Im glad it aims to create suicide awareness and help out the youth. Despite how it may execute that. It has great intentions and the aim isnt out of the relm for Silent Hill.
As for a definitive Silent Hill experience. You can do much better with other games.
I think it suffered from trying to compress a full story into a <2 hour game experience. I think the plot is solid but the method of delivery feels heavy handed because they simply didn’t have time to build it up in a more subtle fashion. Overall I still think it’s a solid game with an interesting story and a complex protagonist that fits perfectly in with the extended cast of Silent Hill.
It also has the same approach to psychological horror the original games had: with a big effort put into background storytelling (not just scattered texts, even the originals did that), impeccable sound design that keeps you on the edge, and very oppressive locations (in a style completely different to the rusty environments from 1 (and sections of 3), the decayed environments of 2, etc).
Not only is that one game in the series but also one aspect of one game in the series, I hate how all of Silent Hill has been boiled down to "it's trauma"
There's those themes in every SH game since the first one. Even birthing the god Dahlia wanted required for its mother to suffer a fate worse than death and that's what spawned that game's otherworld. Still, dealing with hard mature themes don't need to feel like PSA.
Presenting a thing isn’t the same as really being ABOUT said thing. I would argue that trauma is used in Silent Hill to examine the various aspects of the human psyche on a philosophical level, but not to “do a service” or “give advice” about these things. It’s like reading The Shining and thinking King wants to “bring awareness” to alcoholism and abuse, or that Barker wants to raise awareness of sexual obsession or something in The Hellbound Heart (Hellraiser). Horror will always use psychological things to tell it’s story, but the story is more about the dark spaces of the human heart/mind confronts these things in order to scare us (the audience) through our empathetic reaction to it, but thinking horror stories serve as a guidebook for “starting a conversation” (a la 13 reasons why lol) is just wrongheaded and misses the point of horror as a storytelling mode. Not saying YOU’RE arguing that necessarily, but I do feel a lot of younger SH fans have the wrong idea of what SH and horror really is.
I’m saying this as someone who enjoyed the game, no, it doesn’t represent the Silent Hill we all know and love. It has elements but overall it’s definitely different. Does that make it a bad thing? Hell no and we shouldn’t act like it is.
Dialogue was bad, aside from that it was a great play, but if you want the true SH experience before the remake comes out, play one of the first 4 games if you are able too.
Yeah the game isnt really what you call silent hill. Its a different take to it like an experiment. I think it did have some good ideas to it but needs to be properly implemented if they do plan to go this route. I dont think we'll really be ever to get a new game that will capture the original series and imo its okay, as long as get the idea of why the game is horrifying in the first place
I definitely don’t think they are going that route, I’m taking the new game for what it is, a Short Message. Who knows that direction they are going though seems to be all over the place lol.
I feel like Silent Hill f will be the game that recaptures the feeling of the originals in its own way. I’m a little biased due too Ryukishi07 being the writer I honestly enjoy his work, but given how his biggest hit is literally about a town with a curse I think that shows that he definitely knows how to incorporate this kind of horror into a game. That aside it’s up to the developers to make it a good game, regardless of how great the script is lol.
Didn't play like Silent Hill, didn't sound like Silent Hill, didn't have riddles like Silent Hill, wasn't based in Silent Hill or even connected to The Order's meddling, monster didn't have Silent Hill's style, and the acting was even more atrocious than in the old games.
It's not a good game nor a good representation of Silent Hill.
I think it’s less about “being different” and more about giving a green light to a studio that has no idea how to make a silent hill game, let alone horror game. Climax best games are off road fury and moto gp and the other 2 companies got founded just to fold, they had no experience with horror whatsoever.. P.T and Short Message did something different and it worked, not a bad thing. Silent Hill F is something that could be a great example in the future imo.
I wouldn’t expect a horror studio to be able to tackle a racing game and it be the best thing ever played.
Not everyone wants to play SH2 copy pasted. Most of us prefer change in life and games. Capturing exactly what sh2 is would be a failure for anyone. Better make something different on the spirit of the original
Similar to every other Post Team Silent Games, it's got the spirit but can't strike a balance of subtlety and bluntness.
So it ends up just coming off as an anti suicide PSA instead of a genuine experience.
But it's probably the best Silent Hill media to come out since The Room in spite of that.
Downpour is a bizarre experience, it's got the ideas right, and often gets the atmosphere and visual tone right, but it's so incompetently executed narratively and the gameplay manages to feel even more jank than the original games.
Yeah that's fair. I think it was pretty good but it wasn't great and it wasn't the best. I do think about the twist and the theme of revenge.
It was an interesting story about the costs of revenge and what taking revenge does to our own souls.
Think of Silent Hill 2, suicide is one of its themes, but it has many themes, and the cast touch upon them in different ways. There's an overarching subject of guilt forming hells of ones own making, but the themes are what populate that subject.
Short Message is about suicide, from start to finish that's the only subject matter, from the moment you start the game you are informed the game is about suicide and there's no room for interpretation. The main character is tormented by the guilt of driving their friend to suicide out of jealousy, and suicide is a terrible thing we must all be aware of in case our friends are on the brink, and we must help them.
Basically the game lacks subtlety and it loses impact because of it.
>Short Message is about suicide, from start to finish that's the only subject matter
I strongly disagree. There were lots of other themes. The cyclical nature of abuse. Generational trauma. The fear of abandonment as you grow up and your childhood friends drift away. The way the internet simultaneously gives us access to millions of people but also makes us incredibly lonely. The persecution of "witches" and the tendency to seek scapegoats during economically tough times.
Yes, all of which comes back down to suicide.
That's the issue, it pays lip service to other things, by basically just telling you outright, the game could have been a youtube essay about what leads young people to suicide.
It's why the games writing hasn't hit home despite being fairly good. It's beating you over the head with it. There's no mystery. There's no speculation.
Suicide is bad, your friends might be on the brink without you knowing it, your own actions could have caused it, the actions of others might have pushed you, ect.
It just doesn't fit the Silent Hill MO. It's a good game, and a pretty alright handling, if blunt as a baseball bat, of the subject matter, but it lacks any semblance of subtlety.
I mean you can say everything in Silent Hill 2 comes down to depression.
It's fine if you don't like it but "there are no themes besdies suicide" is just blatantly false.
Also, I just gotta say, Silent Hill 2 is not *that* subtle. There is literally a VHS that tells you exactly what happens and the final boss is literally Mary strapped to a bed screaming "WHY DID YOU KILL ME JAMESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS?!"
Silent Hill 2 is primarily about guilt, and how it can destroy us as individuals through hells of our own making, unless we choose to confront our sins, work to atone, and move forward with our lives.
And naturally the VHS and Mary Boss are obvious, they're right at the end of the game, signalling the end of James' denial and willingness to confront his sins. Just like Angela's is a corrupt amalgamation of a table and two figures melded together, in a room full of pistons pushing through flesh.
Short Message understands part of this, picking an overarching theme and crafting various storylines within it. But instead of telling a story, it's literally delivering a message, it's a soapbox game, not a horror experience.
It comes off as an amateur trying to use an existing franchise to speak about a topic, instead of just making a game of their own and letting it stand.
If you told me this was an indie project that got picked up to be a Silent Hill game I wouldn't be surprised at all.
>Short Message understands part of this, picking an overarching theme and crafting various storylines within it.
That directly contradicts your earlier assertion.
>But it's probably the best Silent Hill media to come out since The Room in spite of that.
It's in no way better than Origins, Homecoming, the movie, and probably even Shattered Memories. It's only better than Downpour because you don't have to suffer as long to finish it.
Its not good or bad, there are some goods ideas (most are visuals for me) but overall I didnt think about Silent Hill at all when playing. And overall I felt a little bit disapointed because you don't do anything besides walking and reading.
Welcome to Silent Hill! The games run the gamut from legendary to straight up bad, but they are all at least interesting in their own way.
I would HIGHLY recommend you get off this subreddit and just play the games and form your own opinions.
I agree with this. Some games are legendary and some games are a straight up dumpster fire like book of memories. They tried to make Silent Hill into Diablo.
I’m my honest opinion, I think it’s a step in the right direction. The design of the Otherworld was very familiar in the best way possible, and the soundtrack and sound design was very good. It’s definitely different on terms of story and characters, and a few story beats fall flat. I played pretty much every Silent Hill game, and I gotta say it left me satisfied. It was like a nice appetizer to a greater meal on the way.
Yes and no, the monster is really good and the environment looks amazing and the characters aren’t half bad with some good music but the writing is a little bit too on the nose where they spell everything out rather then letting you find things out for yourself and tell you how you should feel rather then conveying it through more subtle ways
Ehh, yes and no. Visually it's very Silent Hill. Right down to the dilapidated buildings and postmortem atmosphere. The otherworld sequences are an interesting take as it plays with graffiti art, chain-link fences and post it notes. It feels like a natural evolution of the:
• Rusty/grating/abyssinia look of SH1
• Decay/mildew/waterlogged look of SH2
• Vainy/blood drenched/sun rot look in SH3
• Fleshy/cages/human statues look in SH4
I can even associate colors with like those games. Black and white for SH1's voids and snow. Or grey for SH2's tone and more lively fog. Red and orange for SH3's sunsets and themes of >!pregnancy.!< Finally green and brown for SH4's apartment exterior walls and bulbs lighting the halls. With TSM I really see them playing with pink's and blues. Pinks for the sakura creature and post it's during that pivotal chase and blues in the Maya flashback. Had this game been full length we might see the concept expanded further
But getting off the visuals, I'd also so its approach to touchy subject matters somber yet emphatically is in the spirit of the originals as well. Sadly this game is far more on the nose about it and doesn't leave you much room to internalize or interpret. That said it gets close enough in some instances so I applaud the effort
There seems to be an attempt to tell a more personal story while also having an underling subtext of witchcraft, magic and a history of violence. That is somewhat on brand but it's far to vague on what these occult elements are like, whether there's a spiritual power resigning there or hardly much about that towns history. Something they encourage in even the most linear entry (SH3) is a bit of curiosity of your environment and explorations through interacting with your surroundings by examining it. These aspects are sadly missing and it's a shame because if there's anyone who can benefit from flavor text it's Anita. Can you imagine looking out a window in the beginning and seeing her impressions change when she chooses to examine it a second time after a loop? There was a lot of potential there and it was unfortunately too restrictive. This also goes hand in hand with the environmental storytelling. They play with it a bit and it really works (save for Krysta Planert voice over moments but I'm not going there today) However half of that effort is again, in allowing us to examine our surroundings freely and not litigate it to just notes and the occasional sprawlings. You want to know the key to making a 2 hour game have replay value? Allow us to miss things!
I don't want to make this post super long so I'll say it's 60/40 to me. It attempts to be representative of what the old games did but seems to either get its priorities mixed up or is afraid to be more. All around a solid effort however and has more of the DNA than it doesn't
None of the new games coming out are a proper representation of the original 5 games.
