and over the top melodrama, but still. He's a good idea if you wanna have a good story for the game, but I dunno about FITTING. Also don't forget it's being developed by Neobards.

[@soulie2001]

Ive never heard of this man.

[@rubyrose6714]

@@ElectricBarrierhave you actually played the games or just watched the anime because if the second then I gotta say you’re wrong because that shit cuts a lot

[@shinbakihanma2749]

Ryukishi07 is merely competent at writing psychological horror mystery. Calling any of his work "AMAZING" is going too far. But even then, he's has yet to prove if he could write a competent story to a Silent Hill game. No one has done it since Silent Hill 3.

[@SavvyNitro]

Matt throwing that fire axe is literally all i remember from Downpour. Iconic

[@grygoo2680]

I don't hate Downpour as much as most people but that fire axe throw was the single best thing this game has given the world

[@SavvyNitro]

@@grygoo2680 amen hallelujah

[@Homodemon]

I saw the intro and I unconsciously channelled Pat's laughter through me.

[@Starkweather133]

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?

[@AznKillaKit]

RIP SBFP. I’ll always remember them. It isn’t that great when their content separately, as themselves, wasn’t as good or memorable than when they were as a group.

[@Caidezes]

*sees axe being thrown* I understood that reference.

[@docsaico]

Thank you so much for using the Matt and Pat clip, and referencing them. They still mean so much to me, and every time I see someone use that clip, it makes me so happy. This was a fantastic video!

[@TheSpidersider]

The thrown axe is what ended Their friendship.

[@docsaico]

It’s true, it’s where the curse began.

[@EggyEggtoast]

I SCROLLED DOWN FOR THIS I WAS EXPECTING TO HEAR THEIR VOICES WHEN THE AXE WENT FLYING

[@docsaico]

🤣🤣👏🏻👏🏻

[@SavvyNitro]

love seeing their fans in the wild. they were such a huge part of my life sometimes i forget some people don’t see a game and think of them like we do lol

[@alanlee67]

The reason shattered memories was able to have so much variable scenarios is because of the magic of the wii. Essentially last gen games were able to be published as triple A games. Dev costs were probably clearly lower to be able to create all of these scenarios. Something possible with old school games but impossible with modern triple A development where a hair particle takes as much compute power as a whole character in old tech. Remember when ff7 had optional characters with their own set of animations and side story? You think a modern ff game would waste time render and programming a 2 whole characters with the possibility that a lot of players will never even see them?

[@HenriqueHCA14]

Origins was the first SH i played, wanted to keep chronological like everything i play. It's a solid game, Travis is an interesting protagonist(if only they focused on him more), the puzzles are some of the best in horror games and the soundtrack is great, Hole in the Sky and Shot Down in Flames are iconic to the series. If it wasn't for the long-ass maps, easy as hell combat and the plot not knowing what it is, it would've been a great SH game. Shattered Memories i beat it in one sitting by how interested i was in the story, besides SH2 is the best plot in the series. The atmosphere is incredible, not pressing any button to read something and actually reading yourself till this day isn't something you find normally. The psychological part could've worked better on modern days, but it was interesting at least at the time. Also the soundtrack sticks with you a lot, the cover of Always On My Mind, the main theme Acceptence, the intro song When You're Gone and the ending song Hell Frozen Rain just makes the game iconic. Homecoming i tried to like. The first minutes i was playing and enjoying the atmosphere, but when i did a weak-weak-strong combo on a nurse i stopped and laughed for 10 fucking minutes. At least the game is good looking (sometimes) and the bosses are fun to fight, but the combat is shit, the story tries but it's shit and the PC port is unacceptable. At least Alex's Theme, This Sacred Line and One More Soul to the Call are great songs as always. Downpour is underrated as fuck. Though it's unfinished (a common Konami thing), at the state post-patch, it's really enjoyable. Murphy has a interesting background, the idea of choices could've been good if it wasn't a illusion and the puzzles compared to Homecoming are god tier. Also it took mechanics from past western SH games, like the puzzles and improvised weapons from Origins, the exploration and chases from SM, and (kinda of) the combat from Homecoming and the use of tools for advancing. The soundtrack was decent, though without Akira Yamaoka it had decent OST. But the only one it comes to mind is Silent Hill by Korn, the intro theme.

