Kiyosuki

I'm just afraid now that if I don't get a PS3, some creepy, crying baby doll will eat me alive.

On Zero Suit Samus, there's a couple of people I know that suspect maybe she'll be the Zelda/Sheik of the next game. You know, the two in one character where one is power based and the other is speed/combo based. I'm not quite sure I think the same thing, I still think its going to be some kind of conditional effect myself. Like if she takes too much damage, or as a side effect of her super move or something like that. But until or maybe unless Zelda is revealed to be in this with that ability I guess its as valid a guess as any. Someone a few pages back mentioned that maybe when you crawl, it'll make you harder to launch up or hit out. Anyone see the potential great use of this with a character like Bowser? Hell with the shell and everything it could almost become the character's claim to fame if they did it right. I always felt one of the only things that kept Bowser from being as effective as he could be is he was too easy to stun and hit in the air for a character of his size.

Well if they'd take off those goddamn iron helmets... lol. I mean sometimes any of the character voices sound a little faded. Its not anything to do with the VAing, its just the audio. Its very apparent if you play another game with a lot of voice acting before, then play this game. It sounds fine for the most part, its a very minor detail but my friend and I noticed it happens to Penelo a bit more than the others. But other than that weird little fluke the voice acting is really great. I think a couple of players didn't like the story because its focus and atmosphere is just so different than recent previous FF's have been. The focus of FFXII is so much broader and larger, its like a big grand adventure you get swept away in to find out what happens where as games like VII, VIII, and IV were epic but they were more personal stories centered around the main character, while IX and V were these big adventures but there was still a bit more of focused on some endeavor of some party member or the main character in your party. X was a very personal, more focused story. XII is this big event that you just happen to have some part in. The closest FF I can think of to comparing XII's story to is VI. Even Ashe, arguably the games' true main character is herself kind of swept up in the whole thing. Vaan's kind of our eyes and ears into that whole world, like the fly on the wall character. He has some story to him as well of course but generally he's just a star-eyed kid who got wrapped up in something a lot bigger than him. I thought that fit XII's feel pretty nicely. You don't have to have the main lead be the center of all the attention or have enormous amounts of baggage in his head all the time after all. Well, I thought it was a nice breath of fresh air. Gameplay wise, does anyone else' Vaan have an ungodly amount of evasion? Mine blocked and dodged like crazy so I basically modeled him after an FFXI Ninja and made him kind of a spam hitting evasion tank with some enfeebles. It worked really, really well.