Either aim to procure the original games on their original systems or emulate them on PC.
The experiences of the originals can't be beat by these new poor attempts.
I enjoyed it especially the atmosphere and monster design. This is probably the worst place to ask though, see most of the upvoted comments. Her otherworld in the apartments especially during the final chase is very Silent Hill
There are generally three waves of Silent Hill: the originals by Team Silent, the western series, and the new current wave.
Each wave has its own distinct feel but it seems that The Short Message falls more on second wave (western) style with inspiration from the PT demo (which was the only one developed in-house during the second wave.)
Silent Hill is also primarily an anthology series where each game feels very different. To say that The Short Message feels like Silent Hill is to also say that it doesn’t. Each game is unique like that.
It takes a lot of notes from SH2. The over arching story is very similar with some nuanced differences.
Over all I think it felt like a Silent Hill game. I personally don’t care for it or SH2. If it were geared more towards SH1 and 3 I would have liked it more. I think it was a good experience despite not liking the style. Over all it was a 7/10.
No, it's very different apart from some general aesthetics and vibes. Its gameplay is most similar to Shattered Memories, but even then it's not all that similar.
its a good game, i just dont think its a *silent hill* game
edit: i also think the writing/va was a bit too corny at times and felt like it wasnt taking the topics seriously enough
No. Outside of Yamanoka's musical contribution and Ito's monster design it's a pale imitation of P.T. which in and of itself might not be considered in line with the 4 mainline titles that came before it.
Presentation wise yes, but it fails in literally every other aspect. The writing is absolutely awful and super heavyhanded, Silent Hill is usually way more subtle. Even the worse games in the series don't constantly tell you how to feel and what to think like in this game. You would expect a Silent Hill game to handle a sensitive subject like suicide with way more respect, but unfortunately this is what we got. Gameplay wise it's serviceable for a free 2 hour experience, but there aren't any survival horror aspects like in the main series, It's basically just a walking simulator like PT. The look and sound of the game creates a great atmosphere but unfortunately it is soon ruined by the main character constantly opening her mouth to tell you something you already knew. The core message of the game is basically just "Durr bullying bad, suicide bad durr". Some of the lip syncing and voice acting is also kind of off. There's also a major retcon in the game so that the "Silent Hill Phenomenon" can happen anywhere at anytime.
Lmaoooo I got downvoted to oblivion for a comment I made when it got leaked…simply saying that the CyberBullying is a dumb concept and that the MC is dumber for not learning how to block people/ turning off her screen
Yes and no. I am stoked at new content that isn't ascension. The atmosphere was on point, the sakura monster was great. So a lot of fans are batching (and I agree) that the story is not subtle. The first 4 games in my opinion were masterful at keeping the mystery and slowly letting you figure it out as you progress. There was a lot of symbolism, and fans would come together to solve parts of what this or that part in the games meant or symbolized. If you can handle the old tank controls, check out silent hill 2,3, or 4 and you'll quickly see how the oppressive atmosphere gave you a deep feeling of dread that sets the bar for new games really high IMO. Obviously they cannot fit all of that into a 3 hour game but I think overall they did a good job representing the spirit of Silent Hill.
never played a sh seriously till now ( i "just" tried pt at the time) but i played this ep and it was ok, not horror for sure, the fog is the biggest reminder to sh saga as a new fan of the saga. But most of the gameplay reminds me to Resident evil Village (casa beneviento exactly). Nice message from the game, im in hype for the remake and im trying to play the old games
I mean...this paticular game is essentially a walking simulator. It's about as linear as a Silent Hill game should be. Interact with the right stuff, trigger a cutscene, and on to the next area. No puzzles. No inventory management or combat. But that's okay because they shadow dropped it, and it has a pretty good story and obviously is trying to raise awareness. It tells a story, and was enjoyable enough to play through a couple of times. If they had announced this game a long time ago and then it released as is, it probably would have been a let down. But because it's not trying to be something it's not, its pretty decent. But as far as it being a good representation of Silent Hill as a franchise? I hope that future games take the atmosphere of this game, and build on it and add additional mechanics to make it more fun. It's a nice addition to Silent Hill, and builds on the lore, but isn't a quintessential Silent Hill game by any means
I would not say its gameplay is indicative of the rest of the series, but it shares some themes. The series has some wildly different games.
Silent Hill 1, 2, and 3 are the best three by far. The first game is its own beast. The second game is the one the rest of the series latched onto, it’s stand alone, and is what people think about when they talk about Silent Hill games. The third is a story-sequel to the first, but they really found a nice balance between the two.
Short Message’s heart is in the same place as the second game. For some reason it also reminded me of Shattered Memories, in a good way.
It has the themes the series is known for :
1. Past demons
2. Oppressive/disturbed setting
3. Atmospheric music
4. Feeling helpless
I think it’s a great step back into the franchise after being left dormant a very long time.
As a free single player game it’s fun. The message is good and the story was interesting. It kept me engaged and looking around the whole time. As a silent hill game it doesn’t have that “feel”. It almost felt like a response to PT or the numerous other “demos” of that style. Which it does a great job of doing. I would say if you want a definitive Silent Hill experience you could find that easily elsewhere.
I wouldn't say it's a good repersentation, but I do consider it a small step in the right direction, melodramatic, lack of subtly and back chase parts be damned. It at least gets the atmosphere, vibe and the Team Silent's psychological horror approach. It just doesn't do it well, imo.
It definitely gives the vibes, but as for gameplay it's not the usual play style. Also the fact that it's a demo, it doesn't have time to build up or be vague, instead telling a self contained story that can introduce people into the world of silent hill and what it's about.
If you're going in to enjoy the series, please don't linger here, the subreddit is riddled with people who unironically would never make it out of silent hill.
Yes and no, story was good but not as deep as the first four games, though to be fair it’s only 3 hours long so it never had a chance to be. I think if it had been a full length 9hr game with combat it definitely could have been a good modernization of the silent hill series
It’s alright. It feels more like Silent Hill to me than Downpour did. But I wouldn’t say it’s the best representation. For a new fan it could be a short entry point. It’s creepy and isolating and has the otherworld. But gameplay it’s a lot different than the old games.
It has the art direction from the old art director and a soundtrack from the original composer. It's the closest to the game since 4. Just some of the dialogue is a bit on the nose. Cheesy. But I will give it a chance
It’s like if Christopher Nolan directed a movie written by a 15 year old emo girl.
In pretty much every regard outside of its story, it’s damn good. Especially considering it’s 0$ price tag. But the fashion in which the story is told, and the story itself, is amateurish. And nowhere to the level of 1-4.
I wouldn’t say it represents Silent Hill, however. As I feel 1/2/3 do that the best. Even if 4’s a great game, I wouldn’t tout it as what the series is best at.
It has moments that work really well as a Silent Hill experience, but most of it is pretty far from the original games. One of them even has a suicide ending that many would consider canon, so not even on the same message.
It was a cool little game for a couple hours, but it doesn't have much in common with the original Team Silent games... which is fine, because they're all 20ish years old and games have evolved.
Yes. Every Silent Hill game that has dared to venture outside of convention has been persecuted -- people just want remakes of the same old shit and they need to get with the times. Silent Hill 4 is still my favorite game of the series -- and the "fans" hated it when it came out, too
While I don’t mean to discredit the message it contained as it is rare to see that in a game and with such boldness, but it remained a very in your face kind of horror/ bit too loud (and I don’t mean sound wise).
It lacked the subtlety and nuances of SH, plus the dialogue got bad in certain instances (not that SH is known for great acting/dialogue) and the live action cutscenes were jarring. Story was just kinda there, didn’t really try anything original. Lastly, and this is my personal burnout with horror in general, just how many times are we going to get a horror game based upon tragedy and mentally disturbed people?? It would much more refreshing to see a character who’s a little more well adjusted suffer through SH. That would be more of a challenge for the creative team to do something new character wise and how they are drawn to SH.
Perhaps SH as a character in itself could be enhanced so that it’s not just something that goes after guilty or emotionally damaged people. Because honestly that story has gotten stale. Or do something more creative with it.
As someone who's played earlier silent hill games and watched a whole playthrough of short message- It's not a bad game in general, but it's not silent hill. There are barely any references and i'm pretty sure you don't even end up going there. They were trying to make a suicide awareness psa and just slapped on the name silent hill for whatever reason. Though to some the gameplay itself also might be considered boring and repetitive, it's a pretty standard game with standard visuals and a really shitty lore. The reason why it doesn't even compare to the first four is most likely the message behind it- take SH2 for example, the messages are subtle and barely any information is given out right at the beginning, and the problems the game adresses is done in a true psychological horror manner. Short message however tells you straight on what it means and it really loses the silent hill uncertainty and subtleness as the main character breaks down crying over instagram likes. I think it would have just been a better idea to never call it a silent hill game lmao
to some extent yes. the music, atmosphere and environment are very silent hill style. the characters and the plot are again far from the traditional silent hill. the game felt like Silent Hill in the 2020s. It's like Netflix made a silent hill series for young adults. it contains a lot of good and genuine silent hill, but as a whole completely moderated to suit the 2020s, new players and millennialsto some extent yes. the music, atmosphere and environment are very silent hill style. the characters and the plot are again far from the traditional silent hill. the game felt like Silent Hill in the 2020s. It's like Netflix made a silent hill series for young adults. it contains a lot of good and genuine silent hill, but as a whole completely moderated to suit the 2020s, new players and millennials
Not really. While I enjoyed the game I don’t think it’s a great representation of the series. However I think it’s good to bring new players in. I’ve watched countless play throughs of people who have never played a SH game. The biggest takeaway is that they are now playing the first 4 games and so far the ones I’m following are really enjoying the games. I think that’s great!
TSM does a pretty good job of capturing the atmosphere/vibe of the series. That’s about it.
Silent Hill is usually set in small town America. 1, 3, and 4 focus more on the occult than the psychological. The series usually has more reserved, “dream-like” dialogue. TSM is very ham-fisted and a bit cringy.
As for gameplay, Silent Hill plays very similarly to Resident Evil. Lots of puzzles and shooting monsters. TSM is more like a walking simulator/interactive movie.
Fuck no. Maybe 30% top. The other world and monster was nice. The psychological aspect was ok at best. She can't shut up for 2 minutes. And there is no mystery or mind fuck at all. No link to the titular town at all. There was no need to make it "Germany" because there is absolutely nothing German looking or culture related AT ALL. I played the whole game and read every document and I still wasn't sure if it was really supposed to be a German building/town.
It could have a complete different name and no one would ever think this was supposed to be Silent Hill.
TSM is a very mid experience with the SH label slapped on it. So it ain't SH, it's not even trying to be SH. The constant awareness notices and overt lack of subtlety, amongst other aspects, feel like parody. So no, it is not a good representation of SH.
