The Best Psychological Horror Game Ever

Silent Hill is one of the most iconic horror franchises of all time A Series spanning 17 games and 24 years with a variety of successes and failures but when it comes to the most impactful of the bunch it's usually agreed that Silent Hill 2 claims that title a game that explores multiple themes from loss and depression to denial and marital woes delving into the darkest aspects of human nature and examining our psyche in a manner few others have even come close released in 2001 this game was a cult hit and continues to be hailed as one of the best psychological Horrors ever created with a remake just around the corner I thought it was a perfect time to look back at this masterpiece and try to understand exactly why it worked and why there's so much hesitation around its Revival how can you sit there and eat pizza Southern Hills a franchise I've talked a lot about on this channel and there's a reason I talk about it so much it's one of my favorite franchises of all time and a cool reason why I wanted to make videos in the first place who would even think of doing something so disgusting so buckle in we're heading to a dark place we're heading back to Silent Hill this tragic tale begins in a dirty restroom where we see a despondent James Sunderland examining himself running his hand over his face and letting out an exhausted sigh uh staring in the mirror he asks of a woman named Mary could really be here Mary could you really be in this town at this point we don't know who Mary is but this intro instantly calls James's mental state into question it's like he's not sure he even exists touching his own face to confirm his reality stepping from the sink we take control and have a little mooch around the abandoned stalls but before we talk about anything else can we just appreciate that this game has working mirrors like this is a 22 year old game now compare that to Dead Island 2 which came out a few months ago and the difference is insane In fairness this effect was achieved with a bit of trickery they actually created two identical rooms each with a copy of James moving around an illusion that mimics the effect of a mirror naturally this is very resource intensive it would only work in small spaces like this restroom but it's a clever idea and a testament to the Ingenuity of the developers no shade at Dead Island 2 either I enjoyed my first playthrough and the fact that the game even exists after 12 years of development hell is a miracle in itself even if the ending is dog [ __ ] oh wow wait that's the end leaving the toilet we step into a car park with our vehicle abandoned across multiple spaces but we pay at no attention and walk over to a Viewpoint just above Toluca Lake where the game explains how we found ourselves here in my Restless dreams thank you I see that town Silent Hill [Music] you promised you'd take me there again someday but you never did well I'm alone there now so it appears we're already in Silent Hill at the behest of our wife but there's a big problem said wife she's been dead for several years Mary died of that damn disease three years ago so then why am I looking for her now despite knowing this James chose to ignore his better senses and headed off at once to find their special place it establishes James as a desperate person someone's suffering greatly from their grievance still unable to accept the loss of a loved one could very really be there leaving the Viewpoint we take a map from the driver's seat and ditch the car beginning our descent down a long unsettling Forest Trail to some this section was irritatingly drawn out but it is a very carefully crafted section it wasn't long just for the sake of it it serves a purpose aside from increasing our suspense with the mounting music and monstrous growls the path literally represents that James is heading to a point of no return he's descending too far to turn back after following this path the only way is forward kind of like bookmarking 4chan once you go that far you're [ __ ] eventually we stumble across a graveyard where much to our surprise we run into a normal person and I use the term normal Loosely excuse me I'm sorry I I oh it's okay I didn't mean to scare you I'm looking for someone her name's Angela and after a kg introduction she reveals that she's also looking for someone her mother my mother your mother but on a more interesting note she has an ominous warning about the town of Silent Hill this town there's so there's wrong with it it's kind of hard to explain but is it dangerous there's conversations uncanny and not just because of the hand crafted animations flex but from the tones they use tones that don't seem to reflect the strange situation they found themselves in and it's not just the fog either okay this could be wrapped up to iffy voice acting which some people might argue but I think these interactions add to the dreamlike uncertainty everything and everyone is ever so slightly not right in ways that are hard to pin down but glaringly obvious I'm looking for my mama I mean my mother something that's a really hard line to walk I mean just look at homecoming that game tried a similar effect but they just came off as skinwalkers like reptiles it is not easy no one ever leaves this place whatever the case a Common Thread shared across almost everyone we encounter is the search of missing people James is looking for his wife and Angela her mother the town is attracting lost lonely Souls who as James says don't care what happens to them I guess I really don't care if it's dangerous or not Angela stays behind wanting time to gather her thoughts and aside from a few awkward interactions what is it oh nothing we have no choice but to leave her aren't you looking for someone one that's right man James is a Zero Charisma [ __ ] that's right exiting the graveyard where The Melancholy music stops and the imposing metallic sounds continue following this second shorter track we passed over a concrete walkway and finally arrive at our destination the foggy abandoned streets of Silent Hill apparently Mary's waiting in our special location which James thinks is rosewater Park so heading there should be our first goal and following the road deeper into the fog we stumble across a large puddle of blood with something lurking in the distance stumbling humanoid shape one that moves just out of sight and like all great horror protagonists we decide the best course of action is tracking this thing down who knows maybe Mary's been on the Lash and she's pissed out her mind stumbling around town we just can't take that risk the fog is back in all its glory and icons synonymous with the franchise I mean to this day I still can't see an empty foggy town without cracking the joke that we've arrived in Silent Hill yes I am very cool originally the fog was designed as a creative way to mask object Poppin and the game's low load range a perfect example of Hardware limitations leading to revolutionary New Concepts although one thing I do want to mention is the myth that the town and its fog were inspired by a real-life location called Centralia in Pennsylvania a town whose Minds caught fire forcing the locals to abandon ship resulting in an empty settlement frequently shrouded in Ash and smoke and it is cool and obviously tragic as this location is it is not the inspiration for Silent Hill that's an urban legend the white snowflake you see in the game aren't Ash it's snow the similarities are just an eerie coincidence one that apparently annoys itosan with its frequent citation the movie's the main culprit for perpetuating this myth it changed the world's law to make the connection with Centralia more prevalent all fires still burning underneath but that was just for the movies and it doesn't reflect the game's actual inspiration let it be known itosan follow me on Twitter I want to play test the silent Hillary make blooper anyone following the occasional spare of blood we head into an alley between two buildings and arrive at a small boarded entrance beneath the bridge James of course isn't displaying an ounce of self-preservation this dark tunnel does not look inviting but regardless we head in passing through a gap to discover an iconic item a radio with its static blurting out if you know anything about Silent Hill you'll know that static means danger something we discover to be true right this very second [Music] standing from the darkness the game's first enemy rears its head twisting and contorting this creature is called the lying figure and it's the game's most common enemy appearing as a humanoid shape with pale legs and a distinct armless upper body now this game is renowned for its use of symbolism in creature design almost everything is dripping with subtle references to underlying psychological issues either relating to James or the other people we encounter this monster for example could represent Mary's sickness one that left her bed bound where she had to lay their reading in pain and coughing up phlegm and blood in a similar fashion to how these creatures move and attack moving and easy to avoid but when they fall to the ground there's a chance they'll Slither around like snakes damaging James if we get in their way body horror and snakes a nightmarish combination the world did not need I did mention him a moment ago but Masahiro Ito was the monster designer for this game a very talented man who's actually being brought back to consult on the upcoming remake his inspiration for the lying figure was apparently BDSM fashion and more comically the appearance in his co-worker he was walking towards him late at night his hood was up his hands were in his pockets giving him a bizarre silhouette as he approached in any case we're not going to stand around and let this Abomination have its way with us so we grab a plank of wood from the fence behind and bonk it into Oblivion speaking of the combat it's slow janky and awkward but that's the entire point we're just a normal person stuck in this hellscape it manages to hit that sweet spot of not making the player rage and frustration but also being stressful enough to encourage avoiding encounters where possible to make us think twice about engaging the enemy especially on harder difficulties the combat is a point of contention with the Remake from the promotional material it appears they're trying to modernize it even adding the ability to dodge this got the Twitter sphere in a tizzy but Hey listen if I've learned anything from previous games it's that we'd better not assume anything until we've got our hands on it all I'll say is people went mad about the Dodge but most of the games have this ability in some capacity including the first game it's not new and as long as we're not rolling around like Nathan Drake on crack it's probably a good addition as with all things it's a matter of nuance and balance defeated Jane's remarks on this unsightly Beast what the hell is it I'm just glad there's an actual reaction to the monsters here he doesn't just move on like they're a die of a dozen but much like all his reactions the response is still very muted what the hell is it it's disproportionate to what's going on either he's in serious shock or it's a sign of his detachmental State almost like he's suffering from derealization a condition where an individual feels the world around them is unreal something you'd forgive him for given everything going on this thing broken [Music] three times what walking away there's nothing but bloodied Footprints Left Behind to signify the violence that just took place and in an interesting touch we can revisit this tunnel later in the game only to find the entrance sealed with police tape implying some violent crime took place here this could be trying to plant the seed that we attacked a normal person in some kind of delusion something that makes the silence and bloodied footprint even more ominous in retrospect because that creature does not fight back in any way from this point the streets are littered with lying figures that chase James relentlessly through streets between alleys and even from under cars they add a sense of pressure as we run through looking for the next destination and all the sounds this creates between the static the hissing and the