The Best Psychological Horror Game Ever

[@TotallyPointlessTV]

Playing through the remake on my second channel, for anyone interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHW1pWudqrWjrqM

[@coyotleaucreepypasta4179]

LETS FRIKKEN GOOOOOO

[@kyosena113]

YEAAAAA BABYYYY Also, where did the subscriber special/whiskey review video go?

[@ethanwinston2672]

Low key need another deep dive like this vid but for the remake lol

[@SkullModder]

no

[@matthewmartinez9835]

Naw I’m good

[@UnnamedGreenDemon]

If all five characters James, Maria, Eddie, Laura, And Angela walked around silent Hill together as a team it would look like a depressed scooby-doo squad

[@WhiteTulip2002]

With the Shiba Inu from the dog ending, obviously

[@Spider_Mike023]

@@WhiteTulip2002the cherry on top lol.

[@hunterspears9168]

Oh god that would look so strange

[@chaos460]

Omfg I wanna draw that so badly

[@UnnamedGreenDemon]

Eddie is shaggy, James is Fred, Maria is Daphne, Angela is Velma, and I thought that Laura would be like scooby but she can be scrappy doo and the Shiba Inu from the dog ending can be scooby.

[@PopTartNeko]

my man James really manifested an entire town full of BDSM monsters from the darkest depths of hell instead of going to therapy

[@lilylohmann614]

Men will literally rather take a trip to Silent Hill than go to therapy

[@Alligator_Pear88]

Bruh 😂

[@lBorosDavidl]

He's dick lead him to a place most of us wouldn't even go with a gun

[@DisorientedWanderer]

Dude chose intense exposure therapy rather than just talking to someone.

[@AedanBlackheart]

@@DisorientedWanderer talk is cheap, blunt force and bullets go deep.

[@annieholland3300]

angela's story makes me so sad. not only is abstract daddy (aka the ideal father) horrific, but what we see is just what james sees; his own conceptualization of her terror and his grief. according to the creators, angela sees abstract daddy as something completely different than what we/james sees. so i started thinking. what would be scarier than a writhing, fleshy monster coming to hurt you? nothing. angela just sees her father. and that's the single most horrific monster she could ever come face to face with.

[@ivanaznar6495]

that's unnerving, but very real

[@revalone3944]

@@evennoiz is ur name a reference to alice in chains

[@Mr.Collect]

Daddy issues fr

[@ronaktalks]

I guess she sees her real father. With all the abuses, she might still liked her as a father. No one likes to see his father killed.

[@revalone3944]

@@evennoiz hell ya love that album

[@sullywully95]

Its quite clever how maria mentions not going in to the bowling alley, because either she is aware that the jig will be up as the people in the alley will not see her the way james does. “Hey guys this is Maria”james “Who…i don’t see a maria” one of the two characters

[@unadulterated]

fun fact about the Very Long Staircase: it's not a trick like the one in Mario 64 where a section repeats over and over, they really did model an enormous staircase

[@saturndotnet]

that is hilarious

[@dosidicusgigas1376]

Thats the most Japanese thing ive ever heard in game development, and thats saying something. They go hard af

[@ConstantineDing]

Soundtrack in that section really adds to it

[@El_chara]

It's not even that hard if they just clone the model over and over it's just boring lmao this is crazy

[@tlivracing4898]

I think the ladder sequence in MGS 3 is completely modeled too

[@shortking-vp9vv]

I think the mental struggle between “I did it because I love you” and “I did it because I wanted to be rid of you” makes perfect sense if you’ve been in a long-term relationship or marriage with an ill partner. Both, in a way, can be true. Illness changes the sufferer and the caregiver, and sometimes not in pretty ways. There’s love of course, but sorrow that your partner is suffering and your lives turned out this way, fear of the future and having to confront a future without your partner which might have you guiltily daydreaming of a less arduous relationship, and resentment borne from frustration that you’re expected to give without your own needs being able to be met, even if you in your heart of hearts know there’s nothing your partner can do about it. On the illness-sufferer’s side, Mary explains it well. You feel trapped, like a burden. You think your partner is only sticking around out of pity. You may see the frustration building in them and blame yourself. Self-sabotage happens in the form of lashing out at the one person who cares for you most, thinking that if you chase them away, you won’t have to disappoint them any longer. And exerting the last bit of control you have over your existence. I think James truly loved Mary. I just think he couldn’t take it anymore. Both for her, and for him. It wasn’t solely an altruistic move, but nothing ever is, and I think Silent Hill 2 did a fantastic job at picking apart the human psyche and exposing the selfish, contradictory, unfair, and cruel parts that exist in all of us.

[@HuwhyteMan]

Wow.....that was really on the nose and deep. You've described that dynamic better than I've ever seen anyone else describe it. That's definitely spot on for sure.

[@Tkokat]

as someone who had to take care of a relative for years, I can relate

[@Scarshadow666]

Perfectly hits the nail on the head why SH2 is so beloved and so well-written! Most other art/media doesn't always display the complex feelings and situations that go through supporting ill loved ones, but those that been there can probably relate to some levels of what James feels. And while not everyone with ill loved ones would have done the same things he did, his story still hits hard.

[@justoutchea]

+

[@shybie2798]

I love this comment, mainly cause it perfectly describes the human mind, like you can truly love someone but you can also despise em due to the hardships they would cause. A lot of media have such a hard time displaying the complexity of human feelings, it's either too cynical or not grounded enough.

[@skitskit333]

Marys VA reading that last letter almost had me in tears. She conveyed that sorrow and pain in such a heart wrenching way.

[@HingerBinger]

This part hit me so much different as a married adult than it did when I was a young boy, it's hard to listen to and not feel intensely emotional.

[@jacksonweseman3391]

Makes sense given Mary's VA also was in tears while reading that so it really sells it

[@kevinpreciado4740]

End then the end credits hit. Worst whiplash in my life

[@AC-hj9tv]

Def made me soft

[@ThatDudeWithBoobs]

Even more so when you learn that it was the VA's first take on the read, and it was all read in the one take. No cuts, no edits. Just pure, first try emotion. I hope the remake reuses it in full, because the impact is iconic, and anything otherwise would be a disservice to the game and VA.

[@gh0stwr1t3]

I’m way late to the party but my theory is that the game show puzzle was there because of how the tvs in hospitals often default to something family friendly or fun that’s on, and game shows are constantly seen around because of it. It’s a cruel callback to the slivers of entertainment to be had in a hospital, with James having to hear it in the background frequently. But that’s just a theory, a game-

[@Zinga2210]

I think Angela's response to James reaching for the knife is another sign of her history of abuse. The second someone makes an advance towards her in any way she immediately begins to cower and apologize for something she didn't even do.

[@FanPeiKoung]

UGHHHHH SO TRUEE Thank you for mentioning that. When I heard her say "I've been bad I've been bad" it turned on a light in my brain.

[@gabrieldevoogel6225]

As somebody who’s been in her place as far as how scared she was to be approached I can only imagine how bad she must’ve had things

[@ardaoguzhan8181]

​@@gabrieldevoogel6225as someone who is calling it bs its just a game

[@phlyphan1083]

tbf he mentioned that in the video

[@terrencepoinsett4169]

​@@phlyphan1083Lots of people are slow AF😂

[@gabby3036]

Bruh, the facial animation - especially for Maria - is god-tier. And the story behind poor (Takayoshi) Sato-san sleeping under his desk to complete all the cut-scenes because he wanted to be credited (otherwise he would've worked under a supervisor who would then be credited instead) and Konami told him "Okay, but then you're gonna do ALL OF IT." I imagine he was thinking "Yeah, you were gonna make me do all of it anyway. At least this way, I'm credited." What an absolute king. I've never even played the game and yet numerous cut-scenes are seared into my brain from watching videos like this. The most minute facial details that really sell you on the character's emotions and give off such personality. It's no wonder I'm writing this with the video paused at 31:45.

[@QuikVidGuy]

Proud for the man, sad for the company

[@unadulterated]

the facial animations are even better in SH3, genuinely impressive for the era and it's all hard work because they were mostly hand-animated

[@Chris-ko7ov]

​@@unadulterated SH3 was all in game cutscenes. Which of course were good, because technology was improving fast. But Sato did all of those in SH2 on CGI, while Mocap did exist, it was early stages so it wasn't as precise as doing it by hand. Sato didn't work for SH3

[@Phoenix00Knight]

​@@unadulteratedthe in game facial expressions yes, but SH2's cgi mocaps are beautiful and seamless. The art direction in this game was ahead of its time.

[@TORINGENorbirdpeople]

CG CUTSCENES LIKE A FREAKIN SQUARSESOFT GAME!!!!

[@liveac3694]

I kinda like the idea that each ending represents the different stages of grief. "Maria" represents denial. "In water" represents depression. "Rebirth" represents bargaining. "Leave" represents acceptance.