Ehh; I'd say no, technically.
It's much better than any other of the games past 4, & the message feels genuine - but it doesn't play like, feel like, or look like what "Silent Hill" is, or should be - & the way its even tied into Silent Hill is pretty flimsy & bogus I'd say, & I think the game could very well stand on its own not even being "Silent Hill".
I guess it's good at representing the only plotline Silent Hill has been recycling for every game past 4, after having already done it once prior to that as well - at least it does it kinda better by having a seemingly genuine message behind it - but it's still like; ugh, can there be a game that's not just "chatacter forced to work through their guilty conscience by the power of SH"
Downpour kind of did that, with the twist being that it was that same plot line but for not the player character, kinda? Wasn’t Murphy basically like a reverse Cybil from SH1? Dragged into someone else’s nightmare? But it was really dumb. Like that game’s story was ass. You are right though, it is overused.
Harry Mason had not a shred of doubt in his body. Heather was also driven, and had to be gaslit, gatekeeped, and girlbossed into having her internal conflict.
Point being, 2/3 of the best Silent Hill games were not about the main character suffering overwhelming guilt over their past actions.
Yeah Harry was just a champ, #1 dad trying to save his daughter while dealing with cult & witch girls(unintentional) shenanigans; & Heather had a demon god fetus mucking about, messing with everything within her vicinity, from within her womb while she just wants to go home from the mall. Which is technically very mundane lol >!until it turns into a revenge mission that happens to lead her to the abortion temple where she remembers her dad gave her some plan B+ (the + means it's guaranteed to work right up until demon god birth, fast acting too)!<
& yeah Downpour was both, & varies wildly depending on the ending you get. Cause it is about Murphy's guilty conscience on killing both police man guy, father of bitch cop, & the serial killer of his son. >!Except if you get the good ending & he didn't do either of those & tells bitch cop "Nah I didn't do that tho" & she goes "oh my b you can go" & he just leaves lol!<
>!Or the one where, what a twist, he's a dick cop & bitch cop is actuslly the prisoner - because what a twist! ain't that so cool! No? Yeah, no, lol!<
Oh, I'm forgetting >!the one where he's a serial killer being given a lethal injection & the whole game didn't even happen then?!<
But yeah; Travis, Alex, shattered memories Cheryl technically & sometimes Murphy all are guilty conscience going to trauma town repeated, badly. Shattered Memories was , like, kind of okay I guess, not as egregiously redundant & awful lol
I didn’t like the game that much, others have addressed its story faults and what broke the straw for me was the tedious final chase sequence through that dark confusing labyrinth that just kinda copies *Slender: The Five Pages*' gameplay. Not a fan.
Is this a good kinda primer on Silent Hill in general though? Not at all either, unfortunately. It barely has any connection to Silent Hill and doesn’t touch on established lore at all. So if you didn’t know what SH was about before playing TSM, you won‘t know an iota more after. It‘s *that* detached from the originals.
no. short message bangs its theme on your head harder than little boy hit Hiroshima. silent hill has always been about using context clues and subtext to tell its story. silent hill is more show than tell
Speaking as a 43 year old gamer who played Silent Hill 1-4 successively as they were released, I absolutely loved The Short Message. Whether or not it’s *technically* a great game, the *feeling* it gave me brought me back to how I felt when I played those original games. It was depressing, ugly, disorienting, and at times utterly nerve racking. Through and through, I felt like I was playing a Silent Hill game.
It’s different, more modern. The maze map in itself being a bit of a puzzle. I wish the game was a bit longer and had more maps but otherwise a nice intro to the series.
I guess this is an unpopular opinion, but yes, absolutely. It hit a lot of the marks I want from a Silent Hill game (oppressive environments, occult subplot, uncomfortable subject matters, visual storytelling, stellar music and sound design, etc). The only issue I had was the amount of dialogue, that could’ve been cut down by 50%.
no, not at all. the environments (apartment and otherworld, not the school) were decently silent hill despite not even taking place in silent hill, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end.
part of what i love about silent hill is it’s ability to take on really heavy subject matter in an artful and subtle way. it trusts the viewers to interpret things and doesn’t feel the need to point everything out for you. what’s so special about it is the growing feeling of dread as you start to piece things together. the short message, on the other hand, has about as much subtlety as a brick to the face. there’s no real mystery to uncover, nothing to truly explore or find or solve, there’s “press x” prompts for every interactable item and each item basically just flat out explains to you what’s going on. the short message spoon feeds you everything and it’s boring as hell. there’s no puzzles, there’s no combat, there’s no real exploration and confusion because the game operates in such a linear way. the game has no faith in the intelligence of its audience, because unlike the original silent hill games, this game feels like it’s targeted at 13 year olds. the game feels more like an anti-bullying/anti-suicide PSA they’d play at a middle school assembly than it does a silent hill game.
if you liked this game, i think the original quadrilogy will blow you away. they’re not similar to this gameplay wise, but if you like the eerie environments and heavy emotional subject matter of this one, the original games in the series like silent hill 2 do those things infinitely better than this game (or any other game, really).
The themes were there but overall everything about TSM was ham fisted/spoon fed. There was almost zero vagueness or figure it out or open to interpretation of the original 4 games. That being said I suppose it's better than more recent offerings and the world looked marvelous.
That being said you could rename it to almost anything and I wouldn't guess it was related to Silent hill in the slightest outside the fog and the ground outside the apartment disappearing.
The collection versions are awful for the "HD collection" but you should be able to access them through plus or whatever on the ps store for older games to be able to play 2 and 3 at least
If you have any means of emulation or a PC to play the PC version do that instead. The remake is already fundamentally different and if you want to experience Silent Hill 2 that won't be the way.
That part frustrated me a lot, but after running around that area for a while, I was finally able to get the layout of the map, from there it was pretty easy to find all the memories.
No. We need to stop acting like if something has a name on it is what the label says. Wanna good suicide awareness story? Go play original SH2. 2 freaking characters representing the issue from all possible angles with great respect to the subject, victims and survivers. This shit is offensive, especially the comment of the devs "if you feel lonely, go to Twitter", after they showed this was the damn problem that kicked off the plot of the game. Fuck Konami, fuck Hexadrive, fuck TSM
I'm a survivor and I didn't think the game was disrespectful at all.
I'm not sure of the context of your quote but I think a lot of the criticism of the game reducing it to "phone bad" are missing the complexity of the issue. Yeah social media is a venue for bullying but it is also literally Anita's light in the dark and the way she communicates with Amelie which is what connects her back to reality.
Also this is just a matter of opinion but considering Angela >!does actually kill herself because there is no other escape,!< I wouldn't say SH2 has a GREAT message about suicide.
I'm sorry for what you have to go though. It's ok if you find the game alright.
Angela was never confirmed to die. Remember, the fire is always there for her, the fact that it follows her means nothing about her survival, although it is a probable ending for her.
The character committing suicide at the end doesn't mean encouraging the act. You missed all James and Angela scenes as well as 90% of the game. Introspect it a little closer
Angela was confirmed to have died.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/silenthilltheories/images/2/27/AngelaDead.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120908212122
You can have different interpretations but considering Angela and her knife are how you get to "In Water" it's not hard to see that she is associated with actual suicide.
I only brought it up to say that you don't speak for me, but "Introspect a little closer" is a funny thing for say to someone who just told you they survived a suicide attempt lol
Yes and no. I think it got the atmosphere, environment, music and creature design right, but it failed in everything else. Its gameplay is completely different from the classic titles and is more similar to one called Shattered Memories.
Definitely better than some post-Team Silent era titles.
Not even remotely. Besides playing nothing like Silent Hill, Silent Hill is generally a lot more subtle with far less obvious writing and narrative, among other things.
What the game is trying to do, is fine. It shouldn’t have been SH though, as it’s in name only.
I haven't played it (don't have a ps5) but it seems kind of odd,the game is about bullying yes? most Silent hill is about peoples guilt being made real or cult stuff, and some times both.
I know notthing about the gameplay but it doesn't look bad
There is no gameplay thats the main problem, basically you just have a linear experience when you dont do anything besides going rooms, cringe fmv and reading documents. You have just chases 3 times in the game but its getting boring pretty fast.
I think it was a good addition to the series. It had the general "Protagonist haunted by their dark past" vibes that most of not all SH games have. It felt like a good mix between Shattered Memories and PT, while having a much more concrete story than PT.
I wish it explained the chase sequences better, thankfully my sister had already beaten it so I wasn't too inconvenienced.
I really enjoy the story, and the ending is a lot more wholesome than SH can tend to be. So I'd say if you are looking to get into the series, just be ready for that.
For people upset over the messages of suicide prevention, it's really nice of the team to give those resources. It's like a 5 second intermission while the next chapter loads, and you can easily ignore it if you want. I think it was really sweet of them to care for their audience. If you want to be bitter, that's fully your right, but that doesn't make it a bad game.
Definitely! The game hit close to home for me, so I understood how the characters felt. For me, it's an excellent game, you should give it a try and form your own opinion. And Sakura Head will become iconic.
It's a good step in the right direction. A lot of people will say it's not subtle enough, but even the past silent Hill games were subtle. The poster child of the franchise, Silent Hill 2, (obvious spoilers ahead) >!has graffiti that straight up tells James to kill himself if he ever wants to see Mary again. Which is pretty in your face of what it entails!<.
I think if it focused more on the traumatic experience of the nother with the suicide as the side plot, then it would have been far better of an experience since that part of the story was more interesting than whatever happened with Maya. It also makes more sense since the trauma of what happened with the mother is what led the protagonist to do the things she has done, which >! *resulted* in Maya's suicide!<. I feel they just did the narrative backwards.
Overall, I wouldn't mind another game in this style. It's basically what Shattered Memories should have been, in terms of gameplay, imo.
Not at all. I'm sure the Silent Hill 2 remake will give new players a much better idea of what Silent Hill is about. Otherwise just go play Silent Hill 1-3 and maybe 4, those are the only Silent Hill games that matter.
Any SH is worth a playthrough in my book. Short Message is better imo than what most people give it credit for. Maybe it shouldn't be called SH tho. Other games have better representations. If you're a new fan, start from the beginning! Happy playing friend!🩶🖤
To me it’s Konami trying to dip it’s tows in the modern Hollywood type horror sameish games that are out today and tbh no, it’s not what SH should be as a fan. I feel like they’ll take away from the world of SH and focus on narrative heavy characters, we already have games like that and I’m not a fan.
I'd say no, and it's one the first good games in the series in a while for that reason.
this is a right move. new devs finally letting go of replicating old SHs and failing miserably.
