A Lifelong Silent Hill Fan Reviews The Short Message
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- Опубліковано 4 лют 2024
- Finally! Something from the Silent Hill franchise that we can actually PLAY. Was it worth the 10-year wait? Let's find out.
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#konami #silenthill - Ігри
For me the biggest problem was lack of subtlety, and the excessive use of the suicide helpline text that didn't let you get immersed.
It's fine at the beginning of the game, but yeah, it really kills the tension when it pops up during gameplay.
honestly i didn’t mind when i realized it was signifying the loop was beginning again. it doesn’t just happen out of nowhere, the moments it pops up are consistent.
The second time it popped up it made me think thr game was already over and was like what? Lmao
I had no issues with it. Considering when it appears after every suicide attempt, I think they’d rather play it safe than sorry considering people with suicide ideation could be playing this game it may be potentially harmful for them to watch the main character try to kill herself. Obviously it’s painted as a bad thing as she constantly wakes up afterwards in an ever-growing personal hell and only escapes it by deciding not to step off that roof… I have no issues with it being there, and it never really broke the immersion for me (the aggravating chase sequences and awful writing on the other hand…)
@@jererants9513 the chase sequences are challenging and terrifying, the writing is really good because it is so blunt that it makes you uncomfortable and that's the whole point of the game. it's a short and concise message, so it must be on the nose and get the point across which it did and maybe a bit too well for some people but i thought it was powerful. it was difficult to play and psychologically taxing, two things silent hill should always strive to be
The voice acting for the mother’s character sounds like they were trying to mimic the villains in the power rangers series.
Rita Repulsa lmao
"Make my monster grow"...oh
Holy shit this is way too accurate
We just need the original screenwriter, Hiroyuki Owaku back
I'd be down for that, but remember, Owaku didn't work on all the good Silent Hill games. He did 2 and 3. Keiichiro Toyama wrote Silent Hill 1 and Suguru Murakoshi wrote Silent Hill 4.
@@maxderrat the best ones of the series. He had been with team silent for the first 3 games. The B team did great too. I don't mind having him back if I had to pick.
Yeah, I agree with that.
The man who made silent great was Takayoshi Sato. He was the one who put together every cutscene in Sh1 frame by frame and was the true visionary behind Sh2 working on the story and designing the characters. When he left the team Sh went down hill. How he doesn’t get the credit is beyond me.
First, I agree with all your praises and criticisms, there's a lot of potential there but there are a lot of flaws holding it back, overall I'd give it at least a 7/10.
The disconnect with the writing, that's really the main thing that bothers me, you have such a good monster and otherworld but then Rita Repulsa starts yelling at me and I can't stop laughing making me unable to fully appreciate how good the music/atmosphere is. The explanation of The Silent Hill Phenomenon also doesn't really satisfy, so long as it just remains the conjecture of people in universe to explain strange occurrences and the cult/spiritual power explanation is still closer to true that's fine, but if they're going for the Shattered Memories angle and making 100% about mental illness (though I do have enough weird headcanon to make SM work as a direct sequel to SH3)
“Let’s go shopping” resonated so much with me because it felt so REAL. I was a suicidal teen and what kept me from ending myself was the mundane stuff my friends wanted to do with me. “Hey, hey, weren’t you looking forward to Suikoden V?” saved me.
Agree. ☺
Much better & realistic than a repetitive & vague: "Everything is going to be ok". 😒
If only she had someone to talk to about how cool, badass and totally radical suicide is.
"Get in, loser. We're going shopping!"
I agree I went through a similar thing, I wish the rest of the game had that personal touch because it's dealing with very serious themes but it feels very disingenuous
Lmfao ok angsty boy
"This is all your fault! Bad things happen because of you!"
A+ writing. Seriously though it's like they had placeholder lines that they just didn't bother to replace for some reason.
Millenial writing
@@energeticyellow1637 Eh the person who wrote and directed this was some old guy who used to work at Nintendo and wrote for Pikmin 1 and 2. Now he's the head of the Silent Hill franchise at Konami.
@@energeticyellow1637 Millennials are in their thirties my dude
@@michaelh4227wait for real?
@@energeticyellow1637more like zoomer writing man 😂
I'm surprised that you didn't bring up the "brain fog" and "Silent Hill Phenomenon" documents, and the disconcerting implications they have on the mechanics of how Silent Hill works.
Because its free, if you receive shit for free you are not allowed to criticize it.
To me, im so fucking done with teenagers dealing with bullyng and suicide.
"Appealing to newer generations"
@@elchupavidas Me shitting on your front porche is free too
@@elchupavidas??? tf does this even mean lmfaooo
@@Kaliqo LOLxD Lmao OMG WTF._.
I hope you know this one "kys" like the protagonist
3:52 I think we should all call her Blossom Head.
Sakura Head is the new name. SH, also can stand for Silent Hill
Blossom head sounds dumb
I think we should call her sakura haruno .
I've heard and liked "Heavy Petal".
I called her the same thing when I played
The second half of the game is def its strong suit, the fridge/closet sequence and the chase scenes were handled so well and genuinely terrifying at times
BRO FORREAL HOLY SHITTT
Same. The fridge and closet were intense and very sad. The loop of going through the apartment over time as it got messier was realistic .
That last chase was hard af I had no idea what I was doing 😂
@@sa1ntlukelol just finished it and it took me 5 tries to beat that crap
The interesting part about the chase parts is that if you get caught you get respawned at the start and the characters actually gets up from the ground saying things like "i'm sorry!" like the whole sequence is like a cicle instead of an permanent death
When she was going through a loop in her mother's apartment, then suddenly she shrank in size because she recalled her memories as a kid, was TOP NOTCH WORK!! I swear this segment from the game was pure genius! And I can't wait for future releases!
Same. It amazes me how this went over so many people’s heads
Yeah I caught that detail and it amazed me.
Best part of the game until that awful final chase
@@REChrisRedfield this game was like silent hill boot camp to prep us for the upcoming games.
@@MikeNapoli1989 It did? Did they not the read the completely on the nose memo's from the mother...I guess people really have gotten more stupid.
Besides complete lack of subtlety and rather dull gameplay, this game's story touched me. I'm a victim of years of school bullying, had to deal with depression and suppress suicidal thoughts for years. The whole thing with chapters looping to the beginning and the protagonist getting more annoyed that she can't end it all reminds me of my own past hell where my daydreams would end with me ending my life, but then I would wake up and realize I'm still here, still suffering. And the hateful notes in some of the corridors reminded me of never-ending intrusive thoughts that kept telling me how awful I am, how I deserve all this. Some things were unfortunately presented by the game in a rather cringy way, as if we had a whiny teenager and a caricature rather than a person suffering from something serious, and I think those elements should have been done better. But the main theme is excellent and I wish it was explored more. We often don't take teenage depression and suicidality seriously and act surprised when tragedy happens.
