In the original game since you couldn't control the camera to the degree that you can in the remake, James's character model would look at objects of interest or things you could interact with. So when you're walking down a straight road and you see James's head turn to the right you know there's something over there to look at. The remake surprisingly does this as well even though it's not as necessary anymore, but it's a nice touch for them to include it
@@Xuffy0904this! Also made me slow down and realistically take in the environment. I genuinely think using any icons is doing a disservice to your experience
@@chukyuniqulthiiiiis, I was so worried they would put a big ui everywhere and ruin the feel, but not only I was so happy when I saw you can turn off all the ui, but they also make it actively an option before you start a new game, they knew how important this was, so they actually designed the game so you can play without the Ui, and that just warms a special part in my heart.
@@lov_eli I do have to say that it is a bit rough starting out, it's not entirely adapted for (like, for mechanics already present I get but for things like the grab attacks or scrounging cupboards? it's rough starting out, I was genuinely so low on resources for the longest time because I thought things'd be out in the open until I noticed james' head snapping at random places, and it doesn't help that the connection is somewhat fucked and you need to angle yourself to be able to interact) but once you pass that hurdle it's great.
I thought the same thing when I saw that syringe😅 Like holy crap dude there's not even a cap on that thing. Sure he may make it out in the end, but now he has a fentynol addiction and hep c😂
Much like with other survival horror protagonists, like David Leatherhoff from Afraid Of Monsters finding random painkiller bottles and Simon Henrikson from Cry Of Fear also finding random syringes. Including Tyler from Total Chaos who finds old medkits, dirty syringes and old medicine bottles
Whenever you find Eddie you can see his breath. Because his version of SH is a cold place. That's why he's eating molten ice cream, he sees it as still being frozen. The atmosphere is also colder each time you meet him. Bloober did a pretty good job with subtlety.
About James' voice acting, here's a comment I made on Yahtzee's video about the remake: "I really like new James' performance, yes it comes across way less dissociated but I think it highlights the conflict within himself between his more admirable traits and his dark side really well - moments like him being caring for Angela during the mirror scene only to reflexively distance himself from her ("I'm not like you") sell to me that James is a complicated man and not just a shitty guy who did an awful thing because he sucks. James did care for his sickly wife for a long time enduring verbal and possibly physical abuse all the while. Mary clearly loved him, too. The new performance sells to me why she would have loved him and why he's so deeply tortured by his actions now."
I always really related to James, and the voice acting was an interesting facet of my feelings towards him as a character. The stiff delivery of the original was relatable to me because I can very often be that stiff in real life, it conveyed to me, at least, the feeling of a man that was so traumatized that he just blocked off everything around him and chanced his way through each interaction, led by instinct. I feel like that sometimes!! but the new voice acting really did bring out his personality. in a way though, I think they both can relay his personality effectively. The new voice acting is great, but I miss strange, offputting James surrounded by strange, offputting people. They each have their own appeal.
One of my favorite lines is when Maria offers to go with James to find the "special place" and he says, "Can't you just tell me where it is?" The right amount of breathiness and subtle concern and panic. It's one of my favorite additions to the remake.
While I see what you mean, I don't think of James as a complex character but a broken person. The remake does a fantastic job with him but I think is just a different character. The first one didn't even know how to properly talk to people anymore, he even goes into crazy, dangerous and nonsensical places and scenarios and keeps going without batting an eye cuz he can't live without an answer, and his own integrity doesn't even matter anymore. This one feels more like a victim of his circumstances. Again, both are fantastic, I just think they are very different. The old one also opened the door for what's wrong in men as a piece of society in this male chouvinistic world, the new one... not so much.
@@altheapolyam Definitely agree with you. Symbolically, the original rings truer as a social critique. The remake works better for me as an individual human story. I think it's a valuable take on the story, but not a direct improvement and certainly not a replacement
Correction, Silent Hill 1 was the best-selling title in the series, selling over 2 million copies. Not Silent Hill 2. In fact, OG Silent Hill 2 did pretty poorly in Japan. But since it developed such a cult following in US, it seemed way more popular than it actually was.
This is the narrative I've seen all around, but with no citations to back it up. Remember: SH2 sold DOUBLE Platinum (that's the same as Greatest Hits in US) on PS2 alone in Europe: once for the regular edition, once for the Director's Cut. Latter which was based off the Xbox port, which also sold Platinum. PC also got the regular AND Director's Cut versions. Ergo, there's a good chance that SH2 actually sold fucktons more than some ancient claims indicate. Also yes - the series was a smash hit in EU as well.
Correction @GugureSux Silent hill 1 before the remake had sold much more copies. With the remake probably 2 has outsold 1 but not by much as both games have at this point sold well. 2 did have a rough start sadly but has become a cult classic. In my opinion fans need to stop gatekeeping for 2 and just love all 4 team silent games. We should celebrate for more remakes with 1 3 and 4 like 2.
@@davidbanan. Well that's just retro game collecting being hella more expensive for every year that goes by. Especially when it comes to cult classics. One need to keep in mind that 2nd hand prices is not just based on scarcity but also on popularity.
1:31:00 Mary didn't really die 3 years ago. Mary got the diagnosis 3 years ago, but was very recently pillow'd by James. Laura says something about last seeing Mary 8 days ago or so. James only says his wife passed 3 years ago near the start, when he's still cognitively dissonant. Personally, I like the theory that Mary's corpse was only ever in the car if you're a James who got In Water.
I thought the three years referred to the possible time she has left, according to their doctor. She could've been diagnosed before the three years or later.
Something I rarely see people pick on up with one of the new scenes (mild spoilers ahead) -- The story Maria tells you, she tells it to you wrong. She claims a storm wrecked the boat the man was in that night, but in the actual story you find later the man is lead astray by the reflection of the moon. A false light that sends him in circles until he collapses due to exhaustion, slips from the boat, and drowns. It's not a mind blowing "aha" moment or anything, but it's a cute, subtle hint at what Maria actually is.
@@KalinTheZola How the fuck is that "subtle"? It's literally smearing it into your face, AND padding the game for no apparent reason. This whole notion of "making Maria into a ""real"" character" is once again derailing the whole purpose and tone of SH2.
@@GugureSuxYou played Born from A Wish? That cements that maria is indeed a real character. Bloober just went off of that when they decided to flesh out maria :)
@@mihailoveselinovic7151 i feel like with Maria its a little column a column b She is both a manifestation based on James' ideal version of Mary (also his anima on a jungian sense) but born from a wish shows that she also has agency and personhood, even if she isn't a real person. She has wants and desires that aren't related to James
Ramble or not, that was the best review i've seen of the remake so far. Praising the new combat, performances and style for what they are. While still pointing out the inconsistencies or problems that the original never had. You gave strong criticism without being swept up in it being a remake and just glazing the original. Very impartial and fair. Good on you.
The ending you didn't like actually is meant to imply a time loop. Throughout the game we find notes and maps from the original game, with flashback easter eggs implying that the original game is canon to the new one. In the end James is unable to accept what he has done, and sees the letter reappeared on his passenger seat. He is stuck in a loop until he can accept the truth and either forgive himself or end his life.
@@sgtkilgore45 you could make the argument that isn't Mary herself but a manifestation the town created based on his thoughts and memories. So it could be himself saying he needs to stop torturing himself. My belief for that ending is he leaves the town and turns himself in, that's the only way to try and make right what he did.
I feel like people tend to project their own issues onto james as a character and try to make him a one dimensional evil person like jimmy from mouthwashing . @@KalinTheZola
@@sgtkilgore45 I disagree? The whole point of the game is about atonement, it always has been. A character needing to atone for their actions isn't one dimensional, that's human. Jimmy also isn't one dimensional either just because he's evil. I feel like you're conflating evil actions with dimensional character writing.
Could you imagine having to remake a game like this? Literally EVERY detail checked by fans, it would be so stressful. I think they did a great job considering it was such a monumental task.
the one thing you should have mentioned was that in the credits they honored team silent with their own credits, which was so cool thanking the old Team Silent
A thing I really appreciate about you, James, is how conscious and considerate you are of other people engaging in the art you're discussing. When you were expressing your opinions over how this game handled Angela, and acknowledged that your perspective on such subject matter is very specific to you, I really respected that. Thank you.
1:30:49 I actually really like the new stillness ending. The audio of the car crash is actually different than the in water ending which makes me believe he actually exited the vehicle before giving mary an under water burial in their special place, but i like that its subtle enough that you can interpret it either way. In that sense its sort of like a mixture between in water and leave, where james doesnt quite forgive himself but he also makes an active effort to atone for his sins. It also sort of provides an explanation for how james and laura handled mary's body in the leave ending if she was in fact in his backseat the entire time.
I wonder if they were trying to make the radio guy sound more like a true crime podcast or something. Those are basically the real life version of what the original was doing as a bit.
I can totally see that. And with the cheering still going on in the background, it could be seen as a different flavour of trivialising tragedy for entertainment. Putting on a silly "scary" voice while talking about actual tragedy with cheering in the background is definitely pretty tasteless as well
Couldn't be further off the point. The OG was doing a bombastic TV show host bit, almost acting like a ring master of some old circus. It was weird and bizarre in a good way. It's supposed to feel off and disturbing.
@@GugureSux its the same deal in the remake with something that fits better, despite it not being executed well. tv shows were already dehumanizing back in 2001, but in a way where you had to exaggerate it to justify someone using brutal child murders as entertainment- even in japan where these reality shows were (and still are) putting people into genuinely dangerous scenarios for money. its a tired trope at this point, like how one of the dune books starts by referencing a real life tragedy that now reads as an edgy kid whos spent most of his time on 4chan explaining the horrific costs of war. true crime does what needed an exaggeration to match today, the disrespect given to the real people who were found murdered and the people they left matches the detachment intended in the original scene. its still not very good tho the guy needed to either sound fake-spookier or softer with a shitty dramatic backing track.
@GugureSux yeah, I know. Part of the effect is that they take tragedy and are completely flippant with it. I was trying to say that there's a read where the remake is trying to do the same, just with a different approach :) edit: oh, sorry. I thought you were responding to me, my bad
@kaiser9321 nothing yet, but I'm convinced Short Message is connected to it because they mention something called "The Silent Hill Phenomenon" which is just "Hinamizawa Syndrome" from Higurashi, and the writer for Higurashi is the writer for SH F
@@hallowseve5801 I'm personally hoping the "Silent Hill phenomenon" is a one-off that never reappears. What a lazy way to justify giving the Silent Hill name to titles completely removed from series lore. I'm hoping SHf manages to connect to the wider series in an intelligent way. They have their work cut out for them setting the game in 1960's Japan, but I like to stay optimistic.
