Silent Hill Discussion

[UnforgivingEdges]

It was just a really bad RE mechanic that I couldn;t get past.. now if SH 2 or 3 is better maybe i will get them but...naw...

Silent Hill 2 is one of the greatest games every made.

Even better than Virtual Jenna Jameson?!?!?!?!

I realize you're trying to be funny, but if you seriously think that is one of the greatest games ever, then you have no business putting your hands on my SH2.

[Dj_Qbert]

I loved SH2 because it had sweet music and I found Maria preety sexy. Im playing my way through 3 right now its also good crazy little bunnies with blood in their mouth.

[Sous_Bgob]

It was just a really bad RE mechanic that I couldn;t get past.. now if SH 2 or 3 is better maybe i will get them but...naw...

Silent Hill 2 is one of the greatest games every made.

Even better than Virtual Jenna Jameson?!?!?!?!

I realize you're trying to be funny, but if you seriously think that is one of the greatest games ever, then you have no business putting your hands on my SH2.

Que?

[ifirit]

Silent Hill 4 Spoilers

Having completed it three times over, I present questions that Silent Hill 4 left unanswered (spoilers ho!)

1) Why didn't Sullivan kill Henry when he had the chance? Henry wakes up in the ER and Sullivan is attacking a nurse...why didn't Sullivan kill Henry? He'd already completed the other sacriments so it doesn't really make any sense. It could be because Eileen hadn't died like the others, but that raises the question of why does Sullivan attack you in the field rather than eileen?

In order to answer this question you have to ask yourself, "how do the victims die in reality?" And even then you have to ask, "What is reality and what is not?"

You see, in SH4 the entire game takes place in the Alternate universe created by Walter Sullivan. You have to realize that Henry is still dreaming through the whole game. Walter cannot physically hurt Henry. However, he can hurt him mentally. And that is what the game is about. Walter is torturing Henry until his body cannot take the suffering any further and he dies. There are a few things that help reveal this in the game, but it mostly involves the endings.

The "21 Sacraments" Ending reveals that all five of the last victims are discovered in the woods of Silent Hill, not individually as the radio suggests throughout the game. All of the victims died of the same injuries and had the numbers carved into their flesh as well. Eileen was the only one discovered alive, but she eventually suffered the same fate. Also, because Henry dies too, his body has the same marks and injuries as the other victims, which is what ties him to the case. However, according to the news report, Henry seems to have suffered more than others. What's more is that the other resisdents and several police officers begin to suffer in the same manner. Ultimately, everyone dies the same way: Cardiac Arrest (or Heart-attacks to the layman). Therefore, you have to understand that these people are not dying the horrible deaths that Henry sees, but the torture of thinking that they are being killed is enough to trigger their bodies to respond in the same way. (It's like the old wive's tale: "If you die in your sleep, you die for real.")

What the creators have done is to take that idea and stretch it out a little. They thought, what would be enough to kill a person in their sleep. In essence, it is a question of what scares a person so much that they are willing to let their bodies die just to avoid the pain of the experience. For many people, death is that scary. So, in their dreams, Walter kills these people. Cynthia by stabbing, Jasper by fire, Andrew by drowning, Richard by electrocution. I have to assume that these people had a subconscious fear of that form of dying if it was enough to actually kill them in real life. Speaking to some people, they are more afraid of dying in a particular manner than dying in general. (Most specifically, by being stabbed.)

Which brings us back the subject of Henry. What is enough to make Henry (and Eileen) want to let his body die? Well, it's hard to say for sure. Henry goes through a lot, and he gives a sense of being timid in most regards. But, what I like most about Henry is that despite his outward timid nature, he is very brave and noble at his core. (Also note that Eileen too is a very brave person when she is not by herself.) And that bravery is what allows him to survive all the way to the end. Still, Henry is a very private person and what he is most afraid of is letting his privacy go. Please, hold on to that thought as I explain why I think that is true as I explain the actual modes of death that Walter uses to kill people.

According to the official website and the Brady Games Strategy Guide, the ending that you get is determined if you managed to fight out the curse placed on Eileen and Henry. In other words, we can determine whether or not Eileen and Henry survive based on if they became susceptable to the curse. However, each is affected separately. Eileen's curse happens on her body. What is interesting about the curse though, is that it is not spread by being physically attacked by the monsters (at least not to great extents). It is quite different. According the Eileen thread on the Silent Hill Forum, Eileen's curse is spread whenever she is left alone for long periods of time and if she is left alone with monsters. So, in a sense, what Eileen fears most is isolation. Eileen is more scared of being left alone in a dangerous place than she is of death itself.