The original Silent Hill had bullying in the story. Play that instead.
@@vovin8132 And by that you mean one scene in Nowhere with a bunch of insults scribbled on a desk
@@subliminaldoomer1966 Oh, that was supposed to be just a part of the bigger picture, since one of the monsters with knife in hand was a symbol of Alessa's classmates, an intelligent person would deduce her bullying didn't end just by scribbles on a desk, but I guess nowadays you have to literally forcefeed ppl a full flashback or a detailed description for their peanut brains to register what you're trying to convey
Gay
Blah blah, I sued to be bullied to, yet you don't see me bitching about it to random ppl on YT to fish for upvotes under a comment
One of the biggest issues I have is with the message that constantly appears on the screen about not hurting yourself. It shows up SO DAMN OFTEN that *I Start to actually feeling WORSE* than before. I hope someone had Konami actually thinks about this: speaking from personal experience, CONSTANTLY reminding someone of something like this only makes people think about it more. The theme of the story is ham fisted enough, doing this too only made things ironically more taxing mentally.
The fact that it is a Silent Hill game, AND an M rated horror would be more than enough of a trigger warning & disclaimer that the content will be disturbing. DDLC gives a warning at the start of the game, but to be fair it’s because the game is intentionally deceptive. Silent Hill is not deceptive of its dark premises. But even in this scenario, at least DDLC gives the warning only once at the opening, not at every other load screen during the gameplay.
I do agree about most of what you said. Just not that a game being rated M or horror-themed is enough of a trigger warning. Fatal Frame 5 really triggered my unaliving ideations when I first watched a play-through. (I'm healed now, so now I played it myself for 130 hours and I'm fine. )Fatal Frame 1-2-3 did not have that impact even if suicide was at least mentioned or shown once or twice. And those are horror games. Watching a play-through of Resident Evil did not have that impact. Hell, at the time I watched a lot of Gab Smolders Japanese Horror Playthroughs and it didn't even come close to reminding me of wanting to die. FF5 however as suicide as the main theme. The first thing you learn about the main character is that they tried to kill themselves and were stopped. Then you get imagery after imagery after imagery of people doing it. Then you keep finding suicide notes. And this goes on non-stop until the end. I would have appreciated a warning about that.
But yet again, there's putting a warning at the beginning, then there's spamming it. Like at this point, the trigger warnings are triggering XD.
Honestly my favourite Silent Hill youTuber.
Unlike many fans, you don't immediately hate or love something.
You're always balanced. Saying the good and the bad.
Yeah, there are now so many reviews out there who hate this game for his change of nature. I wouldn't say it should be free from criticism but oh god, SH fans are picky when it comes to a free game.
@@eisstirn2319 The game is trash and has nothing to do with Silent Hill. Bandwagoners.
@@AA-ed6ek Wtf...chill dude. You just confirm my statement.
@@eisstirn2319
konami is basically rebranding silent hill into a mental illness to separate it from the lore and history for the first four games. clearly they’re doing all this just to slap the SH title and milk the franchise
@@cL-bf2ug But even SIlent hill 4: The Room can be separated from the rest of the games by changing the location entirely from the City. So they have already tried new things there.
And this may be rather subjective, but mental illness in a character-focused story and environment like Silent Hill is not a bad innovation when you think about it.
By the way, I wouldn't talk about milking when it comes to a free game here...Better save the criticism for the Silent Hill 2 remake, which looks like a low grade RE2.
The thing that really bothered me was this idea of a "Silent Hill Phenomenon" you can read about in a note in The Short Message. Its a really weird inclusion that seemingly recons the SH fog and the Other Wolrd to be the fruits of mental illness, at least in this setting. Im all for ppl having a new take on Silent Hill, but the SHP just feels like an asspull. Just have magic, its okay. No one will respect your writing less for having magic in it. And hearing the Silent Hill Ascension director talk about how the SHP idea really gives more freedom to explore themes in ways they couldnt previously, which isnt true, rubbed me real wrong
Not a retcon. It's a secondary explanation for how people are affected outside the town. The occult stuff and james being in Silent Hill are very much canon. So, I believe this explains the SH 4 and The Short Message incidents as well.
@nuka-cola_thief6006 Well, excuse me if I dont much care for the idea that the Other World can just take you if you're under enough stress, kinda lessens the impact of it and makes things worse for me
@@TheWalkingBreastspretty sure that magic is basically the cause of Silent Hill if you look at the lore of the Team Silent Games
Especially 1 and 3 where The Order is trying to summon their God. Which sounds like Magic to me.
@crimsonrayquaza46 but nothing magical happens in The Short Message, its all mental illness. Its an "it was all a dream" explaination, which sucks
i’m fine with it because the original silent hill team is long gone now. the original canon has already been completed. hell, one of the main recurring ideas in silent hill 3 is basically “we’ve done this already.”
yet people want more silent hill. the best way for the developers to take the ideas in silent hill even further is to increase the scale, rather than just rehash old ideas.
I don't get how Akira Yamaoka's involvement in these projects is ever an indication that it might be good. All the Western Silent Hill games (with the exception of Downpour) had music from him, and so did The Medium.
Are you saying that's what the general impression the audience has, or what you think I believe? I believe any project that Akira Yamaoka is in, the music will be top notch... but his toes aren't dipped in anything beyond sound design from what I understand.
@@maxderrat I'm not discrediting him as an amazing composer, but having a nice soundtrack doesn't necessarily mean the overall product is going to be good. Would it be a shame if he wasn't involved in any of these games? I guess, although it would be nice to see him do more original stuff for a change, but I don't really get how we still keep getting excited about it (which seemed to be the case in this video) when having him be involved with this franchise is just kind of the standard now.
@@LOEKASHhe didn't mean as a whole just in the music you are arguing with yourself
Akira is not the producer or director, he's just the composer. So I'm not sure how you'd get the idea his involvement assures the final, overall game to be great.
@@LOEKASH say what u want but i always get excited, its new music by Akria and thats enough for me, keep that man in business
Short Message was somewhat neat and the topics covered fit well into the silent hill setting, especially the idea of breaking a viscious cycle. However, I feel the game does not give much subtlety to the themes and its message is worn brazenly on its sleeve with no room for interpretation. It feels almost like its afraid to let the player to connect the dots of what is going on by having Anita constantly speak her thoughts out loud whenever a player examines an item or reads a note. I thinl a good remedy would be to have her thoughts just be subtitles like other titles did in the past. It was also hard to really feel any tension when it becomes so obvious that the chase encounters with the monster are set to specific scripted events. The only part of the game that really rubbed me the wrong way was the silent hill phenomenon note.