spitting its sensory overload even though we're not in any real danger in the open streets with plenty of room to maneuver it creates the feeling that we are following this main road down we reach another dead end but this time there's a camper van beside the gate and inside we find a no asking us to head to Neely's bar so we retrace our steps and head inside to find a map with yet another location to visit I'm not only that but there's a message Written in Blood on the wall behind us there was a hole here it's gone now well that might sound ridiculous this franchise has always had a close relationship with holes and what they represent [Music] now the symbolism will change game to game but in general circles or holes represent two major themes firstly holes require us to LEAP into the unknown literally risking Our Lives to explore further it represents a one-way journey into the abyss where Barry traumas resides and a transition with our location in a way that completely disrupts our sense of reality what the hell the second part of the symbolism is the circle of existence where death life and rebirth are intertwined with gods and children being reborn and transformed in the first and second game circles are often used to represent the endless cycle Silent Hill appears to be trapped in Judgment Day there are other meanings you could investigate here but I think these two stand out as the most prevalent in relation to the franchise anyway we have another location this time an alley we pass on our journey over to the campervan it's worth noting you can head straight to this alley and skip the world goose chase altogether I mean most people probably don't even reach the Caravan at all but this isn't again to be shortcut of speedrun it's a game to be experienced so I'ma Do It Right dodging multiple enemies we make it to the end and find a body lying on the floor its face bloodied and unrecognizable but looking closer its outfit is easily recognizable it's the same outfit James is wearing is this spooky asset reuse or an ominous warning who knows we're having a key from the body we head to the Woodside apartment it's located just up the road and the transition from loud monster filled streets to the fenced off Courtyard is surprisingly tranquil foreign we're still in the thick of it but the difference in atmosphere offers a temporary feeling of safety as we prepare to explore the Woodside Apartments inside the building's falling apart some might argue it's not an inviting space but according to the map we found earlier there's a par through these Flats to rosewater Park so we get to work on finding it heading upstairs and entering a long dark hallway areas like this with the camera angles being obscured are where enemies can really become a nightmare you can't see [ __ ] all there's little room to maneuver and all you can hear is this diabolical screeching thank you sounding something like a cricket on a unicycle this noise is from the creepers which are basically demonic cockroaches these noisy pests also featured in the first game having spawned from the lesser's hatred of insects and if anyone hasn't played the first game or is unaware of a lesser story I think a quick summary is important for understanding the context of this game in short Eliza Gillespie was a young girl who allegedly had some kind of psychic powers and sadly these abilities made her the target of a cult known as the order the demon is Awakening spreading those wings you see they wanted to harness these Powers with the goal of birthing their deity a brilliant plan that included brutally torturing Alessa for years ultimately ending in a ritualistic burning the dead will walk and martyrs will burn in the fires of Hell during this Final Act alessa's power was manifested and she split her soul in two resulting in a rift in reality and instead of a god it birthed the nightmarish town of Silent Hill as we know it oh basically unless this Tales of tragedy one that shaped the corrupt World each protagonist faces and something you might know about the second game is the massive thematic departure Silent Hill one was all about cults and Demon gods and while there are still traces of these themes the second game is significantly more about the human psychology this series would continue to jump between these themes with some focusing more on occultism and religion than others and I don't think that was a bad idea if it were done right it would have kept the plot fresh within the confines of one town although with the Silent Hill allegedly set in Japan on the way it looks like that doesn't matter anyway walking through these halls and finding an open door we enter Room 205 to find a torch Illuminating the space this light is attached to a mannequin but it's not your typical creepy mannequin design its outfit is distinct familiar even and upon inspecting our picture of Mary we discovered that it's an exact match grabbing the light we're able to get a better view of our surroundings but we might wish we hadn't because from behind the stand a creature awakes this monster is known as the mannequin and appears as a double-sided set of legs they walk on one pair and attack with the other perfectly balanced as all Leg monsters should be its design is arguably feminine in nature it's literally a pair of long old legs which yet again could be a reference to James's wife being bed-bound she would have hated her immobility and this creature is literally two sets of legs walking about almost mocking her condition they won't attack us or even produce radio static until James gets close or turns his light on this is a subtle mechanic the game never directly mentions all of the monsters are attracted to James's light if we turn it off we have a much easier time avoiding them at the cost of visibility it doesn't matter so much on the open streets but in these claustrophobic Halls the extra space can save your ass that is if you have any idea where you're going with a new flashlight we can explore the rest of the apartments finding a few resources here and there but it's in room 209 that we encounter our next objective a clock blocking a gap in the wall sadly before we can crack on with the puzzle solving we need to unlock the glass case it would seem James can't bring himself to smash a collector's item so we head upstairs in search of the [ __ ] key once there along with some unsettling breathing we find what we're looking for straight away a key carefully placed just beyond These Bars all we have to do is reach it foreign just as we're about to grab it some snot-nosed brat kicks it and Stomps on her hand we don't know who she is or what she's doing here but now the key's out of our reach and I am human damn it but you know what they say about every cloud because in Rim 301 just down the hall we find our first firearm stepping in the entire room is full of bullet holes every surface is relentlessly riddled and in a trolley at the center our very own pistol able to stop the twitchiest of monsters the progress kind of comes to a halt here though because we've explored every room and found nothing to help us could this be our end are we stuck here forever in some hallway-based Purgatory well retracing our steps and walking through the downstairs hallway this time we hear a screen [Music] so naturally we head in the screen's Direction when the radio begins to crackle and for the first time we encounter the game's Infamous mascot stood staring just beyond a metal fence we see the Red Pyramid thing the Executioner or as it's better known Pyramid Head it has many names but the Beast Remains the Same a disturbing creature with a rusty metal pyramid for a Head dressed in bloody butcher robes and often seen dragging and impossibly large blade what this creature wants with James is by this point unknown all we know is that he's watching us we can't interact with it in any way and bizarrely James doesn't even acknowledge the horrific sight so for now we continue our journey where we discover the source of the scream a corpse sitting in front of a distorted TV you can't really tell from the angle Stone but the character model is James Sunderland the clothing the body structure and even the face model are all James something you'd only guess at without hacks or data mining oh my God despite the shock we find a key to room 202 on a shelf nearby so that's where we head leaving the apartment to find our friend missing up to no good I have no doubt the room in question is mostly empty bar a few cages which appear to house butterflies or moths that swarm us on Entry it's not until we check the bedroom that we discovered the room's purpose because on a wall marked by an ominous glow there's a hole and as the mechanical music kicks in it's clear we've got to shove our hand into this oozing orifice thank the gods they chose green news over saying I don't know white because yeah that would be a bit sus oh my God we slowly reach inside and after a rocky start we pull out a key for the clock go it whole never doubt it for a second although it does mean that the key the girl kicked earlier unlocks something different opening the clock there are three arms to move around and on the wall behind us three scribbles Henry Mildred and Scott all accompanied with what looks like a direction now I'm playing on the hard puzzle difficulty as all fans should and as a puzzle this one's no brain scratcher any guesses though go on what do you think well that's absolutely incorrect what are you stupid the answer is simple Henry equals hour Mildred Minnie and Scott seconds upstairs section and grab the key the little girl kicked away which turns out to be a fire escape key but before that we stop into room 307 to discover a harrowing sight inside Pyramid Head is back interacting with two monsters in a distinctly violin and arguably sexual way it undoubtedly implies a violent dominance over these creatures and with the mannequins representing a more feminine aspect it would seem Pyramid Head is meant to signify sexual violence in some way even the fact that James is hiding in a closet watching this unfold adds a perverted voyeurism to the events foreign to see how this plays out James readies his gun and unloads a clip through the closet this causes the monster to walk away instead of aloe pulling us out and adding our body to his roster once alone in this closet we discover a key to the Courtyard which means we now have two keys to use if we can only find the doors to use them on taking a stairwell at the back of this new second floor we find a second lobby area containing some canned juice and no this isn't a massive healing item like a six-pack of fanta it's the solution to a puzzle in the first hallway we entered there was a rubbish shoot and it was all bunged up nothing we could do about it at the time but by using this big heavy crate we're able to clear the blockage causing it to land in the dump outside and once there we snoop through the bins to find a Coin something that doesn't have any bearing to us yet but more interestingly on an old newspaper article we find a reference to a series of murders carried out by none other than Walter Sullivan which if you remember from my Silent Hill 4 video is the antagonist of the fourth game the lore of the town really was so well established in the early days I love a bit of foreshadowing my name's Walter Walter Sullivan anyway heading back to the main lobby and using the courtyard key we enter a large concrete square with a few seats and a nice family pool swarming with lying figures at the center sits another coin although grabbing it is a dangerous Affair and you'll easily soak up a few hits if you're not careful now we have two coins the snake and the old man [ __ ] knows what they're used for but hey I'm glad to have them I'm a hoarder aside from the coins this Courtyard gives us access to a second block of flat and at the back in Room 101 we hear a strange noise coming from the bathroom don't worry it's not the burping nurses from the room it's a real person Eddie who's being sick after encountering the dead body sat in the kitchen it wasn't me I didn't do it do what I didn't do anything I swear he was like this when I got here is this hark on the expression the lady doth protest too much before James