The thing that always gets me about the long hallway is that the hallway itself is just long enough to hear Mary screaming at you to leave.... but if you stick around and don't go through the door immediately, she retracts her words and begs for James to stay. He likely never saw this side of Mary, only remembering her lashing out as her final moments. It's after he killed her that he finally realized how scared she actually was.
It also is one of the requirements for getting the Leave ending, the only "good" end, at least in the original. In order to move on, James needs to acknowledge Mary's fear, and that him killing her wasn't a selfless act like he probably told himself it was at the time.
@@thanatoastI still got In Water in the OG because I thought surely that Angela's knife would be a useful for a puzzle, right? Or maybe Mary's letter had a secret clue? Yeah, I was cooked.
Exactly. In my first playthrough I (unfortunately) barged through the doors just as Mary quietly said "Wait!" and I wasn't able to return to hear what she wanted to say.
37:30 actually this is NOT the otherworld version of the hotel! It’s the real world. The hotel actually burned down before we arrive in silent hill. The other world is the clean and pristine version of the hotel that we had been in up till this point.
When you go to the save screen for the game, it foreshadows what James has done too, it’s hard to see but is evident once you get closer to the ending.
theres more proof of it when you see the door to the final corridor inside the burned hotel, same as the transition to blue creek apartments. the corridor is the otherworld, the hotel distinctly isnt
Also, a small touch by Blooper: the corrosive type of the Lying Figure only appears in the other world, and they are in the “clean” version of the hotel 👌
I played SH2 when it released at a friend's house. I remember completely seeing James as the villain. I played the remake last week and... I was diagnosed with a chronic illness this year and I'm not proud to admit that I've been lashing out at my husband. I can completely understand now how resentment can form from that. Grief is such a complex thing. In a way I am processing grief in the form of my body destroying itself and the grief my husband feels watching his wife deteriorating to a point where she can't even walk on some days. You're right, Silent Hill 2 hits so much harder when you're grown. Being alive for 30 years versus 9 really does make a difference
@johnzarek3628 I played the remake last week. The remake hit harder due to life experience I think. As a kid, it's just a sad and tragic tale. But as an adult, you can really relate to the characters and story
The thing about the Maria ending is that, imo, James denies his punishment and rather embraces his sins, like an abuser justifying their fucked up actions. It's why his "You better do something about that cough" sounds so harsh. It's a warning, like if she doesn't get her impending illness under control, she'll end up the same way Mary did, this time without the moral ambiguity and hesitation of James at the start of his journey. It's almost definitely the definitive "bad" ending.
I kinda related to this ending perfectly like Regina I’m new to the silent hill world, and I dunno but I got this ending my run, and it’s exactly what I would do in a loop like James tbh
As someone who cares for a spouse with multiple chronic illness, there are parts of James that I feel like I understand too well. My husband isn't dying, but he'll never get better, and he can barely get out of bed on a good day. There's no family to help me care for him, and the pressure weighs on you to not only carry the home financially, but keep the house in perfect order, remember all of your partner's medications and appointments, help them bathe and use the bathroom, and be their pillar of emotional support when they're in pain or despairing. It isn't easy on him either; he feels guilty for not being able to help me or care for himself, resents his body, pretends like he isn't in pain to try and ease my mind, and only has our cat for company when I can't be at home. I understand _so_ well Mary's frustration at being forced to put this huge burden on James, desperately needing him but hating herself for it. I understand James just wanting his life to go back to normal, and how he could understand Mary's "It'd be easier if they just killed me already" almost as permission to "save" her and himself. I don't think I could do it, even if my husband begged me to end it for him. We've known each other since we were kids, when he was healthy, and he really is my best friend in the whole world. Watching him decline over the last 10 years has been so hard, but I can't imagine a single day without him in it, let alone taking those days away from him when maybe tomorrow will be better. ...Anyway this game is super messed up and I love it a lot, and I'm glad(??) you were able to have such a powerful experience with your first Silent Hill title! Welcome Home!
The 2 bodies in the staircase of hell actually symbolise both the father and brother of Angela. She also says that her mother is "the only one left, maybe then I can finally rest", which implies that she didn't just kill her father (which we know she did from the newspaper before abstract daddy) but that she also killed her brother and planned on killing her mother too.
Im just realizing something about Eddie and Angela's outfits. Eddie is wearing a polo shirt and shorts despite of his personal "hell" always being cold. And Angela is wraring pants and what it looks like a sweater despite the fact that her personal "hell" is always in flames. Angela even rubs her arms as if she is cold at the cemetery when she meets James.
I really thought this remake would be taking liberties like the Resident Evil 2 & 3 reimaginings. Instead Bloober basically recreated the game to incorporate the same music, story, characters, backgrounds and horrific dread of the original. Adding in some extra environments, new character moments improving boss fights were all added to update in the most respectful way. Plus I love how they kept the twisted angled camera shots throughout
Can't really agree with the last, there. The over the shoulder camera angle throughout the entirity of the gameplay leaves only to occasional "twisted" camera angle in the cutscenes, and even there, they are few, and far between.
Actually there is a lack of fixed cameras that really kill the mood. It's my biggest complain (+toned down pyramid head scenes). James' takes up so many space in the screen it's hard to feel the darkness embracing him.
@@PalitoSelvatico Yeah, even in the cutscenes, there aren't many. The quick cuts, and jarring edits during Eddie's break down before the freezer fight are all gone, and he doesn't even direct his ranting mockery of insults at the corpses around him, anymore. Jist blankly stares James in the face, and mutters rather lamely about being a 'fat disgusting P.O.S.' Overall, I like the performance of Eddie, but that particular scene was a complete failure in every respect. And also, I despise Eddie's redesign. His neck, and head are far too fat for his body. He's a cartoon.
only 7 mins in but your point about horror not being just to scare is so true. sometimes horror is to bring people to a reality they close their eyes to. there's so much horror that's just about processing grief or trauma
As someone who has played silent hill a lot and deep dived into tens of hours of videos, i appreciate this fresh take from a new player, and I really appreciate you adding the emotional personal thoughts to it. I've recommended this video to many people who played the remake because of your delivery and I really appreciate the angle you took on it.
This is my new favorite Silent Hill 2 video essay. Thank you for your courage in opening up about some of your own personal issues in order to further convey why this story was so moving and for subsequently sharing that praise through this amazing video. I feel lucky that the RUclips algorithm brought me here. I’ve been grappling with the idea of making a video similar to this one, because like you said you needed, I needed time to process it all as well due to how deeply introspective it left me. I think you’ve inspired me to indeed make that video.
The thing that really got to me while playing was just how uncomfortable it felt to exist in those hellish spaces. The background music and ambient noises made the darkness feel like it would crush me under its weight
Excellent video. Just want to point out though that after James watches the video, he isn't in the otherworld. He was actually in the otherworld the entire time, hence all the monsters. After seeing the tape, he's back in the real world. There's a note you can find in one of the areas that talks about how a year or two prior to James returning the hotel was the scene of a massive fire. The original plan was to fix it up, but after seeing the damage it was just condemned.
What are you talking about? There are monsters still in the Hotel after the tape... They're just pathetic because they've lost their ability to try and make James face his guilt. Hence why you're able to defeat not just one Red Pyramid Thing, but two. Not to mention you fight a literal demon version of Mary/Maria at the end in a twisted version of the Hotel. He still hasn't accepted or rejected his guilt until after you've killed the Red Pyramid Things. The scene of the fire is to explain why it looks more and more burnt as you continue through the story in the Hotel, since all the other locations were generally covered in rust, but that starts creeping in BEFORE you watch the tape. It's not telling you that you're in the real world though... Angela's nightmare is crossing with James' and that's why James sees the flames that Angela herself says is always around her. I mean the most damaged and fucked up version of each place is the otherworld version... so clearly the Hotel is the otherworld version after the video. It's physically representing the continuing descent into madness that James goes through in each location.
No it's actually the real world hotel. It was in the original as well, again there is a note saying the hotel was destroyed in a fire about two years ago. If you don't believe me, if you save and exit the game on the PS5, where it shows your progress it will say "Otherworld Hotel" in the nice looking hotel, but in the destroyed one it says "Hotel".
@@hypercynicIt's actually not James going deeper into madness. Quite the opposite, he's slowly letting go of his delusions. Granted it's likely those delusions were imposed onto him by the town itself in the first place, but the realization that Mary couldn't have died 3 years ago and that he's more responsible for her passing than he told himself is a major theme. So much so that the hotel's facade isn't the only thing that slowly fades, Mary's letter also starts to fade away every time you check it after the Labyrinth (which it did in the original game as well). Sometimes madness isn't about the world being scarier, sometime it's about escaping to a more inviting fantasy than reality.
Gosh that bit with Angela with the apologizing and your anecdote is too real, way too relatable. It is something that I work on a lot with my therapist.
While I _could_ be pedantic and say because the prison is entirely a mental space and not physical, I'll say instead that it's because prisoners aren't allowed access to weapons, and James is definitely a prisoner and not a guard. He's preventing himself from having the ability to control his fate.
I was so certain I was gonna be replaying the Remake right after completing it, but it actually seemed to take a toll on me. I seriously gotta take a break cause IT REALLY wakes up trauma if you have any
I had to take a week long break after finally escaping the labyrinth because of exams but also because that long time in the deepest depths of silent hill was unironically upsetting me irl lmao
Dude and I beat the original game a year ago as well as silent hill 3 but there something about that remake that just hits different.. I had the same exact thought and the same thing happend
I want to say thank you for being so open with your audience. I’m sure most people commented before the video, which can be why the comment section tone is vastly different than the video,but after watching it I can’t find words to be appreciative on how much effort you put into this video. I never knew you went through so much.
OG die-hard fan of 15 years here. Thank you Reignbot for offering your unique perspective on the game, given your past experiences. I'm so glad you managed to finally experience it so we could get your take, really insightful. Themes of guilt and trauma aside, I always appreciated how the game doesn't condone James's actions. Instead, it explores the complex motivations and psychological factors that can lead someone to commit such a heinous act, challenging our own perceptions of morality and the potential for darkness within ourselves.
nobody in the comments are seeming to pick up that this is a super super personal video. i can’t imagine how hard it was to actually put this out. this is a deeply human issue in real life and i look up to you for your analyzation of this game. thank you
37:37 actually if I remember correct, that’s how the hotel looked the entire time, the perfect little hotel you originally showed up is the otherworld hotel
Nothing but love and respect for ya, ReignBot. I know it must've been terrifying to put out so much personal trauma for thousands of complete strangers to see. You're a stronger person than I ever could be.
I love hearing your perspective on this. I’ve been a fan of Silent Hill since its release so having a fresh mind to hear interpret what I’ve already made my mind on is so fascinating. Thanks!
At around 42:00 - 44:00 you talk anyhow hard it is to watch someone wither away. I live that every day. I've lived it every day for years now. At first, it was my mother. She became a full-blown Diabetic and I watched as she slowly, slowly died. She eventually drowned from whatever fluids came into her lungs. Now, I watch as my father dies the same way. And there's not a single thing I can do to stop it. I'm so scared because I know I'll be the one to find my father's corpse one morning because I'm his caregiver. Sorry, don't know why I even said anything but that bit there hit home for me.
I am so sorry for the weight you bear. Please, if you're able, I highly urge you to see if there are services to care for caregivers. Being a caregiver can take such a huge toll on you, and never mind you can't pour from an empty cup and all that, but you need to be able to rest and process things. I wish you the best with things ahead, friend. ♥️
Girl I feel you on the whole appendix thing. Almost died 2 years ago after a misdiagnosis. I was in for 2 weeks and 2 days they kept saying I needed this or that until I broke down crying. Ended up doing nothing more. Been on and off meds for the pain now. 2 years later I've been having chronic on off lower abdominal pain especially where my appendix use to be. Healing from that was trauma. Gotta have another surgery to check what's going on. I truly hope you're feeling much better take care of your health and keep up the great work. ❤
this is exactly the kind of work that i personally love to see. hearing your own personal feelings and experiences about it is so much more valuable than another dry review. art is meant to make people feel things, and i find it fascinating to hear about how it affects everyone differently. thank you so much for sharing this with us, i genuinely found the whole video really interesting and im glad that one of my favourite stories left such an impact on you. i hope you can get something out of the other games one day too. personally i think downpour is a really good story as well, even if it gets a lot of hate as one of the later sequels.