If I'm being optimistic the writers may have felt it was necessary to be so blatantly unsubtle because of the subject matter? You don't want that to get misinterpreted nowadays.
Funny thing is also I straight up saw people on Twitter saying this game was pro suicide. It's so fucking obvious and yet...
i agree, that whole Silent Hill phenomenon thing just disrespects the original material, and really downplays what Silent Hill, the town itself i mean, is. It loses its mystic, if the things that happen in this town can happen anywhere else then it's not longer special
@@The_VanDal It was already stablished that the town had influence over other places outside the town itself
@@karimf.a.7521 indeed but the way the town has influence has always been kept vague. There was never a bit where the games are as blantant as short message is.
@@azumashinobi1559 perhaps but there are ways of handling such topics where less being said can add more impact and make these horrific themes much more harrowing. A good example would be Angela and how she is characterized in silet hill 2. The whole house section could have a whole lot more impact if the game did not go out and say show early on that anita was abused by her mother. There are ways that they could have done to make thing more impactful. While I do enjoy the sticky notes changing as it progresses they come off as kinda tacky like one of those anti-bullying PSAs that dont really do a good job at portraying the issue of bullying nor providing any meaningful solutions.
Despite the lack of subtlety and stilted dialogue I enjoyed the monster design and thought there were moments of genuine quality. The rewinding on death was a really interesting visual concept, the live action segment were cool and, again though it was heavy handed, i appreciated the focus on Social Media, and teenage suicide and the pressure younger generations feel to perfom their lives and get attention.
I'm happy to find someone who examined this game fairly and didn't write it off because of the dialogue for easy views.
I was waiting for your review Max, thanks for the good work. In my opinion the devs overexplained some things in order to hit new audiences more easily. I agree that this is a complex decision because they had to sacrifice one thing to get another result. Regardeless that, I think that SH Short Message represents an experimentation and I try to put myself on their shoes because it must be very difficult to bring back to life a series that was in the freezer for so much time. I also liked some of the docs we find like the ones about the witch and the way they are using "Silent Hill" as a concept to expand this universe geographically.
This makes sense if we sum up everything they work so far on the franchise it seems like its a huge survey to gather information on what would be the sentiment for both the hardcore fans and casual horror fans :)
Silent Hill the after school special - Suicide edition
I'm impressed they didn't ban your coment for writing this word.
I sometimes have to scwitch specific letter of english with russian letters (which looks identical) to mask unwanted words.
I just hate how they ban free scpeech here.
@@laniakeas92UA-cam was much better back in the day before it became PC as hell.
@@laniakeas92True. I see no benefit to censoring more direct language for topics that should be taken seriously and forcing youtubers to go for alternatives that sound like they're dumbing such topics down.
I wish they'd find their subtlety again. It's the one thing that always grabbed me about the original SH games and came to define so much about them. Every time we get a hamfisted entry it just feels like one of a million indie horror games already out there. Even so, with Akira's music attached, I'm still intrigued to see this game.
Suicide is not subtle? Its not pretty it was ment to be in your face i think it was the point
@@Krispie1225The old games had suicide themes in them and they weren't handled so obnoxiously either. There's a difference between themes not being pretty vs being loud, stereotypical and in your face. You don't need to scream at the player that the character is depressed and suicidal every two minutes especially when there's a goddamn TRIGGER WARNING ABOUT IT EVERY LOAD SCREEN. We fucking know what it's about. It's just bad writing and mishandling. Suicidal people don't act like this. It'd be far more interesting to explore someone you wouldn't really know was suicidal until you got further into the game as they confront themselves, because that often tends to be the case irl. Vast majority of people are suffering and you'd never realise it just by how they act generally. Especially abuse victims too. There is realistic subtlety to be explored here, you just don't understand it.
at this point i do hearty believe that Dusk golem is an employed in Konami still loyal to Kojima just dropping everything on the internet.
lol he’s probably a part timer at Konami and capcom
Unfortunately at this point we have to start finally accepting that we will never have anything close to the first 3 (or 4) Silent Hill games ever again. Those first games were lightning in a bottle type of magic and anything that has come and will come after will never measure up to them. I’m happy we are getting more Silent Hill content, but that’s about it. I am completely checked out emotionally when it comes to anything Silent Hill related and I will play these new things out of pure loyalty to the franchise.
Silent Hill 4 was great despite his flaws
Completely out of context, but let me drop something here, Max. I have met your channel about 2 yrs ago when you focused on talking about the mental health subjects. I have followed you since then and I have followed your change of subjects, so gradual and graceful. Although we sometimes disagree (you may remember a few of my comments on previous videos that would show this), I have always enjoyed your content, but I LOVE the "current you". I remember the first video I saw and how you sounded somewhat shy; fast forward to now and you started sounding more chill, more like yourself, as if you are now comfortable enough to let go of self imposed restraints... You've come a long way, mate! As someone who struggles with a few of those mental health issues you already talked about in the past, I look into how much you evolved and I think "hey, so it is possible, after all!". And I really appreciate your presence online. Thank you so much, Max! Love you and your content. Big hugs from half the world away! o/
The ‘cherry popper’ was a great name, should have stuck with that. I thought this was a good effort. It looked great, loved the fmv being thrown in. And the fog looked great as you look over the balcony. It was a bit heavy handed in the message but still going in a better direction to the ‘It’s Trauma!’ game.
I thought the game was fantastic, before this video came out i played it myself and though the lack of subtlety was a major annoyance, i think the themes and the story immersed me so much i just didnt really mind it after the first chapter, as someone who has barely hit 18 late last year and have experienced some of the things that theyve implemented, it really spoke to me and hit me in a personal way, and i thought it was handled great, not to mention one of my greatest fears/situations to be in is being chased, so this game was made to scare me, especially when they almost make it sound like something always right behind you even when there isnt.
Then when the game closed on a happy note and i heard that akira yamaoka track it instantly made this a hood classic, at least for me, 9/10 would silent hill again
Being the age that I am. This game really hit mentally. Some spoilers for the story.
The way the main character acted reminded me of my self in a lot of ways. Wanting attention, and not feeling wanted or seen. And just smaller things like how similar my text messages were to Anita’s.
The more I see of the game the more flaws I see. But I can’t help to love it because it made me realize that I am loved and people do see me. I just need to make the first step to make my self better.
I just need that one text to get me out of the fog.
*spoiler for ending*
The ending of the game almost made me tear up.