even speaks he's already denied murder despite no one accusing him it wasn't me do it now putting our suspicions aside he seems like a decent enough person more aware of the bizarre situation surrounding the town than Angela although he does act like he's hiding something what happened here anyway uh I I told you I don't know wanting some time to recover he asked to stay put so we say our goodbyes and move on meaning there's only one thing left to do try the fire escape opening it up as always it's not as we would expect [Music] climbing through the window with a separate building placed in impossibly close proximity we enter the Blue Creek Apartments where the layout of each room is slightly different but the premise is the same we need to find a way out but not before James smashes his hand down the [ __ ] my brother's in Christ no one even asked James to do that man said looks like something's blocking the drain and he went elbow deep thank jeebers it wasn't a big old turd log or that would have just been really upsetting for everyone involved turns out the blockage was a wallet one containing a series of numbers that unlock a safe in the adjacent room for a bunch of bullets and man if I ever use the gun I'll have ammo for days having a wander around in room 105 we found a locked cabinet with multiple empty holes which is where the coins we collected earlier come into play we just need to find one more and while hunting this coin down in room 109 we run into Angel again except this time she appears more depressed staring at herself with a knife and contemplating drastic actions yeah I'm James this interaction is Stranger than normal with both appearing to almost jump between knowing each other and at the same time acting like it's their first encounter so why did you come to this town anyway I [Music] I'm sorry did did you find the person you're looking for not yet James tries to offer her some reassurance talking her off the ledge and eventually asking for the knife will you hold it for me sure no problem if I kept it I'm not sure what I might do she agrees to give it over but when we go to grab it she starts screaming and brandishes the weapon at us oh I'm sorry I I feel bad please don't realizing we were only trying to help her she calls herself bad before walking off this Behavior along with her habit to regress into a childlike state is a Telltale sign of historic abuse particularly of younger children I'm sorry I I feel bad but for now she's Away With the Wind so we take the knife and examine it for a moment before grabbing the final coin from the table bizarrely we can't use this knife as a weapon all we can do is hold on to it which I'm glad about I was hoping for a game-breaking weapon like in homecoming at least now we have enough coins to solve the puzzle though which consists of placing them based on the vague description given by the text on a plaque once we've done that right we get a key to a previously locked apartment inside which you might hear an ominous whispering it's something along the lines of see my dead wife come home to do some laundry and apparently this wisp is random there's a 50 50 chance it'll occur so I was gassed when I heard it the RNG Gods blessed my playthrough and let me grab that audio the room itself's empty but Crossing through the balcony we found a bedroom with a key to the stairwell waiting for us this is it our ticket out of it so we head over but once inside the door locks behind us we're trapped and we're not alone because our old body Pyramid Head is sat in the corner once again acting up giving a monster the old filthy Frank treatment yes our goal here is to survive this hulking Beast can't be killed instead we navigate this small space avoiding its sword and grab attacks while returning fire where possible it's a tense section where we know we're outgunned but we have nowhere to hide do we even try to fight or are we just wasting ammo every bullet sounds like it's bouncing off his Metal Head what was only a few minutes felt like a lifetime you can shoot him which will end the section faster but it's also time based run around for long enough and the fight will end all the same so to save ammo you might be better off dancing around the area like Floyd Money Maker himself and after five or so minutes an alarm will ring out foreign hearing this The Pyramid Head will completely disengage us and walk into the flooded basement causing it to lower as he descends to its depths leaving us confused likely injured and fully aware that the only way forward is to follow the Beast we just spent several minutes avoiding [Music] the encounter was worth it though because after taking the stairs we exit the building to arrive in a back alley finally we're out in the open air again a beautiful sight that's rudely interrupted when we run into the little brat from earlier you it was you wasn't it you're the one who stepped on my hand I don't know maybe I did this encounter has a few interesting points firstly when James says what is she doing in this town she asks if we're blind what's a little girl like you doing here anyway huh are you blind or something which is an odd and very open statement with a lot of implication most interesting of which is that she's seeing something completely different to James just entirely something that in her mind should make it very clear why she's here are you blind or something second is that she appears to know Mary even claiming that James didn't love her before running off you didn't love Mary anyway wait I mean is this child even real that's the question most people love about this point or is she some vindictive entity summoned by the town wherever the case we follow the road and the map we found earlier is true to its word we're at rosewater Park anxious to find out if Mary really is waiting for us passing through the walled Gardens there isn't a great deal to see that is until we reach the Waterfront and find a woman waiting for us no you're not do I look like your girlfriend no my late wife in a short twist this woman isn't our wife it's a different person one ironically called Maria who looks exactly like Mary and has an eerily similar name see feel how warm I am you're really not merry I told you I'm Maria the only difference between this woman and James's late wife is her personality and dress sense with Maria being outwardly flirtatious and sensual feel how warm I am understandably this sends James into a spiral he's struggling to wrap his head around this woman and her similarity to Mary something that annoys this stranger at first but it doesn't take long for her to start laying on the charm I'm all alone here everyone else is gone I look like Mary don't I you loved her right it's possible that James was so desperate to see Mary that the town conjured Maria as some Twisted torment basically giving James his wife but also withholding her she's within his reach but not there at all no you're not you can even argue that she's more sexual because that's what James wanted from his wife a theory that adds to the sexual frustration themes we've seen demonstrated so far whatever the case it turns out that the park isn't our special place after all whoopsy-doopsy our special place was actually Lakeview hotel is this year only special place well there's the hotel too I guess there's resorts on the other side of town though and not only do we have to reach it but Maria our trustworthy friend here she'll be joining us for the ride you're coming with me you were gonna just leave me now the next section is technically an escort Mission with Maria hot tailing it around the hills with us but it's not really a burden at all she stays out of the way we don't have to heal her and best of all number how far we are she'll automatically teleport when we go through a door and honestly that small addition might have stopped this section from being a nightmare escort in Eileen was a massive sticking point in the fourth game but Maria isn't that she's a narrative driver not a child to be escorted I can't use a ladder with my arm like this and live in the park I don't know if it was just in my head but the fog itself seemed thicker obscuring more of the town which would be a great way to represent how confused James is feeling right now having run into Maria his thoughts would be all over the place chaotic and foggy like the town itself something I adore about the early Silent Hill titles is that their visuals hold up remarkably well and I know that phrase gets thrown around a lot but in this case it's genuinely true this game is more atmospherically disturbing than 90 of horror games made in its wake despite having less technology to work with it's a testament to mood and tone over pure Fidelity even the camera angles themselves are often works of art flicking between perfectly framed cinematography to almost voyeuristic Affairs stalking James through bushes or peering around door frames I know it has its moments but when it works it's a thing of beauty and with the Remake leaving the fixed camera angles in favor of an over-the-shoulder perspective they might struggle to recapture this magic even if it looks better if it lacks the same tone people won't be happy you were gonna just leave me it's worth noting that the version you're looking at now has been punched up thanks to a community project called Silent Hill 2 enhanced it's an unofficial patch bringing the PC version up to Modern standards and if you're gonna play the game this is the way to experience it it doesn't change the tone it just cleans up what was already there and the team in charge have done an amazing job kudos to them but do you know what isn't a good way to experience the game the HD re-release dropped in 2012. comparison time here's the volumetric spooky fog from the original release here it is in the HD version here's the pier that we encountered Maria here it is in the HD version like where is the [ __ ] fog I can see the map cutting off in the far Corner this is awful and it didn't stop with the graphical issues because new voice actors were even hired to re-record every line changing interactions from this Mary could you really be in this town to this did you really be in this town honestly that's a matter of preference I don't think one's inherently better the HD version provides more emotion but then again the Detachment not only is meant to mimic how messed up and Confused the characters are so take your pick I won't judge and In fairness the hijink studio these issues were mostly due to incomplete or missing source code because apparently Konami decided to just bin it all after the game launched which is insane in itself but basically don't play this version it does the game no justice is this your only special place anyway back on the streets and heading for the hotel our next destination is a bowling alley just down the road when Maria doesn't want to enter for literally no reason I'll wait here I hate bowling fish I don't like Monsters all that much but here we are you know what it doesn't matter enjoy the open air and demonic creatures I'm a head in for Uganda a choice that pays off because once inside we stumble across a conversation between Eddie and the unknown kid so what'd you do robbery murder no nothing like that you're just a gutless fat would you have to say that for this conversation boils down to Eddie alluding to his questionable past while the young lass viciously taunts him and wanting to intercept this little powwow we quickly make our way through the lobby but before reaching them we hear Eddie ask an interesting question did you find the lake you're looking for Mary did you find Mary implying that this girl not only knows about her but is also in Silent Hill looking for Mary just like James and when we do manage to reach the lanes the girls are already on her way out and instead of helping go after her Eddie decides to sit and eat a nice lies something that royally pisses off James this town is full of monsters how can you sit there and eat pizza she said she was fine by herself forget you our interactions with these people are getting progressively stranger it's like they're acclimatizing to the craziness literally hanging out and eating pizza instead of breaking down and trying to escape