Other Silent Hill 2's success

[Yama]

OT, but has anyone tried it out yet? I personally had it pre-ordered, but am away from home this week, going to get into it when back. I am however pretty pleasantly surprised to see a game stick to such a classic formula with a fresh coat of paint and be as well received as it is. Perhaps we're seeing a renaissance within the genre atm.

 

[Caffeine Addict]

My copy is arriving today via Amazon, but 93% of critics so far have gave the remake positive feedback. This is a great indicator that Konami's franchise is safe from being axed.

Against the odds, Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 debuts with Steam's best possible rating

Silent Hill 2's Steam launch has gone down spectacularly, with a 95% positive rating among the favorable critic review scores as well.

www.pcgamesn.com

But of course, it is not without its haters either.

Silent Hill 2 fans change review scores on Wikipedia page because it's 'woke'

Some Silent Hill fans are trying to wipe Silent Hill 2 remake's positive reception from the record, despite it getting the approval of the original game's director.

metro.co.uk

 

[Spera01]

Best Buy was good to me and I received my copy 4 days early on Saturday. Been playing it off and on since (juggling Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero, social life and work) but I'm about halfway through the hospital. The atmosphere is superb and Bloober really nailed it. To be honest, I had my doubts based off some of the early trailers and the fact that it was Bloober doing it but so far I'm very impressed. It's clear they understood the assignment.

I was never a huge Silent Hill fan (RE always surpassed it for me) but aside from only playing through 1, Homecoming and Shattered Memories when I was younger, I didn't have a lot of experience with 2. I own SH2 on PS2 and every time I tried to boot it up, I always just lost interest once I got to the apartments. I finally sat down and played through 2 and 3 in their entirety two years ago and ended up getting the platinum (HD collection sucks I know, but I am a trophy whore) because I enjoyed them so much. I still remember my play through quite vividly so going through this with the OG Silent Hill 2 still kinda fresh in my mind has been a treat.

 

[Caffeine Addict]

I'm in the apartments, and have seen Laura kicking away the key. It's very easy to get lost. It's so damn dark. I also spent a while finding glue and two halves of a broken record because I didn't notice the music shop with all the evading the monsters.

The record is called "Mert loves RE6 - Come @ me."

OK. Joking.

I have no idea where to go now. I had to look through a hole in a wardrobe, but I am not sure what to do next.

 

[Schinken]

I'm in the apartments, and have seen Laura kicking away the key. It's very easy to get lost. It's so damn dark. I also spent a while finding glue and two halves of a broken record because I didn't notice the music shop with all the evading the monsters.

The record is called "Mert loves RE6 - Come @ me."

OK. Joking.

I have no idea where to go now. I had to look through a hole in a wardrobe, but I am not sure what to do next.

You can push some objects in the game. I had to look this up on YouTube.

Anyway while I like the game, it is way too long and bloated. My game time so far is about 18 hours and I am only in prison. Jeez.

 

[Caffeine Addict]

I thought the enemy encounters were repetitive, but Bloober Team do deserve the praise they got for not changing much of the story. This remake was a winner, and one remake I can rarely praise. It may even win the Game of the Year award next month.

 

[Schinken]

Repetition of enemy encounters goes along aside from the game's bloatedness, padding, and meandering. For example, when you thought you finished the hospital section you still had to go through Other World Hospital. Enough already. It's gonna effect the replayability of this game.

 

[Caffeine Addict]

That all happened in the original as well, but it was more condensed. It's possible to beat SH2 2001 in under 3 hours, while this remake is very lengthy.

Some parts did my nut in. I remember there was a room with a key item behind a shower panel. Half of a swan figurine. It was so dark. I didn't know it was there. So I got lost for ages. And the boss fights were irritating.

 

[Yama]

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with this game. Some of the earlier previews turned me off a bit but I wanted to take a flier, really glad I did. I'm not sure if it's some of the unintentional jank of not being a AAAA level game, but it keeps it feeling closer to its counterpart this way. The UE5 tech advancements mixed with the fantastic art direction really coupled together to make something special.

 

[Duty]

They really dropped the ball making this a Sony exclusive for a year. Sales are great by Silent Hill standards but they would have had much more sales if they distributed this evenly across as many platforms as possible from the getgo when hype was at its highest.

 

[Caffeine Addict]

It must be about time for another transmission, considering f and Townfall haven't had any updates in a long time.

I think the original 2022 one that Konami did was just used as a stopgap, because people were way too unsettled with the silent treatment that had gone on for years.