Yet, in terms of Henry's curse, Henry is cursed as his apartment is haunted. The more hauntings that afflict his personal space, the greater the curse spreads in him. Also, please note that I think Henry's apartment is a metaphorical representation of Henry's mind and personal life. As the presence of another being slowly invading his space becomes more apparent, the deeper his fear becomes. I don't know if Henry has anything to hide from others (though, personally I don't think he does), but whatever he is holding on to, he is willing to let himself die before letting it go. Thus is how the curse on Henry works.

You can see the affects of the curse on Henry, just as you do on Eileen during the "Red Box" cutscene near the end of the game in the Apartment World. If Henry is cursed, he will react more violently when he opens the red box, just as Eileen will react more child-like when she is cursed.

2) Continuing the questionning of the ER...why doesn't sullivan follow you out of it and why isn't he in there when you go back in?

Considering what I wrote above, try to think about how Walter's Alternate World is much like a dream where a person can be in one place but not really be there. But, another theory is that since it is his world, he can move as freely as he wants, just as in the final battle.

Still, what I think you are asking is why Walter doesn't do anything directly to Henry when he is discovered in the O.R. Well, I think that it is part of the slow torture and ultimate cursing that Walter has planned for Henry. By scaring him into thinking he will kill him, Walter hopes to bring Henry to that brink which will drive Henry to let go of his life. In other words, Walter was just trying to intimidate Henry, which seemed to work on the soft-hearted Mr. Townsend.

3) Why does Eileen act like a child when she gets beaten up? I dunno if anybody has ever let her get damaged a lot, but she will often cry for mommy and daddy or whine "Im scawed". She'll also start hitting herself sometimes.

This is the effects of the curse on Eileen. What happens to Eileen as she gets cursed is that she becomes slowly possessed by Walter Sullivan (the child, but also slightly by the adult). She begins to emulate Lil' Walter's cries for his mother, his isolation in the Water Prison and his beatings by Andrew DeSalvo. These are often the extreme cases of the curse on Eileen. As in the scene where Eileen finds Lil' Walter's sketchbook, Eileen's curse also allows Eileen to feel his pain and feel the things that the child Walter is going through at the time.

Conversely, Henry's cursing will also have some effects on Henry. Henry will become more vulnerable to the effects of the ghosts while cursed and health items will have a slightly lower effect than they do when the apartment is clear of hauntings. Also, Henry will see a greater number of images in the "Red Box" cut-scene when he is cursed and can feel the same things that are happening to adult Walter at the time.

So, if you fail to prevent the curse from taking hold of either Eileen or Henry, they will allow themselves to die. Eileen by walking into the blood-pool and Henry by not avoiding the ceiling from collapsing on him.

However, that brings up some interesting questions about the "Mother" Ending in which Henry escapes out of the Apartment before it completely secomes to the cursing, but I'll save those for later. This topic will take some time to absorb.

Okay, something else that the game doesnt answer...

Why does little Walter save Eileen, but not Richard? He's there for both of their deaths, but he stops big Walter from killing Eileen (she said so).

This question can be easily answered if you've read "Another Crimson Tome" off the SH4 official website before it was taken down. (If you haven't, no worried since it is still available on translatedmemories.com.)

In the character descriptions, titled "The Victims and Him," it describes the initial interactions that Walter Sullivan had with the last six victims. Everyone met Walter once in their life before the events of SH4 took place. Cynthia met Walter in the Subway, when he was living there after just escaping from the cult. Basically, he wanted to talk to her, but she shot him down before he could say more than her name. She was pretty cruel about it too and Walter took it personally. Jasper was a witness to the second murders of his best friends and was giving away the identity of Walter to others (even though nobody believed him). Andrew is self-explanatory.

Richard, however, met Walter when he was a child and sometimes caught him hanging outside Rm. 302. Richard's temper and intimidation scaried the child Walter, so why would you want to save someone who bullied you was a child?

Eileen met Walter too in the Subway, but he was an adult then and her kindness toward him was suprising and strange to him, since few people were kind to him at all. The duality of this is probably what split his personality and allowed Eileen to survive and get bandaged at the hospital. In a sense, Eileen is Walter's Lisa.