something you'd expect anyone else to do in that situation it's especially jarring for James who's just survived a nightmarish encounter with an unkillable geometric shape only to find the other survivors chilling eating pizza like a [ __ ] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle the parallels between their struggles could not be further apart forget you leaving Eddie to chase down Laura we run outside to find Maria panting did a little girl run out of here yeah she was too fast for me and that's a clever touch about Maria's character we never actually see her interact with anyone other than James or at any point in the entire game earlier she refused to end the bowling alley because she hates bowling and now we just missed her attempts to stop Laura this is done to elevate our doubts about her entire existence we can't validate her presence with the third parties so we're always left guessing where are you going this isn't the way that little girl went apparently Laura's run back the way we came towards a previously locked club and with James wanting to know why she's looking for Mary we decide to follow her reading the Ali in question we're banging out of luck once again because she slipped through a small gap between two buildings is there any other way yeah there is right through there but all hope is not lost turns out Mary has a key for the building that's blocking our way or I should say three keys all hidden across various pockets oh this building's a strip Clubby sort of establishment which implies that Maria worked here before we encountered her there's even a poster that advertises her as a dancer back in the starting toilets which would give her a more established existence in this world but then again why would there be an old resident of a long abandoned town and just walking around that doesn't make sense either passing through the club we track Laura down as she runs into Brookhaven Hospital a building that would hold significance to James his wife was hospitalized for months before passing so it would make sense that we phased this environment at some point and now in need of answers we head inside Landing in the reception area things are about as you'd expect the place is abandoned although not in complete this repair lorazin is somewhere though so we begin with a sweep of the area finding most of the doors locked by the reception office where we find a note talking about a patient suffering from delusions of another world one that appears to conceive them when under extreme stress but this place couldn't exist right well this other world is a reference to the nightmare reality seen in other installments but here it's again examined under the lens of mental illness is it real or just a mechanism for coping with a harsh reality next to this note we grab something called a bull key for some unknown box and head off to see what else we can find also at the risk of repeating myself the ambient noise in this area is phenomenal it's almost industrial like metal pipes clanking together or a cursed washing machine tumbling in the distance much like the town itself the music sounds like contorted versions of everyday noises Akira yamoka done an outstanding job on every piece of music and every noise created for this franchise I mean apparently they even recorded a hundred footstep variations to make sure walking always sounded unique and it's those extra touches that really just make this game what it is taking a staircase up to the next floor our radio burst into life and we encounter a new enemy type these creatures are called bobblehead nurses and their symbolism is pretty self-explanatory hospitals represent the worst part of James's life a process that doctors and nurses are an inescapable part of and the raunchy nature of their design could even suggest a level of Temptation James felt while interacting with the nurses tending to marry that perhaps he felt guilty for Desiring them while his wife was dying they twitch violently as they approach with their faces covered in a plastic material filled with an unknown liquid seemingly suffocating the nurses for every second they exist now these baddies attack in numbers swinging their long pipes of James if we get too close not that they're biased though when the nurses start pulling up they'll hit anything in their way Friend or Foe something that can actually play to our advantage in a pinch with the hallway cleared we continue our search stumbling across a small bear in a nearby closet ow what's wrong I just pricked myself ah Ben needle well I say will certainly be needing that I mean there is a shotgun next to it which is all right I mean it's no Bend needle now is it pricked myself the rest of the building consists of different hospital rooms with overturned beds and padded cells all of which are a joy to explore this is a classic Coral location much like schools hospitals make for great set pieces they're miserable places associated with loss and pain the last place you'd want to spend your evenings exploring but hey here we are on the third floor after guessing the door code we step through and get a scene that really captures what makes this game great with a drone humming and the sounds of wet footsteps we see nothing but a dark hallway as our imagination works against us and reluctantly after clearing the hallway we step into patient room three where Maria sits on the bed and begins to cough claiming she's just hung over I'm kind of tired it's just a hangover so without much concern for her safety we tell her to rest a moment while we go and search for Laura I'm gonna go look for her for Laura I'll be back as soon as I can this has an ominous parallel with Mary a sickness being bed bound in a hospital while Jane struggles on we've seen this all before I'll be okay soon on the bedside table we grab a key for the roof and head up arriving to total darkness it's as if the roof is in some forgotten plane of existence where not a single Slither of light can reach us some chosen Undead really fumbled the bag here this desolate scene adds to the feeling of isolation after just having left Maria behind we're totally alone and to make matters worse when we try to leave we discover that the doors locked behind us we're trapped up here with no Escape walking around until we hear a familiar sound oh foreign [Music] off the roof by our old friend we arrive wounded in the special Ward the fall and Landing make no sense in term of positioning or even physics but we did need to get to this part of the hospital so in some ways it's as if Pyramid Head was pushing us forward rather than trying to kill us checking a padded cell we found a message from one of the inmates with the number 6612 written on the wall claiming that the other code is his secret name these numbers are for a lock box the same one we found a bull key for back in reception there's boxes in room S14 and requires two keys and two codes we already have the two keys from our exploration and one code with the second being found on a typewriter downstairs now I know that's a quick explanation but the Keys and codes are all over the place and there's a lot of back and forth so for the sake of Punchy writing just know that we secure the goods and once that box is open we find a string of hair not to worry though this isn't some elaborate troll we need this for a separate puzzle in a room down the hall a little drain hole's been sat there teaser us with something in the pipe but now if we combine the hair with the bent needle we can reach it Silent Hill logic ain't it a thing of beauty a yo hold up whose [ __ ] hair is that anyway King Kongs I am grateful for its density though because with our fishing skills we've uncovered the elevator key allowing us to access the first floor's patient Wing marked with the groan of ventilators exploring each room we finally bump into Laura who's playing with her toys happy as Larry and I have to say James is a better man than me because that a drop kicked her on site after her previous Behavior how do you know about Mary what's the big deal speaking about Mary she claims she first met her only a year ago something that gets James's back up because she was long dead by that point you liar Laura I fine don't believe me but last year Mary was already after coming down we managed to talk her into coming with us and when James asks her about her notable lack of any injuries she doesn't understand why there are all sorts of strange things around here I can't believe you haven't even gotten a scratch on you why should I this reinforces the idea that she doesn't encounter or see any monsters maybe it's because she's young and there's no grief or regret to exploit or maybe a lesser with her lingering Powers empathizes with the child and doesn't want her heart either way on the way out she talks about a letter from Mary and asks if we can grab it what is it a letter from Mary huh I want to go get it is that okay yes yes claiming it's just at the back of this here room and I don't know about you but I smell a smell a fishy kind of smell that smells like betrayal Laura what are you doing you're absolutely [ __ ] slams the door on us looking Us in and initially we're pissed off you snotty little brat open up but then we're concerned because something's coming [Music] these monsters are known as flesh lips and while they're not the speediest of enemies our combat arena is Tiny which makes the three of them a big problem the metallic creatures hang from the ceiling and Float around in a haunting fashion using their feet to slam or strangle James their cage and bed shape embody the sick bed that Mary passed in and according to Masahiro Ito the lips reflect Mary's mouth which has abused James in her last days hurling insults at James either out of fear of her death or in spite of how distant he was becoming apparently a big inspiration for Ito was the artwork of Francis Bacon who usually placed his subjects in geometric cages just like these Abominations and fighting them was somewhat of a pain they take a lot to put down and when you're grabbed you just have to sit there with a dumb look on your dumb face while you wait for the animation to end and to make matters worse when we kill one they just raise their legs up it's like they're presenting it's sending me mixed messages I can't lie yeah this fight was an iffy one for me the monster design was great the fight itself was frustrating and I think that about sums it up but once all three are defeated a siren rings out with the camera swinging around wildly as James appears to pass out oh waking up we stare at the great above us as we move fast likely being pushed on a gurney to some unknown location as you might know a huge inspiration for Silent Hill was a 90s movie called Jacob's Ladder fun fact I made a full 40 minute breakdown of this movie a while back it took three weeks to put together and in the end it was completely blocked by Studio Canal which means that no one can watch it and I tried everything to get it through I re-edited it like several times I put it on a projector I lowered the quality I pitch shifted the audio and aside from making it look like it was on a [ __ ] Tamagotchi I could not get it past their automatic systems once those options ran out I reached out to bigger YouTubers to see if they had a solution they ignored me but I wasn't deterred I was still determined to get this video to you so somehow I ended up getting in contact with the UK's let me get this right I can't even remember the title UK Library commercial development manager to try and get this video greenlit and in this email exchange I literally told him that they can copyright the video and take every penny it will make just let me release it I've spent three weeks working on it it's already done the movies like 40 years old it is nothing but a win for them have they done that to which he basically replied no sucks to suck you [ __ ] nerd so that video is dead and buried in the archives and I'm kind of scared about what or how much to show you about Jacob's Ladder in case I get slapped by their legal team but I feel obligated to talk about it in some capacity because it had such a big inspiration on silent hill most notable of which would be Jacob's distinct Army jacket