[@asabovesobelow7461]

Very well spotted

[@apollojustice9401]

"Dog" represents anger

[@dopiestthyme3365]

"UFO" represents aliens

[@dragonkamran]

That's a stretch. He accepts his deed in all the endings.

[@liveac3694]

@@dragonkamran I was thinking about grief not guilt. The "Maria" ending implies that James hasn't really learned anything and that things will inevitably repeat themselves. The "rebirth" ending indicates that James is refusing to accept his loss and is willing to use any means to undo the past rather than move on.

[@SickTwistedQueen]

The voice acting in the original SH2 is actually incredible. The characters, particularly Angela, are so trapped in their own trauma that they're not fully "there." Sure, it's easy to make fun of the voice acting at times, but once we think about it, it's actually quite genius, even though it's depressing as hell. The whole idea of the town of Silent Hill is that it designs itself around people's trauma and suffering, so with that, it makes even more sense that the characters act and speak strangely. These characters are definitely not doing well mentally or emotionally, and that comes through beautifully in the dissociative voice acting.

[@cyanidesista]

@celestialnull he wanted to be compensated for them using his work. That's not dramatic or weird! And anyone who says the voice acting in silent hill is bad has never heard the reading of the letter that ends the game. It's so powerful, and I don't think it could ever be recreated. They don't sound like voice actors, they sound like fucked up people. It adds so much.

[@GameTalesHQ]

​@@cyanidesistaI think the voice actress did an amazing job with the letter reading but everyone else delivered sub par performances. It didn't bother me too much but it did lessen the emotional impact for me. Oh well, at least it wasn't as bad as Resident Evil 👍🏼

[@Gasser2799]

After hearing the new VA’s in the remake… OG is rough

[@kman9884]

It’s trash, my man. It’s a bunch of people with zero truth in their voice pushing at a quality of emotion. Technically, it’s bad on nearly every level. The only thing they do right is pronounce words correctly

[@ethanmasters6145]

I think that “talk show” elevator part was what James and Mary watched while in the hospital on the TV. Maybe Mary really liked a certain show or James had a hatred for the show but watched it anyway because Mary was enjoying herself. Either way, it’s probably just another case of twisting something you remember into a horrifying struggle.

[@Hellwaterva]

man the last possibility is too much like me to not be unsettled by reading this

[@Onigumo.]

Or the other way around

[@DarksteelHeart]

I think it's about her treatment. One medicine or method makes things a little better,(correct answer) and another would cause pain (wrong answer) but nothing really cured her. It seems like the treatment became like a twisted gameshow. That's just my take.

[@ethanmasters6145]

@@DarksteelHeartThat’s a *really* good way to view it. Maybe it’s both, as if Mary made the comment of how the talk show reminds her of the hospital. A twist upon a twist, both for James and for Silent Hill.

[@laylavladi]

eating pizza while watching this 🍕

[@TotallyPointlessTV]

HOW CAN YOU SIT THERE AND EAT PIZZA

[@AC-hj9tv]

Based as hell

[@kimiharataka7836]

Okay but what kind of pizza?

[@kimiharataka7836]

🍕 🍕 🍕

[@Koniving]

Now the thing about Eddie is according to Ito, Eddie never actually killed anyone other than the dog. But was initially distraught over the incident. Whatever the town kept showing him, it seemed to include creatures berating and degrading him. And whatever lesson he was meant to learn...he just didn't.

[@JaydenW.]

most likely meant to represent a possible learning disabillity imo, a good way to showcase how guilt is subjective from person to person

[@dannimalcrossing]

This game really hit home for me. When I played it my mom’s MS had gotten to the point where she needed 24/7 care and she was angry and lashing out one minute and then apologetic and crying the next. A lot of James and Mary’s lines were similar to what I heard or thought about. It was very therapeutic and probably another reason why this is such a great game to me.

[@hotthoddy]

I have a similar experience. My grandma has late stage lung cancer and she needs constant care. This game gains a much different meaning as we grow older and learn the adult fears. I think it's what makes this game timeless.

[@miragedown]

I'm glad this game was able to reach you.

[@Carcharadroid]

I'm so sorry you went through something like that, I can't begin to imagine what it must feel like. I'm happy that the game proved therapeutic for you at least. I was actually recently diagnosed with MS, and I'm always afraid of how I'm going to end up. I've heard too many stories like yours. I'm so sorry that you went through that, that anyone went through that. I truly hope I'm never the sort of person to cause that kind of grief for the people I love.

[@1Manhunt7]

I discovered I have MS "recently" and readin this rn made the dreadful post tape revelation hallway theme play in ma head and ma hands shakey

[@ssr0821]

My mother was diagnosed with MS when I was 10. Growing up, I'd always see her playing this game and it's always been very nostalgic for me. I absolutely love this series and this game.

[@chihuahuainacone]

I used to be my mother's caretaker during the day, after her stage IV cancer progressed rapidly, and it was the most emotionally and physically exhausting thing I've ever done. When I was at my lowest points, I would silently wish that she would pass away, so that her pain would finally end, but then I would have moments where I felt extreme guilt for thinking those thoughts, and I would question if I actually just wanted her to pass because I wasn't mentally strong enough to keep going as her caretaker. I was with her in the hospital when she passed away late last year, so I feel more connected to this game than ever before. I always had a deep love and appreciation for SH2, but now I can 100% relate to James, and I understand him so much more as a character. I'll be coming back to Silent Hill for the rest of my life to appreciate it, no doubt. Hopefully not literally though, lol.

[@pipee8395]

I’m really sorry you had to went through all that but I’m sure you won’t regret it. And I’m glad we have stories like these to keep us sane and in touch with our feelings

[@yuhhbaby3179]

I can't imagine how difficult that is for you. Please treat yourself with kindness and remember you're a human

[@sarasunshinemt4444]

My mom died of cancer in 2020. While I wasn't her primary caretaker while she was declining, I fully understand what you mean (my father was taking care of her, along with an in home hospice nurse who would come by every other day). God bless you for doing that. And please don't feel guilty over having just wanting it to be over; it's natural and not a reflection of a character defect.

[@dxrbkn5145]

Thanks for sharing

[@badman5852]

Lost my mom to the bastard too. I was young so I only saw pieces. Wouldn't wish it on an enemy. Sorry for everyone who goes through it on all sides. They're far away from pain now, hopefully at peace.

[@SamsarasArt]

Silent Hill 2 goes for a completely different style of horror. Instead of trying to make you feel afraid, it makes you experience what depression and hopelessness feels like. And hopeless depression is its own kind of horror

[@aFoolsMartyr]

I am not really a prepetually depressed person, I am pretty happy most of the time. But I've been there before and it's a horrible place to be.

[@SamsarasArt]

@@aFoolsMartyr Almost everyone has experienced depression at some point in their lives. In those instances there's always some external cause; like the death of a loved one, losing your career, or some other tragic event. With a chronic depressive disorder, that awful feeling is everpresent. There's no cause for it to exist, it just does.

[@prochuba]

@@SamsarasArt I remember that everpresent feeling. But, it exists for as long as you let it exist. Life is all about choices.

[@SamsarasArt]

@@prochuba yes I'm not powerless and fight suicidal depression and keep it under control; but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist at all. Much the opposite, it's a constant struggle.

[@MrSlendyMannn]

@@SamsarasArtIt 100% is a constant struggle, I agree. Anyone who says otherwise is someone who’s never experienced it so they just say things such as “Oh just be happy” or “don’t let it control you” as if it’s THAT easy. I never actually played SH2 myself but after watching this perspective of it, it really does sell that hopeless depressive feeling that a lot of people unfortunately go through.

[@CrimsonTintedGlasses]

I do want to note the different interactions between fake Mary and James in the different endings. In the "Leave" Ending, he makes the assertion that he has to end the nightmare, and Maria gets angry because she doesn’t want him to leave. In the "In Water" Ending, he says that he can't settle for Maria because she isn't Mary. And in the "Rebirth" Ending, he sees straight through her disguise, suggesting that... He's done this before, which makes sense, since it requires a previous playthrough.

[@bluish4209]

My best guess/theory about the quiz show is that maybe James watched a lot of them when his wife was in the hospital. That's why we see his character model in a chair in front of a television. Maybe he couldn't sleep due to the grief and anxiety he felt and stayed up watching them, and that's why his model looked grey and decayed. Then, the shows eventually developed in his subconscious as a coping mechanism or a way to escape, and that brought him a small bit of peace, so he watched them as much as possible. It's a shot in the dark, but that's my headcannon on an otherwise out of place scene, lol

[@pepepopopepepopo2926]

I love that idea!! So interesting but it really makes sense

[@DrDolan2000]

It's something I can work with. Still feels pretty random

[@A_Stereotypical_Heretic]

I think the insinuation of the guy in the chair was self delete due to a stagnant lifeless existence...I think that's what the easy chair and Tv represents...boredom and wasting away. The model was also in it's bathrobe I believe, insinuating that this was all he did all day...watch TV and suffer. Oh btw youtewb search Lorne Armstrong for giggles.