I loved watching hearing about your experience. There's nothing like getting that feeling of "the first time" and getting to see that through someone else's perspective was so nice. Felt like I was a teenager again playing the original SH2 for the first time.
I'm really happy that you're back. I'm even happier to see that you're doing well. I'm proud of you. Silent Hill is one of my favorite franchises, and I can't wait to finish the video and hear your thoughts. Looking forward to enjoying more of your work soon. EDIT: Thank you for sharing your trauma with us, i know personally how hard it can be to talk about those things. You are an inspiration.
27:00 the whole Angela story is disturbingly heartbreaking and made in a amazing (i do too believe Abstrac Daddy to be the best boss) and i also believe the YOU there is abou men in general... (in my spanish speaking mind i read it as "Ustedes")
FYI Reign, The burnt out collapsing hotel is not otherworld hotel. In an ironic twist, it’s the pristine looking hotel that is otherworld hotel, and the burnt out hotel is the reality. It had burnt out years ago and been shut down. James finally facing reality reveals the real hotel. This is also why the three enemies die on their own. It is the death of James’s delusions.
37:35 as some of previous commenters pointed out, you actually start out at the Otherworld version of the hotel at the beginning. So the immaculate looking version of the hotel is the Otherworld version and the burnt down decrepit version you see after viewing the tape is the real world equivalent. It was a nice way to subvert expectations, as the player has been primed to expect the real life version first and the Otherworld version about halfway through the level for all the other areas so far. There's a painting in the prison area that shows the hotel on fire.
I'm someone who had to help take care of a family member with a terminal illness (my grandfather who had heart failure and lived over 8 months in thr 4th stage in pure agony) while also battling my own disability and the fact I was being evaluated for one that could have been a deadly variant (I was being evaluated for Ehlers-Danlos, leading to a diagnosis of Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos although there was worry of Vascular Ehlers-Danlos which has a fairly short life span expectancy. I also live with a multitude of disabilities, including Rheumatoid Arthritis and have for multiple years). If someone would've met my grandfather in his final months, they would not have believed he was the same man that laughed and helped his 10-year-old grandchild play a prank on their father. That even just 3 years prior, he road his motorcycle multiple times a week and loved to joke around. Instead they would've seen a grouchy old man who could hardly walk, let alone run or anything. One who was in severe pain despite being on strong pain meds. One who had to miss his yearly visit to his mother who lived just under 1000 miles away. As a result, he pushed everyone away and it lead to my grandparents sleeping in seperate rooms. And it led my grandmother to asking hospice to do anything because hearing and seeing him in pain was horrible. I know this sounds awful but part of me can understand why James did what he did in Silent Hill 2. When you are/help take care of someone you love with a terminal illness, it breaks you down. As much as I miss my grandfather, part of me is happy he's gone because his pain was horrible and I believe he's not having any pain
I've beat the original over 100 times and it is probably my favourite game of all time if I had to pick one (though I hate doing that). This game gave me the EXACT same feeling I had playing the original, yet I was only 10 when the original came out and I played it. Somehow they managed to take a game I was far too familiar with and made me fucking TERRIFIED by the exact same story, locations and monsters as before. I never thought that this would even be passable, let alone a masterpiece. And this is probably my favourite Silent Hill game now. I relate though, my mom died when I was five so Silent Hill 2 took on a very different meaning for me. It'll sound weird but I always felt like I was playing as my dad trying to find my mom, and it of course leads to feeling a form of dread that doesn't exist outside of Silent Hill, but even more specifically this game's characters and story. It took me over a week of playing 2 or 3 hours at a time to finally beat this the first time because it was so terrifying and was genuinely fucking with me mentally in a way that I haven't experienced in a very long time. It resurfaced a lot of things that I still never overcame or dealt with, and I have struggled with PTSD because of all the untreated traumas from my life, and this game always causes it all to resurface. No piece of media has affected me in the way both the original and remake managed to. I don't think anything has even come close honestly. The ending makes me cry every single time I play these games because I just hear my mom when I hear Mary's voice. The terror, anger and sadness she must've felt to die at such a young age, I'm 33 and still haven't gotten over it. That pain exists so deep within me that I am tormented by it every single day. She was born June 22, 1971 and died June 19, 1996. She was 3 days shy of what would've been her 24th birthday, and I've managed to outlive her by 10 whole years as of this upcoming February. It's such a strange, surreal feeling to out live someone who barely even got to begin their life at all. She was then replaced by a horrible woman who mentally abused me for my entire childhood. My father also was an verbally abusive alcoholic, and the dad I grew up with who replaced my mom with the psycho woman... he worked six or seven days a week and was never there for me at all. To him, he was providing money and that was enough. Obviously he deals with his own trauma over the event because my mom married him only two years before she died. But I had nobody there for me, much like Angela and Eddie. I empathized with both of them in an all too real way. I also empathize with James. I understand how easy it could be to feel like you're euthanizing someone rather than killing them. I would never do such a thing myself, but knowing how my mom struggled with depression and anxiety herself, I could imagine her begging for the suffering to end (if she were in a similar situation, she actually died very quickly after a doctor prescribed her the wrong medication). I feel like too many people want this game to have an answer, but there are so many elements of Taoism and Judaism throughout the franchise. I heavily believe they are telling a story through religious philosophy and are asking us a question to consider for ourselves. I don't believe there IS an answer. I believe there is a question and Team Silent wants us to question our own realities and consider things from the different perspectives of all the people in your life (as well as the people of the world). We all have our own individual story and if you're willing to truly look at yourself realistically, you will see the evil within yourself and be able to come to terms with it and try to acknowledge it, while working towards fighting against those awful tendencies. We all contain the potential for "good" and "evil" actions. What we need to come to terms with is who we WANT to be and working towards that goal. Taoism and Judaism are about improving oneself to be the best person you can be. They both also contain Purgatory-like concepts to learn from your mistakes before being allowed to attain salvation in death. It's the only Silent Hill that does this, but for James this truly is purgatory and it is forcing him to look at the situation from all angles until finally accepting his guilt and being able to move on. Nothing in Silent Hill 1, 3 or 4 says that this can't be possible. Silent Hill is a mysterious place and it contains an immense, spiritual power. Alessa was an instrument for that power to emerge, but the town itself is what contains the power, hence why the 3 sequels are possible. The idea from the movie that it's Alessa who contains that power, it completely ignores the fact that Alessa didn't WANT to use her powers in the first game. I 100% the game after about 50 hours of playtime and I've wanted to go back to play it again as I really love this game in all aspects. But I also struggle to even open it and begin another playthrough, because it feels like I'm opening Pandora's box once again, forcing myself to deal with a past that still lingers in the present. Eeesh I needed to vent sorry. *Oh also, the remake just reinforces this concept of salvation and rebirth even more. The Stillness ending is basically the good version of the In Water ending, this ending would likely still be allowing James to "break the cycle" while going out on his own terms. He has accepted what he has done, but he doesn't believe he deserves to continue living, and does the world a favour, or maybe that is me placing myself in that position because that's how I would feel if I ever had to come to the revelation that I did something of this level of morally ambiguous, but ultimately still taking the life of someone. And again, Taoism and Judaism don't believe in absolutes of good or evil, so in moral greyness this could absolutely still achieve salvation for James (at least I feel that way with my limited knowledge of the two religions, maybe someone far more knowledgeable could educate me). The Bliss ending is another bad ending to imply that the tape is going to get rewound, and James is going to need to repeat this adventure to attain true salvation. The Dog and UFO endings obviously aren't canonical so they don't matter, especially since they both came from a suggestion box that was left in the office to suggest a joke ending for the original Silent Hill. I also hope the Maria scenario gets added eventually. It's quite interesting to learn more about Maria's story.
A crossover of two of my favorite things. Reignbot and SH2. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I first experienced (OG) SH2 about two years ago. As someone whose mother was terminally ill for 14 years (of my then 22 years of life), this game and the remake is HARD. I’m holding off finishing because I am not ready. When I first played, I got the In Water ending with my best friend and before we could get to the end of Mary’s letter, I was sobbing. I think it really helped me understand my mother’s outbursts on a level I had yet to confront as well as things I wish I had heard from her. I’m 30 now and SH2 has been critical in helping me process my buried grief. On a happy note- how often did you open the nap? Lmao
i've always, always related so heavily with silent hill 2, but moreso since my mom passed. i was her caregiver her entire life. she was a cancer survivor but developed copd afterward. she suffered much of the end of her life. there were times when i would think about doing EXACTLY what james did. i didn't want her to suffer anymore. i wanted her to be at peace. when she was hospitalized for the final time, two days after christmas one year, and ended up passing 2 days after her 60th birthday... the guilt of ever thinking of those things was unimaginable. i wanted her to be free of her illness, but when she finally was, i would have done anything to have her back, selfish as that was. the conversation he has with mary about how he didn't want her to suffer anymore... it hits like a truck for me, personally. it had been my favorite game years before this all happened, but with that experience, it just adds to the emotional weight. a lot of us have experience with cancer/terminal illness, and the caregiving responsibility usually lies with a child of a sick parent. to watch the woman who gave birth to you, who loved you, slowly wither away and dependent on an oxygen machine 24/7.. only to end up in a hospital, hooked up to machines, that you have to decide to unplug. i hated my sister for giving up on her, even though i knew she wouldn't make it. if i had the chance to live the "rebirth" or "bliss" endings, i would 100% do it. that's the pain and grief that comes with losing someone you love more than anything. this is part of why i couldn't see james as super malicious, even though what he did was an objectively horrible deed. because that could have been me, wanting to put my mom out of her endless suffering. i'm just thankful they were only intrusive thoughts (i have ocd). the shame and guilt i felt for even thinking it... i can't imagine how james would grapple w it. the in water ending will always be the canon one to me because of this (and because i wanted to end it all after my mom passed, too). sorry for my own mini-essay! i just had to get it out somewhere. thank you for sharing your experiences. i have similar feelings re: angela - being quick to apologize, a trauma survivor, etc. rambling away about this particular point re: james was pretty cathartic, even if no one reads it haha.
The leave ending in the remake makes james feel a lot more cold than the original game. Ontop of that the suffocation scene feels a lot angrier due to him no longer kissing her on the forehead beforehand.
There's been a lot of SH2 remake reviews in my feed lately, but as soon as I saw one from reignbot I had to watch. Thank you for sharing your experiences, it's valuable hearing perspectives like yours.
As someone with MDD, I can relate to the droning you were talking about and yes, Silent Hill 2's sound design is the closest to capturing that in audio form
One caveat. I disagree that the Mary at the end is his imagination. I think she's very real, maybe the town projecting her soul. As for the Leave ending and how James would "get away with it" Mary was on the verge of death by the time James actually killed her. He also parks near a cemetery when he arrives at the town before it draws him in. It's very possible that in the leave timeline he was planning on burying her, and it would be rather easy to just tell everyone she just finally succumbed to her illness. Leave is my preferred ending because James has gone through a journey to earn forgiveness, and chooses to raise Laura, because that's what Mary wanted to do. A final redemption built from his love for Mary. The difference that the Maria ending James has from leave and In Water is so stark. One is a man who feels guilt for what he did and has complicated emotions about it, and the other is man who selfishly cannot admit what he did and earns nothing, putting him in an endless cycle of suffering. James is a very human character, so both redemption and evil are possible for him.
tbh, i love this interpretation because it’s redemption in the form of life instead of death. i really dislike redemption arcs that lead to a character’s death. it’s a very punitive way to look at justice which i think we should have challenged more.
@sphinxwidget the devs said it's users choice ending and his father in 4 hasn't seen him in a while and doesn't know where he is. He would definitely know if James was in prison, so James fucking off somewhere else(leave) or him being dead(in water) or stuck in silent hill(rebirth and maria) are pretty much the only options. He's obviously not in prison.
I don't know if you will read this comment but yes she was SA by both her father and brother and her mother would actually accept this as some sort of "punishment" for her "misbehaving", as it is a very strict religious family
This series hits so much harder after watching my mom die. Dad and I still had to make the call on stopping the then ineffective treatment and…from my pov her health was a slow decline my whole life, to where the memories of her sick outweigh when she was well.