[StarZander]

A teaser trailer has been released for episode 4 of the No Escape thing. Check it out:

http://noescape.rateofinjury.com/main.htm

[WillumWonka]

Hey, many apologies if this has already been covered (and I think this is the best place to say it, seeing so much good info)

....In SH2, at Neely's Bar, there's that spraypaint that says "There was a HOLE here, but now it's gone"....and that's also where the first mention of Joseph Schreiber is (the article in the apartments) along with many notes left behind (either Harry, being a writer himself, or Joseph for other reasons)...in SH4 there's the hole usage and explanation....and more about Joseph Schreiber using those holes to get to Silent Hill.

....call me dumb again, but obvious connection between the two? If not, then what?...

I love the conversations I've seen about SH2 and why people are there....everyone is making their own Hell...both their punishment and their victims...good stuff.

Much thanks

-Willum

[Eccles]

....call me dumb again, but obvious connection between the two? If not, then what?#

SPOILERS!

The bit on Neely's bar is supposed to be referring to Maria's role in SH2. When it says "There was a hole here" it's referring to Mary's being dead; something important from James' life is missing...as if there was a hole there.

When it says "It's gone now" it's referring to Maria filling in for Mary as well as the other things James has used to cover up his missing Mary (drinking, Laura etc).

[Eccles]

Right so...I picked up the Silent Hill 2 strategy guide today (£1! Hooray for finding stuff underneath racks of neo geo games) and flipping through it, it seems to have a lot of information about the game...why certain things are the way they are, for example. I'll have a proper read through it later on (studying for exams most of today) and I'll post anything that takes my interest...and I'll keep it as spoiler free as possible.

[Eccles]

Okay, I said I'd wait...but I'm impatient, so here's what I've picked up about the game from flipping through the strategy guide.

(there will be spoilers, but they're in white)

- This one isn't really to do with the game, but Popping the right analog stick in will cure James. He'll automatically take one healing item that will restore his health to green (IE: If you're not damaged too much he'll take the health drink, if youre kinda damaged he'll use the first aid kit and so on).

- The guide lists some of the monster names differently to their colloquial names: Lying figure (straight jacket skin), Creeper (cockroach), Red pyramid thing (Pyramid head), Abstract Daddy (Bedman/Doorman) and Flesh lip (hangers)

- It is easier to kill some monsters with certain weapons. For example, the pipe or even the plank will do more damage to the final boss than the hunting rifle will. The guide gives a full list (and I mean full) at the end, but I'll save it unless anyone wants me to post it.

- The guide gives the complete texts of the Swamp monument and the bloodied newspaper. They read thus:

Swamp monument:

The X meters of land surrounding this monument were originally a swamp, but were later filled in. From long ago, the swamp was nicknamed Blood Swamp because the executioners poured the water used to wash the execution tools in here. Perhaps it's for that reason that many people claim to have seen ghosts in the area

and

The body of a man later identified as Thomas Orosco (Lumberjack, age 39) was discovered in the middle of his room lying face up. The probable cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the front of the neck and left side of the torso by a sharp edged weapon. The estimated time of death was somewhere between 11:00 pm and 12:30 midnight. Due to signs of struggle in the room and the lack of a murder weapon, police are considering this a homicide and have opened a murder investigation.

Furthermore, given the fact that the cash in the room was untouched and Mr. Orosco had a history of drunkenness and violence, the police suspect that the motive was not robbery, but some sort of crime of passion

- If you play through the game loading a previously completed file the game then several documents will appear (in the hospital mostly) that hint at how to get the other endings or what happens in these endings. One of these texts reads: When life is filled wit nothing but despair, some people choose to end it all. I once chose that path for myself as well. At the time I felt I had no other choices. After I made my decision it became the only thing binding me to this world. Sometimes I would cry to myself while thinking of the past, but mostly all I did was plan over and over again how and when I was going to kill myself. I did stupid, dangerous things. I figured it didn't matter since I was going to die anyway, so I went out of my way to invite disaster. I stopped talking to people and it didn't bother me even when friendships grew distant. This text refers to the Water ending.

- The guide gives you three pages about how to get various endings (including a brilliant table that outlines the score system the game uses to grade your ending)

- The guide tells you what is making the noises in the prison. It says there are green blobs crawling around on top of the prison cell area (this is why you can't see them, but can shoot at them; the roof doesn't have physics).

- The game also tells you how to exploit a glitch, which is interesting. It says how you're invincible while you using a weapon (IE: Swinging the chainsaw, firing the handgun) and it tells you how to use this to your advantages.

- If you tap left or right on the save/load screen you can view what endings you have seen on a particular file characterised by a letter (L,M,W,R,D; each one corresponding to an ending in the game)

- This is something that I had never fully noticed before...but several people may have done. It concerns the letter you begin the game with. As you go through the hotel the writing slowly vanishes. After watching the video tape you only have an envelope and no letter...and after you fight the pyramid heads you lose the envelope, too.