it's a military style which makes sense for Jacob being a vet but James doesn't have any military service in his history so the jacket is likely just a wink and a nod and aside from appearances the environment contorted monster design and more specifically the scene we just saw with the gurney were all inspired by a very famous scene one where Jacob is being pushed through a demonic hospital award with blood pooling on the floor and deformed people scuttling on the great above him it's a great scene and if you haven't watched it yet but don't mind an older slower paced movie it's a must watch it is annoying that I can't share my original video with you but what can you do such is a life and it's not nearly as annoying as the fact that only 45 of my viewers are subscribed to the channel why is this do you not like great content do you not like supporting new and up and coming content creators don't be like Studio Canal show your support hit subscribe anyway after our impromptu tour of the hospital we arrive at a bizarre room with concrete walls and grass flooring it would appear dear viewer we're in the other world a location that's just as effective here as it is in the other games with rusted walls and fleshy material clinging from every surface although unlike most of the other games it's less of an actual hellscape but rather a dirtier more hostile version of the areas we've recently explored but it's not until we reach the room that we left Maria in that things get truly disturbing she's gone the room's empty and heavy breathing Loops endlessly even changing which ear the noise plays from dynamically which is unsettling on every level foreign please stop breathing in my ear man ma'am this is a Wendy's eventually we enter the staircase leading to the basement where we push aside a shelf and find a ladder leading God only knows where so as we do we prepare for a descent whoa Maria jumpscare appearing from the [ __ ] brick wall just before the climb and she is not happy to see us I was up abandoning her she flies off the lid insulting James and belittling his search for Mary are you kid asks after Laura claiming she feels some need to protect her even though she's clearly not sure why what about Laura binder you really seem to care about her do you know her I've never met her before I feel sorry for her she's all alone and for some reason I feel like it's up to me to protect her this remark supports the theory that Maria is a manifestation of the town as we know the town doesn't seem to want to hurt Laura and if Maria were created by the town she would feel inclined to help as well wherever the case we begin our climb down discovering rather anticlimactically nothing more than a box room and a ring a comically large ring at that I guess they were afraid people would miss it but that thing is wow we need the jewelry though to solve a puzzle but before that do you like quizzes because if we try and take the lift downstairs we get called upon to partake [Applause] stuck in the lift a speaker asks us three questions the answers to which we have to just remember in our brain tissue and recall when we reach the third floor storeroom and attempt to input the correct code get any of the answers wrong and we're sprayed with a toxic cloud but if we get them right we're rewarded with a boatload of ammo and healing items I have Neri a [ __ ] clue what the game was going for here maybe James subconsciously despises quiz shows or maybe his wife was caught banging Richard Osmond I honestly don't know it still baffles me to this day what was that after that detour we grab a second ring from a stiff fridge on the second floor not very cute is it dear James you take it thanks then we place both on the Muriel of a Woman Upstairs unlocking a final door one that leads to our Escape descending this enormous staircase we enter a tunnel beneath the hospital but we're not alone turning a corner of Pyramid Head appears hot on our tail where a frustrating Chase sequence ensues resulting in Maria frequently dying because she cannot navigate the tight hallways foreign this forces us to try again from whenever the [ __ ] our last save was can't kill her if I get there first [ __ ] I guess her vulnerability does increase the tension but it's just blood boiling when she takes a corner like a tank and dies for no reason that said the chase is necessary for what comes next by Amir inch Maria doesn't make it inside the lift oh up once again James is utterly alone and as this realization kicks in he literally buckles to the floor while Melancholy music begins to play Maria was strange and we couldn't trust her but she was the closest thing we had to a friend and now she's gone after some time we regain our composure and use this lift to arrive back at the lobby with the somber atmosphere following us [Music] heading to the staff room we find a map with a note claiming that the only way to find truth is forward basically yeah you're [ __ ] But Why Stop Now why not see things through to The Bitter End there's two places marked on this map a buried item in the park where a patient's hidden a key to the museum and a bar downtown where there's a wrench waiting for us seeing as the bar is the closest we head there first leaving the hospital to find silent hill in near total darkness [Music] now this bar is back on the other side of town and rather than going around the long way this time we can cross through a tunnel with the ground made up of mesh flowing above a near endless expanse and dangling just below this are creatures known as The Mandarin oh three Mandarin they look like the closer from the third game but they're slightly different with a female body hanging from the center there are astounding feature is their giant arms which they use to walk and attack [Applause] they're fairly harmless mind and if you just speed through it they'll offer no trouble as we leave the tunnel however just before heading to the range if we should choose to visit the other bar from the start of the game you know the one with that message about missing holes but we'll find a second message this time one that reads if you really want to see Mary you should just die but you might be heading to a different place it's a direct damning and impactful statement for James you can only imagine the dredge reading something like that would cause a man searching for his dead wife I'm just slightly disappointed James doesn't react in any way especially after so much loss seeing a more human response to this would have been heartbreaking anyway grabbing the wrench we head to the park unearth the key and make a quiet reflective Dash over to the Silent Hill Historical Society to see what truth it is we've been sent to uncover the building's home to multiple artifacts elaborating on the town's history including much to our horror a Muriel to the lethal pursuer other than that there isn't much to find it's not until we reach a back room that the plot thickens behind a burnt wall there's a staircase leading into pure Darkness with an alarm ringing out every fiber in our body is saying do not go down there but we have no choice disturbing sounds aside the only way is forward this staircase is so long it actually [ __ ] with your head it's never ending at one point I was even tempted to turn around and just try and go back to give up [ __ ] this I'm going home sucks to suck Mary but it's a matter of persistence we have to keep heading down in a scene not too dissimilar to the start of the game of course what doesn't help is the sirens ringing out louder the further we descend ultimately playing over themselves in chaotic fashion oh [Music] eventually though we reached the bottom stepping through a door to find ourselves in some kind of reception area but this isn't the Museum's basement it's a prison with barred windows and monsters lurking around every corner right now we should be asking ourselves exactly what kind of prison are we in is it a normal abandoned prison for the challenge to citizens of Silent Hill or is it some sadistic torturing ground for the order either way we're here now and we need answers there isn't much to find on this first level aside from of course this here giant pit encompassing an entire cell examining it we get a tempting offer do we jump into the abyss and this is exactly what I was talking about earlier when I described the game's use of holes we're literally tumbling into the unknown so what could easily be our death not only that but there's absolutely no way back from this point unlike the Long Forest Trail that makes us feel like the only way is forward this hole is telling us after our tumble we find James at the bottom of a giant well with unscalable walls surrounding us there's no Escape hell there isn't even any lotion I mean imagine you're in James's shoes for a second you've just found yourself in a dark well with no way out in a town where no one will ever find him the panic and claustrophobia would be insane and when you first played this section you might be feeling the same interacting with the walls there's nothing we run around in circles blindly clicking on every surface until we notice a specific section that feels different and with a quick swing from our pipe the wool crumbles revealing a hidden door passing through we drop into a flooded basement an area with insane architecture forcing James to make a second jump down a vertical hallway this time we wait to find Eddie off his [ __ ] rocking horse killing a person ain't no big deal just put the gun to their head once again he's been found you're an unknown dead person claiming it wasn't his fault and that he had no choice but it wasn't my phone do it besides he was making fun of me with his eyes like that other one just for that you killed him a Sinister side of Eddie's dying to reveal itself he clearly has no issues killing someone even for something as trivial as looking at him the wrong way Eddie you can't just kill someone because of the way they looked at you oh yeah why not till now I always let people walk all over me this could be an indicator that Eddie suffers from some kind of untreated paranoid schizophrenia he's someone that reacts violently to situations created in his own mind whatever the case this aggressive streak is getting worse a fact that might not bode well for us should we run into him again I was just joking James anyway I gotta run you're going out there alone yeah we're in the prison canteen now and interacting with a food tray at the back we find a stone tablet labeled gluttonous Pig we need this plaque to solve a puzzle later but it's also likely here to throw shade at Eddie a lot who's on the larger side and would rather eat pizza than help a small child it's no coincidence we found it just after this encounter the town it would seem has some contempt for Eddie I was just joking James leaving the canteen we arrive at the cell blocks with most being empty some having line figures and a few being occupied by an unknown invisible enemy these unseen beings are referred to as the prisoners and they sit in their cells making a racket there isn't much known about them aside from the distinctly human sound they make when they die maybe the devs wanted to make you feel guilty about murk in a helpless unseen creature that for all you know could be an innocent person you know an innocent demonic sounding person on the whole it feels like this entire area was designed to break the player's nerve from The increased focus on scares to the Relentless background music in fact this area is home to the game's only jump scare if we enter the woman's toilet and knock on one of the Stalls thank you we hear a woman scream toilet scares are a running theme in Silent Hill and Japanese games in general likely due to the Japanese folklore of hanakosa an urban legend about a girl that haunts women's toilets being summoned if you knock three times on the third stall basically toilets and Japanese horror are usually bad news and refocusing on the chaotic music I have to say it works beautifully here because when you enter a hallway with no noise it feels wrong it's like the games preparing you for a scare the quiet becomes deafening they should have called this game silent Halls oh I'm sorry I literally wrote that