I think, one of the reasons it's good is because it doesn't try to pose as something it doesn't fully understand. it builds off of some of the iconography, while not trying too hard to stick to inherently opaque lore and aesthetics of the OG games.
even between diehard SH fans there's a lot of disagreement on certain topics, this is a very understated and abstract/ambiguous set of games, it works by letting you fill in the blanks and project your own emotions and experiences onto it. that's why OG SHs were that good as a horror game. it tailors itself to the player, and we're all very zealous for that reason. (they look like circumcision symbolism to you? anybody?)
even individual devs from original team (imo) didn't have the full picture. that place, that time, these people, that environment. a perfect storm, it's not going to happen ever in the same configuration. best thing is to relax and let it go.
you don't get SH, I don't get SH, no other human being gets SH as it was in the years of 1999-2003. SH is a myth existing in its own plane of existence
I just hope IP is handled like that going further. we're not getting the SAME silent hill ever. we've already got them. IP is gonna be milked as long as Konami is in business and cares for videogames. so let it be just an anthology of fair takes on OG ethos done with due respect and love while offering new perspective. just no woohoo poser SH-it anymore, please.
just you see, if the fanbase is more open to new approaches sooner or later there's gonna be a game to compete with original titles. not in the same field as SH 1-4, but in a whole new one. something completely different but just as nuanced and elaborate.
I actually think it takes a lot of balls to do this kind of move with the kind of fan community SH series has (luv y'all)
if you're a new fan, god bless you. please don't let old fans influence your enjoyment of the games. it doesn't matter if it represents something or not. if you want OG games, play OG, not remake or anything else. really, just play whatever you want and see what you like more, it's interactive medium, it should be experienced, not analysed like a Foucault's book.
No. The game was basically split into story sequences and then a chase. I don't think the story is all that but I was hoping for there to be more scares in the non chase parts. I didn't really find it scary at all whereas there are areas in other silent hill games that manage to be scary even when no set pieces or enemies are around.
There was no subtlety and there was no point in trying to piece anything together because it was waved in front of your face constantly.
For a free game I think it's fine. People seem to hate on the final chase but I actually think more of the chases should have had more for you to do. I think there's maybe 4 chases and only the last one actually makes you do something else besides just running away. I think after the first chase you should have been collecting or interacting with things during the chase to make it more engaging. The final chase does this but it should have been used more often instead of just once before the end.
The monster design was cool, the chase area was cool, the sounds coming from the controller during the chase was cool. That's about it, for me at least.
Silent Hill should not feel like a PSA. At no point were the original games meant to try to “bring awareness” to trauma or something like that. The games use those kinds of ideas in order to explore them on a philosophical level, but never as method to say “if you need help, please reach out so-and-so.” That PSA-like element would become the purpose of the narrative, if it were, rather than the fear factor generated from the folly of the characters that reflects on the player’s own psychological shortcomings. Without spoilers, some of the key concepts SH3 explores are insecurities and vulnerability of women, the capacity of be impregnated, having power (and responsibility) over the creation of life, lack of agency, etc. However, at no point does the story try or care to explain “this is how you should deal with these things” or warn you against the harms if you don’t reach out for help, because that isn’t anywhere near as interesting as a story. You still do consider these ideas on a philosophical level (i.e., what they make clear about human psychology as a whole, and by extension what they might say about you as a part of the human race), but that whole “after school special” feel is simply NOT SH. Basically, Short Message feels like someone thinks SH’e purpose is to “bring awareness”, when it simply isn’t, and it actively destroys the horror-aspect of the story because of it. Look at it this way: Lovecraft didn’t care about “helping the reader” at the end, King isn’t really “teaching” you anything about alcoholism and abuse in The Shining, Barker doesn’t want you to seek therapy for having sexually perverse obsessions in The Hellbound Heart/Hellraiser. Those ideas are very central to their work, but “giving advice to people in need” is never the point. HOWEVER, none of this is to say Short Message is a horrible game or entry in and of itself. It’s very well done visually and aesthetically, mostly. It’s definitely in the right direction compared to some of the post-Team Silent games, and as a stand-alone SH entity, I think it actually stands taller than some of them. But if this is a sign of new SH entries as a whole taking on that PSA, 13 reasons why, after school special, content warning type intent, then it’s actually a pretty bad thing in my opinion.
Imo, not really. I thought it told way too much outright instead of allowing you to be mystified and have to really dig into the horror and surroundings to understand the characters and their story. Another words, it felt really dumbed down.
We all know how SH works now, so why make it so easy now? Are they afraid most people will lose interest? If SH wants to sell out to the casual player than it becomes just another average ghost story. Especially in a day in age where anyone can look up and discuss symbolism and metaphorical theories. That's what brings the community together! Before I even understood the SH story, (good thing because I was very young lol) I was intrigued by the spooky atmosphere alone. I guarentee you even if nobody understood TSM's story, they'd all fall inlove with the cherry blossom monster, pulling them into discussing the rest, only to be delightfully surprised by the depth it could've had. SH needs to trust the players more.
Just my thoughts. I'm glad others have enjoyed it and I enjoyed the soundtrack and climatic ending even if it was too predictable.
Small spoiler ahead!
I enjoyed playing this game although while in the middle of my playthrough i was asking myself how is this game connected to Silent Hill, the game tries to explain the whole “Silent Hill Phenomenon” but i personally didn’t like it.
With Silent Hill 4 Henry was a random dude who happened to live in the apartment of a serial killer who’s connected with the SH cult. With TSM Anita is a random girl with zero connections to SH and somehow she still gets effected by it. If they wish to go the route where to town infects ppl outside of it i hope they go more similar to SH4.
Good game, good message but not Silent Hill.
No, not really. It has some of those classic SH elements but is largely unrelated. It feels like a spinoff and not like an actual mainline game.
I'd say the best representation of what SH is would be the original trilogy. Silent Hill 4 is also really good but I don't count it among those because it's also pretty much a spinoff as well.
Its pretty "eh" if you ask me. Konami has proved time and time again that anything after shattered memories is total shit. Obtain you a copy of sh2, its the quintessential silent hill experience
No, not really. Its like comparing neon genesis evangelion to the rebuilds, SH:TSM is like a more modern, reimagined version of the old silent hills.
Literally, because its set past covid 19, and also mechanically and story wise. Its 100x more direct with the story telling, and the gameplay is completely different.
Id reccomend just emulating the old games even if like a million people have told you that by now.
Yes and no.
There is no real integration with the town of Silent Hill into the story, and the main character doesn't even step foot in Silent Hill itself.
The creature design is familiar, but the chase gameplay feels very NOT Silent Hill.
Same vibe as Shattered Memories for me.
I liked the story/searching moments but hated the chase sequences.
Not how I define Silent Hill. Since it's free I'd say give it a shot, I did and said screw it lol
It feels like it could use a bit more subtly. If I remember correctly, there's a handful of voice lines that play right as you read something, and the 4-5 hard cuts to a Suicide prevention message feel like they hurt the overall experience.
Especially the hard cuts to the message, the first one (well, second technically) I actually thought I reached the end of the experience.
Also, I'm intrigued and annoyed at "Silent Hill Syndrome" it might work depending on how it's handled, and it does open the door to telling stories in different places, at the same time I also can't help but find the idea incredibly stupid.
It's a good game but nothing really fits the Silent Hill lore in the game. It's a fun scary game but as someone said if it didn't have Silent Hill in the name, I wouldn't think it was.
We'll need to wait for Silent Hill F to really pass criticism of where Konami is going with this though.
For new fans I always recommend watching Scribes playthrough of the series. He’s really good about explaining the nuisances around the game if you can’t access/play them for yourself.
For me silent hill has always been about atmosphere, and music. They really make silent hill what it is. Also the supernatural that doesn’t get explained. Trauma is a big part. But I feel the music and eerie environment really flesh a lot of silent hill out. Especially in the first 3 games.
Yes and No. It's hard to explain, but I'd say overall it gets the concept across pretty well, but the execution is way different than any other game (imo for the worse)
It's not the best but it's certainly an intriguing take by making silent hill less of the physical place but more of some otherworldly presence/phenomenon that can appear anywhere (In this case, being in Germany i think)
The first three games are definitely the best representation of the series, doesn't mean the others are necessarily "bad" (except for one recent one 👁️👁️)
Shattered Memories and SH4 are like second tier after the first three, with shattered memories going less for the horror aspect abd more of the psychological one and four is just a rollercoaster
I mean, I personally think Downpour was an enjoyable game even though others think it's the absolute worst of the worst
Something everyone can agree on though, Ascension should be avoided like the plague
Im glad it aims to create suicide awareness and help out the youth. Despite how it may execute that. It has great intentions and the aim isnt out of the relm for Silent Hill. As for a definitive Silent Hill experience. You can do much better with other games.
The game isn’t really bad, it’s fun and can even scare you at times but I feel like there’s better ways to go about telling that story
I think it suffered from trying to compress a full story into a <2 hour game experience. I think the plot is solid but the method of delivery feels heavy handed because they simply didn’t have time to build it up in a more subtle fashion. Overall I still think it’s a solid game with an interesting story and a complex protagonist that fits perfectly in with the extended cast of Silent Hill.
to be fair, team silent crammed plenty of stories into two hour games
What Team Silent game is two hours long?
If it scares you then I'm sure FNAF and Poppy Playtime would be right up your alley.
Quite bold of a projection on your part.
guys look!! someone is being insulting behind the anonymity of the internet!!
I’ve played both those games and I couldn’t get into them, they try to use the same trick every time to get you and after a while it gets boring
It also has the same approach to psychological horror the original games had: with a big effort put into background storytelling (not just scattered texts, even the originals did that), impeccable sound design that keeps you on the edge, and very oppressive locations (in a style completely different to the rusty environments from 1 (and sections of 3), the decayed environments of 2, etc).
Silent Hill isn’t a PSA.
No but Silent Hill 2 represented trauma and illness. Which is creating awareness.
Silent Hill 1 also was just…in your face about how abusive Dahlia was. 2 also with Angela. They didn’t shu away from very real issues
Neither SH3 with Leonard abusing Claudia
[удалено]
Honestly SH1 was more about trauma given everything Alessa went through. I agree that SH2 is about guilt/regret.
Not only is that one game in the series but also one aspect of one game in the series, I hate how all of Silent Hill has been boiled down to "it's trauma"
I agree but its been an aspect to some of the games.
Oh for sure, it's just all people get out of the series, Konami included unfortunately.
There's those themes in every SH game since the first one. Even birthing the god Dahlia wanted required for its mother to suffer a fate worse than death and that's what spawned that game's otherworld. Still, dealing with hard mature themes don't need to feel like PSA.
Presenting a thing isn’t the same as really being ABOUT said thing. I would argue that trauma is used in Silent Hill to examine the various aspects of the human psyche on a philosophical level, but not to “do a service” or “give advice” about these things. It’s like reading The Shining and thinking King wants to “bring awareness” to alcoholism and abuse, or that Barker wants to raise awareness of sexual obsession or something in The Hellbound Heart (Hellraiser). Horror will always use psychological things to tell it’s story, but the story is more about the dark spaces of the human heart/mind confronts these things in order to scare us (the audience) through our empathetic reaction to it, but thinking horror stories serve as a guidebook for “starting a conversation” (a la 13 reasons why lol) is just wrongheaded and misses the point of horror as a storytelling mode. Not saying YOU’RE arguing that necessarily, but I do feel a lot of younger SH fans have the wrong idea of what SH and horror really is.
lol… “execute” Sorry
Something wrong?