- If you go back into the room where you meet Eddie after seeing the cutscene you can go into another room where it is revealed you are in the bedroom of a football fan: the bedroom of Eddie's first victim. This raises questions about the nature of SH2...if you can see things meant for other people (the stairs are another good example of this) then why dont they see your demons and why doesn't Laura see anything?

- About the opening video: Two of the scenes in the opening video don't appear in the game...they're just filler material. Maria lying down in Heavens Night and Eddie/Laura talking on Saul street don't happen in the game and can't be forced...like Lisa and Kaufmann shouting at one another in the first game

- About the pyramid heads. Both times when you fight a pyramid head the damage you do is not important, but the time you take is. In the first fight it will end after a set period of time no matter what you do. The second (in the hotel) has a timer that runs down after you fire a shot at the pyramid heads. So all you need to do is fire a single shot at one of them and then run about waiting for them to die...anything from 1 minute (on beginner difficulty) to 60 minutes (on Hard difficulty)

I had another point, but I've completely forgotten it. Hmm. No matter, I'll leave it there for all to discuss.

[Tranquil Chaos]

Now that is some cool shit...

Anyone have any news on the movie's progress? Ifirit, I'm looking in your direction...

[Nulion]

Hmm...wow, this page has dropped pretty far down, hehe. Not much to talk about I guess...but anyway, Part 4 of that Silent Hill: No Escape movie was released - go see it

http://noescape.rateofinjury.com

Oh, and as far as the SH movie goes, all I've heard recently is that Roger Avery put on his blog something about "the 9 foot Pyramid Head and the gray children". So it's pretty much confirmed that PH will be in the movie. Good news if ya ask me, as long as they make a connection to it different from the one James had with them.

Also, I heard over at IMDB.com that the SH movie trailer is set to debut on October 14th with that remake of The Fog. So I look forward to seeing that one.

[Tranquil Chaos]

The No Escape series had me pretty happy until the 4th installment... I know what the fuck Spawn looks like and I'm not particularly thrilled when I see such a blatant ripoff...

[RazorOutlaw]

Short Commentary on Part 4 of No Escape! Spoilers! I'm improvising with the spoiler tags by making the text white. I'm such a noob.

Or are their spoiler tags at all?

I like how well the creator of No Escape recreated the look of the Brookhaven Hospital in Part 4. Everything so far seemed to be in its place, down to the chalk bored on the left side of the entryway. Much like the movie sets for Silent Hill: Centralia, he captured the Silent Hill 2 dilipidated look very well. I'm still watching this one, so I can't say much else.

[ifirit]

Just a quick bump, until I can post more information. There's a lot happening in the next few weeks, so look for more in the future.

Warning: Silent Hill: No Escape Spoilers

Hmm...wow, this page has dropped pretty far down, hehe. Not much to talk about I guess...but anyway, Part 4 of that Silent Hill: No Escape movie was released - go see it

http://noescape.rateofinjury.com

I've just finished watching this episode and I have to remark at how well the series on a whole is coming together. The direction and unfolding of this episode is the best yet. Not simply because more story is revealed in this episode than in previous ones, but that the director's style is much more apparent in this one. There are so many little things that just excite and provoke my intellect in this episode. I guess it's the little things that count though, right? Overall, what I was impressed most about was how the director captured the sense of impending danger and terror that comes with being helpless to stop it. (A part of the Silent Hill series that is just not played with as much as I'd like to see.)

Metaphors and representations abound in Episode 4 as Michael enters the abandoned Brookhaven Hospital and moves deeper into the madness that plagues his mind. As he enters the seemingly abandoned building, he uncovers clues about his accident and begins to see figures from his past (or is it present?). Since the story continues to unfold in the simultaneous, layered events, I will refer to each location as Ego Brookhaven (EB), Super-Ego Brookhaven (SEB) and Id Brookhaven (IB). [Please note that these names are not official and are references made by myself in a previous post. Also, when it comes to the subject of separation of the mind into these three forms, I don't think it really is that simple. Like I mentioned about Episode 3, there is a blurring of worlds in this part of the story. Michael may be in three different locations at once, but that also may not be the case. The answer seems to be more astute than that, but it escapes me at the moment.] Anyway, the apparent "blurring of worlds" in this episode is becoming much more prominent as events happening in Ego Brookhaven are now occuring concurrently, if not simulationeously, in Super-Ego Brookhaven and Id Brookhaven.

