I felt the remake struck a pretty good balance. It's rarely a clear cut decision whether it's better to run away or clear out an area. Sometimes it's better, sometimes not, and it depends on your resources, how well you know the level, whether or not you might have to backtrack, how "comfortable" you feel, your difficulty, and a bunch of other considerations. For me, survival horror is about having to make these kinds of decisions, often under pressure, so the fact that it's rarely clear-cut whether you should fight or avoid managed to strike just the right balance to keep me on edge the entire time.
I feel that combat engagements in the remake were given a similar approach as the original. There were several points in the original game where clearing all the enemies was the sensible approach, usually high-traffic indoor areas. The remake is a bit more combat-heavy on the whole, but those choke points in the original mostly track to their remake locations. It's easy to forget the original game also occasionally incentivized combat, too, since many of those choke points also had items (a trick the remake also pulls as well).
I think a clear cut way of defining survival vs action horror is if combat is rewarded, something the player can invest in, and/or is the only way to progress. RE4 - Combat is rewarded through enemy drops. It is invested in through weapon upgrades. - Action AW2 - Weapon upgrades and often the only way to progess - Action SH2 Remake - No upgrades, No drops, No alternate weapons, and only boss fights require combat to progress - Survival Of course I think most horror games in the future will be attempting a hybrid of the two trends. I think AW2 is a good example of this.
Well said, thank you for your comment, I agree if there is no incentive for combat it's less likely for the player to engage in combat. There is actually an incentive against combat because you are likely to take dammage.
I played on hard combat difficulty, I killed every enemy during the exploration parts, and I have never run out of ammo. The game is actually VERY generous with it. I'm often running around with 50+ handgun ammo and 15-ish shotgun shells in reserve. If theres a lack of anything its probably health items, you dont get as much of it until late game. This forces you to get better at either going around enemies, or taking them out without taking damage.
There are a variety of strategies. However, an achievement for not using specifically ranged weapons does not in any way prove or indicate that the devs intend for you to avoid the enemies entirely. It just means it's possible to complete the game without ranged weapons. Nothing more. Melee is still allowed. It's more likely to be interpreted as a challenge that would technically extend beyond the normal gameplay design. I think it's more reasonable to assume gameplay is designed around a mix of fight (melee and ranged) and flight.
You made a good point . In my first playthrough I had an abundance of ammo for a while but once I got about halfway through the prison I actually lowered the combat difficulty for a while . Not because I was getting killed , I actually didn’t die once in my playthrough , but because I was so low on ammo and I saw the writing on the wall. If I didn’t lower it and let myself gather more ammo the last quarter of the game was going to be almost exclusively melee combat , which I didn’t really want for my experience.
Most areas have an area where you don't want to deal with any enemies and just run past them. Besides the two you mentioned, getting the Snake Coin, the areas in the Prison with all the wall crawling mannequins, and most of the "Rotten Area" of the Labyrinth have too many enemies to where using bullets on them is a complete waste, and you can either run through, or it's easier to get through the area by turning off your flashlight and walking slowly.
I was clearing every area mostly by using melee to conserve ammo thinking I will have a really hard time with bosses and other difficult parts if I'm low on it. I ended up having like 130+ bullets for pistol alone for most of the game lol
I'm currently trapped in the hospital and discovered almost immediately that the nurses have terrible vision if you don't use the flashlight. While I expended less ammo and meds, I'm taking significant psychic damage. I gotta take the Resident Evil approach and clear out important areas...
My blind play through was on hard/hard difficulty, that combined with the levels being so dark and labyrinthine led me to take a stealthy approach that resulted in me killing almost everything except for a few sections like the pre apartment faze or in the prison and labyrinth cube. This was mainly because I liked to search for resources which I constantly cycled through. By the end I had to use every single heal and bullet that I had come across having to land the final blow on mary with the pipe which wound up being my weapon of choice.
I took the RE4 approach most of the time- I shot the enemies in the knee cap once and then meleed them. Those bloater enemies I shot though. I saved all my shotgun and rifle ammo for boss fights. But ya if you shot any of the common enemies knees they drop down on one knee allowing you to just finish them off with your melee weapon.