I haven't posted here in a while, but here's what I thought of this game. I also think its one of the best FF's in years. I really haven't had this much fun playing a story driven RPG in a really long time. Here's a copy/paste from another review I wrote. It has its flaws, and there's room for improvement is Square or some other studio ever decided to take cues from this game or continue its trend, but regardless its a huge step in the right direction I think. For a series as steeped in tradition as FF is, it makes that step in difference even more apparent. This games' made something very apparent to me, the traditional RPG style we've all come to know up until now has become really archaic. I mean...we all know RPG's have been sort of stuck in this kind of rut after a point but this game made it even more apparent but not in a bad way. Its true that many of the innovations in the gameplay obviously have some influence from MMORPG's, but the fact its a traditional 1 player RPG as well as the fact there's many other things as well that were thrown in to help make it a refreshing experience make that not an issue at all. If anything, it almost seems odd it took so long for a studio to take some kind of cue from an MMO's system. But the influences are really only skin deep, it still feels very different to me. I think the best thing about the combat system is that it really helps to immerse you in FFXII's world in a way that the traditional way of changing everything to go to a combat screen or mode while not completely losing RPG gameplay. Especially when it comes to strategy and running from enemies, it makes it a lot more tense and exciting. I don't think I could go back to FF's old battle system after this. More than anything though, to me what I've enjoyed the most is the feel and the story. Its been a really long time since an RPG made me want to get out into the world it presented and have an adventure, see whats out there...and whats in store for you're character. None of the characters hogged the spotlight too much, they were all written pretty well, the story was epic and fun, and the feel was just...so much of a journey. It may have had futuristic technology in it but it felt more like an awsome fantasy story for you to experience than any of the recent FF's or recent RPG's have for me. Just a lot of fun, I felt great after finishing it. Some other stuff. +Voice acting was shockingly good. I played the Japanese version with a friend to try it out, and I think I actually prefer the english voice acting. Its just so much more fitting to the feel. Especially for characters like Balthier, Basch, Vossler, and Ashe. They all had a great range of emotion and never overacted, and the huge variety in accents and dialects with all the races and characters really helped to make the world feel alive. I think its one of the best VA jobs in gaming in recent years. Particular props for Fran's exotic, Brazillian but not quite accent. And Vaan's adolescent, but not annoying or whiny voice. It was one of the most natural sounding young person voices I've heard in a while, and the fact he was so chill a character made it a god send. Especially compared to Tidus... -The only problem though is some of the sound quality of the voices sounds a bit muffled in parts. +The huge world, especially the cities, really made the game exciting and immersive. Cities actually felt like cities with enormous areas and a huge amount of NPC's all doing various things. The culture and backstory of the world was also great. Anything that takes place in Ivalice seems to be great. +Combat system as I explained above, is a great breath of fresh air. The gambits are a stroke of genius and the ability board is pretty fun to play around with. Great variety of weapons and combinations and all magic is useful. -I think the system would of benefitted from being a little more interactive when it comes to attacking and maybe dodging. The gambit's can sometimes be a little too effective to the point you don't have to do that much. I think if they put you in the action a little more with a little more required input it would of made it even better. How many times also did you come to a roadblock that you thought "Why can't Vaan/etc just jump over it? lol". Stuff like that, it felt like more input would of been welcome. -Characters still have a little problem with distinction. Theres stats yes, and you don't have to build everyone to be the same but a little more distinction I think would of been nice. -I still don't know why there's not a single Bangaa, Moogle, Seeq, or something in you're party. Its not a huge deal I admit, but in such a varied and beautifully rich world it just seems like such a waste to have a party of nothing but Hume's and the token sexy non-human girl...in this case a Viera. Especially considering how awsome some of the other race NPC's look. Shame really. +Music is generally very pretty. It has a cool sweeping orchestrated feel with an exotic touch to it. I personally like the lack of an established battle theme to be played over and over. +Story is a very nice change of pace for this series, and RPG's in general. Real adventurous and epic, with a good share of dramatic moments and moments for just plain fun. Characters are generally well written. -The story sort of slows down a bit in the middle however, maybe a bit unecessarilly. It picks up again but I can't help but feel like maybe there was more that could of been thrown in story wise. +Locations and visuals are of course stunning. The design of the area's and levels though I have to say is particularly well done. All and all I think this is really the direction this series and many other RPG's should head. I don't mean copying the game exactly...but just a movement to slowly letting go of some really archaic RPG traditions that quite franky need to be put to rest. Whether FF does continue down this path, or sadly go back to the way it was before though one thing's for sure, this game was a blast itself.

I saw this trailer today in Konami's booth, it looks pretty interesting and I'm glad the PSP is finally getting some non port games. The meat hanging on hooks seems to be something that has a lot of significance in the story, maybe thats a good place to start speculating.

My friend mentioned this to me today. With Snake in there, what if they made "cigs" an item?

Interesting...I missed that little bit of info. Going with Nintendo's motif of having the best backwards compatability of any system to date, I wouldn't be surprised if that went for the controllers too. I remember last year they mentioned that the Wii would be able to potentially use every Nintendo controller in history with the right gear (as an official feature rather than a third party accessory.) I haven't heard more about that this year though, but its not a farcry.

I wonder if this SSB title is going to be tailored around the Wii controller...and if so then how I wonder. Or if it'll be mostly regulated to the small, traditional controller also announced.

Ifrit....you can't expect everyone who reads this forum to have the time to read through 100 page long threads...especially if its a thread full of in depth information, thats just absurd. I try to keep up as much as I can but I just can't know absolutely every little detail. I'm well aware a lot of this stuff has been posted already but that doesn't mean I can't jump in late and still at least get some opinions. I'm not trying to be special by posting something first. The thread's more than 100 pages long now, people are going to come in to this late...or miss a few things and come in later like I have. Its inevitable. If I were blatantly being a troll I'd understand but all I've done is repost some links and ask what people think. I guess I'll stop posting things I want opinions on...but I'd be careful not to start alienating posters who haven't been on 100% of a thread thats been around for almost 3 years. Its just not very considerate and its honestly a little elitist. Your posts, and the posts of many others in this thread are great. I love reading them but I certainly hope you all don't start getting a bit..expectant of people. What do you guys think would be each individual games most "plausable" ending...in your opinion of course but nonetheless. Edit: I forgot to white out.