I never played SH 2 before this month. In October I decided to finally get into it. Played the original until just after the hospital. And the remake came out sooner than I expected, so I decided to play through that too and I'm nearly caught up to where I left off in the original. It's absolutely wild playing both games side by side with no prior experience, and I'm loving the games so far.
Don't they burn a lot of stuff in Polish towns? I vaguely remember my Polish coworker talking about that kind of stuff. Also, incidentally, apparently Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia has a similar smog problem in the winter. Seeing that smog over the city kinda makes me wish we had atmospheric processors a'la Aliens, hoovering up smog and pumping out clean air.
I've been watching this dude for so long that hearing him mention his wife is like a flashbang to my neurons each and every time I hear it Also now I have to buy this game--- damnit.
It's worth it. I'm almost 37 myself married since 2011 lol Age will catch up especially when kids are introduced got a boy and girl 10 and 6....dad body activated lol
they found out the memories and photos connect and confirms the time loop theory. the photos, when cracked, spell out "youve been here for two decades" a nod to the OG players and a huge eastet egg twist. i like it.
It's always so good to see a game people were pessimistic about turn out to be a damn good game. I remember when people were pessimistic about RE4R, especially after RE3R was kinda mediocre, only for it to really damn good game
Shame they cut out a lot of what made the original game so fun. Also a shame that they made saddler into a cliche bad guy instead of the fun cliche bad guy that he was in the original. The changes to the combat were great, but what they did with the characters was pretty meh.
They can absolutely re-release Silent Hill 1-4 given the former of those is still on The PS3 and Vita to this day and latter SH4 has been on GOG for several years as well. Incidentally it’d be nice to see Shattered Memories return as well but we’ll leave that for another day. Glad to see you took this one for every small detail James. I personally loved the Stillness ending not because of the car because of James being unable to look and finally facing himself.
I really don't get the "James is awkward" thing. Yeah it's not as if he's talking to cryptic weirdos and a creepy one to one clone of his wife in a supernatural ghost town full of monsters that he came to because of his dead wife's letter. He clearly doesn't even wanna talk to Maria half the time when she says something. What, is he supposed to be actively bantering with these creeps that he just met?
I agree with this, I never understood why James *HAS* to adjust with the people he meets in Silent Hill, let alone the setting. There are horrifying monstrosities attacking him, there's a random guy who is just as if not more awkward than James is but under the surface there is something amiss with him that James can sense to a degree. There is a woman who is an exact lookalike with a different aesthetic than Mary, a little girl who mysteriously knows his wife and randomly hates James for some unclear reason. Then there's Angela, a young woman who is looking for her mother but has unstable emotional and mental issues that James doesn't know what that is, so the interactions between her and James are like walking on egg shells.
Not gonna lie this is a good point. I'm also fairly non talkative to people irl, but if I was more social, I'd probably be very nervous about talking to clearly disturbed people while in an unfamiliar town drowned in fog with supernatural stuff going on.
I get what you mean but I always thought it was weird how he never cuts through the insanity of the people he meets Like he never asks Angela what's actually going on and never tries to ground her In Mary's letter to Laura, she even says that James may seem strange
@@juannaym8488 To me, I wouldn't say cut through, because that's a lot more deliberate, James can sense there is something amiss with the people he meets, he just doesn't hammer and nail it in to openly saying it in a direct manner. He says that Maria looks just like Mary but doesn't really demand answers as to why that is, at least in the remake, I think he does in the original. In the original he does challenge 3 out of the 4 characters he's met in Silent Hil. Angela requires more tact, he does talk to her calmly to try to get her on the same level of calm, when she tells him to take the knife from her, he cautiously tries to take it but she recoils back in fear. She's reliving her traumatic events and she doesn't know how to handle them, I wouldn't try to ground her if her traumatic experiences are centered around men. James can clearly see that Angela is suffering, he just doesn't know what that is until later on. As for Mary's letter to Laura, she doesn't elaborate what makes James seem strange. Does he do strange shit, does he say strange shit, does he see strange shit, she never says what that is? Now in this case with the remake I would find it strange that James doesn't challenge the characters often. Or that he's taking his dead wife's letter too seriously to the point of being obsessed, risking life and limb to meet at their "special place" is very strange. I don't think Mary would've guessed that on her bingo card of "things that make James seem strange". Lol
Here’s why I like the Stillness ending - the sound design when it cuts to black. If you listen closely, it sounds like James bailed from the car before it careened over the edge. So he was giving Mary a water burial, but still intends to leave Silent Hill alive. Their conversation in the car (“Will you wait for me?”) supports this. He wouldn’t ask her that if he was about to “join” her. It implies that James will fulfill her wish that he live on and try to heal, even if he doesn’t want to. And he could also be doing this to try and atone for his sins so that he joins her in heaven rather than going to hell. That whole “you may be going to a different place than Mary” concept is still sticking in his brain. He wants to join her; but he has only just accepted the truth of what he did. He hasn’t yet atoned for it.
Dude.. This was so good. I love that you're definitely aware of the outside world of video game reviewers, but just choose to be way more reasonable and thoughtful and score-free and chill. This just felt like I was chilling with a highschool friend that also loved SH2 PS2 and chatting about the remake's strengths and weaknesses. More game reviewers should aspire to that feeling.
I really hope this video "blows up". More people should see Your content and the look on the video games from cinematography point of view. James, you explain things so well, I'm here for years, and perspective and thought process you have gives these games so much more to admire and cherish for a long time.
1:34:45 if i'm not mistaken, SH1 was the best selling at around 2-3 million copies on the PS1. Then SH2 only sold about 1-1.2 million copies, hence why SH3's development was rushed
I don't have Twitter, so I don't know what most people think, but I'm of the opinion that this game was made to try and get some of the Resident Evil Remake crowd into Silent Hill before they make new stuff with the property.
@@TAMAMO-VIRUS or in inventory, inventory coloring is by far the best way to read James' health levels as it goes from colorless, to yellow, to bright orange, to dark orange, to red. The originals inventory also acted like this.
Haven't played the remake yet; Does the controller not use rumble to mimic a heartbeat while at low HP anymore? That's how I notice it when playing the original.
The holywood acting coment was on point for me. Both James and Laura sound more professional, sure, but Laura specifically sounds a lot more like a movie kid thana a real kid.
I don't know about it, but this game felt more visceral. Melee combat feels more bloody and exaggerated. It's technically superior compared to the original, but also felt less subtle, like you felt more powerful compared to the original. I also didn't like the Mary's narration of the letter compared to the original, the voice acting in the remake is superior, but this one instance isn't as emotional and gut wrenching, at least compared to the original.
Your comment about the original SH2’s subtlety is the crux of what my only real problem is with this remake. I feel like there’s maybe too much “fanfare” when it comes to certain moments that were a lot more abrupt (and a lot scarier) in the original. I think the closet scene is probably the best example of how I feel about this approach. You walk into an innocuous door in the apartment complex in the original game and you’re immediately thrown into a cutscene where The Red Pyramid is interacting with the mannequin. But in the remake, there’s a lot more build up where we enter an out of engine cinematic and then there’s a jumpscare, and then we see James slowly slinking into the closet. It’s clear they had a lot of love and respect for the source material but I do feel in some aspects this (like the example above) they *knew* that it was a scene fans were going to be anticipating and thus they took an extra degree of care with portraying them that wasn’t taken in the original, and imo it was a lot more organic because of it.
the mannequins hiding in every room made it super frustrating to play especially on hard combat, it was scary the first few times but after that they would be in every room. The game became hide and seek rather than taking in the atmosphere it really ruined it for me, i would miss so many scares because i didnt care i just wanted to find the next mannequin.
The “member dis!” memories also serve a purpose - the time loop theory. James is feeling deja vu in those moments because he’s been there before and it used to be different. Silent Hill’s layout is always changing, but he remembers snippets of the past iterations. I think it’s a pretty cool way to elevate these moments beyond being simple nostalgia bait.
I think expectations being so low also pushes the other way... IMO this remake is kind of overrated/over-praised. It's not bad, it's not perfect, it's 'on par'. Considering how most recent remakes have been pretty awful, and the limited resources of alot of these small studios contracted out for doing 'remakes', I will say that they succeeded given the circumstances. Though there's room for improvement and it's clear that cuts had to be made in certain places.
@@danialyousaf6456A bunch of dialogue is missing for example. The dialogue that made James more empathetic and thus the morality of the story more ambiguous. I already 100% the remake and I explored pretty much everywhere, but there's no trace of the conversation between James and the doctors (only a recording of a doctor by himself), no mention of James researching the medical books by himself, Maria doesn't mention Mary mistreating and yelling at James, there's the ranking system completely gone and thus the Hyperspray is gone, extra puzzle difficulties are gone (and the puzzles are mostly the same regardless, when in the og they were very different), dog ending is missing the proper credit sequence, etc. Don't get me wrong I thought it was a great remake and it cut stuff the same way RE remakes did (so I don't understand why people shit on SH2R but not RE2R)
@danialyousaf6456 1. Changed Maria's costume. This is important because Bloober was actively editing character models during the release schedule and listening to fans. People definitely complained about the changes to Maria and they were all left in which means it was deliberate. But considering Bloober's care and meticulous fan service for other SH games, I am inclined to believe that this change and others are attributable not to Bloober but to the consulting firm they used, Hit Detection. Either that or Sony/Unreal given they both have written mandates about politically correct content in their games. This makes the costume "easter egg" read like a slap to the face considering she was the only one that got a full redesign. 2. The holes in the abstract daddy fight don't have their ungulating pistons. 3. Pyramid Head has been heavily toned down from his two original cutscenes at the beginning where he was.. (cough) "rizzing" up three different monster. The first cutscene is kept in tact for the most part though is much less suggestive. The second cutscene is just missing entirely. 4. Changes to Mary's letter. 5. Changes to Maria's cutscenes and behaviors toning down her suggestiveness even including cutscenes where James is ogling her while she is flaunting herself taking out her lockpicks. There are definitely cuts.
1:34:49 nope. It was sh1 Nobody liked sh2 in japan. Its because it did not continue the story of sh1. Thats why sh3 is a sequel. But sh3 sold even worse then sh2. Thats why konami gave the series to american developers because it always sold the best in the us.