[@diegoviveros556]

I love that the most memorable things of the games you mention are the songs. I do that to lol

[@JudgementNutter]

As a fan of SBFP I am glad the legacy of throwing the axe has lasted for so long. Thanks!

[@BoulderPunch]

Press RT to toss.

[@SushiElemental]

"The train guy was drunk!" kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5bMpZJurK6ZbJI

[@avalonjustin]

47:29 Did anyone mention the sound going out?

[@yourpal4l]

I really liked Downpour for what it does. After Homecoming and hearing the awful dev process for Downpour, I really applaud them for what they were able to accomplish. You say a lot of the bad and good that I agree with, but I really like Murphy as a character. He's banal and doesn't really stand out that much, and it really shows in his design and the way he interacts with things. He's very resourceful in a sense that he knows how to tinker with electronics and can scavenge the environment for tools and weapons. I also like how insecure he gets. I think out of SH 1 - 3, only 3 has a protagonist whose personality really shows. You're not sure what to make of James, but you can say that Heather's a rebellious teen with an attitude. Murphy comes across that way for me. Downpour was far from perfect, it's launch was truly awful. I think it deserves it's mediocre status but there's really something about downpour that I like for me. I do wish they used the prison/criminal element more though. Even silent 2 used James' depression in it's gameplay in both story beats and interactables.

[@F2t0ny]

"We still have the original." No we don't. For almost any of them. They're hard to come by. I saw a ps2 copy of SH3 for sale for $200 at my local comic con a few weeks ago.

[@ElectricBarrier]

Yeah but the PC versions are really easy to get working well, can even make them wide screen. The first one you can very easily emulate. So yeah we kinda do still have them.

[@F2t0ny]

@@ElectricBarrier I think he proved me wrong in the video right after I posted this and I was to busy to delete it at the time.

[@-Haze]

I really liked Downpour. The enemy types were trash sadly but exploring Silent Hill in this game for the first time was really really good tbh. I had the feeling, that the game had more open world than the other titles. The atmosphere sometimes gave me chills. I remember one sidequest in a random basement where I almost shat myself.

[@shagohad3]

I don't begrudge Shattered Memories existence, however, I do wish we had gotten Cold Heart instead. I'm surprised it didn't come up during the Shattered Memories section.

[@HansAlRachid]

Genuinely could not care less about that SH2 remake - even the little snippets they've shown off so far have convinced me thoroughly that Bloober absolutely does not have what it takes to recapture even a bit of the reserved, subtle and nuanced atmosphere that defined the original. Not to mention that the cinematography in the cutscenes so far screams of modern overdramatization - gotta make everything as loud and overt and as black-and-white as possible or the numbnuts that we assume make up our audience might not get it, right? Seriously though, why Bloober? Practically nobody in the survival horror community likes what those guys do. Baffling choice, but that's Konami for you. As for the other projects... I mean, there's nothing to actually go off of as yet. I suppose the trypophobia-inducing imagery in that trailer for f made my skin crawl, so maybe that one could be something? Honestly reminded me more of Siren than SH so far, but who knows.

[@HansAlRachid]

@Chandler Burse Sorry in advance for the wall of text - me am no good at being succinct: I think the problem with discussing the quality of most walking sims is down to the fact that you really can't break that subgenre down very well in game design terms - their strengths and weaknesses are really more similiar to those of movies than videogames and most people that participate in such discussions get hung up on the gameplay aspects. Layers of Fear in my mind was a visually amazing game that pretended to have something deep to say when in reality it was a jumpscare-fest with a simple, straightforward story and pretty iffy pacing. Not terrible, but also not good. For the record, I am definitely not a fan of walking sims myself, but using that descriptor as a blanket explanation for what makes a game bad is just plain lazy. The issue with them making the next SH is that they have exactly zero experience making a game like SH. Nothing they have ever done was built on any of the design complexities that make a survival horror game - one of the most intricate genres in all of gaming. You wouldn't hire, say, a chef to fix your heater, right? They might well be capable of doing the job, but nothing about their qualifications says that they're the recommended go-to. Add to that the fact that good SH games in particular were about subtlety and substance and they've made mostly jumpscare games with pretentious storytelling and yeah... maybe hire a different chef to fix that heater, at least. Now that I think about it, this situation is pretty similiar to how horror is treated in most forms of media - horror is used as a blanket term to descibe dozens upon dozens of _extremely_ disparate experiences. Hostel is nothing like Rosemary's Baby, is nothing like Get Out, is nothing like It Follows, is nothing like The Exorcist etc.