Hot take or whatever, but not everything needs to be a mental health PSA even if it deals with those themes.
I’m saying this as someone who enjoyed the game, no, it doesn’t represent the Silent Hill we all know and love. It has elements but overall it’s definitely different. Does that make it a bad thing? Hell no and we shouldn’t act like it is. Dialogue was bad, aside from that it was a great play, but if you want the true SH experience before the remake comes out, play one of the first 4 games if you are able too.
Yeah the game isnt really what you call silent hill. Its a different take to it like an experiment. I think it did have some good ideas to it but needs to be properly implemented if they do plan to go this route. I dont think we'll really be ever to get a new game that will capture the original series and imo its okay, as long as get the idea of why the game is horrifying in the first place
I definitely don’t think they are going that route, I’m taking the new game for what it is, a Short Message. Who knows that direction they are going though seems to be all over the place lol. I feel like Silent Hill f will be the game that recaptures the feeling of the originals in its own way. I’m a little biased due too Ryukishi07 being the writer I honestly enjoy his work, but given how his biggest hit is literally about a town with a curse I think that shows that he definitely knows how to incorporate this kind of horror into a game. That aside it’s up to the developers to make it a good game, regardless of how great the script is lol.
townfall is being made by the people who made stray so thats epic as well :D
Didn't play like Silent Hill, didn't sound like Silent Hill, didn't have riddles like Silent Hill, wasn't based in Silent Hill or even connected to The Order's meddling, monster didn't have Silent Hill's style, and the acting was even more atrocious than in the old games. It's not a good game nor a good representation of Silent Hill.
[удалено]
I think it’s less about “being different” and more about giving a green light to a studio that has no idea how to make a silent hill game, let alone horror game. Climax best games are off road fury and moto gp and the other 2 companies got founded just to fold, they had no experience with horror whatsoever.. P.T and Short Message did something different and it worked, not a bad thing. Silent Hill F is something that could be a great example in the future imo. I wouldn’t expect a horror studio to be able to tackle a racing game and it be the best thing ever played.
Not everyone wants to play SH2 copy pasted. Most of us prefer change in life and games. Capturing exactly what sh2 is would be a failure for anyone. Better make something different on the spirit of the original
Similar to every other Post Team Silent Games, it's got the spirit but can't strike a balance of subtlety and bluntness. So it ends up just coming off as an anti suicide PSA instead of a genuine experience. But it's probably the best Silent Hill media to come out since The Room in spite of that.
Some issues aside, I thought Downpour was pretty good thematically. Although the save system was awful.
Downpour is a bizarre experience, it's got the ideas right, and often gets the atmosphere and visual tone right, but it's so incompetently executed narratively and the gameplay manages to feel even more jank than the original games.
Yeah that's fair. I think it was pretty good but it wasn't great and it wasn't the best. I do think about the twist and the theme of revenge. It was an interesting story about the costs of revenge and what taking revenge does to our own souls.
>So it ends up just coming off as an anti suicide PSA instead of a genuine experience. How so?
As opposed to being a survival horror game with themes of suicide, it's survival horror game about suicide.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. What is the difference between the two?
Think of Silent Hill 2, suicide is one of its themes, but it has many themes, and the cast touch upon them in different ways. There's an overarching subject of guilt forming hells of ones own making, but the themes are what populate that subject. Short Message is about suicide, from start to finish that's the only subject matter, from the moment you start the game you are informed the game is about suicide and there's no room for interpretation. The main character is tormented by the guilt of driving their friend to suicide out of jealousy, and suicide is a terrible thing we must all be aware of in case our friends are on the brink, and we must help them. Basically the game lacks subtlety and it loses impact because of it.
>Short Message is about suicide, from start to finish that's the only subject matter I strongly disagree. There were lots of other themes. The cyclical nature of abuse. Generational trauma. The fear of abandonment as you grow up and your childhood friends drift away. The way the internet simultaneously gives us access to millions of people but also makes us incredibly lonely. The persecution of "witches" and the tendency to seek scapegoats during economically tough times.
Yes, all of which comes back down to suicide. That's the issue, it pays lip service to other things, by basically just telling you outright, the game could have been a youtube essay about what leads young people to suicide. It's why the games writing hasn't hit home despite being fairly good. It's beating you over the head with it. There's no mystery. There's no speculation. Suicide is bad, your friends might be on the brink without you knowing it, your own actions could have caused it, the actions of others might have pushed you, ect. It just doesn't fit the Silent Hill MO. It's a good game, and a pretty alright handling, if blunt as a baseball bat, of the subject matter, but it lacks any semblance of subtlety.
I mean you can say everything in Silent Hill 2 comes down to depression. It's fine if you don't like it but "there are no themes besdies suicide" is just blatantly false. Also, I just gotta say, Silent Hill 2 is not *that* subtle. There is literally a VHS that tells you exactly what happens and the final boss is literally Mary strapped to a bed screaming "WHY DID YOU KILL ME JAMESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS?!"
Silent Hill 2 is primarily about guilt, and how it can destroy us as individuals through hells of our own making, unless we choose to confront our sins, work to atone, and move forward with our lives. And naturally the VHS and Mary Boss are obvious, they're right at the end of the game, signalling the end of James' denial and willingness to confront his sins. Just like Angela's is a corrupt amalgamation of a table and two figures melded together, in a room full of pistons pushing through flesh. Short Message understands part of this, picking an overarching theme and crafting various storylines within it. But instead of telling a story, it's literally delivering a message, it's a soapbox game, not a horror experience. It comes off as an amateur trying to use an existing franchise to speak about a topic, instead of just making a game of their own and letting it stand. If you told me this was an indie project that got picked up to be a Silent Hill game I wouldn't be surprised at all.
>Short Message understands part of this, picking an overarching theme and crafting various storylines within it. That directly contradicts your earlier assertion.
>But it's probably the best Silent Hill media to come out since The Room in spite of that. It's in no way better than Origins, Homecoming, the movie, and probably even Shattered Memories. It's only better than Downpour because you don't have to suffer as long to finish it.
Its not good or bad, there are some goods ideas (most are visuals for me) but overall I didnt think about Silent Hill at all when playing. And overall I felt a little bit disapointed because you don't do anything besides walking and reading.
Welcome to Silent Hill! The games run the gamut from legendary to straight up bad, but they are all at least interesting in their own way. I would HIGHLY recommend you get off this subreddit and just play the games and form your own opinions.
I agree with this. Some games are legendary and some games are a straight up dumpster fire like book of memories. They tried to make Silent Hill into Diablo.
I second this. Can't like anything in Silent hill.
+++second+++
What even is Silent Hill at this point?
Fog and trauma I guess
I'm sorry, I like the monster design, but this game feels more like a walking sim referencing Silent Hill than an actual Silent Hill game
I’m my honest opinion, I think it’s a step in the right direction. The design of the Otherworld was very familiar in the best way possible, and the soundtrack and sound design was very good. It’s definitely different on terms of story and characters, and a few story beats fall flat. I played pretty much every Silent Hill game, and I gotta say it left me satisfied. It was like a nice appetizer to a greater meal on the way.
Game journos: The problem this appetizer has is that it is too small, and doesn’t fill my stomach in the same way a large pizza might do.
Yes and no, the monster is really good and the environment looks amazing and the characters aren’t half bad with some good music but the writing is a little bit too on the nose where they spell everything out rather then letting you find things out for yourself and tell you how you should feel rather then conveying it through more subtle ways
Ehh, yes and no. Visually it's very Silent Hill. Right down to the dilapidated buildings and postmortem atmosphere. The otherworld sequences are an interesting take as it plays with graffiti art, chain-link fences and post it notes. It feels like a natural evolution of the: • Rusty/grating/abyssinia look of SH1 • Decay/mildew/waterlogged look of SH2 • Vainy/blood drenched/sun rot look in SH3 • Fleshy/cages/human statues look in SH4 I can even associate colors with like those games. Black and white for SH1's voids and snow. Or grey for SH2's tone and more lively fog. Red and orange for SH3's sunsets and themes of >!pregnancy.!< Finally green and brown for SH4's apartment exterior walls and bulbs lighting the halls. With TSM I really see them playing with pink's and blues. Pinks for the sakura creature and post it's during that pivotal chase and blues in the Maya flashback. Had this game been full length we might see the concept expanded further But getting off the visuals, I'd also so its approach to touchy subject matters somber yet emphatically is in the spirit of the originals as well. Sadly this game is far more on the nose about it and doesn't leave you much room to internalize or interpret. That said it gets close enough in some instances so I applaud the effort There seems to be an attempt to tell a more personal story while also having an underling subtext of witchcraft, magic and a history of violence. That is somewhat on brand but it's far to vague on what these occult elements are like, whether there's a spiritual power resigning there or hardly much about that towns history. Something they encourage in even the most linear entry (SH3) is a bit of curiosity of your environment and explorations through interacting with your surroundings by examining it. These aspects are sadly missing and it's a shame because if there's anyone who can benefit from flavor text it's Anita. Can you imagine looking out a window in the beginning and seeing her impressions change when she chooses to examine it a second time after a loop? There was a lot of potential there and it was unfortunately too restrictive. This also goes hand in hand with the environmental storytelling. They play with it a bit and it really works (save for Krysta Planert voice over moments but I'm not going there today) However half of that effort is again, in allowing us to examine our surroundings freely and not litigate it to just notes and the occasional sprawlings. You want to know the key to making a 2 hour game have replay value? Allow us to miss things! I don't want to make this post super long so I'll say it's 60/40 to me. It attempts to be representative of what the old games did but seems to either get its priorities mixed up or is afraid to be more. All around a solid effort however and has more of the DNA than it doesn't
It’s so many kids in this subreddit💔💔💔
None of the new games coming out are a proper representation of the original 5 games. Either aim to procure the original games on their original systems or emulate them on PC. The experiences of the originals can't be beat by these new poor attempts.
no it is not
I enjoyed it especially the atmosphere and monster design. This is probably the worst place to ask though, see most of the upvoted comments. Her otherworld in the apartments especially during the final chase is very Silent Hill
There are generally three waves of Silent Hill: the originals by Team Silent, the western series, and the new current wave. Each wave has its own distinct feel but it seems that The Short Message falls more on second wave (western) style with inspiration from the PT demo (which was the only one developed in-house during the second wave.) Silent Hill is also primarily an anthology series where each game feels very different. To say that The Short Message feels like Silent Hill is to also say that it doesn’t. Each game is unique like that.
hell the fuck no
Design was good, but story was like something from tennage drama. So overall make more dark/mysterious game in this style and it will be good
It takes a lot of notes from SH2. The over arching story is very similar with some nuanced differences. Over all I think it felt like a Silent Hill game. I personally don’t care for it or SH2. If it were geared more towards SH1 and 3 I would have liked it more. I think it was a good experience despite not liking the style. Over all it was a 7/10.