[@Pocketrocket-pj1us]

No, just Chris Rock!! ;)

[@Kittysune12]

while your idea is cool and all still not even close to when dunkey said james watched silent hill the movie ohh the horror

[@cookiescream1993]

Fun fact about the final pyramid head fight; the sounds in the background of the song slow down to mirror the heartbeat of James wife before she died. Once it cuts to nothing it reflects that tragic day where they both died. Beautiful design. Tragic yet ahead of its time.

[@ZorotheGallade]

I always loved how movement and combat in Silent Hill feels like you're literally inside a nightmare. Walking or running but sometimes not going where you expect, swinging a weapon as hard as you can only to end up clumsily striking your target, wanting to run away and feeling you can't be as fast as you need to be to save yourself...

[@isenokami7810]

At least in Silent Hill 2. Only played the first two games so far, but 2 definitely had the right idea for survival horror combat, mechanics that work but aren’t as reliable as you might hope. I got In Water my first playthrough, and I think half of the problem was taking melee fights I thought were sure bets. That last bit I mainly learned from Silent Hill 1. Great game that I’m glad I got to experience, but for as clunky as that game felt, combat was, uh…a lot more reliable. Notably, melee was so good that there was little point wasting gun ammo unless you needed crowd control, and the hammer especially was just a win button on any standard enemy. Needless to say SH1 poorly prepared me for SH2’s dinky wooden plank. And while I freaking love the SH1 hammer, the plank is probably what you want for a survival horror where you want your player picking their fights.

[@chronovac]

One thing I really like is that Konami has stated that there is no canon ending. James' fate really _is_ in our hands. There is no, "that was the good ending but IN REALITY..." that some other games with diverging endings take.

[@NEETKitten]

That's kinda pissed on by Silent Hill 4 though. James' dad confirms he died, or at the very least went missing without much of a trace. Making In Water the most likely ending.

[@Wolfbarr01]

@@NEETKitten he could be on the run, or maybe he just doesn't talk to his dad.

[@simonmalmstrom9593]

I feel like the “bad” voice acting really adds to the game whether intentional or not. It gives the characters a almost creepy uncanny feeling that things aren’t right here, it’s not so bad/weird that it ruins the game but you can’t call it perfect either it’s right on that edge that gives a uncanny and detached feeling which adds to the whole feeling of James loosing touch with reality that’s set up in the beginning.

[@bugjams]

It's like the dialogue equivalent of spinning your tires in mud. That's how it's always felt to me. It's like they're struggling to just spit out what they want to say, they keep tip-toeing around it but can never quite communicate clearly. Out of confusion... or fear? (I joke, it's out of develop choice, because having an NPC just go "Silent Hill is fuckin haunted, mate" wouldn't be as effective). I suppose it also feels like listening to conversations when you're really sick and everything feels foggy. You hear the words, but you can't string together what they're actually saying.

[@DrDolan2000]

I certainly never thought of it as bad. The characters in the game are clearly not well in the head or the heart - except for Laura - and the way they speak reflects that. And Laura's voice actress did just fine in my opinion So I find it kind of weird how others can say the new voice cast is "objectively better" and such No, you *prefer* the new voices. And I can understand that because they're all pretty popular actors As for what the developers were trying to achieve, the old cast does a better job... {Sigh} "in my opinion", anyway

[@venicedamexican5783]

m

[@venicedamexican5783]

mm m

[@unadulterated]

there's a lack of affect in James that feels very surreal and dream-like, like he's watching himself going through all this

[@BelmontCruz]

That survival ring with Pyramid Head holds wierdly wholesome memories with my family from when I was a kid. We used to try bashing him in the butt and count how many times each of us could successfully butt-smack him before time ran out. Turned the whole thing into a joke every time I revisit this game now.

[@neesedraws]

That is SO funny🤣 I can imagine the scene in my mind

[@Man-ej6uv]

goddammit

[@hahe8530]

Why did they have to make the sound so funny? It makes it wayy too fun to hit him I spent like 20 minutes on the boss fight cause I kept laughing and trying to get as many swings as possible. Perfection!

[@scrumbo_2096]

this comment Perfectly Describes coming up with bullshit to have Fun as a kid... Gold...❤

[@NiCoNiCoNiCola]

In my restless wey dreams... I still see those butt cheeks...

[@awkwardGardener]

Something that worries me about the remake is the letter at the end. Mary's original VA gave us such an emotional delivery (iirc one of her loved ones had recently passed at the time of the recording), and I'm not sure whoever her new VA is will be able to capture that raw emotion.

[@dragonkamran]

She cried after reading it

[@MrBoomBastic5788]

It was actually her first time seeing it when they recorded it, so she got emotional

[@mwperk02]

Sadly that's the nature of a remake. Unless Konami can get permission from the original cast to reuse all the lines (which did happen for the trash hd collection) it's just never gonna be the same. What can be hoped for is the new cast does a great job of replicating the vibe of the originals.

[@CabezasDePescado]

Remake is crap

[@jas-jr3rv]

@@CabezasDePescado youre no fun. it hasnt even come out and youre talking shit? you embarrass the rest of the SH fandom

[@gishigoshi]

I never even considered that the leg monsters could be a mocking of her bedridden condition I always just assumed it was because he only thought of her as a sex object so the demons are only the crotch area. Maybe both are right and it’s more genius than I even considered

[@idkwhattoputheretbhbuthere]

"sex object" 😭 I'm pretty sure it's not that

[@paultapping9510]

​@androow1983 James finds pyramidhead fucking them. They very much are, literally and symbolically, sexual objects

[@SIDDqlo]

iirc developers confirmed the 2nd. Many monsters have sexual reference as intended by freudian styled guilt.

[@idkwhattoputheretbhbuthere]

@@SIDDqlo His sexual desires was never fulfilled so he started to lust for the nurses. That's not seeing her as a sex object

[@NiCoNiCoNiCola]

​@@idkwhattoputheretbhbuthere men would literally show you an image of legs attached to legs and say "would"

[@theheromans]

Interesting fact: The Great Knife that you pick up can scare away enemies if you equip it, turn off your flashlight and radio, and walk forward near enemies.

[@jeremyhammond8280]

fake bulshit

[@Stigmatix666]

You can also finish the Maria/Mary boss battle in one hit with the great knife..

[@99morphine]

Its so eerie considering most of the minor enemies are deathly afraid of Pyramid Head

[@justanidiotmk2749]

Well it makes sense because the pyramids are how he subconsciously sees himself, a killer overpowering everything around him.

[@lasarousi]

​@@justanidiotmk2749more like a butcher taking down sickly looking humanoids, most female shaped. It's literally James guilt attacking him when he's the ignorant man and then running away when he looks like pyramid Head, which we all know it's himself.

[@kartoffelhonig8873]

Maria jumpscared me harder than some of the monsters at some points. The fact that she teleports into every room James enters and just stands there doesn't only make the escort mission less annoying, it also makes sense in the lore of the game that she is actually not real. This game is a masterpiece.

[@Odlopo]

Who’s Maria

[@缪尔赛思]

​@@OdlopoMaria on these nuts

[@rusi6219]

​@@Odloposhe's not your Mary

[@FTZPLTC]

Love that thirteen steps thing - I've never heard this part of the game, but it *is* a tradition that there would be thirteen steps up to the gallows. I always thought the nine squares was just a way of really ratcheting up the sense of danger - like "No, seriously, you're GONNA want to save now."

[@isenokami7810]

Think you’re closer with what the nine save squares mean. I think it was generally just raising the importance of the very last chance to save in the game, not just to make sure you save before the last battles, but also to herald the end of the game. Same kind of effect as when a lot of other games point out their point of no return before the finale.

[@FTZPLTC]

@@isenokami7810 Certainly, if that was the intent, it worked. Just a great way of signalling that "things are about to get real". Silent Hill games were good at that, tbh. Like, the point in SH4 where you notice the room isn't healing you anymore is a huge moment of dread.

[@A_Stereotypical_Heretic]

13 steps...leads to nowhere! It's in to use the slang! Outbreak of drug roulette A backwards swastika, The black skin riddled in lead, A Nazi gangster jew, It beats a dog that's dead. Leads to nowhere!

[@panthekirb7561]

@@A_Stereotypical_Heretic Wut

[@A_Stereotypical_Heretic]

@@panthekirb7561 it's a pantera song. 13 steps

[@DSL_Returns]

At 11:25 you can actually hear Mary's voice ask 'James.. Why did you kill me?' It was all in front of our eyes and ears all this time. Maybe he did hear it, but was in denial

[@FranzSylbester]

THAT'S BLOODY MAGNIFICENT!