I watched MVG's video before getting into the game proper and I had nearly the same realisation when loading back and testing strategies, I play Survival Horror very conservitively too and it was a thrill to be able to turn the flashlight and radio off and creep up to an enemy in the dark to bonk them or pointing the gun through every door I entered, then if there were multiple I would run around a bit and kite them into a hallway to line them up. Also the sections you mentioned that are clearly made for you to run away were easy to work out, same method for certains parts of the Abstract Daddy fight. I really enjoy methodically clearing the areas out, taking a good look at everything, scooping up ammo, health and that, at one point I had 210 Pistol ammo, 80 Shotgun, and 50 Rifle ammo, plus 76 health drinks and 37 syringes. The game is really well set up for multiple different playstyles and the stealth is intact, the melee combat rides a great line now between not getting greedy with swings and dodging to the left or right to avoid their attacks, they've really retained the original games constant tension and stress. But yes, the MVG video led me to believe there was no getting around enemies, and that most of the time you won't be able to explore without clearing them out first, but for the most part that wasn't the case and the original games long sections without combat still remain.
Thanks for the comment, 210 pistol ammo! Wow honestly I also play conservatively and I never had more than 40 bullets, either I don't play as conservatively as I thought or I am really bad at finding ammo lol
I would say for me, not sure it’s that you can’t dodge them… it’s that if you aggro enough of them, you’re more likely to get stun locked or trapped/glitched in an area. It’s almost safer to engage each enemy one on one (if possible). I did notice I got through some of the labyrinth horde areas without engaging any of them. In one area, a timer runs out and they leave. In another (showers), you can just sprint by them. I would also argue from my experience, the wall mannequins are actually unavoidable. They have a lock on and hit you no matter what if you try to dash past.
Thank you! I totally agree with this video. It has been one of the more perplexing complaints I've seen. On my first playthrough, I had a reasonable balance of fight or flight depending on the situation. I personally may have leaned towards fight as someone who has played plenty of survival horror. But even in the original Silent Hill 2 I started taking out every enemy from my second playthrough on 😅. Flight is definitely an option, it just seems some players don't want to deal with the give and take of that. In the original, you can just go into a room and be safe. That, in my opinion, would be ridiculous in a modern game and a major point of criticism. So, yes, you may be followed for a bit from an enemy you run from but that's the exchange for saving resources. In addition, that keeps up the tension rather than "Oh, I entered a room, I'm safe now." Depleting the number of enemies would also dilute the uneasiness. You're meant to feel overwhelmed. So... for those that have that complaint, I just don't know exactly what they want. But, regardless, the fact is the option of flight is there.
Thank you for this video. I agree on the impulsiveness of gamers playing the remake and stating that the micro-key backtracking loop of the game is made more arduous because of "forced" encounters.
Any time I’m in an area where it’s not a narrow hallway and I’m encountering more than 2 enemies at once I’m running . Big example I can think of is the pool area of the wood side apartments. I jumped on grabbed the coin then sprinted back inside lol. I’m not trying to waste all my newfound ammo on 4 lying figures lol.
good to see you upload! I SH2 is one of my best gaming memories as my friend and I beat it over a weekend of all nighters when we were teens. now if I game till 2am I feel like shit.
I've gotten all the way through to the second part of the clock puzzle without killing a single enemy. I call it my Pacifist James run. It can be done so far! The hardest part was turning the red handle during the hanging radio puzzle with a lying figure and mannequin hiding in the room. It's been really fun, a lot of tense moments maneuvering around mannequins to get items and unlock doors. Highly recommended. It's going to be fun to see which enemies have to be killed to progress (ie bosses and the combat room in the labyrinth).
I think my biggest point of disagreement is that I don't play horror games so much for the gameplay, but rather the story and atmosphere. I like to take my time and soak up as much of the environments as I can, which is pretty hard to do when tons of monsters are stalking the halls. Finding the optimal path for progression and reloading saves is something I've only rarely done, and don't enjoy doing. I prefer a more "immersive" mindset where I deal with setbacks as they come and live with it (unless something catastrophic happens.) I'm also pretty bad at the often abstract thinking required for horror game puzzles, so I pretty much have to kill most of the enemies to give myself room to breathe and think. I would find it less fun to maneuver around enemies while trying to navigate and solve puzzles, rather than just biting the bullet and getting rid of them, then taking my time. Plus, on the occasions where I have ran past enemies, they often follow me to wherever I'm going anyway. That's not to say I've killed literally every enemy in the game though. You're very right that there are quite a few you're SUPPOSED to avoid. But yeah, while I do find the combat/enemy placement in this game doesn't suit my personal playstyle, I'm not sure how I would change it or if I would even really want it changed. Just sharing a perspective.