As I mentioned, the little things count. Subtle images and pieces from earlier episodes are now being paid off as Michael dives deeper into the space of his mind. Unfortunately, Michael is not in session with Dr. Harvey today and cannot rely on his moral support to help him through the ordeal. As such, he is beginning to experience more pain and anguish as the demons draw nearer and nearer.

As Dr. Harvey's notes reflect on this, she believes he is become paranoid and suffering from delusions as he explains that he feels that there are "others" (refered to as "they") that are constantly watching him. She feels that this is worsening his condition and a sign that he is going mad. However, to the audience, we can see and understand his reasons why he feels that he is being watched since we are exposed to the same situations that provoke the emotion. (Basically, we see things from the eyes of the demons and the video that shows the disection of Quinton.)

There's more that I'd like to point out, but unfortunately, I don't have time to finish this. I'll add more later.

[Tranquil Chaos]

Is everyone blind? The No Escape guy ripped off Spawn. The comic Book demon guy... Todd McFarlane created him... No one else noticed that? The thing with the Axe and the chains?

Other than that I liked it....

[The Instrument of GAWD]

Is everyone blind? The No Escape guy ripped off Spawn. The comic Book demon guy... Todd McFarlane created him... No one else noticed that? The thing with the Axe and the chains?

Other than that I liked it....

No, no one is blind. I'm sure we noticed that the one monster looked like Spawn. However, there's probably a reason why it looks that way and you're probably the only one to be pissed about it.

[Tranquil Chaos]

If it was an abstraction that vaguley resembled spawn, then sure, I'm cool with that... This thing is like nearly a carbon copy. I'm just dissapointed in the lack of creativity that shows.

Like I said though I love everything else.

The whole series was quite thrilling and creepy until I saw spawn. At that point I laughed rather loudly and lost any sense of atmosphere I had. It just looked a bit rediculous. The nurse scene was badass though.

[Razumen]

If it was an abstraction that vaguley resembled spawn, then sure, I'm cool with that... This thing is like nearly a carbon copy. I'm just dissapointed in the lack of creativity that shows.

Like I said though I love everything else.

The whole series was quite thrilling and creepy until I saw spawn. At that point I laughed rather loudly and lost any sense of atmosphere I had. It just looked a bit rediculous. The nurse scene was badass though.

I totally agree, he sure could have imagined a better monster than just copy Spawn which, in my honest opinion, isn't really that great of a design anyways.

The doctor/nurse scene was done really well, especially the animations. One thing the series still misses though is that down to earth look of the main characters.

[Monobrow]

Hmm, well I just made this little chart tonight for no reason...I didn't really feel like typing everyone's names out (this comp only has MS paint for imaging), so I just initialled them instead...But I put some clues as to who is who. It is very interesting to see who is linked together and exactly how. After reading into it, it's funny just how connected all of the characters in the series really are. Anyway, if anyone wants to take this and make their own version (and hopefully better) for no apparent reason just like I did, go right ahead...And as for the small links between Andrew and the other people, I only included that because of his cult ties and the Wish House. *by the way, what sect created the Wish House? I can't seem to remember...I could probably look it up...but I'm done with this thing anyway...I probably left some people out too.* So that's just a bit off. And I linked Joseph Shreiber with the cult line because of his article. (not sure what sect that was about either, but you get the picture)

http://img58.imageshack.us/my.php?image=silenthillfamilytree3nl.jpg

enjoy the mspainty goodness.

[RazorOutlaw]

Just a forewarning: this post has absolutely nothing to do with the fan movie discussion, and I'm basically posting it to think what the Silent Hill fans here think of this particular person's opinion. Besides there's no other forum that I go to (that isn't Silent Hill related) that has such an enthusiastic fanbase for the game.

But anyway, as a Silent Hill fan I have long regarded this series as somewhat of a legend in horror video games. I have also felt that the low level of criticisms of the game were a good reflection upon the series; an indication of their overall solidness in comparison to other survival horror games.

And with those thoughts I felt reassured of it's place at the top. But wouldn't you know, there's always someone out there whose words just irk the living hell out of me.

This is that someone, whose page I found through a friend's blog. In a post regarding the movie Ghostship, he goes on to talk about how little he likes the movie, which eventually branches off randomly onto Silent Hill (fortunately I didn't like the movie Ghostship either, so I wasn't as angry as I could have been).

In his own words, I bring you Klashbash from Xanga!