 

[Duty]

Silent Hill 2 Dev's Next Konami Game Is Coming To Xbox Series X|S

Not a PS5 exclusive this time

www.purexbox.com

Looks like they agree with me. Next major entry should avoid exclusivity like the plague. SH/RE are not Mario or Gears and should be as crossy platformy as possible.

 

[Caffeine Addict]

They could have made about 4 million quickly if they had a wider PC release. Not sure why they hesitated.

 

[Duty]

They could have made about 4 million quickly if they had a wider PC release. Not sure why they hesitated.

This was a risky project (In Konami's mind, not mine) so they likely capitulated to some kind of backroom deal with Sony.

Too bad because anyone with a braincell could sense this would be well received by audiences with survival horror going through a revival.

All things point to multiplat the future with this franchise though so that is good.

 

[Caffeine Addict]

While I do have trust in Bloober Team to continue doing respectable reimaginings, I would rather have an all-new original game from them. I mean, we get way too many remakes these days that each time a new game is announced, you feel like it will be a rehash. It's becoming like "The Revenge of Survival Horror" with how many they've been releasing. Even remasters are supposedly 'remakes' as well.

I think it's better to unleash your own potential, instead of depending on using something already established.

At least the naysayers were proven wrong. I always say to people to judge a piece of media on their own merits, rather than just hopping on a sheepfold inspired bandwagon.

 

[Duty]

Well RE2 Remake is the best selling RE game to date and it is a remake so its only natural they hit the market with them more often now to follow current market trends (hence why I'm kinda stumped and disappointed that Warner Brothers could not get Monolith to remake F.E.A.R. before completely pulling the plug on the studio!).

However, yes, we have yet to receive an original survival horror game that is not a remake knock it out of the park yet. The reason why I am here is that I am hoping that RE9 achieves this. If Capcom does not have the talent to raise the bar on the franchise and the genre than I am completely wasting my time and may as well stick with safe games I will undoubtedly enjoy for what they are.

The air of mystery surrounding RE9 is certainly intriguing and attractive!

 

[Caffeine Addict]

I haven't been impressed with RE in years. It got to a point where they diluted the franchise through bad decisions and then just started inserting randomness, because it sounded cool or something. But eventually, it can feel like they just like to rehash ideas. This is why RE4 and 8 are so relatable. But I particularly dislike how Chris looks different now each time he appears.

Even that new Alien movie just felt like a mash-up of the best parts of all the previous movies, when all one needs to do is watch the movies it copies from. And there's a new series coming called Alien: Earth.

Hope it won't suck. They really have made the franchise so PG.

 

[Duty]

Which is why I do not waste my time with movies anymore. In my view video games have already destroyed Hollywood, as they can achieve both the cool elements of movies ALONG with player interaction, especially as games continue to be character and story driven.

 

[Caffeine Addict]

Yeah. RE9 is their last chance. But I swear, if little green men are revealed to be in a hidden spaceship preparing the Mars-Virus, count me out. LMAO. Because you know they are already in gammy territory with the whole Lady D and her goons thing.

By the way, I watched The Phantom of the Opera from 1925 with Lon Chaney the other day, for the first time in a good long while. Despite having no sound and being 100 years old (there is a score, though), it is a wonderful piece of art.

Throughout the decades, horror films were amazing. Especially in the 70s. Horror games in the 90s was the icing on the cake.

Now everything is gory for the hell of it, with the same old jump scares and tediously dark, bleached-out camera viewpoints. Like, how many times is Sidney Prescott gonna have to battle a Ghostface or Ben Willis the evil fisherman looks for Julie and Ray? LOL. Three movies of that was enough. But 7 Scream flicks. What the hell?

 

[Duty]

Yeah. RE9 is their last chance. But I swear, if little green men are revealed to be in a hidden spaceship preparing the Mars-Virus, count me out. LMAO. Because you know they are already in gammy territory with the whole Lady D and her goons thing.

LOL! The Martians things might work for a new IP but certainly does not work for RE! 'Village' demonstrated this pretty well. If 'Village' was it's own IP it would have been a banger I think. Just replace Ethan with some ex-Romanian special forces operative and replace Chris and the Wolfhound Squad with some nasty elements of the post-Soviet Romanian government I would have probably LOVED the game! Context matters here.

RE is supposed to be the leader of survival horror and continue to set the gold standard for it and others to take it's example. If Capcom cannot do it, perhaps Bloober team will take Silent Hill and do it themselves. Should serve as a warning to Capcom, someone always fills a power vacuum when the people who are supposed to start slacking on it.