Thank you for making this video! - look I like MVG videos but his take of combat in this game is...eh - When I saw MVG saying you can't avoid the enemies while showing the moments you're suppose to run away from them (the apartment key) and the pool part where you can misdirect them to get the coin- I kinda cringed and dissapointed me he also forgot to mention where turning off the light makes it harder for your enemies to see you and easily to dodge them in the hallways by "dodging"
When the wind started blowing, I just wanted to get the fuck out of the streets cos it was so intense and uncomfortable. In the back of my mind I knew this was a game mechanic but it was a great example of organically getting the player to the right place instead of a map marker.
I played the game on hard. During the prison I straight up avoided 90% of the fights including the shower ambush. I do not say this often if you can't dodge. Get good
Actually, its up to the player whether to dodge or fight them. I personally fight all of them so that they can't really ambush me when i backtrack. The trick is, balance your usage between melee and handgun. Like Resident Evil if you hold your aim your crosshair will get smaller, it will increase your accuracy, damage, and I believe there is a chance for critical hit.
This achievement is not for not using ranged weapon, it’s for not killing with ranged weapons. Amount of ammo and health items show that game is 99% was made with mind to fight a lot, except few situations wind in city, shower in prison for example. Also mannequins are so fast even if you dodge and try to run they will hit you and camera don’t help to run away and this is one of three main common enemies in game. Probably most common if we count spider type. I agree that few situations in game are 100% flight situation, but you still can fight.
There is more than enough ammo, even on hard combat difficulty, to take out all of the enemies in exploration areas if you use your guns strategically to stagger tougher enemies with a shot or two and finish them with melee rather than killing them outright with 4 - 8 shots. On a first playthrough on standard difficulty I think this is how the game is trying to encourage you to play, since you'll need need time and space to explore but you don't have quite enough ammo to gun down all of the enemies. Given how visceral the melee combat is, I think forcing people to engage with it like this was a very good design choice. The hide/ambush behavior of the mannequins is also a stroke of genius for punishing those that don't carefully check areas while exploring. Playing through on hard makes combat decisions and strategy a lot more important since you die in just a few hits. Nurses (especially those wielding knives) are extremely difficult to engage with just melee since they are so fast and unpredictable. Observing their behavior and using stealth becomes extremely helpful for taking some of them out without wasting precious shotgun shells. I found the areas where you are just supposed to run from the enemies to be very clearly telegraphed (the two intense fog sections, the "loud sound" hospital section, several areas in the prison, and the hotel employee area/basement where there is no other choice). The devs didn't put tons of lore items in these areas, and the number of bullets and healing items required to kill everything isn't compensated by what little is available to pick up.
Thanks for this, I was confused about avoiding enemies indoors as my experience doing this is in RE and the OG SH games, which are easier imo. This cleared things up for me.
@chi4611 The SH2 Remake takes you out of your comfort zone when it comes to avoiding enemies, but that's the whole point. If it was as easy as the original, it wouldn't be scary.
I think the game is incredible and an objective improvement over the original, but if i could change anything id either lessen the amount of pistol ammo you can find or lessen the enemy count but also make them more spongy. Or both
The invincibility frames you get from dodging are completely ludicrous (standard difficulty) so you can definitely run past most enemies. Dodging is the most broken thing in the game by far
My actual issue is not dodge I-frames, but how combat lacks commitment due to being able to dodge while in the middle of an attack, meaning you can just keep spamming the attack button on monsters and you can still dodge on reflex if you see the monster start an attack animation. You have no reason to stop your offensive if you're just able to get out of any disadvantage by knowing when to press a dodge button, even when the nurses block your attack and retaliate. Even the greenish lying figures that spout acid on death. There's simply too much certainty on melee combat for individual enemies.
