Check back next week for a video on Silent Hill 2's story and the upcoming remake! Thanks for everyone's patience as I got this video ready. I hope you like it. It is kind of a dry video, not really about analysis. Just talking about how I feel about one of my favorite series. Support me on Patreon: patreon.com/underthemayo Mayo merch here! teespring.com/stores/underthemayo UA-cam Memberships to my channel now available, click the "Join" button. Follow me on Twitch at twitch.tv/underthemayo
Loved the video as always, but I do think you should give Silent Hill 4 a second chance. It definitely does have flaws, but there is also a lot of brilliance in that game. I grew up playing Silent Hill 1 & 2 (personally 3 is my least favorite), but Silent Hill 4 was the one title that scared me so bad little kid me would physically jump out of bed and shut the television off just to disconnect myself from what I was experiencing; pure, unfiltered terror and panic, the same feeling you got being in the basement and having the lights shut off leading to a scramble for the stairs/light switch. I love the other games, but it's hard not to bat for SH4 when half the community is still so divided on it to the point that the rampant fan theory that it wasn't made by the original team still floats around to this day 20 years later. Hopefully one day these games all get proper, respective remakes/ports and if SH4 ever gets that kind of love I hope they finish the game.
Silent Hill 2 is definitely not unfinishable on Hard. I've done it a million times. Hell, I've done damageless runs of the twin pyramid head fight on hard mode lol
@@THEGREATMAX great, I'm happy for you. I don't see what that has to do with recommending a new player to play Hard Mode on a first playthrough for a solid challenging experience.
5:11 The director stated that as a kid, he lived next to(or near) some facility that had an air raid siren that would go off from time to time and it always freaked him out and made him feel a foreboding sense of dread like "something bad was on its way". He was also too young to even understand what an air raid siren was so he just heard it as a loud, wailing screech with no meaning. He wanted to convey that unease in the game.
sh4 ties everything togheter. It is a different game but the horror is amazing. You feel safe in ur little inside locked room. All is good. Ur pinning ghosts to defeat them. And then you crack the damn wall to find a BLOODY CORPSE! THE ROOM IS NO LONGER UR SAFE HEALING HAVEN! ALL IF FUCKED! That shift is the most unsettling moment for me. Sure the controlls and combat was janky. But I was calculating every fight.
@@Kserijaro Yeah, SH4 is one of my faves actually. The original 4 are all good but broken in their own ways. 4 gets shunned far too much. I was super immersed in this video until that massive disconnect.
For me it was the puzzles and riddles. What an experience! Literally have to be good in English if it's not your native language. I remember using the dictionary so much for the poem of the piano keys and the order which you have to press for it to work. Something about the ambience with the dark world of SH together experienced while you have to actually solve a puzzle is just amazing. An experience for a lifetime.
I played it literally when it came out in 1999, absolutely terrifying. Will never forget the sleepless nights that followed after that, the Midwich E. School and the music in the entire game is what truly got to me and scared the living shit out of me. Oh yeah and i was 10 back then so…you could only imagine how it effected me being a kid 😂😂. Miss those times and that entire era of life in general ❤🥲
My first experience was the Alchemella Hospital. I didn't know anything about the game and watching my sister play when I visited. I was unprepared for the mindfuck that was the 4th floor appearing out of nowhere and the shift to the otherworld right after. And then seeing and hearing those nurses creeped me the hell out.
15:54 the number "4" has a very similar pronounciation in Japanese as the word "death". That is why many hospitals lack a 4th floor in Japan. That is an extra horrific piece of information for japanese players.
Omg I actually have the details about why they used an “air raid” siren! So it’s not actually meant to be an air raid siren: it’s supposed to be the sirens of the fire truck that was headed to Dahlia’s house when it caught fire during the ritual, but the sound is slowed down and muffled as it’s all Alessa’s memory that’s making it happen. The developers wanted it to sound like an air raid siren to confuse the players, since the snow and lack of people make the initial set up look like nuclear fallout.
Huh. Never did hear that. I guess her trauma really _was_ what kicked off the town's freaky transformations, because the siren also turns up again when James is shunted into the nightmare version of Brookhaven.
The sirens in the games are more of a warning transition echoing in the air whenever the nightmare takes over the real world and fades away. It's the same thing with Forbidden Siren, that's how interpreted. In the movie, it was a warning horn in the church, which destroys the mystery about the siren.
@@kevinfuentes3669 I really hated that movie. I was so excited for it based on the hype and trailers. I told all my friends who knew nothing about the games to go see it. I apologized to them for that one.
Surprisingly enough, I was RELIEVED when enemies showed up, because I think SH masters making the player feel dread, feeling like something's gonna happen at any second (it mostly doesn't), but that feeling never goes away, so I never minded the 'kinda easy' combat, I was scared all the time regardless lol. Edit: and he just said that hahaha
Even though the combat was easy in SH, I always found it horrific. I have vivid memories of being 12 years old, being in a primary school and repeatedly hitting a bloody child like figure on the floor with a steel pipe, over and over until the noise stopped.
@@CurayziDante but why trilogy tho? Team Silent made 4 games, not 3. So I dunno, it’s kinda disrespectful to refer to the classic SH games as a trilogy in order to exclude it from Team Silent history. Some people even say that the 4 game was made by not real Team Silent members but some random “non-core” members of the team only to justify their hatred towards this game, which is downright disgusting
@@Messier_-82 im just refeering to the word "trilogy" and what it means, the first 3 games. SH4 is *kindda* different from the other 3s to be honest, still good thu imo Just a wording thing man.
Resident Evil gave my young self plenty of jump scares, but Silent Hill made me afraid to turn on my Playstation. That Midwich Elementary was the spitting image of my own school at the time didn't help matters.
My fondest memory of Silent Hill 1 is the fact that me and my cousin finished the first nightmare, got killed by the flying enemy in the cafe cause we couldn't use the gun and then spent the night too terrified to sleep. Good times man, gooooood times.
I played all classic Resident Evil games many years ago but I played the first Silent Hill only last year and it became one of my favourite gaming experiences ever. It's horror and gameplay holds up better than many new horror games today.
My first experiences with Silent Hill were being a 6 year old boy back at the tail end of the 90's being exposed to both the first game and Resident Evil 2 by my uncle. They absolutely scared the p*** out of me and I had trouble sleeping for weeks... And I also acquired a newfound love for horror in the process because I LIKED being scared. I read Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Stephen King, watched scary movies behind my mother's back, etc. Silent Hill was SPECIAL because just like a good book, it was placing me right in the middle of the action. And unlike Resident Evil where the enemies were brainless zombies which gave me a feeling of hope, Silent Hill was empty, cold, and expected you to do the searching yourself. It wasn't a structured mansion or police station with narrow but reliable corridors, it was a big empty town, a school, a hospital, all BLINDED by fog and darkness. And there was simply nothing scarier than staring down a long black hall, HEARING something at the end of it, not being able to see it, but knowing that IT can see you. There was so much mystery and lack of proper explanation for what was transpiring which contributed to the feeling of the game; your only concrete information was, "I need to save my daughter" and that was it, everything else was foreign, confusing, and terrifying as a result. Naturally I played the second game when it came out, and you're right. I wasn't big on it at first, but I did warm up to it. The third game was where I started becoming distant from the franchise because it just didn't gel with me and that feeling has remained since. Not that I haven't enjoyed it, but it felt almost like an unnecessary entry. Then there was 4... And for the longest time, I only had the demo for Silent Hill 4. There was this ritual I had where I would turn it on, be braced with that eerie title screen, and go through the same loop of the first level over and over. Sounds boring, but for me I was so scared by what was being shown and the bizarre fever dream feel of the game that I would frequently turn it off out of sheer terror. The game was triggering my fight or flight responses in the REAL world and young 10 year old me could not process it. I still vividly remember the first time I played that demo and got hit with that initial nightmare sequence, I was just absolutely in shock at what was going on until that Ghost began crawling through the wall and making its way toward the camera. On my first experience, I literally hurt myself scrambling out of my bed just to turn the Xbox off so I didn't have to deal with that stressful stimuli I was being presented. I didn't know what I was seeing or what was going on, it just felt like it wanted to hurt me. Of course, I'm older now and have since become so jaded to horror that it's hard for me to get scared by anything (Probably doesn't help that I blackbelt in two arts and one of those blackbelts is in an art that mostly uses knives. You've seen what I do if you've ever watched The Raid. I unironically and unintentionally became Krauser from RE4). Silent Hill 1-4 is my favorite series of games to ever exist and I try to expose my friends to the games in what limited ways I can; they're not readily accessible and for people just watching UA-cam Lets Plays the appeal is never immediately clear. Unfortunately we live in an age of instant gratification and a time where Silent Hill 2's psychological themes have not only become contemporary, but overplayed. Even though it did it the best, the very nature of that game makes it a hard sell to anyone hearing it described. The upcoming remake and other games have me worried because, just like the movie, I'm scared of the image being tarnished by Konami even more than it already has; we live in a post-Team Silent world where a "Silent Hill fan" can mean people like me, fans of the originals, or people that loved the movies... or loved the 5 games that came after 4 AKA people with no real understanding of what the original franchise was about and have been misled by the newer content. I have no faith in Bloober executing on the Remake, even less so with recent information like how the game is actually meant to promote the movie, how Bloober essentially copyrighted their way into manning the remake, or how they are tired of Psychological Horror and have expressly stated their intent to go for "Mass Market Horror". Sometimes I feel like it's better if things just stayed dead and Silent Hill is really starting to rub me that way. I no longer care about new games, I just want Konami to stop revising the meaning of the original ones.