Mmmm...I guess I can kind of see where its coming from. It makes the In Water ending feel so much more right...even though a part of me prefers James getting outta there. Guess its all part of the tragedy. Yeah...I've been on youtube a bit more than usual past few days. I just saw this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBwiZR8YvoU Its a music video called the Photograph is Proof. I know a lot of you have probably seen it as usual, but I haven't seen it yet. Just incase it hasn't...it'd be a shame if it were never mentioned. Its sort of funny how Henry seems to be yearning...for Heather. Really nice use of the character models though. It reminds me of the music video of You're not Here with Heather singing...(now I know you guys have seen that so I won't bother posting that one.) The way Henry looks and how his mannerisms are in this video remind me a lot of myself..

Umm... Haven't I posted links to this a few times already? It wasn't even that long ago. (I remember discussing it with parjay on here.) Oh, well, I guess that's another reason for me to compose an essential links list. Well to my defense the thread is more than 100 pages long. I can't check it every day, but I was pretty certain the link was posted before. Nonetheless it is something good to even remind-post from time to time perhaps because it offers some actual canon explanations for some things. Like how a lot of people try to give meaning to a lot of the monsters in the first, third, and fourth games like the monsters in the second game have...but I think each game has a different motif. The second one was primarilly the centered on self exploration...its sort of its unique thing. As the staff here says...this game was designed to take on a more direct approach to making the player feel uncertain and eventually scared. I think its similar to the first game in that regard...in a way your entering someone else' nightmare rather than your own. Its stuff I'm sure you all know already, but the point is...is sometimes I think people tend to overanalyze some things in the games..things that may possibly just not even be there. Its what makes the series what it is I guess but I think its something important to keep in mind from time to time. Saves brain power. Like for instance...this particular theory that Mary is in the trunk of James' car in the second game. I've been hearing about this more and more...and I guess it kinda makes sense but I'm genuinly curious. Whats the evidence to support this? There's little to no hint whatsoever over it. Really, where'd this come from? Oh...also I'm sure this has been posted already too, but has anyone here seen this computer generated fan film before? http://www.youtube.com/results?search=silent+hill+no+escape&search_type=search_videos

I don't know if its been posted here before, but I found a making of Silent Hill 3 video on youtube. Its the first I had seen of it, it offers some interesting insight to the development's ideas.

You could of answered mine first before throwing out random discussion.... I've seen the movies that are on the Art of Silent Hill dvd, the ones with the really weird Robbie the Rabbit film and that wacked out Fukuro music video. I can't watch that last one twice in a row because its so goddamn trippy. Its a special dvd like Document of Metal Gear Solid 2. Its Japan only so you have to find an importer. Its usually treated like a standard import title although I don't know how hard it could be to find or not at this point. http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=art+of+silent+hill I did a quick search on ebay for it. It seems to be something people charge you lots of money for, but there's one on this search thats 26 dollars although..it has 5 days left.

You guys lets not degrade into high and mighty name calling. This is one of the only Silent Hill based discussions I've seen that hasn't succumbed to that. When it starts becoming more about proving personal opinions superior rather than discussing the game the discussion is basically dead. I was just thinking...you guys know about the rumor of a remake of the first game right? Am I the only one that hopes that if that does happen, that Konami won't change the main character? (Its supposedly rumored that if the film did well they'd change the main character possibly to the mother instead of Harry.) A mother risking life and limb to save her child is always endearing, but I find something uniquely emotional about a single father doing the same thing. I think it brought this sort of intangible atmosphere to the first game. Maybe its because you expect it so much more from the mother instead of the father...so when a father is maternal like that its a bit more unexpected for us.