36:06 It's kinda funnt how Dr. Mick took one look at the crawling and death animations of the Lying Figure and he was like: "Why smothering with a pillow?"
Obligatory Silent Hill 2 Trauma Dump Essay TW for: Chronic Illness, Survival of an Illness, Resentment from Loved Ones, and Description of Severe Illness I try my best to describe my condition clearly because many people cannot FATHOM what fatigue is like. I've had people try to compare more gentle descriptions to getting black out drunk and if you think that's the worst version of that experience, be thankful that you can choose when it happens, you can sleep it off and feel better later, and that you are impaired during that experience. I'm sober when it happens. I have to control myself to NOT drown my problems in something to take the edge off 24/7 because they do happen 24/7 with zero breaks and it would be counterintuitive to my recovery. I'm gritting my teeth and taking the full brunt of reality as my body and mind betray me. I am intense and vulnerable in my description because I need the reader to see, for even a moment, how serious I am that James and Mary are not caricatures. They are agonizingly accurate. James is a character I deeply relate to. Not because I am him, but because I'm Mary. I have severe hypothyroidism. I was diagnosed after Id started to spend days laying in the same spot, in the same position. Opening my eyes felt like lifting boulders. Hypothyroidism is a fatigue disorder. It saps every shred of energy from your physical self, and in its severe forms, leaves you mentally aware, trapped in your own skull, but unable to make memories. Life is a haze, and in a gaslighting family like mine, you fully lose touch with reality. Reality is what is in the room and visible. I could not even remember my own face while holding a mirror. It doesn't hurt that much. It's such a slow and creeping process that you get used to it. My family medically neglected me and actively drove me away from getting help. I was failed by every single person who was supposed to ring alarm bells. You just look up and realize that you're falling behind. That you now crawl to bathroom every morning on your hands and knees because your body does not heal in between work shifts. Passing away from hypothyroidism really is as easy and painless as falling asleep and giving up. But I didn't give up. It felt selfish. It pulled some truly toxic parts of myself to the surface as I flailed and had to demand doctors truly find out what was wrong. All while my body failed me and nobody could see how bad it had gotten because I'd masked my symptoms for decades and... well, I'm sure any traumatized person knows that to take off a mask, you have to face the reason it was put on. The reason you kept it on. The thing about hypothyroidism? The medicine actually kind of hurts you. But you're alive! You get to keep breathing, you just kind of... have your body constantly in panic mode. That effect stacks with the level of dose you need, and you can guess, mine is pretty high. I take poison to continue living. I lost everything. Basic functions. I thought I was tired before? Now I'm tired and experiencing every detail of it. No more haze of memory loss cushioning my mind. And I can now fully see the disappointment and stress in my partner. I can see every moment of hesitation and exhaustion and resentment. And he is the kind of person who is so kind and patient that he lets it build in his chest until it bursts out of him (I know there are interpretations of the spitters that say it's his wife's disease, but I equally see them as a metaphor for bottling emotions.) My partner and I have a very genuine connection, and I'm not scared of him abandoning me or acting like James but seeing him literally lose hair worrying about my safety makes me... feel like I wouldn't blame him. I know that our situation breaks even the happiest marriages. And for a while, I was waiting as he mulled on the situation, doing his own processing. I was being weighed against his own life and happiness. I know from many stories that nothing I do will stop his decision, and all I could do was become a completely open book. And he chose to stay. To accept that my past self died August 2023, when she did, all her plans and dreams died with her. I can only play the cards I have. And he accepted it, and we have been building that relationship all over again. As if the 6 years prior never existed. I saw my 25th birthday only because my partner pushed me to get checked and if Id not been pushed on it, then by the time I did start to truly worry, it would have been too late. I didn't even celebrate it, and every holiday has been a struggle because I am still processing everything. I am a dead woman with a beating heart. I have survivor's guilt for my own life. I know that the Silent Hill 2 Remake coming out during this experience of mine is a coincidence. But it really spoke to a freshly ripped apart piece of me and helped me. And if anyone wants an equally tragic and gut-wrenching gaming experience, go look into Pathologic. Playing it isn't something I can recommend because... oh my dog what a depressing and miserable experience, but there are video essays on it and I highly recommend Codex Entries's Pathologic For Those Who Will Never Play It series. Take Trigger Warnings seriously. And check out some of their other videos about existential horror! I have found that loving this type of horror is partially an act of violence on myself. It hits too close. But I also find something so... genuinely human in it. A peek at a real layer of humanity, and frequently, a sympathetic one to all parties. The antagonist isnt a person or a monster. It's a natural event or a concept. And you are powerless against it. You can only minimize the damage and adapt. I find... hope in that hopeless situation. I have done everything I could. I have given my everything. And I can rest now that the decision is solely in the hands of fate.
I'm on the James side of the equation, being a caregiver to someone in a similar situation, and the amount of truth and humanity in Mary and James's situation is unimaginable to someone who hasn't experienced it first-hand. My husband has ME/CFS, EDS, and narcolepsy, just to name a few, and his ME/CFS is so severe that even thinking too hard is enough to exhaust his body. We're lucky if he can be out of bed longer than a trip to the bathroom on a daily basis, and even then, sometimes he has to wait for me to get home from work to help him. His family doesn't believe any of it ("have you tried yoga?"), and as I'm sure you know, getting disability for chronic illnesses is nearly impossible. I've come home to him collapsed on the floor, asleep, because he fell trying to get somewhere on his own and was unable to get back up, so the narcolepsy overtook him. I've woken up in the middle of the night to him in nearly full paralysis because a vertebra in his neck slipped out of place in his sleep due to his EDS, and all he can do is make a whining noise in his throat to try and tell me he needs me to realign him. I've found him in tears because he was unable to close the curtains when his migraines flared up. He struggles to eat on his own on the worst days, and sometimes I can only get him to drink a cup of soup. Every day I'm afraid something new will happen, but I can't let the fear control our time. If I spent every moment that I feel terrified showing fear, he'd never see me smile again, and I can't imagine how soul crushing that would be for him, to think that he was causing me to spend my life as trapped as he feels. I decided when we were kids in middle school, back before he got sick, that I was never leaving his side, and I won't say it's been an easy promise to keep. It's been hard, I've lost friendships, I can't visit my family, and my own shaky mental health has certainly suffered, but I chose this over a decade ago, and I continue to choose it every single day. I think, early in Mary's illness, James felt like I do. A loving, supportive partner who only wanted to do the best for his sick wife, and it wasn't until Mary began to give up that James did too. The selfish desire to return to the life you had before is something anyone can relate to, but not everyone can understand how desperately you can want to take control back when it's all been stolen from you by something you can't fight. James could do nothing but watch his wife suffer, and Mary could do nothing but cause suffering to James, and under the pressure of a swiftly approaching death, the only control James could firmly grasp was when it would come. I've had people tell me that I'm compassionate, or strong, or crazy for choosing to stay with my husband, but sometimes, I wonder if I'm being selfish, actually. I want to be the person he relies on. I want to wake up to him every day and go to sleep with him every night. I want to read to him, do silly things to make him smile, make sure he's eating well, cut his hair, keep his medicine on schedule. I want him to keep trying, to find something to look forward to so he can live just one more day, every day. I want to give him the stability of a loving home so he can have a sturdy base to hold on to what little control he has over his health. I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that something wonderful happens for you and new treatments and medications become available for your condition; I hope that your quality of life continues to improve, and that you and your partner can continue building and learning together. I hope that someday, you'll love celebrating your birthday and holidays again, as a milestone of making it another year. I hope that your partner selfishly chooses to keep you close, day after day, year after year, no matter how hard that might be for either of you. I know I don't regret a single moment of time spent with my husband, even if they're difficult ones, and I hope that the both of you can look forward, together, without regrets.
Great video. I'm 37 and played the original PC version back in the day. I was really new to it so I had to use a guide, trying my best not to get spoiled. When the end credits rolled I was crying. A game had never done this to me and never did again. Not to this magnitude. So I fell in love with it - the music, the art, the atmosphere, the psychology beneath it all. I never really replayed it because it had this "once in a lifetime" feeling to it. Like it could never be as good as the first time. Now I played the remake 2 times and I have to say it's insane how much I reflected on the story again, now that I'm much older. So many things have now actually happened in my life - relationships, depression, not having a career, being a lonely artist and not trusting people (women) anymore (because I've always only attracted depressed women), being intelligent and interested when most people I meet are boring and not interested in anything - all these feelings of solitude and anger towards society, the government, corruption all over the place … I know who Pyramid Head is for me and it's something else for everyone. It's Carl Jung's shadow, the truth about our dark world being covered by the glitter of capitalism and ego-driven megalomaniacs who pay young men to kill other young men - all this stuff. To face these truths means to be enlightened. That's what the game is about - going through darkness to find your own light and hold on to it. Your soul. The game is also heavily inspired by books by Kobo Abe, especially "The Box Man". I'm reading all of his books now.
A close friend of mine recently endured a devastating breakup, on top continuing to endure and undergo treatment for Endometriosis. I've become closer to her than ever before these past few months, and the amount of mental anguish and trauma she's gone through is just, debilitating to even think about. She's the strongest person I know. Anyways, maybe a month after I first started connecting with her post break-up, I picked this game back up again and got to the part in the Hospital where you reach the rooftop with Mary's note. I had played through the game before, but reading certain lines like how she doesn't even know who she is anymore while she's on the medication, and the description of how dull and depressing she found her days as they went by... it just broke my heart. Not only did it give me a deeper appreciation and sympathy for Mary in the game itself, but it made the sympathy I had for my friend even deeper as well. It also gave me a newfound contempt for James' actions. Don't get me wrong I don't outright hate his character, but it's given me a newfound perspective on what he was going through in all of is, and made it all the more, I dunno, disappointing that he would go down the path that he did. Note: Endo ofc is not a terminal illness so I still can't relate to the more immediate dread that comes with one's own mortality, but the idea of caring for someone even when they try to push you away at times felt all too real.
Correction, the first version of the Hotel is the Otherworld version, after the tape it goes to the normal version, the hotel burned down years ago, also the hotel in a "normal" state has the darkened enemies common in the Otherworld
OMG REIGN AND SILENT HILL?? A dream!! I wanted to add something that I always loved from the original director of SH2. There is a Making of Silent Hill 2 video you can find on RUclips and in it, he says the goal was to "shake hearts" in terms of the horror they were going for. To me, this is the best way to describe what SH2 does so well. It shakes hearts. Also, if you ever get the chance look up the leave ending for the original if you have not. Not only because the original VA will make you ugly cry, but the original letter had more context left out in the remake. I still love the remake, ofc, but that final letter in the original still brings me to tears and should be seen by new players purely for the additional context. Welcome to the fandom, my dear and thank you for sharing a piece of yourself through this review.
im also a late silent Hill (fan) i remember playing it for the first time at c0v1d time, i started with The Room (i know, but the times make it better), and then i jumped to "the best silent Hill", SH2... it blewed my mind, i think the same as you as how lucky i was playing the game in my late 20s, with a more "mature" head to appreciate everything more than the "horror stuff" anyway, sorry for the spam, it was an amazing video
The room was a very good game ruined by the controls being clunky and bad. I wish they would do at least a remaster with fixed controls. I think it would be far better received.
thank you for sharing such a personal experience with this game. that's the beauty of SH2, is the way it feels like home in its familiarity and horror. there's almost a comfort in it for me, when shit got rough in the past i would always return to the original SH2 as a sort of coping mechanism. seeing yourself reflected through it is simultaneously so comforting and terrifying. i am glad the remake delivered and that you got to know silent hill as well
The wife and I bought the early access version of the remake. We played it while we waited for the physical copy to arrive (which I was going to let a co-worker borrow). I'd randomly update my co-worker that they were not ready for how scary the remake is. When they started playing it, they could only play it during the day. SH2 has been my #1 game for 2 decades. The remake knocked it from the spot. Digging deeper (through puzzles in game that you solve irl), the remake is subtly a sequel to the original.