I played Silent Hill 1 in 2006 during a week vacation, while taking a small amount of mushrooms and acid every day. To say it was "trippy" would be an understatement. As a horror novel fan and someone who knows the Kabbalah, I recognized many of the references, so it made it even more strange! What could be more obscure than aglaophotis? AGLA refers to the phrase "Atta gibor le'olam Adonai." What an obscure reference! I don't think there will be anything else resembling this kind of imaginative art. What an awesome video!
Silent Hill 1 is my absolute favorite, and Silent Hill 3 is my second favorite. They just are very special to me, playing through both games for the first time when they were first released was definitely an experience.
I also consider them to be the best in the franchise. They are both creepy and make you feel under threat all the time. Even if you are in an empty room.
@@PanzerTiger3 Yes exactly, both SH1 and SH3 have a much creepier feel to them, they both did a great job messing with your mind, and they were great at instilling paranoia into whoever is playing them. The soundtrack of both games just adds to the experience too.
I relate so much with your sentiment that the detached camera from the player character actually PULLS ME IN more than OTS. It's hard to explain but there's such an immersive feel to this style you don't get from the standard formula nowadays.
Silent Hill 1 and 3 still unnerve me with their horror presentation. If they unnerve me at the age of 31, imagine how I felt playing the as a 10 or 12 year old. Silent Hill 2 hits a bit different. It is not scary in a conventional way, it evokes a feeling of emptiness and abandonment. Derelict structures, abandoned streets, overall decaying environment. When I'm playing it, I feel as if I was transported from this world into the game's world. And whenever I get to the result screen with that awesome track, it feels like I have come back home from a therapeutic trip. The only game that made me feel the same way is Signalis. But like you, I did not appreciate SH2 when it came out. Not only it had nothing to do with SH1, my English skills back then were very basic, and I did not get like half the plot. All I got is that James went looking for his supposedly deceased wife, and then found out he killed her. God knows how I managed to solve puzzles. I picked the Easy riddle difficulty, obviously, but it was still quite the task. The language barrier created a fascinating experience with the early PS1 and PS2 titles, actually. Imagine playing Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2 with only basic English skills, haha. I was also really fascinated by the bad ending in SH1. Harry wonders at some point if all of this is just a product of his imagination nation, and he is lying in a hospital bed after a car crash. And the bad ending shows you exactly that, only he is lying in his car, bleeding out and dying. I wonder if this what was really going on in the game before SH1 sold really big and spawned sequels. I mean, if you start the Next Fear save file, you immediately wake up in a cafe, almost if this is a never ending loop of nightmares in Harry's head. Of course, that's not the canon, but interesting what the writers would say. I doubt they were initially planning sequels for this game.
I first played silent hill 1 at the age of 10 and yeah it scared me unlike any other game at the time. It was way scarier than resident evil and the hospital otherworld gave me nightmares.
I can tell you how *I* handled playing SH1 at 12 years old: Shat bricks the entire time. Played it together with my mom, who loved it since she's a big psyche-horror buff, but at the time I was begging her not to re-rent the game and suggested we rent Tomb Raider II for the twentieth time instead. In retrospect, I'm quite happy she ultimately ignored me. XD
I wasn't good at solving the in-game puzzle when I played silent hill 1 as a kid, and I replayed it several times and always get stuck at a puzzle in the nightmare school. Your description of silent hill 1 is exactly how I felt every time when I restart the game and play it to the school part. Thanks for bringing back that part of my memory again.
I swear that half the horror comes from the draw distance, I love that thanks to the fog and darkness everything appears really close to you. Being able to see really far away is one of the worst things that has happened to videogames and I think no one realizes it, short viewing distance engages your imagination much much more.
I remember when Silent Hill came out. I was 20. I loved it so much I bought a copy for my brother who was still in high school. Told him it was a must play. I had just watched the movie Phantoms before this game came out and thought the game was loosely based off of that.
It's hard to get excited over it after the trailer, and the fact one of the guys at Bloober said they're done with psychological horror doesn't help. I'm still waitng for more information on SIlent Hill F
I think all 3 SH games give basically the same experience gameplay wise, which is why my personal favorite is the first game. I liked the puzzles, layout and art style a lot.
Shattered memories is underrated, it's actual psychological horror. It's not scary but it is a mindfuck like that twist in the end is one of the most unpredictable twits I've encountered in any media
The nostalgia wave where you described playing Silent Hill for the first time back in the day without any distractions really hit home, especially for people of a certain age. It's just a different perspective that many won't have playing these games today.
It’s very interesting that you bring up the initial lukewarm reception of 2, because I didn’t like it as much as 1 when I first played it too. I was young, but I remember being disappointed by the lack of the other world, the lack of connection with 1, the exploration limited to one small section of the town compared to three like in 1. However, I think time was kind to 2, since people replayed it later on when the fog settled a bit and people saw it more objectively, and then you realize that all the differences it has from 1 makes it truly special
I just recently played sh3 on hard puzzle difficulty and I see what you mean when you criticize it. The “riddle” in the hospital, while it was genuinely very disturbing and I’m glad I got to see it for the first time in game, was nearly impossible to solve without looking it up online.
My first experience with Silent Hill was when my sister rented it. I went to visit and watch her play but when I got there she was just about to reach the hospital. I didn't know anything about the otherworld or the type of horror this game was about. I thought it was gonna be like Resident Evil.....then the 4th floor appeared out of nowhere and I was suddenly introduced to the otherworld and the awful nurses and doctors. I was 10 at the time and that part of the game gave me nightmares and is a memory that stuck with me nearly 25 years later.
1. We take it for granted now since it's in everything, but it's worth noting Silent Hill's use of the flashlight was a big mechanic that made it stand out from Resident Evil. RE was a game with detailed environments and pre-rendered backgrounds, while SH was very dark and very vague, using the limits of the PS hardware to its advantage. It's not a surprise a big part of the success of the RE2 remake was incorporating the flashlight, and more pitch blacks onto what was honestly kind of a colorful original. 2. Really enjoyed your thoughts on SH1, which mirror mine. I think 2 is better in most respects, but 1 is the scarier game. 3 was just ok. A bit short, and it felt dumbed down psychologically, compared to the first two. Speaking of dumbed down, I am a big fan of the first movie, though. I understand the inaccuracy criticisms, but I think it honors the source material well in atmosphere, and it's more like a mashup of the OG games rather than directly adapting one story or another. 3. It was cool you mentioned the 'look' of humans in those Silent Hill games. That's big for me, as I find it a distinct characteristic unique to this series. Something about the shadows over their eyes... And I think it's an aspect the later games lost. Even the new remake hasn't quite captured it.
I love this series. All 3 games have something different to offer. I do think 3 was hurt by the team being split up to work on the room, but the story and characters were still good.
What an undeniable piece you've created here wow I couldn't imagine that atmosphere grabbing that demo Magazine from the convenience store you know walking out into the brisk late 90s evening and coming home and putting that beast in
Konami: - Release 3 games in 2 weeks, fail and throw the series into garbage for 10 years. - Announce a return with 4 projects presented in a row. Those guys clearly do not understand what keeping audience's attention means. Didn't they do the same with MGS3 Remake and some remasters of 1 and 2 or something?
"...got me interested in the original playstation" I was just thinking about that launch lineup this morning for some reason. It was so good. Wipeout, Twisted Metal, Destruction Derby, Battle Arena Toshinden, Jumping Flash...man, what an absolutely legendary launch. Probably the best system launch ever. I loved ALL those games. I typed that list from memory / playing the demos in Circuit City / browsing their selection. Maybe I'm not quite right but that's the lineup I remember. Such a good time to be alive. No microtransaction. No incomplete games. Rock solid fun.
Man hearing your experience with RE and SH as a kid really reminds me of how fucking awful at games I was back then. I think I only could beat these games by sticking super close to a guide and even then it was an absolute struggle. A combination of just being stupid and unable to solve puzzles, being unskilled and unable to deal with combat, and maybe most importantly just having no executive function and thus not ever really sticking a game out. I sometimes really regret that about my youth.
Feel like I should mention: Alone in the Dark and Clocktower (1992 and 1995 respectively) were the predecessors of RE1 (1996). Those games introduced the rules RE1 uses. Saying RE1 introduced the Survival Horror rules is very ballsy, I'll give it that, but it isn't entirely correct (it did bring it into the mainstream, that's for sure). As for Capcom coining the term "Survival Horror" with RE1, I can't really pinpoint that. But considering RE1's parents fit exactly the same bill (at least AitD does), I'd say it's a little farfetched. But SH1 stuck with me back in the day like a parasite almost. Being my first Survival Horror game (it's what got me hooked into the genre), I'll never forget getting to the Butterfly/Moth fight in the Hospital, I think, and having no bullets. And to make matters worse, I played the game on a friends house (he was too chicken to play, so I would play and he would watch), and not quite knowing the ruleset for the genre, I got to the boss with no bullets. Which forced me into replaying from the beginning (my save was too close to the boss, and almost running empty) and actually learn how to play the genre for real.
Reminds me of Halloween, while there were slasher movies before it Halloween was the one that popularised it. There were Survival Horror games beforehand but 'RE popularised it with the mainstream as AITD was only available on 3DO & PC and Clock tower was Japan only.