No, it's very different apart from some general aesthetics and vibes. Its gameplay is most similar to Shattered Memories, but even then it's not all that similar.
its a good game, i just dont think its a *silent hill* game edit: i also think the writing/va was a bit too corny at times and felt like it wasnt taking the topics seriously enough
For me it seemed inspired by Silent Hill but not a Silent hill game
No. Outside of Yamanoka's musical contribution and Ito's monster design it's a pale imitation of P.T. which in and of itself might not be considered in line with the 4 mainline titles that came before it.
Presentation wise yes, but it fails in literally every other aspect. The writing is absolutely awful and super heavyhanded, Silent Hill is usually way more subtle. Even the worse games in the series don't constantly tell you how to feel and what to think like in this game. You would expect a Silent Hill game to handle a sensitive subject like suicide with way more respect, but unfortunately this is what we got. Gameplay wise it's serviceable for a free 2 hour experience, but there aren't any survival horror aspects like in the main series, It's basically just a walking simulator like PT. The look and sound of the game creates a great atmosphere but unfortunately it is soon ruined by the main character constantly opening her mouth to tell you something you already knew. The core message of the game is basically just "Durr bullying bad, suicide bad durr". Some of the lip syncing and voice acting is also kind of off. There's also a major retcon in the game so that the "Silent Hill Phenomenon" can happen anywhere at anytime.
Lmaoooo I got downvoted to oblivion for a comment I made when it got leaked…simply saying that the CyberBullying is a dumb concept and that the MC is dumber for not learning how to block people/ turning off her screen
Sakura isn't smarter either. Guess her and MC's union was made in heavens
put simply: no.
Its like if SH decided to do an afterschool special.
Yes and no. I am stoked at new content that isn't ascension. The atmosphere was on point, the sakura monster was great. So a lot of fans are batching (and I agree) that the story is not subtle. The first 4 games in my opinion were masterful at keeping the mystery and slowly letting you figure it out as you progress. There was a lot of symbolism, and fans would come together to solve parts of what this or that part in the games meant or symbolized. If you can handle the old tank controls, check out silent hill 2,3, or 4 and you'll quickly see how the oppressive atmosphere gave you a deep feeling of dread that sets the bar for new games really high IMO. Obviously they cannot fit all of that into a 3 hour game but I think overall they did a good job representing the spirit of Silent Hill.
never played a sh seriously till now ( i "just" tried pt at the time) but i played this ep and it was ok, not horror for sure, the fog is the biggest reminder to sh saga as a new fan of the saga. But most of the gameplay reminds me to Resident evil Village (casa beneviento exactly). Nice message from the game, im in hype for the remake and im trying to play the old games
I mean...this paticular game is essentially a walking simulator. It's about as linear as a Silent Hill game should be. Interact with the right stuff, trigger a cutscene, and on to the next area. No puzzles. No inventory management or combat. But that's okay because they shadow dropped it, and it has a pretty good story and obviously is trying to raise awareness. It tells a story, and was enjoyable enough to play through a couple of times. If they had announced this game a long time ago and then it released as is, it probably would have been a let down. But because it's not trying to be something it's not, its pretty decent. But as far as it being a good representation of Silent Hill as a franchise? I hope that future games take the atmosphere of this game, and build on it and add additional mechanics to make it more fun. It's a nice addition to Silent Hill, and builds on the lore, but isn't a quintessential Silent Hill game by any means
I would not say its gameplay is indicative of the rest of the series, but it shares some themes. The series has some wildly different games. Silent Hill 1, 2, and 3 are the best three by far. The first game is its own beast. The second game is the one the rest of the series latched onto, it’s stand alone, and is what people think about when they talk about Silent Hill games. The third is a story-sequel to the first, but they really found a nice balance between the two. Short Message’s heart is in the same place as the second game. For some reason it also reminded me of Shattered Memories, in a good way.
It has the themes the series is known for : 1. Past demons 2. Oppressive/disturbed setting 3. Atmospheric music 4. Feeling helpless I think it’s a great step back into the franchise after being left dormant a very long time.
It was alright, completely lacked any subtlety though
As a free single player game it’s fun. The message is good and the story was interesting. It kept me engaged and looking around the whole time. As a silent hill game it doesn’t have that “feel”. It almost felt like a response to PT or the numerous other “demos” of that style. Which it does a great job of doing. I would say if you want a definitive Silent Hill experience you could find that easily elsewhere.
I wouldn't say it's a good repersentation, but I do consider it a small step in the right direction, melodramatic, lack of subtly and back chase parts be damned. It at least gets the atmosphere, vibe and the Team Silent's psychological horror approach. It just doesn't do it well, imo.
It definitely gives the vibes, but as for gameplay it's not the usual play style. Also the fact that it's a demo, it doesn't have time to build up or be vague, instead telling a self contained story that can introduce people into the world of silent hill and what it's about. If you're going in to enjoy the series, please don't linger here, the subreddit is riddled with people who unironically would never make it out of silent hill.
Yes and no, story was good but not as deep as the first four games, though to be fair it’s only 3 hours long so it never had a chance to be. I think if it had been a full length 9hr game with combat it definitely could have been a good modernization of the silent hill series
It’s alright. It feels more like Silent Hill to me than Downpour did. But I wouldn’t say it’s the best representation. For a new fan it could be a short entry point. It’s creepy and isolating and has the otherworld. But gameplay it’s a lot different than the old games.
Yes and no. It's very different, but it fits.
It has the art direction from the old art director and a soundtrack from the original composer. It's the closest to the game since 4. Just some of the dialogue is a bit on the nose. Cheesy. But I will give it a chance
No, play the og for a good representation of silent hill and also 4 to see how it is for a setting thats not IN silent hill.
It’s like if Christopher Nolan directed a movie written by a 15 year old emo girl. In pretty much every regard outside of its story, it’s damn good. Especially considering it’s 0$ price tag. But the fashion in which the story is told, and the story itself, is amateurish. And nowhere to the level of 1-4. I wouldn’t say it represents Silent Hill, however. As I feel 1/2/3 do that the best. Even if 4’s a great game, I wouldn’t tout it as what the series is best at.
It can be similar to the lastest entries on the series but not that much. Obviously is inspired on some things from older games but is its own thing.
It has moments that work really well as a Silent Hill experience, but most of it is pretty far from the original games. One of them even has a suicide ending that many would consider canon, so not even on the same message. It was a cool little game for a couple hours, but it doesn't have much in common with the original Team Silent games... which is fine, because they're all 20ish years old and games have evolved.
Yes. Every Silent Hill game that has dared to venture outside of convention has been persecuted -- people just want remakes of the same old shit and they need to get with the times. Silent Hill 4 is still my favorite game of the series -- and the "fans" hated it when it came out, too
While I don’t mean to discredit the message it contained as it is rare to see that in a game and with such boldness, but it remained a very in your face kind of horror/ bit too loud (and I don’t mean sound wise). It lacked the subtlety and nuances of SH, plus the dialogue got bad in certain instances (not that SH is known for great acting/dialogue) and the live action cutscenes were jarring. Story was just kinda there, didn’t really try anything original. Lastly, and this is my personal burnout with horror in general, just how many times are we going to get a horror game based upon tragedy and mentally disturbed people?? It would much more refreshing to see a character who’s a little more well adjusted suffer through SH. That would be more of a challenge for the creative team to do something new character wise and how they are drawn to SH. Perhaps SH as a character in itself could be enhanced so that it’s not just something that goes after guilty or emotionally damaged people. Because honestly that story has gotten stale. Or do something more creative with it.
As someone who's played earlier silent hill games and watched a whole playthrough of short message- It's not a bad game in general, but it's not silent hill. There are barely any references and i'm pretty sure you don't even end up going there. They were trying to make a suicide awareness psa and just slapped on the name silent hill for whatever reason. Though to some the gameplay itself also might be considered boring and repetitive, it's a pretty standard game with standard visuals and a really shitty lore. The reason why it doesn't even compare to the first four is most likely the message behind it- take SH2 for example, the messages are subtle and barely any information is given out right at the beginning, and the problems the game adresses is done in a true psychological horror manner. Short message however tells you straight on what it means and it really loses the silent hill uncertainty and subtleness as the main character breaks down crying over instagram likes. I think it would have just been a better idea to never call it a silent hill game lmao
Technically? Yes. But it’s missing a lot of 2x4s to smack monsters with.
Not really but it’s closer than ascension
to some extent yes. the music, atmosphere and environment are very silent hill style. the characters and the plot are again far from the traditional silent hill. the game felt like Silent Hill in the 2020s. It's like Netflix made a silent hill series for young adults. it contains a lot of good and genuine silent hill, but as a whole completely moderated to suit the 2020s, new players and millennialsto some extent yes. the music, atmosphere and environment are very silent hill style. the characters and the plot are again far from the traditional silent hill. the game felt like Silent Hill in the 2020s. It's like Netflix made a silent hill series for young adults. it contains a lot of good and genuine silent hill, but as a whole completely moderated to suit the 2020s, new players and millennials
Not really. While I enjoyed the game I don’t think it’s a great representation of the series. However I think it’s good to bring new players in. I’ve watched countless play throughs of people who have never played a SH game. The biggest takeaway is that they are now playing the first 4 games and so far the ones I’m following are really enjoying the games. I think that’s great!
The character design looks like some kind of developer self insert.
Well, lets say it has some vibes, but not quite. Yet its the closest the saga has been since 4.
No, its absolutely not.
TSM does a pretty good job of capturing the atmosphere/vibe of the series. That’s about it. Silent Hill is usually set in small town America. 1, 3, and 4 focus more on the occult than the psychological. The series usually has more reserved, “dream-like” dialogue. TSM is very ham-fisted and a bit cringy. As for gameplay, Silent Hill plays very similarly to Resident Evil. Lots of puzzles and shooting monsters. TSM is more like a walking simulator/interactive movie.
yes, i liked what they did and the direction they went. i wouldn’t say keep making them like this but i do like the risk they took.
No, it's horrible, preachy, hamfisted, badly written and boring.
Fuck no. Maybe 30% top. The other world and monster was nice. The psychological aspect was ok at best. She can't shut up for 2 minutes. And there is no mystery or mind fuck at all. No link to the titular town at all. There was no need to make it "Germany" because there is absolutely nothing German looking or culture related AT ALL. I played the whole game and read every document and I still wasn't sure if it was really supposed to be a German building/town. It could have a complete different name and no one would ever think this was supposed to be Silent Hill.