With Anita on the roof about to end it all. And the thing that stops her is her friend texting her. And then she leaves the world of the fog back into the real one. With that beautiful view of the sky. That just made me smile and have a tear in my eye.
Over all loved the game.
You... enjoy walking? This isn't even a game it's a fucking documentary
I mean ya you have a point.
This is definitely more of an experience than a game. Definitely not repayable in anyway. And the more I think about it the more flaws of it I see. But I still appreciate it for going into those topics but I can completely understand the ones who disliked the game.
@@ChillyDogs37 aren't short games suppose to take advantage of making an experience then a game? Also replayabilty isn't everything, I mean I can replay legend of Zelda twilight princess but I don't. However the experience and gameplay was amazing.
@@lingroire2556 good point. I mean the more I think about it yeah it’s a bad game a bad short game. But it still helped me realize that I have people who love me and see me. So I can’t help to like it
@@aloafofbreadbearjust like P.T lil bro
I don't know, I had the perception that the story felt more like a 40, 50 years old dude trying to convey teenage anxiety in this media heavy society than the sincer thing. And yeah, that's the truth about it after all (the writer, Kiichi Kanoh, fits the description), but that what I think is what separates the good from the bad writing, a good writer sells you the illusion that these characters and their feelings are real and not a fabrication. While I played The Short Message it felt like that sketch in 30 Rock where Steve Buscemi disguise as a teenage, the famous "Hello fellow kids" sketch.
I've read a couple of commentaries here of teenage and young adults around the age of the protagonists describing that they recognized that feelings, so maybe I'm being based after me also being a 30ish dude, but from the teenages that I know and interact with, most of the dialogs felt a little off, like things that I'd never hear comming out of their mouths. Or maybe it was just the complete lack of subtlety that made me feel this way, after all the problem everyone complained about was the bad writing.
I call the Cherry blossom monster: flower face. Pyramid Head, meet Flower Face
I went with Petal head. XD
I just called her annoying and in the way.
masahiro ito, the designer of the monster, calls her sakura head
My name for it was Flower Head, but I like Flower Face!
Nah it's shall be called Senbonzakura
Hey thanks for making this video! Despite playing the game and not enjoying it I appreciate a more positive spin! However, as someone who graduated highschool post covid, I gotta say that The short message trying to tackle "problems with young people" made it much worse.
It made it incredibly clear that the people making Silent Hill are detached from Modern teens more than possibly any other piece of media I've seen. Throughout all my time through highschool I never saw any form of bullying like in the short message. No name calling, locker pranking, fighting, saying you aren't "sexy enough" (although if you ask a woman my age you might get a different answer on that last one). Modern bullying is a lot more subtle, and lot more insidious, it's something that hides away from you, but is always there pushing your buttons. And it's way more prevalent online, which they tried to tackle but they did a terrible job.
The amount of importance they put on like and followers seemed hilarious, don't get me wrong, social media addiction is a real problem, but it comes more from a point of comparison and less from a point of not "being noticed" and getting a like dopamine fix, or posting what they considered a "sexy selfie".
Sorry I've just been kind of rambling, but being in such a similar situation to Anita made it all the more prevalent how most of the people running the world really don't understand the struggles of modern teens.
Yeah a lot of people are giving it a pass because it tackles modern bullying that they don't have a frame of reference for, so they think it must be a fairly accurate portrayal. But all I see is the bog standard bullying portrayal that has been in media for over 40 years now and has ALWAYS been made fun of for being unrealistic and overdramatized. It's so generic that it uses dumb tropes verbatim ("you should never have been born" screeching, when very few people would have actually have heard that in their life, and usually in a different context than anger like defeat or anguish. Even if it does happen, its still overused in media and is used because movies used it a lot, thus making it more movie-like than actually feeling real). Like you said the real life uses of bullying are far more subtle than this game even does, and worse is that it tries to do the "everyone hates" me trope (like with the hallway with everyone laughing at you) when the much more accurate portrayal would be "nobody cares, and nobody is around", its about apathy not hatred that makes bullying so effective now. It really makes the game feel out of touch in a way that ends up cringy, and that sucks. But that's why its so hard to tackle teenager problems, Silent hill 2 works because its a mature situation that isn't trying to cover all bases of what people experience and instead is about a situation so specific that you likely will never have to deal with, but done so genuinely you'd almost assume the writer went through that same situation in real life. I don't believe the writer of this game has actually dealt with the subject matter in the game, even if they did it still doesn't come across as written from a point of understanding and lacks depth. That said, its not the worst, just unfortunately generic, and I'm sure some people are young enough that it will be fresh and new to them. Plus as a shorter free experience, I think it's fine. Hopefully they are saving the best for the potential full length game.
it's a 2 hour bullying psa
Im gonna be honest I really disliked how this game brought up current events, bringing up something like COVID just took me immediately out of the experience when it talked about it in the notes.
Well said. While I am far from being a teen (my first video game system was Pong), this came across to me as adults relying on stereotypes to try to appeal to teens in a way that comes off more like pandering to teens. Like someone said "oh I know, let's put in a bunch of text messages and some Instagram crap, the teens will gobble that stuff up!"
As an aside, back in the Iron Age when I was a teen, bullying largely meant someone publicly beating the snot out of you. Not sure if that's better or worse.
I found how they decided to tie Silent Hill to this story through the Covd-19 pandemic hilariously weird like I'm going to tell my friends that just to watch them laugh at how dumb it is, it seems Konami is trying to move Silent Hill series away from the Silent Hill location as a means to explore new stories. I think the idea start with PT/Silent Hills project, And now with this game, Ascension and Silent Hill F it seems the Konami is pushing forward with their Silent Hills initiative.
They are doing silent hill remakes.... lol
In SH3 and SH4, there were parts of the game that were outside Silent Hill, so it's not something entirely new.
True, but those stories and the supernatural elements were a direct result of some aspect of Silent Hill being dragged out of the town's typical boundaries ( the gestating god radiating outward from Heather, Walter using rituals he got from the cult). This one didn't have any of that. SH in name only basically
At first I didn't like to put SH outside of SH, but now I actually wouldn't mind it if it makes sense. Say the power in the town has grown out of any sort of control and it's expanding, filtering to other areas, maybe the whole world. But it would need to make the actual town of Silent Hill the ground zero and where everything ties down.
Yes, they are doing a remake of one of the games, the other games are different as the poster described, 'lol'ing doesn't change that fact! @@anarche4900
I really enjoyed the game. My biggest complaint was also the dialogue. I thought graphically it looked really good, the tension was nice, and the subject matter was interesting. Honestly I’m very excited for the future because I believe this is a strong foundation to build on.
