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Night10194
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When I looked in the peephole and saw Robbie pointing at Henry, that seriously freaked me out..

What part of the game do you see that part? I never saw that.

BTW, I read your analysis of the endings and thought they were pretty interesting... particularly, the "Mother" Ending, since I thought the ending itself didn't make much sense. Thanks for sharing. :)

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Just wanted to give you guys a little...

Silent Hill Movie Update:

With filming beginning in just a few short weeks, tension is mounting about who will be cast in the upcoming film. Although every Silent Hill forum has at least one thread about "who will be cast in the Silent Hill movie," who actually gets picked it up to anybody's guess. However, Roger Avary is shooting for a certain young actress to get a part in the movie. (Though who gets picked is out of his hands, which means we'll all find out together.)

What's most interesting about this entry (which seems plastered all over the internet), is that he hints at there being nurses in the movie. This adds further suggestion that the movie will be live action acting as a reinterpretation of the first game.

Well, for now the feelings among many of the online posters is projected in their anthem: Don't f**k it up. Won't you join the bandwagon?

I can't recall if you've posted this but, the guy who is designing the creatures/monsters in this movie is Patrick Tatopoulos, who has made several great monster design in previous movies (i.e. Godzilla, Independence Day etc.) and he is quite skilled. But I think it will be a challenge for even him to create the twisted creatures that frequent the SH games. But if anyone can do it, it's probably him.

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When I looked in the peephole and saw Robbie pointing at Henry, that seriously freaked me out..

What part of the game do you see that part? I never saw that.

BTW, I read your analysis of the endings and thought they were pretty interesting... particularly, the "Mother" Ending, since I thought the ending itself didn't make much sense. Thanks for sharing. :)

When Eileen is beaten and after the first journey through the alternate Apartment, when you look in the hole the bunny doll on the chair just points at you. Its really unnerving, mostly because that thing gives me the creeps. I hate dolls..

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When I looked in the peephole and saw Robbie pointing at Henry, that seriously freaked me out..

What part of the game do you see that part? I never saw that.

BTW, I read your analysis of the endings and thought they were pretty interesting... particularly, the "Mother" Ending, since I thought the ending itself didn't make much sense. Thanks for sharing. :)

When Eileen is beaten and after the first journey through the alternate Apartment, when you look in the hole the bunny doll on the chair just points at you. Its really unnerving, mostly because that thing gives me the creeps. I hate dolls..

Ah, the bunny... I see. Didn't know he had a name. :) Yeah, it was sort of funny/creepy the way it pointed at you after Eileen got carved into.

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Alright, ladies and germs...It's been a while.

The "Andrew thorley was bored in college one day" troupe proudly presents its latest presentation of an andy thorley presentation:

SILENT HILL 1: THE SIM CITY 2000 MAP

I had to take certain liberties with the map...The mountain, for instance, is there because Harry slides down it at the beginning of SH1...and there are several roads that werent there in the original (but these are only here because in SH1 they taper off into nothingness and I couldnt have that)...oh, and I put in a power station and power cables (cause, y'know, the residents are gonna be pretty pissed if you dont have power).

I've put in several notable landmarks...Alchemilla is on there...so is the SHPD station and Midwich Elementary, but the rest of the map is empty so you can develop it how you see fit.

Enjoy!

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It amuses me how the first 8 pages are so unbelieveably crazy-wrong in their theories...

mostly, because...All of SH1 is explained in SH3, yet people still theorize, contradicting the explanations, even after playing the game....silly children.

And...SH4 rocks my world, yo.

Silent Hill 1 and 3 Spoilers

That's because in Silent Hill 1, there is a scape goat that prevents the story of SH1 from being entirely concrete and wholly contained. Silent Hill 3 is a "what if" sequel to Silent Hill. What if Harry had escaped from Silent Hill with the infant Cheryl/Alessa.

Nothing from the first story is definitive. Nothing from any sequel is definitive. The only things we derive from the games is the personality of characters, the characteristics of the town, and the nature of the religious happenings the revolve around the story. What we hope to conclude from these things is an accurate depiction of the plotline and the basis for future stories.