This is a really well made pro video. It deserves a second part, even if it relates less on a personal level to you. Would be interesting to hear your insights about what Pyramid head, Laura, Maria, etc. represent for you. Aswell as other key elements that you skipped
I’m glad you finally get to play a game where honestly dramatize me when I was a kid but game that made me love the obsecure, the unknown and the down right terrifying. Reason why I love horror I see as art / dred. My emotions going my head. That’s why I have the fascination of the unknown, sometimes it’s the like ocean , fast abyss. Reinbot I’m happy you play this game, you , nexpo , Nick Crowley , blameitonjorge,chills and other horror/mysteries channels. Yall help me understand be wary and be aware about the world and it’s horrors/ mysteries 😊
I lost my Mom in April due to medical negligence during an unnecessary medical procedure & then had someone on her care team designate her as “DNR” despite documentation contradicting the fact she was full resuscitation at all costs. We had spent 3 weeks watching her pull through intubation, had 5 days to breathe as she was recovering miraculously, and then was again administered sedatives that caused her to not have the strength to breathe on her own - where they made the choice to ignore alarms going off & my own pleas to help her. Losing the one person in my life who was the rock of our family because a whole group of medical staff lacked any empathy or compassion. I hate private hospitals with a passion, & we only have one hospital period in our area (where she was at). 2024 has been the worst year & despite how much I wanted to play this game - I can’t imagine playing through it NOW.
The confusion about the 3 years is normal, I think, for a first playthrough. What really cooked my noodle was playing it again knowing that she had not been gone for 3 years and it recontextualizes the opening scene. James' hands are shaking as he tries to wash something invisible off of them, he still has the indent on his ring finger from his wedding ring. People say right before the scene starts you can hear a metallic noise like a ring falling into the drain but my hearing is not good enough for that. Looks like James is also sweating in this scene and then he looks into the mirror and seems to have a fleeting moment of confusion about what he is seeing. I think this is the moment where he disassociates from reality. I think he is just an hour or so from having killed her at this point. When he looks into that mirror is when Silent Hill grabs him. Him saying she died 3 years ago, in my opinion, is him mentally blocking out the entire time she was sick. I think she was probably sick for 3 years and this disassociated James has reversed the clock right up to when he found out she was sick. Another thing I will quickly mention that also came out me as a surprise was the hotel. The pristine version of it in the fog is the otherworld version. The destroyed version is the one closer to how it looks in reality. It's backwards but there are clues all over that imply the hotel burned down some time after James and Mary visited. Why is this one place like this? I am not sure. Silent Hill uses truth as a weapon to bludgeon people with. Maybe the town wanted to give him some hope before pulling it away. It might also just be James himself providing the false hope and shaping the world. He was so determined to see her the man literally goes through hell and does a lot of things most would not just for the fools hope of a chance to see Mary again. That kind of determination can move mountains, maybe even change the landscape of an unreality like Silent Hill.
Not sure if there was more silent hill lore, or more reignbot lore. I want to say I liked listening to the video on my way home from work, even though there's so much darkness. After everything you have been through reignbot, you've achieved so much, you should be proud of yourself, hearing that 2 of your best friends chose the wrong path in life and you didn't, that's something you should hold your head up high over. Thanks for uploading the videos, your voice is soothing to listen to, never forget, you are awesome ❤
51:24 Another characters mental state i dont see many people talk about is maria, not mary. If she were to have childhood trauma it would be one of childhood neglect and having to appease the person causing them harm. She was born into the world just to be what james wanted her to be, she 'worked' as a stripper and she uses manipulative behaviour to stay with him. She was scared and alone so she became whatever others wanted her to be as she doesnt know who she is herself. She is a mirror of other peoples desire. I've spent my life understanding what people want and giving it to them, now it is instinct. The moment somebody else is in my presense i become what i beleive they want me to be and im fucking good at it, this trauma response makes me a fucking mind reader just like maria. Time on my own is empty and hollow, after years of playing roles for others i dont know what i am. nothing, just a blank, empty state until somebodys eyes tell me who to be. and yea yea yea i know canonically she is just a ghost and youre reading too far into it but honestly i feel like i am the only motherfucker who feels like this about her and i just need one other person to say they relate to how she feels or am i just projecting something onto her which isnt even there. Please someone tell me they get it and it makes sense and the writers intended it. ive searched everywhere for this and no one is talking about it.
thank you for the personal stories and insights. I feel happy for those who get to experience the story as newcomers. SH2 is a work that holds great spiritual power, and it shows in how deeply it hits people and how it's unanimously held in a special regard in their hearts.
I'm a long time SH fan, this remake was epic. I had to have mental breaks so it took me longer than anticipated to finish, but I'm so happy I got there. I'm going to play again. Akira Yamaoka is one of the best composers and his silent hill music is amazing. It is literally one of my choices that I listen too when I'm stressed at work - silent hill ambiance
This was a great watch. Thank you for sharing pieces of yourself as you discussed this game. One of my favorite changes with the remake is the decision to remove versions of the Abstract Daddy boss that were originally in the hotel at the end of the game. To me, it never made sense for James to continue seeing this type of creature after the first interaction.
It’s good to hear people talking like this about truly good horror games. I feel the same way (for different reasons, obviously) about Alan Wake 2. The slow realization of just how true and personal of a story you’re witnessing, it gradually rises up through your subconscious until the end when you finally understand what things mean. Having lived a life of weakness and betrayal through the generational ravages of addiction, Alan Wake 2 made perfect sense to me. Minor annoyance with the video tape scene at the end of SH2: I tried watching the tape over and over so closely, and for the life of me I could not make out what was happening until hearing Reignbot say it and rewatching it again, and even then it was just barely clear enough with the couple of frames where her hand is clutching his arm. But unless I knew what I was looking for, it just looked like her hand grabbing something.
This game came to you at the perfect time. I’m so glad you have experienced this. It’s one of my favorite games and I try to play it every 5 or so years so see if I can glean anything more as I grow up. 32 now, so far I have 💕
I platinumed it a few days ago and have been a fan for a long time. The original is my absolute favorite and it's so interesting hearing a new players thoughts, especially when it's such a cool content creator I've also loved for years ♥
8:00 minutes... I completely agree here. I'm a returning player and I felt this even way back when I played the original. It's just building to a peak and that is truly not over till the very end. Great video. 👍
37:10 I have to ask (gently) if your own personal circumstances are perhaps bleeding in a bit here: what James did to Mary should not have been done, but to frame it in terms of an entirely one-sided emotional response (that of anger over the loss of his own personal freedom) must be weighted against the fact that - at least in the original - he did not want her to suffer anymore from a clearly incurable condition. There is a term for such an act, and the fact that the first word of it is “mercy” (whether said intention is genuine or not) does not lesson the finality of the second.
45:36 The depresressing fact is that he DID return to the Entity, with... Mary. But.. Not as she desired it to be :( I havent snapped exact photos, but it would be whack if the blanket he covered her in was also an asser used in the rooms associated with his Ashfield apartment or home (usually 208s or 201s, did you also notice those repetitions?) But its a blanket that totally would fit mary, think flower prints or butterflies (people very old wore those, and also colected china. My gma did, i find that age tacky)
10:25 by this time in the game i had turned every other sound a little bit down so i could max the volume in my headphones and listen better to the music 😍
I was so glad to hear your perspective on James. As you mentioned, there's a whole lot of the fan base that just kind of writes him off as a monster and that's that. Or they're like, "He killed Mary because he was horny and he thought it was gross that she was sick lol" And that does such an incredible disservice to the character and his writing. Yes, what he did was awful. So, when I say that I love the character, I love how layered he is. I love how complex he and the entire story around him is. The writing is so solid that I find it difficult not to have a soft spot for him to a degree (though I love almost everyone in this game lol). And I always find it frustrating when people reduce him to a one note villain because I feel like that completely misses the entire point of the whole game and the brilliance of the story. And, yeah, as someone who watched my friend play the original back in the early aughts, lots of stuff hits way harder when you're grown. Having a whole bunch of life experiences, and knowing people with experiences, that are similar to James and Mary (minus the murder lol) makes it a much bigger punch to the gut. And that just makes this game all the more incredible, honestly.
I also had an abscess after my appendicitis surgery! I was in the hospital for like a month, lost 18 pounds when I was already underweight, and went back to middle school with a tube sticking out of me. It makes me wonder if preventing an abscess from forming after the surgery is a point of negligence in our healthcare system.
Silent Hill 2 is something special. I loved the originals, but this remake does something to me. Like you mentioned. The music is something deep and to the point where I just can't play anymore, it gets overwhelming. I feel this overwhelming sense of dread when exploring the world. As someone with bipolar, I feel Angela's mood at times. The amount of times I personally found myself on the floor wondering the absolute pointlessness of life and the dread is something that hit me close. I know she's not bipolar but it's the mental state that I enter that I relate too. I refused to watch this video until I finished the remake and as a long fan of yours I'm happy to see someone enjoy the game Oh btw, the Hotel rotting is actually the Fog World version of it. The idea is that James is lying to himself so he made up the Otherworld version as this "perfect" place but the reality is what he sees once he learns the truth.
This game never leaves you that's why the 2001 crew came back it resonates with certain people much deeper if you have been through stuff in life. The fact that what most of what you see isn't even real it's James's trauma manifested in his head through his guilt including the monsters your insight was amazing
i've never seen james as anything but a terrible person. even before the reveal he comes across as lacking basic empathy. when his dialogue seems compassionate his tone and actions never mirror the words he says. in his mind mary didn't just die when she got sick, she was no longer even a person.
The 3yr timeline is absolutely meant to be questioned. This is basically Laura’s purpose in the story. The remake also adds two major details in the opening cutscene to make you question that timeline as well. Tho one you won’t recognize until a second play through.
Guys, sorry if my voice sounds weird as hell in this one. Lost my voice earlier this week due to a cold of some sorts. Trying not to show it lol
You sound a tad like Hannah The Horrible, except your “s” is not so obnoxious 😂hugs & get well ❤we appreciate you.
When I was 8, I played the first Silent hill and it was an amazing experience I'll never regret.
Happy you're back and making some great stuff!
Nah didn't even notice it
Sending love & healing 🙏💜🤗
The thing that always gets me about the long hallway is that the hallway itself is just long enough to hear Mary screaming at you to leave.... but if you stick around and don't go through the door immediately, she retracts her words and begs for James to stay.
He likely never saw this side of Mary, only remembering her lashing out as her final moments. It's after he killed her that he finally realized how scared she actually was.
It also is one of the requirements for getting the Leave ending, the only "good" end, at least in the original. In order to move on, James needs to acknowledge Mary's fear, and that him killing her wasn't a selfless act like he probably told himself it was at the time.
Whoa. I never thought about the idea that the conversation is more symbolic of a realization rather than a glimpse of the past.
@@thanatoastI still got In Water in the OG because I thought surely that Angela's knife would be a useful for a puzzle, right? Or maybe Mary's letter had a secret clue?
Yeah, I was cooked.
Exactly. In my first playthrough I (unfortunately) barged through the doors just as Mary quietly said "Wait!" and I wasn't able to return to hear what she wanted to say.
37:30 actually this is NOT the otherworld version of the hotel! It’s the real world. The hotel actually burned down before we arrive in silent hill. The other world is the clean and pristine version of the hotel that we had been in up till this point.
When you go to the save screen for the game, it foreshadows what James has done too, it’s hard to see but is evident once you get closer to the ending.
never knew that, i think it makes more sense now from him crossing toluca lake.
This makes so much sense! I never even considered that.
theres more proof of it when you see the door to the final corridor inside the burned hotel, same as the transition to blue creek apartments. the corridor is the otherworld, the hotel distinctly isnt
Also, a small touch by Blooper: the corrosive type of the Lying Figure only appears in the other world, and they are in the “clean” version of the hotel 👌
I played SH2 when it released at a friend's house. I remember completely seeing James as the villain. I played the remake last week and... I was diagnosed with a chronic illness this year and I'm not proud to admit that I've been lashing out at my husband. I can completely understand now how resentment can form from that. Grief is such a complex thing. In a way I am processing grief in the form of my body destroying itself and the grief my husband feels watching his wife deteriorating to a point where she can't even walk on some days. You're right, Silent Hill 2 hits so much harder when you're grown. Being alive for 30 years versus 9 really does make a difference
Did you play the original lately? Which one hit harder?