[@newacc6065]

OMG

[@gempernocap3726]

he says that later in the video

[@RanchBerryCrunch]

i always thought they were saying "james please kill me" both could work tbh i think

[@flyingtypetrainer4072]

I never noticed this!

[@MainsDude]

I like to believe that the “Leave” ending is more likely that the “Rebirth” one. I can see James going to resurrect her but after making the Pyramid Heads literally kill themselves, I like to believe he truly did get rid of his guilt and move on. The only problem is that the Pyramid Heads’ suicides represented his guilt disappearing way before he killed the fake Mary and before she forgave him.

[@ThatRandomDude204]

I remember a theory stating that the fire in Angela's last scene can only be seen by her as it's her personal hell or rather her Silent Hill and James saying "It's hot as hell in here" is because he doesn't actually see the flames and only feels it as he's seeing something else entirely. The theory came from a statement from one of the devs(can't remember who) stating that Silent Hill is different for every person P.S. I'm surprised he didn't mention the two Pyramid heads stepping back from James when he stood up a lot of people state it's because of fear from James or whatnot

[@isenokami7810]

Eh, I do think James could actually see the fire. Mainly because of a theory I heard from someone let’s playing the game that I kinda buy into: Silent Hill and its monsters do look different to different people, at least those going on the journeys we see here, but for some reason, the other characters’ hellscapes partially bleed into James’s. Mostly Angela’s, honestly, though I wonder if the meat locker where you fight Eddie is one of his manifestations. As for why their versions of the town are bleeding over for James, that’s a lot more in pure speculation territory, but I do have a good theory. While Angela and Eddie were clearly both real, a reply to a comment I made here mentioned that they share traits with James that drive their own journeys through the town, depression for Angela and self hatred for Eddie. That’s part of why their deaths are such big moments in James’s journey. So, I figure that connection is what gives James these looks into how they see Silent Hill, whether from some sort of resonance, or the town acknowledging their relevance to his experience. In the case of the town itself having a hand in it, I don’t think it finds James particularly special. Rather, in cases like this where multiple people are braving the town, it will take them and their pain into account as part of each of their trials and judgements. The Eddie fight is my prime example here: sure, it’s important for James, traumatized by committing an actual murder while putting an end to his self hatred, but I feel the town had a purpose on the other side too. It had nothing but contempt for Eddie, a loser who only grew more unhinged and violent as time went on, generally learning all the wrong lessons, and James was simply the perfect tool to put him down. I think of that fight, and I can’t help but feel James was used, guided into a position where he’d have no choice but to pass the town’s final judgement on Eddie.

[@LinksBetweenDrinks]

It's evidently different for each person, even when they're in it at the same time. The little girl (can't remember her name at the moment) doesn't see and monsters and is never attacked by them. Maria sees what James sees, but nobody else ever sees her, despite her being possibly able to see them. Angela's Silent Hill is devoid of monsters as well, but is ablaze. And everyone's favorite overeating toilet vomiter seems to see his own kind of monsters, who taunt and belittle him. James seems to be able to experience others' perception of Silent Hill at time though; such as there never being any monsters around when the little girl is around, the inferno in Angela's last scene, as well as Angela's sexual abuse trauma room.

[@Chris-ko7ov]

@@isenokami7810 That's clever, I always thought Eddie was a way for James to acknowledge he was a killer, " I've killed a human beign" and he goes on: "mary, did you really died 3 years ago?". It kinda makes you think if it's the same taking an innocent life or a guilty one, does count matter?, it's a clever way to see the contradictions inside James he feels guilt for killing, yet he is in denial of murdering Mary. Eddie character is also interesting, since the dude is clearly insane, also as you said impersonating a self hatred turned into egocentric psychotic and paranoid. There's so many things in every layer that is hard to pinpoint an exact meaning for everything. Gotta love this game

[@delaceylehane7758]

That's awesome if it's true and is just more proof this game is the GOAT in the video game world. I always assumed "if I can see it, so can James". We seem to be in the dark with him the whole game and uncover things as he does. If we see the fire, it stands to reason he does too (at least, that was my thinking before reading this comment).

[@FirstLast-cg2nk]

Another aspect of "Holes" that I think is important to note is that they're simultaneously both "Something" and "Nothing". A hole isn't a presence or existence, but a visible emptiness, a noticeable absence. Like James, a person who is present but is empty inside at the start of the game. Depending on how the player handles the game, you are filling that hole, that absence inside of James. However, depending on what you choose to do, that may not be a good thing.

[@AC-hj9tv]

I read this to my gf

[@61subsandnovideos]

I love the interpretation of the holes. I've always wondered why they were there. I always thought it was symbolism for James spiraling down

[@saulkorzenecki]

Of course you can attribute whatever significance you please, but it isn't some philosophical riddle they spent hours thinking up, its just a reference to The Langoliers

[@tyrock4397]

I've never read The Langoliers, could you explain how the holes are a reference? I'm curious

[@wannabread1452]

​@@saulkorzenecki I'm also curious about the reference

[@Moriartea_chan]

"Crime and Punishment" is a mandatory book to read in schools in Poland and it was definitely my favourite one. No wonder I love Silent Hill and psychological horror in general.

[@A_Stereotypical_Heretic]

Now mandatory reading is Tommy's Boyfriend Takes the Big D! And... Rainbows Are For Kids, Rainbows are for Pedos And such classics as... I'm A Boy That Thinks I'm A Girl Because I'm Still A Child With A Vivid Imagination But Joe Biden Says I Can Get My Pee Pee Cut Off At Age 10 Or Take Life Altering Forever Puberty Blockers Without Parental Consent.

[@gaborsalamon3629]

It's also mandatory here in Hungary.

[@danialyousaf6456]

Why is it mandatory ?

[@dominikmatic4965]

​@@danialyousaf6456its like math or science mandatory and in europe in mother language subject we read and analyze books they choose

[@danialyousaf6456]

@@dominikmatic4965 ah alright. Pretty cool

[@Magi_Rayne]

my "cannon" ending is "In Water" because I believe James DID kill Mary to release her from her pain, but also couldn't live with what he did and wanted to be with Mary. I also believe that James has Mary's body in the trunk of his car from the start of the game and is why it makes sense for him to drive into the lake, he would be in the lake with her body and his, forever. It also makes sense in the rebirth ending because in the boat, is Mary's body. He def has her in the trunk from the get go of the game.

[@ofmachines3]

The first monster may be about her yes, but it also looks like that because of James feeling suffocated by being her caretaker, his life having everything to do with her and her well-being, and feeling powerless to help her. Also the legs monster has to do with his shame, for checking out the nurses whenever he visited the hospital similar to the actual nurse monsters, an actualization of his shame after having lustful thoughts. As you said, silent hill two is about James’ psyche not his wife’s. The monsters are about his guilt and shame, the things that he hasn’t faced that sit in the back of his mind, torturing him.

[@saulkorzenecki]

I always interpreted the lying figure as a mental interpretation of Mary being smothered Even the name is a double entendre: Mary lying in her death bed, James lying to himself about what he did to her. The significance being that in the very first monster James sees, the twist of the whole game is already made plainly apparent, in the same way that the first time he finds the radio Mary immediately asks "Why did you kill me?" but James is not ready to face it yet, and so the town draws him deeper.

[@NiCoNiCoNiCola]

I feel like hiring an escort might have solved some of James' issues As in before he killed his wife

[@valkyriedarquese]

@@NiCoNiCoNiCola he would have felt guilt about that too

[@NiCoNiCoNiCola]

@@valkyriedarquese yes, but like... Didn't Mary herself not mind James moving on? Then again, this is the same series where some random trucker dude is a LITERAL saint who did his part in Silent Hill and just moved on

[@valkyriedarquese]

@@NiCoNiCoNiCola Yes, but he still felt guilty about having sexual feelings towards the nurses while his wife was still alive and dying. Even with permission to move on after a partner's death, you can still feel guilty or ashamed, like you're betraying them. Grief is hard. Silent hill is like purgatory in a way for james, he has to face what he has done, acknowledge it, accept it and move on to heal

[@imjustaturtle641]

Fun fact: The original voice actor’s didn’t know how the game ended. The team intentionally left them in the dark and they learned the story scene by scene. Just like the player. That’s what makes the original voice acting so much better imo. Which I understand isn’t the HD remaster casts fault, but it does affect their performances. That opening line between Guy Cihi and Troy Baker says it all.

[@Spacecorgi]

I now fervently believe that the Dog ending is actually the town conspiring with a brilliant Shiba Inu to take vengeance on Eddie for murdering an innocent dog, using James as their unwitting pawn to do so.