Silent Hill made by Team Silent will always be the all time greatest survival horror games. Now that I am very curious of what Blooper Team is remaking Silent Hill 2, and also bit worried of the changes they gonna do.
Really? I also played it back in 2001. As the guy from the video said, I found it really tame, depressing really. And yes, to a certain degree it was dissappointing because it's no where near as scary or intense as SH1. This recent SH2 love is an internet phenomenon created by online communities through the years after its release.
I'm really glad to see someone else praising fixed camera angles in horror games! I grew up with the games that you mentioned and I always loved the mystery that came with the fixed camera angle. I would even argue that fixed camera angles in the original Silent Hill games was part of its strength in storytelling and horror. This remake is going to do away with fixed camera angles and I honestly think that it's going to impact the game in a negative way. It would be nice if they opted to go with fixed camera angles like the original with their glossy hi res look of the game. That would be both novel and also complimentary to the original
It's either the last good one or the first shitty one, depending on who you ask; I'm definitely in the latter tent, because I think it's the Joe Besser of videogame sequels. It had some neat ideas, but it's also stuffed to the rafters with terrible gameplay choices, like the hugely increased focus on melee combat with no major improvements to the mechanics, loads of rehashed and revisited areas, unkillable stalker enemies that deal unavoidable damage, and an escort mission that makes up the game's _entire second half._ On top of that, the plot is too bizarre and unintentionally silly (apparently out of an obsession with taking every little worldbuilding detail from the other games and trying to make it more "important"), we're given no reason _at all_ to get attached to the protagonist or care about him as a character, and the connections to the first three games are so tenuous and sloppy that neither their stories or its own gets any benefit from them. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by ignoring it completely.
Like cigoLxeL said, SH4 is a mixed bag that has the fanbase very divided on it. I liked the idea of having a safe space that progressively gets more haunted as the game continues, but I hate that about half of the game is retreading the same path. It really comes down to preference.
42:17 "But it could've been more, it could've been another fascinating dive into the mind of a troubled person." It is! I feel like calling the third game just "the one where they continued the cult story line" completely undercuts Heather's adventure of self-discovery, self-actualization, her journey of coming to terms with adulthood and the sexuality that coincides with it, and especially the horrors that come with being a woman, in the fantasy world AND in real life. It does a great job of showing the real side of a teen girl who struggles to keep authority over her own body, and the fear that us as women are raised to keep at the front of our minds when it comes to strangers or being alone. A lot of this gets lost in translation when men or people who weren't raised to think this way play and review the game. Being forced to endure your anxieties of kidnapping, stalking, manipulation, sexual assault, forced pregnancy, etc. through Heather's story is so terrifying when you know all of these (besides the obvious fictional creatures and world shifting) are very real problems and can happen to any woman at any time. The haunting breaths of her stalker in the subway and Stanley are absolutely bone chilling with the thoughts that they provoke, some of the scariest stuff imo.
Men; SH2 was so good cause relatable mental illness! Also men; SH3 was bad cause teen girl and puberty Terrifying. Most can't even see the issue in the predatory behavior behind the people in the third game.
It's so crazy how the boiler explosion caused so much drama in the scene. Personally, I think the boiler exploded during the ritual. Alessa's powers were running wild as she was experiencing the pain of the ritual. I think there's probably enough evidence for someone to think the boiler was a coverup, but what's mega weird are the people who think burning Alessa was a part of the ritual. They needed her alive to be able to bring the god to term and give birth. It wasn't using birth as symbolism. Alessa actually had the god growing inside of her the same way a baby would.
Glad you covered these! I know my comments are 50/50 in terms of agreeing or disagreeing with you but i do love your analysis and respect your opinion regardless. Needless to say total agreement here. My favorite SH is SH3. It was so suffocating as a kid i never finished it until i was much older. But then was so disturbed by it i loved it and started speedrunning it non stop. Which also gave me nightmares after a bit so i had to stop lol. SH3 truly is so terrifying and disturbing. Heather is my favorite protag in all of gaming. Shes adorable as well as being a perfect everyman(woman) character who was witty but also apporpaitely confused and scared as the player. And i loved the themes of womanhood explored in such a twisted way. I love all of the og triology SH2 great for depression and it told a deeper story than 3 but i find Heather and the fact its so terrifying to give it the edge. All good stuff. These games are classics and i hope the remake and the new titles can come close to the quality of these three. I didnt want to make this comment a novel so just decided to eloboarte on my love for SH3 since its my fav and 2nd fav horror game of all time to RE1make. Also the SH fan wiki is one of the most comprehensive fan wikis ive ever seen if youre ever bored and wanna look into the lore in more depth. Some fan wikis are meh but SH is probably the most detailed ive seen. Puts the RE wiki to shame
Silent hill 4 is the best in comparison to the twists the previous 3 has to offer. Its sadistic nature and thirst for death plot makes it unique and only unique smart people has the ability to see through its underratedness and the most scariest silent hill game. People who say silent hill 2 is the scariest game Haven't playe forbidden siren yet and yes, silent hill 4 the room. So scary it makes 2 the disney port of silent hill
I remember laughing out loud when the fourth floor button appeared in the hospital elevator. I knew exactly what was coming and I was so excited for it. No other game in the series has had a moment as good as that for me.
We would all group around the tv as friends trying as a group to solve the puzzles and make it through. If you died it was next persons play. I miss this design, this feel. I have never played silent hill alone, but as an adult i want to! It would be nice to see these accessible. Its hard to play these now roms go so far.... The controls make a difference and saves states didnt exist. Also clock tower was really good!
I've genuinely been hoping to see this topic from you! Your perspective on the games you've played has always been honest, precise and articulated exceptionally well. Thank you for doing what you do
My first experience with Silent Hill was playing a demo of SH1 in Walmart, back when they had PSX units you could play in the electronics department. Even while surrounded by shoppers and under the harsh glare of florescent lights, it totally sucked me in. What grabbed me the most-both then and now-was the sound design and music. I'm an Akira Yamaoka fanboy to the core (as my channel demonstrates).
I also witnessed the glory days of Silent Hill when it first came out in 99, I was 10. It completely mesmerized me, I had not seen anything else like it. It was big news when it first came out, complete next level horror. I can proudly say I have been a fan since the beginning. 1 and 2 being my favorites. 3 and 4 are also great. I'm really looking forward to the remake of 2.
Dude, I legit had nightmares about resident evil two as an adolescent back in those days hearing you describe how we consume media back then versus now is so spot on😅
13:30 The pink rubber ball was another crazy puzzle. I remember we solved it almost randomly, and I remember how shocked, surprised and somewhat dissapointed we were. Mind you, buildings in my country do not look like this, so we didn't even understand it was a drain. And it is not like you have one item you need to find use for. You have a whole inventory of stupidly random items you don't know where, when and how to use. And yes, the fact that it was a PINK ball in an extremely scary horror game, was really bizarre and unnerving. It was so out of place, we thought it was bugged or something (yes, again😅). We thought that if such puzzles are already at the beginning of the game, what will come later? But until the Nowhere I think there weren't any puzzles as hard as those two.
Sh2 restless dream is truly a personal one I could cry.🖤 Childhood best friend (RIP) & I rocked with that one heavy. I know they as in team silent know the seriousness of this project. My hope is that they'll make the greatest remake. @underthemayo Thanks for the healthy dosage of serotonin.
Yay! A Silent Hill video on my birthday! Lovely! I remember it took me 3 years to beat the 1st game lol, I was too scared, reached a save point, TURN GAME OFF. And for some odd and very sadistic reason, everytime I decided to play again, the weather was cloudy or rainy lol. Love the original trilogy though!
That scene in SH1 where the camera shifts changes angles is ICONIC. I’m pretty sure they did it in the first movie too which I do love. I know people have their opinions but I got my reasons
Currently playing RE (2002) for the first time. I’m loving how it’s actually making me think and try stuff out for myself instead of spoon feeding it to me. Currently stuck at the guardhouse residence and almost out of ink ribbons 😭😭🤌
As someone who wasn't crazy about the first Silent Hill game, I fell head over heels in love with Silent Hill 2 when I first played it. I honestly didn't care it had almost nothing to do with the first game. It literally surpasses it in almost every way.
Silent Hill 2 was my first and I was like 13-14. I was hanging out at my friends' house with their cousin, and we where discussing Resident Evil after we where done with our weekly DnD session. His father looked at me and was like "Oh you liked Resident Evil. Trust me, you have to play this!" He handed me a copy of SH2 on Xbox. "What is it about?" "I can't tell you, you'll have to figure this one out for yourself. Just remember : whatever you do, YOU HAVE to listen to mary in that hallway in the Hotel." I was just hooked. He gave me my own copy of the third game on PC and I found the first one in a flea market.
I first played SH2 at launch, over at my friend's house, in broad daylight with the curtains wide open because we were so scared. We were in our late teens so no excuses for being "too young". Good times.
Let me tell you 13:00, my copy of the game was horribly translated from English into my language, so this puzzle was effectively the end of SH for me and my father playing it. We thought the game was bugged or broken, or the disc was damaged. The only hope was simply randomly mashing the keys, but we were ultimately unsuccesful at it, as there was too much variations. A couple years later, when the internet came into existence, I think we found the solution on some local chat or site.
