Horror Review: Silent Hill 2 Remake

[@HorrorReview]

Day 30, and we're returning to our special place. Support me on patreon: www.patreon.com/horrorreview Join the discord: discord.gg/mzWSfU7kbH

[@greatrulo]

0/5 Masons, 5/5 Sunderlands.

[@steelcurtain187]

😆 🙏

[@phant0mdummy]

This remake is so good.

[@Mire_Klick]

i,ve waited for this review, Mason. i've always waited for it. on our special place. come to me review. come and save me.

[@Tom3kkk]

In my honest opinion, as someone who has not played any of the silent hill games - this remaster is amazing in every way EXCEPT the quality of the PC port.

[@arsenii_yavorskyi]

this is a completely different game, not a remaster of the existing one. and how do you know how good it is if you don't know the original it's attempting to mimic?

[@pakkitman]

guess we're seeing the limits of the Mason Scale here, where the game scores 5/5 but it's clear from the review that you also didn't have a ton of fun with it. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on it, since you're obviously a huge SH fan. I enjoyed the remake a lot, but I also know that higher fidelity can sand off the edges of older media, and drain it of some of its more interesting characteristics (e.g. the lynchian acting, the lo-fi VHS aesthetic). i think the remake stands on its own as an interpretation of a classic, but won't ever hold the critical sway and historical impact that the original did.

[@HorrorReview]

It gets a high score because I critically think it did well in the majority of the points, but personally, I didn’t like it very much.

[@jameslough6329]

@@HorrorReview If I may ask, what were the main things about the remake that made you dislike playing it so much? For me, the remake provided me with some of the most fun I have ever had in a survival horror game. But I have only played through the original game once and I would be interested to hear the prospective of someone like you who has no doubt played the original way too many times to count.

[@HorrorReview]

My personal problem with the game is basically that the original didn’t have much combat and had an incredible atmosphere, and lots of strange and unnerving events. The remake has a lot of combat and seemingly less of the weird stuff that I enjoyed from the original. The combat to me ended up feeling pretty shallow and I got tired of it really fast, it wasn’t challenging enough to really ever kill me but not something you could walk away from either like the original, so it just felt like a chore. You either hit things with a pipe or you shoot them at a distance and despite minor changes to enemy types that doesn’t really evolve or change in any way. I wanted to enjoy the games atmosphere but I felt like I was dragged into combat time and time again, and I just didn’t enjoy it. It made the much much longer game feel like a eternity, and the way that some of the games set ups were “paid off” with more combat just had me rolling my eyes. It’s far from a bad a horror game, as I say in the review, but it did a lot of things I personally didn’t like, minor changes here and there and the bigger emphasis on combat just detracted more from the things I loved about the original.

[@ShapeForcesTheMind]

I'm a huge fan of the original Silent Hill games (1-4), and picked each of them up on their respective release dates. I had quite a few worries about this remake, given the high bar the original set that would no doubt be difficult to hold a candle to....but, I'm happy to admit that my misgivings were ultimately assuaged. I really liked SH2R, and I'm very happy to have purchased it on release day at full price -- and I've replayed it several times since on various difficulties. The visuals, sound design, narrative elements, and themes were exceptional, and I'm glad that Bloober maintained fidelity to the original title, with a few deviations/variations that were relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. The only issues I had with the remake were the combat and some of the voice acting. Although the combat was a huge improvement from the OG games, and the combat mechanics were very "crunchy" and responsive, I didn't really enjoy the *frequency* of the combat, which sort of detracted/distracted from the atmosphere-building and pacing of the story. The voice acting overall was great, but I found some of the lines from Maria/Mary to be less impactful than in the original (the "Anyway?! What do you mean anyway?! "part, the encounter with Maria in the cell, her repetition of "James" as you're in a first-person POV on a gurney at Brookhaven, Mary's monologue in that final hallway in Lake View Hotel, and Mary's narration of her letter). I still find the original voice acting (line deliveries) of those parts more compelling -- but, all in all, the acting was much better than I had prepared myself to experience. Ditto for the rest of the game: I anticipated a solid horror game, but was ready to be letdown in many ways, frankly speaking. But I was very impressed (and relieved), and would be thrilled to have Bloober do a similar remake of SH1 (it might not have that same punch as the OG, but I'd love to see it get a facelift and polishing). By the way, I got a kick out of the handful of Silent Hill soundtrack references in the review. Cheers! I was eager to hear your thoughts on SH2R... That's 5 out of 5 James Sunderlands.