I thought horror movies were supposed to make you scared, infact I almost fell asleep plenty of times. There were NO scary parts in this entire movie. It was all about "atmosphere". It reminds me of the bullshit of the video game Silent Hill. The only thing good in that game was atmosphere. I wasted 8 hours of my life to beat that game, severely disappointed. A lot of idiots seem to think SH is scarier than any Resident Evil game. Yet, I only got scared three times during the whole game of Silent Hill? One of them was the body falling out of the locker, (Which is truly the ONLY scary part in the game, the other scares have to be luck of a enemy lucky to scare you.) another was a nurse coming up behind me, last was when I went out of this building it was dark and a gorilla thing jumped on me from the side in a swift quick movement.

If someone gets scared of Atmosphere, they really need to stop watching the Disney Channel. There is nothing scary about it...

Assumingly enough this fellow describes himself as someone who uses reason and logic, yet reason nor logic seem to come in to play when he dismisses atmosphere so casually. He merely relies on his opinion to make an assertation regarding atmosphere, saying "Atmosphere isn't scary" rather than "This is why I think atmosphere isn't scary". Atmosphere is neither intrinsically scary or not scary. Atmosphere depends on two things:

1) The player

2) The ability of the game creators to manipulate the human mind.

And the atmosphere in Silent Hill is what made the game. No longer did game creators see a need to rely so much on the cheap scare and jump tactics of many horror movies (which Ghostship and Resident Evil 1/2 had plenty of) but rather it made the player worried about what he or she didn't see. Using Resident Evil 2 as an example, I never found that game scary, with it's tired "jump and scare" tactics and it's emphasis on shocking scenes. It did nothing to create a sense of dread, especially with it's full blown view of all creatures. If I'm not mistaken, it was things like atmosphere and what you didn't see that made ALIEN the horror masterpiece that so many regard the movie as.

Oh I don't know about you people, but the last time I watched the Disney Channel the only feeling of dread I received was the realization that I was actually watching the Disney Channel in the first place.

Damn that feels better.

[M@]

'sup fellow Ghostship non-fan? The opening scene to that movie, with the wire and the decapitation and all, was cool as hell. It's a pitty the rest of the film, bar, say, when you saw how the original passengers died, was weak as hell.

Returning to SH, anyone have anything new of SH5? This is all I have to report:

Konami's veteran game designer Masashi Tsuboyama confirmed yesterday that Silent Hill 5 is in development at the Japanese publisher, but is actually being created with the next-generation of consoles in mind, despite the firm not having chosen which formats to support at this stage. Tsuboyama was quizzed after the launch of numero four - The Room - and revealed that work on the next game is under way, and that the 'best' console of the new arrivals will win Silent Hill's support.

Silent Hill Genesis]"Now that Silent Hill 4 is completely finished and set for release on Sep. 8 in North America, development on SH5 has begun to gain speed. Currently titled 'Silent Hill 5: Shadows of the Past' (The subtitle will most likely be dropped or changed), Konami wants to return to the same idea of SH2, which means they want a powerful story unrelated to other games in the series yet still ties into the dark history of SH. So what is the story? Like the previous games, Konami wants to keep it as secret as possible. But, they do have a brief synopsis which they've sent out to some shareholders who wanted to know what Konami was up to in the future. Here's what it read:

In 2006, gamers across the globe will return to Silent Hill for the final time on the PS2 in Silent Hill 5: Shadows of the Past. In the first time for a SH game, players will play through the game in flashbacks, retelling the main character's harrowing trip through through a town worse than hell.'

Here's a little more backstory for the game: The game starts with the main character being held in a mental institution. The flashbacks occur when the doctors interview your character and ask him exactly what happened in Silent Hill. Expect many twists and turns in the storyline, especially a big one at the end that supposedly has the Silent Hill team excited.

Like the synopsis says, this will be the last SH on the PS2. It definetely won't be the last of the series though, Konami wants another Silent Hill on the PS3 as soon as possible.

I love how they contradict one another The message being, I guess there's little out there to go on right now.

[ifirit]

A Brief Discussion on "Atmosphere."

It's interesting that the person who wrote that quote was scared twice by events not relative to the storyline. Since he/she claims that atmosphere has little to do with being scary or causing fright, it is just ironic that the scary aspects of the game, according to his/her claims, were features that are produced as the outcome of atmosphere.