One of my absolute favorite games of all time!! I’ll never forget diving into the first senate hill at 14 years of age for the very first time and thinking it was going to be a lot like resident evil and being completely shocked at how different how much more creepy and dark and sinister it felt?!! The second one is my favorite, but I would say I like all four of the first games in the order of liking to the most and then the first one and then the third one and then the fourth one ? I think Summit Hill the original would be number one for me if it had the same graphics as silent Hill to because it is a more heartbreaking and “worried” story in a way? Either way they are both a masterpiece in their own right!
Although SH3 has its problems, and SH2 is my favorite (and first one I played after 2), there's a part here where the MC is asking someone how hell were they getting around with all these monsters and the guy goes "they look like monsters to you?" The way he said it made me genuinely believe that he was confused why the entitles would appear monstrous. It was such a cool moment to me because, while I understood they look different to everyone, there are some people, likely part of the cult, that would see them as maybe angelic! The trilogy was so fucking good.
Ha, I had the exact same thought about Silent Hill 2, that the events of the first game had essentially 'primed' the town and that SH2 was a consequence of it.
Interestingly enough, when i first played SH2, i preferred the first game. And when SH3 released, it became my favorite. It was only a few years after its release when i truly began to appreciate the masterpiece of horror that it is.
@@pikminologueraisin2139No I don’t really understand why people would cherish the first 3 and then hate the 4th even though it’s still Silent Hill from the original team. I’ve played all of them. 4 was the last one I played. It makes 0 sense for the community to disregard it.
@@zechy09 Maybe because the gameplay is absolute dogshit (an escort mission that takes up half the game, really?), the plot is nonsensical and almost entirely disconnected from the first three, and it emphasizes cliched, comical J-horror over the series' uniquely memorable surreal horror? I have more, but you probably get the point.
Silent Hill 3 is in my opinion the scariest horror game. When I played it I was the same age as Heather and what she goes through resonated with me in a personal way. I felt as scared and isolated as she did.
I'm only 16 mins into the video and I can 100% say that the way you 1st experienced Silent Hill in the late 90s on PS1 is the EXACT way I felt when I 1st played it, as well!! (k k... gonna finish the rest of the video😅)
I know it sounds cliche, a million people love Silent Hill 2. But for me it was and is my favorite game, nothing comes close. And it's not the "Oooh James is so sad, it's so trippy lookit the red pyramid thing". I have major depression, I have borderline personality disorder. I have trauma from high school and my parents. This game speaks to me on a very deep emotional level, and for me, seeing James (in my preferred ending) manage to drag himself out of disparity and guilt, seeing all the punishment he wanted inflicted on himself - I don't think I'll ever find a game the hits me so close to home, aside Shane and Sophia from Stardew. Lol
I only noticed something recently on a play through... The composer of the SH theme was a big fan of "Portishead" and their 94 album Dummy, specifically track 2 - Sour Times, Ive known that since '99. But what i only noticed was at the beginning of SH right when Harry wakes up in the canteen there are 2 red "Portishead" posters right on the window behind him. Blew my mind i never seen it before now 🙄🤦♂️ Dummy, by Portishead is phenomenal album also....
As someone who lives in tornado alley and has had to find shelter because of a tornado touch down at fucking night of all times, the siren hits home to me. Because here’s this imminent life threatening danger in my general area and I literally can’t do anything about it but hide.
Just wanted to say on the topic of boiler explosion: it might not have been intended for her to split her soul, but it was intended for her to be in a painful, near death state. Dahlia implies that she suffered a fate worse than death in order to nourish the God in her womb. This is the biggest proof that she was intentionally burned imho, besides the fact that Harry mentions it in a letter in SH3.
Hey man! I can explain why the Air Raid Siren Sound! Keiichiro Toyama, the Writer of the Game, this guy has a very deep knowledge about Ocultism, esoterism, Agnosticism and dark stuff... Thats why you see this stuff in the game all over the place. The context of the Siren is because, when he was a child, post ww2 in the countryside of Japan, like rural village or city, in his town. When was a house burning, or someone did not appear after the work shift, child missing and stuff like that, they blow the Siren. But in his words: "when i hear that siren, even if didnt know what was, it was something bad!" And he put this personal experience in the game... Like the coming of the dark with this opressive siren blasting your soul... After SIlent Hill he make another dark game calls THE SIREN! Tell me about huh!
That double pyramid head boss was JUST my experience playing on hard. One friend was playing it with me for the first time and I suggested hard difficult in combat because normal was way easy, and all was going great untill that boss. We ended almost without any kind of ammo on the final boss after like 20 frustrating trys on that boss. Just as a curiosity, we discovered also that in the first 3 silent hill games, if you enter the last boss with 0 ammo, the boss dies by itself after a while.
Ah... Silent Hill. The first Silent Hill I actually borrowed from my brother.... to play it on PC via a PSX emulator. The sound design was wicked as heck anyway -- the soundtrack on occasion going fully-on noise. But the emulator sometimes produced really scary audio glitches alongside to it. That was quite an experience. :-) SH2 may get a remake, but the first one is so weird and messed up and hard to follow for what was a major production back then, I don't think Konami would ever tackle another project like this today. SH is one of these series where I feel the only reason why the devs included this comparably much combat, was a fear of else alienating players of more action focused games, includig horror themed ones. The bars were set by Capcom, not merely with RE, but also Dino Crisis. The combat is oft being criticized as clumsy as is, quite some of which (not all) is certainly intentional. Right alongside to the disorienting camera and walks with seemingly not much happening (see also the entire start of SH2) -- these games weren't tweaked to invoke "fun", but to provoke an experience. That's basically the antithesis to pretty much every major big budget horror production today, remake or otherwise, where extensive play and focus group testing ensures way before release that everybody in the room is gonna have a jolly good time. Lord knows how Alien:Isolation made it through there alive and nonstop stress simulating (to divisive opinions to this day). Silent Hill's plot, world and characters were miserable. They didn't chopper off into the sunset alongside to cheesy J-Rock in the credits, RE-style. And the games as an interactive experience tried to go alongside with that. Tried to. In a lot of ways, they may well have misfired. But combat also obviously wasn't the main focus at all. SH aimed to tackle psychological horror in an era where that was really rare (and were it not for indies, it would be even rarer now). Still glad I'd never tried SH2 on hard then. Boss battles of half an hour consisting of running from one corner to the other don't merely sound intentionally "unfun" to provoke a reaction and/or mirror the character's internal struggle. But tedious.
I've always loved survival horror since I was a kid. I fully agree with you on the fixed camera angles. It definitely adds that anxiety inducing cinematic experience. One of my favourite games that had this was Project Zero (Fatal Frame. If you haven't already played that series I highly reccomend. It's such a beautiful game. Forbidden Siren is really amazing too and shared some of the same developers that worked on Silent Hill. 💝💝
24:44 I was listening to this at work with earbuds and stepped away. I legit thought this was an ad for some bad mobile game. Man was I thrown off when I hear Harry speak then an actual ad started.
Man, I love these videos. I can't get enough atm. These tank controls I can't get my head around it. I watched your god of war/dmc5 video today and really agree about the fixed camera in gow o.g. I own a copy of re1 remake and have given it a good go and I just can't get used to it. I really want to play it, so I'm hoping the make a over the shoulder remake. I played re 1 back in the 90s and I didn't understand what kind of game it was I was heavily into beat em ups so I tried to hack and shoot my way through it. 😅 anyway thanks for videos 🎉
Check back next week for a video on Silent Hill 2's story and the upcoming remake!
Thanks for everyone's patience as I got this video ready. I hope you like it. It is kind of a dry video, not really about analysis. Just talking about how I feel about one of my favorite series.
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Why is the 3 protagonists in the titles looks different, what kind of lights or effects are you using?
Loved the video as always, but I do think you should give Silent Hill 4 a second chance.
It definitely does have flaws, but there is also a lot of brilliance in that game.
I grew up playing Silent Hill 1 & 2 (personally 3 is my least favorite), but Silent Hill 4 was the one title that scared me so bad little kid me would physically jump out of bed and shut the television off just to disconnect myself from what I was experiencing; pure, unfiltered terror and panic, the same feeling you got being in the basement and having the lights shut off leading to a scramble for the stairs/light switch. I love the other games, but it's hard not to bat for SH4 when half the community is still so divided on it to the point that the rampant fan theory that it wasn't made by the original team still floats around to this day 20 years later.
Hopefully one day these games all get proper, respective remakes/ports and if SH4 ever gets that kind of love I hope they finish the game.
yo mayo your feature broke my concentration imma need to see that video on nightmare creatures now lol
Silent Hill 2 is definitely not unfinishable on Hard. I've done it a million times. Hell, I've done damageless runs of the twin pyramid head fight on hard mode lol
@@THEGREATMAX great, I'm happy for you. I don't see what that has to do with recommending a new player to play Hard Mode on a first playthrough for a solid challenging experience.
5:11
The director stated that as a kid, he lived next to(or near) some facility that had an air raid siren that would go off from time to time and it always freaked him out and made him feel a foreboding sense of dread like "something bad was on its way". He was also too young to even understand what an air raid siren was so he just heard it as a loud, wailing screech with no meaning. He wanted to convey that unease in the game.
Silent Hill 4 has a great story- say anything you want about it but the story is fantastic
sh4 ties everything togheter. It is a different game but the horror is amazing. You feel safe in ur little inside locked room. All is good. Ur pinning ghosts to defeat them. And then you crack the damn wall to find a BLOODY CORPSE! THE ROOM IS NO LONGER UR SAFE HEALING HAVEN! ALL IF FUCKED!
That shift is the most unsettling moment for me. Sure the controlls and combat was janky. But I was calculating every fight.