@@JMMREVIEW Not unexpected. You can still dodge the counter attack. I'm talking more specifically "If I hit Right Trigger and then I suddenly notice an enemy starting to attack, I can just press Circle in the middle of my own attack animation and dodge, thus cancelling my attack that would have otherwise failed in a game that would have forced me to commit." The moment I realized this early game, I eventually was holding health items in double digits and so much ammo I wasn't even running dry during the final boss fights on standard difficulty.
Yeah, like other people have said, the achievement for not attacking things is just for ranged weapons only. Now if it had said don't kill anything but the bosses, that'd be a proof positive. Personally, I don't think it's worth leaving enemies alone indoors if you've got a perfectly fine melee weapon, reasonable skill, and/or you're gonna eat damage anyway. Especially with Mannequins. They gain s against melee during their sneak attack. So if you go at them with your plank or pipe, they can poise through your attack and still get you. The Lying Figures do it a little bit too, when they decide to body you immediately up in your face. Granted, don't get greedy, but you sometimes have no time to react. Nurses, I don't mind that they can parry you. What I do mind is how AOE they can get during their combos. I'll admit, I'm shit at the dodge timing, but they do track very hard. I just kneecap with the shotgun and stomp because I dont wanna deal with it.
Barely, I have been working on a survival horror website for the last 6 months, ill upload an update video about it on Friday. I got really burnt out on RUclips so I wanted to try something different. I am enjoying web development a lot more than making videos, here is the site, still work in progress survivalhorrors.com/
Yeah, hitting the enemies is pointless. I get hit every single time from it and die, even when dodging. I gotta start constantly going back to save because I played for about 2 hours and when I died I was back at the very beginning and I needed to do everything all over again, which pissed me off
I just wish enemies had a little bit of hit stun on melee attacks (they can basically attack you while you're attacking them) and maybe a charged melee attack that does more hit stun
I only skipped the small patch after u finally get out of otherworld hospital. Just wasn't necessary to fight anyone at all really. I played everything on hard and without the radio. Was the scariest experience for me haha. I did lower the difficulty to easy when fighting certain bosses since they were just very tanky and annoying and I'd just keep dying
@oceanlawnlove8109 out of interest does that mean every enemy you met on the streets you killed even at the start? You didn't run past any enemy you seen?
I think that u HAVE to fight them at some point, because of the whole narrative. "Face your demons" kind of way. James can't outrun his guilt, and issues all the time. Or at least he shouldn't. So that i have to fight at points is part of the whole story for me. And ot would be fckn boring when i could outrun eeeverything tbh. XD
@@christoffer886Never knew this. Grew up on these games. I was going to do it on my second playthrough. Never got scared sadly. Maybe this will tip the scale.
Absolute BS. This game wants you to fight all monsters. I could not fucking collect a single item without killing a monster, where as in the original i could bypass everything and collect everything.
I felt the remake struck a pretty good balance. It's rarely a clear cut decision whether it's better to run away or clear out an area. Sometimes it's better, sometimes not, and it depends on your resources, how well you know the level, whether or not you might have to backtrack, how "comfortable" you feel, your difficulty, and a bunch of other considerations. For me, survival horror is about having to make these kinds of decisions, often under pressure, so the fact that it's rarely clear-cut whether you should fight or avoid managed to strike just the right balance to keep me on edge the entire time.
I feel that combat engagements in the remake were given a similar approach as the original. There were several points in the original game where clearing all the enemies was the sensible approach, usually high-traffic indoor areas. The remake is a bit more combat-heavy on the whole, but those choke points in the original mostly track to their remake locations. It's easy to forget the original game also occasionally incentivized combat, too, since many of those choke points also had items (a trick the remake also pulls as well).
I think a clear cut way of defining survival vs action horror is if combat is rewarded, something the player can invest in, and/or is the only way to progress.
RE4 - Combat is rewarded through enemy drops. It is invested in through weapon upgrades. - Action
AW2 - Weapon upgrades and often the only way to progess - Action
SH2 Remake - No upgrades, No drops, No alternate weapons, and only boss fights require combat to progress - Survival
Of course I think most horror games in the future will be attempting a hybrid of the two trends. I think AW2 is a good example of this.