As a 19 year old silent hill fan, I really enjoyed the game for what it was. The themes resonated with me. Certain areas that the game accurately nailed down the horrors of social media and what it does to the teenage brain was very well done. I’ve seen it happen personally to my friends and myself who grew up in a world where we had access to social media since like the 6th grade. I wasn’t a fan about how unsubtle the storytelling was, but the topic of social media, Covid-19, college, and the seeking validation kept me interested enough because it was unique and I can understand/relate easily. It’s no Silent Hill 1-4, but it’s like a good 7/10 for me.
It's good to hear from new generation of SH fans
I think as somebody who has been through suicidal tendencies, the voice of the mother is genuinely what we feel. We hear this absolute maniacal voice inside our head that really makes us feel as though the world would be better off without us. Whilst I can understand the gripes with the voice acting, I feel as though the VA actually did a really good job.
i think ur just schizophrenic then
A neat point was around chapter 2, when Maya is texting you and gates open to reveal an exit... But you can detour and eventually face a door that has "C.B." painted on it (Mays room)
You can hear her humming a song behind the door until you get close to it, and it stops. Disquieting moment was very Silent Hill-esque.
That and the fridge detail at the end we're pretty good shakers imo.
4:00 should have called it "Sakira" (Sakura + Kira / Killer)
*applause*
*Applauses even more*
This is the true name and I wouldn't accept anything else
omg yes
Name accepted, I will now call it Sakira
What I really enjoyed, that is true to Silent Hill, was the purgatory-esque quality. It puts people through a personal hell so they can change. Someone with years of mental barriers isn't going to bear their soul without extreme adversity.
It's really not true to Silent Hill though. Silent Hill 1, (arguably) 3, and 4 were not about going through a personal hell for the sake of becoming a better person. Only 2, (sort of) Homecoming, and Downpour did that.
It's true to Silent Hill 2, you mean. 1, 3, and 4 are all cult stuff.
Yes, 2 and arguably Downpour and Shattered Memories (as terrible as those games are, they fit)
I don't like the implication that the town's goal is to change you.
The town WILL make you face your own demons, whatever happens after that is mostly down to you and survivor's luck.
It's an otherworldly phenomenon, not a therapist.
@@Haitch_Kay
1, 3, and 4 isn’t exclusively cult stuff though. a lot of the events and phenomena are based off of different personal experiences. alessa’s and cheryl’s in 1 and 3, and walter’s in 4.
My comment will most likely go down in the comments bin but I'm very glad I've watched this review. Because it was free from the terrible one sided opinions many people have about the Short Message. And funny enough, I didn't like the game either the first time I've played through it. But what surprises me the most is how TSM impressed me over the past few days, reading stuff about it and seeing the videos the Silent Hill UA-cam channel is uploading, these Making-Of kinda videos. And in the end I came to the following conclusion: I've enjoyed my time with the game. And even it was messy, it was the first time since an eternity playing a Silent Hill game again that has the typcial atmosphere (lots of credits goes to the score of Akira Yamaoka). I also completely agree with you here, the Otherworld was absolutely fantastic. Too bad one cannot enjoy it as much due to the chase sequence. So, like I wrote, the game is messy but it's like Okamoto told in the making-of video: It was a testing playground for them if Konami is still able to produce a game like that. Yes, he actually said that. Konami is completely out of touch with everything because of everything that happened to this company almost 10 years ago.
I also agree with your criticism towards Anitas constant thoughts and especially the mother, yikes, that was a bad idea. Without her constant comments and the mother who acted like an old Disney villain, The Short Message would deliver on a much higher note.
There is also quite the interesting lore hidden in the game with this japanese witch of Kettenstadt. Also, the occult plays a big factor here and I like it that they included occult stuff into the story. People are pretty harsh to TSM but seeing it as a testground, it worked and I hope people might give it another chance when the anger has lifted, like with myself. Since the game was written and directed by older people, I think it would have been better for them to consult experts on the topic here. I'm 37 years old, way younger than the people who were involved with the game and even I have problems to keep up with the problems of the teenager in this game.
I don't have a PS5 and I don't plan to get one, so I didn't get to experience this for myself. But from what I've seen, it's lacking in anything resembling subtlety. It also seems to be going all-in on SH just being a series of vignettes of personal trauma. What, exactly, is the connection to the rest of the series? To the town, cult, or established characters?
Yeah, people forget that the town is the way it is because of what happened in the first game with the cult. It never was about it being a purgatory. I love SH2, don't get me wrong, but it made people think that this is what SH is. The town doesn't punish you, it just manifests your traumas, like it did with Alessa.
@I completely agree. SH2 is my all-time favourite game, but the reverence for it is excessive, to say the least. The last few games stripped the out cult, and with this one, it looks like they've done away with the town itself.
It's a shame because I think the western spin from all the comics, movies, games, and fan works have infected the source. SH hasn't been anything more than "Foggy Trauma" for over 20 years, and that's a real hard pill to swallow.
I've always thought of it as Silent Hill finally "breaking free from its place of origin" upon the rest of the world. I don't think it's completely without merit: Silent Hill 4 takes place mostly in the fictional city of Ashfield, so clearly Silent Hill's horrors can escape the bounds of its original town.
@@names_are_useless I agree, in principle - SH3 did something similar (and Homecoming, if you want to count that).
But those entries had a physical connection via the cult. In 3, the God seed was growing inside Heather (and she had part of Alessa's soul); in 4, Walter's corpse was hidden in room 302 (in addition to his intense emotional attachment to the place) - and we know that Walter was used as a conduit of sorts for the cult. Heck, James might have been outside of SH when he got Mar's letter - that part is unclear.
So far as I can tell, Short Message makes no attempt to actually tie it to the town, beyond "this is now a worldwide phenomenon". And that implies that there isn't anything special about the land and the water in and around the town, amplified by a troubled past and the cult.
Had to re-watch a few parts, reliving those chase scenes sparked some anxiety that, I agree, haven't felt since those titles. I knew you'd have something nice to say about this title, but I was kinda interested in your take on the last chase scene. Took me a few tries dying in the beginning, but then rushed right thru the photo collection in such a panic that I have such a vague recollection of the moments.
My thoughts more closely align with your review here, Max. I commented earlier on Under The Mayo's reviewn which was quite critical about several aspects of Short Message -- and I agreed with his critique about the shallow story and ham-handed approach to the social media and teen angst angles of the narrative. I couldn't really get attached to the story or the characters due to the aforementioned, but SM was free, and it's a very short game, so I can kinda overlook Short Message's shortcomings and enjoy the visual style and atmosphere (when it's crescendoing), and think of it a bit like a really trimmed down Visage with a tenuous link to the world of Silent Hill. At any rate, I can see a lot of potential for future collaborations with Hexadrive (SH1 or Shattered Memories remakes, maybe?).