@@Kserijaro Yeah, SH4 is one of my faves actually. The original 4 are all good but broken in their own ways. 4 gets shunned far too much. I was super immersed in this video until that massive disconnect.
God I love SH 4 - it was very immersive to me. SH 1 and 4 are the two favorites of the series. ^^
.
Silent Hill 4 is the cream of the crop and I won't let anyone bad mouth my baby lest they face 100 lashings with a wet noodle.
I won't forget the fear that I felt in SH1, when I first walked down that dark alleyway.
Maaaaaate, 6/7 year old, that siren was terrifying.
For me it was the puzzles and riddles. What an experience! Literally have to be good in English if it's not your native language. I remember using the dictionary so much for the poem of the piano keys and the order which you have to press for it to work. Something about the ambience with the dark world of SH together experienced while you have to actually solve a puzzle is just amazing. An experience for a lifetime.
I played it literally when it came out in 1999, absolutely terrifying. Will never forget the sleepless nights that followed after that, the Midwich E. School and the music in the entire game is what truly got to me and scared the living shit out of me. Oh yeah and i was 10 back then so…you could only imagine how it effected me being a kid 😂😂. Miss those times and that entire era of life in general ❤🥲
absolutely.
My first experience was the Alchemella Hospital. I didn't know anything about the game and watching my sister play when I visited. I was unprepared for the mindfuck that was the 4th floor appearing out of nowhere and the shift to the otherworld right after. And then seeing and hearing those nurses creeped me the hell out.
15:54 the number "4" has a very similar pronounciation in Japanese as the word "death". That is why many hospitals lack a 4th floor in Japan. That is an extra horrific piece of information for japanese players.
interesting!
what is the word? could you spell it out phonetically, out of curiosity?
@@cleverlydevisedmyth according to google translate:
4= "shi" 四
death ="shi" 死
sweet, thank you! that's interesting
@@drtofuu
oh, wow cool!
Omg I actually have the details about why they used an “air raid” siren! So it’s not actually meant to be an air raid siren: it’s supposed to be the sirens of the fire truck that was headed to Dahlia’s house when it caught fire during the ritual, but the sound is slowed down and muffled as it’s all Alessa’s memory that’s making it happen. The developers wanted it to sound like an air raid siren to confuse the players, since the snow and lack of people make the initial set up look like nuclear fallout.
Huh. Never did hear that. I guess her trauma really _was_ what kicked off the town's freaky transformations, because the siren also turns up again when James is shunted into the nightmare version of Brookhaven.
The sirens in the games are more of a warning transition echoing in the air whenever the nightmare takes over the real world and fades away. It's the same thing with Forbidden Siren, that's how interpreted. In the movie, it was a warning horn in the church, which destroys the mystery about the siren.
I thought it was a real siren because they were evacuating the town. That’s why I thought there were almost no people
@@kevinfuentes3669 I really hated that movie. I was so excited for it based on the hype and trailers. I told all my friends who knew nothing about the games to go see it. I apologized to them for that one.
@@chiefmac88 There were a _lot_ of crappy horror films getting huge hype at that time 😂
I will never forget my first experience with Silent Hill 1 on my playstation back in the day.. It stuck with me then and still does to this day.
Same..😎
Surprisingly enough, I was RELIEVED when enemies showed up, because I think SH masters making the player feel dread, feeling like something's gonna happen at any second (it mostly doesn't), but that feeling never goes away, so I never minded the 'kinda easy' combat, I was scared all the time regardless lol.
Edit: and he just said that hahaha
Even though the combat was easy in SH, I always found it horrific. I have vivid memories of being 12 years old, being in a primary school and repeatedly hitting a bloody child like figure on the floor with a steel pipe, over and over until the noise stopped.
@@GangsterFrankensteinComputer wonderfully creepy that the game lets you keep hitting the enemies after they're dead hahaha
Too sad you didn't include Silent Hill 4. Such an underrated game
Agreed, it's different from the first three but it's still an amazing game.
True its underrated, however the title says "trilogy".
Yeah played it again the other day, sooo good
@@CurayziDante but why trilogy tho? Team Silent made 4 games, not 3. So I dunno, it’s kinda disrespectful to refer to the classic SH games as a trilogy in order to exclude it from Team Silent history. Some people even say that the 4 game was made by not real Team Silent members but some random “non-core” members of the team only to justify their hatred towards this game, which is downright disgusting
@@Messier_-82 im just refeering to the word "trilogy" and what it means, the first 3 games.
SH4 is *kindda* different from the other 3s to be honest, still good thu imo
Just a wording thing man.
Resident Evil gave my young self plenty of jump scares, but Silent Hill made me afraid to turn on my Playstation. That Midwich Elementary was the spitting image of my own school at the time didn't help matters.
My fondest memory of Silent Hill 1 is the fact that me and my cousin finished the first nightmare, got killed by the flying enemy in the cafe cause we couldn't use the gun and then spent the night too terrified to sleep. Good times man, gooooood times.
I love silent hill 3 as much as i like silent hill 2 both have their unique elements that gave an incredible and unforgettable experience
I played all classic Resident Evil games many years ago but I played the first Silent Hill only last year and it became one of my favourite gaming experiences ever. It's horror and gameplay holds up better than many new horror games today.
My first experiences with Silent Hill were being a 6 year old boy back at the tail end of the 90's being exposed to both the first game and Resident Evil 2 by my uncle.
They absolutely scared the p*** out of me and I had trouble sleeping for weeks... And I also acquired a newfound love for horror in the process because I LIKED being scared. I read Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Stephen King, watched scary movies behind my mother's back, etc. Silent Hill was SPECIAL because just like a good book, it was placing me right in the middle of the action. And unlike Resident Evil where the enemies were brainless zombies which gave me a feeling of hope, Silent Hill was empty, cold, and expected you to do the searching yourself. It wasn't a structured mansion or police station with narrow but reliable corridors, it was a big empty town, a school, a hospital, all BLINDED by fog and darkness. And there was simply nothing scarier than staring down a long black hall, HEARING something at the end of it, not being able to see it, but knowing that IT can see you. There was so much mystery and lack of proper explanation for what was transpiring which contributed to the feeling of the game; your only concrete information was, "I need to save my daughter" and that was it, everything else was foreign, confusing, and terrifying as a result.
Naturally I played the second game when it came out, and you're right. I wasn't big on it at first, but I did warm up to it. The third game was where I started becoming distant from the franchise because it just didn't gel with me and that feeling has remained since. Not that I haven't enjoyed it, but it felt almost like an unnecessary entry. Then there was 4... And for the longest time, I only had the demo for Silent Hill 4. There was this ritual I had where I would turn it on, be braced with that eerie title screen, and go through the same loop of the first level over and over. Sounds boring, but for me I was so scared by what was being shown and the bizarre fever dream feel of the game that I would frequently turn it off out of sheer terror. The game was triggering my fight or flight responses in the REAL world and young 10 year old me could not process it. I still vividly remember the first time I played that demo and got hit with that initial nightmare sequence, I was just absolutely in shock at what was going on until that Ghost began crawling through the wall and making its way toward the camera. On my first experience, I literally hurt myself scrambling out of my bed just to turn the Xbox off so I didn't have to deal with that stressful stimuli I was being presented. I didn't know what I was seeing or what was going on, it just felt like it wanted to hurt me.
Of course, I'm older now and have since become so jaded to horror that it's hard for me to get scared by anything (Probably doesn't help that I blackbelt in two arts and one of those blackbelts is in an art that mostly uses knives. You've seen what I do if you've ever watched The Raid. I unironically and unintentionally became Krauser from RE4). Silent Hill 1-4 is my favorite series of games to ever exist and I try to expose my friends to the games in what limited ways I can; they're not readily accessible and for people just watching UA-cam Lets Plays the appeal is never immediately clear. Unfortunately we live in an age of instant gratification and a time where Silent Hill 2's psychological themes have not only become contemporary, but overplayed. Even though it did it the best, the very nature of that game makes it a hard sell to anyone hearing it described. The upcoming remake and other games have me worried because, just like the movie, I'm scared of the image being tarnished by Konami even more than it already has; we live in a post-Team Silent world where a "Silent Hill fan" can mean people like me, fans of the originals, or people that loved the movies... or loved the 5 games that came after 4 AKA people with no real understanding of what the original franchise was about and have been misled by the newer content. I have no faith in Bloober executing on the Remake, even less so with recent information like how the game is actually meant to promote the movie, how Bloober essentially copyrighted their way into manning the remake, or how they are tired of Psychological Horror and have expressly stated their intent to go for "Mass Market Horror".
Sometimes I feel like it's better if things just stayed dead and Silent Hill is really starting to rub me that way.
I no longer care about new games, I just want Konami to stop revising the meaning of the original ones.
I played Silent Hill 1 in 2006 during a week vacation, while taking a small amount of mushrooms and acid every day. To say it was "trippy" would be an understatement. As a horror novel fan and someone who knows the Kabbalah, I recognized many of the references, so it made it even more strange! What could be more obscure than aglaophotis? AGLA refers to the phrase "Atta gibor le'olam Adonai." What an obscure reference! I don't think there will be anything else resembling this kind of imaginative art. What an awesome video!
Silent Hill 1 is my absolute favorite, and Silent Hill 3 is my second favorite.
They just are very special to me, playing through both games for the first time when they were first released was definitely an experience.