@johnzarek3628 I played the remake last week. The remake hit harder due to life experience I think. As a kid, it's just a sad and tragic tale. But as an adult, you can really relate to the characters and story
hide all the pillows
@@panda8saranghae You should play the original again and see if it hits different compared to the Remake.
@@johnzarek3628 def should try playing the original again! Ty!
The thing about the Maria ending is that, imo, James denies his punishment and rather embraces his sins, like an abuser justifying their fucked up actions. It's why his "You better do something about that cough" sounds so harsh. It's a warning, like if she doesn't get her impending illness under control, she'll end up the same way Mary did, this time without the moral ambiguity and hesitation of James at the start of his journey. It's almost definitely the definitive "bad" ending.
Yeahhhh, James is a bad person
@@LavaCreeperPeopleyeah he is pure evil in that ending.
I kinda related to this ending perfectly like Regina I’m new to the silent hill world, and I dunno but I got this ending my run, and it’s exactly what I would do in a loop like James tbh
As someone who cares for a spouse with multiple chronic illness, there are parts of James that I feel like I understand too well. My husband isn't dying, but he'll never get better, and he can barely get out of bed on a good day. There's no family to help me care for him, and the pressure weighs on you to not only carry the home financially, but keep the house in perfect order, remember all of your partner's medications and appointments, help them bathe and use the bathroom, and be their pillar of emotional support when they're in pain or despairing. It isn't easy on him either; he feels guilty for not being able to help me or care for himself, resents his body, pretends like he isn't in pain to try and ease my mind, and only has our cat for company when I can't be at home.
I understand _so_ well Mary's frustration at being forced to put this huge burden on James, desperately needing him but hating herself for it. I understand James just wanting his life to go back to normal, and how he could understand Mary's "It'd be easier if they just killed me already" almost as permission to "save" her and himself. I don't think I could do it, even if my husband begged me to end it for him. We've known each other since we were kids, when he was healthy, and he really is my best friend in the whole world. Watching him decline over the last 10 years has been so hard, but I can't imagine a single day without him in it, let alone taking those days away from him when maybe tomorrow will be better.
...Anyway this game is super messed up and I love it a lot, and I'm glad(??) you were able to have such a powerful experience with your first Silent Hill title! Welcome Home!
The 2 bodies in the staircase of hell actually symbolise both the father and brother of Angela. She also says that her mother is "the only one left, maybe then I can finally rest", which implies that she didn't just kill her father (which we know she did from the newspaper before abstract daddy) but that she also killed her brother and planned on killing her mother too.
Im just realizing something about Eddie and Angela's outfits. Eddie is wearing a polo shirt and shorts despite of his personal "hell" always being cold. And Angela is wraring pants and what it looks like a sweater despite the fact that her personal "hell" is always in flames. Angela even rubs her arms as if she is cold at the cemetery when she meets James.
I really thought this remake would be taking liberties like the Resident Evil 2 & 3 reimaginings. Instead Bloober basically recreated the game to incorporate the same music, story, characters, backgrounds and horrific dread of the original. Adding in some extra environments, new character moments improving boss fights were all added to update in the most respectful way. Plus I love how they kept the twisted angled camera shots throughout
Can't really agree with the last, there. The over the shoulder camera angle throughout the entirity of the gameplay leaves only to occasional "twisted" camera angle in the cutscenes, and even there, they are few, and far between.
Actually there is a lack of fixed cameras that really kill the mood. It's my biggest complain (+toned down pyramid head scenes). James' takes up so many space in the screen it's hard to feel the darkness embracing him.
@@PalitoSelvatico Yeah, even in the cutscenes, there aren't many. The quick cuts, and jarring edits during Eddie's break down before the freezer fight are all gone, and he doesn't even direct his ranting mockery of insults at the corpses around him, anymore. Jist blankly stares James in the face, and mutters rather lamely about being a 'fat disgusting P.O.S.'
Overall, I like the performance of Eddie, but that particular scene was a complete failure in every respect.
And also, I despise Eddie's redesign. His neck, and head are far too fat for his body. He's a cartoon.
SHE CAME BACK!!!!!!
Ooo OOOO
Hey, just in case, did you make it?
Somehow ReignBot has returned.
only 7 mins in but your point about horror not being just to scare is so true. sometimes horror is to bring people to a reality they close their eyes to. there's so much horror that's just about processing grief or trauma
As someone who has played silent hill a lot and deep dived into tens of hours of videos, i appreciate this fresh take from a new player, and I really appreciate you adding the emotional personal thoughts to it.
I've recommended this video to many people who played the remake because of your delivery and I really appreciate the angle you took on it.
This is my new favorite Silent Hill 2 video essay. Thank you for your courage in opening up about some of your own personal issues in order to further convey why this story was so moving and for subsequently sharing that praise through this amazing video. I feel lucky that the RUclips algorithm brought me here.
I’ve been grappling with the idea of making a video similar to this one, because like you said you needed, I needed time to process it all as well due to how deeply introspective it left me. I think you’ve inspired me to indeed make that video.
The thing that really got to me while playing was just how uncomfortable it felt to exist in those hellish spaces.
The background music and ambient noises made the darkness feel like it would crush me under its weight
Excellent video. Just want to point out though that after James watches the video, he isn't in the otherworld. He was actually in the otherworld the entire time, hence all the monsters. After seeing the tape, he's back in the real world. There's a note you can find in one of the areas that talks about how a year or two prior to James returning the hotel was the scene of a massive fire. The original plan was to fix it up, but after seeing the damage it was just condemned.
What are you talking about? There are monsters still in the Hotel after the tape... They're just pathetic because they've lost their ability to try and make James face his guilt. Hence why you're able to defeat not just one Red Pyramid Thing, but two. Not to mention you fight a literal demon version of Mary/Maria at the end in a twisted version of the Hotel. He still hasn't accepted or rejected his guilt until after you've killed the Red Pyramid Things.
The scene of the fire is to explain why it looks more and more burnt as you continue through the story in the Hotel, since all the other locations were generally covered in rust, but that starts creeping in BEFORE you watch the tape. It's not telling you that you're in the real world though... Angela's nightmare is crossing with James' and that's why James sees the flames that Angela herself says is always around her. I mean the most damaged and fucked up version of each place is the otherworld version... so clearly the Hotel is the otherworld version after the video. It's physically representing the continuing descent into madness that James goes through in each location.
No it's actually the real world hotel. It was in the original as well, again there is a note saying the hotel was destroyed in a fire about two years ago. If you don't believe me, if you save and exit the game on the PS5, where it shows your progress it will say "Otherworld Hotel" in the nice looking hotel, but in the destroyed one it says "Hotel".
@@hypercynicIt's actually not James going deeper into madness. Quite the opposite, he's slowly letting go of his delusions. Granted it's likely those delusions were imposed onto him by the town itself in the first place, but the realization that Mary couldn't have died 3 years ago and that he's more responsible for her passing than he told himself is a major theme. So much so that the hotel's facade isn't the only thing that slowly fades, Mary's letter also starts to fade away every time you check it after the Labyrinth (which it did in the original game as well).
Sometimes madness isn't about the world being scarier, sometime it's about escaping to a more inviting fantasy than reality.
Gosh that bit with Angela with the apologizing and your anecdote is too real, way too relatable. It is something that I work on a lot with my therapist.
I knew nothing about your personal life, so all of your deep insight on the characters really did surprise me.
meanwhile me playing SH2: "WHY ARE THERE SO MANY AMMOS IN THE LIBRARY BUT NOT IN THE PRISON?"
You don't mess with librarians.
To make sure the library’s silent.
Books and blasting, they go together like a horse and carriage.
but did you see how stocked that grocery store was in the beginning? so loaded they had to lock it from the back end!
While I _could_ be pedantic and say because the prison is entirely a mental space and not physical, I'll say instead that it's because prisoners aren't allowed access to weapons, and James is definitely a prisoner and not a guard. He's preventing himself from having the ability to control his fate.
Did not expect to open up with reign bot feet
For free?!
a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one
😭
Bro
dont make us get the bonk stick, no creepy feety stuff
I was so certain I was gonna be replaying the Remake right after completing it, but it actually seemed to take a toll on me. I seriously gotta take a break cause IT REALLY wakes up trauma if you have any
I had to take a week long break after finally escaping the labyrinth because of exams but also because that long time in the deepest depths of silent hill was unironically upsetting me irl lmao
I played throught the first time on release week but having been put it on hold since then to get through it again because of it. It's just... a lot.
Dude and I beat the original game a year ago as well as silent hill 3 but there something about that remake that just hits different.. I had the same exact thought and the same thing happend
I want to say thank you for being so open with your audience. I’m sure most people commented before the video, which can be why the comment section tone is vastly different than the video,but after watching it I can’t find words to be appreciative on how much effort you put into this video. I never knew you went through so much.
OG die-hard fan of 15 years here. Thank you Reignbot for offering your unique perspective on the game, given your past experiences. I'm so glad you managed to finally experience it so we could get your take, really insightful. Themes of guilt and trauma aside, I always appreciated how the game doesn't condone James's actions. Instead, it explores the complex motivations and psychological factors that can lead someone to commit such a heinous act, challenging our own perceptions of morality and the potential for darkness within ourselves.
silent hill brought reignbot outta retirement
@ hadn't finished the video when i commented
This is Reignbot's fifth video this year. Hardly a retirement.
nobody in the comments are seeming to pick up that this is a super super personal video. i can’t imagine how hard it was to actually put this out. this is a deeply human issue in real life and i look up to you for your analyzation of this game. thank you
Wanted to second this! As a CSA survivor I found their insight about Angela to be spot on. Thank you to all for sharing parts of your story with us
Yeah, it sucks that a video of her opening up so much has the top comment being about her feet. Especially since she talked about CSA.
@@GAndreaTaura *googling csa meaning* Oh, I'm so sorry.
37:37 actually if I remember correct, that’s how the hotel looked the entire time, the perfect little hotel you originally showed up is the otherworld hotel
Well, not _perfect_ exactly. There's still monsters and messy rooms.
Nothing but love and respect for ya, ReignBot. I know it must've been terrifying to put out so much personal trauma for thousands of complete strangers to see. You're a stronger person than I ever could be.
You are so much stronger than you realize
I love hearing your perspective on this. I’ve been a fan of Silent Hill since its release so having a fresh mind to hear interpret what I’ve already made my mind on is so fascinating. Thanks!
Ive never felt so touched by a game like sh2, its been on my mind for weeks now since finishing it
At around 42:00 - 44:00 you talk anyhow hard it is to watch someone wither away. I live that every day. I've lived it every day for years now. At first, it was my mother. She became a full-blown Diabetic and I watched as she slowly, slowly died. She eventually drowned from whatever fluids came into her lungs. Now, I watch as my father dies the same way. And there's not a single thing I can do to stop it. I'm so scared because I know I'll be the one to find my father's corpse one morning because I'm his caregiver. Sorry, don't know why I even said anything but that bit there hit home for me.
I am so sorry for the weight you bear. Please, if you're able, I highly urge you to see if there are services to care for caregivers. Being a caregiver can take such a huge toll on you, and never mind you can't pour from an empty cup and all that, but you need to be able to rest and process things. I wish you the best with things ahead, friend. ♥️
@Cadychan I thank you for the kind words, it means a lot. I'll look into it those services.
You said it because you had to, even if you didn’t know it. Expressing your pain is the first step in moving through it.
@@JFJD I believe you are right. I thank you for the kind words.
Girl I feel you on the whole appendix thing. Almost died 2 years ago after a misdiagnosis. I was in for 2 weeks and 2 days they kept saying I needed this or that until I broke down crying. Ended up doing nothing more. Been on and off meds for the pain now.
2 years later I've been having chronic on off lower abdominal pain especially where my appendix use to be. Healing from that was trauma. Gotta have another surgery to check what's going on.
I truly hope you're feeling much better take care of your health and keep up the great work. ❤
this is exactly the kind of work that i personally love to see. hearing your own personal feelings and experiences about it is so much more valuable than another dry review. art is meant to make people feel things, and i find it fascinating to hear about how it affects everyone differently. thank you so much for sharing this with us, i genuinely found the whole video really interesting and im glad that one of my favourite stories left such an impact on you. i hope you can get something out of the other games one day too. personally i think downpour is a really good story as well, even if it gets a lot of hate as one of the later sequels.