joke down too I had so many opportunities not to say it but the point I'm trying to make is that their use of silence is just as powerful as their use of sound the prison isn't all bad news though because Hunters rejoice in an office at the back we find our very own rifle packing a ton of power in exchange for a slower fire rate it's well worth grabbing though just in case we fight any more monsters which yeah I'm not sure we might there's only one area to explore now this giant empty room it's too large to see anything in the expanse of Darkness but pushing through we find something at the center a galley with three slab-like holes in the front this is where the three slates we've gathered up to this point come into play so we whack them on well that was fun but aside from the dude creaming himself nothing happens so we turned to leave only to find a horseshoe hanging from the door but what on Earth do we do with this well the answer is related to this here hatch it's handles missing but how do you think we get that open well the solution is mind-boggling we have to combine the lighter the Horseshoe and a wax figure to create a new handle who the [ __ ] thought this [ __ ] up then huh wax is a not a strong substance how would it lock a handle in place it's not even like there was some sort of symbolism here to justify it it's just dumb I remember the answer from memory so it wasn't a problem this time but I remember raging the first time around because it made no sense and it took me ages to think about adding a wax doll to the combination anyway with that we have another jump where we pass through a morgue with bodies stacked on top of each other overflowing from their tubes and there's two more Hogs here the last two of the area I promise I know it's a lot of holes Charlotte buff will be proud but this time the holes are different marked with raw and screeching music these final jumps have a more ominous implication like we're heading somewhere even worse than this nightmare but as always what choice do we have this time we land just outside An Elevator Shaft and stepping inside it automatically heads down Tire duration of this descent I was certain something was going to drop down and attack us this space was definitely big enough for a fight but nothing happened it was just my unsettled little mind working against me leaving the lift it appears we're no longer in the prison we're in the hallways of a normal building or more accurately a maze of hallways there's several ladders down here with each one leading to a different chamber the first of which contains a bizarre altar with Majora's Mask sat on a rotating pedestal but we'll come back to that in a moment because I want to talk about the second ladder first one that connects to a unique area known in the community as pyramid heads lair it's a circular hallway occupied by the unkillable Beast along with a few Mandarin hanging from the great making this area a nightmare but the center inside a small red room we can grab a hilarious weapon the oversized blade of the Triangular knob himself because of its speed it's basically unusable but you know what I don't care it's still badass and no I'm not over compensating for anything shut up but returning to the rotating faces it turns out that the direction of this Cube directly matches the rotation of the steel room behind us to pass through the square has to be rotated in such a direction that we can gain access but also exit out the back something you can figure out with a little bit of trial and error passing through we enter what looks like a jail cell with an unexpected sight waiting for us Maria I thought that thing killed you Maria back from the dead and not only that but something's different are you confusing me with someone else you were always so forgetful remember that time in the hotel you said you took everything but she forgot that videotape we made despite claiming she's still Maria she speaks about private memories only James and Mary could know once again blurring the line of who this woman really is so you're a Maria I am if you want me to be this entire interaction would be torture for James and this Behavior can be taken one of two ways either it's cruelty she's trying to break James down by being Wicked and manipulative or desperation she genuinely wants to be accepted by James and as such is willing to play whatever role she needs to make him stay even the fact that she's locked in this jail cell is symbolic of what Maria has always embodied his wife just Within Reach yet he can't have her I'm here for you James see I'm real whoever the case James is spinning right now and after agreeing to rescue her we work through a Labyrinth of tunnels and ladders as we head towards herself eventually climbing up one last ladder to find a news article talking about a man that was stabbed to death apparently nothing was stolen so the police described the murder as a crime of passion it's tragic but it doesn't mean much to us so we head into the connecting hallway where we hear a familiar voice screaming out Daddy it's Angela and rushing to help her we find her huddled in the corner with a monster approaching [Music] this Beast is known as abstract Daddy it's a twisted being born from the abuse Angela suffered from her father and brother and the symbolism is chilling it appears as a beast reading on a bed atop a fleshy tube capped with lips or some other grotesque orifice even the room itself is made up of a fleshy material with piston holes lining its Center all of which have blunt metal pipes pushing in and out I mean are you picking up when I'm putting down I'm not sure how much I can say in this video without getting age restricted but basically the dad and brother were very bad people [Music] the abstract Daddy's slow moving and attacks by literally hurling its body at James rolling on top of him and doing uh I don't even want to know he's not a very difficult boss but I'll be damned if his symbolism isn't scarring [ __ ] also the news article we read a few moments ago it said the man was stabbed and that the weapon hadn't been recovered it seems that the man in question was Angela's dad and the knife we took from her was the murder weapon seeking Revenge she killed her father before fleeing and somehow ending up in Silent Hill [Applause] with the Beast defeated Angela gathers her strength and attacks his body now that's all fine I get the hatred but once she comes to her senses she suddenly turns on us too accusing James of being a pig you only care about yourself anyway you're disgusting Pig She's revolted by us literally feeling sick just thinking about it Angela don't don't sick this could be excused as a general hatred for men after her father's torment but she throws a more specific insult away you said your wife Mary was dead right yes she was ill [Music] you probably found someone else James has left Shell Shocked claiming that he never but failing to find the words that's ridiculous I never well I guess that's the thanks you get for helping hey at least we can still save Maria so we continue our journey eventually stumbling across a chamber with six masked bodies floating in the air each one stands accused of a crime ranging from murder to petty theft a mystery that makes more sense when we enter a second room down the hall with a matching set of nieces the puzzle's simple in theory five out of six of these men were actual criminals but one's innocent and it's our job to figure out which and on a plaque Behind These ropes there's a cryptic message from a man claiming he's about to walk the 13 steps and be hung despite being innocent he then speaks about every other prisoner describing their crimes in various vague ways so our job is to break that down into chunks Crossing off the guilty crimes with stealing children describing the kidnapper and embezzling public money describing the embezzler and so on with ultimately only one person being unaccounted for the counterfeiter so we approach his corresponding news and pull on it with all the implication that have having a mentally unstable man staring into a news comes with if we guess correct the counterfeit his body will be gone and in its place we'll find the key of the persecuted which lets us pass through a previously locked gate the fact that this puzzle comes directly after Angela accuses him of being a terrible partner and wanting his wife gone gives this riddle a whole other meaning James is toiling with accusations he doesn't believe and here he's literally tasked with finding the falsely accused innocent man in any case all this work was for now because when we reach Maria once again we're too late Maria no what happened lying on the bed she's already dead with sickness boiling over her face leaving the cell and stumbling through the Halls we head up a ladder and arrive at an indoor graveyard a confused mishmash of locations here we can read different gravestones even finding a space for Walter Sullivan but at the back there's three freshly dug holes one for Eddie one for Angela and one for James Sunderland a latter of which contains yet another hole and Diving head first this time there's no animation no jump we just arrive atop a staircase and make our way down this hallway slowly becomes colder and more visceral with blood slathered on the walls and floor all of which lead to a heavy door entering a freezer we find our boy Eddie with even more bodies in tow he always busted my balls frantically raging about the people that have bullied him throughout his life it doesn't matter if you're smart dumb ugly pretty it's all the same ones you did James tries to calm him to empathize with his struggle but it doesn't take much to push Eddie over the edge you're just like him James hey I didn't mean anything don't bother I understand you've been laughing at me all along you James well it was only a matter of time really this man has been falling apart the seams and now we have to put the dog down it's not a great fight I can't lie it feels surprisingly rushed when compared to the rest of the game I mean we just stand there like two dip Shades opening fire with Eddie raising his revolver so slowly it's comical I mean the [ __ ] we fighting the sloth from zootropolis and after shooting Eddie you know a real human being several times in the stomach with a shotgun instead of exploding into giblets he does a cute little dash out the room this leaves us freezing and honestly confused about what just happened but in an unintentional cringy way not the usual mind-boggling Silent Hill Way the fight isn't over though Eddie's still going strong he's got that dumb strength apparently able to withstand an inhuman amount of damage and following him into the meat store room Eddie finally explains how he ended up here yeah I killed that dog it was fun it tried to chew its own ghetto finally died all curled up in a ball then she came after me I shot him too it would appear his nice guy appearance was just a facade he's cruel and violent attacking dogs and people alike with James appearing to be his next victim the second engagement is somehow even more anticlimactic than the first with him running towards our barrel and getting [ __ ] Bodied I killed her a human being yeah no [ __ ] dude he barely even tried to fight back bro was slapping you on the tit and you pulled out the two barrel you're a bad person goodbye goodbye good friends goodbye Jokes Aside James is traumatized by this sure he's killed plenty of monsters but they were just that Monsters And while Eddie was metaphorically a monster he's still a human and that's entirely different Mary did you really die three years ago sadly we can't take his revolver but from this point if the player examines Mary's letter they'll discover it's a blank page but what does this mean is the town trying to isolate James even further or did the letter even exist in the first place leaving the store room we find ourselves on a dock and following it down there's a rowboat waiting for us with Lakeview Hotel shining in the distance we're almost there answers are waiting for us all we have to do is cross Toluca Lake James is at rock bottom right now he doesn't know what's real or who he can trust and he's just killed a man with all this mounting up having James