I also consider them to be the best in the franchise. They are both creepy and make you feel under threat all the time. Even if you are in an empty room.
@@PanzerTiger3 Yes exactly, both SH1 and SH3 have a much creepier feel to them, they both did a great job messing with your mind, and they were great at instilling paranoia into whoever is playing them.
The soundtrack of both games just adds to the experience too.
I relate so much with your sentiment that the detached camera from the player character actually PULLS ME IN more than OTS. It's hard to explain but there's such an immersive feel to this style you don't get from the standard formula nowadays.
Silent Hill 1 and 3 still unnerve me with their horror presentation. If they unnerve me at the age of 31, imagine how I felt playing the as a 10 or 12 year old. Silent Hill 2 hits a bit different. It is not scary in a conventional way, it evokes a feeling of emptiness and abandonment. Derelict structures, abandoned streets, overall decaying environment. When I'm playing it, I feel as if I was transported from this world into the game's world. And whenever I get to the result screen with that awesome track, it feels like I have come back home from a therapeutic trip. The only game that made me feel the same way is Signalis. But like you, I did not appreciate SH2 when it came out. Not only it had nothing to do with SH1, my English skills back then were very basic, and I did not get like half the plot. All I got is that James went looking for his supposedly deceased wife, and then found out he killed her. God knows how I managed to solve puzzles. I picked the Easy riddle difficulty, obviously, but it was still quite the task. The language barrier created a fascinating experience with the early PS1 and PS2 titles, actually. Imagine playing Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2 with only basic English skills, haha.
I was also really fascinated by the bad ending in SH1. Harry wonders at some point if all of this is just a product of his imagination nation, and he is lying in a hospital bed after a car crash. And the bad ending shows you exactly that, only he is lying in his car, bleeding out and dying. I wonder if this what was really going on in the game before SH1 sold really big and spawned sequels. I mean, if you start the Next Fear save file, you immediately wake up in a cafe, almost if this is a never ending loop of nightmares in Harry's head. Of course, that's not the canon, but interesting what the writers would say. I doubt they were initially planning sequels for this game.
I first played silent hill 1 at the age of 10 and yeah it scared me unlike any other game at the time. It was way scarier than resident evil and the hospital otherworld gave me nightmares.
I can tell you how *I* handled playing SH1 at 12 years old: Shat bricks the entire time. Played it together with my mom, who loved it since she's a big psyche-horror buff, but at the time I was begging her not to re-rent the game and suggested we rent Tomb Raider II for the twentieth time instead. In retrospect, I'm quite happy she ultimately ignored me. XD
I wasn't good at solving the in-game puzzle when I played silent hill 1 as a kid, and I replayed it several times and always get stuck at a puzzle in the nightmare school. Your description of silent hill 1 is exactly how I felt every time when I restart the game and play it to the school part. Thanks for bringing back that part of my memory again.
Oh man I'm gonna have to order some food for this.
I swear that half the horror comes from the draw distance, I love that thanks to the fog and darkness everything appears really close to you. Being able to see really far away is one of the worst things that has happened to videogames and I think no one realizes it, short viewing distance engages your imagination much much more.
I remember when Silent Hill came out. I was 20. I loved it so much I bought a copy for my brother who was still in high school. Told him it was a must play. I had just watched the movie Phantoms before this game came out and thought the game was loosely based off of that.
Can't wait to see SH2 Remake being completely destroyed and misunderstand by Bloober.
just from seeing that remake trailer i already lost all of my faith...
It's hard to get excited over it after the trailer, and the fact one of the guys at Bloober said they're done with psychological horror doesn't help. I'm still waitng for more information on SIlent Hill F
I think all 3 SH games give basically the same experience gameplay wise, which is why my personal favorite is the first game. I liked the puzzles, layout and art style a lot.
I really enjoyed this. I loved how this was more about your personal experience than a review or a focus on a certain element of the games
Shattered memories is underrated, it's actual psychological horror. It's not scary but it is a mindfuck like that twist in the end is one of the most unpredictable twits I've encountered in any media
I don't think it's that good, but I don't think it's a bad game either...it just should have had a different name.
read more books
@@pikminologueraisin2139 Any recommendations ?
The nostalgia wave where you described playing Silent Hill for the first time back in the day without any distractions really hit home, especially for people of a certain age. It's just a different perspective that many won't have playing these games today.
It’s very interesting that you bring up the initial lukewarm reception of 2, because I didn’t like it as much as 1 when I first played it too. I was young, but I remember being disappointed by the lack of the other world, the lack of connection with 1, the exploration limited to one small section of the town compared to three like in 1. However, I think time was kind to 2, since people replayed it later on when the fog settled a bit and people saw it more objectively, and then you realize that all the differences it has from 1 makes it truly special
I just recently played sh3 on hard puzzle difficulty and I see what you mean when you criticize it. The “riddle” in the hospital, while it was genuinely very disturbing and I’m glad I got to see it for the first time in game, was nearly impossible to solve without looking it up online.
The SH music is so good.
The ZeroFuturism SH ambient remixes are in my top 3 things to listen to while going to sleep.
My first experience with Silent Hill was when my sister rented it. I went to visit and watch her play but when I got there she was just about to reach the hospital. I didn't know anything about the otherworld or the type of horror this game was about. I thought it was gonna be like Resident Evil.....then the 4th floor appeared out of nowhere and I was suddenly introduced to the otherworld and the awful nurses and doctors. I was 10 at the time and that part of the game gave me nightmares and is a memory that stuck with me nearly 25 years later.
This is the video that I was waiting for.
Thanks mayo...
1. We take it for granted now since it's in everything, but it's worth noting Silent Hill's use of the flashlight was a big mechanic that made it stand out from Resident Evil. RE was a game with detailed environments and pre-rendered backgrounds, while SH was very dark and very vague, using the limits of the PS hardware to its advantage. It's not a surprise a big part of the success of the RE2 remake was incorporating the flashlight, and more pitch blacks onto what was honestly kind of a colorful original.
2. Really enjoyed your thoughts on SH1, which mirror mine. I think 2 is better in most respects, but 1 is the scarier game. 3 was just ok. A bit short, and it felt dumbed down psychologically, compared to the first two. Speaking of dumbed down, I am a big fan of the first movie, though. I understand the inaccuracy criticisms, but I think it honors the source material well in atmosphere, and it's more like a mashup of the OG games rather than directly adapting one story or another.
3. It was cool you mentioned the 'look' of humans in those Silent Hill games. That's big for me, as I find it a distinct characteristic unique to this series. Something about the shadows over their eyes... And I think it's an aspect the later games lost. Even the new remake hasn't quite captured it.
I love this series. All 3 games have something different to offer. I do think 3 was hurt by the team being split up to work on the room, but the story and characters were still good.
SH4 is my favirioute in the series.
I remember when this game came out and the fear I felt the first time I played it. Sitting in my room with the lights off. Terrifying but awesome.
What an undeniable piece you've created here wow I couldn't imagine that atmosphere grabbing that demo Magazine from the convenience store you know walking out into the brisk late 90s evening and coming home and putting that beast in
Konami:
- Release 3 games in 2 weeks, fail and throw the series into garbage for 10 years.
- Announce a return with 4 projects presented in a row.
Those guys clearly do not understand what keeping audience's attention means. Didn't they do the same with MGS3 Remake and some remasters of 1 and 2 or something?
"...got me interested in the original playstation"
I was just thinking about that launch lineup this morning for some reason. It was so good. Wipeout, Twisted Metal, Destruction Derby, Battle Arena Toshinden, Jumping Flash...man, what an absolutely legendary launch. Probably the best system launch ever. I loved ALL those games. I typed that list from memory / playing the demos in Circuit City / browsing their selection. Maybe I'm not quite right but that's the lineup I remember. Such a good time to be alive. No microtransaction. No incomplete games. Rock solid fun.
Man hearing your experience with RE and SH as a kid really reminds me of how fucking awful at games I was back then. I think I only could beat these games by sticking super close to a guide and even then it was an absolute struggle. A combination of just being stupid and unable to solve puzzles, being unskilled and unable to deal with combat, and maybe most importantly just having no executive function and thus not ever really sticking a game out. I sometimes really regret that about my youth.
Feel like I should mention: Alone in the Dark and Clocktower (1992 and 1995 respectively) were the predecessors of RE1 (1996). Those games introduced the rules RE1 uses. Saying RE1 introduced the Survival Horror rules is very ballsy, I'll give it that, but it isn't entirely correct (it did bring it into the mainstream, that's for sure). As for Capcom coining the term "Survival Horror" with RE1, I can't really pinpoint that. But considering RE1's parents fit exactly the same bill (at least AitD does), I'd say it's a little farfetched.
But SH1 stuck with me back in the day like a parasite almost. Being my first Survival Horror game (it's what got me hooked into the genre), I'll never forget getting to the Butterfly/Moth fight in the Hospital, I think, and having no bullets. And to make matters worse, I played the game on a friends house (he was too chicken to play, so I would play and he would watch), and not quite knowing the ruleset for the genre, I got to the boss with no bullets. Which forced me into replaying from the beginning (my save was too close to the boss, and almost running empty) and actually learn how to play the genre for real.
Reminds me of Halloween, while there were slasher movies before it Halloween was the one that popularised it.
There were Survival Horror games beforehand but 'RE popularised it with the mainstream as AITD was only available on 3DO & PC and Clock tower was Japan only.
Silent Hill made by Team Silent will always be the all time greatest survival horror games. Now that I am very curious of what Blooper Team is remaking Silent Hill 2, and also bit worried of the changes they gonna do.