I loved watching hearing about your experience. There's nothing like getting that feeling of "the first time" and getting to see that through someone else's perspective was so nice. Felt like I was a teenager again playing the original SH2 for the first time.
I'm really happy that you're back. I'm even happier to see that you're doing well. I'm proud of you.
Silent Hill is one of my favorite franchises, and I can't wait to finish the video and hear your thoughts.
Looking forward to enjoying more of your work soon.
EDIT: Thank you for sharing your trauma with us, i know personally how hard it can be to talk about those things. You are an inspiration.
27:00
the whole Angela story is disturbingly heartbreaking and made in a amazing
(i do too believe Abstrac Daddy to be the best boss)
and i also believe the YOU there is abou men in general... (in my spanish speaking mind i read it as "Ustedes")
FYI Reign, The burnt out collapsing hotel is not otherworld hotel.
In an ironic twist, it’s the pristine looking hotel that is otherworld hotel, and the burnt out hotel is the reality.
It had burnt out years ago and been shut down. James finally facing reality reveals the real hotel.
This is also why the three enemies die on their own. It is the death of James’s delusions.
37:35 as some of previous commenters pointed out, you actually start out at the Otherworld version of the hotel at the beginning. So the immaculate looking version of the hotel is the Otherworld version and the burnt down decrepit version you see after viewing the tape is the real world equivalent. It was a nice way to subvert expectations, as the player has been primed to expect the real life version first and the Otherworld version about halfway through the level for all the other areas so far.
There's a painting in the prison area that shows the hotel on fire.
Fantastic video.
Glad you're still with us.
I've seen this stuff, so much, in people around me, that I've kind of run out of things to say.
I'm someone who had to help take care of a family member with a terminal illness (my grandfather who had heart failure and lived over 8 months in thr 4th stage in pure agony) while also battling my own disability and the fact I was being evaluated for one that could have been a deadly variant (I was being evaluated for Ehlers-Danlos, leading to a diagnosis of Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos although there was worry of Vascular Ehlers-Danlos which has a fairly short life span expectancy. I also live with a multitude of disabilities, including Rheumatoid Arthritis and have for multiple years).
If someone would've met my grandfather in his final months, they would not have believed he was the same man that laughed and helped his 10-year-old grandchild play a prank on their father. That even just 3 years prior, he road his motorcycle multiple times a week and loved to joke around.
Instead they would've seen a grouchy old man who could hardly walk, let alone run or anything. One who was in severe pain despite being on strong pain meds. One who had to miss his yearly visit to his mother who lived just under 1000 miles away.
As a result, he pushed everyone away and it lead to my grandparents sleeping in seperate rooms. And it led my grandmother to asking hospice to do anything because hearing and seeing him in pain was horrible.
I know this sounds awful but part of me can understand why James did what he did in Silent Hill 2. When you are/help take care of someone you love with a terminal illness, it breaks you down. As much as I miss my grandfather, part of me is happy he's gone because his pain was horrible and I believe he's not having any pain
I've beat the original over 100 times and it is probably my favourite game of all time if I had to pick one (though I hate doing that). This game gave me the EXACT same feeling I had playing the original, yet I was only 10 when the original came out and I played it. Somehow they managed to take a game I was far too familiar with and made me fucking TERRIFIED by the exact same story, locations and monsters as before.
I never thought that this would even be passable, let alone a masterpiece. And this is probably my favourite Silent Hill game now.
I relate though, my mom died when I was five so Silent Hill 2 took on a very different meaning for me. It'll sound weird but I always felt like I was playing as my dad trying to find my mom, and it of course leads to feeling a form of dread that doesn't exist outside of Silent Hill, but even more specifically this game's characters and story. It took me over a week of playing 2 or 3 hours at a time to finally beat this the first time because it was so terrifying and was genuinely fucking with me mentally in a way that I haven't experienced in a very long time. It resurfaced a lot of things that I still never overcame or dealt with, and I have struggled with PTSD because of all the untreated traumas from my life, and this game always causes it all to resurface.
No piece of media has affected me in the way both the original and remake managed to. I don't think anything has even come close honestly. The ending makes me cry every single time I play these games because I just hear my mom when I hear Mary's voice. The terror, anger and sadness she must've felt to die at such a young age, I'm 33 and still haven't gotten over it. That pain exists so deep within me that I am tormented by it every single day. She was born June 22, 1971 and died June 19, 1996. She was 3 days shy of what would've been her 24th birthday, and I've managed to outlive her by 10 whole years as of this upcoming February. It's such a strange, surreal feeling to out live someone who barely even got to begin their life at all. She was then replaced by a horrible woman who mentally abused me for my entire childhood. My father also was an verbally abusive alcoholic, and the dad I grew up with who replaced my mom with the psycho woman... he worked six or seven days a week and was never there for me at all. To him, he was providing money and that was enough. Obviously he deals with his own trauma over the event because my mom married him only two years before she died. But I had nobody there for me, much like Angela and Eddie. I empathized with both of them in an all too real way. I also empathize with James. I understand how easy it could be to feel like you're euthanizing someone rather than killing them. I would never do such a thing myself, but knowing how my mom struggled with depression and anxiety herself, I could imagine her begging for the suffering to end (if she were in a similar situation, she actually died very quickly after a doctor prescribed her the wrong medication).
I feel like too many people want this game to have an answer, but there are so many elements of Taoism and Judaism throughout the franchise. I heavily believe they are telling a story through religious philosophy and are asking us a question to consider for ourselves. I don't believe there IS an answer. I believe there is a question and Team Silent wants us to question our own realities and consider things from the different perspectives of all the people in your life (as well as the people of the world). We all have our own individual story and if you're willing to truly look at yourself realistically, you will see the evil within yourself and be able to come to terms with it and try to acknowledge it, while working towards fighting against those awful tendencies. We all contain the potential for "good" and "evil" actions. What we need to come to terms with is who we WANT to be and working towards that goal. Taoism and Judaism are about improving oneself to be the best person you can be. They both also contain Purgatory-like concepts to learn from your mistakes before being allowed to attain salvation in death. It's the only Silent Hill that does this, but for James this truly is purgatory and it is forcing him to look at the situation from all angles until finally accepting his guilt and being able to move on. Nothing in Silent Hill 1, 3 or 4 says that this can't be possible. Silent Hill is a mysterious place and it contains an immense, spiritual power. Alessa was an instrument for that power to emerge, but the town itself is what contains the power, hence why the 3 sequels are possible. The idea from the movie that it's Alessa who contains that power, it completely ignores the fact that Alessa didn't WANT to use her powers in the first game.
I 100% the game after about 50 hours of playtime and I've wanted to go back to play it again as I really love this game in all aspects. But I also struggle to even open it and begin another playthrough, because it feels like I'm opening Pandora's box once again, forcing myself to deal with a past that still lingers in the present.
Eeesh I needed to vent sorry.
*Oh also, the remake just reinforces this concept of salvation and rebirth even more. The Stillness ending is basically the good version of the In Water ending, this ending would likely still be allowing James to "break the cycle" while going out on his own terms. He has accepted what he has done, but he doesn't believe he deserves to continue living, and does the world a favour, or maybe that is me placing myself in that position because that's how I would feel if I ever had to come to the revelation that I did something of this level of morally ambiguous, but ultimately still taking the life of someone. And again, Taoism and Judaism don't believe in absolutes of good or evil, so in moral greyness this could absolutely still achieve salvation for James (at least I feel that way with my limited knowledge of the two religions, maybe someone far more knowledgeable could educate me). The Bliss ending is another bad ending to imply that the tape is going to get rewound, and James is going to need to repeat this adventure to attain true salvation. The Dog and UFO endings obviously aren't canonical so they don't matter, especially since they both came from a suggestion box that was left in the office to suggest a joke ending for the original Silent Hill.
I also hope the Maria scenario gets added eventually. It's quite interesting to learn more about Maria's story.
A crossover of two of my favorite things. Reignbot and SH2. Thank you so much for sharing your story.
I first experienced (OG) SH2 about two years ago. As someone whose mother was terminally ill for 14 years (of my then 22 years of life), this game and the remake is HARD. I’m holding off finishing because I am not ready. When I first played, I got the In Water ending with my best friend and before we could get to the end of Mary’s letter, I was sobbing. I think it really helped me understand my mother’s outbursts on a level I had yet to confront as well as things I wish I had heard from her. I’m 30 now and SH2 has been critical in helping me process my buried grief.
On a happy note- how often did you open the nap? Lmao
i've always, always related so heavily with silent hill 2, but moreso since my mom passed. i was her caregiver her entire life. she was a cancer survivor but developed copd afterward. she suffered much of the end of her life. there were times when i would think about doing EXACTLY what james did. i didn't want her to suffer anymore. i wanted her to be at peace. when she was hospitalized for the final time, two days after christmas one year, and ended up passing 2 days after her 60th birthday... the guilt of ever thinking of those things was unimaginable. i wanted her to be free of her illness, but when she finally was, i would have done anything to have her back, selfish as that was.
the conversation he has with mary about how he didn't want her to suffer anymore... it hits like a truck for me, personally. it had been my favorite game years before this all happened, but with that experience, it just adds to the emotional weight. a lot of us have experience with cancer/terminal illness, and the caregiving responsibility usually lies with a child of a sick parent. to watch the woman who gave birth to you, who loved you, slowly wither away and dependent on an oxygen machine 24/7.. only to end up in a hospital, hooked up to machines, that you have to decide to unplug. i hated my sister for giving up on her, even though i knew she wouldn't make it. if i had the chance to live the "rebirth" or "bliss" endings, i would 100% do it. that's the pain and grief that comes with losing someone you love more than anything.
this is part of why i couldn't see james as super malicious, even though what he did was an objectively horrible deed. because that could have been me, wanting to put my mom out of her endless suffering. i'm just thankful they were only intrusive thoughts (i have ocd). the shame and guilt i felt for even thinking it... i can't imagine how james would grapple w it. the in water ending will always be the canon one to me because of this (and because i wanted to end it all after my mom passed, too).
sorry for my own mini-essay! i just had to get it out somewhere. thank you for sharing your experiences. i have similar feelings re: angela - being quick to apologize, a trauma survivor, etc. rambling away about this particular point re: james was pretty cathartic, even if no one reads it haha.
The leave ending in the remake makes james feel a lot more cold than the original game. Ontop of that the suffocation scene feels a lot angrier due to him no longer kissing her on the forehead beforehand.
There's been a lot of SH2 remake reviews in my feed lately, but as soon as I saw one from reignbot I had to watch. Thank you for sharing your experiences, it's valuable hearing perspectives like yours.
As someone with MDD, I can relate to the droning you were talking about and yes, Silent Hill 2's sound design is the closest to capturing that in audio form
One caveat. I disagree that the Mary at the end is his imagination. I think she's very real, maybe the town projecting her soul. As for the Leave ending and how James would "get away with it" Mary was on the verge of death by the time James actually killed her. He also parks near a cemetery when he arrives at the town before it draws him in. It's very possible that in the leave timeline he was planning on burying her, and it would be rather easy to just tell everyone she just finally succumbed to her illness.
Leave is my preferred ending because James has gone through a journey to earn forgiveness, and chooses to raise Laura, because that's what Mary wanted to do. A final redemption built from his love for Mary.
The difference that the Maria ending James has from leave and In Water is so stark. One is a man who feels guilt for what he did and has complicated emotions about it, and the other is man who selfishly cannot admit what he did and earns nothing, putting him in an endless cycle of suffering. James is a very human character, so both redemption and evil are possible for him.
I am just here to say the thought to have a family member dying at home and then just randomly taking their corpse to illegally bury them is so wild.
tbh, i love this interpretation because it’s redemption in the form of life instead of death. i really dislike redemption arcs that lead to a character’s death. it’s a very punitive way to look at justice which i think we should have challenged more.
@deideisayskatsu depending on who they know and how often they hang out he can also just take her back and do things properly.
She would have to be brought to a morgue ?? They'd probably notice she was suffocated, so no, he wouldn't be able to get away with it.
@sphinxwidget the devs said it's users choice ending and his father in 4 hasn't seen him in a while and doesn't know where he is. He would definitely know if James was in prison, so James fucking off somewhere else(leave) or him being dead(in water) or stuck in silent hill(rebirth and maria) are pretty much the only options. He's obviously not in prison.