Well said, thank you for your comment, I agree if there is no incentive for combat it's less likely for the player to engage in combat. There is actually an incentive against combat because you are likely to take dammage.
I played on hard combat difficulty, I killed every enemy during the exploration parts, and I have never run out of ammo. The game is actually VERY generous with it. I'm often running around with 50+ handgun ammo and 15-ish shotgun shells in reserve. If theres a lack of anything its probably health items, you dont get as much of it until late game. This forces you to get better at either going around enemies, or taking them out without taking damage.
There are a variety of strategies. However, an achievement for not using specifically ranged weapons does not in any way prove or indicate that the devs intend for you to avoid the enemies entirely. It just means it's possible to complete the game without ranged weapons. Nothing more. Melee is still allowed. It's more likely to be interpreted as a challenge that would technically extend beyond the normal gameplay design.
I think it's more reasonable to assume gameplay is designed around a mix of fight (melee and ranged) and flight.
You made a good point . In my first playthrough I had an abundance of ammo for a while but once I got about halfway through the prison I actually lowered the combat difficulty for a while . Not because I was getting killed , I actually didn’t die once in my playthrough , but because I was so low on ammo and I saw the writing on the wall. If I didn’t lower it and let myself gather more ammo the last quarter of the game was going to be almost exclusively melee combat , which I didn’t really want for my experience.
Most areas have an area where you don't want to deal with any enemies and just run past them. Besides the two you mentioned, getting the Snake Coin, the areas in the Prison with all the wall crawling mannequins, and most of the "Rotten Area" of the Labyrinth have too many enemies to where using bullets on them is a complete waste, and you can either run through, or it's easier to get through the area by turning off your flashlight and walking slowly.
I was clearing every area mostly by using melee to conserve ammo thinking I will have a really hard time with bosses and other difficult parts if I'm low on it. I ended up having like 130+ bullets for pistol alone for most of the game lol
Damn! 😂
Thats because Bloober doesn't know how to make games
I saw a guy livestreaming with like 40 syringes in Brookhaven otherworld lol
I ended up having 310 bullets on my pistol that's when I started blasting XD but I never really avoided combat as the radio sounds kinda annoyed me XD
That achievement is because you get the chainsaw that can kill enemies in one hit.
I'm currently trapped in the hospital and discovered almost immediately that the nurses have terrible vision if you don't use the flashlight. While I expended less ammo and meds, I'm taking significant psychic damage. I gotta take the Resident Evil approach and clear out important areas...
My blind play through was on hard/hard difficulty, that combined with the levels being so dark and labyrinthine led me to take a stealthy approach that resulted in me killing almost everything except for a few sections like the pre apartment faze or in the prison and labyrinth cube. This was mainly because I liked to search for resources which I constantly cycled through. By the end I had to use every single heal and bullet that I had come across having to land the final blow on mary with the pipe which wound up being my weapon of choice.
I took the RE4 approach most of the time- I shot the enemies in the knee cap once and then meleed them. Those bloater enemies I shot though. I saved all my shotgun and rifle ammo for boss fights. But ya if you shot any of the common enemies knees they drop down on one knee allowing you to just finish them off with your melee weapon.
I watched MVG's video before getting into the game proper and I had nearly the same realisation when loading back and testing strategies, I play Survival Horror very conservitively too and it was a thrill to be able to turn the flashlight and radio off and creep up to an enemy in the dark to bonk them or pointing the gun through every door I entered, then if there were multiple I would run around a bit and kite them into a hallway to line them up. Also the sections you mentioned that are clearly made for you to run away were easy to work out, same method for certains parts of the Abstract Daddy fight.
I really enjoy methodically clearing the areas out, taking a good look at everything, scooping up ammo, health and that, at one point I had 210 Pistol ammo, 80 Shotgun, and 50 Rifle ammo, plus 76 health drinks and 37 syringes. The game is really well set up for multiple different playstyles and the stealth is intact, the melee combat rides a great line now between not getting greedy with swings and dodging to the left or right to avoid their attacks, they've really retained the original games constant tension and stress.
But yes, the MVG video led me to believe there was no getting around enemies, and that most of the time you won't be able to explore without clearing them out first, but for the most part that wasn't the case and the original games long sections without combat still remain.
