Silent Hill 2 Remake

El Gato De Negocios

Couldn't find a thread for this although nu-boards search function is arse.

Anyone playing it?

Loved the franchise "back in the day" and will definitely play it at some point but I ain't paying €65+ for it.

Any reviews I've seen are very favourable but that can tend to happen automatically when a big franchise gets rebooted.

McFly85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058373312/silent-hill-2-remake

Put my initial thoughts in the general thread, but long story short, it’s excellent so far.

Atmosphere and sound design are top notch, combat is fine for what it is, puzzles are really enjoyable. Some graphical glitches(specifically on some reflective surfaces), but it can look stunning at times. Doesn’t hit a consistent 60fps in performance mode but 30 is smooth. There are a ton of gameplay options, from how many hints the game gives you, what’s on the HUD etc. Combat and puzzles have separate difficulty modes to choose so you can ignore combat pretty much and ramp up the puzzle difficulty or vice versa.

As it’s about twice the length of the original I’m just wondering if it ends up outstaying its welcome, but for now it’s fantastic.

Retr0gamer

PC Gamer review from Kerry Brunskill who is regard as a very good reviewer is the first less than stellar review I've seen so far:

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/silent-hill-2-review/

McFly85

The one thing which I’ve found different in my experience(so far) is the review implies that enemies are multiple and constant and mostly always visible, which I haven’t found anyway playing on standard difficulty. There’s been one occasion so far where a few enemies had to be dealt with at once but apart from that they were few and far between, and plenty of occasions where I could hear the crackle of the radio without being able to see anything around me. That could change of course as the game progresses.

recyclops

I have my version at home, it was the only reason I picked up a Ps5 so hopefully it eventually pays off, will report back when I get back from holiday. Thankfully can't be apolied as I hear its quite close to the ori.

one armed dwarf

I started on hard mode and dropped to standard, but even on that I find the combat very frustrating. I think combat is a huge focus in this and the game feels like a lightly inspired Souls-horror game. This isn't objectively bad or anything but it's very far away from what I'm currently looking for, as I'm very tired of that type of combat in games and the close camera in tight spaces with all the shaking around is frustrating

I've seen almost unanimous praise for this game though, and some comments of it being one of the best horror games ever made. It's a shame there's no such thing as demos for games like this, seems they made a bit of a comeback with RPGs like FFXVI and Metaphor but one would be useful for this as well, just end it at the apartments

brady12

Over 4 hours in . Game is outstanding.

recyclops

id love to know how many are first timers

ShagNastii

I've never "Silent Hilled" but I might check this out.

brady12

I am.

recyclops

Jesus someone really missed the point or hadn't bothered to pay attention to the game. Kinda spoilery but really reads like someone who hasnt a notion of nuance and wants everything actually explained in a neat little package.

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2024/oct/09/silent-hill-2-review-playstation-5-pc

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122705744#Comment_122705744

Oof, that's an awful take. Completely missed the point of the sexualized enemies.

one armed dwarf

Tbh, I agree with this part

"Silent Hill 2 doesn’t feel refreshed. It feels like what it is: a game from the early 2000s, with the monsters and the puzzles to match. Resident Evil still makes sense in glorious remaster-o vision, but I imagine this slow-paced psychological horror would have felt more unsettling in PS2-era blunt polygons. What happens in Silent Hill is, I suspect, supposed to play out with a twisted nightmare dream logic – but with new voice acting and buffed-up visuals, it loses some of the pervasive weirdness."

I'm not able to get into this remake at all, it's no fault of Bloober's I just find it so redundant and boring, and the action emphasis at odds with the effect the game is trying to achieve

johnny_ultimate

A lot of the review isn’t particularly insightful or thoughtful (surprising as The Guardian game coverage is usually quite solid) but I would agree that paragraph captures something important. A lot of Silent Hill 2’s particular visual and atmospheric alchemy is because of the technology - limits and all - that existed at the time. Without having played the remake, improved technology doesn’t mean ‘better’ automatically - and can often have the opposite impact.

I think that’s why we see such a burgeoning ‘haunted PS1’ horror scene on Itch and the like, even beyond the fact it’s likely cheaper to produce - that level of pixelation, abstraction and limitation challenges designers to be more creative, but also allows for all kinds of imaginative weirdness. Playing Arctic Eggs currently and while it’s more amusingly weird than scary, the constantly morphing faces are unsettlingly ‘off’ precisely because they are abstracted and unrealistic.

Not to say a game with realistic graphics can’t be scary or imaginatively abstract (see: Alan Wake 2), but there’s a real magic to the polygonal approach that is still cool to explore.

Royale with Cheese

Playing it on PC, I have a 32:9 49" ultrawide and this is one of the first games I've played on it that actually supports this resolution properly. No fisheye effect on objects at the edges of the screen, just by that alone I'm quite impressed.

Underground

I’m generally enjoying it so far (about 5 hours in). The combat is not good but it wasn’t in the original either. It’s kinda part of the point, we’re not Leon Kennedy here, we are just some everyman who probably works an office job, he’s not supposed to feel like playing a special ops guy.