Absolutely agree with you. The thing that the first 4 games did that made you keep replaying them is the way they handle subtlety. I always loved that about SH having to leave it up to the player's interpretation and only giving small or maybe implied hints of something that occured. Though I do love that this is somewhat a return to form and deals with heavy topics of abuse, bullying and unaliving oneself. It also gives me the "eek" when everything even our leading lady explains to the player what's happening and how she's feeling throughout her journey.
The part with her mother reminded me of Asuka's nightmare in Evagelion.
Thought I was the only one
As someone who also had an emotionally abusive parent; this game did it's job in bringing up those emotions.
10/10 for triggering my PTSD; and I am actually serious.
Edit: 8:30
The line delivery for the mother actually isn't bad. It realistic of emotionally abusive parents who are emotional and reactions. Impulsive phrases are blurted without much thought or finesse.
You know what?
I also liked this game because it did a great job of triggering my C-PTSD.
Let's get therapy.
@@Avenray19 I wouldn't say that's the reason I liked the game, but it did do a good job in creating the emotional response and depicting the scenario.
The reasons why I liked the game were because of it's atmosphere and music.
This is the first review I've listened to that I 100% agree with! And I'm with you on preferring to have the sudden shifts to the dark world, as opposed to the peeling away!
I liked it. Atleast it feels like the first step in the right direction toward a possible (yet far) bright future for the franchise. If Konami takes notes about The Short Message and play their cards right, we might be hopeful.
Ascension was 20 steps in the wrong, opposite direction.
FINALLY a logical Silent Hill fan with a fair review. People need to understand this is a test to Silent Hill. This is a new team. They need feedback, not false bias feedback.
I was a fan of the old Silent Hill games (1-3 mainly, with 3 being my favorite), and my favorite thing in the series was always walking around, soaking in the atmosphere, and examining things and reading the main character's thoughts on them (which 3 in particular had a lot of). The combat was always clunky and seemed like it was there only because it was expected to be there.
Shattered Memories took away combat and made it a chase instead, while clearly separating the "real world" and the "nightmare world." The real world had no enemies, while the nightmare world was entirely about the chases.
I felt that The Short Message was basically like a mixture of SH1-3 and Shattered Memories in terms of things like gameplay elements and visuals, while using modern themes like social media and the like. It does have subtlety issues, but I enjoyed it a lot. It also never felt to me like I wasn't playing a Silent Hill game. Because to me, SH was about the atmosphere, and enemies being a threat that you're meant to be afraid of, and what is scarier than being unable to fight back? So to me, it worked pretty well, and I liked this take on the franchise.
" bad things happens because of yOuOuu" that delivery is so fucking funny
The mom’s voice actress is too over the top and I find myself laughing at what should be disturbing words and horrible deeds.
The Short Message was the first silent hill game I every played and as someone unfamiliar with the series it was honestly a fun little experience. It did make me look into the Silent Hill franchise as a whole and has encouraged me to check out the previous games in the series which I know are different in ways from The Short Message.
This is the guy I was waiting to hear talk about it.
its becoming obvious that SH 1-3 were lightning in bottle, Konami may own the rights but they can't recreate the exact team, in the exact frame of mind at the time, etc etc
I think most SH fans should do themselves a favour (including me obvs) and let it go, Konami like most big IP owning companies, don't even understand what it is that makes one of their own products so popular in the first place and have no idea how to replicate earlier success. Kojima certainly seemed to "get it" but then PT was a fairly short affair and may well have gone downhill for all we know
Thank you for the video, Max. I haven't finished the game yet, but I am happy they made it and am enjoying it.
Wow, finally, someone who actually talks about the game instead of just "this is cringe and bad and personally killed the franchise".
Now if only the rest of this piece of shit of a community was like this
No matter how unhappy you are, and no matter how much you don't want to, nobody will ever be hurt. It is you who are the bleeding wound from which the Sakura branches grow.
Goodness exists only when you have everything so that you do not envy anyone and do not have the desire to die.
You are terribly close to death, but the thought of "So that you died" in relation to others... is the meaning of the survival of lonely animals that have not joined the herd.
Just as any negative comment can bring the author one step closer to self-destruction or the murder of more successful people.
I think...Be close to those who are now in a difficult situation and simply do not see their opportunities to be what they wanted so much
Just be someone. To be needed by someone. To be loved. Be beautiful.
Let Sakura grow and never die.
Very glad to hear a mixed opinion on this with good points. I didn't enjoy anything I saw, but I only payed attention briefly to other's playthroughs. Thanks for the input.
Akira’s music has me so excited for Silent Hill 2 Remake and Silent hill F . I can’t imagine how well he improves those games atmosphere
im hoping to see a lot more of your silent hill videos now that we have new content and new people getting into the franchise, your videos are the best on the subject in the entirety of youtube
I played the game with my sister in the room, and when we first heard the mother we both burst out laughing. She sounds identical to Rita Repulsa from Power Rangers.
My largest complaint, however, was the final chase section. I ended up having to repeat it, due to getting caught, so many times that the entire thing lost all impact entirely. I was just joking about, and flippantly dodging the monster. What's important to note is that, even after the other chase sections, initially this final one still had impact. It made it feel like "Oh, this is the arbitrary 'gameplay' segment".
(I feel that other "walking sim" type horror also makes this mistake, as if they can't fully commit to what they are, and HAVE to include elements of the most baseline version of "gameplay", but it almost always fails. It pulls me out of appreciating the narrative, whilst reminding me that gameplay-wise, it's not very good)
This game is my first Silent Hill game, and I did genuinely enjoy it. I didn't mind it being very on the nose most of the time, but I swear Maya did not need to explain the process behind her art more than once. I also didn't find it too scary, other than the section with the fridge that you mentioned, I wasn't really scared, despite it being quite atmospheric thoughout the game. The chase sequences felt kinda generic in gameplay, but the set dressing was really nice and worked with the themes of the game. I will say that Anita's model looked terrible in comparison to the rest of the game, her hands look as if they lacked a wrist, so during the scene where we're shown she's been self harming, I was more focused on why her hands looked so strange.
Overall, its made me want to play some of the other silent hill games, so I'll probably try 1-4 at some point.
Crazy that PT was 10 years ago , i remember playing it at the time and i was just 11 years old and it was my first silent hill game and got me into the series
8:00 I feel like House of Leaves satirizes this pretty well
Context: I have not played The Short Message myself, so my opinion is based entirely off what Max has presented here.