[@michaelcrouse8374]

Anybody else have sound cut out at 47:29? It comes back minutes later but yeah, jarring.

[@leomagus2813]

Downpour... axe toss... chasm... Memories of friendship long gone, but not forgotten...

[@monkatagg1466]

Never forget, we will always have the memories of how they were our Best Friends.

[@kenjinuma]

@@monkatagg1466 One was nice, and the other one was less nice.

[@WackaMei]

Tomm "did" attempt to rewrite the entire script of the game. Mary herself confirmed this at a panel, that "he had it all ready, but Konami wouldn't let him do it". This was presumably to cut costs from reanimating the FOV sequences with new lip-syncing and such. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aF6taWuXeamabZI If you've played the HD collection side-by-side with the original versions, some lines have been changed in ways that affect how you view the characters. Heather - who never really swore - gets given curse words just for the sake of it, as one example. The man thought the original voice acting was "shit," and that his recastings made the Born of a Wish scenario "playable". He even thought the monster designs in SH2 were terrible and that Pyramid Head left no real impact on the story - indicating that if given the chance, he'd even have "fixed" the monster designs. Timestamped source: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqm8nIGLrqebiZY I get that some people feel bad on Tomm's behalf, but please, don't handwave away his awful influence on the modern games. He's definitely responsible for the way the SH:HD collection released, and I will never forgive that.

[@EmeraldLavigne]

You're right, he's definitely responsible for the dozens of bugs he listed, sent to the guys above him, and then found again unchanged after coming back from family leave. Gamerz™ love to find a single person to blame for the choices of corporations, letting the naked profit-seeking off the hook for the ways it ruins games. The Grate Debate's look back on the whole situation is far more realistic & nuanced than one guy - who was definitively an outsider in a VERY insular & stubborn corporate culture of Konami - purposefully ruined all your toys on purpose to piss you off. Get a fuckin grip, bud, and step into the real world for 2 seconds; recognize that being the face of a game's marketing does not imbue that individual with all power. Especially when that individual has to answer to stodgy salarymen who don't view a game beyond a product.

[@FoNgThOnG]

You're in for a trip when you check out "when they cry" lol Waiting for your take on it.

[@levintine777]

What happened with the audio during shattered memories ending revelation?

[@gianpyres3]

Being a huge Silent Hill fan from the beginning and having Silent Hill tattoos, I have to say the 1st 4 are unmatched, the 1st game for me despite its graphics is definitely the most creepy and oppressive feeling, the environments and the unhinged music make it a once in a lifetime experience, the 2nd game added emotion into the fold, the immense depressed feeling and the feeling of massive guilt, each character carried this immense guilt, I don't have much to say about 3, it's like a mix of 1 and 2, 4 for me refreshed the series, the game felt very dark and evil and the story was an absolute mindfuck, Walter was interesting as an unhinged psychotic character, I loved 4, as for the western games, I wouldn't count any of them as a failure, shattered memories was interesting and something different, I feel Origins tried to hard to emulate and follow the first game, I like some of the monster designs like the giant roadkill taunting Travis as he is a trucker and that harness ghost thing, this game feels like a chore to get through though, Homecoming was alright, good monster design but I felt it was riding too much on the movies coat tails, the story was interesting and the bosses were great, Downpour I feel is better than Homecoming, the monsters weren't that great, I liked the side quests, the chase sections not so much, I feel it could've been the best western Silent Hill title if they had more time with it, the Monocle man being left out as a boss sucks, anyway great video man👍 I thoroughly enjoyed it

[@berlin990]

I thought Downpour was the worst, I actually enjoyed playing Homecoming.

[@KingFossilFER]

just so everyone knows, the first chapter of Higurashi is permanently available for free on steam

[@Louis-wp3fq]

Thank you! Always passed it over as visual novel trash before.