Great review man. I started the game without the HUD, to experience it like the original should have been, but the hit box of the items made it really difficult to know if it was an item to start or I simply failed in picking it up. It got old really fast, so I activated the HUD. Played in hard/hard difficulty to start, and it gave me the challenge I was looking for, but the quantity of enemies was too much. In the end, I could beat nearly all the enemies with the pipe, because I got used to all the enemies (the variety was low IMO), but sometimes, being able to best three nurses, hitless, was a nice feeling hahaha. Really happy with the game. Now, to the platinun trophy.
They definitely should make the original games readily available. I have ALWAYS been interested in Silent Hill and, barring the use of emulators, I never had the opportunity to sit down and play them myself. After finishing SH2 remake myself, I will say I want to play OG Silent Hill 2 now even more than I already did. It would be quite a treat to experience the game that influenced so much culturally.
If you really want to play the original without emulating, you should look into Silent Hill 2 Enhanced Edition. All you need to do is download the old crappy PC port, which is abandonware now so you can find it easily by looking up "SH2 Abandonware" and then go to the page for SH2 Enhanced Edition and download the patch. Fans took and made what was a terrible port into what is in my opinion one of the best PC ports I've ever seen, made with so much love and care. Highly recommend, as it's the best way to play the original on a computer without messing with any emulation.
There's only one thing that i tell everyone and now i gotta say it here, the first pyramid head boss fight is so much better without using the flashlight, it's like it was almost designed that way with the moving spotlight and the sparks flying off PH's knife to reveal his location and the audio design, turns a boss fight into an intense atmospheric setpiece just by pressing one button
i very strongly disagree with nitrorad about james' voice actor. i think that the VA did a fantastic job and to me doesn't sound at all like a macho hollywood actor dude. to each his own i suppose
I do too but I think for James it’s more a case of the uncanny nature of the original which is what established his love for the role which is a bias but he didn’t discredit Lee’s performance as bad, just wasn’t his cup of tea. I do find it funny him calling him a big Hollywood actor though 😅. Luke is formally trained but for the longest time he was like most working actors, guy did the grind.
While I like the original's voice acting because it sounds goofy, I gotta say that the remake did James better than the original. Luke Roberts did a fantastic job at acting (it was motion captured) especially during the Stillness ending, it actually made me shed a tear. Great acting from him ❤❤🫀
About James digging up Mary, and why the menu is in the bathroom. James never left the bathroom. He dug up Mary, put her in the car, went to the bathroom to clean up and then the game starts. James "never leaves the bathroom" in a metaphysical way.
I don 't really feel like the original game's performances are "campy". I think they're more like actors trying to act like real people. People just find it campy. These performances are just what people expect to see on screen, but they don't feel real to me. Real people, especially psychologically broken people don't always give perfect conversations with appropriate inflections. This does look like a good game overall, but it looks like it's still mainly it's own thing. I do really like what you pointed out about how James' eyes don't look at you anymore on the save screen as that's a very subtle detail that has a deep impact. It also looks like they did a really good job with the gameplay immersion (you were able to turn off the button prompts and no yellow paint).
The acting was done by actors with little experience but there’s still some emotion in there especially with James’ actor seeing how he too had lost his wife at the time. These games are meant to be digital dopplegangers of David Lynch films and the acting in the Silent Hill games could fit right in with Twin Peaks
@@kyordannydelvalle523 I'm only a recent explorer of silent Hill, only really looking into the games a few years ago. I feel like you dismissed the criticism of the new va as 'nostalgia' when it could just be that the remake didn't live up to the same style. The voice acting style is consistent throughout the team silent quadrilogy. Even as they got higher budgets, the stilted, strange delivery was the same. It's a deliberate style to replicate the surrealist filmmakers such as David Lynch or Alejandro Jodorovski.
@@kyordannydelvalle523 "lol nostalgia" is never an argument. The original SH2 simply has objectively superior cinematography, writing, voice acting AND BODY LANGUAGE, delivered perfectly via motion capture. The new acting is flat, monotnonous, generic and outright devout of any nuance, emotion, or even ANIMATION.
was so excited for this video especially, especially for your thoughts on angela and eddie. i genuinely thought they were the most improved from the og, and hearing you acknowledge that has been a relief. you will not believe the amount of people that mock/are disgusted by the actors that played those two characters
They were completely butchered in this deimake. Their models, voice acting, body language and writing are absolutely disasterous, and prove once again that Western fuckers should not be allowed to touch SH with a 10 foot pole. It's all extremery amateruish, generic and "played safe", all while looking technically worse than many 10-15yo games.
"Stillness" is the new ending where Mary appears in his car. I actually really, really love that new ending -- to me I interpreted it as James having delusioned himself so far to the point that he can no longer perceive what his life would be like without Mary. He can still feel her touch on his face, her voice in his ears, and the gears start to turn in his head that he cannot continue on this way. The two lines "Will you wait for me?" "James, I will always wait for you." now comes off as a confirmation that James, unless he can accept the truth, is going to continue searching for something he knows isn't waiting for him, forever. I dunno, I feel that personal interpretation plays a massive role in Stillness.
I like how the story is presented as sort of a parallel dimension retelling of the original. Like they are humbly acknowledging that they aren't trying to be a "replacement". A lot of the 'easter eggs' facilitate this, like when (slight spoilers), Maria holds up her original outfit and asks James if she'd look good in it. Or when you find an actual map from the original game.
Very cool (and strange) to see a Silent Hill 2 remake review from you given that I got into the channel through the Silent Hill series reviews way back when.
Wow, this must have been such a full circle moment! I found this channel from the Silent Hill series you did and now the remake. You’re super passionate about this series so I’m glad the remake lived up to your expectations.
Funnily enough what had me convinced in this review that people really cared about the SH remake more than anything was a very small thing among a bunch of the bigger things. 1:05:55 It's my _favorite_ rare video game trope in narrative heavy games to take something non diegetic and link it to something diegetic that happens in the story. An equivalent I can think of are how the main menu changes in Spec Ops: The Line and OMORI depending on what's going on in the story. Or how when you fight a very narratively significant boss, a track that you hear instrumentally throughout the game now has vocals during the fight. Just taking something that the player sees/hears often, and when something REALLY BIG happens, it fundamentally shakes not just the plot, but even the non diegetic parts of the game to its very core.
I tried no HUD. Made it all the way to the Hospital with no HUD. But since I was playing on hard I was just missing way too many items. Had to turn it back on.
I really want to see a Silent Hill 1 remake. It would be really cool to see the game updated to make it a bit more accessible. It's definitely not the easiest game to play.
Playing the remake and seeing all the memories did exactly what you said it might do. Made me play the entire original 4 games. Probably gonna go down as one of my favorite series of all time now. Great Vid Mr. Rad!
i'm so glad you enjoyed the remake \o/ i've been working on a video for this remake myself, and a huge part of what got me diving deeper into silent hill back in the day was videos like your original take on the OG silent hill 2!
One thing that should be noted about the "Memory Areas" is the fact that some are implied to have already have happened from the original. Meaning that James and everyone in SH2 are eternally locked in some twisted loop by the town.
At 22:01 you missed to mention early when you talk about HUD that in OG version james actually looks at important things if they are around him. If there is nothing in the area james looks straight but if there are stuff james kinda looks at that direction.
There was a leak in 2021, a full year before the game's official reveal, that included what ended up being legitimate screenshots of SH2 and talk of an MGS3 remake and a Castlevania reboot developed by FromSoftware. I suspect that game, if development went smoothly, will be announced sooner than later. Corporate leaderships change. The Konami of 2004 wasn't the Konami of 2014 and the Konami of 2014 isn't the Konami of 2024. I'm glad they got out of their own way. It seems like real care was put into assigning these games to their respective developers. If this MGS3 remake goes well (and signs are pointing to it being great), I'm willing to give them another chance. I'm just glad they're trying to make quality games again, their legacy is too incredible to squander like they'd been doing.
@@maybemablemaples2144 plus if you think about it castlevania (the games came out after sotn completely changed the series) pretty much created the soulsbourne genre
It's so perplexing how much I love this combat. When you look at it it looks super boring like just your Dodge and hit Dodge and hit but there's such a level of Randomness and sporadic Ness and just hecticness that just keeps the enemies surprising and dangerous. The whole time I'm fighting whether it's the first enemy who are the 100th enemy, I was never quite sure if I was going to get out of that fight without taking some damage, and if you put that together with how they balance the health items and the ammo it's absolutely perfect and combat is somehow terrifying
I love the video stars with “Why I was worried”, because it was an actual haunting experience to hear each news about the remake, everything was shapping for it to be horrible
Theme of laura II has that guitar solo that was only heard in the e3 trailer for the original game. Some of us have waited more than a decade for that solo with clean sound
Honestly I agree about the positive change made to the combat, I got the feeling from jacksepticeye during his silent hill 2 playthrough that it was disorienting for him, because he did miss shots and get hurt during melee. In a way, the melee in specific looks less actiony to me, and more visceral and chaotic. All the flailing of the camera and the wild violent swings combigned with the impact you can see with each landed hit, it makes it feel like realistic hand to hand fighting for a regular dude. Especially that curb stomp and downward swing he does to enemies that are on the ground. Terrifyingly and realistically Brutal, but uncertain if you’ll make it out unscathed. Kinda reminds me of how realistic the gunplay from amnesia the bunker was. Actiony looking from the outside, but in practice pulling the trigger is startling and scary every time you do it, and for every shot you’re uncertain if it landed correctly and more importantly whether is secured your safety or not.
I did the exact same thing at the Happy Burger except it was because a lying figure slithered through the window when I thought I was safe. The game was a huge surprise, not without flaws and not a replacement for the original but something that stands side by side as an interesting modern re-telling
Love this video Nitro Rad. As a long time Silent Hill fan from the beginning this game got my juices flowing too and am very excited to see what is in store for the future. One thing on the break away walls, at the surface they seem tedious. however as the game goes on many of these walls are optional escape routes or lazy shortcuts. To me this hammers home the agression and easy way out, mirroring his actual actions that make this story unfold. Almost a nod to who is is and what he has actually done and capable of. My favorite thing about this game is the idea that this game is a sequel to the original. With all the memories and certain banther the characters have it feel like James is in a cycle or some sort of hell that he has been in before, making this game feel like not only a remake but a continuation of what James must endure after doing what he chose to do. It makes the Silent Hill curse feel even more diabolical and oppressive. It also adds an explanation for some of the changes or simplifications overall.
the biggest issue I had with the remake is the dynamic combat/action music that sometimes ramps up when there are enemies around. I think it kinda defeats the purpose of the radio and completely ruins the atmosphere any time it happens.