[@isenokami7810]

I do believe that last part, that the Eddie fight only happened at all because the town guided James to him knowing he’d be forced to kill the guy.

[@BasilBeesLair]

Also would make sense if you think how alessa might relate herself with the dog: a innocent and defenseless creature been hurt by terrible people. No surprise the town would want eddie's ass

[@killer1one1]

I literally *cannot* keep myself from tearing up or even full-blown cry whenever I hear that final Mary letter. The voice acting, combined with the story implications and my own life experiences... fuck. I was almost upset when you started playing it in this video lol, I was like "oh man, not now..." Gets to me every single time.

[@mastermind4499]

Agree. This is the reason number one why I will not play the remake

[@tinybee7780]

"It doesn't matter, who I am. I'm here for you, James. See, I'm real." Still one of my favorite lines in any horror game even to this day.

[@ja-yjtbd9932]

Honestly everything Maria says becomes intensely tragic and sad after playing or watching the born from a wish Maria side story

[@ayoubmorjane7722]

That line just awoken somthing deep inside me and I didnt even realize just now

[@A_Stereotypical_Heretic]

Didn't she say 'warm'? See, I'm warm?

[@daanoliver]

​@@A_Stereotypical_Hereticno

[@A_Stereotypical_Heretic]

@@daanoliver maybe that was their first meeting at the park

[@adrastos50]

Mary’s reading of her letter to James gets me in tears everytime.

[@quantumhawk806]

Hurts me a lot being in a similar situation to Mary (just luckily survived).

[@thirdeyenz]

Angela's weird twisting at the top of the stairs looks like it's part of a special animation character riggers use to help paint and test a characters skinning. You put a character through some extreme poses to help see if the skinning you're doing is going to stand up to most animations. Source: I'm a character animator/rigger for games and do this all the time. It looks like part of a torso/neck/head test. Players are never supposed to see these animations obviously but it must have crept in somehow.

[@Cheezitnator]

Neat. The more you know.

[@GamesbiteRtDL]

Spore moment

[@xyalix]

what part of the video/time stamp can we see this at?

[@thirdeyenz]

@@xyalix 1:27:43

[@arthurbarros5189]

Does this suggests this scene was made before the other interactions with her? Like her model was changed later into development and they put the test of the new skinning at the end of the cutscene and forgot to take it out before launching, cause no one ever saw it.

[@AFoxInFlames]

One of the best lines in all video game history "HOW CAN YOU SIT THERE AND EAT PIZZA?!?" Still unintentional comedy gold. James, you rascal.❤😂

[@Onigumo.]

This town is full of pizza how can you sit there and eat monsters!?

[@AFoxInFlames]

​@@Onigumo.😂

[@ironedvespa2608]

A 2 hour treat of a documentary only from the best, fitting for silent hill 2!

[@Prestize]

it’s always a blessing when pointless drops🥰

[@justinebidulopoutchini9774]

Im listening to it at work, it’s literally a treat ❤

[@flynneugene2675]

2 hours?

[@sliggens47]

Actually it’s 6 min shy of 2 hours 🤓🤓

[@BrandonWhatTheF]

@@sliggens47 Actually it's 5 minutes and 9 seconds shy of being 2 hours🤓

[@ManlyBog6448]

Kinda cool that only when you shine your light on the issues "monsters" they are visible and attack you. In the darkness they are still present but it's easier to ignore what you can't see.

[@cooltrainervaultboy-39]

Speed runners setting their game and TV brightness up so they don't have to use the flashlight be like:

[@lexzeyfercronus]

If i recall correctly,after finishing the game,if you play again the message you get on the radio can be heard/read clearly,also im pretty sure the reason you can find abstract dads on the hotel is because Angela is also in the hotel,so her nightmare is overlapping with James,as hinted at when hes able to see and feel the burning staircase when they meet for the last time,which leads to believe the clunky Eddie fight took place on Eddie's personal nightmare overlapping with James. I kinda wished we got to play as all the characters and go through their own twisted version of the town,since we only got glimpses of them when playing as James,kinda like what we got with Maria on her directors cut scenario "born from a wish" and i doubt theyll expand on them in the remake.

[@BWMagus]

Nah, it's fine, because those two mirror James in different ways; Eddie is his selfish lashing out, Angela is his horrible guilt at what he's done.

[@gRinchY-op5vr]

I'd have liked it if they released comics showing Silent Hill through Eddie and Angela's perspectives, like they did for Anne from Downpour. That way you see their journey leading up to their final moments as a side note but James is still the character we went on the journey with, I feel like if they had added another DLC or two for them like they did for Maria it would have been too many?

[@61subsandnovideos]

I dont think I'd ever recover from playing Angela's side story bruh maybe its better that way 😭😭 cus even as a woman I still couldn't bear what James had to go through

[@josephalmahmid3496]

the remake absolutely nailed it. Improved so many sections and fights and kept the vibe

[@akacurryful]

Always appreciate someone still analyzing and commenting on Silent Hill 2. Such a masterpiece. Don't let it be forgotten.

[@lasarousi]

At this point silent Hill 2 is a mandatory part off any reviewer. It is a fantastic measure of the kind of person the reviewer can be. A little window into the psyche if that person and whether or not they are worth even watching. It should be a test before they even start a career reviewing games.

[@jbear3478]

You would like Max Darrett's channel. Darret? Darett? Anyway he has tons of silent hill analysis videos

[@themetalmetroid]

I got bad news for anyone who didn't know. turns out that the scene of pyramid head with the leg monsters isn't meant to be what he's doin' with the lying figure later. he's trying to shove them down the garbage disposal. The leg monsters initially weren't supposed to show up after that scene, since pyramid head is trying to remove any "psychoses" getting in the way of James' guilt.

[@gurogoth]

Shiiiiit he could shove me down the garbage disposal if he gives me that hip action 😩

[@Sceherzo]

That makes it kinda funny Mannequins: (wants to attack James) Pyramind Head: *no you're not in this episode*

[@BAAa-tw7lo]

How do you reckon this?

[@themetalmetroid]

I remember reading it in an interview a few years back about the development of sh2. You'll have to take it with a grain of salt though, since I cannot remember where I read it

[@liiann6]

Masahiro Ito did indeed tweet that PH was trying to get rid of the mannequins, but he didn't explicitly state it was with the garbage disposal. But now that it's been brought up, I can't accept anything else lol

[@mynameisharry8739]

6:30 Not sure if it was intentional, but I feel like James chasing after that lying figure was a refrence to Harry chasing after Cheryl into the fog from the first game. I think it works as a way to reflect how different the stories of the two games were going to be. While Harry in the first game was desperately searching for his adopted daughter and trying to uncover her tragic past, James was trying to face the trauma of his own guilt and grief.

[@raczedvard]

If you think about it It's quite poetic. Harry chasing after Cheryl to uncover the tragic past, while James was trying to find Mary and at the same time running away from the truth in denial

[@zeporion6091]

James seems to have been meant to remind the player of Harry to lure them into a false sense of security. They're both men traveling into Silent Hill to find a loved one, and both have a wife who died of illness in the undescribed past. Depending on the ending (Leave), James even leaves with a surrogate daughter just like Harry did at the end of his own journey. The two are presented as reflections of the other, imo

[@ImNotFunny541]

Didn’t Harry Mason die?

[@zeporion6091]

@@ImNotFunny541 in game 3 yeah

[@ImNotFunny541]

@@zeporion6091 Oh, I thought he died in the first one from the car crash. Didn’t he?

[@kosmos7525]

Thanks for this amazing summary of Silent Hill 2. Unfortunately I never played the game and didn’t know much about the story. It is unbelievably fascinating how much meaning they managed to put in such an old Video game. Really touching. Loved the Peterson reference at the end!

[@Mrt101]

After playing this game recently, I think my favourite part is how slow it takes itself. There's no real rush to get to the point or get straight to the action. The game takes it's time and I believe that helps with building the tension and whilst I think the ending fight is underwhelming (imo) i still think it adds to the entire package.

[@MilaWht]

I think at least for the first two silent hill games all the boss fights are a little underwhelming compared to todays games, I enjoy them cause I have difficulty with combat on most games and these are not easy, but a little more simple and they don't take 500 shots from really specific angles

[@dulaman]

You're right and yet the SH2 remake is longer but feels more tedious and seems to drag on. The pacing in SH2 was perfect. They really captured magic.