[@KingFossilFER]

@@Louis-wp3fq I thought the same, but everyone's hype about whose the writer behind SH F got me into it. Btw it starts slow so hang in there

[@adam_M93]

Also recommend grabbing the 07th-Mod Patch, it adds a bunch of things from the console releases and are mostly toggleable like Widescreen, Full Japanese VA, New Sprite Option with Lipsync, Drawn Backgrounds, a bunch of CG Art (CGs are the fullscreen images that show for certain events), and an ADV Textbox (Textbox at the bottom, shows the name of the speaker) The vanilla Steam version doesn't have any of that, it's 4:3, no VA, backgrounds are photos that have gone through a bunch of filters, no CGs (outside of one that was added for ch6), and NVL Textbox only (Textbox fills the whole screen and doesn't show the name of the speaker)

[@GJDZ02]

Shattered Memories is a masterpiece, and I mean that wholeheartedly. I played the game 3 times at different points in my life... As a kid, as a teenager and recently as an adult... And I cannot compare it to any other game, but instead, I compare it to The Little Prince, perhaps my favorite book. Every playthrough my answers changed. I discovered things I haven't seen before either because the playthrough was different or because the game is simply so densely packed with things, but even more, there were things that were subtle and mature... I played and saw those things in my playthrough as a kid, but I wouldn't understand what they added to the story until I played it again a couple of years ago. I know I'll have to give the game another go years from now and have yet another entirely new experience. The game changed a bit every time I played it, but what really makes it a masterpiece for me is how changed I was every time I played the game... The game really played with me as much as I played with it, the devs achieved what they set out to do.

[@froderickalabaster]

i cannot express the feeling of triumph/joy i feel whenever i hear yuri lowenthall’s voice in a game when i don’t expect it

[@aortaplatinum]

You definitely missed out by emulating Shattered Memories, I understand WHY you did because Silent Hill games cost the soul of your firstborn son on ebay, but I'm really glad I got lucky and was able to get a copy before I would have had to sell a testicle to afford it. Because the use of the speaker on the Wiimote is genius, it's used for your phone as well as for some of the more unsettling sound effects like ghostly voices or the screams of the monsters in the chase sequences. It intentionally utilizes the dogshit quality of the remote's speaker to enhance the creep factor. Now THAT’S an understanding of console hardware. Shattered Memories is my personal REAL Silent Hill 4, I fucking love it. Also it's weird revisiting Shattered Memories and hearing Kirk Thornton voicing Harry, after literal years of only hearing him as the voice of Shadow in Sonic BOOM and Sonic Forces. Makes me imagine an interpretation where Shadow's heroic story arc in Sonic Adventure 2 is revealed to be Maria's dying vision, when in reality he's a shortsighted edgy dick like how the modern Sonic stories portray him.

[@darylbull]

i remember my friends dad having and early copy of silent hill 1 from japan when we were kids... the enemies were much different on release. in the version we had the little penguins creatures were actually kind of like zombie toddlers with knifes. it was really strange but i see why it got taken out.

[@MarkLambertMusic]

No Silent Hill media created post-SH4 is part of my own Silent Hill head canon. As much as I love Akira's work-my channel is testament to that-I don't even enjoy the music of the Western titles, at least not the songs with vocals, though I did do an instrumental cover of "You're Not Here". I'm dreading the Silent Hill 2 remake, especially if they futz with the music.

[@A_YouTube_Commenter]

What about P.T. ?

[@AydarBMSTU]

​@@A_KZbin_Commenter what about it? It's a playable teaser. Teasers are in no way representative of the final product, so we have no way of knowing if silent hills would have been good or not. pt is not about Silent Hill, it's to give us a general idea of how silent hills could be if it was a full game. But it is not part of the series

[@MarkLambertMusic]

@@AydarBMSTU Yeah, there is no way of knowing how that was intended to fit into the SH canon, or if it was meant to at all.

[@JellyJman]

I thought Downpour was the best one of the western games

[@jacobsoper4708]

The reason Konami outsourced Silent Hill is because the games were selling terribly. If a game studio (like Team Silent) isn't delivering, there's pressure to bring in someone else who will hopefully turn the series in around. Silent Hill 2 bombed in Japan. Silent Hill 3 flopped in Japan. Silent Hill 4 had no competition and bombed harder than previous titles. Because Silent Hill was a floundering series, Konami wanted to make some money from it because it did find some success outside Japan, but they weren't inclined to spend a lot of money, so the contracts went to whichever studios were willing to endure their conditions -- conditions like "You have 9 months to make SH Origins."

[@mancubusvoid4503]

A genuine shame. Konami shooting itself on the foot as usual

[@artemis1993]

@@mancubusvoid4503 Shooting itself? Maybe, but i don't really blame them tbh. In retrospect, Konami not having much faith in the series makes sense

[@danh9083]

@47:29 your audio cuts out briefly

[@ericsilva2595]

Why your voice cutoff in 47:26

[@RejectAllCookies13]

I liked Homecoming...well at leat some parts. Scarlet was one of the best bosses in the universe, on the hard difficulty she was a pain in the ass.