Those "memories" easter eggs could be a part if this other easter egg. If you collect a bunch of these random pictures, you can get a code from the back of them which says "You've been here for two decades".
2:10 this is the same drivel and waffle everyone regurgitates for no reason. They only focus on the Medium. How can you say "they often drop the ball" when it only happened once, and ignore great games like Observer and Layers of Fear?
I’ve never played observer but I know layers of fear was great. Everyone I’ve heard the last few years talking about games that bring life back to the horror genre, layers of fear is always mentioned. Ever since people first started expressing concerns about this remake I had no idea where all of the hate for Bloober came from.
@NathanGinn987 oh boy do yourself a favour and play Observer it is fantastic, just a mind-blowing amazing experience, nothing else like it combining tech and horror like that. I loved Layers of Fear a lot. The first game, they kinda ruined it with the recent remake.
@@Adjudicus I played the original back when it came out. I had thought about playing the remake but maybe I'll just pull out my Xbox and play the original again. I've seen observer on game pass but never really given it any thought, I think I'll check it out now though. Thanks for the suggestion .
I loved the remake so much. I feel like they really nailed the surreal atmosphere especially in places like the prison and the labyrinth. Makes you feel so far from reality. It’s like you’re in “the further” from Insidious or something.
Nah, they butchered it up completely. Not only is the game WAY too action oriented to stick to the intended mood, the OTS view ruins the map design and cinematography. The Polaks also did a huge mistake by using the SH1/3 style "otherworld" designs in SH2's setting. It's like a bad parody of all things SH; literally a second SH:Homecoming.
@ respectfully shut up. I’ve played the original so many times and respect the hell out of it and thoroughly enjoyed the remake. You just want to hate over the tiniest things. Did you even play it?
I've been waiting for this video for too long! Honestly, I haven't played any Silent Hill game in more than a decade. I wasn't the biggest fan, but seeing SH2 remake... It just... Felt so wonderful, so beautiful. James actor is SO great, the city is so pretty, the atmosphere creates so many emotions. Since the release day I couldn't stop myself from watching every single video about this game, it affected me so much in a positive way
about the map thing, im pretty sure in the original 3 if you had your flashlight off you couldn't see the map, it would open but it would be pitch black, i vividly remember this
Had to skip like a good 1/5th of the video to avoid spoilers, but I'm really glad you enjoyed it. It's sort of a full-circle thing since you were the reason I even trekked into horror since your RPG maker videos covered games that were free and didn't rely on jumpscares. I'm kind of a stickler when it comes to experiencing games in their original order (whether its numbered sequels or a reimagining remake like this one), so I finally sat down and beat the original a few days ago via the enhanced edition (thankfully found out about it before comitting fully to completing it). I got the In Water ending, but seeing that 1/4 endings and the hard difficulty untouched makes me want to go back, at least for the one non-joke new game+ ending. Normal mode felt fairly easy, at least ammo-wise, so I think as relatively new survival horror player I've found something that will likely hook me. To go back to your conclusion about this game being a great way to introduce people to old school horror, I feel like you yourself have played a part in this as well. It's always great to see fans of a particular game have a remake that is nearly everything they wanted, so I'm glad the wider fanbase like yourself have some more joy to share with people old and new.
When the remake was first announced, I was pretty set to hate it. Konami had burned so many bridges, and remaking Silent Hill 2 seemed to be just another cynical move by them in search of more money. But your video, as well as the one by Avalanche Reviews, have changed my mind, at least somewhat. Now I'm actually interested in playing it myself one day, and seeing all the new people experiencing this fantastic story, even if it isn't with the exact delivery that I've loved for 20 years, is heartwarming. I hope proper re-releases are up next, but currently, I'm more hopeful about the series than I've been for my entire adult life.
(Mentions of minor "Born From a Wish" concepts from original game) I'm absolutely in love with Remake Maria. Her new outfit now gives her the same silhouette as Mary, and they actually look like mirrored personalities. (The edgy, Hot Pink/Magenta Jacket and form-fitting, black, party dress vs the soft, light pink top over a white sun dress. And both outfits have some sort of flower embroidery.) I think Bloober has a nice blend of base game Maria and "Born From A Wish" Maria. You can tell that this version of her has been through something, and she's not pushy when James rebuffs her but is still trying to push for his affection. I think the remake keeps the essence of the camp, but also grounds the characters and makes them feel a bit more human in my opinion.
I won't pretend the skepticism and hate for the game was unfounded but I feel some people are stuck so far in the hate that they can't just see that it was pretty good! It's not perfect but I still think it's great. It's okay to like the OG more it's okay to have strong feelings for the original style. I just think people calling this game bad are a bit off the mark.
I am pretty sure the people that trash Bloober didn’t play their games and just repeat what others say. Like Vinesauce Vinny, he went from “I liked The Observer” to “OH NO BLOOBER NO” without playing the others. And why? Because others told him. None of those people deserve respect
same with people calling it "soulless" or whatever, like... did we play the same fucking game ROFL. The remake is a HELL of a love letter, and one of the biggest strengths is that it doesnt even try to replace the original, if anything, its a perfect companion piece.
@@NA-ke9sl well that's not bloobers fault now is it ? They did they're job and did it damn well, it's Konami's responsibility to port the original silent hill to modern consoles.
Great vid always love your content! As for Marries death i thought what you said was really cool, that maybe James dug her up to bring her to silent hill to be buried. I believe however Masahiro Ito confirmed that James killed her about a day ago which is why his story doesnt add up when Laura says she saw Marry a year ago. Some people theorize that Mary contracted her illness 3 years ago, and James rationalized his story by believing she died 3 years ago.
i heard people say in stillness u can hear james roll out the car and just drive Mary’s body into the lake but idk i need to go back and hear it myself
Nitro rad in the thumbnail looks like he misses his wife and still sees that town in his dreams
Silent hill?
Didn't he promise he'd take her there?
I like to think he let it grow to really get into the saddle of being James Sunderland. And honestly, he's pulling it off wonderfully.
@@GmodPlusWoW the where is my wife hair is essential to understand the intricacies of silent hill 2
'I miss my wife, Brady, I miss her a lot. I'll be back.'
And he knows his way with a pillow
In the original game since you couldn't control the camera to the degree that you can in the remake, James's character model would look at objects of interest or things you could interact with. So when you're walking down a straight road and you see James's head turn to the right you know there's something over there to look at. The remake surprisingly does this as well even though it's not as necessary anymore, but it's a nice touch for them to include it
It helps when you play without the interaction icons, like I did, it was really cool
@@Xuffy0904this! Also made me slow down and realistically take in the environment. I genuinely think using any icons is doing a disservice to your experience
@@chukyuniqulthiiiiis, I was so worried they would put a big ui everywhere and ruin the feel, but not only I was so happy when I saw you can turn off all the ui, but they also make it actively an option before you start a new game, they knew how important this was, so they actually designed the game so you can play without the Ui, and that just warms a special part in my heart.
@@lov_eli I do have to say that it is a bit rough starting out, it's not entirely adapted for (like, for mechanics already present I get but for things like the grab attacks or scrounging cupboards? it's rough starting out, I was genuinely so low on resources for the longest time because I thought things'd be out in the open until I noticed james' head snapping at random places, and it doesn't help that the connection is somewhat fucked and you need to angle yourself to be able to interact) but once you pass that hurdle it's great.
@@chukyuniqulFor you.
I wonder if James had to explain to his wife that this was a game about a guy named James and his wife
My wife already played the original years ago! We played the remake together on launch day
@@NitroRad W relationship
@@NitroRadPUT THE PILLOW DOWN MAN
@NitroRad woah you're married!? How's Maria doing??
@@NitroRad holy shit nitro rad married confirmed
James himself reviewing Silent Hill 2 Remake
Dude! XD
James: aside from the monsters and the PTSD, it was a good experience. 9/10 would visit Silent Hill again.
I wish that was one of the endings
James isn't balding, so no...
Good timeline James
James, finds a dirty grimy syringe in a graffiti smeared abandoned drug den looking building: mmmm a healing item?👉👈
@@tylerflint5447 That is how unsanitary Silent Hill is, we will take any bliss to avoid the sin of our deteriorating hygiene.
Heroin and Kombucha, the only healing item you need.
I thought the same thing when I saw that syringe😅 Like holy crap dude there's not even a cap on that thing. Sure he may make it out in the end, but now he has a fentynol addiction and hep c😂
@@zombiedog1088 now we get it why ending is considered to be the canon lol
Much like with other survival horror protagonists, like David Leatherhoff from Afraid Of Monsters finding random painkiller bottles and Simon Henrikson from Cry Of Fear also finding random syringes. Including Tyler from Total Chaos who finds old medkits, dirty syringes and old medicine bottles
Whenever you find Eddie you can see his breath. Because his version of SH is a cold place. That's why he's eating molten ice cream, he sees it as still being frozen. The atmosphere is also colder each time you meet him. Bloober did a pretty good job with subtlety.
Pizza could have been cold.
@@joshshrum2764 >=( no one does that.
Molten ice cream?
About James' voice acting, here's a comment I made on Yahtzee's video about the remake:
"I really like new James' performance, yes it comes across way less dissociated but I think it highlights the conflict within himself between his more admirable traits and his dark side really well - moments like him being caring for Angela during the mirror scene only to reflexively distance himself from her ("I'm not like you") sell to me that James is a complicated man and not just a shitty guy who did an awful thing because he sucks. James did care for his sickly wife for a long time enduring verbal and possibly physical abuse all the while. Mary clearly loved him, too. The new performance sells to me why she would have loved him and why he's so deeply tortured by his actions now."
I always really related to James, and the voice acting was an interesting facet of my feelings towards him as a character. The stiff delivery of the original was relatable to me because I can very often be that stiff in real life, it conveyed to me, at least, the feeling of a man that was so traumatized that he just blocked off everything around him and chanced his way through each interaction, led by instinct. I feel like that sometimes!! but the new voice acting really did bring out his personality. in a way though, I think they both can relay his personality effectively. The new voice acting is great, but I miss strange, offputting James surrounded by strange, offputting people. They each have their own appeal.
@@paranormeowahaha I definitely get that, I'm often very flat IRL. I wonder if I might not extend people like myself enough empathy...
One of my favorite lines is when Maria offers to go with James to find the "special place" and he says, "Can't you just tell me where it is?" The right amount of breathiness and subtle concern and panic. It's one of my favorite additions to the remake.