[@israelpereira2088]

The best psychological horror game ever made and one of the best games of all time,always imitated but never surpassed.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

Remade

[@RacoonHand]

Angela’s arc is treated so well. The whole game is it’s excellent and my favourite. But I got so drawn in by her Silent Hill, Even down to one of the final rooms she is in which is fleshy but has metallic parts ….entering and exiting holes. Gives me chills to this day

[@magdaciechocka3076]

This is why the remake worries me a lot, since Team Bloober has a history mishandling abuse arcs, especially the sexual abuse ones (see: The Medium)

[@Scarshadow666]

@@magdaciechocka3076 Yeah, that's the aspect I'm worried about too, unless they're going to make things as close as possible to the original game (and it wouldn't be the first time devs in general drew as much inspiration as possible from SH2, including the Tom Hulett sequels)... 0_0

[@A_Stereotypical_Heretic]

Makes me think pyramid head wasn't a manifestation of James but was Angela's, being a "physically" abusive authority figure, as he was portrayed in this version. The second PH could represent her brother. I think that's why they never truly want to punish James themselves per se, just lead him to his punishment.

[@Illyab]

​@@A_Stereotypical_Heretic From what I know Pyramid Heads purpose was to show James things he feels guilty about, remind him of his wrong doings. That's why he kills Maria multiple times in front of James, to remind James that he killed Mary, show him the truth, destroy his delusion. It's James punishment. So the sexual assault PH was displaying towards the feminine monsters of silent hill, could be Pyramid Heads way of showing the guilt James felt after lusting over others while his wife was on her deathbed. Especially that it's implied that James might have went at some point to a strip club (or at least fantasized about it), frustrated that his wife cannot satisfy him in her dying state, with Maria resembling a Heaven's Night worker from the poster. The first encounter with PH is very symbolic of that, with James hiding in the closet to observe how PH violates the two feminine looking monsters instead of running away, and PH ominous but rather disapproving behavior after he noticed James hide.

[@A_Stereotypical_Heretic]

​@@Illyabmakes sense. But why did two manifest?

[@blxshp291]

5:01 these choices really remind me of things David lynch would do ( mostly twin peaks bc the score also really reminds me of it especially in that specific scene) it’s disjointed and uncanny and makes me SO uncomfy in the best way

[@kewldude23xx]

36:34 I think the reason why Maria didn't want to enter the bowling alley is because she only exists in james' head . And since Eddie and Laura are inside the bowling alley they wouldn't be able to see her. She know she is a product of James imagination

[@shokatali05]

​@celestialnullmakes sense

[@spinozilla2421]

⁠@celestialnullnot really mess with him but test him, but yeah she illusion created by the town, Ito gone on record to confirm everyone is real expect her. Also the fact everyone see the world differently, the others can’t see multiple James corpses or how Angela she her mom instead of James in some moments

[@TheGhfji]

I just wanna say that the music in this game for me is 50% if not more of the experience. Akira Yamaoka has created the perfect soundtrack and i still listen to it after a decade. I really hope that they will have him onboard again because damn... I need more.

[@chinossynthesizer705]

Yes, a lot of the music is ambient. The synth pads add a whole layer of atmosphere.

[@belmontofastora3665]

The ending where he drives into the lake is the most fitting one I think. Really drives home james is a grief ridden basket case and even makes me think that the entire events of the game didn't even happen, it was all in his head as he stared at the lake in the beginning

[@trailer.prince]

and it lines up w lore in sh4 bc of what james dad said😭 but ignoring that literally the in water ending always has been my favorite and most fitting to how tragic the story and stories of this game is. agreeeed!

[@dawnpyro43]

with the corpses of james' model could hammer home his wanting to just unalive himself

[@chimmichurri6940]

Either this, or his grief and guilt got to him after telling her that he hated her. I think this is one of the better endings because itd make the most sense for a regular persons brain box how it could work.

[@turnersgauge3430]

Let’s go! In water ending enjoyers where you at! 🙌

[@idigamstudios7463]

@@trailer.prince In Water or Rebirth, I could see him getting stuck in the otherworld with Mary, he has her back but he's unable to move on, so he's stuck with her. Or perhaps a construct of her.

[@rae-neko]

Mary's VA wasn't supposed to cry when reading that final letter, but her tears were genuine, and they decided to keep that take.

[@Zetsuboulurkswithin]

My favorite small detail from this game is how Mary's letter gradually dissappears the more James learns about the truth of what he's done and the realization of the consequences of his actions. When he ends Eddie's life the letter loses Mary's handwriting signifying that James can't leave Silent Hill now knowing that he committed a murder. Once he watches the tape containing the dark truth that he ended his wife, the letter itself dissappears completely signifying that James within his heart came to Silent Hill in the first place to attone for his crimes, but his mind tried to keep his sanity in check (as well as keep him motivated to traverse the horrors of his own mind combined by the influence of Silent Hill) by suppressing the truth (and creating a fake one where he might find his wife alive and well) until he got to the hotel where it was time for him to start the process of attoning. Finally (its either during the double Pyramid Head fight or after it) the envelope itself dissappears which is James' mind fully accepting the truth that the letter he came with to Silent Hill wasn't the real letter (he finds the letter during the endings where all of Mary's handwriting is there so that James himself can determine whether he deserves to be forgiven or not), but it also signifys that James has the motivation to atone for his crimes and that the envelope of the idea of Mary's request to return is no longer needed.. James at this point only has the memory of his wife within the photo where she was healthy and happy, that's all the motivation he needs to complete his atonement. I hope that the remake keeps all these small details like in the original because it's stuff like that which made the original as good as it was story wise..

[@isenokami7810]

I always found the fight with Eddie interesting, namely that we’re the one doing it in the first place. It feels like Silent Hill using James and his journey in the town to pass final judgement on another who clearly failed his. Not saying James himself is Eddie’s Pyramid Head, clearly not, just that the town wanted him dead and, instead of giving him a personal demon, guided James over as the executioner.

[@petermj1098]

Eddie has the same self-hatred as James. Angela has the same depression as James. James lets go of his depression by letting go of Angela in the fire. James kills his self-hatred when he kills Eddie.

[@aaayyygender]

​@@petermj1098🤯🤯🤯

[@18skeltor]

​​@@petermj1098Of course, you stop hating yourself after killing someone, and your depression goes away after your depressed friend kills themself. Genius 😂

[@petermj1098]

@@18skeltor James had a choice to become like Eddie by doing the Rebirth ending and has a choice to become like Angel by doing the In Water ending. If the player plays the game normally they will get the typical leave ending where he learns from Angela and Eddie instead of becoming like them.

[@VoodooTrashPanda]

A friend told me there were multiple endings, but not how to get any of them. I would’ve gotten the leave ending were it not for two things: One: I learned at the last stage of the game that white in the menu was not full health, green was. So I had inadvertently gone through the entire game injured. Two: I really wanted to equip the kitchen knife. James drove into the lake

[@criskp6861]

😂

[@TheSlammurai]

I've never heard anyone else mention the number of steps leading up to the hotel. That's an insane detail that I and everyone else I've heard analyze this game missed.

[@frenchhonhon]

For the "Maria" Ending, I personally like to believe that "Better do something about that cough..." isn't out of irritation or annoyance, but rather, a concern about her health, knowing and remembering what his wife went through.

[@gRinchY-op5vr]

On first getting that ending I read it as a case of de ja vu, later play throughs getting it I jokingly read it as "if you don't do something about that cough, I will" *brings out the pillow*

[@rinakitty9283]

The way he say it tho...

[@zedowskyy9290]

The crime and punishment is a required reading in Polish Universities so I know a lot about it on a university level, and I think you could've pull out a lot more similarities to the game, like the fact that only in the end Raskolnikov learned to appreciate Sonia when she got sick and wasn't around anymore for him in his time of need. He didn't really care for her until she wasn't around anymore, sounds pretty familiar. Also, right after killing Alona, Lizawieta catches Rodion in the act, and gets killed only because she posed a possible threat to him and his life. He wanted to kill only one person, in his misguided way of making things right, but it led to him killing another person. Also sounds very familiar. Those are just two examples but there 100% is more, I just don't want to write an entire essay.

[@alphabetsoupp]

sounds like a really cool idea for an essay!

[@mchyiporosty]

[@hicxs1]

Whenever Pointless uploads, I feel the need to click right away. The games he covers are some I have never even heard of! I'm not a huge fan of horror games or movies but Pointless makes these types of games look really entertaining instead of scary or spooky and sort of make me wanna try them myself

[@kenouillegen6813]

+1

[@a-yam943]

Silent Hill games are so much more than just horror games!!

[@Isopods-Are-Cool09]

I only woke up like 30 minutes ago, and went on KZbin, saw this video, and pressed it, without even thinking twice.

[@yurtthesilentgod1225]

Play them if you ever get the chance. Actually much deeper and thoughtful than people give it credit for. Anyway back to dark souls 2 pvp with this in the background for me. Cheers everyone.

[@theonlybilge]

​@@yurtthesilentgod1225 Enjoy the eight directional movement and boring dudes with swords.

[@FireWaia]

I'm 40 now, when i was 20 i was dating a model for many years. We didn't have any matching hobbies, except playing horror games together. So many good memories of us playing the Silent hill series, Fatal frame, Clock tower and many others... This will be a lovely watch and probably a little painful walk down memory lane.