[@BlinksAwakening]

Shattered Memories truly was something special. Would love to see more games like it.

[@joshdaymusiced]

Murphy getting arrested for a lame crime is actually a really important detail, which you’re dismissing. Him going to prison was literally so he could get to Napier. He picked a crime that wouldn’t hurt other people, because he wants to believe he’s still a good person, but had to make sure it was something that would get him locked up in prison, as opposed to a short jail sentence. He also needed to make sure he’d be locked up long enough to pull the strings to get in the same prison and cell block as Napier. Frank Coleridge even remarks that Murphy is not like the murderers and rapists he’s in with, and is super surprised that he’s in that prison. I get not liking the execution, but dismissing a conscious and well thought-out choice for the sake of an awkward bit seems disingenuous. Not that Downpour is a great game, far from it. But this plot line was the most interesting part of the game for a lot of people, and probably one of the best non-team Silent plots to come out of the franchise. Anyway, great video otherwise! Love your stuff as always!

[@Road_to_Dawn]

I remember playing Silent Hill 0rigins a lot as a kid on my PSP. I always had a soft spot for it. I never knew that Sam Barlow wrote it though! I guess it’s because I played it before he became known for his more recent games: Her Story, Telling Lies, and Immortality. Speaking of which, I’d love to see you talk about them. The first two aren’t horror games, per se, but you could classify the third one as such, and arguments could be made that they fit under the adventure game umbrella.

[@starfishsicko]

This video made me miss Super Best Friends

[@A_YouTube_Commenter]

Even more. 😥

[@xBryanAbyssx]

47:29 audio cuts off

[@BulletHail1337]

Great video, you made me really interested in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. I didn't know that any of the Western releases were good at all but now I wish I didn't get spoiled on the ending through this video, though I'm not blaming you of course, I didn't know I'd end up wanting to play one of these games myself, so I didn't care 😭

[@tonygalati2672]

I'm glad they cancelled the Kojima Silent Hill after seeing how Death Stranding turned out. I also hate modelling game characters after real actors. Death Stranding had no characters. It just had Hollywoods actors doing cameos.

[@theonlybilge]

47:30 Good audio.

[@dipolarpencil69]

fr thought my speakers blew out or something

[@2ndbleak]

Did the section around 47:30 get a copyright strike?

[@Atlink]

I bet it did. I'm noticing it's just cut.

[@liquidrufus]

The cop car in downpour made me shake my head in confusion.

[@limonada4347]

did the audio die for anyone else at around 48 minutes?

[@AkuTheDestroyer]

Glad its not just me

[@Dovarcraft]

whats with the silence around 47:37?

[@jmarra07]

Ah, the truly terrifying Silent Hill games.

[@savetheclassics8174]

Yeah. Honestly, I can't wait for the Silent Hill 2 Remake to come out, and I hope they won't mess it up. Just for fun, I made a video to share my thoughts on what the remake should have to be great: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqWqnqiAaddjaqs

[@donoso1312]

western silent hill is like some slasher movie hack director doing a remake of a david lynch movie

[@theshadowbadger]

1:00:38 I have been looking for the name of this sound for about 7 years. Thank you so much.

[@sanyadek]

I fucking knew that was a TBFP reference. Why must you hurt me this way

[@victoriabarrington474]

loved shattered memories. homecoming could have been a lot better but the boss designs were amazing. downpour was ok

[@jasonarmstrong5750]

Controversial opinion: I didn't think downpour was that bad, I saw it as a diamond in the rough that with a bit more polish could've really shined

[@СергейСаланов-т3щ]

Exactly. Some sections could be designed a bit better (like the whole shitty third act), but for me it was the best Silent Hill game after 2 and SM.

[@smart.but.stupid]

At least the plot was solid and at times heart wrenching, that's what I can say about it.

[@jasonarmstrong5750]

@@smart.but.stupid oh without a doubt, that's probably why I have such a soft spot for it, the character motivations are pretty relatable and grounded and having the main character's dead child being the source of trauma was pretty unique for the series when most of the time it's a dead parent.