While I see what you mean, I don't think of James as a complex character but a broken person. The remake does a fantastic job with him but I think is just a different character. The first one didn't even know how to properly talk to people anymore, he even goes into crazy, dangerous and nonsensical places and scenarios and keeps going without batting an eye cuz he can't live without an answer, and his own integrity doesn't even matter anymore. This one feels more like a victim of his circumstances.
Again, both are fantastic, I just think they are very different. The old one also opened the door for what's wrong in men as a piece of society in this male chouvinistic world, the new one... not so much.
@@altheapolyam Definitely agree with you. Symbolically, the original rings truer as a social critique. The remake works better for me as an individual human story. I think it's a valuable take on the story, but not a direct improvement and certainly not a replacement
I’m a simple man. I see Nitro Rad, I see Silent Hill, I click.
Correction, Silent Hill 1 was the best-selling title in the series, selling over 2 million copies. Not Silent Hill 2. In fact, OG Silent Hill 2 did pretty poorly in Japan. But since it developed such a cult following in US, it seemed way more popular than it actually was.
This is the narrative I've seen all around, but with no citations to back it up.
Remember: SH2 sold DOUBLE Platinum (that's the same as Greatest Hits in US) on PS2 alone in Europe: once for the regular edition, once for the Director's Cut. Latter which was based off the Xbox port, which also sold Platinum. PC also got the regular AND Director's Cut versions. Ergo, there's a good chance that SH2 actually sold fucktons more than some ancient claims indicate. Also yes - the series was a smash hit in EU as well.
Correction @GugureSux Silent hill 1 before the remake had sold much more copies. With the remake probably 2 has outsold 1 but not by much as both games have at this point sold well. 2 did have a rough start sadly but has become a cult classic. In my opinion fans need to stop gatekeeping for 2 and just love all 4 team silent games. We should celebrate for more remakes with 1 3 and 4 like 2.
@@GugureSux are you they sold really well in europe? The games are like 200€ here.
@@GugureSux”Silent Hill 2 fan plays the game for the first time” is a thing for a reason
@@davidbanan. Well that's just retro game collecting being hella more expensive for every year that goes by. Especially when it comes to cult classics. One need to keep in mind that 2nd hand prices is not just based on scarcity but also on popularity.
1:31:00 Mary didn't really die 3 years ago. Mary got the diagnosis 3 years ago, but was very recently pillow'd by James. Laura says something about last seeing Mary 8 days ago or so. James only says his wife passed 3 years ago near the start, when he's still cognitively dissonant.
Personally, I like the theory that Mary's corpse was only ever in the car if you're a James who got In Water.
He's aware. At about 1:05:30 he specifically mentions that Mary was alive and that James just considered her dead from that point on.
Really interesting thematic choice, kinda shows how James might’ve felt that his Mary died the moment she got sick.
I thought the three years referred to the possible time she has left, according to their doctor. She could've been diagnosed before the three years or later.
What was the illness she had?
@@jameslawrenson1208 Never specified but it's theorized she had some form of cancer, specifically leukemia.
You got married!? Man, I must be out of the loop... Congrats, good sir! And thanks for the video as always.
Hopefully nothing bad happens.
Something I rarely see people pick on up with one of the new scenes (mild spoilers ahead) --
The story Maria tells you, she tells it to you wrong. She claims a storm wrecked the boat the man was in that night, but in the actual story you find later the man is lead astray by the reflection of the moon. A false light that sends him in circles until he collapses due to exhaustion, slips from the boat, and drowns. It's not a mind blowing "aha" moment or anything, but it's a cute, subtle hint at what Maria actually is.
wow I love that, it's so subtle but says so much
@@KalinTheZola How the fuck is that "subtle"? It's literally smearing it into your face, AND padding the game for no apparent reason. This whole notion of "making Maria into a ""real"" character" is once again derailing the whole purpose and tone of SH2.
@@GugureSuxYou played Born from A Wish? That cements that maria is indeed a real character. Bloober just went off of that when they decided to flesh out maria :)
Wait, where do you find this info about the sailor being led astray?
@@mihailoveselinovic7151 i feel like with Maria its a little column a column b
She is both a manifestation based on James' ideal version of Mary (also his anima on a jungian sense) but born from a wish shows that she also has agency and personhood, even if she isn't a real person. She has wants and desires that aren't related to James
Ramble or not, that was the best review i've seen of the remake so far.
Praising the new combat, performances and style for what they are.
While still pointing out the inconsistencies or problems that the original never had.
You gave strong criticism without being swept up in it being a remake and just glazing the original. Very impartial and fair. Good on you.
The ending you didn't like actually is meant to imply a time loop.
Throughout the game we find notes and maps from the original game, with flashback easter eggs implying that the original game is canon to the new one.
In the end James is unable to accept what he has done, and sees the letter reappeared on his passenger seat. He is stuck in a loop until he can accept the truth and either forgive himself or end his life.
it's less forgiving himself and more accepting responsibility for what he did
@@KalinTheZolahis wife even tells him to stop torturing himself in the good ending.
@@sgtkilgore45 you could make the argument that isn't Mary herself but a manifestation the town created based on his thoughts and memories. So it could be himself saying he needs to stop torturing himself.
My belief for that ending is he leaves the town and turns himself in, that's the only way to try and make right what he did.
I feel like people tend to project their own issues onto james as a character and try to make him a one dimensional evil person like jimmy from mouthwashing . @@KalinTheZola
@@sgtkilgore45 I disagree? The whole point of the game is about atonement, it always has been. A character needing to atone for their actions isn't one dimensional, that's human. Jimmy also isn't one dimensional either just because he's evil. I feel like you're conflating evil actions with dimensional character writing.
Could you imagine having to remake a game like this? Literally EVERY detail checked by fans, it would be so stressful. I think they did a great job considering it was such a monumental task.
It's just feedback and it's not any ol' spooky scary game, it wrote video game history.
@@TheOneGreat that doesn't take away from the amount of work they had to put into this
@raymaniqe1906 That's not what I said. Good for them.
the one thing you should have mentioned was that in the credits they honored team silent with their own credits, which was so cool thanking the old Team Silent
A thing I really appreciate about you, James, is how conscious and considerate you are of other people engaging in the art you're discussing.
When you were expressing your opinions over how this game handled Angela, and acknowledged that your perspective on such subject matter is very specific to you, I really respected that. Thank you.
The real James Sunderland.
1:30:49 I actually really like the new stillness ending. The audio of the car crash is actually different than the in water ending which makes me believe he actually exited the vehicle before giving mary an under water burial in their special place, but i like that its subtle enough that you can interpret it either way. In that sense its sort of like a mixture between in water and leave, where james doesnt quite forgive himself but he also makes an active effort to atone for his sins.
It also sort of provides an explanation for how james and laura handled mary's body in the leave ending if she was in fact in his backseat the entire time.
I wonder if they were trying to make the radio guy sound more like a true crime podcast or something. Those are basically the real life version of what the original was doing as a bit.
I can totally see that. And with the cheering still going on in the background, it could be seen as a different flavour of trivialising tragedy for entertainment. Putting on a silly "scary" voice while talking about actual tragedy with cheering in the background is definitely pretty tasteless as well
Couldn't be further off the point. The OG was doing a bombastic TV show host bit, almost acting like a ring master of some old circus. It was weird and bizarre in a good way. It's supposed to feel off and disturbing.
@@GugureSux its the same deal in the remake with something that fits better, despite it not being executed well. tv shows were already dehumanizing back in 2001, but in a way where you had to exaggerate it to justify someone using brutal child murders as entertainment- even in japan where these reality shows were (and still are) putting people into genuinely dangerous scenarios for money. its a tired trope at this point, like how one of the dune books starts by referencing a real life tragedy that now reads as an edgy kid whos spent most of his time on 4chan explaining the horrific costs of war. true crime does what needed an exaggeration to match today, the disrespect given to the real people who were found murdered and the people they left matches the detachment intended in the original scene. its still not very good tho the guy needed to either sound fake-spookier or softer with a shitty dramatic backing track.
@GugureSux yeah, I know. Part of the effect is that they take tragedy and are completely flippant with it. I was trying to say that there's a read where the remake is trying to do the same, just with a different approach :)
edit: oh, sorry. I thought you were responding to me, my bad
@@GugureSux It still does
Konami has a long road ahead of them - we already know that MGS Delta is going to have at least one Hayter.
I see what you did there you clever fuck
What’s the status on SHF? All we got so far is a trailer of a woman’s face melting off
@kaiser9321 nothing yet, but I'm convinced Short Message is connected to it because they mention something called "The Silent Hill Phenomenon" which is just "Hinamizawa Syndrome" from Higurashi, and the writer for Higurashi is the writer for SH F
@@hallowseve5801 I'm personally hoping the "Silent Hill phenomenon" is a one-off that never reappears. What a lazy way to justify giving the Silent Hill name to titles completely removed from series lore. I'm hoping SHf manages to connect to the wider series in an intelligent way. They have their work cut out for them setting the game in 1960's Japan, but I like to stay optimistic.
@battango Since both SH and MGS are coming back, I'm hoping we can get a new Castlevania game. Maybe a 2.5D remake of Simon's Quest.
I never played SH 2 before this month. In October I decided to finally get into it. Played the original until just after the hospital. And the remake came out sooner than I expected, so I decided to play through that too and I'm nearly caught up to where I left off in the original. It's absolutely wild playing both games side by side with no prior experience, and I'm loving the games so far.
Know that sounds like a good idea for a video playing both games with no experience with the games I might do that
I sure hope you played SH1 first.
@@GugureSuxSH2 is a stand alone game, they don't need to play SH1 to enjoy it.
No wonder Poland could pull off Silent Hell. Have ever seen our towns? Especially Łódź?
Don't they burn a lot of stuff in Polish towns? I vaguely remember my Polish coworker talking about that kind of stuff.
Also, incidentally, apparently Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia has a similar smog problem in the winter. Seeing that smog over the city kinda makes me wish we had atmospheric processors a'la Aliens, hoovering up smog and pumping out clean air.
I believe you but googling Łódź makes it look like a nice, cozy as hell place, I still wanna visit
It's not even half as bad as 15 to 20 years ago.
LMAO Bingo, Łódź is THE shittiest city in Poland and in that part of Europe, probably. Literal fucking post-apo shithole
Oh God, Lodz is such a depressing city. I won't say that Krakow or Wroclaw are that bad though! They're nice.
I've been watching this dude for so long that hearing him mention his wife is like a flashbang to my neurons each and every time I hear it
Also now I have to buy this game--- damnit.
yeah I turned 30 this year it's wild
@@NitroRadYou look younger than 29, that's pretty rad!
