Current Events > Replaying Downpour

(+) Yeah! (+)

...Not really sure why it gets hate other than being buggy as fuck at launch. Story is the best since 2, manages to include the lore of all the previous games in a way that makes sense, best looking otherworld, and has some neat implications for the town.
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ZeroX91 posted...

...Not really sure why it gets hate other than being buggy as fuck at launch.

Well it lacks subtly, interesting enemy designs and an actual otherworld and not the overly loud token excuse for it they have in the game.

All 3 were fairly important to the series' identity.
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Loved it. One my f my favorites in one my favorite series. Man was it buggy though. Desperately needed a remaster but it doesn't have the fanbase to make it profitable
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I couldn't stand that game, and I even managed to get through Homecoming.
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I disagree on the story part, because the different endings actually change the events of the past, and I really hate that. It was pretty good up until then, but as soon as I realized that what the MC actually did changed depending on the ending it totally ruined it.
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Tmk posted...

ZeroX91 posted...

...Not really sure why it gets hate other than being buggy as fuck at launch.

Well it lacks subtly, interesting enemy designs and an actual otherworld and not the overly loud token excuse for it they have in the game.

All 3 were fairly important to the series' identity.

The boogieman was pretty cool concept wise though and Murphy essentially being made Pyramid head by the town given he essentially gets himself thrown in jail to kill a child molester that killed his kid. The otherworld in it was other peoples, that's why it was water instead of rust and blood.
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s0nicfan posted...

I disagree on the story part, because the different endings actually change the events of the past, and I really hate that. It was pretty good up until then, but as soon as I realized that what the MC actually did changed depending on the ending it totally ruined it.

That's like saying the UFO endings affected the main ends in the others.
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ZeroX91 posted...

s0nicfan posted...

I disagree on the story part, because the different endings actually change the events of the past, and I really hate that. It was pretty good up until then, but as soon as I realized that what the MC actually did changed depending on the ending it totally ruined it.

That's like saying the UFO endings affected the main ends in the others.

The UFO ending is clearly a joke, but in all the other regular endings (and EVEN in the UFO ending) what happened doesn't change. Only what the MC does in the end. Changing it so that depending on the ending you either did or didn't kill that guy in prison ruins the story. It's lazy writing because they're not making the ending fit the actions. They're changing the actions to create a specific ending.
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s0nicfan posted...

ZeroX91 posted...

s0nicfan posted...

I disagree on the story part, because the different endings actually change the events of the past, and I really hate that. It was pretty good up until then, but as soon as I realized that what the MC actually did changed depending on the ending it totally ruined it.

That's like saying the UFO endings affected the main ends in the others.

The UFO ending is clearly a joke, but in all the other regular endings (and EVEN in the UFO ending) what happened doesn't change. Only what the MC does in the end. Changing it so that depending on the ending you either did or didn't kill that guy in prison ruins the story. It's lazy writing because they're not making the ending fit the actions. They're changing the actions to create a specific ending.

How is that any different than the In Water ending though? Either James killed his wife or just felt bad about thinking nurses were hot while in a hospital bed slowly dieing
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ZeroX91 posted...

s0nicfan posted...

ZeroX91 posted...

s0nicfan posted...

I disagree on the story part, because the different endings actually change the events of the past, and I really hate that. It was pretty good up until then, but as soon as I realized that what the MC actually did changed depending on the ending it totally ruined it.

That's like saying the UFO endings affected the main ends in the others.

The UFO ending is clearly a joke, but in all the other regular endings (and EVEN in the UFO ending) what happened doesn't change. Only what the MC does in the end. Changing it so that depending on the ending you either did or didn't kill that guy in prison ruins the story. It's lazy writing because they're not making the ending fit the actions. They're changing the actions to create a specific ending.