Not to really pick at you, Aetherius. It's just that there are certain conditions that apply when declaring a certain story aspect to present. What the aim of this thread is to establish a basic understanding of the Silent Hill world in the way that Konami presents, but to allow people to develop ideas, reasonings, consequences, fan-fictions, ect. from a standard basis that everyone understands. Otherwise, we go through having to explain the same things over and over again everytime we bring up a topic. (Unfortunately, agreeing on a set basis is difficult if people often disargree about an issue.)

Hopefully, those who regularly read this thread have established that basis and can offer some enlightenment into a one of their favorite aspects.

On that note, maybe some people can tell me who Stanley Coleman is (really) and why he created a fascination with Heather. Do Leonard and Stanley represent different personalities for the same person? If so, what about the Leonard fight?

EDIT: Although, I haven't been able to check out Eccles' SimCity reconstruction of Old Silent Hill, I appreciate his efforts to such projects. It remains evident that as people's skills in programming improve, we will see much more fascinating recreations and interpretations of media we love. Projects like this, the SH3 skin mod project (now dead), and Letter from Silent Heaven, really make being a fan of SH as exciting as ever.

EDIT2: For those who have wanted to listen to any of the music to Silent Hill, but don't have the soundtracks or would just like mp3 versions of their favorite (or not so favorite songs) check out The Sound of Silence, a recreation of Dustfungus' work from Silent Hill Media. As a recreation, it is not entirely complete in terms of Dustfungus' work, but it does have practically every song from the games. The audio quality is slightly worse than Dustfungus', but is much higher than anything else you can find.

Please remember to not download copies if you do not own the game and/or official soundtrack. Also, don't waste bandwidth.

With regards to the track names of the "Complete Soundtracks", like everyone before this guy, these are NOT official names of the songs. The names are arbitrary, based off the location where the music was recorded. We don't want another "Mothes" flame war. (Mothes... geez, what were you guys thinking?)

EDIT3: Well, seems IDW Publishing is taking full advantage of the Silent Hill license since Silent Hill: Dying Inside was released. The additions to the Silent Hill graphic novels series now include:

Silent Hill: Among the Damned

  • Story: Scott Ciencin
    Artwork: Shaun Thomas
    Publisher: IDW Publishing

Silent Hill: Paint It Black

  • Story: Scott Ciencin
    Artwork: Shaun Thomas
    Publisher: IDW Publishing

Silent Hill: The Grinning Man

  • Story: Scott Ciencin
    Artwork: TBA
    Publisher: IDW Publishing

-- Among the Damned: This novel, which quickly sold out at IDW, is still available at Amazon.com as a bound collection. You can buy it with Dying Inside for a cheaper price.

In a gripping tale of bone-chilling horror, writer Scott Ciencin (Silent Hill: Dying Inside) follows a young soldier suffering from survivor's guilt into the darkened confines of Silent Hill. There, he will meet a doomed soul that will change his life forever... or end it.

(I still say IDW ripped-off of my own Silent Hill fan fiction.)

-- Paint It Black:

Available from IDW on February 28, 2005. This will be a single book release. Additional details available at Amazon.com, which is priced cheaper than at IDW Publishing.

Painter and semi-professional slacker Ike finds his dark muse in the mist-enshrouded, monster-infested reaches of Silent Hill. Then the sexy, survivalist-trained, gun-toting cheerleader Cheryl and her teammates arrive to rock his world. Creatures attack, cheerleaders disappear, and the gloves come off! Will anything survive?
(What?! Cheryl?! Cheerleaders?! ...I dunno.)

-- The Grinning Man:

This one was mentioned earlier in IDW's roster of graphic novels for Silent Hill around the time "Among the Damned" was announced. Though no information is listed on IDW's website currently, it is also planned to be a single book release. Additional details available on Amazon.com.