Like a cattle prod to the back of the head every time! Like “he’s married?? But we’re the same age…oh shit, wait, I’M MARRIED”
Least her name isn’t Mary.
It's worth it. I'm almost 37 myself married since 2011 lol
Age will catch up especially when kids are introduced got a boy and girl 10 and 6....dad body activated lol
they found out the memories and photos connect and confirms the time loop theory. the photos, when cracked, spell out "youve been here for two decades" a nod to the OG players and a huge eastet egg twist. i like it.
It's always so good to see a game people were pessimistic about turn out to be a damn good game. I remember when people were pessimistic about RE4R, especially after RE3R was kinda mediocre, only for it to really damn good game
Agreed, all is left is a Dino Crisis remaster and a remake of Parasite Eve, and I think we'll be good 👍
Shame they cut out a lot of what made the original game so fun.
Also a shame that they made saddler into a cliche bad guy instead of the fun cliche bad guy that he was in the original.
The changes to the combat were great, but what they did with the characters was pretty meh.
@danialyousaf6456 ya Especially what they did to Jill what an utter disappointment
It's a bloated mess though?
@@FirstLast-yc9lq RE3 Classic ain't bloated???
Have you seen a little girl? Just turned 7 last month... Short, black hair... My daughter
I hope to find people in harry mason costumes this Halloween
@@sailoritaly She’s probably in Townfall.
I like that he says her age first and then that she's short. Does he think she could be mistaken for a very tall 7 year old?
Huh…radio.
@@Arexion5293 He's actually describing her hair as short
DUDE! I always get so excited to see whenever you post a new video
They can absolutely re-release Silent Hill 1-4 given the former of those is still on The PS3 and Vita to this day and latter SH4 has been on GOG for several years as well. Incidentally it’d be nice to see Shattered Memories return as well but we’ll leave that for another day. Glad to see you took this one for every small detail James. I personally loved the Stillness ending not because of the car because of James being unable to look and finally facing himself.
I really don't get the "James is awkward" thing. Yeah it's not as if he's talking to cryptic weirdos and a creepy one to one clone of his wife in a supernatural ghost town full of monsters that he came to because of his dead wife's letter. He clearly doesn't even wanna talk to Maria half the time when she says something. What, is he supposed to be actively bantering with these creeps that he just met?
I agree with this, I never understood why James *HAS* to adjust with the people he meets in Silent Hill, let alone the setting. There are horrifying monstrosities attacking him, there's a random guy who is just as if not more awkward than James is but under the surface there is something amiss with him that James can sense to a degree. There is a woman who is an exact lookalike with a different aesthetic than Mary, a little girl who mysteriously knows his wife and randomly hates James for some unclear reason. Then there's Angela, a young woman who is looking for her mother but has unstable emotional and mental issues that James doesn't know what that is, so the interactions between her and James are like walking on egg shells.
Not gonna lie this is a good point. I'm also fairly non talkative to people irl, but if I was more social, I'd probably be very nervous about talking to clearly disturbed people while in an unfamiliar town drowned in fog with supernatural stuff going on.
James spent years dealing with traumatic real life problems , he's probably dissociating @@RoyG.BivDevoe
I get what you mean but I always thought it was weird how he never cuts through the insanity of the people he meets
Like he never asks Angela what's actually going on and never tries to ground her
In Mary's letter to Laura, she even says that James may seem strange
@@juannaym8488 To me, I wouldn't say cut through, because that's a lot more deliberate, James can sense there is something amiss with the people he meets, he just doesn't hammer and nail it in to openly saying it in a direct manner. He says that Maria looks just like Mary but doesn't really demand answers as to why that is, at least in the remake, I think he does in the original. In the original he does challenge 3 out of the 4 characters he's met in Silent Hil.
Angela requires more tact, he does talk to her calmly to try to get her on the same level of calm, when she tells him to take the knife from her, he cautiously tries to take it but she recoils back in fear. She's reliving her traumatic events and she doesn't know how to handle them, I wouldn't try to ground her if her traumatic experiences are centered around men. James can clearly see that Angela is suffering, he just doesn't know what that is until later on.
As for Mary's letter to Laura, she doesn't elaborate what makes James seem strange. Does he do strange shit, does he say strange shit, does he see strange shit, she never says what that is? Now in this case with the remake I would find it strange that James doesn't challenge the characters often. Or that he's taking his dead wife's letter too seriously to the point of being obsessed, risking life and limb to meet at their "special place" is very strange. I don't think Mary would've guessed that on her bingo card of "things that make James seem strange". Lol
Here’s why I like the Stillness ending - the sound design when it cuts to black. If you listen closely, it sounds like James bailed from the car before it careened over the edge. So he was giving Mary a water burial, but still intends to leave Silent Hill alive. Their conversation in the car (“Will you wait for me?”) supports this. He wouldn’t ask her that if he was about to “join” her. It implies that James will fulfill her wish that he live on and try to heal, even if he doesn’t want to. And he could also be doing this to try and atone for his sins so that he joins her in heaven rather than going to hell. That whole “you may be going to a different place than Mary” concept is still sticking in his brain. He wants to join her; but he has only just accepted the truth of what he did. He hasn’t yet atoned for it.
Dude.. This was so good. I love that you're definitely aware of the outside world of video game reviewers, but just choose to be way more reasonable and thoughtful and score-free and chill. This just felt like I was chilling with a highschool friend that also loved SH2 PS2 and chatting about the remake's strengths and weaknesses. More game reviewers should aspire to that feeling.
I really hope this video "blows up". More people should see Your content and the look on the video games from cinematography point of view. James, you explain things so well, I'm here for years, and perspective and thought process you have gives these games so much more to admire and cherish for a long time.
1:34:45 if i'm not mistaken, SH1 was the best selling at around 2-3 million copies on the PS1. Then SH2 only sold about 1-1.2 million copies, hence why SH3's development was rushed
Can’t forget the sweet sound design in the town of silent hill with those industrial sounds
That Eddie and James interaction made me rub my hands like I was watching some internet drama
I don't have Twitter, so I don't know what most people think, but I'm of the opinion that this game was made to try and get some of the Resident Evil Remake crowd into Silent Hill before they make new stuff with the property.
Best thing you can do is disable the red low health frame around the screen and just look at your controller to know your health
You can also tell just by looking at James' jacket
@@TAMAMO-VIRUS or in inventory, inventory coloring is by far the best way to read James' health levels as it goes from colorless, to yellow, to bright orange, to dark orange, to red. The originals inventory also acted like this.
@@mihailoveselinovic7151 yeah, it's so great that Bloober added multiple ways for you to keep track of James' health
Haven't played the remake yet; Does the controller not use rumble to mimic a heartbeat while at low HP anymore? That's how I notice it when playing the original.
First Chromakopia on a Monday, Now Nitro Rad - Silent 2 on a Tuesday!!!! This week is shaping up to be a BANGER!!!
Yesterday also had two of my favorite music RUclipsrs posting as well, and Chromakopia is fantastic to boot
Xenoblade X DE announced out of nowhere, shit is weird
@@twincherries6698But it's a good weird.
@@sontho6995 definitely.
Ah, a man of exquisite taste I see, eat up my friend, our fine dining has only just begun. *raises glass*
The holywood acting coment was on point for me. Both James and Laura sound more professional, sure, but Laura specifically sounds a lot more like a movie kid thana a real kid.
I don't know about it, but this game felt more visceral. Melee combat feels more bloody and exaggerated. It's technically superior compared to the original, but also felt less subtle, like you felt more powerful compared to the original.
I also didn't like the Mary's narration of the letter compared to the original, the voice acting in the remake is superior, but this one instance isn't as emotional and gut wrenching, at least compared to the original.
Your comment about the original SH2’s subtlety is the crux of what my only real problem is with this remake. I feel like there’s maybe too much “fanfare” when it comes to certain moments that were a lot more abrupt (and a lot scarier) in the original.
I think the closet scene is probably the best example of how I feel about this approach. You walk into an innocuous door in the apartment complex in the original game and you’re immediately thrown into a cutscene where The Red Pyramid is interacting with the mannequin. But in the remake, there’s a lot more build up where we enter an out of engine cinematic and then there’s a jumpscare, and then we see James slowly slinking into the closet.
It’s clear they had a lot of love and respect for the source material but I do feel in some aspects this (like the example above) they *knew* that it was a scene fans were going to be anticipating and thus they took an extra degree of care with portraying them that wasn’t taken in the original, and imo it was a lot more organic because of it.
the mannequins hiding in every room made it super frustrating to play especially on hard combat, it was scary the first few times but after that they would be in every room.
The game became hide and seek rather than taking in the atmosphere it really ruined it for me, i would miss so many scares because i didnt care i just wanted to find the next mannequin.
The “member dis!” memories also serve a purpose - the time loop theory. James is feeling deja vu in those moments because he’s been there before and it used to be different. Silent Hill’s layout is always changing, but he remembers snippets of the past iterations. I think it’s a pretty cool way to elevate these moments beyond being simple nostalgia bait.
I expected this to be a Warcraft 3 Reforged tier disaster, the fact that this turned out halfway decent is a miracle.
I think expectations being so low also pushes the other way... IMO this remake is kind of overrated/over-praised.
It's not bad, it's not perfect, it's 'on par'. Considering how most recent remakes have been pretty awful, and the limited resources of alot of these small studios contracted out for doing 'remakes', I will say that they succeeded given the circumstances. Though there's room for improvement and it's clear that cuts had to be made in certain places.
@@Coconut-219 what do you mean by cuts ?
Doesn't seem like there was anything cut out of the game besides born from a wish and the UFO ending.
@@Coconut-219what makes the game bad in your opinion?
@@danialyousaf6456A bunch of dialogue is missing for example. The dialogue that made James more empathetic and thus the morality of the story more ambiguous. I already 100% the remake and I explored pretty much everywhere, but there's no trace of the conversation between James and the doctors (only a recording of a doctor by himself), no mention of James researching the medical books by himself, Maria doesn't mention Mary mistreating and yelling at James, there's the ranking system completely gone and thus the Hyperspray is gone, extra puzzle difficulties are gone (and the puzzles are mostly the same regardless, when in the og they were very different), dog ending is missing the proper credit sequence, etc. Don't get me wrong I thought it was a great remake and it cut stuff the same way RE remakes did (so I don't understand why people shit on SH2R but not RE2R)
@danialyousaf6456
1. Changed Maria's costume. This is important because Bloober was actively editing character models during the release schedule and listening to fans. People definitely complained about the changes to Maria and they were all left in which means it was deliberate. But considering Bloober's care and meticulous fan service for other SH games, I am inclined to believe that this change and others are attributable not to Bloober but to the consulting firm they used, Hit Detection. Either that or Sony/Unreal given they both have written mandates about politically correct content in their games. This makes the costume "easter egg" read like a slap to the face considering she was the only one that got a full redesign.