Bought SH2 in like 2001 for my PS2. This game was just too scary. Never had the nerves to finish it 😢😢😢 What a game!
Really? I also played it back in 2001. As the guy from the video said, I found it really tame, depressing really. And yes, to a certain degree it was dissappointing because it's no where near as scary or intense as SH1. This recent SH2 love is an internet phenomenon created by online communities through the years after its release.
I'm really glad to see someone else praising fixed camera angles in horror games! I grew up with the games that you mentioned and I always loved the mystery that came with the fixed camera angle. I would even argue that fixed camera angles in the original Silent Hill games was part of its strength in storytelling and horror. This remake is going to do away with fixed camera angles and I honestly think that it's going to impact the game in a negative way. It would be nice if they opted to go with fixed camera angles like the original with their glossy hi res look of the game. That would be both novel and also complimentary to the original
The fact that Silint Hill 1 had an interesting piano puzzle and RE Village managed to screw it up decades later baffles the hell out of me
Another great video and very relatable. Excellent job, man.
1-4 are the best, no question.
Please more of this. Such a great video, would like to learn more of the lore and the sequels.
i would dare to say even till this day, SH1 is still absolutely terrifying, even more than most of modern video games with fancy graphics
Definitely
People love ignoring SH4 lol
It's either the last good one or the first shitty one, depending on who you ask; I'm definitely in the latter tent, because I think it's the Joe Besser of videogame sequels. It had some neat ideas, but it's also stuffed to the rafters with terrible gameplay choices, like the hugely increased focus on melee combat with no major improvements to the mechanics, loads of rehashed and revisited areas, unkillable stalker enemies that deal unavoidable damage, and an escort mission that makes up the game's _entire second half._ On top of that, the plot is too bizarre and unintentionally silly (apparently out of an obsession with taking every little worldbuilding detail from the other games and trying to make it more "important"), we're given no reason _at all_ to get attached to the protagonist or care about him as a character, and the connections to the first three games are so tenuous and sloppy that neither their stories or its own gets any benefit from them. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by ignoring it completely.
Like cigoLxeL said, SH4 is a mixed bag that has the fanbase very divided on it. I liked the idea of having a safe space that progressively gets more haunted as the game continues, but I hate that about half of the game is retreading the same path. It really comes down to preference.
Particularly, The Room and 2 are my favourites SH games
42:17 "But it could've been more, it could've been another fascinating dive into the mind of a troubled person."
It is! I feel like calling the third game just "the one where they continued the cult story line" completely undercuts Heather's adventure of self-discovery, self-actualization, her journey of coming to terms with adulthood and the sexuality that coincides with it, and especially the horrors that come with being a woman, in the fantasy world AND in real life. It does a great job of showing the real side of a teen girl who struggles to keep authority over her own body, and the fear that us as women are raised to keep at the front of our minds when it comes to strangers or being alone. A lot of this gets lost in translation when men or people who weren't raised to think this way play and review the game. Being forced to endure your anxieties of kidnapping, stalking, manipulation, sexual assault, forced pregnancy, etc. through Heather's story is so terrifying when you know all of these (besides the obvious fictional creatures and world shifting) are very real problems and can happen to any woman at any time. The haunting breaths of her stalker in the subway and Stanley are absolutely bone chilling with the thoughts that they provoke, some of the scariest stuff imo.
Men;
SH2 was so good cause relatable mental illness!
Also men;
SH3 was bad cause teen girl and puberty
Terrifying. Most can't even see the issue in the predatory behavior behind the people in the third game.
It's so crazy how the boiler explosion caused so much drama in the scene. Personally, I think the boiler exploded during the ritual. Alessa's powers were running wild as she was experiencing the pain of the ritual. I think there's probably enough evidence for someone to think the boiler was a coverup, but what's mega weird are the people who think burning Alessa was a part of the ritual. They needed her alive to be able to bring the god to term and give birth. It wasn't using birth as symbolism. Alessa actually had the god growing inside of her the same way a baby would.
Glad you covered these! I know my comments are 50/50 in terms of agreeing or disagreeing with you but i do love your analysis and respect your opinion regardless. Needless to say total agreement here. My favorite SH is SH3. It was so suffocating as a kid i never finished it until i was much older. But then was so disturbed by it i loved it and started speedrunning it non stop. Which also gave me nightmares after a bit so i had to stop lol. SH3 truly is so terrifying and disturbing. Heather is my favorite protag in all of gaming. Shes adorable as well as being a perfect everyman(woman) character who was witty but also apporpaitely confused and scared as the player. And i loved the themes of womanhood explored in such a twisted way. I love all of the og triology SH2 great for depression and it told a deeper story than 3 but i find Heather and the fact its so terrifying to give it the edge. All good stuff. These games are classics and i hope the remake and the new titles can come close to the quality of these three. I didnt want to make this comment a novel so just decided to eloboarte on my love for SH3 since its my fav and 2nd fav horror game of all time to RE1make. Also the SH fan wiki is one of the most comprehensive fan wikis ive ever seen if youre ever bored and wanna look into the lore in more depth. Some fan wikis are meh but SH is probably the most detailed ive seen. Puts the RE wiki to shame
Silent hill 4 is the best in comparison to the twists the previous 3 has to offer. Its sadistic nature and thirst for death plot makes it unique and only unique smart people has the ability to see through its underratedness and the most scariest silent hill game. People who say silent hill 2 is the scariest game Haven't playe forbidden siren yet and yes, silent hill 4 the room. So scary it makes 2 the disney port of silent hill
I remember laughing out loud when the fourth floor button appeared in the hospital elevator. I knew exactly what was coming and I was so excited for it. No other game in the series has had a moment as good as that for me.
We would all group around the tv as friends trying as a group to solve the puzzles and make it through. If you died it was next persons play. I miss this design, this feel.
I have never played silent hill alone, but as an adult i want to! It would be nice to see these accessible. Its hard to play these now roms go so far.... The controls make a difference and saves states didnt exist.
Also clock tower was really good!
I've genuinely been hoping to see this topic from you! Your perspective on the games you've played has always been honest, precise and articulated exceptionally well. Thank you for doing what you do
My first experience with Silent Hill was playing a demo of SH1 in Walmart, back when they had PSX units you could play in the electronics department. Even while surrounded by shoppers and under the harsh glare of florescent lights, it totally sucked me in. What grabbed me the most-both then and now-was the sound design and music. I'm an Akira Yamaoka fanboy to the core (as my channel demonstrates).
Me and my friend Ryan played this when we were like 10 or so and it was brutally scary for me. Never made it out of the school lol.
I also witnessed the glory days of Silent Hill when it first came out in 99, I was 10. It completely mesmerized me, I had not seen anything else like it. It was big news when it first came out, complete next level horror. I can proudly say I have been a fan since the beginning. 1 and 2 being my favorites. 3 and 4 are also great. I'm really looking forward to the remake of 2.
Dude, I legit had nightmares about resident evil two as an adolescent back in those days hearing you describe how we consume media back then versus now is so spot on😅
No love for SH4 ?
I just don't have much to say about it. It wasn't for me. I like some things about it, but I'd rather keep this video to the games I know and love.
13:30 The pink rubber ball was another crazy puzzle. I remember we solved it almost randomly, and I remember how shocked, surprised and somewhat dissapointed we were. Mind you, buildings in my country do not look like this, so we didn't even understand it was a drain.
And it is not like you have one item you need to find use for. You have a whole inventory of stupidly random items you don't know where, when and how to use.
And yes, the fact that it was a PINK ball in an extremely scary horror game, was really bizarre and unnerving. It was so out of place, we thought it was bugged or something (yes, again😅).
We thought that if such puzzles are already at the beginning of the game, what will come later? But until the Nowhere I think there weren't any puzzles as hard as those two.
Sh2 restless dream is truly a personal one I could cry.🖤 Childhood best friend (RIP) & I rocked with that one heavy. I know they as in team silent know the seriousness of this project. My hope is that they'll make the greatest remake. @underthemayo Thanks for the healthy dosage of serotonin.
Yay! A Silent Hill video on my birthday! Lovely!
I remember it took me 3 years to beat the 1st game lol, I was too scared, reached a save point, TURN GAME OFF.
And for some odd and very sadistic reason, everytime I decided to play again, the weather was cloudy or rainy lol. Love the original trilogy though!
That scene in SH1 where the camera shifts changes angles is ICONIC. I’m pretty sure they did it in the first movie too which I do love. I know people have their opinions but I got my reasons
I have a video on that coming in about 2 weeks.
Currently playing RE (2002) for the first time. I’m loving how it’s actually making me think and try stuff out for myself instead of spoon feeding it to me.
Currently stuck at the guardhouse residence and almost out of ink ribbons 😭😭🤌
*"the original quadrilogy"*
As someone who wasn't crazy about the first Silent Hill game, I fell head over heels in love with Silent Hill 2 when I first played it. I honestly didn't care it had almost nothing to do with the first game. It literally surpasses it in almost every way.
Great video, Mayo. Although, Silent Hill 4 was developed at the same time as Silent Hill 3 so it belongs to the “original” saga.
Silent Hill 2 was my first and I was like 13-14. I was hanging out at my friends' house with their cousin, and we where discussing Resident Evil after we where done with our weekly DnD session.
His father looked at me and was like "Oh you liked Resident Evil. Trust me, you have to play this!"