row across the foggy Lake perfectly captures his lost helpless feeling only a faint light from the hotel is guiding our way it's almost like James's last hope is arriving to find Mary waiting for him a single delusional dream driving him forward after rowing for some time we Dock at the hotel pass through the front gate and Ascend the steps leading to the entrance and tickle my aunt there are exactly 13 steps the same number of steps mentioned by the innocent man before his hanging which is way too specific to be a coincidence and the attention to detail is baffling inside we instantly find a map with room 312 marked by the sentence waiting for you could this mean Mary really is here much to our surprise the hotel's clean and intact aside from the darkness it's nowhere near as run down as you'd expect and checking the front desk there's a note claiming James left a videotape behind and that it's being stored in the office safe consider my curiosity peaked but before we track it down we head to the dining hall to inspect this beautiful piano foreign did I scare you man I hate this kid but thankfully this time she's of use because she's got a letter from Mary containing some vital details I'm gonna read it but don't tell Rachel okay who's Rachel she was our nurse I took it from her locker it appears they shared a nurse which clarified how Laura became acquainted with Mary she was in the hospital at the same time for an unknown reason Mary knows she's gonna pass soon though and claims she loved Laura like a daughter even wishing she could have adopted her if things were different these touching words are Then followed with a remark about James saying she knows he can appear unpleasant but to give him a chance that he can be grumpy but deep down he's a nice person finally the letter closes with happy eighth birthday prompting James to ask when she turned eight I turned eight last week so Mary couldn't have died three years ago this throws Everything James has been saying into doubt how doesn't he know when his own wife passed that's a very important thing for a husband to know and three years is quite a big gap anyway realizing she dropped a different letter Laura runs out and when we follow her she's gone with a couple of abstract daddies taking her place this time there are faster moving weaker version and according to itosan they serve no symbolic purpose outside of their boss fight and when later questioned about why they appeared in the hotel he just replied because it's the game I guess that means the level designers just Chuck them in for extra combat rather than any symbolic meaning but I guess after all it is in the game EA heading up to the third floor as you would expect is locked shut well bugger exploring the hotel a while we found a few Keys open a few doors and eventually find ourselves in a lift when a clocks and rings turns out with all our gear we weigh too much if we want to head down we need to store all our Weaponry in this here Locker something you really don't want to do in a place like Silent Hill thank God James didn't come for eat during his wife's sickness or he'd be screwed so we unload our gear and without so much as a pot to piss in we make our way through the staff area avoiding the various monsters until we find the mysterious tape and thank God we don't want that [ __ ] leaking to the internet James is into some freaky stuff passing through a bar we unlock our way back to the lobby but we still don't have our gear which means a Mad Dash is on the cards all the way back to our locker where we run into multiple mannequins trying to stop us but after grabbing our stuff and coming back to teach him some manners they're gone almost like they were only there to take advantage of us while we were vulnerable Now by this point we'll have gathered three music boxes during our travels with each one relating to a different Disney princess these boxes are for a device at the center of the lobby match The Three Princesses to their corresponding description and you're off the device rotates revealing a key to the stairwell which means we finally have access to James and Mary's Holiday Suite it's time for a revelation the room's empty Mary isn't here after all which really is no surprise but there is a VHS player by the TV so we insert the old tape we left behind to see what Secrets it contains it's fuzzy and hard to make out but the violent Act is clear at some point likely only a few days ago James decided he'd had enough either through misguided Mercy frustration or plain old hatred James took a pillow and suffocated Mary she is dead and she was sick that much is true but what James blocked from his memory was the fact that her death was ultimately by his hand this must be the information Angela knew earlier when she was insulting James I know about [Music] interactively explains how second she was by us you only care about yourself anyway you're disgusting Pig also going back to the game start when James first discovers the radio we hear Mary's voice and what it says is chilling foreign James I'm here come to me James I'm waiting for you why did you kill me James you probably wouldn't catch it the first time around but when you know the truth it's much easier to pick out and truly harrowing the town was trying to tell him from the very beginning this Revelation opens a whole new meaning to the creatures as well the lying figure and bubble head nurses at first looked to be reading in pain but perhaps they were struggling for air just like his wife in her final moments Pyramid Head also takes on a different role from here but I'll get to that in a moment because right now Laura's just running eager to help us find Mary so there you are James did you get the letter did you find Mary if not let's get going already okay James tries to explain the truth sparing her the grizzly details but letting her know that Mary isn't coming back Mary's Gone God she's dead this causes Laura to revert to her initial hatred of James saying she was right about him and that he was a bad person after all hate you I want her back give her back to me she storms out of the room leaving James to sit and reflect on the actions that led him here and after wallowing for a while the radio crackles into life [Music] [Applause] [Music] as Maria apparently she's nearby and she needs our help hey third time's a charm we already let Mary down this could be our only chance of redemption so with the weight of reality bearing down on us we follow the call leaving to discover an entirely different Hotel it's Rusty and wet appearing more abandoned than the pristine accommodation we arrive to this version is part of the other world although an interesting Theory to entertain is that perhaps this isn't an other world at all maybe this is how the hotel really looked when we first arrived the perfectly maintained grounds in hindsight doesn't make sense for an abandoned town it's possible James created this illusion based on how he remembered it from his holiday a delusion created to protect himself and envision a world where nothing's changed a time when he was happy and his wife was alive but when his false reality was shattered he sees the hotel for how it truly is ruined and burned this section was powerful in so many ways for starters finding out the man we've been playing as and even rooting for had brutally murdered his wife was a show shocking moment and for its time a groundbreaking twist then we leave our room to find the hotel reflecting this disgusting side of James from The Damp walls to the mind-numbing hum not only that but the doors now lead to random locations with some looping back on themselves and others leading to completely random hallways he's lost moving through this world with no solid grip on reality as it progressively gets more corrupt and eroded eventually though we reach the basement which is now filled with water and various monsters the tension is palpable it's building up getting us ready for what comes next a staircase engulfed in flames stood in this Inferno is Angela who calls out to us in an unexpected way Mama I was looking for you no he's the only one left maybe then maybe that I can rest she's completely given up feeling that she deserved the abuse blaming herself for it and even asking for the knife back I deserved what happened no Angela That's wrong give me back that knife denying her the blade she asks if we're saving it for ourselves saving it for yourself me no I'd never kill myself before turning around and ascending into the flames it's hot as hell in here for me it's always like this it's a tragic ending for a tragic character unable to move past the trauma Angela gives up accepting her fate and giving in to the hatred and pain literally and figuratively letting the Flames consume her the camera's angle to obscure her once she reaches the top so players would normally assume she met her demise however using hacks if we follow her to the top you'll encounter Angela stood there bending and twisting in in human ways whether it's a disturbing Easter egg or just an unfinished animation acting up we'll never know but it's damn creepy leaving this Inferno James turns a corner to encounter nine red squares placed in a grid and while there isn't an official reason given to the meaning of these we do know that Silent Hill 2 has exactly nine creatures each one representing an aspect of his Guild and he's beaten them all so perhaps this section signifies that James is close to Conquering the eternal battle he's been fighting well all of them bar one either way things are coming to a head and Beyond this door a challenger awaits us [Music] back from the dead once more we find Maria strapped to a cage with not one but two Pyramid Head Pyramid Head eye are they like Cactus I don't know two waiting for us Maria screens for help but as always there's little we can do but watch and with Maria dying for a third time James falls to his knees except he's not given up instead he finally understands what needs to be done I was weak that's why I needed you needed someone to punish me for my sins that's all over now ready to face his demons he stands to find the two waiting either side ready for one last fight now it's time to end this gone is the Long Blade with both donning a faster spear weapon they're still relatively slow moving and the arena is huge so it's a very easy fight provided you keep running corner to corner and taking shots with a rifle this fight's more symbolic than challenging even the music isn't scary or intense it's reflective almost optimistic like James is facing reality with one last-ditch effort [Music] eventually though after dealing enough damage the two pyramid heads walked to the center and without so much as a word impale themselves [Music] this Final Act embodies pyramid head's entire existence James subconsciously knew what he'd done to Mary but he couldn't confront it he couldn't own up to his actions so as a form of self-punishment the Town brought pyramid head into existence to hunt down and punish James something he even recognizes by the end I was weak that's why I needed you now I haven't taken responsibility and proven he doesn't need them anymore they're no longer of any use with this knowledge it could explain the violent displays we've encountered thus far all the scenes where Pyramid Head is struggling with a monster perhaps this is how James viewed himself a man overpowering his defenseless wife also the fact that there are two of them only after fighting Eddie could signify his guilt for having two deaths attributed to him with each one representing a separate killing I killed her also times did Pyramid Head only appears with his giant blade after speaking to Angela and getting her knife a knife that looks suspiciously like a smaller version of pyramid head's weapon with Pyramid Head basically being conjured from James's repressed feelings it's possible that receiving her blade planted the seed of self-harm which was then reflected in the monster's choice of weapon saving it for yourself also Tres Mex dip it's possible Pyramid Head could even represent the sickness itself we see them kill Maria twice throughout the game and each time James sits there and watches unable to do diddly squat much like watching his