The reason why a lot of "kids" seem to refer to the second game a lot is because it has a lot in common with the film in motif, even though the story is derived from the first game. It pushes the personal purgatory thing, and the possibility of after-death scenerio's made physical. In a way...the fourth game also has some possible similarity in how Walter functions after his apparent death. Its almost as if the cult had found a way to enter the netherrelm of the world...using less than savory means but a means nonetheless. This is all purely speculative of course. Gans did definitely understand the core concept of Silent Hill though, according to interviews I've seen. Basically the idea of the "normal" world, the foggy world...and then the "other" world. How people are drawn to those other two sub-worlds differs from game to game...and the nature of it is something players have to put together completely on their own, using hints thrown out and around. Maybe thats what he was trying to go for.

I don't think it would be exactly a cop out if it was what I think it was. You have to look at this in an interpretive way rather than glaringly literal. If it is...what I say it is then Rose' only real way to escape that kind of limbo was to complete her little mission. Its not a dream and none of it ever happened scenerio...its a fight for the soul in a way if it were like that. Its similar in motif to Jacob's Ladder in that regard. Think of it like...James' struggle to face his personal evil..just more in an intangible kind of way. It could be an interpretation of limbo like how Tron is an interpretation of whats going on inside a computer. That said...I'm not saying and have never said that I'm 100% sure that I'm right, because I'm not. Its a very interpretive film...the games themselves are interpretive. 50% of the so called facts that SH fans see as canon facts about the series are just speculated. But thats what makes it so great. I'm just trying to keep in mind that this film is a separate entity from the games...for now. It was made by a fan of the game...but also by people who are more casual to it than your average SH fan. There's dozens of ways to interpret a story like Silent Hill's and this film could be but a few of those. Its why this film is destined to be a cult film rather than a mainstream success...sadly not everyone likes to think, because you have to in this film. No explanation is literal. I will say though...that while its explainable why Pyramid Head is in there...thinking about it twice it really is probably a fanservice thing. It works...but it would of been far more effective if Gans or the design team had designed a primary monster especially for the story. Something that...represents something in this particular story like how Pyramid Head represents James' suppressed desire to punish himself.

Strange, there was like no one in the theater when I saw it earlier today. Mmmm, my theatre was packed to capacity believe it or not. People were sitting in the ailways. When a friend of mine saw it, he said his was very crowded too. Ohhh...it could be a moderate financial success.

You fail at silent hill. If your theory's true, Gans didn't understand the game at all. I fail at Silent Hill? Mmmm...ok. The fact is, is that since the series is so interpretive...if any of us made a movie half of SH's fanbase wouldn't like it because its "not in line with the games". As I said...you have to sort of look at it as its own thing. You can't expect everyone to look at it the way you yourself do.

Alrighty, its been a while since I touched this thread. Prepare for a long post because I have a lot to say. First of all....I think if you go into this trying to compare it to the games it won't make too much sense. You have to think of this as its own thing. I know its hard...but if you think of it on its own it does actually make sense. My take on what happens. SPOILER! Not hiding this but MORE SPOILERS Now on the film itself...it is by far the best game adaptation yet although it still suffered from some problems. First of all...I while Gans did the game great justice in the film as far as atmosphere goes...he still suffered from the problem so many directors who do game movies suffer...they treat it too much like a "video game movie" rather than just a "movie". Its based on something, you have to take some liberties in order to successfully translate it over to film. Now at first...he did this in an exceptional way...even the recreated legendary scene in the first part where Rose is assaulted by the little demons, thats taken straight out of SH1 was done quite well. As you guys said though...when we got to the cult the pacing got awkward. The film lost that isolated feel that the games are so well known for. Thats sort of rectified in the end by the possible explanation of the plot though...but I think another problem is that the monster's are treated too much like events. Like the nurses for example. Why stuff them all into one single little corridor for one scene? I think it would of been much more effective to have some build up...like Rose walking down a dark corridor then suddenlly...just out of random there's one of those horrid things. The monster in the closet trick, its what makes Silent Hill so unforgetable in terror. Gans should of used that to greater extent. Now as for the Pyramid Head...I have an explantion for that. I think it may offer some new light onto the story of the games. Maybe...the Pyramid Head is wandering judgement in limbo. It may take the same ugly form...but it comes at people in different ways depending on their shame. Thats why it is the way it is to James...and her it hunts down souls ready for judgement. Now why it was attacking Cybil and Rose I can't say...maybe it just doesn't differentiate. Its blind justice. One thing though...is that I think when the bed with Alessa comes out at the end in the Church, am I not the only one that thinks that would of been the PERFECT time for a small army of Pyramid Heads to come out from hell and "judge" the cult? That would of been far more prolific and horrific than the barbed wires. It would of cemented their role as limbo's judgement...used by death (or Samael) itself as weapons against the damned. I know her death is prolific, but I think Cybil's death was a bit unecessary. Maybe its my small bit of bias...but I kind of wish Cybil was allowed to exit the film on a more dignified note than being burned at the stake (and in such a graphic way too). I think if they all are really dead, keeping Cybil around...to eventually finish her business in limbo then leave would of been much more of a punch to the face for the viewer...realizing they're all dead. Imagine...Rose thanking Cybil afterwards for helping...whom says some cryptic line about finishing up... then speeds off on her bike. Then later on...Rose passing the empty crashed bike like it was always there. Would that have not been an awsome scene? Then all the gratuitous amounts of gore in the end...I think it was totally over the top. The games were never about horrific gore although it certainly packed a punch. This seemed more...mindless though. It was Gans' big no no of the film I thought. If he was to show the grusomeness of the damned punishment...I think using Pyramid Head would of been far more effective even with gore. All and all...it was a great film but the ending tried to wrap itself up too fast. I think if any of the above were done it would of wrapped up in a more clean...and errilly beautiful way more accessable for the audience. But I hope this is a benchmark for future game adaptations...the sub-genre's gotta escape from its menial fate sometime with at least one film.

