Thanks! I probably will someday because I do like it
Thanks! I probably will someday because I do like it
#22
As some of you may know, I’m not a big horror fan. Wait, no. Maybe I should rephrase that… I love horror of a particular kind, but can’t really stand anything else. I don’t want any cheap jumpscares or gore. What I look for in a horror story is this deep feeling of unease. I just like psychological horror, I guess. So it’s a no-brainer that Silent Hill was what introduced me to horror games. Right now, I specifically want to talk to you about…
SILENT HILL 4: THE ROOM
My wife and I have made it a tradition to play a Silent Hill game every Halloween and this is the one we’ve played the most recently. Needless to say, I was pretty wary of the title. Silent Hill 3 was a really good game, but people have said that that was pretty much the last good game. So many people on the internet were slamming Silent Hill 4 I was starting to think I would regret it. Boy, was I wrong!
No, wait. I regret everything!
Yes, it’s a bit different than a typical Silent Hill game. You don’t really even physically explore Silent Hill and, in a way, you are confined to your own room. But then again, you are supernaturally confined to your own room. You’re stuck in your apartment for months due to some unseen force and you get to visit some terrifying places by using a hole in your bathroom wall. Now if that isn’t an original idea for a story, I don’t know what is!
"Aw, man. My insurance can't cover that..."
The story itself is also different. It’s not really the protagonist’s journey to discover himself. Henry simply wants to get out of his apartment. And to do that, he needs to solve a bizarre murder mystery. In a nice twist, we get to go into detail of a murder case mentioned in Silent Hill 2 and explore the twisted mind of the culprit. People often complain that Henry isn’t too well developed, but I think that’s fine. He’s meant as just an avatar for the audience, plus the time he spent alone would really serve to make him seem more apathetic and reserved. And I just love how awkward and shy that makes him. He’s an adorkable little fella that I just want to hug and he has the best catchphrase out of all the Silent Hill protagonists.
I mean, look at him!
This game is derivative of SH2 in more ways than one. Not only do you get a lot of shout-outs to that game (like your landlord is James Sunderland’s father), but the tone is more similar to what we had there than in Silent Hill 1 or 3. People often claim that 3 is the scariest entry, but I disagree. Silent Hill 4 probably has the most cases of truly subtle horror, as opposed to Silent Hill 3’s oppressive, over-the-top hellish environments (that I still enjoyed a lot). Just take a look at some of these scenes.
Hey, your apartment actually starts getting possessed later in the game!
The hauntings are always super fun!
You get to exorcise your room with candles if you want to.
They're mostly harmless!
Mostly.
Okay, only people who've played the game know exactly how terrifying this thing is.
This game is also a bit more combat heavy than previous games, but that works. You get a limited inventory and breakable weapons, so proper management is key. It really adds to the oppressive atmosphere and survival aspect of the game.
As usual, the music is pretty damn good. Akira Yamaoka is a master of atmospheric ambient tracks, but this game also has some of his prettiest melodies. It’s definitely worth a listen!
If you’re a horror fan, don’t miss out on this. Don’t listen to the haters. Come into this game with an open mind. Don’t expect this game to be the same as the previous games. Play it and enjoy it for what it is – an original game with a very interesting story and unique sense of horror. Perfect for Halloween gaming!
I still need to play Tactics Ogre, as mentioned in my own List Thread when concerning VC, I've kind of fallen out with Tactical-JRPGs at the moment and few hold my interest so I didn't want to jump into this game because I was worried this mindset would paint the experience for me like it did Valkyria Chronicles and Disgaea 3.
I really like Silent 4 though, it was the game that got me into Silent Hill and introduced me to the awesomness that is Silent Hill2. Man, I really need to collect the series.