I'm glad this discussion came up, since I've been itching to discussion the mechanics and principles of mood and atmosphere. If the atmosphere really had little to do with the scary aspects of the game, such as being jumped and attacked by a monster, those things wouldn't really have been so scary, would they? In every game, there is at least one point where you are suprise-attacked by some enemy/creature/monster; so, why not jump at any game. (Truthfully, if I got scared by surprise attacks, I'd have never played a "Final Fantasy" game, due to the amount of surprising random-battles.) In truth, when we look at the exact reasons why we get "scared" by these events, it is derived from the atmoshpere. The mood that is conveyed on the screen and to the player influences his/her reaction when an event happens, such as being jumped or unawaringly attacked. It's also true that some people will not be as scared as others from exposure to the atmosphere. That simply depends on the person.

However, what makes the Silent Hill series so great, isn't simply that the atmosphere is dark and chilling, but that for even the most fearless player, the atmosphere still gets to you. That was why Klashbash became scared at those attacks, because even though he was prepared for the jump-and-scare tactics of horror games and films, the fear of being randomly attacked still crept into his/her mind and was released when he/she was attacked by the Puppet-Nurse and the Romper. The true mastery of the game isn't in having a scary atmosphere, but in having an atmosphere that plagues and daunts the player without his or her acknowledgement (until it's too late ).

Ultimately, when you consider what "atmosphere" and "mood" are, it comes down to this: Atmosphere is the potential to spark an emotion from a person, such as Mood is the influence to build up emotions within the person. These two things are simply the marinade in which people stew before some simple action or event releases their emotions; whether it be fright, anger, sadness or joy. How well a creator uses the atmosphere of the story determines how well the audience reacts to it. Thus, if things build too much, the audience becomes pent up and frustrated at the lack of release, while if the story releases too quickly, the audience can become exhausted or jaded by the experience. (Of course, there are exceptions to the rules, such as a short release that is used to help build up the atmosphere.)

Anyways, show some love for the Resident Evil (Biohazard) community as well. The creators of RE are good at what they do, just as the creators of SH are good at what they do. (Which is probably why RE4 sold much better than SH4.) There's really no point in comparing them. It's an entirely different apple to a very different orange. [/soapbox] *Turns up volume on Biohazard 2 soundtrack.*

Questions and comments on "Silent Hill 5."

Before you become too quick to comment, check the dates of each publication and the source. The second article, posted on Silent Hill Genesis, comes from Silent Hill Heaven shortly before the release of SH4, and simply from word-of-mouth by a Public Relations employee of Konami (her name escapes me right now, but it's best to just leave it as "anonymous"). The story was given exclusively in confidence to the staff at Silent Hill Heaven, which was reproduced by Silent Hill Genesis. Whether that is permissible or not, is really up to the staff at SHH. In constrast, the first article comes directly from one of the creators of the game and was written a couple of weeks after the second one, during E3 2004. Also, in an article featuring an interview with Akira Yamaoka (lead producer for Silent Hill 4:The Room), he expresses the same things as Masashi Tsuboyama. However, Yamaoka-san does say a couple of things that Tsuboyama does not. Akira Yamaoka stated in his interview that the game will be produced for the next generation of consoles, but that the game may not be titled "Silent Hill 5." As far a any new details about the game itself, nothing has been released officially that is directly tied to the game. However, Konami officially stated that a Silent Hill game will no longer be featured on the current generation of consoles.

If I come across the official report again, I'll link it here. But just know that any news of the next Silent Hill game will not break until the next consoles are available on the market.

Hmm, well I just made this little chart tonight for no reason...I didn't really feel like typing everyone's names out (this comp only has MS paint for imaging), so I just initialled them instead...But I put some clues as to who is who. It is very interesting to see who is linked together and exactly how. After reading into it, it's funny just how connected all of the characters in the series really are. Anyway, if anyone wants to take this and make their own version (and hopefully better) for no apparent reason just like I did, go right ahead...And as for the small links between Andrew and the other people, I only included that because of his cult ties and the Wish House. *by the way, what sect created the Wish House? I can't seem to remember...I could probably look it up...but I'm done with this thing anyway...I probably left some people out too.* So that's just a bit off. And I linked Joseph Shreiber with the cult line because of his article. (not sure what sect that was about either, but you get the picture)

http://img58.imageshack.us/my.php?image=silenthillfamilytree3nl.jpg

enjoy the mspainty goodness.

It's an interesting character relation chart, but a few have been published before. I don't want to undermind your work, but a character relation chart for characters up to SH3 was printed in the "Lost Memories: Chronicle of Silent Hill." The link can be found on translatedmemories.com as part of the translation of the Konami Official Strategy Guide. This character relation chart was also available on the official website (which is no longer available). Also, in the Brady Games version of the Silent Hill 4: The Room strategy guide, a pull out post was published at the end of the guide which featured, on the back, a character relation chart featuring characters up to SH4. I have a copy the guide that I'm tearing apart (not literally) in order to scan the images as a digital copy. I'll try to post an image once that task has been completed.