[@MrPF]

Downpour is the best one overall, not perfect or that great, but it hits a passing grade on most things Shattered Memories has the best story and just a really strong basis for their visuals (I love cold dark areas and the multiple small details in the world are great) Homecoming is shit all over

[@DiddlyDiPotatoes]

Climax has definitely been my favorite western SH dev even if the games they did do were still a bit wonky in places. They had the biggest amount of heart.

[@alucardomalvadosyasociados5399]

If Konami had stayed with Climax for it's Silent Hill's games, they could have improved more and made better and excellent games.

[@noyoucantnoicantnowecantsostop]

35:44 ...That's literally a part of therapy, it is professional as it's one of many types of therapy. This one is called rough / shock therapy, serves as a hard wake up call to slap some senses or realization to your face. And in fact, SH:SM *DID NOT* lose those crucial factors like The Orders, Alessa, and many things. We're playing as a grown-up Cheryl that's imagining Harry as he travels throughout her memories, as a matter a fact, conjoined memories between hers and Alessa's. Notice her mother's name is Dahlia? It isn't a coincidence. And notice how for whatever reason Lisa exists in "Cheryl's" memory, when Harry did not survive the car accident?

[@posterboy0007]

😆I'm giving this video a Like just for the recreation of one of my favorite S.B.F.P.'s moments. 👍

[@mr_anibux906]

Was that a Super best friends reference at the start there

[@raghibnadeem2533]

Appreciate that you started with a SBFP reference

[@kingofstrangeness7014]

Shattered memories is so underrated

[@4lfie420]

@47.29 wtf? Audio cuts off at "the light house, it was a clinic, what's been going o-"

[@GideonFrost]

Silent Hill Shattered Memories hit me hard in the feels. It’s my fav of the western developers

[@KevinPGrant]

Did the audio cut out for anyone about 46 mins in? For nearly a min straight , this isn't the only video I've had that happen on , and I don't think it's just boulder punches stuff, it's not common but it's really annoying, thanks KZbin

[@iTzic21]

happened to me too! Surely just an editing mistake. Throw's me off too everytime

[@themeangene]

All of the Western developed games have pros and cons. I think Origins and Shattered Memories are actually really good games and more repayable than SH4. Team Silent was known for graphic fidelity given limited resources and those two games held up that torch. Those two games are technical marvels. Shattered Memories has some really cool technical tricks to get it looking so great. For example when you zoom in any texture with font or small details loads in a higher resolution version since the screen no longer has to display the entire screen. The cellphone, flashlight and motion control mechanics were also cutting edge at the time. Homecoming and Downpour are harder to defend but they still have their moments. I actually quite like the Homecoming monster design and I wish they just stuck to the idea of the founding families of a SH schism killing their kids.

[@KekoBass]

Eagerly awaiting your Higurashi -When They Cry- review now.

[@mnnervi]

Another banger full of great content and tons of research, great job!

[@ScrambledAndBenedict]

One series that DID see tons of success by being pushed to western audiences was Advance Wars. Originally Nintendo Wars, it was withheld from western audiences because Nintendo thought Americans wouldn't "get" turn-based strategy. Then Game Boy Wars Advance released here, rebranded as Advance Wars because we never got Game Boy Wars, and was met with MASSIVELY higher popularity in the west than it ever had in Japan. So much so that it made Nintendo rethink their entire perception of western gamers and release Fire Emblem here as well. It got to the point that Advance Wars: Days of Ruin wasn't even released in Japan at all until much later, and the Advance Wars Reboot Camp remake was done by a western studio. Though, it should be noted that Downpour, Origins, and Shattered Memories weren't made by western developers: Downpour was by Czech studio Vatra Games and the other two were by British developers Climax Studios.

[@mikaross4671]

Shattered memories was the only western dev Silent Hill game to make me cry. My buddy and I stayed up all night, taking turns on running from monsters and making decisions together. When we got to the end, we were both blown away, especially as big fans of Silent Hill 1-3. It was such a good game! I really enjoy shattered memories as a take of the Bad End of SH1. I enjoyed the reimagining of the characters and the human emotion the game has. It really sucks that team Climax didn't get to take on Homecoming and Downpour, the worst games of the series.

[@LuisSanchez-yv4ct]

The Downpour theme is not really from "KoRn" it was only made by J.D without the other guys, i think its actually ok.

[@rocznik83]

The song is allright, Davis is a great singer, but it has no place on a Silent Hill game soundtrack. That's just like putting a Marilyn Manson song in Alien movie. It just doesn't fit.