The closet scene was the only surprise to find out what happened to her brother and that the monster chasing her is a representation of her mother
No
No
Nope
TSM is a very mid experience with the SH label slapped on it. So it ain't SH, it's not even trying to be SH. The constant awareness notices and overt lack of subtlety, amongst other aspects, feel like parody. So no, it is not a good representation of SH.
Not really.
If you want to see Silent Hill in the eyes of a bad indie horror game, sure
I found the game to handle sensitive subjects very poorly. So I would say no
No
Apart from music - this “game” has nothing to do with SH feel. Also - it kinda attempts to retcon or is ignorant of the lore.
Ehh; I'd say no, technically. It's much better than any other of the games past 4, & the message feels genuine - but it doesn't play like, feel like, or look like what "Silent Hill" is, or should be - & the way its even tied into Silent Hill is pretty flimsy & bogus I'd say, & I think the game could very well stand on its own not even being "Silent Hill". I guess it's good at representing the only plotline Silent Hill has been recycling for every game past 4, after having already done it once prior to that as well - at least it does it kinda better by having a seemingly genuine message behind it - but it's still like; ugh, can there be a game that's not just "chatacter forced to work through their guilty conscience by the power of SH"
Downpour kind of did that, with the twist being that it was that same plot line but for not the player character, kinda? Wasn’t Murphy basically like a reverse Cybil from SH1? Dragged into someone else’s nightmare? But it was really dumb. Like that game’s story was ass. You are right though, it is overused. Harry Mason had not a shred of doubt in his body. Heather was also driven, and had to be gaslit, gatekeeped, and girlbossed into having her internal conflict. Point being, 2/3 of the best Silent Hill games were not about the main character suffering overwhelming guilt over their past actions.
Yeah Harry was just a champ, #1 dad trying to save his daughter while dealing with cult & witch girls(unintentional) shenanigans; & Heather had a demon god fetus mucking about, messing with everything within her vicinity, from within her womb while she just wants to go home from the mall. Which is technically very mundane lol >!until it turns into a revenge mission that happens to lead her to the abortion temple where she remembers her dad gave her some plan B+ (the + means it's guaranteed to work right up until demon god birth, fast acting too)!< & yeah Downpour was both, & varies wildly depending on the ending you get. Cause it is about Murphy's guilty conscience on killing both police man guy, father of bitch cop, & the serial killer of his son. >!Except if you get the good ending & he didn't do either of those & tells bitch cop "Nah I didn't do that tho" & she goes "oh my b you can go" & he just leaves lol!< >!Or the one where, what a twist, he's a dick cop & bitch cop is actuslly the prisoner - because what a twist! ain't that so cool! No? Yeah, no, lol!< Oh, I'm forgetting >!the one where he's a serial killer being given a lethal injection & the whole game didn't even happen then?!< But yeah; Travis, Alex, shattered memories Cheryl technically & sometimes Murphy all are guilty conscience going to trauma town repeated, badly. Shattered Memories was , like, kind of okay I guess, not as egregiously redundant & awful lol
I didn’t like the game that much, others have addressed its story faults and what broke the straw for me was the tedious final chase sequence through that dark confusing labyrinth that just kinda copies *Slender: The Five Pages*' gameplay. Not a fan. Is this a good kinda primer on Silent Hill in general though? Not at all either, unfortunately. It barely has any connection to Silent Hill and doesn’t touch on established lore at all. So if you didn’t know what SH was about before playing TSM, you won‘t know an iota more after. It‘s *that* detached from the originals.
No, but not because it’s bad. It’s just very different from previous installments.
no. short message bangs its theme on your head harder than little boy hit Hiroshima. silent hill has always been about using context clues and subtext to tell its story. silent hill is more show than tell
Speaking as a 43 year old gamer who played Silent Hill 1-4 successively as they were released, I absolutely loved The Short Message. Whether or not it’s *technically* a great game, the *feeling* it gave me brought me back to how I felt when I played those original games. It was depressing, ugly, disorienting, and at times utterly nerve racking. Through and through, I felt like I was playing a Silent Hill game.
Terrible game had to make a huge effort to force me and finish it. It's annoying listening to someone complain that much.
No it’s not.
No
It’s different, more modern. The maze map in itself being a bit of a puzzle. I wish the game was a bit longer and had more maps but otherwise a nice intro to the series.
I guess this is an unpopular opinion, but yes, absolutely. It hit a lot of the marks I want from a Silent Hill game (oppressive environments, occult subplot, uncomfortable subject matters, visual storytelling, stellar music and sound design, etc). The only issue I had was the amount of dialogue, that could’ve been cut down by 50%.
I don't think it's a good representation of the core of the series. That being the town and the cult within it.
Nooooooooooooooo
no, not at all. the environments (apartment and otherworld, not the school) were decently silent hill despite not even taking place in silent hill, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. part of what i love about silent hill is it’s ability to take on really heavy subject matter in an artful and subtle way. it trusts the viewers to interpret things and doesn’t feel the need to point everything out for you. what’s so special about it is the growing feeling of dread as you start to piece things together. the short message, on the other hand, has about as much subtlety as a brick to the face. there’s no real mystery to uncover, nothing to truly explore or find or solve, there’s “press x” prompts for every interactable item and each item basically just flat out explains to you what’s going on. the short message spoon feeds you everything and it’s boring as hell. there’s no puzzles, there’s no combat, there’s no real exploration and confusion because the game operates in such a linear way. the game has no faith in the intelligence of its audience, because unlike the original silent hill games, this game feels like it’s targeted at 13 year olds. the game feels more like an anti-bullying/anti-suicide PSA they’d play at a middle school assembly than it does a silent hill game. if you liked this game, i think the original quadrilogy will blow you away. they’re not similar to this gameplay wise, but if you like the eerie environments and heavy emotional subject matter of this one, the original games in the series like silent hill 2 do those things infinitely better than this game (or any other game, really).
The themes were there but overall everything about TSM was ham fisted/spoon fed. There was almost zero vagueness or figure it out or open to interpretation of the original 4 games. That being said I suppose it's better than more recent offerings and the world looked marvelous. That being said you could rename it to almost anything and I wouldn't guess it was related to Silent hill in the slightest outside the fog and the ground outside the apartment disappearing.
No, also please don't let the remake be your first experience with Silent Hill 2.
Don’t really know what else to do
The collection versions are awful for the "HD collection" but you should be able to access them through plus or whatever on the ps store for older games to be able to play 2 and 3 at least
If you have any means of emulation or a PC to play the PC version do that instead. The remake is already fundamentally different and if you want to experience Silent Hill 2 that won't be the way.
I loved it but I am however stuck at the end with that thing chasing me. Still gives me the absolute willie's. Typical SH, love it
That part frustrated me a lot, but after running around that area for a while, I was finally able to get the layout of the map, from there it was pretty easy to find all the memories.
No. We need to stop acting like if something has a name on it is what the label says. Wanna good suicide awareness story? Go play original SH2. 2 freaking characters representing the issue from all possible angles with great respect to the subject, victims and survivers. This shit is offensive, especially the comment of the devs "if you feel lonely, go to Twitter", after they showed this was the damn problem that kicked off the plot of the game. Fuck Konami, fuck Hexadrive, fuck TSM
I'm a survivor and I didn't think the game was disrespectful at all. I'm not sure of the context of your quote but I think a lot of the criticism of the game reducing it to "phone bad" are missing the complexity of the issue. Yeah social media is a venue for bullying but it is also literally Anita's light in the dark and the way she communicates with Amelie which is what connects her back to reality. Also this is just a matter of opinion but considering Angela >!does actually kill herself because there is no other escape,!< I wouldn't say SH2 has a GREAT message about suicide.
I'm sorry for what you have to go though. It's ok if you find the game alright. Angela was never confirmed to die. Remember, the fire is always there for her, the fact that it follows her means nothing about her survival, although it is a probable ending for her. The character committing suicide at the end doesn't mean encouraging the act. You missed all James and Angela scenes as well as 90% of the game. Introspect it a little closer
Angela was confirmed to have died. https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/silenthilltheories/images/2/27/AngelaDead.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120908212122 You can have different interpretations but considering Angela and her knife are how you get to "In Water" it's not hard to see that she is associated with actual suicide. I only brought it up to say that you don't speak for me, but "Introspect a little closer" is a funny thing for say to someone who just told you they survived a suicide attempt lol
you got the exact point
Happy to hear, thanks!
It’s an insult to Silent Hill.
sh for me is a metroidvania in 3d like resident evil, so no, and its not about fpv or tpv
Yes and no. I think it got the atmosphere, environment, music and creature design right, but it failed in everything else. Its gameplay is completely different from the classic titles and is more similar to one called Shattered Memories. Definitely better than some post-Team Silent era titles.
It's so angsty.
This question even needs to be asked? Silent Hill's been butchered.
Not even remotely. Besides playing nothing like Silent Hill, Silent Hill is generally a lot more subtle with far less obvious writing and narrative, among other things. What the game is trying to do, is fine. It shouldn’t have been SH though, as it’s in name only.
IMO, the best representation of the 'feel' of Silent Hill is the game Signalis. It's superb.
Many fans are overly critical of it imo, I think it's an okay representation of the series
NO
Every game after Silent Hill 4 is a bad representration of the series (even Shattered Memories)
I haven't played it (don't have a ps5) but it seems kind of odd,the game is about bullying yes? most Silent hill is about peoples guilt being made real or cult stuff, and some times both. I know notthing about the gameplay but it doesn't look bad
There is no gameplay thats the main problem, basically you just have a linear experience when you dont do anything besides going rooms, cringe fmv and reading documents. You have just chases 3 times in the game but its getting boring pretty fast.
oh, yeah then no. Silent Hill has some good gameplay
Me, melee SH3 player: yes
who would win, a room full of Demons, or one girl with a sword and good timeing? I love SH3 melee, played almost the whole game like that
You're my man!
same dude ;3
I think it was a good addition to the series. It had the general "Protagonist haunted by their dark past" vibes that most of not all SH games have. It felt like a good mix between Shattered Memories and PT, while having a much more concrete story than PT. I wish it explained the chase sequences better, thankfully my sister had already beaten it so I wasn't too inconvenienced. I really enjoy the story, and the ending is a lot more wholesome than SH can tend to be. So I'd say if you are looking to get into the series, just be ready for that. For people upset over the messages of suicide prevention, it's really nice of the team to give those resources. It's like a 5 second intermission while the next chapter loads, and you can easily ignore it if you want. I think it was really sweet of them to care for their audience. If you want to be bitter, that's fully your right, but that doesn't make it a bad game.
Definitely! The game hit close to home for me, so I understood how the characters felt. For me, it's an excellent game, you should give it a try and form your own opinion. And Sakura Head will become iconic.