2. The holes in the abstract daddy fight don't have their ungulating pistons.
3. Pyramid Head has been heavily toned down from his two original cutscenes at the beginning where he was.. (cough) "rizzing" up three different monster. The first cutscene is kept in tact for the most part though is much less suggestive. The second cutscene is just missing entirely.
4. Changes to Mary's letter.
5. Changes to Maria's cutscenes and behaviors toning down her suggestiveness even including cutscenes where James is ogling her while she is flaunting herself taking out her lockpicks.
There are definitely cuts.
1:34:49 nope. It was sh1
Nobody liked sh2 in japan. Its because it did not continue the story of sh1. Thats why sh3 is a sequel.
But sh3 sold even worse then sh2.
Thats why konami gave the series to american developers because it always sold the best in the us.
Interesting. Maybe if this game sells as or better than SH1, maybe we can get a new original SH game by a studio who understands the franchise.
@@Sonicman4155 I want to see Silent Hill F already. Its been the most visually unique SH game in.. well decades.
@@NA-ke9slyeah. Any news on that btw ?
@@Sonicman4155 i think blooper did a good job but the pacing is trash. Its way to long and the new puzzles are kindergarden Niveau
Great review man.
I started the game without the HUD, to experience it like the original should have been, but the hit box of the items made it really difficult to know if it was an item to start or I simply failed in picking it up. It got old really fast, so I activated the HUD.
Played in hard/hard difficulty to start, and it gave me the challenge I was looking for, but the quantity of enemies was too much.
In the end, I could beat nearly all the enemies with the pipe, because I got used to all the enemies (the variety was low IMO), but sometimes, being able to best three nurses, hitless, was a nice feeling hahaha.
Really happy with the game. Now, to the platinun trophy.
This is THE Silent Hill 2 Remake review everyone should watch. Fantastic video as always.
They definitely should make the original games readily available. I have ALWAYS been interested in Silent Hill and, barring the use of emulators, I never had the opportunity to sit down and play them myself. After finishing SH2 remake myself, I will say I want to play OG Silent Hill 2 now even more than I already did. It would be quite a treat to experience the game that influenced so much culturally.
If you really want to play the original without emulating, you should look into Silent Hill 2 Enhanced Edition. All you need to do is download the old crappy PC port, which is abandonware now so you can find it easily by looking up "SH2 Abandonware" and then go to the page for SH2 Enhanced Edition and download the patch. Fans took and made what was a terrible port into what is in my opinion one of the best PC ports I've ever seen, made with so much love and care. Highly recommend, as it's the best way to play the original on a computer without messing with any emulation.
There's only one thing that i tell everyone and now i gotta say it here, the first pyramid head boss fight is so much better without using the flashlight, it's like it was almost designed that way with the moving spotlight and the sparks flying off PH's knife to reveal his location and the audio design, turns a boss fight into an intense atmospheric setpiece just by pressing one button
Wife?!? Congrats
i very strongly disagree with nitrorad about james' voice actor. i think that the VA did a fantastic job and to me doesn't sound at all like a macho hollywood actor dude. to each his own i suppose
I do too but I think for James it’s more a case of the uncanny nature of the original which is what established his love for the role which is a bias but he didn’t discredit Lee’s performance as bad, just wasn’t his cup of tea. I do find it funny him calling him a big Hollywood actor though 😅. Luke is formally trained but for the longest time he was like most working actors, guy did the grind.
While I like the original's voice acting because it sounds goofy, I gotta say that the remake did James better than the original. Luke Roberts did a fantastic job at acting (it was motion captured) especially during the Stillness ending, it actually made me shed a tear. Great acting from him ❤❤🫀
Dude your voice has changed so much over the years :,) I remember watching your old vids on Silent Hill
Finally, I've been stalking your channel waiting for this video. Your first Silent Hill 2 video is how I found this channel in the first place.
About James digging up Mary, and why the menu is in the bathroom. James never left the bathroom. He dug up Mary, put her in the car, went to the bathroom to clean up and then the game starts. James "never leaves the bathroom" in a metaphysical way.
James likely never dug up Mary he may have had her in the car since he smothered her and put her there
1:46:10 "where's my wife" official song when?
I don 't really feel like the original game's performances are "campy". I think they're more like actors trying to act like real people. People just find it campy. These performances are just what people expect to see on screen, but they don't feel real to me. Real people, especially psychologically broken people don't always give perfect conversations with appropriate inflections.
This does look like a good game overall, but it looks like it's still mainly it's own thing. I do really like what you pointed out about how James' eyes don't look at you anymore on the save screen as that's a very subtle detail that has a deep impact. It also looks like they did a really good job with the gameplay immersion (you were able to turn off the button prompts and no yellow paint).
The acting was done by actors with little experience but there’s still some emotion in there especially with James’ actor seeing how he too had lost his wife at the time. These games are meant to be digital dopplegangers of David Lynch films and the acting in the Silent Hill games could fit right in with Twin Peaks
I still prefer james va on the remake. I see some of you have some nostalgic things. I have some thing i prefer on the remake
@@kyordannydelvalle523 I'm only a recent explorer of silent Hill, only really looking into the games a few years ago. I feel like you dismissed the criticism of the new va as 'nostalgia' when it could just be that the remake didn't live up to the same style. The voice acting style is consistent throughout the team silent quadrilogy. Even as they got higher budgets, the stilted, strange delivery was the same. It's a deliberate style to replicate the surrealist filmmakers such as David Lynch or Alejandro Jodorovski.
@@kyordannydelvalle523 "lol nostalgia" is never an argument. The original SH2 simply has objectively superior cinematography, writing, voice acting AND BODY LANGUAGE, delivered perfectly via motion capture. The new acting is flat, monotnonous, generic and outright devout of any nuance, emotion, or even ANIMATION.
@Potacintvervs I agree in some things which i like the original more than but in other i much prefer the remakes.
was so excited for this video especially, especially for your thoughts on angela and eddie. i genuinely thought they were the most improved from the og, and hearing you acknowledge that has been a relief. you will not believe the amount of people that mock/are disgusted by the actors that played those two characters
They were completely butchered in this deimake. Their models, voice acting, body language and writing are absolutely disasterous, and prove once again that Western fuckers should not be allowed to touch SH with a 10 foot pole. It's all extremery amateruish, generic and "played safe", all while looking technically worse than many 10-15yo games.
I HAVE BEEN WAITIBG FOR THIS REVIEW AS SOON AS THE GAME CAME OUT!!!!
"Stillness" is the new ending where Mary appears in his car. I actually really, really love that new ending -- to me I interpreted it as James having delusioned himself so far to the point that he can no longer perceive what his life would be like without Mary. He can still feel her touch on his face, her voice in his ears, and the gears start to turn in his head that he cannot continue on this way. The two lines "Will you wait for me?" "James, I will always wait for you." now comes off as a confirmation that James, unless he can accept the truth, is going to continue searching for something he knows isn't waiting for him, forever. I dunno, I feel that personal interpretation plays a massive role in Stillness.
I like how the story is presented as sort of a parallel dimension retelling of the original.
Like they are humbly acknowledging that they aren't trying to be a "replacement".
A lot of the 'easter eggs' facilitate this, like when (slight spoilers), Maria holds up her original outfit and asks James if she'd look good in it. Or when you find an actual map from the original game.
Very cool (and strange) to see a Silent Hill 2 remake review from you given that I got into the channel through the Silent Hill series reviews way back when.
Yea same for me
Nitro, I've been waiting for your video about Silent Hill 2 Remake. Thank you for making it
It's not Halloween without Nitro Rad .
Wow, this must have been such a full circle moment! I found this channel from the Silent Hill series you did and now the remake. You’re super passionate about this series so I’m glad the remake lived up to your expectations.
Funnily enough what had me convinced in this review that people really cared about the SH remake more than anything was a very small thing among a bunch of the bigger things.
1:05:55
It's my _favorite_ rare video game trope in narrative heavy games to take something non diegetic and link it to something diegetic that happens in the story.
An equivalent I can think of are how the main menu changes in Spec Ops: The Line and OMORI depending on what's going on in the story. Or how when you fight a very narratively significant boss, a track that you hear instrumentally throughout the game now has vocals during the fight. Just taking something that the player sees/hears often, and when something REALLY BIG happens, it fundamentally shakes not just the plot, but even the non diegetic parts of the game to its very core.
I tried no HUD. Made it all the way to the Hospital with no HUD. But since I was playing on hard I was just missing way too many items. Had to turn it back on.
They did do the radio guy dirty , aww .. i loved how goofy the original was
I really want to see a Silent Hill 1 remake. It would be really cool to see the game updated to make it a bit more accessible. It's definitely not the easiest game to play.
Playing the remake and seeing all the memories did exactly what you said it might do. Made me play the entire original 4 games. Probably gonna go down as one of my favorite series of all time now. Great Vid Mr. Rad!
i'm so glad you enjoyed the remake \o/
i've been working on a video for this remake myself, and a huge part of what got me diving deeper into silent hill back in the day was videos like your original take on the OG silent hill 2!
One thing that should be noted about the "Memory Areas" is the fact that some are implied to have already have happened from the original.
Meaning that James and everyone in SH2 are eternally locked in some twisted loop by the town.
Nope. I'm just not accepting it as cannon. Ridiculous to try and imply it.
@madmanjoe1002 that's fair, it is an incoherent haunted ghost town after all!
At 22:01 you missed to mention early when you talk about HUD that in OG version james actually looks at important things if they are around him. If there is nothing in the area james looks straight but if there are stuff james kinda looks at that direction.
There was a leak in 2021, a full year before the game's official reveal, that included what ended up being legitimate screenshots of SH2 and talk of an MGS3 remake and a Castlevania reboot developed by FromSoftware. I suspect that game, if development went smoothly, will be announced sooner than later. Corporate leaderships change. The Konami of 2004 wasn't the Konami of 2014 and the Konami of 2014 isn't the Konami of 2024. I'm glad they got out of their own way. It seems like real care was put into assigning these games to their respective developers. If this MGS3 remake goes well (and signs are pointing to it being great), I'm willing to give them another chance. I'm just glad they're trying to make quality games again, their legacy is too incredible to squander like they'd been doing.