I don't know if you will read this comment but yes she was SA by both her father and brother and her mother would actually accept this as some sort of "punishment" for her "misbehaving", as it is a very strict religious family
The Otherworld Hotel is the clean hotel
This series hits so much harder after watching my mom die. Dad and I still had to make the call on stopping the then ineffective treatment and…from my pov her health was a slow decline my whole life, to where the memories of her sick outweigh when she was well.
That's so great that you got to experience this amazing game with that perspective! I bet it was so much better
37:38 thing is, the hotel caught on fire. What you see is the real world, the otherworld was its pristine version based on James’ memory with Mary.
36:06 It's kinda funnt how Dr. Mick took one look at the crawling and death animations of the Lying Figure and he was like: "Why smothering with a pillow?"
Obligatory Silent Hill 2 Trauma Dump Essay
TW for: Chronic Illness, Survival of an Illness, Resentment from Loved Ones, and Description of Severe Illness
I try my best to describe my condition clearly because many people cannot FATHOM what fatigue is like. I've had people try to compare more gentle descriptions to getting black out drunk and if you think that's the worst version of that experience, be thankful that you can choose when it happens, you can sleep it off and feel better later, and that you are impaired during that experience.
I'm sober when it happens. I have to control myself to NOT drown my problems in something to take the edge off 24/7 because they do happen 24/7 with zero breaks and it would be counterintuitive to my recovery. I'm gritting my teeth and taking the full brunt of reality as my body and mind betray me. I am intense and vulnerable in my description because I need the reader to see, for even a moment, how serious I am that James and Mary are not caricatures. They are agonizingly accurate.
James is a character I deeply relate to. Not because I am him, but because I'm Mary.
I have severe hypothyroidism. I was diagnosed after Id started to spend days laying in the same spot, in the same position. Opening my eyes felt like lifting boulders. Hypothyroidism is a fatigue disorder. It saps every shred of energy from your physical self, and in its severe forms, leaves you mentally aware, trapped in your own skull, but unable to make memories. Life is a haze, and in a gaslighting family like mine, you fully lose touch with reality. Reality is what is in the room and visible. I could not even remember my own face while holding a mirror. It doesn't hurt that much. It's such a slow and creeping process that you get used to it. My family medically neglected me and actively drove me away from getting help. I was failed by every single person who was supposed to ring alarm bells. You just look up and realize that you're falling behind. That you now crawl to bathroom every morning on your hands and knees because your body does not heal in between work shifts. Passing away from hypothyroidism really is as easy and painless as falling asleep and giving up.
But I didn't give up. It felt selfish. It pulled some truly toxic parts of myself to the surface as I flailed and had to demand doctors truly find out what was wrong. All while my body failed me and nobody could see how bad it had gotten because I'd masked my symptoms for decades and... well, I'm sure any traumatized person knows that to take off a mask, you have to face the reason it was put on. The reason you kept it on.
The thing about hypothyroidism? The medicine actually kind of hurts you. But you're alive! You get to keep breathing, you just kind of... have your body constantly in panic mode. That effect stacks with the level of dose you need, and you can guess, mine is pretty high. I take poison to continue living. I lost everything. Basic functions. I thought I was tired before? Now I'm tired and experiencing every detail of it. No more haze of memory loss cushioning my mind.
And I can now fully see the disappointment and stress in my partner. I can see every moment of hesitation and exhaustion and resentment. And he is the kind of person who is so kind and patient that he lets it build in his chest until it bursts out of him (I know there are interpretations of the spitters that say it's his wife's disease, but I equally see them as a metaphor for bottling emotions.) My partner and I have a very genuine connection, and I'm not scared of him abandoning me or acting like James but seeing him literally lose hair worrying about my safety makes me... feel like I wouldn't blame him. I know that our situation breaks even the happiest marriages. And for a while, I was waiting as he mulled on the situation, doing his own processing. I was being weighed against his own life and happiness. I know from many stories that nothing I do will stop his decision, and all I could do was become a completely open book.
And he chose to stay. To accept that my past self died August 2023, when she did, all her plans and dreams died with her. I can only play the cards I have. And he accepted it, and we have been building that relationship all over again. As if the 6 years prior never existed.
I saw my 25th birthday only because my partner pushed me to get checked and if Id not been pushed on it, then by the time I did start to truly worry, it would have been too late. I didn't even celebrate it, and every holiday has been a struggle because I am still processing everything. I am a dead woman with a beating heart. I have survivor's guilt for my own life.
I know that the Silent Hill 2 Remake coming out during this experience of mine is a coincidence. But it really spoke to a freshly ripped apart piece of me and helped me. And if anyone wants an equally tragic and gut-wrenching gaming experience, go look into Pathologic. Playing it isn't something I can recommend because... oh my dog what a depressing and miserable experience, but there are video essays on it and I highly recommend Codex Entries's Pathologic For Those Who Will Never Play It series. Take Trigger Warnings seriously. And check out some of their other videos about existential horror!
I have found that loving this type of horror is partially an act of violence on myself. It hits too close. But I also find something so... genuinely human in it. A peek at a real layer of humanity, and frequently, a sympathetic one to all parties. The antagonist isnt a person or a monster. It's a natural event or a concept. And you are powerless against it. You can only minimize the damage and adapt. I find... hope in that hopeless situation. I have done everything I could. I have given my everything. And I can rest now that the decision is solely in the hands of fate.
I'm on the James side of the equation, being a caregiver to someone in a similar situation, and the amount of truth and humanity in Mary and James's situation is unimaginable to someone who hasn't experienced it first-hand. My husband has ME/CFS, EDS, and narcolepsy, just to name a few, and his ME/CFS is so severe that even thinking too hard is enough to exhaust his body. We're lucky if he can be out of bed longer than a trip to the bathroom on a daily basis, and even then, sometimes he has to wait for me to get home from work to help him. His family doesn't believe any of it ("have you tried yoga?"), and as I'm sure you know, getting disability for chronic illnesses is nearly impossible.
I've come home to him collapsed on the floor, asleep, because he fell trying to get somewhere on his own and was unable to get back up, so the narcolepsy overtook him. I've woken up in the middle of the night to him in nearly full paralysis because a vertebra in his neck slipped out of place in his sleep due to his EDS, and all he can do is make a whining noise in his throat to try and tell me he needs me to realign him. I've found him in tears because he was unable to close the curtains when his migraines flared up. He struggles to eat on his own on the worst days, and sometimes I can only get him to drink a cup of soup.
Every day I'm afraid something new will happen, but I can't let the fear control our time. If I spent every moment that I feel terrified showing fear, he'd never see me smile again, and I can't imagine how soul crushing that would be for him, to think that he was causing me to spend my life as trapped as he feels. I decided when we were kids in middle school, back before he got sick, that I was never leaving his side, and I won't say it's been an easy promise to keep. It's been hard, I've lost friendships, I can't visit my family, and my own shaky mental health has certainly suffered, but I chose this over a decade ago, and I continue to choose it every single day.
I think, early in Mary's illness, James felt like I do. A loving, supportive partner who only wanted to do the best for his sick wife, and it wasn't until Mary began to give up that James did too. The selfish desire to return to the life you had before is something anyone can relate to, but not everyone can understand how desperately you can want to take control back when it's all been stolen from you by something you can't fight. James could do nothing but watch his wife suffer, and Mary could do nothing but cause suffering to James, and under the pressure of a swiftly approaching death, the only control James could firmly grasp was when it would come.
I've had people tell me that I'm compassionate, or strong, or crazy for choosing to stay with my husband, but sometimes, I wonder if I'm being selfish, actually. I want to be the person he relies on. I want to wake up to him every day and go to sleep with him every night. I want to read to him, do silly things to make him smile, make sure he's eating well, cut his hair, keep his medicine on schedule. I want him to keep trying, to find something to look forward to so he can live just one more day, every day. I want to give him the stability of a loving home so he can have a sturdy base to hold on to what little control he has over his health.
I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that something wonderful happens for you and new treatments and medications become available for your condition; I hope that your quality of life continues to improve, and that you and your partner can continue building and learning together. I hope that someday, you'll love celebrating your birthday and holidays again, as a milestone of making it another year. I hope that your partner selfishly chooses to keep you close, day after day, year after year, no matter how hard that might be for either of you. I know I don't regret a single moment of time spent with my husband, even if they're difficult ones, and I hope that the both of you can look forward, together, without regrets.
Great video. I'm 37 and played the original PC version back in the day. I was really new to it so I had to use a guide, trying my best not to get spoiled. When the end credits rolled I was crying. A game had never done this to me and never did again. Not to this magnitude. So I fell in love with it - the music, the art, the atmosphere, the psychology beneath it all. I never really replayed it because it had this "once in a lifetime" feeling to it. Like it could never be as good as the first time. Now I played the remake 2 times and I have to say it's insane how much I reflected on the story again, now that I'm much older. So many things have now actually happened in my life - relationships, depression, not having a career, being a lonely artist and not trusting people (women) anymore (because I've always only attracted depressed women), being intelligent and interested when most people I meet are boring and not interested in anything - all these feelings of solitude and anger towards society, the government, corruption all over the place … I know who Pyramid Head is for me and it's something else for everyone. It's Carl Jung's shadow, the truth about our dark world being covered by the glitter of capitalism and ego-driven megalomaniacs who pay young men to kill other young men - all this stuff. To face these truths means to be enlightened. That's what the game is about - going through darkness to find your own light and hold on to it. Your soul. The game is also heavily inspired by books by Kobo Abe, especially "The Box Man". I'm reading all of his books now.
REIGN you gotta get that dual monitor set up! It is life changing, especially while editing
would love to see more game deep dives like this from you, amazing video and thank you for creating it
A close friend of mine recently endured a devastating breakup, on top continuing to endure and undergo treatment for Endometriosis.
I've become closer to her than ever before these past few months, and the amount of mental anguish and trauma she's gone through is just, debilitating to even think about. She's the strongest person I know.
Anyways, maybe a month after I first started connecting with her post break-up, I picked this game back up again and got to the part in the Hospital where you reach the rooftop with Mary's note. I had played through the game before, but reading certain lines like how she doesn't even know who she is anymore while she's on the medication, and the description of how dull and depressing she found her days as they went by... it just broke my heart.
Not only did it give me a deeper appreciation and sympathy for Mary in the game itself, but it made the sympathy I had for my friend even deeper as well. It also gave me a newfound contempt for James' actions. Don't get me wrong I don't outright hate his character, but it's given me a newfound perspective on what he was going through in all of is, and made it all the more, I dunno, disappointing that he would go down the path that he did.
Note: Endo ofc is not a terminal illness so I still can't relate to the more immediate dread that comes with one's own mortality, but the idea of caring for someone even when they try to push you away at times felt all too real.
Correction, the first version of the Hotel is the Otherworld version, after the tape it goes to the normal version, the hotel burned down years ago, also the hotel in a "normal" state has the darkened enemies common in the Otherworld
OMG REIGN AND SILENT HILL?? A dream!! I wanted to add something that I always loved from the original director of SH2. There is a Making of Silent Hill 2 video you can find on RUclips and in it, he says the goal was to "shake hearts" in terms of the horror they were going for. To me, this is the best way to describe what SH2 does so well. It shakes hearts.
Also, if you ever get the chance look up the leave ending for the original if you have not. Not only because the original VA will make you ugly cry, but the original letter had more context left out in the remake. I still love the remake, ofc, but that final letter in the original still brings me to tears and should be seen by new players purely for the additional context.