For ten years, State Trooper Robert Tower has patrolled mist-enshrouded Silent Hill and never seen its nightmarish demonic creatures. But now the gun-slinging, double-barreled terror known as the Grinning Man has arrived. Horror is unbound and innocents caught in its explosive crossfire. For Tower, it's going to be a hell of a last day.
(This one seems kinda interestin'. Might give some insight on the nature of present day Silent Hill.)

All stories have been/will be written by Scott Ciencin. Though, I have yet to get a copy of the graphic novels for myself, other people have complained about Ciencin's writing style. JTLYK

EDIT4: In a spurt of just-looking-for-the-most-obscure-crap-I-can-find, I managed to find some details about the "Limited Edition" version of Silent Hill 3, which included an art of some rare concept art of SH3 entitled "Sketchbook." I'm really interested in finding out more, but it seems that it was a promotional item released with the game, so copies will be difficult to find. If anything turns up, I'll post about it.

EDIT5: For those of you who have heard of Broken Notes, a fan-arranged version of the Silent Hill Soundtrack, the website is now back online! Get all your favorite remixes of the SH soundtrack, separated by album, artist and now including UNRELEASED MATERIAL!!! This is a real treat, but the best is just ahead as Broken Notes II is scheduled to be released fairly soon.

Wow. New EDIT highscore!

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  • 2 weeks later...
umm, does anyone know where I could get a hi-res image of Heather from SH3? It's a piece of official artwork where she's leaning against a wall, without the orange sleevless shirt that she usually wears.

I had it a while ago but I don't know where it disappeared to.

You mean this?

2004718104243112.jpg

This was used for the cover of the soundtrack for SH3. The american version, I think. Maybe the japanese.

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umm, does anyone know where I could get a hi-res image of Heather from SH3? It's a piece of official artwork where she's leaning against a wall, without the orange sleevless shirt that she usually wears.

I had it a while ago but I don't know where it disappeared to.

You mean this?

2004718104243112.jpg

This was used for the cover of the soundtrack for SH3. The american version, I think. Maybe the japanese.

That's exactly the one. Thanks!

Heather's flippin hot in that image!!

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Yeah I totally agree, Heather's one of my favorite female character designs in all of gaming because she looks so natural and real. I mean, who here hasn't seen a girl who looks even a little bit like her in real life? She's not sporting a graceful feminine build but at the same time she's not exactly unattractive, just not the type who regularly butter's up her own appearance 24/7. She has some bags under her eyes just like many of us end up having around those ages (And its a cool detail too considering she hasn't been sleeping well lately in the story) Hell, although I imagine her being a mostly good girl, we can't overrule the possibility that maybe she's doing a little teenage experimenting with some leaves. :lol: Its all these little details that tell you so much about a character, its something I always felt SH was one of the games that really did wonderfully. Harry's contemporary, casual look. James' somewhat unkept appearance, Henry's neat and youthful look, and Heather's "in the middle" kinda appearance. Not a social outcast type, but not the most popular girl type either, just kinda drifting along.

Its not that alone that makes it great, its in comparison to 90 % of female character designs out there, its quite a departure. I'm glad that rather than make an overly busty and bubbly main character just because she's female, they stuck with the Silent Hill motif and made a very middle of the road, realistic character design. Plus her vest just looks awsome. :D That is a very nice picutre. It shows this quality she seems to have where she's kinda not the most feminine girl around, but she's still a girl/young woman kind of thing. Its the same thing Aya Brea's design has..

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Heh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. To be honest, even though i think her character design is really cool, I don't find Heather particularly attractive. Her model is pretty yes, but she's very errie looking at the same time. But you see thats whats cool about her design to me, she was designed to be an interesting looking Silent hill character, not just another piece of eye candy for the guys. ^^; I mean, they could of made her look like Mary, or Aileen, but instead they didn't concentrate on making her cute, they wanted to make a design that was fitting of that fact she's a pretty important character in the story. I like that kind of mentality behind character design. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like an attractive or alluring lady just as much as the next guy, but I like balance too. I like a mix of different kinds of character's and I think it becomes redundant if too many are too pretty or cute, or alluringly dressed etc. Heather stands out among SH's female character's cause of that I think..