Thanks for the comment, 210 pistol ammo! Wow honestly I also play conservatively and I never had more than 40 bullets, either I don't play as conservatively as I thought or I am really bad at finding ammo lol
I would say for me, not sure it’s that you can’t dodge them… it’s that if you aggro enough of them, you’re more likely to get stun locked or trapped/glitched in an area. It’s almost safer to engage each enemy one on one (if possible). I did notice I got through some of the labyrinth horde areas without engaging any of them. In one area, a timer runs out and they leave. In another (showers), you can just sprint by them.
I would also argue from my experience, the wall mannequins are actually unavoidable. They have a lock on and hit you no matter what if you try to dash past.
Thank you! I totally agree with this video. It has been one of the more perplexing complaints I've seen. On my first playthrough, I had a reasonable balance of fight or flight depending on the situation. I personally may have leaned towards fight as someone who has played plenty of survival horror. But even in the original Silent Hill 2 I started taking out every enemy from my second playthrough on 😅.
Flight is definitely an option, it just seems some players don't want to deal with the give and take of that. In the original, you can just go into a room and be safe. That, in my opinion, would be ridiculous in a modern game and a major point of criticism. So, yes, you may be followed for a bit from an enemy you run from but that's the exchange for saving resources. In addition, that keeps up the tension rather than "Oh, I entered a room, I'm safe now." Depleting the number of enemies would also dilute the uneasiness. You're meant to feel overwhelmed. So... for those that have that complaint, I just don't know exactly what they want. But, regardless, the fact is the option of flight is there.
I fight them all. They all die.
The thing is if you like to explore every crevice you have to kill them all. Different play styles I guess.
Thank you for this video. I agree on the impulsiveness of gamers playing the remake and stating that the micro-key backtracking loop of the game is made more arduous because of "forced" encounters.
Any time I’m in an area where it’s not a narrow hallway and I’m encountering more than 2 enemies at once I’m running . Big example I can think of is the pool area of the wood side apartments. I jumped on grabbed the coin then sprinted back inside lol. I’m not trying to waste all my newfound ammo on 4 lying figures lol.
good to see you upload! I SH2 is one of my best gaming memories as my friend and I beat it over a weekend of all nighters when we were teens. now if I game till 2am I feel like shit.
Thanks brother! I know exactly what you mean, some nights I stay up until 2am gaming and the next day in work I feel sick!
I've gotten all the way through to the second part of the clock puzzle without killing a single enemy. I call it my Pacifist James run. It can be done so far! The hardest part was turning the red handle during the hanging radio puzzle with a lying figure and mannequin hiding in the room. It's been really fun, a lot of tense moments maneuvering around mannequins to get items and unlock doors. Highly recommended. It's going to be fun to see which enemies have to be killed to progress (ie bosses and the combat room in the labyrinth).
Much like the original you don't have to fight every enemy unless they're in the way of an item or you want to explore a room at your own pace
I think my biggest point of disagreement is that I don't play horror games so much for the gameplay, but rather the story and atmosphere. I like to take my time and soak up as much of the environments as I can, which is pretty hard to do when tons of monsters are stalking the halls. Finding the optimal path for progression and reloading saves is something I've only rarely done, and don't enjoy doing. I prefer a more "immersive" mindset where I deal with setbacks as they come and live with it (unless something catastrophic happens.)
I'm also pretty bad at the often abstract thinking required for horror game puzzles, so I pretty much have to kill most of the enemies to give myself room to breathe and think.
I would find it less fun to maneuver around enemies while trying to navigate and solve puzzles, rather than just biting the bullet and getting rid of them, then taking my time. Plus, on the occasions where I have ran past enemies, they often follow me to wherever I'm going anyway.
That's not to say I've killed literally every enemy in the game though. You're very right that there are quite a few you're SUPPOSED to avoid.
But yeah, while I do find the combat/enemy placement in this game doesn't suit my personal playstyle, I'm not sure how I would change it or if I would even really want it changed. Just sharing a perspective.
I know exactly what you mean, its hard to soak in the atmosphere with a mannequin creeping around behind you!
The experience you want sounds like what the "light" combat difficulty is intended for.
Thank you for making this video!