[@mat999666]

For me, the "in water" is the one, Mary's body was always in the back of the car, in silent hill 4, Sunderland's father says that he never returned, that makes me think that he would throw himself together with his dead wife in their favorite town, sad, but also beautiful

[@noahcaroppo6264]

I genuinely cried at the ending when hearing mary's voice, After all James Went trough that last "u made me Happy" really hit me hard

[@RazzAlerio]

There’s nothing quite like your videos, they’re like a combination of an abridged let’s play and a Philosophical deep dive with thoughtful commentary and story telling breakdowns. Really awesome stuff! ❤

[@mydasmurray]

30:55 please tell me where this piano comes from 🙏🏼

[@TotallyPointlessTV]

Hey, thank you so much for the super! The piano piece is from Zelda Breath of the wild, it plays when a guardian attacks link!

[@Take_Care27]

@@TotallyPointlessTVwhere’s the silent hill 1 video at

[@mydasmurray]

@@TotallyPointlessTVthanks man, keep up the good work

[@ItsJabo]

Huge congrats on reaching 500k subs, your channel has blown onto the scene and I’ve loved every upload!

[@The_Joestar]

'Playing Silent Hill but Everytime I Die I Install a New Mod' when?

[@dantes3811]

my man said he would do silent hill 2 vid on 500k and he did what a champ

[@TaCo0oCaT]

Woah, it’s jabo. Just found your channel a week ago and Pointless the week before that. I am blessed

[@RavenousDevil]

Your style of humor mixed with just the right amount of seriousness for the dark themes of this game was perfect.

[@thomasaugustto]

Thank you for this

[@thiccgingerboii1033]

This was my interpretation as well. It was the ending I got on my first playthrough and looking at the arc and symbolism throughout the whole game, to me, it points to this being James’ conclusion. To me, it makes the most sense, given everything that James’ sees and confronts up until that point. The whole ‘three years’ thing too was pretty clear to me as well, seeing as we hear the conversation had between James and Mary’s doctor when he is giving her prognosis, and tells him she has at best, three years to live. For those three years, to James, Mary was already ‘dead’. As the Mary he knew from that point, was no longer there as her illness slowly deteriorated her more and more. Hence where we get James believing and fixating on the idea that she ‘died’ three years prior to recieving the letter, also to distance himself from the fact that he was the one to actually take her life, not the illness. This also plays into the constant themes and symbolism of crime and punishment that the game touches on constantly, with the idea that Mary was given a ‘death sentence’ with her illness, but James was the executioner that actually dolled it out, something James clearly feels strongly about subconsciously, seeing as his tormentor throughout, Pyramid Head, takes on the form of an executioner, garbed in an apron, having his face concealed, and carrying a large weapon that can kill in a single hit. The visuals being conjured from a connection James presumably formed in his mind from having seen imagery at the Historical Society of the ancient executioners from the Silent Hill of old. Not to mention, that Masahiro Ito did say at one point that he designed Pyramid Head with the ‘In Water’ ending in mind. In the first fight with Pyramid Head, after you defeat him he walks into the flooded depths below and dissapears seemingly drowning himself, as well as all the water that floods the Lakeview Hotel after James recalls his repressed memories of killing Mary, subtly indicates where his fate may lie, as the ending title suggests: ‘In Water’. Also a few tidbits of dialogue in pre-scripted sequences that occur regardless of choices early on and the performances from the actors suggest a cold, emotionless detachment from James, almost as if he is completely empty and has nothing to live for. Especially the line he utters to Angela in the graveyard, which to me, incapsualtes almost everything about his character and his arc: “I guess it’s just… I really don’t care if it’s dangerous or not, I’m going to town either way.” It cements very early on that James is not at all particularly concerned with his own wellbeing, and instills a sense of foreboding inevitability and finality of his journey into Silent Hill and the fate that lies in wait for him there. All this and more to me, indicate this being the most poignant ending and rounds out the experience in an albeit depressing, but deeply cathartic and emotionally resonant experience which is what to me, the game is trying to explore as a piece of art.

[@wyattpiper7781]

Resident evil 4 remake took out so much soul of the original game wdym

[@kman9884]

@@wyattpiper7781Took out the campy bullshit, yes.

[@timmychickenman69]

I like to think the eggs you pick up from the pyramid heads represent the purity of each victim of James. The rusty one represents Eddie, a mentally unstable individual who has no problem with taking a life. And the scarlet egg represents Mary, a pure life who only wants to live on. But that’s just a theory.

[@Onigumo.]

Not really the eggs represents Mary and Maria Rusty is Mary and Scarlet is Maria

[@timmychickenman69]

@@Beowolf-jy5rc That's actually a very interesting take on the eggs and helps explain the emotions that James experienced when he killed Mary. But it's still hard to explain why two pyramid heads were holding the eggs, which is why I theorized the two pyramid heads represented the victims of James. Your theory on their metaphor is really interesting. On the other hand, the eggs could represent the relationship between James and Mary, and it would make sense the second pyramid head shows up after he finds out he's the main cause of his wife's death. On the other hand, the second pyramid head also shows up after James kills Eddie. So I'm at a stalemate with what I think the eggs represent. The two pyramid heads, along with their eggs are metaphorically complex, and when you think you have the answer there'll always be another rabbit hole to jump into. With every answer comes more questions, and that's one of the reasons I love this game. I like your take on it though, it gave me more questions to think about.

[@tomfitzpatrick9466]

I honestly think that watching this video is at least 10 times as fun as actually playing the game. The commentary gives so much interesting context. When I started I thought this game was just a random series of monsters and weird for the sake of it, I had no idea the thought and depth that went into it. I wish more games would take the time to have true meaning in their design.

[@jbear3478]

Or audiences would take the time to analyze them

[@MiroredImage]

I think actually playing the game is still super worth it before getting spoiled by this video. I still cherish some of those incredible horror moments, no other game can really compare to it

[@dmurphy2351]

You and summoning salt have really mastered the art of video essay. You have a great presence with the way you tell the stories of each item you study and research and it makes me feel excited for each new video because everyone of them will be a well worth it watch!

[@lenacarey2333]

That dbd joke about camping as Bubba caught me off guard, loved that! It’s always a good day when a new long analysis of Silent Hill 2 is uploaded to the internet. This was a great listen while I was at work! Super well edited and I like your analyses of the game. I think what makes Silent Hill 2 so enduring for me is that the game doesn’t pass judgment on James. It wants him to acknowledge what he’s done, but after that, it doesn’t take a stance on James’s character. It’s up to the player to decide how they feel. Is James a monster, and no amount of justification can excuse what he’s done? Is he a tragic figure, pushed to his limits in a way that could happen to anyone? Can he be forgiven? Ultimately, you decide which of those things is true. The endings only indicate whether James has learned anything at all, or forgiven himself.

[@saas4517]

your narration is just so awesome. randomly found these SH videos and I love them. Once started to watch I cant stop watching it. SH2 was the most memorable game of all SH Games. Each dialogue literally burned into my brain, though not played it for almost 2 decades. Song, soundtrack, atmosphere, characters, everything was so flawless

[@alialiyev6168]

Same. I hope he also did SH 1 and 3

[@D0NU75]

Always loved how both SH1 and SH2 endings involved a father walking away from the town with a daughter. Alessa only knew her mother and she was a hostile and hurtful figure so it's likely in her mind, the father she never knew was completely the oposite and she projected this on Harry and James. By SH3 when Heather comes back to the town and reunites with Alessa, it's like a Heather basically confirmed to Alessa that yes, her father figure was in fact the complete oposite of Daliah and now that they are whole, it's as if she always had one too. idk maybe i'm just overthinking it.

[@adamirnukic4594]

As someone who can't play horror games cause I get way too scared all the time, thank you so much for making these videos, cause I can actually sort of experience how incredible these games truly are

[@Doofster]

This was extremely scary when it was new. Still my favorite game

[@attenzionepickpocket]

Unus anus

[@williamhardee8863]

The thing about this game is that the horror comes almost entirely from the atmosphere, because the enemy’s are so easy to avoid, you can just run past most of them. The ending bit when you’re going through the prison is easily the scariest part for me.

[@escalatingbarbarism5096]

where's the keepers of gates when you need them

[@xxXXRAPXXxx]

I remember playing Silent Hill 1 when i was 10 -12 (i don't remember if i played it the year it was lunched or a bit later) and i still remember playing that game alone, the school at night section my ass was so tense you could make diamonds using the tension. Yea i had to take breaks but i did finish it. That fucking piano puzzle was hell for a non native english speaker that was like 12 (at max).

[@delaceylehane7758]

I've heard so many theories on the nine squares, but none have made the connection to the nine monster types in the game. Never would have spotted that.