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Heh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. To be honest, even though i think her character design is really cool, I don't find Heather particularly attractive. Her model is pretty yes, but she's very errie looking at the same time. But you see thats whats cool about her design to me, she was designed to be an interesting looking Silent hill character, not just another piece of eye candy for the guys. ^^; I mean, they could of made her look like Mary, or Aileen, but instead they didn't concentrate on making her cute, they wanted to make a design that was fitting of that fact she's a pretty important character in the story. I like that kind of mentality behind character design. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like an attractive or alluring lady just as much as the next guy, but I like balance too. I like a mix of different kinds of character's and I think it becomes redundant if too many are too pretty or cute, or alluringly dressed etc. Heather stands out among SH's female character's cause of that I think..

well, if konami didn't try to make her a an all-out extremely cute girl that you'd wanna bang over and over, then they've failed. Bacause to me, Heather's an all-out extremely cute girl that I'd wanna bang over and over!

I'M HOOKED ON HEATHER MASON AND I DON"T CARE IF THE WORLD KNOWS IT!!! goddamnit, I've fallen for another fictional character. why does this always happen?

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Silent Hill 2, 3 & 4 Spoilers

I think Heather's look is called "Heroin Shiek" (though you might say it's Heroine Sheik [pun intended]). It's the fashion idea where people are made to look like drug addicts because it exposes a sense of frailty that is alluring to power-addictive or dominating people. Another way to look at it is that they mar their looks in order to hide the beauty or attributes of the person. This fits in quite well with the Heather's character, since she was hiding her true form and gets stripped of her attractive qualities thoughout the story (i.e. affection, concern, modesty, etc.)

However, Heather has not been the only character to be given flaws as part of her attractive nature. With Maria, the programmers kinda took the opposite direction as opposed to Heather. They took a person who wasn't exactly beautiful, Mary (who I find rather homely), and tried to make her look more attractive. They gave her more contemporary hair and clothing, a more liberal attitude, but they did not change her figure. She still has the roll of belly fat that Mary had, her face is covered with blemishes (although Maria uses make-up to cover them up), and her hairline is raised due to Mary wearing her hair up so much. With Maria, she choose style over substance (in terms of appearance). Her look is only superficial in terms of improving Mary's image, but that might be James' fault.

sim-silenthill2restlessdreams-0010.jpg

With Eileen, she was cute from the beginning. She was purposefully made to look very pretty, because they had plans for her appearance later on in the game. Without getting into too much detail, she was beat up because the designers wanted her look to be ruined, that they wanted gamers to look at the brutally deformed body of her's and be repulsed by her image. Unfortunately, I don't think they succeeded with that concept. I think Eileen's look changed slightly during the process. Since, she was one of the main characters, and a female lead, they didn't want have people too repulsed to look at her. So, they left her fairly good-looking. Or maybe it's just my imagination and she looks pretty compared to everything else in the game. Personally, I like to think that they at least tried to make you feel repulsed at looking a woman with deep cuts, bruises, and broken bones, yet attractive in a creepy, disturbing way.

Eileen Image - High Res

Eileen Image2 - Spoiler

Cynthia was just plain out bootylicious (I'm sorry, I'll never use that word again). Though, I think the developers wanted to go in the same direction as Eileen with her, seeing as how she is stabbed to death with blood covering her body and the entire room.

Cynthia Image - Spoiler

The point is that I think the ladies of SH4 were made to look a little over the top for two reasons: 1) internal pressure to have a selling point for the game, 2) to make the gamer feel they were so unattainable that their deaths would be easier to handle.

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You know those are really good points. I don't know if the designer's would even really be thinking this deep about it all, but maybe they do.

With Eileen, she was cute from the beginning. She was purposefully made to look very pretty, because they had plans for her appearance later on in the game. Without getting into too much detail, she was beat up because the designers wanted her look to be ruined, that they wanted gamers to look at the brutally deformed body of her's and be repulsed by her image. Unfortunately, I don't think they succeeded with that concept. I think Eileen's look changed slightly during the process. Since, she was one of the main characters, and a female lead, they didn't want have people too repulsed to look at her. So, they left her fairly good-looking. Or maybe it's just my imagination and she looks pretty compared to everything else in the game. Personally, I like to think that they at least tried to make you feel repulsed at looking a woman with deep cuts, bruises, and broken bones, yet attractive in a creepy, disturbing way.