[@sikevillain]

Definitely a review ive been waiting on Mason 🔥!! I really enjoyed the SH 2 remake despite some nitpicks and found myself going back and enjoying the OG once again.. i think thats a great sign that the remake pays enough respect without replacing it.. youve absolutely killed it this month with the horror games 🔥🔥🔥 Just one more day left..get this man some coffee ☕ haha

[@EGommer1994]

As a hardcore SH fan myself, I loved the remake. I personally think a lot of fellow hardcores have shown a lot of nostalgia blindness though. I don't think anything will ever replace the OG for me, but I've always made it a point to try to face things realistically and with as little bias as possible. With that, I think there's things the OG does better and things the remake does better. Which sort of makes it a great companion piece in a way. I think the remake accomplished everything it needed to and addressed some of the shortcomings of the original. Including actually making the game a little more scary to go along with its excellent story. Blooper had a lot of mouths to feed and I think they balanced that well. I have nitpicks, but none of them will ever just be "it's not the original" as, in my opinion, that's silly.

[@arsenii_yavorskyi]

a hardcore fan wouldn't be so quick to accept the myriad of unnecessary changes in the remake. and I don't mean the RE4-style combat, obviously the static camera and tank controls wouldn't fly in a AAA-game in 2024. I'm talking about the things that were changed for no good reason.

[@EGommer1994]

@arsenii_yavorskyi Elaborate, since you said a whole lot of nothing right there. Also, before you continue, don't assume my fandom or what I (or others) will or will not accept because you have your hang ups.

[@jameslough6329]

@@arsenii_yavorskyi What a dumb and blatantly elitist comment 🙄

[@raimundopilotto2675]

Feels like it's more "action packed" than the original. Still, it does seems like an actually good remake, of one of the best games ever made. That's good enough for me

[@HorrorReview]

There’s a hell of a lot more combat and that just didn’t do it for me personally, there’s a lot of little changes that didn’t help but it’s still one of the best silent hill games we’ve had since the originals.

[@adriansalcedo3913]

This review was one of my if not the most anticipated. One thing I noticed is the tone of your voice. While you have the game high praise and credit for the merits it has, you didn't sound enthusiastic or that happy about it and to be fair, I can understand. I heard nothing but good things and praise from other KZbin channels let alone a couple of my friends. The game does look and sound good and I was thinking maybe I'll enjoy, but would I love it just as much as the original? I don't want to throw shade or negativity at other reviewers but it kind of feels like they praise the game just because "better" graphics and gameplay. Maybe I'm biased, and kind of gate keeping but I hold silent hill as a horror franchise at such a high regard because of how well written, symbolic the games are. That franchise is true horror. At least 3 to 4. One of the criticisms I remember hearing from one of my favorite KZbinrs was how he thinks it's weird that the game would constantly put you in combat when the original hasn't and that did leave me with a sour attitude towards that. I feel like I'll enjoy the game but I don't think it needed to rely on combat so heavily because now it just plays like another resident evil game. There is so much to unpack and so much I want to say but I'm sure you get my point. I'll give the game a go one day when the time comes. I do appreciate the positives people are giving it but I also feel like those people haven't grown up and experienced the originals like some of us did. If this comes off negative my apologies but again I hold this franchise close to my heart. I would love to hear your personal thoughts in a separate video if you think of doing it.

[@HorrorReview]

I am almost certainly going to make a video at some point talking about my personal thoughts on the game. But for now I'm kind of done. I said at the end I didn't like the game very much and that's mostly because it doesn't really give me the updated version of the original Silent Hill 2 that I hoped for in a remake. I don't have a great deal of nostalgia for the original game, I didn't play it when it came out and it's not even my favourite Silent Hill game, but it's something I revere, because it's really just that good in my opinion. The remake is sadly, 100% longer with 100% more things I didn't really like and less of the things I did. Most of them are subjective and don't reflect on the game at all, just things that I personally didn't like about it. It's very obviously perfectly satisfied a great deal of people, but for me it's going to be a what if scenario that I probably won't be returning to.