- look I like MVG videos but his take of combat in this game is...eh
- When I saw MVG saying you can't avoid the enemies while showing the moments you're suppose to run away from them (the apartment key) and the pool part where you can misdirect them to get the coin- I kinda cringed and dissapointed me
he also forgot to mention where turning off the light makes it harder for your enemies to see you and easily to dodge them in the hallways by "dodging"
When the wind started blowing, I just wanted to get the fuck out of the streets cos it was so intense and uncomfortable. In the back of my mind I knew this was a game mechanic but it was a great example of organically getting the player to the right place instead of a map marker.
Agreed which is why I thought it was strange when MVG didn't just run, it was instinct for me.
I played the game on hard. During the prison I straight up avoided 90% of the fights including the shower ambush. I do not say this often if you can't dodge. Get good
Actually, its up to the player whether to dodge or fight them. I personally fight all of them so that they can't really ambush me when i backtrack.
The trick is, balance your usage between melee and handgun. Like Resident Evil if you hold your aim your crosshair will get smaller, it will increase your accuracy, damage, and I believe there is a chance for critical hit.
-Devs: makes an achievement for no ranged weapons
-Me: it's Unga bunga time 😂
This achievement is not for not using ranged weapon, it’s for not killing with ranged weapons. Amount of ammo and health items show that game is 99% was made with mind to fight a lot, except few situations wind in city, shower in prison for example.
Also mannequins are so fast even if you dodge and try to run they will hit you and camera don’t help to run away and this is one of three main common enemies in game. Probably most common if we count spider type.
I agree that few situations in game are 100% flight situation, but you still can fight.
I see your point but in this video I show footage of me out running the mannequins so it can be done.
The original three Silent Hill games are pretty generous with resources if you're just running around avoiding everything and exploring a lot.
There is more than enough ammo, even on hard combat difficulty, to take out all of the enemies in exploration areas if you use your guns strategically to stagger tougher enemies with a shot or two and finish them with melee rather than killing them outright with 4 - 8 shots. On a first playthrough on standard difficulty I think this is how the game is trying to encourage you to play, since you'll need need time and space to explore but you don't have quite enough ammo to gun down all of the enemies. Given how visceral the melee combat is, I think forcing people to engage with it like this was a very good design choice. The hide/ambush behavior of the mannequins is also a stroke of genius for punishing those that don't carefully check areas while exploring. Playing through on hard makes combat decisions and strategy a lot more important since you die in just a few hits. Nurses (especially those wielding knives) are extremely difficult to engage with just melee since they are so fast and unpredictable. Observing their behavior and using stealth becomes extremely helpful for taking some of them out without wasting precious shotgun shells.
I found the areas where you are just supposed to run from the enemies to be very clearly telegraphed (the two intense fog sections, the "loud sound" hospital section, several areas in the prison, and the hotel employee area/basement where there is no other choice). The devs didn't put tons of lore items in these areas, and the number of bullets and healing items required to kill everything isn't compensated by what little is available to pick up.
I totally agree about that mannequins, its the best enemy I have seen in a long time, 100% better than the original.
I'm such a mgs fan that I purposely use stealth and avoid enemies as much as possible in video games.
I fight all of the monsters just because I like being a psychopath
Thanks for this, I was confused about avoiding enemies indoors as my experience doing this is in RE and the OG SH games, which are easier imo. This cleared things up for me.
@chi4611 The SH2 Remake takes you out of your comfort zone when it comes to avoiding enemies, but that's the whole point. If it was as easy as the original, it wouldn't be scary.
I think the game is incredible and an objective improvement over the original, but if i could change anything id either lessen the amount of pistol ammo you can find or lessen the enemy count but also make them more spongy. Or both
The invincibility frames you get from dodging are completely ludicrous (standard difficulty) so you can definitely run past most enemies. Dodging is the most broken thing in the game by far
My actual issue is not dodge I-frames, but how combat lacks commitment due to being able to dodge while in the middle of an attack, meaning you can just keep spamming the attack button on monsters and you can still dodge on reflex if you see the monster start an attack animation. You have no reason to stop your offensive if you're just able to get out of any disadvantage by knowing when to press a dodge button, even when the nurses block your attack and retaliate. Even the greenish lying figures that spout acid on death. There's simply too much certainty on melee combat for individual enemies.
