• LoamImprovement@beehaw.org
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        4 months ago

        Very heavy combat focus, with a lot of cinematics that make it look more like a ‘jumpscare horror’ game a la SH:Homecoming than the creeping dread that the traditional Silent Hill games are known for.

        I think it’s worth noting that, at least in the original games, combat feels kind of like an afterthought. James Sunderland is not a man of action; Melee weapons are awkward and clunky in his hands, the guns work better, but you’re not really encouraged to kill enemies - most of the time you can just run past. None of the protagonists in these games are particularly heroic, and often they’ve done terrible things that the game only just hints at. It all underscores the idea that these are games about confronting the self, rather than the other, and a combat focus detracts from that idea.

          • LoamImprovement@beehaw.org
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            4 months ago

            Oh, it’s definitely worth a look, of the bunch, Silent Hill 2 and 3 are arguably the best representations of the franchise in terms of gameplay and storytelling. Right now the best way to play SH2 is to look into SH2 Enhanced Edition:

            https://enhanced.townofsilenthill.com/SH2/install.htm

            You will need a copy of the PC game, but if you already have it or can cough find it, you can use the enhancer patch to fix bugs and restore all the nice pretty post-processing effects.