[@fernie-fernandez]

@@rocznik83 Now imagine putting in Nickelback in Silent Hill.

[@davidjgg]

​​@@fernie-fernandez look at this photograph!

[@Nuka13]

Imagine a game mechanic like the psych test in shattered memories but it changes the way enemies look and act. Customized to each players fears.

[@andrewcruz1931]

Homecoming and downpour aren’t my favorites but I do like them.

[@Ichi_Cesar]

Did the audio got cut off at 47:32?

[@jm8080ful]

Oh man I should have just played Shattered Memories before watching this! that ending was mindblowing, sucks that I decided to go watch your review before playing. Definitely the best SH game post Team Silent

[@ShafiqFaizal]

I grew up in the 90s and loved 1, 2, 3 and 4: The Room. But I tried Homecoming and it felt out of place. Different, but not in a good way. Everyone should keep their expectations in check for the Remake.

[@CabezasDePescado]

The people hyped about the remake are people who never played a SH game before.

[@daltonharmon1018]

46:12 I can't believe Cheryl is dating yosuke from persona 4. Seriously though every video I look at it feels like the English va for yosuke has some role in every silent hill game you cover.

[@InsurgentHarbinger]

The only good post-TS western Silent Hill is Origins to be honest it went close to the original trilogy of the series in terms of atmosphere despite some inconsistencies in the plot relating to SH1. Travis Grady's psychological subplot about his dead mother and father was really the thing that is interesting resembling similar dark vibes from the second game. Definitely an underappreciated gem in the franchise.

[@brianpeaden5911]

I somewhat disagree about the therapy component to Shattered Memory. You touched on it yourself in the video, but Silent Hill 2 influenced the endings depending on subtle player choices throughout the game, so its not as ground breaking as it seems. Adjusting of visual aesthetics is more unique, but could have been explored more. Having the monster shift slightly didn't really impact the story at all.

[@szeltovivarsydroxan9944]

I did not like Downpour (it had its moments), but I still can't wrap my head around why there was no PC version at the time. My most hated game of all time is Silent Hill: Homecoming, but even that PC version I bought, just to have it (and it's delisted now, so go figure). To me it's all about preservation. Luckily, after a decade Shadows of the Damned finally comest to PC via the remaster.

[@MetalTrenches]

Perfect use of the RLM clip

[@tadaokou4919]

At the end there, you said ,,No matter what happens, we will always have the original" about the SH 2 Remake. I disagree. I mean, objectively speaking, sure. But the original is not available on any modern hardware. The only actual way to experience the original without emulation is to get an overprized oldschool console and an overprized copy of the game. Yes, one could just emulate the fanmade enhanced edition. But let's be real here: Nobody is actually going to do that except fans of SH 2 who dislike the remake. Most people would just choose the ,,not illegal" & easy option. Other than that little nitpick, I have nothing to disagree with here.👍

[@weirdautumn]

I remember getting a UFO ending on my first playthrough in Homecoming lmao

[@thecorrected7401]

As much as I hate it, I get Pyramid Head in Homecoming. For the story they told it makes some sense. Long story short Pyramid Head is The Bogeyman, the manifestation of a local monster the parents of Silent Hill would tell their kids would come for them if they didn't behave. Given that Pyramid Head was based off the Executioners from the old days of Silent Hill, it stands to reason that the residents of the Town itself would also conjure up something similar as their own personification of punishment. And here's the big major thing that everyone overlooks: The Bogeyman in Homecoming is very specifically NOT there for Alex. He's there for the parents because they all feel guilty over the sacrifice of their children. The drawings and notes about the Bogeyman are from the parents of Shepherd's Glen. They were scared of this thing from their childhood coming for them. Pyramid Head shows up three times in the game: Once in the Hotel where he ignores Alex because he's looking for the Mayor. The next time you can hear him moving in the Doctor's nightmare labyrinth. The final time you see him is when he murders Alex's Dad. Every time you see him, he's after the parents of Shepherd's Glen because they feel guilty for what they did, so they conjured up The Bogeyman from their childhood fairytale to come for them. What reinforces this theory is that the only parent that The Bogeyman has zero interaction with is Judge Holaway. The Judge being the main antagonist of the film and the only one that feels justified in what she did and feels zero guilt for murdering her child. She has nothing to be punished for and thus he doesn't come for her. Could all this have been better conveyed to the player? Sure. Did it HAVE to be Pyramid Head? Absolutely not. Does it make enough sense for someone to justify it? Yeah I think so. If they had to bring him back, this was as good a story to tell with him than any. Homecoming is still a terrible, terrible game though.