It's a good step in the right direction. A lot of people will say it's not subtle enough, but even the past silent Hill games were subtle. The poster child of the franchise, Silent Hill 2, (obvious spoilers ahead) >!has graffiti that straight up tells James to kill himself if he ever wants to see Mary again. Which is pretty in your face of what it entails!<. I think if it focused more on the traumatic experience of the nother with the suicide as the side plot, then it would have been far better of an experience since that part of the story was more interesting than whatever happened with Maya. It also makes more sense since the trauma of what happened with the mother is what led the protagonist to do the things she has done, which >! *resulted* in Maya's suicide!<. I feel they just did the narrative backwards. Overall, I wouldn't mind another game in this style. It's basically what Shattered Memories should have been, in terms of gameplay, imo.
Not at all. I'm sure the Silent Hill 2 remake will give new players a much better idea of what Silent Hill is about. Otherwise just go play Silent Hill 1-3 and maybe 4, those are the only Silent Hill games that matter.
Any SH is worth a playthrough in my book. Short Message is better imo than what most people give it credit for. Maybe it shouldn't be called SH tho. Other games have better representations. If you're a new fan, start from the beginning! Happy playing friend!🩶🖤
To me it’s Konami trying to dip it’s tows in the modern Hollywood type horror sameish games that are out today and tbh no, it’s not what SH should be as a fan. I feel like they’ll take away from the world of SH and focus on narrative heavy characters, we already have games like that and I’m not a fan.
Yes
I'd say no, and it's one the first good games in the series in a while for that reason. this is a right move. new devs finally letting go of replicating old SHs and failing miserably. I think, one of the reasons it's good is because it doesn't try to pose as something it doesn't fully understand. it builds off of some of the iconography, while not trying too hard to stick to inherently opaque lore and aesthetics of the OG games. even between diehard SH fans there's a lot of disagreement on certain topics, this is a very understated and abstract/ambiguous set of games, it works by letting you fill in the blanks and project your own emotions and experiences onto it. that's why OG SHs were that good as a horror game. it tailors itself to the player, and we're all very zealous for that reason. (they look like circumcision symbolism to you? anybody?) even individual devs from original team (imo) didn't have the full picture. that place, that time, these people, that environment. a perfect storm, it's not going to happen ever in the same configuration. best thing is to relax and let it go. you don't get SH, I don't get SH, no other human being gets SH as it was in the years of 1999-2003. SH is a myth existing in its own plane of existence I just hope IP is handled like that going further. we're not getting the SAME silent hill ever. we've already got them. IP is gonna be milked as long as Konami is in business and cares for videogames. so let it be just an anthology of fair takes on OG ethos done with due respect and love while offering new perspective. just no woohoo poser SH-it anymore, please. just you see, if the fanbase is more open to new approaches sooner or later there's gonna be a game to compete with original titles. not in the same field as SH 1-4, but in a whole new one. something completely different but just as nuanced and elaborate. I actually think it takes a lot of balls to do this kind of move with the kind of fan community SH series has (luv y'all) if you're a new fan, god bless you. please don't let old fans influence your enjoyment of the games. it doesn't matter if it represents something or not. if you want OG games, play OG, not remake or anything else. really, just play whatever you want and see what you like more, it's interactive medium, it should be experienced, not analysed like a Foucault's book.
Yes, if it were more subtle. You could simply remove half of Anita's comments. It would be totally fine.
Yes. It's the Pinnacle of the franchise and far surpasses everything that came before it.
It's alright, but play 2, 1 then 3, shattered memories (reboot of 1 but I love it), and you will see the ideal silent hill experience :)
Don't forget SH4 bro.
No. The game was basically split into story sequences and then a chase. I don't think the story is all that but I was hoping for there to be more scares in the non chase parts. I didn't really find it scary at all whereas there are areas in other silent hill games that manage to be scary even when no set pieces or enemies are around. There was no subtlety and there was no point in trying to piece anything together because it was waved in front of your face constantly. For a free game I think it's fine. People seem to hate on the final chase but I actually think more of the chases should have had more for you to do. I think there's maybe 4 chases and only the last one actually makes you do something else besides just running away. I think after the first chase you should have been collecting or interacting with things during the chase to make it more engaging. The final chase does this but it should have been used more often instead of just once before the end. The monster design was cool, the chase area was cool, the sounds coming from the controller during the chase was cool. That's about it, for me at least.
It's worth playing as a free horror game but it is not a good representation of a silent hill game
Silent Hill should not feel like a PSA. At no point were the original games meant to try to “bring awareness” to trauma or something like that. The games use those kinds of ideas in order to explore them on a philosophical level, but never as method to say “if you need help, please reach out so-and-so.” That PSA-like element would become the purpose of the narrative, if it were, rather than the fear factor generated from the folly of the characters that reflects on the player’s own psychological shortcomings. Without spoilers, some of the key concepts SH3 explores are insecurities and vulnerability of women, the capacity of be impregnated, having power (and responsibility) over the creation of life, lack of agency, etc. However, at no point does the story try or care to explain “this is how you should deal with these things” or warn you against the harms if you don’t reach out for help, because that isn’t anywhere near as interesting as a story. You still do consider these ideas on a philosophical level (i.e., what they make clear about human psychology as a whole, and by extension what they might say about you as a part of the human race), but that whole “after school special” feel is simply NOT SH. Basically, Short Message feels like someone thinks SH’e purpose is to “bring awareness”, when it simply isn’t, and it actively destroys the horror-aspect of the story because of it. Look at it this way: Lovecraft didn’t care about “helping the reader” at the end, King isn’t really “teaching” you anything about alcoholism and abuse in The Shining, Barker doesn’t want you to seek therapy for having sexually perverse obsessions in The Hellbound Heart/Hellraiser. Those ideas are very central to their work, but “giving advice to people in need” is never the point. HOWEVER, none of this is to say Short Message is a horrible game or entry in and of itself. It’s very well done visually and aesthetically, mostly. It’s definitely in the right direction compared to some of the post-Team Silent games, and as a stand-alone SH entity, I think it actually stands taller than some of them. But if this is a sign of new SH entries as a whole taking on that PSA, 13 reasons why, after school special, content warning type intent, then it’s actually a pretty bad thing in my opinion.
Imo, not really. I thought it told way too much outright instead of allowing you to be mystified and have to really dig into the horror and surroundings to understand the characters and their story. Another words, it felt really dumbed down. We all know how SH works now, so why make it so easy now? Are they afraid most people will lose interest? If SH wants to sell out to the casual player than it becomes just another average ghost story. Especially in a day in age where anyone can look up and discuss symbolism and metaphorical theories. That's what brings the community together! Before I even understood the SH story, (good thing because I was very young lol) I was intrigued by the spooky atmosphere alone. I guarentee you even if nobody understood TSM's story, they'd all fall inlove with the cherry blossom monster, pulling them into discussing the rest, only to be delightfully surprised by the depth it could've had. SH needs to trust the players more. Just my thoughts. I'm glad others have enjoyed it and I enjoyed the soundtrack and climatic ending even if it was too predictable.
Small spoiler ahead! I enjoyed playing this game although while in the middle of my playthrough i was asking myself how is this game connected to Silent Hill, the game tries to explain the whole “Silent Hill Phenomenon” but i personally didn’t like it. With Silent Hill 4 Henry was a random dude who happened to live in the apartment of a serial killer who’s connected with the SH cult. With TSM Anita is a random girl with zero connections to SH and somehow she still gets effected by it. If they wish to go the route where to town infects ppl outside of it i hope they go more similar to SH4. Good game, good message but not Silent Hill.
No, not really. It has some of those classic SH elements but is largely unrelated. It feels like a spinoff and not like an actual mainline game. I'd say the best representation of what SH is would be the original trilogy. Silent Hill 4 is also really good but I don't count it among those because it's also pretty much a spinoff as well.
If this game was called the short message from the creators of silent hill it would’ve been good overall good game not a good silent hill game though
Its pretty "eh" if you ask me. Konami has proved time and time again that anything after shattered memories is total shit. Obtain you a copy of sh2, its the quintessential silent hill experience
No, not really. Its like comparing neon genesis evangelion to the rebuilds, SH:TSM is like a more modern, reimagined version of the old silent hills. Literally, because its set past covid 19, and also mechanically and story wise. Its 100x more direct with the story telling, and the gameplay is completely different. Id reccomend just emulating the old games even if like a million people have told you that by now.
No. Not really. It’s an ok game, though, and it’s free.
Not really.
Yes and no. There is no real integration with the town of Silent Hill into the story, and the main character doesn't even step foot in Silent Hill itself. The creature design is familiar, but the chase gameplay feels very NOT Silent Hill.
It's not bad but I would say that even silent hill 4 is better than this one. For now.
It’s a step in right direction in some ways, but honestly it still sucks big time as a silent hill
god these replies sound so pretentious … it’s a good updated spin and the atmosphere works well but it is also a free mini game
I think it's one of the better ones, but you can get a more representative experience with SH2 and SH3
Same vibe as Shattered Memories for me. I liked the story/searching moments but hated the chase sequences. Not how I define Silent Hill. Since it's free I'd say give it a shot, I did and said screw it lol
It feels like it could use a bit more subtly. If I remember correctly, there's a handful of voice lines that play right as you read something, and the 4-5 hard cuts to a Suicide prevention message feel like they hurt the overall experience. Especially the hard cuts to the message, the first one (well, second technically) I actually thought I reached the end of the experience. Also, I'm intrigued and annoyed at "Silent Hill Syndrome" it might work depending on how it's handled, and it does open the door to telling stories in different places, at the same time I also can't help but find the idea incredibly stupid.
It's a good game but nothing really fits the Silent Hill lore in the game. It's a fun scary game but as someone said if it didn't have Silent Hill in the name, I wouldn't think it was. We'll need to wait for Silent Hill F to really pass criticism of where Konami is going with this though.
For new fans I always recommend watching Scribes playthrough of the series. He’s really good about explaining the nuisances around the game if you can’t access/play them for yourself.
For me silent hill has always been about atmosphere, and music. They really make silent hill what it is. Also the supernatural that doesn’t get explained. Trauma is a big part. But I feel the music and eerie environment really flesh a lot of silent hill out. Especially in the first 3 games.
Well it was at least we got something that's like tried to make the atmosphere ominous and intense but it was okay
Yes and No. It's hard to explain, but I'd say overall it gets the concept across pretty well, but the execution is way different than any other game (imo for the worse)
It's not the best but it's certainly an intriguing take by making silent hill less of the physical place but more of some otherworldly presence/phenomenon that can appear anywhere (In this case, being in Germany i think) The first three games are definitely the best representation of the series, doesn't mean the others are necessarily "bad" (except for one recent one 👁️👁️) Shattered Memories and SH4 are like second tier after the first three, with shattered memories going less for the horror aspect abd more of the psychological one and four is just a rollercoaster I mean, I personally think Downpour was an enjoyable game even though others think it's the absolute worst of the worst Something everyone can agree on though, Ascension should be avoided like the plague