Welcome to the fandom, my dear and thank you for sharing a piece of yourself through this review.
im also a late silent Hill (fan)
i remember playing it for the first time at c0v1d time, i started with The Room (i know, but the times make it better), and then i jumped to "the best silent Hill", SH2...
it blewed my mind, i think the same as you as how lucky i was playing the game in my late 20s, with a more "mature" head to appreciate everything more than the "horror stuff"
anyway, sorry for the spam, it was an amazing video
The room was a very good game ruined by the controls being clunky and bad. I wish they would do at least a remaster with fixed controls. I think it would be far better received.
thank you for sharing such a personal experience with this game. that's the beauty of SH2, is the way it feels like home in its familiarity and horror. there's almost a comfort in it for me, when shit got rough in the past i would always return to the original SH2 as a sort of coping mechanism. seeing yourself reflected through it is simultaneously so comforting and terrifying. i am glad the remake delivered and that you got to know silent hill as well
The wife and I bought the early access version of the remake. We played it while we waited for the physical copy to arrive (which I was going to let a co-worker borrow). I'd randomly update my co-worker that they were not ready for how scary the remake is. When they started playing it, they could only play it during the day. SH2 has been my #1 game for 2 decades. The remake knocked it from the spot. Digging deeper (through puzzles in game that you solve irl), the remake is subtly a sequel to the original.
This is a really well made pro video. It deserves a second part, even if it relates less on a personal level to you. Would be interesting to hear your insights about what Pyramid head, Laura, Maria, etc. represent for you. Aswell as other key elements that you skipped
I’m glad you finally get to play a game where honestly dramatize me when I was a kid but game that made me love the obsecure, the unknown and the down right terrifying. Reason why I love horror I see as art / dred. My emotions going my head. That’s why I have the fascination of the unknown, sometimes it’s the like ocean , fast abyss. Reinbot I’m happy you play this game, you , nexpo , Nick Crowley , blameitonjorge,chills and other horror/mysteries channels. Yall help me understand be wary and be aware about the world and it’s horrors/ mysteries 😊
I lost my Mom in April due to medical negligence during an unnecessary medical procedure & then had someone on her care team designate her as “DNR” despite documentation contradicting the fact she was full resuscitation at all costs. We had spent 3 weeks watching her pull through intubation, had 5 days to breathe as she was recovering miraculously, and then was again administered sedatives that caused her to not have the strength to breathe on her own - where they made the choice to ignore alarms going off & my own pleas to help her. Losing the one person in my life who was the rock of our family because a whole group of medical staff lacked any empathy or compassion. I hate private hospitals with a passion, & we only have one hospital period in our area (where she was at). 2024 has been the worst year & despite how much I wanted to play this game - I can’t imagine playing through it NOW.
Respect for sharing your whole ahh backstory with this one - Silent Hill really is a special series for people who’ve dealt with these things
The confusion about the 3 years is normal, I think, for a first playthrough. What really cooked my noodle was playing it again knowing that she had not been gone for 3 years and it recontextualizes the opening scene.
James' hands are shaking as he tries to wash something invisible off of them, he still has the indent on his ring finger from his wedding ring. People say right before the scene starts you can hear a metallic noise like a ring falling into the drain but my hearing is not good enough for that.
Looks like James is also sweating in this scene and then he looks into the mirror and seems to have a fleeting moment of confusion about what he is seeing. I think this is the moment where he disassociates from reality.
I think he is just an hour or so from having killed her at this point. When he looks into that mirror is when Silent Hill grabs him. Him saying she died 3 years ago, in my opinion, is him mentally blocking out the entire time she was sick. I think she was probably sick for 3 years and this disassociated James has reversed the clock right up to when he found out she was sick.
Another thing I will quickly mention that also came out me as a surprise was the hotel. The pristine version of it in the fog is the otherworld version. The destroyed version is the one closer to how it looks in reality. It's backwards but there are clues all over that imply the hotel burned down some time after James and Mary visited. Why is this one place like this? I am not sure. Silent Hill uses truth as a weapon to bludgeon people with. Maybe the town wanted to give him some hope before pulling it away. It might also just be James himself providing the false hope and shaping the world. He was so determined to see her the man literally goes through hell and does a lot of things most would not just for the fools hope of a chance to see Mary again. That kind of determination can move mountains, maybe even change the landscape of an unreality like Silent Hill.
Not sure if there was more silent hill lore, or more reignbot lore.
I want to say I liked listening to the video on my way home from work, even though there's so much darkness.
After everything you have been through reignbot, you've achieved so much, you should be proud of yourself, hearing that 2 of your best friends chose the wrong path in life and you didn't, that's something you should hold your head up high over.
Thanks for uploading the videos, your voice is soothing to listen to, never forget, you are awesome ❤
Based on the title I thought this would be about the circumcision theory
Put your dick away, Walter
Wrong silent hill lmao
please do not bring up that cursed event, let the world heal
Excuse me
Despite you being completely new to this game, its astonishing how well you were able to pick up on almost everything
Yikes, I had my appendix removed 2 years ago, pretty scary situation and puts a lot into one's mind... glad to know youre doing better Reign :(
51:24
Another characters mental state i dont see many people talk about is maria, not mary. If she were to have childhood trauma it would be one of childhood neglect and having to appease the person causing them harm.
She was born into the world just to be what james wanted her to be, she 'worked' as a stripper and she uses manipulative behaviour to stay with him.
She was scared and alone so she became whatever others wanted her to be as she doesnt know who she is herself.
She is a mirror of other peoples desire.
I've spent my life understanding what people want and giving it to them, now it is instinct. The moment somebody else is in my presense i become what i beleive they want me to be and im fucking good at it, this trauma response makes me a fucking mind reader just like maria. Time on my own is empty and hollow, after years of playing roles for others i dont know what i am. nothing, just a blank, empty state until somebodys eyes tell me who to be.
and yea yea yea i know canonically she is just a ghost and youre reading too far into it but honestly i feel like i am the only motherfucker who feels like this about her and i just need one other person to say they relate to how she feels or am i just projecting something onto her which isnt even there. Please someone tell me they get it and it makes sense and the writers intended it. ive searched everywhere for this and no one is talking about it.
i get it. i feel the same way due to my own trauma response and i'd say thats why i'm such a good mind reader too. i totally agree
@animeaftermidnight2765 omg thank you so much I am not alone.
Greatful to watch your vids! Always love them Always will be appreciated!!!
thank you for the personal stories and insights. I feel happy for those who get to experience the story as newcomers. SH2 is a work that holds great spiritual power, and it shows in how deeply it hits people and how it's unanimously held in a special regard in their hearts.
39:42 YOUU DIDNT LISTEN TO THE WHOLE DIALOG
I'm a long time SH fan, this remake was epic. I had to have mental breaks so it took me longer than anticipated to finish, but I'm so happy I got there. I'm going to play again.
Akira Yamaoka is one of the best composers and his silent hill music is amazing. It is literally one of my choices that I listen too when I'm stressed at work - silent hill ambiance
"There's options but I don't feel like using them" is not an accessibility issue.
Yay you are back! Missed you ❤❤❤
This was a great watch. Thank you for sharing pieces of yourself as you discussed this game. One of my favorite changes with the remake is the decision to remove versions of the Abstract Daddy boss that were originally in the hotel at the end of the game. To me, it never made sense for James to continue seeing this type of creature after the first interaction.
Thx for sharing your story with us reign, and glad you connected so much with this game, it's truly one of the best in the genre. Great vid as always!
As a Silent Hill-naive individual, I am excited to hear about the remake from someone who's also new to the series.
It’s good to hear people talking like this about truly good horror games. I feel the same way (for different reasons, obviously) about Alan Wake 2. The slow realization of just how true and personal of a story you’re witnessing, it gradually rises up through your subconscious until the end when you finally understand what things mean. Having lived a life of weakness and betrayal through the generational ravages of addiction, Alan Wake 2 made perfect sense to me.
Minor annoyance with the video tape scene at the end of SH2: I tried watching the tape over and over so closely, and for the life of me I could not make out what was happening until hearing Reignbot say it and rewatching it again, and even then it was just barely clear enough with the couple of frames where her hand is clutching his arm. But unless I knew what I was looking for, it just looked like her hand grabbing something.
More videos like this.
I love your usual content. But this is probably the best video you have ever made.
This game came to you at the perfect time. I’m so glad you have experienced this. It’s one of my favorite games and I try to play it every 5 or so years so see if I can glean anything more as I grow up. 32 now, so far I have 💕
I platinumed it a few days ago and have been a fan for a long time. The original is my absolute favorite and it's so interesting hearing a new players thoughts, especially when it's such a cool content creator I've also loved for years ♥
8:00 minutes... I completely agree here. I'm a returning player and I felt this even way back when I played the original. It's just building to a peak and that is truly not over till the very end. Great video. 👍
37:10 I have to ask (gently) if your own personal circumstances are perhaps bleeding in a bit here: what James did to Mary should not have been done, but to frame it in terms of an entirely one-sided emotional response (that of anger over the loss of his own personal freedom) must be weighted against the fact that - at least in the original - he did not want her to suffer anymore from a clearly incurable condition.
There is a term for such an act, and the fact that the first word of it is “mercy” (whether said intention is genuine or not) does not lesson the finality of the second.
45:36
The depresressing fact is that he DID return to the Entity, with... Mary. But..
Not as she desired it to be :(
I havent snapped exact photos, but it would be whack if the blanket he covered her in was also an asser used in the rooms associated with his Ashfield apartment or home (usually 208s or 201s, did you also notice those repetitions?)
But its a blanket that totally would fit mary, think flower prints or butterflies (people very old wore those, and also colected china. My gma did, i find that age tacky)
10:25
by this time in the game i had turned every other sound a little bit down so i could max the volume in my headphones and listen better to the music 😍
Do you know about "Jacob's Ladder?" It's a film that directly inspired "Silent Hill." It's even a better movie than the 2006 film adaptation.
I was so glad to hear your perspective on James. As you mentioned, there's a whole lot of the fan base that just kind of writes him off as a monster and that's that. Or they're like, "He killed Mary because he was horny and he thought it was gross that she was sick lol"
And that does such an incredible disservice to the character and his writing. Yes, what he did was awful. So, when I say that I love the character, I love how layered he is. I love how complex he and the entire story around him is. The writing is so solid that I find it difficult not to have a soft spot for him to a degree (though I love almost everyone in this game lol). And I always find it frustrating when people reduce him to a one note villain because I feel like that completely misses the entire point of the whole game and the brilliance of the story.
And, yeah, as someone who watched my friend play the original back in the early aughts, lots of stuff hits way harder when you're grown. Having a whole bunch of life experiences, and knowing people with experiences, that are similar to James and Mary (minus the murder lol) makes it a much bigger punch to the gut. And that just makes this game all the more incredible, honestly.
I sent you a the biggest hug ReingBot. Thank you so much for what you do.
I also had an abscess after my appendicitis surgery! I was in the hospital for like a month, lost 18 pounds when I was already underweight, and went back to middle school with a tube sticking out of me. It makes me wonder if preventing an abscess from forming after the surgery is a point of negligence in our healthcare system.
3:37 I wouldn't say yes, I'd say mostly
Silent Hill 2 is something special. I loved the originals, but this remake does something to me. Like you mentioned. The music is something deep and to the point where I just can't play anymore, it gets overwhelming. I feel this overwhelming sense of dread when exploring the world.
As someone with bipolar, I feel Angela's mood at times. The amount of times I personally found myself on the floor wondering the absolute pointlessness of life and the dread is something that hit me close. I know she's not bipolar but it's the mental state that I enter that I relate too.
I refused to watch this video until I finished the remake and as a long fan of yours I'm happy to see someone enjoy the game
Oh btw, the Hotel rotting is actually the Fog World version of it. The idea is that James is lying to himself so he made up the Otherworld version as this "perfect" place but the reality is what he sees once he learns the truth.
This game never leaves you that's why the 2001 crew came back it resonates with certain people much deeper if you have been through stuff in life.
The fact that what most of what you see isn't even real it's James's trauma manifested in his head through his guilt including the monsters your insight was amazing
i've never seen james as anything but a terrible person. even before the reveal he comes across as lacking basic empathy. when his dialogue seems compassionate his tone and actions never mirror the words he says. in his mind mary didn't just die when she got sick, she was no longer even a person.
The way Angela lashes at James after the fight sounds a lot like what she would say to her brother tbh
The disapearing character/ not being in the room anymore creepiness is also done really well in Mulholland Drive by David Lynch.
I’m happy to hear your voice before 2025. I hope all is well with you and getting better all the time.
This video was really good and I hope you’re doing well now ❤
The 3yr timeline is absolutely meant to be questioned. This is basically Laura’s purpose in the story. The remake also adds two major details in the opening cutscene to make you question that timeline as well. Tho one you won’t recognize until a second play through.