[@GothMermaidGamer]

Pyramid Head was made specifically for James though so it doesn't make sense to have him anywhere else

[@tikalthewhimsicott2736]

You know what would've been cool if Rockstar developed a Silent Hill game. They already had experience making horror games like Manhunt 1 and 2. They even referenced Jacob's Ladder through an in-game website in GTA V. Man imagine how amazing a Silent Hill game would look on the current iteration of the RAGE engine.

[@ModestMouseTrap]

James falls to his knees in agony in the original in the exact same part as well.

[@SuperHornetX]

...the exact moment that Matt threw the axe into the abyss. Recreated in 4k

[@neogamest123logic2]

The same thing happened to the evil within. The 2nd game and the DLC is western which disregard the lore established in the 1st game which was Japanese develop.

[@theSemiChrist]

Omg no, dude. Buy the 3G version of the PSVita. It's such a great handheld to hack. You can put the PSP OS on it as well and play PSX games using the official emulator. You can replace the 3G module with a memory card reader and put an extra microSD card making for potentially 3 different drives including the onboard storage that the OS is on. You can also connect it via FTP so you can wirelessly transfer backups and the like. It's great I love it.

[@iknownothinguknow]

Silent Hill 2 i was terrified playing. I couldnt look away from the screen. Homecoming was a good ol time was slamming beers while playing it lol.

[@JohnDeLaughs]

I have absolutely zero expectations for the future of this franchise tbh. Even the remake looks way off and the only reason people are cheering right now is because it's been more than a decade since we saw a new Silent Hill game so they will take anything at this point. Wait till the novelty wears off.

[@afairchance]

For me Origins makes sense to me as it seems like silent hill isnt just alessas. He had a unique ability to freely enter and leave and he can bring others with him. He is almost a representation of Charron. The otherworld has always been there as far back as when the natives lived there. It is not exclusive to alessa. HER world manifesting for everyone is what happened in 1 and 3. So it makes sense Travis can dip between. Though i do not think allessa should have been in the world until the end when she split herself so Travis"Charron" could ferry her out of the other world "Hades".

[@pandamonium9255]

You're the ONLY person that mentioned the Howie scream. How anyone accepted this game after that is pure otherworldly.

[@justinebidulopoutchini9774]

Is it normal that the audio cuts completely at « the light house is a clinic »???

[@FTZPLTC]

One of the most frustrating things about Shattered Memories for me is that a lot of its good ideas don't really work together. Like, a game where you can't fight and have to run was a cool idea; and a game where the monsters' appearance changes based on your choices is a cool idea. But if you put them together, the effort put into changing the monsters' appearance is completely wasted, because you never really get a good look at them. You're always running and there's not much incentive to stop and look at them. I say this as someone who played this game at least twice when it came out, but only found out that the monster design even changes quite recently.

[@Insanabiliter_In_Linea]

It's so weird how in Silent Hill: Origins the flashlight shines both forwards and backwards, through the player's body. Like, I know that happens in some versions of Silent Hill 2 and 3, 90% sure it's a bug because it doesn't make sense otherwise, but it looks so much worse here with the more defined flashlight. Does that happen in all versions? Because I'm currently doing a playthrough of SH1-4 and I'm vaguely thinking about trying it out after that on either PS2 or PSP, so I'd like to avoid whichever version has that issue if possible.

[@cappedminer369]

54:19 I know I’m really late to this but I recommend seeing the great debate videos on Tom hullet.

[@facuuaf]

Shattered Memories is one of the best gaming experiences ever. It's something that everyone should play at least twice in their life and see how their answers and choices evolve

[@freyanjordsdotter1329]

I for one am stoked about SH2 remake and the SHf thing looks awesome but I’m just a RE fan that likes SH games I’ve noticed silent hill fans hate RE games as well as every silent hill game except for 2 lol idk I just feel SH has a toxic fan base

[@orlandofurioso7329]

That last part about every sh game that is not 2 is very true. By the way, do you have any tips to not get rekt in the RPD in resident evil 2 original.

[@yutro213]

10:10 "Condemned" and "Manhunt" games benefitted from weapons durability.