He handed me a copy of SH2 on Xbox.
"What is it about?"
"I can't tell you, you'll have to figure this one out for yourself. Just remember : whatever you do, YOU HAVE to listen to mary in that hallway in the Hotel."
I was just hooked. He gave me my own copy of the third game on PC and I found the first one in a flea market.
I first played SH2 at launch, over at my friend's house, in broad daylight with the curtains wide open because we were so scared. We were in our late teens so no excuses for being "too young". Good times.
Let me tell you 13:00, my copy of the game was horribly translated from English into my language, so this puzzle was effectively the end of SH for me and my father playing it. We thought the game was bugged or broken, or the disc was damaged. The only hope was simply randomly mashing the keys, but we were ultimately unsuccesful at it, as there was too much variations. A couple years later, when the internet came into existence, I think we found the solution on some local chat or site.
One of my absolute favorite games of all time!!
I’ll never forget diving into the first senate hill at 14 years of age for the very first time and thinking it was going to be a lot like resident evil and being completely shocked at how different how much more creepy and dark and sinister it felt?!!
The second one is my favorite, but I would say I like all four of the first games in the order of liking to the most and then the first one and then the third one and then the fourth one ?
I think Summit Hill the original would be number one for me if it had the same graphics as silent Hill to because it is a more heartbreaking and “worried” story in a way? Either way they are both a masterpiece in their own right!
Although SH3 has its problems, and SH2 is my favorite (and first one I played after 2), there's a part here where the MC is asking someone how hell were they getting around with all these monsters and the guy goes "they look like monsters to you?" The way he said it made me genuinely believe that he was confused why the entitles would appear monstrous. It was such a cool moment to me because, while I understood they look different to everyone, there are some people, likely part of the cult, that would see them as maybe angelic! The trilogy was so fucking good.
Ha, I had the exact same thought about Silent Hill 2, that the events of the first game had essentially 'primed' the town and that SH2 was a consequence of it.
Interestingly enough, when i first played SH2, i preferred the first game. And when SH3 released, it became my favorite. It was only a few years after its release when i truly began to appreciate the masterpiece of horror that it is.
It’s not a trilogy. So sick of the Silent Hill community not giving 4 any credit. It’s an incredible horror game. Sad
I don't think Mayo is even welcome to the Silent Hill community 😂
it's a good game but you can't blame people for cherishing the first three more
@@pikminologueraisin2139No I don’t really understand why people would cherish the first 3 and then hate the 4th even though it’s still Silent Hill from the original team. I’ve played all of them. 4 was the last one I played. It makes 0 sense for the community to disregard it.
@@zechy09 Maybe because the gameplay is absolute dogshit (an escort mission that takes up half the game, really?), the plot is nonsensical and almost entirely disconnected from the first three, and it emphasizes cliched, comical J-horror over the series' uniquely memorable surreal horror? I have more, but you probably get the point.
0:10 you underestimate how enjoyable it is to listen to you talk
Silent Hill 3 is in my opinion the scariest horror game. When I played it I was the same age as Heather and what she goes through resonated with me in a personal way. I felt as scared and isolated as she did.
Thanks to you mr. Mayo, i appreciate the lock camera games now. Tried SH2 and loved it so much, gotta try SH1 and 2 now. Thank you
Mayo x Silent hill. Almost 50 minutes. This is the stuff!!!
That winged bat thing in the dream sequence at the beginning of silent hill 1 scared me shit less as a kid
This is such a moving and beautiful review
I'm only 16 mins into the video and I can 100% say that the way you 1st experienced Silent Hill in the late 90s on PS1 is the EXACT way I felt when I 1st played it, as well!! (k k... gonna finish the rest of the video😅)
Mayo if you Like RE and SH *don't* miss out on Parasite Eve 1 and 2 , this game was as big as RE and SH in the PS1 era and had a huge following
They are RPGs especially the first game
I know it sounds cliche, a million people love Silent Hill 2. But for me it was and is my favorite game, nothing comes close. And it's not the "Oooh James is so sad, it's so trippy lookit the red pyramid thing". I have major depression, I have borderline personality disorder. I have trauma from high school and my parents. This game speaks to me on a very deep emotional level, and for me, seeing James (in my preferred ending) manage to drag himself out of disparity and guilt, seeing all the punishment he wanted inflicted on himself - I don't think I'll ever find a game the hits me so close to home, aside Shane and Sophia from Stardew. Lol
I only noticed something recently on a play through...
The composer of the SH theme was a big fan of "Portishead" and their 94 album Dummy, specifically track 2 - Sour Times, Ive known that since '99.
But what i only noticed was at the beginning of SH right when Harry wakes up in the canteen there are 2 red "Portishead" posters right on the window behind him.
Blew my mind i never seen it before now 🙄🤦♂️
Dummy, by Portishead is phenomenal album also....
This dude's videos are not getting enough attention
It should be kept this way
I think i watched over a thousand retrospective on the original 3 silent hills but i still cant get enough
I hope this one gave you a little something different!
As someone who lives in tornado alley and has had to find shelter because of a tornado touch down at fucking night of all times, the siren hits home to me. Because here’s this imminent life threatening danger in my general area and I literally can’t do anything about it but hide.
Just wanted to say on the topic of boiler explosion: it might not have been intended for her to split her soul, but it was intended for her to be in a painful, near death state. Dahlia implies that she suffered a fate worse than death in order to nourish the God in her womb. This is the biggest proof that she was intentionally burned imho, besides the fact that Harry mentions it in a letter in SH3.
Hey man! I can explain why the Air Raid Siren Sound! Keiichiro Toyama, the Writer of the Game, this guy has a very deep knowledge about Ocultism, esoterism, Agnosticism and dark stuff... Thats why you see this stuff in the game all over the place.
The context of the Siren is because, when he was a child, post ww2 in the countryside of Japan, like rural village or city, in his town. When was a house burning, or someone did not appear after the work shift, child missing and stuff like that, they blow the Siren. But in his words: "when i hear that siren, even if didnt know what was, it was something bad!" And he put this personal experience in the game... Like the coming of the dark with this opressive siren blasting your soul...
After SIlent Hill he make another dark game calls THE SIREN! Tell me about huh!
"Whet is a raido! - a miserable little plie of static!"
Same voice actor as Drac.
That double pyramid head boss was JUST my experience playing on hard. One friend was playing it with me for the first time and I suggested hard difficult in combat because normal was way easy, and all was going great untill that boss. We ended almost without any kind of ammo on the final boss after like 20 frustrating trys on that boss. Just as a curiosity, we discovered also that in the first 3 silent hill games, if you enter the last boss with 0 ammo, the boss dies by itself after a while.
Yeah it's just awful lol
Ah... Silent Hill.
The first Silent Hill I actually borrowed from my brother.... to play it on PC via a PSX emulator. The sound design was wicked as heck anyway -- the soundtrack on occasion going fully-on noise. But the emulator sometimes produced really scary audio glitches alongside to it. That was quite an experience. :-) SH2 may get a remake, but the first one is so weird and messed up and hard to follow for what was a major production back then, I don't think Konami would ever tackle another project like this today.
SH is one of these series where I feel the only reason why the devs included this comparably much combat, was a fear of else alienating players of more action focused games, includig horror themed ones. The bars were set by Capcom, not merely with RE, but also Dino Crisis. The combat is oft being criticized as clumsy as is, quite some of which (not all) is certainly intentional. Right alongside to the disorienting camera and walks with seemingly not much happening (see also the entire start of SH2) -- these games weren't tweaked to invoke "fun", but to provoke an experience. That's basically the antithesis to pretty much every major big budget horror production today, remake or otherwise, where extensive play and focus group testing ensures way before release that everybody in the room is gonna have a jolly good time. Lord knows how Alien:Isolation made it through there alive and nonstop stress simulating (to divisive opinions to this day).
Silent Hill's plot, world and characters were miserable. They didn't chopper off into the sunset alongside to cheesy J-Rock in the credits, RE-style. And the games as an interactive experience tried to go alongside with that. Tried to. In a lot of ways, they may well have misfired. But combat also obviously wasn't the main focus at all. SH aimed to tackle psychological horror in an era where that was really rare (and were it not for indies, it would be even rarer now). Still glad I'd never tried SH2 on hard then. Boss battles of half an hour consisting of running from one corner to the other don't merely sound intentionally "unfun" to provoke a reaction and/or mirror the character's internal struggle. But tedious.
I've always loved survival horror since I was a kid. I fully agree with you on the fixed camera angles. It definitely adds that anxiety inducing cinematic experience. One of my favourite games that had this was Project Zero (Fatal Frame. If you haven't already played that series I highly reccomend. It's such a beautiful game. Forbidden Siren is really amazing too and shared some of the same developers that worked on Silent Hill. 💝💝
I have a video on fixed camera angles of resident evil if you wanna check it out.
24:44 I was listening to this at work with earbuds and stepped away. I legit thought this was an ad for some bad mobile game. Man was I thrown off when I hear Harry speak then an actual ad started.
Man, I love these videos. I can't get enough atm. These tank controls I can't get my head around it. I watched your god of war/dmc5 video today and really agree about the fixed camera in gow o.g. I own a copy of re1 remake and have given it a good go and I just can't get used to it. I really want to play it, so I'm hoping the make a over the shoulder remake. I played re 1 back in the 90s and I didn't understand what kind of game it was I was heavily into beat em ups so I tried to hack and shoot my way through it. 😅 anyway thanks for videos 🎉