How is that any different than the In Water ending though? Either James killed his wife or just felt bad about thinking nurses were hot while in a hospital bed slowly dieing

I think you might be confusing the endings. In the "In Water" ending Mary explicitly forgives him for killing her. IIRC I can't think of a SH2 ending that actually changes what he did.
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The part in the dim basement where there's a crying girl in a dark room that you can't see and when you go upstairs the entire building suddenly blacks out is legit one of the scariest moments in Silent Hill
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The problem is, Boogieman ISN'T cool concept-wise, since it's just going "Hey, Pyramid Head was really popular...buuuut, it's not looked at fondly to just copy/paste him into the game." so instead they just made a new entity...who is basically Pyramid Head with a far worse design, name, and the game beats you over the head with what he represents.


As for the otherworld, it's straight up not even a Silent Hill otherworld. Not in design or function. It's just loud set pieces you hurry through.

Like in SH1 your introduction to it is you fully explore the school and piece together a puzzle to finally go into an underground tunnel. As you walk through it you hear distant eerie sirens. You come out the other end and...what? You seem to be back in the same courtyard! But now there's a strange symbol there, what could it mean? And it's raining. You go inside and explore, finding yourself in a familiar yet nightmarishly different version of the school.

Vs.

Oh wow the world is peeling away and contorting and loudly shifting into different shapes to construct a different area in front of your eyes as a loud black hole thing chases you along, your character screaming bloody murder whenever it nears, and you're forced through a small linear segment by it.


Downpour would have been better received if it were a unique new IP in the horror genre. Calling itself a Silent Hill game instilled standards and expectations it largely handled clumsily.
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s0nicfan posted...

I think you might be confusing the endings. In the "In Water" ending Mary explicitly forgives him for killing her. IIRC I can't think of a SH2 ending that actually changes what he did.

Maybe.
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Tmk posted...

The problem is, Boogieman ISN'T cool concept-wise, since it's just going "Hey, Pyramid Head was really popular...buuuut, it's not looked at fondly to just copy/paste him into the game." so instead they just made a new entity...who is basically Pyramid Head with a far worse design, name, and the game beats you over the head with what he represents.


As for the otherworld, it's straight up not even a Silent Hill otherworld. Not in design or function. It's just loud set pieces you hurry through.

Like in SH1 your introduction to it is you fully explore the school and piece together a puzzle to finally go into an underground tunnel. As you walk through it you hear distant eerie sirens. You come out the other end and...what? You seem to be back in the same courtyard! But now there's a strange symbol there, what could it mean? And it's raining. You go inside and explore, finding yourself in a familiar yet nightmarishly different version of the school.

Vs.

Oh wow the world is peeling away and contorting and loudly shifting into different shapes to construct a different area in front of your eyes as a loud black hole thing chases you along, your character screaming bloody murder whenever it nears, and you're forced through a small linear segment by it.


Downpour would have been better received if it were a unique new IP in the horror genre. Calling itself a Silent Hill game instilled standards and expectations it largely handled clumsily.

I mean the bogeyman would have been better if we actually saw what the other people were seeing (or what I thought he was) instead of just being pyramid head and the black hole thing was terrible. Still not as bad as people make it out to be.
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Well at any rate I don't think it's a bad horror game and even did some things well. Just, as a Silent Hill fan, especially one where the otherworld is by far one of my favorite aspects of the series, going in, it disappointed me a lot in some important regards.

Also I really didn't like the last area at all. It was weirdly combat heavy and difficult and had one of those game sequences where you ride an elevator that is stormed by waves of enemies like it's Streets of Rage or something. That merited a WTF.

Plus the enemy design, man. It's like they didn't even try.


I do also agree that the ending changing what you did is a fantastically bad idea that really screws up a lot of the game as a whole. I'm surprised both Homecoming and Downpour somehow didn't get that. Maybe they didn't realise how focused on a distinct narrative the original trio were. >_>
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i enjoyed my time with it, but i really wish the enemies wernt so boring and outside a few specific moments the atmosphere just didnt feel as thick or fucked up like the other ones.
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Everything about it is awful especially the monster designs
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