I will say, the radio feels a bit too sensitive vs the original.

recyclops

Only home haven't started, but the fact I can alter the physical box to the original game is a great touch.

mightyreds

Am about 7 hours in and was enjoying it but have ran into a soft block that seems to be introduced with the update today,so will have to move away now til it's patched

recyclops

about 10 hours in now I am enjoying it mainly down to the story being relatively unchanged but the over the shoulder does it favours at all, it removes the unnervingness of it all as you can always see whats in front of you so the static aint as anxiety inducing ( cool it comes out of controller)

its a solid remake but its doesnt better the original unlike the Resident evil 1 and 2 remake did

Underground

I’m at the prison now and starting to feel the stretch. They’ve made it longer than the original and you can definitely feel it, not a change for the better imo.

J. Marston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122771202#Comment_122771202

I didn't play the original much but I'm the same. Maybe it's because I really don't like this area due to the endless leg enemies scuttling about. I saw the weighing scales with the 4 symbols and sighed.

Retr0gamer

Heard a lot of complaints that the length really negatively affects the story as you kind of forget what's happening between story beats.

recyclops

Just there myself now. It does feel excessive and changes the tone almost with the different door names etc. Nearly goes Resident evil style

Underground

Yeah, in the labrynth now and I’m officially sick of this game. I’m not even sure why I’m even playing it anymore as the enjoyment has stopped.

Silent Hill 2 was always a piece of art and a wonderful vision executed by the original team but it was purposely made a dark, moody, depressing, somber experience. Quite why Bloober team thought it was a bright idea to pad this out at the expense of what made the game great (the excellently paced tension of the story) I will never understand.

J. Marston

Someone on Reddit may have solved the strange photo mystery.

https://old.reddit.com/r/silenthill/comments/1gine5k/i_solved_the_sh2_remake_photos_secret/

"If you count things within each photo (example, the open windows in photo 1 = 6), then count that number across the writing on each one, you will get a letter. It spells out:

"YOUVE BEEN HERE FOR TWO DECADES"

This is what I found:

1= Y (6 windows = 6th letter of 'SO MANY PEOPLE HERE!'

2= O (2 bedposts = 2nd letter of 'NO ONE KNOWS')

3= U (3 light spots = 3rd letter of 'YOUR BEST BUDDY!'

4= V (1 vase = 1st letter of 'VALENTINE'S DAY'

5=E (7 birds = 7th letter of 'CHURCH ENTRANCE')

6=B (4 holes = 4th letter of 'I'VE BEEN HAPPY')

7=E (4 pieces of paper = 4th letter of 'CAREERS HUMBLE BEGINNINGS')

8=E (2 lipsticks = 2nd letter of ''BEST FLAVOUR!')

9=N (9 bullet holes = 9th letter of 'HER DRAWINGS')

10=H (7 lit up windows = 7th letter of 'THEY'RE HERE')

11 E (6 is on the TV = 6th letter of 'HOW THE TIME FLIES')

12= R (1 pole = 1st letter of 'READY TO KILL IT!)

13 = E (3 water stains = 3rd letter of 'THEY MUSTN'T KNOW')

14= F (3 lines on the floor = 3rd letter of 'SO FAR FROM HOME')

15= O (2 boxes on wall = 2nd letter of 'FOUR MONTHS TO GO')

16= R (3 numbers = 3rd letter of 'FOREVER TOGETHER')

17= T (1 drop/1 IV = 1st letter of 'THE NEW CLOCK')

18 = W (11 tear stains = 11th letter of 'AT LEAST SHE WAS THERE')

19 = O (3 scratches = 3rd letter of 'WHOLE WORLD AHEAD OF US')

20 = D (3 marks in the bottom left, like scratches = 3rd letter of 'MADE IT!')

21 = E (4 pieces of glass = 4th letter of 'AFTERMATH')

22 = C (Hidden '6' in the photo = 6th letter of 'STILL CAN'T GET IT RIGHT')

23 = A (8 bloody footprints = 8th letter of 'OLD MAN'S ALWAYS PREPARED')

24 = D (4 lights, including the reflections of the moon = 4th letter of 'ROAD TRIP!')

25 =  E (2 flowers = 2nd letter of 'BETTER LEAVE')

26 = S (1 square = 1st letter of 'SHAPE FORCES THE MIND')

All the photos are here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/silenthill/comments/1gddv0r/all_strange_photos_assets/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=silenthill&utm_content=t3_1gine5k

That's some impressive sleuthing if it's correct and a cool hidden message if it's real.

Underground

Finished it last night. I think Bloober team got the optics pretty spot on, the town looks great and ominously foggy as ever. Like with most of these remakes though it just feels like they fundamentally missed the point of what made the original the classic it is.

Not a bad game by any means but it’s not one I’ll play through again, a definite one and done.

brady12

Loved it 9/10 for me . Finished it last week . A little bit too long but I am sorry bloober team ye are not just a s**t studio 😂

recyclops

Eventually finished this. Very good remake but it's not going to be replayed for the next 20 years like the original is