Yeah, but with most who have played SH4 that I've spoken to, they weren't repulsed by Beaten-Eileen© at all, they tended to be very sympathetic and protective at that point. I think its because in relation to all the other character's, Eileen was really the most normal of all the female character's. She had a cheerful attitude, liked to hang out with friends, was cute, she wasn't pompous or bitchy in any way. She was a very likable person who really didn't deserve to be hurt at all, so when she is I think rather than have the effect of repulsing the player, I think it had the opposite effect combined with her personality and looks. This person didn't deserve any of this..I'm gonna make sure she's not hurt anymore! And you go into kickass mode a little. Thats how I felt too. :lol:

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Silent Hill 2, 3 & 4 Spoilers

I think Heather's look is called "Heroin Shiek" (though you might say it's Heroine Sheik [pun intended]). It's the fashion idea where people are made to look like drug addicts because it exposes a sense of frailty that is alluring to power-addictive or dominating people. Another way to look at it is that they mar their looks in order to hide the beauty or attributes of the person. This fits in quite well with the Heather's character, since she was hiding her true form and gets stripped of her attractive qualities thoughout the story (i.e. affection, concern, modesty, etc.)

However, Heather has not been the only character to be given flaws as part of her attractive nature. With Maria, the programmers kinda took the opposite direction as opposed to Heather. They took a person who wasn't exactly beautiful, Mary (who I find rather homely), and tried to make her look more attractive. They gave her more contemporary hair and clothing, a more liberal attitude, but they did not change her figure. She still has the roll of belly fat that Mary had, her face is covered with blemishes (although Maria uses make-up to cover them up), and her hairline is raised due to Mary wearing her hair up so much. With Maria, she choose style over substance (in terms of appearance). Her look is only superficial in terms of improving Mary's image, but that might be James' fault.

sim-silenthill2restlessdreams-0010.jpg

Very interesting ifrit...I completely agree with what you said about Heather...Here's what I've always felt about Konami's characters, and the way they portray then. The one major thing with Konami's SH characters I have noticed throughout the series is just how every day and human they look, even when they are trying not to look so. They have flaws, and they are all vulnerable. The thing that attaches people to the SH characters in general is just how vulnerable and human they really all are. Take Mary/Maria for instance.

Mary is a representation in Silent Hill 2 of not just "homeliness" (though she certainly is homely), but of "girl next door/loving wife/earthy" woman that would make an ideal wife. She has an angelic presense in the home video, wears cotton pink, puts her hair up, and doesn't seem to care all too much about how she looks, which is what probably drew James to her in the first place...Her attitude towards life, the way she carried herself. She was the epitome of "good", "nice", and had a carefree and calming nature before she got the disease. Konami made sure you saw this. They made sure that Mary's presence, even if she turned out to be some ghastly ghost bitch from hell, was always a bitter-sweet and even strangly comforting reminder that she was there somehow, and was James' loving-but-dead wife. She wasn't made up, and that is exactly why most people probably didn't feel threatened by her letter...they just didn't understand, and were confused for most of the game...searching for her to find answers to why the hell James was there.

Maria on the other hand, she was the one that most people distrusted. Even James had a wary nature (albiet a bit lusting) towards her. Konami also made sure that most people looked towards Maria with a bit of distaste, because she wasn't "real" (on many different levels) in comparison to the real Mary. She had a mask of makeup on, she seemed contrived from the start. Protecting her was an annoyance, like she was using James, they even made sure she was always in the way by having her follow you around. She pleaded to be taken care of, yet her nature begged otherwise...like she was some how "taking care" of you, in a not so nice sense...She begged to be...well, not slapped around, but certainly no knightly and moral guy would go for her.