[Janus]

hehe I like silent hill. Nothing like playing it late at night all alone in the dark room of an empty house in the middle of nowhere. And then not sleeping for the next three days because everytime you close your eyes you hear something and it scares you. Yup I love those games.

[Monobrow]

Hmm, well I just made this little chart tonight for no reason...I didn't really feel like typing everyone's names out (this comp only has MS paint for imaging), so I just initialled them instead...But I put some clues as to who is who. It is very interesting to see who is linked together and exactly how. After reading into it, it's funny just how connected all of the characters in the series really are. Anyway, if anyone wants to take this and make their own version (and hopefully better) for no apparent reason just like I did, go right ahead...And as for the small links between Andrew and the other people, I only included that because of his cult ties and the Wish House. *by the way, what sect created the Wish House? I can't seem to remember...I could probably look it up...but I'm done with this thing anyway...I probably left some people out too.* So that's just a bit off. And I linked Joseph Shreiber with the cult line because of his article. (not sure what sect that was about either, but you get the picture)

http://img58.imageshack.us/my.php?image=silenthillfamilytree3nl.jpg

enjoy the mspainty goodness.

It's an interesting character relation chart, but a few have been published before. I don't want to undermind your work, but a character relation chart for characters up to SH3 was printed in the "Lost Memories: Chronicle of Silent Hill." The link can be found on translatedmemories.com as part of the translation of the Konami Official Strategy Guide. This character relation chart was also available on the official website (which is no longer available). Also, in the Brady Games version of the Silent Hill 4: The Room strategy guide, a pull out post was published at the end of the guide which featured, on the back, a character relation chart featuring characters up to SH4. I have a copy the guide that I'm tearing apart (not literally) in order to scan the images as a digital copy. I'll try to post an image once that task has been completed.

Yeah, actually I know about LM and their relationship chart, but I was just bored...and as of yet, I don't feel there is a totally complete chart out there that doesn't leave some connection out or such, (to me at least), and so I was just messing around, because even though I know all about the connections, it's still tough to think them all through...and so I was like, hey, I will use MS paint and make myself a chart for no reason.

I'd be interested in seeing your Brady Games strategy guide chart though.

What I'd really like to see is something published very in-depth about all of the characters, with their own page or two, and lots of pictures, and somehow shows how they are connected, etc. That would be really damn cool. Lost Memories was great, but I want more By the way, is there a Silent Hill encyclopedia website out there? (not a faq, I hate faqs)

By the way, I recently played the Tecmo title: Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly. And when playing it, I noticed just how (even though I'm a real wimp) not scary anything really is anymore since playing Silent Hill. There was really nothing very frightening. (Although there were some stuff was a bit cruel and gruesome to think about((broken neck woman, though that really didn't phase me)) But overall, there were only two moments when I jumped a little bit, because of shock value, but besides that, I just lumbered around the game, appreciating the atmosphere, and getting annoyed at how many times I had to revisit houses.

But what I really started to notice was how Fatal Frame 2(although I never played the original title) really borrows heavily from the Silent Hill series in terms of some camera angles, and even the graininess...Sometimes while playing, I could have sworn that I was playing a Japanese black haired Heather who just runs around like a pansy instead of Fatal Frame's Mio, and some of the rooms in those Japanese houses were so Silent Hill-like (really broken down and damaged, even if understandably so ((ghost town))), it even became a distraction somehow because I began comparing the two games.

But I will say this...Fatal Frame's battle system is pretty damn cool (although sometimes annoying), and the idea behind taking pictures of ghosts is even cooler. And the traditional Japanese atmosphere was something new to me. (But the story was bleh, and the music was really repeditive)

One thing that stuck out though, I'm not sure when Fatal Frame came out, but the enemy, Kimono box woman REALLY reminds me of Cynthia from SH4. Someone borrowed heavily from someone else in developing their hair-in-face-floating-low-hanging-female-character design.

Anyway, it's strange to think about how even a wimp like me, who pauses my Silent Hill games for hours at a time because I can't get the guts to open a door or fight a nurse in Brookhaven hospital because of that breathing sound she makes (SH3), can play through Fatal Frame without barely flinching.

[Eccles]

Now here's a question...why do you have weather effects in SH1, but not the other three games?

SH1 has the snow and the rain...the others just have fog. I mean, there's the technical aspect (Look what the PSX can do when we push it!) but I'd have thought there'd be some kind of symbolism behind it.