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True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
#21
For the following game, I am going to use unmarked spoilers. I can’t talk about what I liked about this game without using spoilers, and I can’t just use spoiler tags in the whole thing, since that would create a lot of self-fulfilling spoilers. Okay, that’s out of the way now. Behold another MegaTen game. This is partly dedicated to you, Pumpkin, so read carefully, so that you may finally understand why I like this game so much
SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: DIGITAL DEVIL SAGA (1&2)
Honestly, I didn’t really feel this game at first either. The setting seems pretty drab, the cannibalistic elements are pretty graphic, in general the world seems incredibly pessimistic – and, truth be told, it does stay like this throughout most of the game. Still, once I started over after not getting far, I was drawn in. Mostly by the battle system and dungeon exploration. Like in SMT IV, the press turn system makes a return, so battles are fun as usual. This time around your party is comprised entirely of humans who can turn into demons, so no demon fusion, which is normally a staple of the series. Bu then again, you get the atma system that allows you to customize your party members in a very similar manner to things like FFX and FFXII. Another advantage of this change – the story is actually mostly centered around the characters and their relationships. And boy, does it go deep.
Here’s where the serious spoiler begin, guys, so if anyone hasn’t played this yet and wants to, stop reading, and go play the game.
Okay?
One last chance.
Okay?
SPOILERS COMMENCE!
Just as you will, from all the spoilers.
The story as a whole is a heart-rending journey dealing with the themes of humanity, love, and people’s relationship with God. For once in an SMT game, God is not portrayed as evil or mad. Here, they are ambiguous at worst, but mostly benevolent, just very, very pissed off at what people have done. They are the cause of everything wrong with the Earth at the time the game takes place, but DDS makes it very clear that we deserve it. The journey ultimately takes you to the Sun, where you face off with God with the hopes that you may appease them. The game uses a different interpretation of God than most games, however, borrowing mostly from Hinduism (God is even called Brahman in the final battle), wherein, in very simplified terms, a human soul is interpreted as a drop of water and God is the ocean. This game got me very interested in Hinduism and opened my eyes to a lot of things, on top of being very in-line with my interpretation of many things concerning spirituality.
Another heavy topic this game deals with is humanity. The characters start off as blank slates with no emotions of their own. A blast of unknown origin makes them begin to feel emotions – they start to become human (since up until that point, they were merely a military simulation). However, in an ironic twist, it turns them into flesh-eating demons. Some take big issue with their cravings – Argilla is visibly disgusted by what she has to do in order to survive, making this conflict central to her character arc. In the end, however, they need to survive, no matter how painful coming to terms with being a cannibal is. Then there’s characters who simply revel in their new-found instinct. The game takes this whole theme very seriously, and it’s as horrific as a scenario like this should be.
Don't worry, I can't really pronounce those either.
So what about love? Love is a big deal here, and I don’t mean the romantic one. The main cast often refer to themselves as comrades – and you truly feel they are. The character may lack the development and depth of the cast of Persona 3 or 4, but their dialogs are very well-written, making you really feel for them. It is clear that the whole situation in the game has made a big impact on their lives. One of the most interesting characters is Heat. Heat starts off as Serph’s (the protagonist’s) best friend/rival. What at first seems to be lust for Sera, the mysterious girl who is obviously in love with Serph, and later drives him to betray his comrades, turns out to have been a trace of the genuine, father-like love he had for Sera in his previous life. Your decisions throughout both games have a heavy impact on how Heat’s arc develops. Namely, you get a better outcome if you reinforce the camaraderie – the love – that you guys share.
Serph is a pretty interesting character in that regard as well. Namely, his previous incarnation, unbeknownst to him, was a terrifying maniac whose ambition and greed, coupled with the abuse of Sera and manipulating her love, is one of the reasons God is so angry. By the end, the characters remark how all this is because they all forgot about “one little thing”. People have become too caught up with ambition to forget what respect for other humans is, and what love is. I mostly love this game, because that’s something I agree with from the bottom of my heart – if more effort was put in society to actually accept other humans, and spread love, so to speak, many conflicts could be avoided.
"Comrades."
Phew! Went on quite a tangent there!Started having EoEO flashbacks. On to some lighter things. The music is very underrated. Again, people unfairly compare this game’s soundtrack to Persona’s. It’s also done by Shoji Meguro, but this is a completely different kind of story. And it has one kickass final boss theme.