Yet, before the elevator, you had become at least mildy attached to her personality, and you certainly didn't want what happened to her to actually happen...Suddenly the game tone changed, and James realizes what he has lost...and in that, he realizes that he didn't do his job, and that the sleazy clothes and attitude were just a strange and contradictory cover for Maria's character, and she did need his help, she was telling the truth. Which reminds James all over again of his loss of Mary in the first place...Maria's real and suddenly huge vulnerability hit their mark dead on, even if a bit too late for her...and gave the player the resolve to continue on to the prison and labyrinth, after the seemingly endless hospital.

So Mary isn't the bad guy, Maria isn't exactly the bad guy...Who is the bad guy? James?...After some subtle, and less than subtle hints, you start to realize that what James is going through is very and horrifically personal...and horribly twisted. Jame's personality gets darker, more resigned, and without having any answers from Maria, the player numbly continues through the game with a sense of dread and confusion...yet enough resolve to want to finish and figure out...well why he is there...What did he do to deserve this? ?

When I first played SH2, I thought of James as a sort of Harry clone, in his vulnerability, in his less than telling personality...but as the game progressed, he didn't seem so vulnerable, he seemed more and more able to do impossible things that just didn't make any sort of sense. But while Harry, for most of the game of SH1 seemed strong and resolved (albiet confused), James seemed numb and "not quite right". Harry is the dad lifting a car up for his kid to climb out from under after a car wreck. He's the type of guy that will do extraordinary things out of love and a need for survival. Which is probably why Heather commented in SH3 about his self-realization that he was the "strongest man in the world"...So when you find him murdered...it feels like it is a different Harry, not the original Harry Mason...a more embittered guy...not as confused...more cynical...Konami seems to want it to feel this way...Yet, when you read his memo pad...you also finally realize who he was behind the super-human-yet-vulnerable guy in SH1...he just loved his daughter...he still didn't understand everything entirely...but he was selfless enough to live with everything and take care of Heather for almost 20 years. James is different.

In an act of what his psyche felt was self-preservation, James murders his wife. He isn't willing to take the torturous feelings her living in her agony cause him. His corrupted solution, and following denial in a way, are just a twisted base (and all too human) reaction to pain. He looks like a bigger man than Harry in build, in how he carries himself...but it takes the entire game to get to the point of how he really differs and that he is freakishly shattered inside.

When you finally get to 302, you can only really feel a numb anger and sadness towards him. The reflection shot in the men's room in the beginning of the game tells it all. You look at him so much differently the second play through.

I think though, that it is really cool how James finally takes a stand in his last Pyramid Head fight...he finally gets his resolve to end it and confront his demons...and that is exactly what the town needed from him. Maria dying all over again is horrible, but becomes inconsiquential...and no longer holds power over James. It is like the town throws her in there as a desperate afterthought.

This is why, if you get the Maria ending, it feels as if James is settling on second best, and everything is still bitter-sweet, (heavy on the bitter)...Nothing feels resolved.

Moving on...Laura isn't the sweet and innocent kid...she's a brat...she calls Eddie real names I've heard bratty kids call people. Lisa is nice and in need of someone to help her, yet the way they designed her made the player and James feel a tad "mistrusting" of her, in the same way as Maria, and for good reason. Claudia had that mad-woman-with-a-british-accent thing going, but she still looked like some pasty middle-aged woman that had just slapped on a black dress...she vaguely reminded you of Dahlia (though a little bit...calmer and more freakishly ethereal)...and was exposed to be a semi-real person, unlike Dahlia (who is just a crazy old bitch) Eddie and Angela? Well we've all seen/know people like them in looks and personality, and even in story. (except they probably haven't killed anyone yet)

My point is? (if I even really have one) These characters are all too human...Even pouty-lipped Heather and BOOTILICIOUS Cynthia (sorry)...You can bruise them up, give them a lot of make up, give them freckles and blood stains, leather jackets, etc... but overall...they have this really human quality to their design added onto or even despite all of that and a personality that not many other games can give a player. No matter what they look like, Konami knows how to combine looks and story to really show just how vulnerable and human each character is.

Enough white text? Whew that was long...

Yay Silent Hill.

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