Hell, on my first playthrough I even finished off the Abstract Daddy with the steel pipe with a very predictable loop of attacking and dodging.
I found spamming the attack button didn't work especially on the nurse, she would grab my iron pipe if I spam the attack.
@@JMMREVIEW Not unexpected. You can still dodge the counter attack. I'm talking more specifically "If I hit Right Trigger and then I suddenly notice an enemy starting to attack, I can just press Circle in the middle of my own attack animation and dodge, thus cancelling my attack that would have otherwise failed in a game that would have forced me to commit."
The moment I realized this early game, I eventually was holding health items in double digits and so much ammo I wasn't even running dry during the final boss fights on standard difficulty.
Yeah, like other people have said, the achievement for not attacking things is just for ranged weapons only. Now if it had said don't kill anything but the bosses, that'd be a proof positive.
Personally, I don't think it's worth leaving enemies alone indoors if you've got a perfectly fine melee weapon, reasonable skill, and/or you're gonna eat damage anyway.
Especially with Mannequins. They gain s against melee during their sneak attack. So if you go at them with your plank or pipe, they can poise through your attack and still get you. The Lying Figures do it a little bit too, when they decide to body you immediately up in your face. Granted, don't get greedy, but you sometimes have no time to react.
Nurses, I don't mind that they can parry you. What I do mind is how AOE they can get during their combos. I'll admit, I'm shit at the dodge timing, but they do track very hard. I just kneecap with the shotgun and stomp because I dont wanna deal with it.
Bro. You still live
Barely, I have been working on a survival horror website for the last 6 months, ill upload an update video about it on Friday. I got really burnt out on RUclips so I wanted to try something different.
I am enjoying web development a lot more than making videos, here is the site, still work in progress survivalhorrors.com/
Yeah, hitting the enemies is pointless. I get hit every single time from it and die, even when dodging. I gotta start constantly going back to save because I played for about 2 hours and when I died I was back at the very beginning and I needed to do everything all over again, which pissed me off
I just wish enemies had a little bit of hit stun on melee attacks (they can basically attack you while you're attacking them) and maybe a charged melee attack that does more hit stun
This would make it more of an action game than a survival horror game.
I feel like the game doesn't want to use ranged at all with the lack of ammo.
Spoiler but a perfect example of where to not fight the enemies. After the fucking hospital holy shit you just gotta run!!
I only skipped the small patch after u finally get out of otherworld hospital. Just wasn't necessary to fight anyone at all really. I played everything on hard and without the radio. Was the scariest experience for me haha. I did lower the difficulty to easy when fighting certain bosses since they were just very tanky and annoying and I'd just keep dying
@oceanlawnlove8109 out of interest does that mean every enemy you met on the streets you killed even at the start? You didn't run past any enemy you seen?
@@JMMREVIEW oh no. I skipped some at the start too.
@@oceanlawnlove8109 Okay cool, I thought you were some maniac that killed everything that moved lol
@@JMMREVIEW lmaooo
The incentive for combat in SH2r is getting back at the enemies for startling the poo-poo out of you.
*I'm looking towards you, maniquinns.*
Lol not me. Everybody is getting this lead pipe. 😂 the combat is very very satisfying.
Dodging/avoiding enemies is easy as shit…
I think that u HAVE to fight them at some point, because of the whole narrative. "Face your demons" kind of way. James can't outrun his guilt, and issues all the time. Or at least he shouldn't. So that i have to fight at points is part of the whole story for me. And ot would be fckn boring when i could outrun eeeverything tbh. XD
Dodging is ok until those damm leg monsters
I kill all enemy’s cause the radio drives me nuts😂
Every veteran Silent Hill player would argue that turning the radio off is the way to play... It's also way scarier.
@@christoffer886Never knew this. Grew up on these games. I was going to do it on my second playthrough. Never got scared sadly. Maybe this will tip the scale.
How did I know that you were some Australian before even clicking on the video.
I'm from Northern Ireland.
Absolute BS. This game wants you to fight all monsters. I could not fucking collect a single item without killing a monster, where as in the original i could bypass everything and collect everything.
Everything must die!