As this is on my top 25 list, I would definitely recommend it, but I have to concede that I probably have a high opinion of this game for mostly personal, subjective reasons. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, much like most MegaTen games, but I think it’s one of those games where it pays to stick around, as it only gets better the farther it gets, with a breathtaking ending to top it all off.
Silent Hill is pretty awesome, and 4 is a great entry that gets a lot of undeserved flak. It's a really interesting title that people hate for being different. Well, joke's on them, because I think it's mostly the fault of the negative reception that Team Silent disbanded. Here's hoping P.T. turns out great.Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno
I think you should be fine with Tactics Ogre. It's still one of those old-style SRPGs that don't have the flaws you mentioned in your VC post. It really is all about strategy, rather than grinding (heck, I'm pretty sure you finish the main storyline around your teens).
Someday I'll play the Digital Devil Saga games. I still need to someday beat Silent Hill 3 as well. Unfortunately, I got to the end of the game in college and then graduated before I could beat it, and the game went away with my roommate. I've only heard bad things about SH4 for so long that I've been unsure about it, but I've always been interested in playing it after I eventually beat 3. I think the biggest issue people have is the fact that it originally wasn't intended to be a Silent Hill game, and people just can't see past that.
It was always intended as a Silent Hill game, just not a main, numbered title. It was first called simply "Silent Hill: Room 302", and was supposed to be a gaiden game, kinda like FFTactics or something. Or, more accurately, it's kinda like how people are flipping out because Versus suddenly became XV.
In any case, it shows that that idea at least is pretty pervasive on the internet. I don't know how many people I know who like Silent Hill but hate that game have made that claim at least. I've never checked into it really since I don't care that much.
In any case, I still hear the argument that it doesn't feel like a Silent Hill game. I feel like these fans of horror games that hate this game would really like it if it didn't have the Silent Hill name.
Perhaps. To me, even though it was different, it still very much had this distinct Silent Hill vibe, and I don't know if I would even have played it if it wasn't Silent Hill. To each their own, thoughI still think it deserves a fair shot, even if it doesn't turn out to be your cup of tea. Like I mentioned, I was wary of it, but ended up loving it much more than 3 (which I still liked very much, mind you).
Oh, I'm sure I'll probably like it. I've always suspected that the issues people really have it are the things I stated above and not with the quality of the game itself. I'm all for trying horror games though.
I do actually know the whole DDS story, because whenever I want to quit a story driven game, I always read ahead to see if its worth sticking around. While the premise is good, I don't like the way its told and on the whole the game is downright depressing. It probably hits me more then most because I suffer from depression, but this game makes me so depressed and angry. Plus the nightmares like I said.
I understand why you like it, it just really isn't for me personally
Yeah, can't say I have it the same. I'm really very picky when it comes to horror. I know Resident Evil is not my type of thing, and then all those super jump-scarey indie games just don't do it for me. Outlast is only shocking to me, not really the fear I'm looking for. And then there's things like Corpse Party, which is just gross. I really miss those Silent Hill games already
Thanks for your input, Pumpkin! I am well aware that my list is very subjective and don't expect everyone to like it, since I know I kinda had weird tastes. I mean, I've never seen a top games lost that would be so overwhelmingly dominated by JRPGs...
Silent Hill is the type of horror I'm looking for, really. Although, I love horror B-movies, which is the kind of vibe I get from Resident Evil. I've never played those games. I actually picked up Corpse Party in a sale. I know nothing about it except I kept hearing it was good.
I should have said that I'm all for trying new psychological horror games, and Team Silent is a group I can trust with that. Really, all these posts boil down to is that I'm glad you liked 4 as what you said kind of confirms that I'll probably adore the game.
Wait till you see the number of RPG's on my list
And yeah I hope you don't think I'm trying to put down your taste in games. If you like them then that's what matters and it makes me happy you have something you enjoy and also that all that work people put in to those games was appreciated. I'm just giving my opinion and discussing is all
I have yet to play DDS2, but managed to work my way through DDS1. It is pretty fantastic.
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