[@adriansalcedo3913]

@@HorrorReview I don't blame you for not wanting to go back to it. Honestly there were times I look at the game and thought.. it does look really good but it doesn't have that same amount of that grungey dirty to it. So I get where you're coming from. I'll keep an eye out for that video

[@jameslough6329]

I don’t really understand your criticism of the emphasis on combat in the remake. Especially as someone who has played all four of the original Silent Hill games. From my experience with those games, the og Silent Hill 2 was the ONLY one that didn’t have a large emphasis on combat and simply let you run past most of the enemies. The other three games (especially Silent Hill 3 and 4 which you say are your favourites) emphasize combat quite a bit and force you to fight numerous enemy gauntlets just like the Silent Hill 2 remake does. I just don’t understand how you can criticize the Silent Hill 2 remake and say it plays like “another Resident Evil game” due to it’s reliance on combat while also picking the two most combat heavy games of the original four as your favourites. Was there something about the mechanics of the combat in the remake that made you not like it as much as the combat in the original four games?

[@ikosabre]

Good of you to be able to give a high score for a game - based on objective elements - that you still didn't subjectively appreciate very much. Some people cannot seem to fathom the idea that it is possible to appreciate something for it's objective merits and yet find it lacking subjectively. I'm an old SH-fan who became familiar with SH2 when I was quite young and have had my own periods of obsession with the game and the franchise. Personally, I currently prefer the remake over the original, but can fully understand if someone still choses the original. There is quite a bit of difference between the two despite the great amount of fidelity, like they were different compositions of the same song. To me it's a matter of subjective emphasis and taste and criticism of the remake is completely acceptable. What I find irkesome is the dogmatic view of a small minority, that is trying to paint the remake as completely supbar - basically a kiddo-version of SH2 - which is simply untrue.

[@Mire_Klick]

when you read this: dont forget to like the video, dont just read the comments. :D

[@childofthe80s1981]

I just wish the remake wasn't so expensive to buy I love this game but I am not paying 70-80 bucks

[@Impalingthorn]

The problem for me is that the changes to major characters like Angela and Maria ruin this Remake for me. As a standalone game held up by its own merit, it's fine. Not great, just fine. We've seen this gameplay before and done better.. But also done worse. It's just TLOU, Callisto Protocol and so on. More importantly, it's just Silent Hill Homecoming done better. I can't say "done right" because the combat and camera changes have their own issues between fights being far, FAR too common (and mandatory) in dungeons while the camera changes take away a lot of the cinematic feel from the original game. And given how deliberate the original game's artistic elements were due to the entire game being Takayoshi Sato's magnum opus work of passion (had to live under his office desk for 3 years singlehandedly animating SH1's cutscenes by himself with primitive 90's tech because Konami wouldn't give him full creative control of SH2 otherwise), I can't just ignore the seemingly "insignificant" changes to certain things. Like Mary/Maria. The emotional weight of everything involving her was filtered, watered down and made meaningless, and the only evidence I need for that are the various comparison videos showing the cutscenes side by side with their OG counterparts. Ultimately, I cannot bring myself to like this game for the simple fact that all the things that made me love the original game were compromised; the cinematography, the major characters, the quiet eerie dread now replaced with constant fights and combat music which overrides the purpose of the radio. The reasons I fell in love with the original game are largely absent here and replaced with a very Hollywood interpretation of the original game paired with very contemporary, played out mechanics that I was already getting sick of seeing in games now infecting horror game royalty. Konami said they were making this for a "modern audience" and they didn't lie. That's exactly what they did, and I don't care for it. Disclaimer: If you like the game that's fine. I'm not here to take anyone else's enjoyment out of it. If anything, Bloober captured the town itself very well and it's nice after 2 decades to see people who never played the original games finally understand, at least to some extent, what made these games special and why people liked SIlent Hill so much. My concern is purely for artistic integrity and people getting the best version of this game possible which it unfortunately wasn't. But it hit the nail on the head in various other areas enough to get the idea across even if the original performed some of them better. Disclaimer 2: KZbin deleted this comment as I was making the first disclaimer.

[@jameslough6329]