I think the mother's dialogue was intentionally overdramatic because it wasn't what she actually said, it's what Anita is remembering in her half-lucid state. She's remembering the anger and abuse more than the words themselves, which makes perfect sense for dream logic. Unless there's a cutscene that shows Anita's mom explicitly shouting like that, I think we can imply that everything we see from Anita's perspective is exaggerated because of her own fears and self-loathing.
It's still bad writing and directing IMO, but it would offer some commentary on how parents are perceived by their kids vs how the parents think they're acting. In fact I HOPE there's a cutscene in-game that shows how Anita's mom actually treats her so we can witness that disconnect ourselves.
All-in-all, this game gives me 'demo disk' energy. Like there's a larger story that should have been told but they weren't given the opportunity to do so. Had they allowed this to be a simple demo instead of a self-contained story I think they could have used this as a solid springboard into a new mainline Silent Hill game. In fact, maybe that should have been the move here from Konami. Have Team Silent work on several small projects, each tackling their own story and horrors, then present them all as playable demos. Whichever one got the best response would be the one that got added to the main roster.
Then they trick us by pulling a Pulp Fiction and proving that all the demos were interconnected from the start. Damn, wouldn't that have been something.
Couldn't bring myself to finish it. Maybe im getting old but I was cringing the entire time.
Nah, man. For older fans like you and I, the teenager-related themes and the on-the-nose dialogue are enough for me to understand why people would be put off.
Well done Max. Thanks for quality upload.
I have to say that I 100% agree with this review. You got everything right on the nose. I felt the exact same way. I kind of want to play it again.
I disagree with your last recommendation, this is horribly out of touch, for especially late teens. The messaging is just a decade or 2 late
What'd he recommend
Your opinion is out of touch, you probably never played a silent hill game before lol
@@jessiehernandez1624 What was the recommendation 😭😭
I don’t know what recommendation he’s referring to I think he’s just yapping
@@jessiehernandez1624 day ruined
From the state of play, it looked like an early 10s cyberbully special. And it seems more blatant while playing.
But it seems thats how Japan prefers it, based soley from anime, they love explaining the way a character feels or pointing out the way a character is acting or reacting.
Rip the creatives behind the previous game.
But at least it looks cool
The part that broke me tears was on her apartment, when I noticed the furniture was "bigger then it should". That touched me deeply, was subtle, strong, effective.
As someone who used to deal with manic depression sh and was medicated for some time i feel like if the game was a bit more subtle in its approach maybe going with the angle of medication making you more detached and numb with small hints as to what is going on psychologically(instead of having loser and creep all over the walls) it couldve hit much harder
Just a couple of hours and I still couldn't bother to complete it. The last chase sequence was too frustrating.
It touches on some themes that could be interesting, but handles them too... idk, whiny?
Much better as a PSA, yet the kids that would benefit most from the message are unable to get it due to the age rating.
Feels like a wasted afternoon, personally.
It does seem to me that the M rating is a bit odd. I think the game's ideal age rating is maybe 13 to 17. But even then, you're talking about a pretty on the nose stereotype of that generation: artistic, lacking backbone, addicted to technology, narcissistic, etc. So I think the only group that would take something from the game would have to be young enough for the game's copmlete lack of faith in its audience and unaware that this is how older people think younger people are, that is to say, it's not a flattering portrayal.
This game has enough highs and lows that I would think of it as this franchise’s “Humanz”. Humanz was a mixed bag for many people when it came out, especially since Gorillaz was in hiatus without a future up until the album’s announcement.
Found your channel recently, as a fellow Silent Hill fan. Your videos are really well put together. 👍👍
The Kevin Spacey clip at 8:49 was hilarious 😂😂
I believe that simple symbolism and on-the-nose-metaphors do have a place in media.
The Short Message is not exactly a good example for the case i am trying to make,
but i do remember someone rolling their eyes at some obvious symbolism in Kingdom Hearts and it got me thinking:
"Kingdom Hearts is a game for children and juveniles. Why should metaphors be difficult to decrypt in such media?"
I only realized how deep art can go when i was 23. Up until that point i was unable to read between the lines.
The Short Message is clearly not made for children, but it is also not made for the 30+ year-old Silent Hill veterans.
The game aims for a younger audience (which is fine) and i do believe that this audience could still use some help into understanding subtext.
And the first step to achieve that, would be with easy symbolism and obvious metaphors, even if it annoys fans.
I'm sorry but the moment you named the monster i had to pause for a solid minute to laugh😂
Edit: god damnit that actual name you gave it made me have my foot in my mouth😂
Did you eat your foot?
@@user-os7ec4dm8x that is the expression.
Ngl, the sticky notes, coulda been better. Either by outright removing them or making certain letters appear on the notes
As a 20 year old, this game really resonated with me, especially with all of the themes about social media. I could feel myself feeling what Anita felt at times but being very suspicious of her much like plays over 20 years ago would’ve felt about James. Considering this is the first proper Silent Hill GAME (not you ascension) we’ve had in over a decade, it at least got enough right for me to enjoy it.
One of the best bits is later in the game, when Anita starts regressing to her childhood self in her old apartment... She actually physically becomes shorter as if she's becoming a child again.
It's handles so well you barely notice it until you see that everything is higher than normal.
I replayed this bit 3 times to figure how they did it without us noticing. Turns out if you look at the two interractables in the room... the game starts to shrink you as you walk, with the change in height hidden by your steps.
Smart, if you ask me.
Mother reminded me of Rita from the Power Rangers.
As a fan from the beginning though this entry gives me hope for the future. It felt like it was going back to that special place.
Ahhhh after 10,000 years I'm free! It's time to conquer earth! Definitely has that energy haha.
i know trying to put a free 2 hour experience along side full games isn't really fair, but i'd love to know where you'd put it in the series ranking even roughly. is it a better silent Hill experience then any of the games?
I remember hearing about this ages ago but forgot all about it. So excited to jump in
3:56 still a little shocked in hindsight, that The Cherry Poppin Daddies was the name of a band that had a mainstream hit.
Thank you for a nuanced opinion. Some Silent Hill fans don’t realize that the franchise has always targeted overseas horror fans between the age of 18-30. And always used plotdevices and game mechanics for that time. That Short Message had a plot that was aimed at older teens younger 20’s is not that surprising. They want to reel new fans in and not only cater to the older fans that refuse to accept that this games series is going into new territories. Not saying Short Message is perfect. It isn’t. But it is the best we have got for a while.
People don’t have to enjoy anything new that bears the name Silent Hill. But let’s not be like kids a grocery store that whines until we get what we want.
Glad i played it but will not replay it in the near future.
aimed at older teens? i think this was aimed at younger teens/preteens.