A reboot of castlevania by fromsoftware will insane
@@kevinthornington3371 it's gonna go off so hard. It'll be my Bloodborne 2 🥲
@@maybemablemaples2144 plus if you think about it castlevania (the games came out after sotn completely changed the series) pretty much created the soulsbourne genre
I can't find any source on a Fromsoft castlevania
@@SniperDiplomat probably just a rumor around the same time that a silent hill remake was in the works
It's so perplexing how much I love this combat. When you look at it it looks super boring like just your Dodge and hit Dodge and hit but there's such a level of Randomness and sporadic Ness and just hecticness that just keeps the enemies surprising and dangerous. The whole time I'm fighting whether it's the first enemy who are the 100th enemy, I was never quite sure if I was going to get out of that fight without taking some damage, and if you put that together with how they balance the health items and the ammo it's absolutely perfect and combat is somehow terrifying
Always love your horror game videos
N❤😂🎉😢😮😅😊 1:40:57
I love the video stars with “Why I was worried”, because it was an actual haunting experience to hear each news about the remake, everything was shapping for it to be horrible
title screen is 10x better after you beat the game initially
Theme of laura II has that guitar solo that was only heard in the e3 trailer for the original game.
Some of us have waited more than a decade for that solo with clean sound
Honestly I agree about the positive change made to the combat,
I got the feeling from jacksepticeye during his silent hill 2 playthrough that it was disorienting for him, because he did miss shots and get hurt during melee.
In a way, the melee in specific looks less actiony to me, and more visceral and chaotic. All the flailing of the camera and the wild violent swings combigned with the impact you can see with each landed hit, it makes it feel like realistic hand to hand fighting for a regular dude. Especially that curb stomp and downward swing he does to enemies that are on the ground. Terrifyingly and realistically Brutal, but uncertain if you’ll make it out unscathed.
Kinda reminds me of how realistic the gunplay from amnesia the bunker was. Actiony looking from the outside, but in practice pulling the trigger is startling and scary every time you do it, and for every shot you’re uncertain if it landed correctly and more importantly whether is secured your safety or not.
IM SO EXCITED TO HEAR YOU TALK ABOUT THIS REMAKE IVE BEEN SO INTO IT SINCE IT CAME OUT
Nitro rad reviewing a silent hill game really brings me back.
I did the exact same thing at the Happy Burger except it was because a lying figure slithered through the window when I thought I was safe. The game was a huge surprise, not without flaws and not a replacement for the original but something that stands side by side as an interesting modern re-telling
Notice the Hotel Dusk OST on the background, good job.
@@chrisbj5251 :( No-one likes Last Window do they?
@@Akechi_The_Phantom_DetectiveLast Window had a really limited release and launched alongside the developers bankruptcy lol
Love this video Nitro Rad. As a long time Silent Hill fan from the beginning this game got my juices flowing too and am very excited to see what is in store for the future. One thing on the break away walls, at the surface they seem tedious. however as the game goes on many of these walls are optional escape routes or lazy shortcuts. To me this hammers home the agression and easy way out, mirroring his actual actions that make this story unfold. Almost a nod to who is is and what he has actually done and capable of. My favorite thing about this game is the idea that this game is a sequel to the original. With all the memories and certain banther the characters have it feel like James is in a cycle or some sort of hell that he has been in before, making this game feel like not only a remake but a continuation of what James must endure after doing what he chose to do. It makes the Silent Hill curse feel even more diabolical and oppressive. It also adds an explanation for some of the changes or simplifications overall.
the biggest issue I had with the remake is the dynamic combat/action music that sometimes ramps up when there are enemies around.
I think it kinda defeats the purpose of the radio and completely ruins the atmosphere any time it happens.
That was in the original game, too. Not in every scene, but it was REALLY noticeable in the Apartments and Brookhaven.
@@NotAGoodUsername360 All the classic Silent Hill games have that. Silent Hill 1 has the most jarring combat stingers.
Every single Silent Hill game does this why are you complaining.
So every game every is ruined? I literally can’t think of a game that doesn’t do that
Comes in handy when you're trying to not use the radio for an achievement
I've rewatched your Signalis video and, wow. I Think it's your best, it's so well put together, so sensible and atmospheric, really a great video
"The sound guy" Akira Yamaoka has a name.
Those "memories" easter eggs could be a part if this other easter egg. If you collect a bunch of these random pictures, you can get a code from the back of them which says "You've been here for two decades".
2:10 this is the same drivel and waffle everyone regurgitates for no reason. They only focus on the Medium. How can you say "they often drop the ball" when it only happened once, and ignore great games like Observer and Layers of Fear?
I’ve never played observer but I know layers of fear was great. Everyone I’ve heard the last few years talking about games that bring life back to the horror genre, layers of fear is always mentioned. Ever since people first started expressing concerns about this remake I had no idea where all of the hate for Bloober came from.
@NathanGinn987 oh boy do yourself a favour and play Observer it is fantastic, just a mind-blowing amazing experience, nothing else like it combining tech and horror like that. I loved Layers of Fear a lot. The first game, they kinda ruined it with the recent remake.
@@Adjudicus I played the original back when it came out. I had thought about playing the remake but maybe I'll just pull out my Xbox and play the original again. I've seen observer on game pass but never really given it any thought, I think I'll check it out now though. Thanks for the suggestion .
@@NathanGinn987 no worries, enjoy!
I loved the remake so much. I feel like they really nailed the surreal atmosphere especially in places like the prison and the labyrinth. Makes you feel so far from reality. It’s like you’re in “the further” from Insidious or something.
Nah, they butchered it up completely. Not only is the game WAY too action oriented to stick to the intended mood, the OTS view ruins the map design and cinematography. The Polaks also did a huge mistake by using the SH1/3 style "otherworld" designs in SH2's setting. It's like a bad parody of all things SH; literally a second SH:Homecoming.
@ respectfully shut up. I’ve played the original so many times and respect the hell out of it and thoroughly enjoyed the remake. You just want to hate over the tiniest things. Did you even play it?
I've been waiting for this video for too long!
Honestly, I haven't played any Silent Hill game in more than a decade. I wasn't the biggest fan, but seeing SH2 remake... It just... Felt so wonderful, so beautiful. James actor is SO great, the city is so pretty, the atmosphere creates so many emotions. Since the release day I couldn't stop myself from watching every single video about this game, it affected me so much in a positive way
I could listen to Nitro Rad ramble about brambles, but I'll take a gamble on SILENT HILL 2 REMAKE
about the map thing, im pretty sure in the original 3 if you had your flashlight off you couldn't see the map, it would open but it would be pitch black, i vividly remember this
You are correct. You also cannot unlock doors or pick up most items.
@@GugureSux yeah that is something easy to miss since you have top turn off your flashlught in the inventory lol
Had to skip like a good 1/5th of the video to avoid spoilers, but I'm really glad you enjoyed it. It's sort of a full-circle thing since you were the reason I even trekked into horror since your RPG maker videos covered games that were free and didn't rely on jumpscares. I'm kind of a stickler when it comes to experiencing games in their original order (whether its numbered sequels or a reimagining remake like this one), so I finally sat down and beat the original a few days ago via the enhanced edition (thankfully found out about it before comitting fully to completing it). I got the In Water ending, but seeing that 1/4 endings and the hard difficulty untouched makes me want to go back, at least for the one non-joke new game+ ending. Normal mode felt fairly easy, at least ammo-wise, so I think as relatively new survival horror player I've found something that will likely hook me. To go back to your conclusion about this game being a great way to introduce people to old school horror, I feel like you yourself have played a part in this as well. It's always great to see fans of a particular game have a remake that is nearly everything they wanted, so I'm glad the wider fanbase like yourself have some more joy to share with people old and new.
Nitro Rad has never lost a pillow fight because of his killer moves. He is the best in town because he really smothers the competition.
When the remake was first announced, I was pretty set to hate it. Konami had burned so many bridges, and remaking Silent Hill 2 seemed to be just another cynical move by them in search of more money. But your video, as well as the one by Avalanche Reviews, have changed my mind, at least somewhat. Now I'm actually interested in playing it myself one day, and seeing all the new people experiencing this fantastic story, even if it isn't with the exact delivery that I've loved for 20 years, is heartwarming. I hope proper re-releases are up next, but currently, I'm more hopeful about the series than I've been for my entire adult life.
(Mentions of minor "Born From a Wish" concepts from original game)
I'm absolutely in love with Remake Maria. Her new outfit now gives her the same silhouette as Mary, and they actually look like mirrored personalities. (The edgy, Hot Pink/Magenta Jacket and form-fitting, black, party dress vs the soft, light pink top over a white sun dress. And both outfits have some sort of flower embroidery.) I think Bloober has a nice blend of base game Maria and "Born From A Wish" Maria. You can tell that this version of her has been through something, and she's not pushy when James rebuffs her but is still trying to push for his affection. I think the remake keeps the essence of the camp, but also grounds the characters and makes them feel a bit more human in my opinion.
I won't pretend the skepticism and hate for the game was unfounded but I feel some people are stuck so far in the hate that they can't just see that it was pretty good! It's not perfect but I still think it's great. It's okay to like the OG more it's okay to have strong feelings for the original style. I just think people calling this game bad are a bit off the mark.
I am pretty sure the people that trash Bloober didn’t play their games and just repeat what others say.
Like Vinesauce Vinny, he went from “I liked The Observer” to “OH NO BLOOBER NO” without playing the others.
And why? Because others told him.
None of those people deserve respect
same with people calling it "soulless" or whatever, like... did we play the same fucking game ROFL.
The remake is a HELL of a love letter, and one of the biggest strengths is that it doesnt even try to replace the original, if anything, its a perfect companion piece.
@@AirDavy01 Until the original is readily available on the same platforms it is a replacement.
@@NA-ke9sl well that's not bloobers fault now is it ?
They did they're job and did it damn well, it's Konami's responsibility to port the original silent hill to modern consoles.
@@danialyousaf6456I bet if it’s slop, you’re first in line to CONSOOOOOM 😂😂 you’re trying hard to defend a remake that doesn’t even need to exist
Great vid always love your content! As for Marries death i thought what you said was really cool, that maybe James dug her up to bring her to silent hill to be buried. I believe however Masahiro Ito confirmed that James killed her about a day ago which is why his story doesnt add up when Laura says she saw Marry a year ago. Some people theorize that Mary contracted her illness 3 years ago, and James rationalized his story by believing she died 3 years ago.
i heard people say in stillness u can hear james roll out the car and just drive Mary’s body into the lake but idk i need to go back and hear it myself