I disagree with nearly all of your criticisms. Combat is NOT mandatory in a lot of areas. It seems mandatory at first because of the increased aggresssion of the enemies. But just like the original, you can still turn off your flashlight and sneak past enemies in the majority of areas. I understand your criticisms of Maria/Mary but I think there are certain scenes with her in the remake which are done just as well if not better than the original (such as the Pyramid Head kill in the elevator and the Jail scene). I completely do not understand your points about the “eerie dread” being replaced by constant fights with enemies and the new combat music replacing the radio. The combat music only occurs AFTER an enemy has already hit you so the radio’s usefulness is not compromised by its inclusion at all. Moreover, it’s not like the game is constantly throwing hordes of enemies at you every second. It simply doesn’t allow you to not engage with them at all like the original does. There are numerous moments where the game allows you to take in the ambiance and atmosphere in each of the areas while quietly building up suspense for the next enemy ambush. Even when you do fight enemies it is extremely rare to see more than three of them close to each other (outside of specific scripted sequences that only occur after the game ensures you have been given a ton of gun ammo to quickly dispatch the enemies). I think saying the remake is a “Hollywood” interpretation of Silent Hill 2 is not true in the slightest. The game still keeps the eerie and uncanny atmosphere of the original. It has the same soundscape, monster designs, art direction, and (mostly) the same soundtrack as the original. The only differences are the more stressful gameplay and altered cutscenes which both enhance the game more often than they detract from it. Imo, both the original and the remake do certain things better and worse than the other. Neither one is a noticeably better experience overall. It’s just different strokes for different folks.

[@jameslough6329]

I think this game is simply a perfect companion piece to the original. Both versions do some things better and worse than the other. The remake has more intense enemy encounters, a better diegetic soundscape, and better boss fights. While the original has better cutscenes, a better script, and a better soundtrack. Both games are masterpieces and absolute must plays for anyone with even a passing interest in survival horror. Which one you prefer more really just depends on upon personal preference rather than any glaring flaws in either game.

[@HorrorReview]

It is a bit like the re4 remake where you can just pick and choose which one you’d like to play, I just wish the original was available for people to play as readily as the remake.

[@sprspr-w8r]

they took a messy and unpolished but beautiful piece of art and made a game that is perfectly competent and.. not much else unfortunately. Initially I loved it, but that's only because I think I was riding the hype train and now that that's worn off, I don't have any plans to revisit it. It's not necessarily a bad remake, hell I'd say it's vastly better than the RE2 and 3 remakes but it just doesn't feel as right as the original does. I honestly still would've preferred the first three games get ported to PC with some QoL improvements but with the success of this remake, critically and financially, it's more unlikely now than ever that that'll ever happen. Also they cut the song Pianissimo Epilogue; I will never forgive them for that.

[@GamerGuy1417]

I like the way you describe things in your videos, but this kind of format makes me feel like you're reading a list to me.

[@HorrorReview]

It is just like that sometimes for some of the reviews, this was a particularly hard one to write where I didn't really enjoy the game and was trying to be critical.

[@basicloner]

no interest in playing it and I feel strongly it has no right to exist. From my point of view the only people who have a right to make a remake of a game is the original people who made the original game. Don't really understand how your score system works. 5 Harry Masons? does that mean you rate it as perfect? but at the end of the video after all this praise you give this game you say that you didn't enjoy playing it so how does that work.

[@HorrorReview]

It’s atmosphere is good, it has the potential to be scary, its sound design is good, it’s gore makes sense within the confines of the game and it’s story is good, but I just didn’t like it. Not because I think the original people should have remade it, but because I find the increased combat and artificial stretching of the game to be an absolute chore.

[@basicloner]

@@HorrorReview I think your scoring system needs a better explanation or needs to be expanded upon. Its really strange to me you spend almost the entirety of the video praising this game and then in the last 1 minute you turn around and say actually I didn't enjoy playing it. No matter how you frame it, a review is a opinion piece. Its just so bizarre to me the way you went about making this review.

[@HorrorReview]

In my opinion, despite the fact that I didn’t like the game, it is far from a bad game and achieves in all categories, just not as well as the original.

[@HorrorReview]

@@basicloner the purpose of all of these reviews is my opinion on the points themselves, whether I think the atmosphere is good, whether I think the game can be scary, if the sound design works well enough and all that. That’s the opinion, whether I like playing it or not doesn’t change how those things work.

[@basicloner]

@@HorrorReview You said you didn't enjoy playing it. This is a big deal for a video game. It might as well be a art piece or a movie. You also say you'll give your personal thoughts on the game eventually, I mean isn't a review your personal thoughts? very confusing to me.

[@jackw5430]

Great review and I reaIIy apreciate y0u evaIuated this game 0n it's 0wn merits I w0uId I0ve a m0re pers0naI anaIisiys vide0 c0mparing the tw0 games in the future!

[@equin0x22415]

0:48 nice sh3 (unintentional?) soundtrack reference 😂

[@HorrorReview]

nope, very deliberate haha.

[@equin0x22415]

@ love it!