It's okay for customers to voice their dissatisfaction with a flawed products.
@@lucascoval828no one is saying they can’t?
18 to 30 may have been the demographic they were targeting, but 3 of the 4 original games featured fully grown men, two of which were husbands. Whatever age they were targeting, they did so with adult characters and stories, SH3 being the exception.
is this made by the same people who made Silent Hill Alcamilla?
As a person who also has this franchise as one of there earliest vidoe game memories, so much that its single handedly the op that got me into the horror sceen at all . Honestly I was pretty un enthusiastic about this at first , maybe it's cause accession wore me down so much that i was jist apprehensive..but , tbh , I actually was pleasantly surprised with howuch I enjoyed time playing it , maybe it's a bias but certain moments ,the music ,story telling and overall atmosphere made me very nostalgic. I feel like if this game was a tad bit longer maybe some other gripes would be more bearable such as the subtly factor being non existing, maybe if we had more time with these charecters if would of had more of a gradual build up . Idk long story short it's not perfect , yet at the same time I feel like it's good enough , and that might sound like a slight to the game but come on "good enough " is leagues better than what we've gotten for the past near decade , I think it was a lovely breath of fresh air and a welcome edition to the franchise, now let's just pray that the remake and f don't burry this franchise for good 🙏💀
I'm glad you got good overall impressions. Definitely agree with that take. I've been thinking about this game for few days now. The overt "ugly", "slut", "loser" etc. really irked me at first but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The game tried to push narrative of how relentless and constant bullying can be. Like there can be nothing subtle about it irl. If it was subtle bullying, it wouldn't be enough to drive someone to the extremes like shown in the game. It needed to be constant. The only thing I can think that would've made it less cringe, is if the notes had a bit more to them. Like they wouldn't just be generic insults, but they'd refer to something with more backstory. Maybe the player wouldn't fully understand the context, but their intent would still come through. The game can do subtlety when it wants to, like how teenage pregnancy was thrown into the mix with some themes of maternity in general, so I'm thinking the bullying aspect was intentionally in your face. But yeah, definitely agree that some things were inexcusable (like every time the mother spoke anything)
I loved this Experience.
Only 2 Hours, last Chase being very frustrating the first Time 😂.
This Game deals with so many dark Subjects.
The Atmosphere, Presentation & Voice Acting is great.
Also, this was actually scary.
I haven't felt Dread like that in a very long Time.
I finished silent hill the short message and I really liked it. The social media aspects and the time frame it’s set in really hit hard for me in some deep personal ways. I also really appreciated how well the story discussed mental health issues
Thanks for the spoiler free take on this. You convinced me to give it a try. Also, on a personal note, I'm happy to see you having more fun in your videos and making some jokes. I hope this is a great outlet for you, Max! Signed, another Max.
As a SH fan who also happens to be that older teen audience you mentioned I loved the themes in this game but really wish it was a bit more subtle with how some parts were shown
Keep it simple, call it Blossom.
Cherry blossom slayer
Doom slayer: finally a worthy opponent our battle will be legendary
This is actually a refreshing take. So many people everywhere have been overly critical about every aspect. I agree with every point you made. I liked it. Would I have preferred more subtly? Sure. Should I expect it in a two hour game that needs to get through every act in that time frame? Not necessarily. I think if it was longer or just a playable teaser for a longer game there would have been more freedom to distort things.
I appreciate you good sir. Thank you for your dedication. I am a “Die Hard” fan of the franchise and was in the fence about checking it out because of the reviews. The points you made with the pro’s are near and dear to me to weather the cons. Thanks you. Stay yellow.
Thank you for telling me how I am supposed to feel. Hold my hand.
The sakura monster has serious wierdcore vibes and I absolutely hope F has that vibe too. Silent hill and the wierd/dream/traumacore aesthetic are a perfect match.
I'm sorry but this comment is hilarious.
gibberish ass comment
I played it yesterday and wow what a game.
They 100% nailed the atmosphere in the game.
My only issue was the final chase sequence because i didn't understand what i was supposed to do at first. But other then that, the game was a really good experience and i really recommend Silent Hill fans to give it a try.
Also a fan since the first in 1999. Nailed my impressions exactly.
As someone who was brought to tears by this game, I think it's important to note, and also fascinating, that I've seen people write paragraphs on what they got wrong with the approach towards the main subject, and paragraphs on how they got it so right.
I'm not going to discount any studied professional's words on the matter, but exploration of mental issues can be a very personal thing sometimes, outside of what is supposed to be wrong or right. Sometimes you'll say or do something that'll be like nails on a chalkboard to one person, yet to another person, it's exactly what they wanted/needed to hear.
I was incredibly satisfied with the experience, and surprisingly not as bothered by the lack of subtlety as i thought I would be. In retrospect, for such a short experience, I feel like it was an easy solution to still convey a powerful and detailed message.
Pfp checks out I guess
I will 100% agree with you, mental health specially related to depression, is a very personal and individual thing, and honestly that is what I felt this game did awfully bad, it put all issues together in a mix and didn't bother the least to understand each of their complexities. Just think, that the main girl suffers from depression, bullying, self-harm and self-image issues, and none of those are actually expressed in the actual gameplay, a simple example of that done right is Angela "always on fire" scene, instead they are told directly to us, without any handling. And yes you told about the lack of subtlety. But I feel that is the most important aspect when dealing with this situation, is it really worth it that someone going trough any of those is very likely to feel like "nails on a chalkboard" when playing this game, just to express an strong message? I know this is not what you mean but that is the result, when people feel that their complex and personal experiences gets distorted into an parody of itself, as some cartoonish version of your own suffering.
@@williamminerva9171 I can understand this as well, where just because some people harmonize well with the delivery of the message, it can actually be dangerous if the message doesn't harmonize well at all. Dealing with these themes will always be a tricky situation, and usually subtlety seems to work better for some people. I think maybe it was a poor decision in the first place to try to tackle these issues in an hour long experience; at least for a team that was maybe not equipped to do so.
This brought you to tears? 💀 damn i feel bad for you
Overall I enjoyed the game but im not a hardcore silent Hill fan
I'm glad to see more people praising The Short Message. it's far from perfect, but it's a GOOD Silent Hill experience. And that's been a rare thing for a LONG time. Most of all The Short Message makes me even more excited for Silent Hill f. I think these games moving into more creative settings and senatios is a huge breathe of fresh air the franchise needed.
I understand & agree completely with ur sentiments. I enjoyed the moments, sounds & feelings and the way they were presented in a somewhat modern format to appeal to newer audiences. Some of the concepts & conversations were a bit overkill, like, “yea we get it ya don’t have to spell out everything…”
excellent review, thank you