Come talk with me about the Silent Hill 2 remake *spoilers*

Board 8

Board 8 » Come talk with me about the Silent Hill 2 remake *spoilers*
FFDragon
11/11/2024
12:04 PM
#1
I'm a little behind because I've been busy, but I just finished my first run through and got my favorite original ending (In Water). I'm super stoked to start again to get the bonus endings (and apparently there's ALL NEW ones to get too).

But more important than all that is the fact that this doesn't seem to be a remake so much as it is another, updated loop for James. Loop theory was always a big theory in the original but it seems like they really leaned into it this time. There are WAY more dead James' around town this time, Eddie asks "How many times do I have to kill you?", finding all the "echoes" of the original game puzzles being solved with the altered camera angles, finding the map with James' handwriting ready on it....

...but the big clue seems to be the Polaroid puzzle, which when you solve it says, Youve been here for two decades.

Cheeky 4th wall break for the player, or memento style clue for James that he's never left?

I love this game so much. The survival horror renaissance has been fucking amazing.
If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
#theresafreakingghostafterus
Snake5555555555
11/11/2024
01:25 PM
#2
The remake definitely blew me away, especially after expecting for so long that it wouldn't even be anywhere close to good, never mind excellent and some sections being even BETTER than the original.

The loop theory is definitely seeming more likely than ever now. Though with the Eddie thing I'm iffy on calling that evidence since all characters see their own version of Silent Hill.
I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back.
If you're gonna scream, scream with me
FFDragon
11/11/2024
01:32 PM
#3
Yeah I was huge on the "Bloober is going to fuck this up" train leading up to the release, but I'm happy to admit that they knocked it out of the park here.

Everything is as good or BETTER than the original, which I didn't think was going to be possible.

The Eddie part is definitely the most shaky, but those were definitely a slew of James corpses he was shooting.
If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
#theresafreakingghostafterus
Cavedweller2000
11/11/2024
01:40 PM
#4
I went the whole hog and disabled all onscreen item popups and other modern day conveniences just so I could try and relive how I experienced it back in the day, and boy, did I?

Some people may hate going back through the rooms several times looking for that item or clue you may have missed, but for me that's what helps makes these environments so memorable. You end up knowing the place inside out, similar to Spencer Mansion and RPD etc.

All in all a fantastic game, like Snake said it surpasses the original in some ways which I was not expecting. I suppose my only minor gripe is that all the beats mirrored the original almost exactly so I was not surprised by much (plus I was secretly praying that Pyramid Head stalked you round Woodside a la Mr X)
Well done to azuarc for finishing 67 places above me in the 2020 GOTD Guru Contest!
Snake5555555555
11/11/2024
01:40 PM
#5
They took the core of the game, everything that made it unforgettable, and just refined it, and everything new they added too felt like it had been there all along, it was so natural.

And yeah, the corpses definitely move the needle... I also like the idea that the "player" is in just as much of a loop as James is.
I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back.
If you're gonna scream, scream with me
FFDragon
11/11/2024
01:57 PM
#6
Yeah all the major beats were the same, but I'm honestly okay with that. The worst thing they could have done is try to get "cute" with things and drag it off course.

What they did do, updating the puzzles, but leaving the "remnants" of the original puzzle scattered all over the place was honestly the best way they could have done it and I was excited every time I found one (though I didn't get the trophy for finding them all so I have some work next playthrough).

You can tell that the people who worked on it had not only an understanding but a love for the original.
If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
#theresafreakingghostafterus
KamikazePotato
11/11/2024
02:25 PM
#7
Complaints:
Labyrinth section was a bit too long
Mary's new VA isn't quite as good

Compliments:
Everything else

Loved it, can't believe it turned out this well.
It's Reyn Time.
Snake5555555555
11/11/2024
02:39 PM
#8
I think the only remnant I missed on first playthrough was the one near the beginning, the fence where you find the Woodside Apartments key in the original.
I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back.
If you're gonna scream, scream with me
FFDragon
11/22/2024
07:27 PM
#9
https://youtu.be/dmE3FBM9OM8?si=Iu8sISDlqgZWQ5vP

Again and again and again and
If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
#theresafreakingghostafterus
Snake5555555555
11/22/2024
07:48 PM
#10
Damnnnnn

This game is so full of surprises just like the original. Love it.
I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back.
If you're gonna scream, scream with me
FFDragon
11/22/2024
08:01 PM
#11
I'm quickly becoming more and more angry that this got snubbed for Game of the Year.

If there was an award for game that vastly outperformed expectations, this would win it easily.
If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
#theresafreakingghostafterus
GANON1025
11/22/2024
08:49 PM
#12
This remake was great. I played the original a couple weeks before the remake came out, and I really enjoy both games.
I find it kinda bussin, I find it kinda cap
That the dreams in which I'm dying are the ones that kinda slap
pjbasis
11/23/2024
11:03 AM
#13
Gonna start it today
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr345/Rakaputra/B8%20Girls%202012/pjbas.png
pjbasis
11/24/2024
12:54 PM
#14
Did you guys play this game with headphones?
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr345/Rakaputra/B8%20Girls%202012/pjbas.png
Snake5555555555
11/24/2024
01:02 PM
#15
Definitely
I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back.
If you're gonna scream, scream with me
KamikazePotato
11/24/2024
01:37 PM
#16
Snake5555555555 posted...
Definitely
The game's sound design is god tier
It's Reyn Time.
Snake5555555555
11/24/2024
01:40 PM
#17
During the night otherworld section of the town after the hospital... that was some of the most overbearing noise I've heard in a long time.
I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back.
If you're gonna scream, scream with me
FFDragon
11/24/2024
01:55 PM
#18
pjbasis posted...
Did you guys play this game with headphones?

dolby atmos babeeee

also the abstract daddy fight is back to being the best worst part of the game since they patched in the breathing walls
If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
#theresafreakingghostafterus
pjbasis
11/28/2024
12:51 PM
#19
Halfway through brookhaven.

Yeah this is really good. Maybe most surprising to me is that the cutscenes are kind of nailing the awkwardness? I always expect good performances from modern VA, but I thought it would clean up far too much. Instead the scenes even feel...bad? But like in a really good way that sells the weirdness.

BUT

If I have one critique overall, it's that I don't think this dodge button stuff is very fitting. I don't really have a good solution to how you "improve" combat, but having an I-frame dodge button makes fighting engaging in a "fun" way rather than a scary way. Combat should feel...clunkier!

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr345/Rakaputra/B8%20Girls%202012/pjbas.png
SHINE_GET_64
11/28/2024
12:51 PM
#20
good game
https://imgtc.com/i/iJnhdkc.gif
https://imgtc.com/i/j45EVGx.png
FFDragon
11/28/2024
01:56 PM
#21
Combat was always clunky for me since I almost always got ambushed by a mannequin and then I was just flailing around
If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
#theresafreakingghostafterus
pjbasis
11/28/2024
03:08 PM
#22
playing on Hard was a mistake
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr345/Rakaputra/B8%20Girls%202012/pjbas.png
KamikazePotato
11/28/2024
06:15 PM
#23
Playing on Hard combat made the game more fun imo
It's Reyn Time.
pjbasis
11/28/2024
08:28 PM
#24
Oh I've been having fun on hard. I'm just noting that getting invested into combat lessens my dread. An enemy becomes an opportunity for fun more than dread, unless I'm getting jump scared or something.
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr345/Rakaputra/B8%20Girls%202012/pjbas.png
Board 8 » Come talk with me about the Silent Hill 2 remake *spoilers*