[@Insky_]

It's old silent hill town map, from silent hill 1

[@MetaGiga]

I’m someone who was abused by her father. Not in the same way as Angela, but I was emotionally abused daily and gaslit by him into believing things were my fault. Whenever my mom would intervene, he would go completely insane and lash out in terrifying ways. When that would happen, I’d hide myself in the bathroom and curl up into a ball with something to distract myself from the yelling. Angela’s entire behavior towards things is exactly how I am today. Whenever I don’t understand what someone says the first time, I apologize. Whenever I think I said something wrong, I apologize. Whenever I feel like something’s my fault, I apologize. In regards to her cowering when James approaches him, I get mortified when someone raises their voice or gets upset with me. I understand that reaction completely. Team Silent knocked it out of the park and depicted trauma so accurately that it was cathartic for me to see that they understood. I love them for that

[@EdenNeedsAYoutubeHandle]

"In Water" has always been the most thematically appropriate ending in my opinion, but as time goes on I'm starting to realize that it just comes down to how much stronger it resonated with me.

[@Tenchigumi]

The thing about Angela's "teenage" behavior is that if you reverse engineer the dialogue back into Japanese, it makes waaay more sense (for better or worse). For example, Angela yelling "I'm not lying!" (which was an odd choice of words that adds "uncanniness") actually makes more sense as a childish "uso ja nai yo!" (which is a pretty common Japanese phrase, something a kid might cry when adults don't believe their stories, or a teenage girl might pout when her friends tease her). I think they could have easily removed some of that uncanniness by rephrasing that line as "I'm not making this up!" or something, but the fact that they chose to translate a Japanese phrase completely literally made an otherwise mundane sentence call attention to itself.

[@MarkLambertMusic]

About the sound design and music, Akira made a lot of use of off-the-shelf commercial sample packs. The "Bizarre Guitar" and "Distored Reality" collections in particular are prominent. For instance, at 21:02 that "whump" sound is a sample called "Shudd" from "Bizarre Guitar". The song, White Noiz, that plays at the beginning when James is looking in the mirror uses the sample called "Daybreak" from "Distorted Reality". There are many other examples. That's not meant to take away from Akira (trust me, I'm as big a fan of the guy as there is, as my channel attests). Most game designers use off-the-shelf solutions where they can. When you have to do all the sound design and music composition while under a development deadline, you can hardly be expected to also cook up all the sounds from scratch.

[@Animedumptruck]

It's nice seeing you here. Love your covers

[@MarkLambertMusic]

@@Animedumptruck Hey thanks AhetoBLEH! You can find me lurking around man SH videos on YT. Big fan obviously. lol

[@somsomsomsom]

14:30 “we’re still in the thick of it” PEAK MENTIONED RAHHHH

[@yack8947]

FROM THE SCREEN TO THE RING

[@Muuuuudee]

@@yack8947TO THE PEN TO THE KING 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥

[@FoghornProductions-eg8ji]

@@MuuuuudeeWHERE’S MY CROWN THATS MY BLING

[@morganthefey]

Now that I think about it, that black guy with the lightning had a point.

[@yearningforpetrichor]

James: You’re going out there alone?? Eddie: ✨ yeah ✨

[@ItsYaBoiV]

I've always liked the voice acting in this game. It's a bit corny at times, but when it counts, I think it contains way more emotion than a lot of games out now.

[@PinkPanther45518]

I honestly feel like that they did this on purpose. Like they were supposed to sound off, like not totally human-like or normal. Like something is intrinsically off with each and everyone of these characters in the game. I think the VA's were asked to act a bit off or a bit strange to fit with the atmosphere that Silent Hill has you experience the entire way through. So I think the VA's did a fantastic job, it fits the game, story, and atmosphere perfectly.

[@jdphillips7539]

They totally did it on purpose

[@a_lethe_ion]

Angelas regression...its causing me goosebumps. The oscillation between numbness,fear and self hate

[@gRinchY-op5vr]

It's how people who have experienced trauma and haven't recovered from it talk, detached and not quite normal. And given James doesn't fully care about whats going on without Mary, it makes more sense his reactions to things aren't what they should be?

[@MichaelMcGrattan-yu3cv]

Watching this reniforces my belief that there's no good reason why some games such as Silent Hill 2 can't be taught in formal settings like school. It's not an exaggeration to this this game is a masterpiece in terms of psychology horror & story. Bioshock is another game that jumps out to me which which could be explored in the same level of depth but from a philosophical POV.

[@saulkorzenecki]

Its because unlike other games, SH2 was made by a once in a life time team of freaks who were fine-artists/intellectuals first, and game developers second. In truth, game developers lack the artistic/writing ability to create a thematic masterpiece, something of the heights of a There Will Be Blood or an Infinite Jest. And thus do video games remain a relatively "low IQ" medium, and there are very few games that one could write their college thesis on. There are a couple exceptions. Legacy of Kain and the Red Dead series and TLOU are legit masterpiece stories, but Silent Hill is a whole different level: its like a work of great literature in game format, shockingly original despite its endless influences, a feat that is unlikely to ever be replicated, until the culture changes.

[@Veepy13]

@@saulkorzenecki I’m on the fence whether or not you’re shitposting

[@Soloisbac]

the fact that a ps2 game had Hollywood level writing from gameplay mechanics to the actual story of the game is insane. This game not only is a great horror game but touches so many things like, grief, depression and controversial topics in a beautiful way

[@AlucardHorrors]

Been waiting for this. This is honestly one of the greatest games I ever played. Played it in full with a friend start to finish. One of the greatest experiences of our friendship.

[@MrSlendyMannn]

It’s always a really good experience that you both can cherish even many years after when you can play a game all the way through together. I’m glad that you got to share that with a friend.

[@ifelloff7164]

55:27 hilarious to me that if she dies before dying at the elevator it’s game over, but if she dies in a cutscene about 2 seconds later it’s all okay

[@TotallyPointlessTV]

It's honestly funny, she died wrong

[@locle133]

Great video I love watching it and prob going to rewatch it like the other videos. Can't wait for the manhunt 2 video. Thank you for the entertaining content that I have watched for so long and enjoyed.

[@TotallyPointlessTV]

Hey, thanks a bunch for the super! glad you liked the video though, I always take it as a great sign if someone's able to rewatch my content :)

[@pkpurpledope]

@@TotallyPointlessTV of course you have one of the best videos thank you for the hard work

[@slyloxm.6260]

The leave ending is so perfect, full circle, with a somber but positive ending, even in the saddest and most depressing game, it would be easy for James to off himself at the end, I think it’s tougher for him to keep on living, especially with what he’s done.

[@yaaassbitch8704]

but its not canon, in water is the canon ending, it also makes the most sense, looking back at the game James does a lot of impulsive things like jumping into random holes, knowing and doing things that does not make sense like looking for his dead wife, he knew what he had done he wanted to punish himself therefore he went to silent hill became delusional and ultimately accepted the truth and decided to head into the water with Mary's body in the back.

[@elmo4672]

@@yaaassbitch8704 no ending is canon. James' VA and some staff in Team Silent believe it to be the canon ending but that alone does not make it canon. It has multiple endings for a reason.

[@BionisGuy]

I have played through Silent Hill 2 so many times, but there's some stuff I never reflected upon at all. First of all, i have never ever thought about going back to the place where we face the first enemy of the game, so seeing it here genuinely made me happy, because it's so cool seeing stuff like this on decade old games. Second of all, i have NEVER reflected over the fact that Pyramid Head actually mirrors the things James interact with, having his iconic butcher knife after getting it from Angela and so forth. Third of all, I have actually never really thought about the Hotel in that manner, i have always thought it's weird how it starts out as a place that looks "normal" and then turns into a nightmare, but i have never really reflected on why. Thanks for making this video.

[@honeybadgermk127]

The cadence of Pointless' voice and the timing of his intercuts are perfect for these types of video essays! Not sure if you read these, but congratulations on 500,000 subscribers and keep up the excellent work!

[@alaenamcdonald1877]

Could Laura possibly be a manifestation of Mary’s younger self or inner child? It hadn’t occurred to me before. It would explain how they had the same nurse when Laura’s illness wasn’t explained.

[@ErinJeanette]

Yes there's something weird about Laura that doesn't make her feel real even though she was talking to Eddie.

[@dumbdead8835]

I took it that Laura would be the kid James and Mary had if Mary didn’t get sick

[@Musicanimedork01]

See I thought Laura was actually another patient that bonded with Mary, but she died shortly after James kills Mary and now 3 years later she's still around to haunt him.

[@alaenamcdonald1877]

Right, for example Angela and Eddie both had something of an inferred backstory that could still place them in the timeline of the game as you’re playing it, but Laura is just… there. All we know about her is she said she knew Mary, they had the same nurse, and she told James she “knew what he did”.