Well without Sean Bean's character, really the only...other male character is maybe Pyramid Head. lol I think its better left in his hands than a lot of Hollywood "opportunists" as he put it really, but since this is his personal interpretation of the game itself that could still be awkward. Remember that while this is inspired by the first game its not the first game. Alessa isn't quite Alessa, its just an interpretation. Hell if you want to get nerdy you could even call it an AU. I'm not gonna guess too much until I see it though. It has just enough potential to warrent suspencding suspicion.

The red Pyramid executioner was a real person...or figure at least. Thats why you see the paintings and hear stories about him/her/it in the other games. But the thing is, is that the Red Pyramid was just the cult's executioner garb. The Pyramid Head itself is a fabrication of James'...how it managed to take the form of the Pyramid executioner when James didn't have any prior experience with the cult is a matter of speculation. I personally like to think that somehow he heard stories about it and was horrified at the thought of such an evil sounding person...and thus his worst fears (his guilt) took the form of the most hideous thing he could think of. That or it was just the work of Samael somehow...but Pyramid Head is a product of James' mind. Although the idea of someone else coming across something similar...like Rose in the upcoming film isn't that too far fetched since the image itself is based off of real people. It'd be like if I imagined a monster that looked like a Klu Klux Klan member....based off of a real person/people but the monster itself is something from my mind that just took the shape of something I find hideous.

I saw this trailer when watching Underworld;Evolution (Which was actually pretty good...I was expecting an unintentional comedy like the first film. ) I think it has promise...ofcourse though I think something all you Silent Hill buff's have to do is keep your expectations in check. There's so much hype surrounding this film and so many expectations that if you just let it go wild...the film will never please you no matter how good or bad it may be. Control the hype, and maybe it'll startle you. I'm almost totally convinced that its just not going to be able to satisfy some insatiable hunger's I see around (since SH is such an interpretation heavy series.), and while I do have a tiny problem with Pyramid Head being in someone else's journey to the "other" side (since its sort of exclusive to James.) I remind myself that film and games are separate entities even if they're connected in storyline. Its a reimagining so I'm gonna just try my best to keep my expectations level. Interestingly, a very large part of the audience was cheering the trailer. This was at a Hollywood premier too. It was really something, SH seems to hardly be a niche audience.

Warrior seems actually pretty neat in this game compared to others. The different stances to switch your attack style is very flexible. The only thing is that like Warrior in any other game, you supposedly have to make friends with Priests or other classes that can heal you.

http://www.the-magicbox.com/0510/game051010a.shtml !!

My friend brought up a very interesting thing for you all to think about. If Video Games eventually moved to Virtual Reality-esque type stuff, would you play a Silent Hill game in that way? I don't know about you, but being in the third person and actually being there are two different things.. MAkes you think.