wife succumb to a sickness he can't cure and listen here little [ __ ] I don't want to hear anyone complaining I'm looking into this too deep you've clipped on a multi-hour analysis of a horror game the [ __ ] you expect them bro leave me alone hit the like button then leave me alone [Music] anyway impaled the two stand there just t-posing until we grab an egg from each of their bodies a rusty one and a Scarlet one why do they have eggs I don't know but I've seen talk online that they could signify the lives James took with the rusty egg representing the old murder of his sick wife and the Scarlet egg representing the recent death of Eddie that might be a long shot but it is the best interpretation I've seen leaving this area we walk through a long hallway where James reflects on the last conversation he had with Mary hell out of here leave me alone already no use to anyone I'll be dead soon anyway maybe today maybe tomorrow it'll be easier if they'd just kill me but I guess the hospital is making a nice profit off me they want to keep me alive there's a lot to unpack here for starters let's just establish that smothering your loved one is always a bad thing no one has the right to make that choice good to see you dear I yield but through this dialogue we see a terminally ill woman that clearly wants to pass being kept alive against her will regardless of his true motives You could argue that it wasn't a selfish killing but rather a very misguided Act of love I mean you could assume that right up until the last second where she changes her mind [Music] [Music] asking James to stay and help her not wanting to give up and just wanting her loved one to support her it's a tough listen especially when you know how it ended and the drastic measures James took but what I appreciate about this dialogue is that it maintains ambiguity over the entire situation how should we view James and his actions is he a selfish Wicked Man or a mentally unstable loving partner however you view him that's your choice heading up one last staircase we arrive at what looks like a warehouse with nothing but a bed and Mary waiting for us Mary when will you ever stop making that mistake Mary's dead you killed her once again we've been duped this ain't our wife it's Maria pretending to be her even dressed in the same clothing This Woman's [ __ ] nuts broke and if that wasn't bad enough when James rejects her she snaps claiming we deserve to die too it's time to end this nightmare no I won't let you you deserve to die too James [Music] consumed with a hatred she transforms into a beast hovering in midair with a very similar design to the flesh lips appearing in caged in a metal hospital bed with some apparatus around her face which likely represents the medical devices used to extend her life it'd be easier if they'd just kill me but I guess the hospital is making a nice profit off me they want to keep me alive this is the final boss and honestly after having fought two pyramid heads it's kind of anticlimactic she floats around in a slightly too large Arena trying to whip us with a tentacle like appendage all the while summoning moths to swarmas which are super [ __ ] annoying in the dream they took me to them I would genuinely have been happy if they left Pyramid Head as the final boss just having this scene serve as a final goodbye rather than a second less engaging fight regardless we play kissy catch for a while run it back and forth until finally we drop that skank [ __ ] in the ground she lies there helpless until we walk over and finish her off an ending that resembles the situation that landed us here in the first place pulling the trigger we flick to James sat beside Mary where after all the tall men he's finally able to get closure I told you that I wanted to Die James I wanted the Pain to End that's why I did it honey couldn't watch offer no that's not true you also said you didn't want to die the truth is I hated you I wanted you out of the way I wanted my life back conflicted at first he appears to land on the conclusion that he was trying to act out of love even if his actions were unforgivable he was trying to end her suffering if that were true then why do you look so sad [Music] Mary [Music] James please please do something for me [Music] go on with your life Mary forgives him in the end and asks him to continue his life something he appears to do leaving through the graveyard with Laura in tow before he leaves though we hear one last letter for Mary where she talks about her final days whenever you come see me I can tell how hard it is on you I don't know if you hate me or pity me or maybe I just disgust you I'm sorry about that it's zomba she knows she's a bird and her sickness has made her husband miserable and she hates that just as much as her condition despite neither being her fault you can't help but feel sorry for her she was the real victim in all of this from the sickness to a tragic end the story of Mary is a heartbreaking one you've given me so much and I haven't been able to return a single thing that's why I want you to live for yourself now do what's best for you James you made me happy what happens to James from here well it's unknown but he's free to live his life without torment having accepted his actions and facing his worst fears he'll return to society and face whatever judgment the legal system has in store for him even in the best ending he's not a hero he doesn't have a perfect conclusion life just goes on foreign but of course it wouldn't be a silent hill game without multiple endings the conclusion we just saw despite being depressing is still considered the good one referred to as leave but it's only one of six yes six possible endings ranging from drowning ourselves to [ __ ] dog conspiracies the criteria to unlock each one is still slightly ambiguous as the code base has never fully been cracked but in the ending we just achieved there are three main criteria first is keeping our health High healing James the moment he gets injured which in essence demonstrates that we care about his well-being we want him to heal and recover physically and in the end mentally is that what true then why do you look so sad the other requirement is to regularly inspect Mary's photo and letter showing that James actually cares about his late wife that he's constantly thinking about her and remembers why he's there in the first place would Mary really be there finally and this one's more likely to be a failing point for most first-time players we have to spend as little time as possible with Maria treating her with the suspicion and distance she deserves I reckon there's caught a lot of people out in games like this it's instinctual to stick with our followers and to make sure they're safe but here it'll pass one step closer to the bad ending I am if you want me to be the criteria is subtle and on first playthroughs you'd likely have no idea your actions were being judged but I much prefer that hey I didn't mean anything the second ending is called in water and it plays out much the same with James encountering Maria pretending to be Mary the two fighting James defeating her and apologizing to Mary that's why I did it honey I just couldn't watch his suffer however in this case after Mary passes James arrives at a different conclusion that he can't live without her that he must have come to Silent Hill to off himself so with the corpse of Mary who in this ending was in the back of the car the entire time James enters the vehicle and drives into Toluca Lake ensuring that the two lovers will remain together forever in death without you Mary I've got nothing [Music] now we can be together in this ending the star of the game becomes so much more ominous with James staring at himself in the mirror and then walking over to view the lake we can imagine now what James was truly considering before some delusion drove him to explore the town for his late wife would Mary really be there it's a made-up tip it's a total fabrication to achieve this summer ending we need to keep our health low for as long as possible making sure we don't heal unless we're about to die basically we have to do the bare minimum to keep ourselves healthy just Clinging On without any real care for what happens to us we also need to inspect the knife regularly implying James is considering self-harm just like Angela I can't tell you to remember me but I can't bear for you to forget me the third ending's called Maria and is in my opinion the worst ending you can get in this version when we enter the warehouse we don't find Maria pretending to be Mary instead the woman will consistently identify as Mary and protest that she hasn't forgiven James for killing her ever forgive you for what you did the fight that ensues is normal but after beating her James returns to rosewater Park where inexplicably Maria returns to us asking James a very important question you killed Mary again [Music] that wasn't Mary 's gone James claims that what he thought wasn't married before leaving the town with Maria come on let's get out of here what about Mary it's okay I have you which at first you could argue is kind of a happy ending he gets a version of his wife back even if she was spawned from an evil town but there's a problem just before they leave Maria starts coughing in response and in an irritated fashion James claims that she has to do something about that cough better do something about that cough it's almost an endless loop where James clearly hasn't learned from his past and is likely doomed to repeat the nightmare once again it's okay I have you to get this ending we have to stick with Maria like flies on [ __ ] protected her from Monsters following her commands and regularly visiting her when she's sick in Brookhaven Hospital hi bye as I said I think this is the worst ending Jane is depicted as a heartless killer with little regard for his late wife and it was all for now anyway because it's all gonna happen again better do something in a cough the final ending is called rebirth and it's only achievable on a second playthrough in which we can grab the white chrism in Blue Creek lost memories at Texan gas obsidian goblet in the historical society and the Crimson ceremony in the reading room of Lakeview Hotel in his ending after James kills the final boss he decides he can't live without Mary and he's willing to do anything to get her back you look so peaceful forgive me for waking you but without you I just can't go on so he takes the robo and brings Mary's body to the Church of rebirth on Toluca Lake with the goal of using our Newfound objects to resurrect Mary by confronting the old gods the old gods haven't left this place still Grant power to those who venerate them this ending is fully left up to our imagination we don't know if it works we don't know if James lives or even what type of person Mary would be if she does somehow return now in Silent Hill this could easily be a pet cemetery type beat the old gods aren't known for their kindness or understanding in a way this is almost the most believable of the endings given how unstable James is and the guilt he felt towards Mary I could fully believe he'd risk it all to try and bring her back I just can't go on but I'm curious what you guys think is both the best and the most likely to occur ending let me know in the comments so we can settle this debate once and for all but with that the serious endings are out of the way but there are two more absolutely Bonkers joke endings starting with the dog once again this is only available in second playthrough where we can find a new key called the dog key in a doghouse insert Silent Hill one I don't see a dog meme then right at the very end of the game we can use this key to enter the observation room where James discovers a dog controlling all the events of the game from an outlandish computer console I mean let's just imagine that's real for a second how horrific would it be for James to discover that every mind-shattering experience was just the machinations of a Japanese dog entertaining itself truly a disturbing reality the second joke ending wasn't originally included in the PS2 release it was added after the fact and the Xbox greatest hit and directors cut versions and this ending is a continuation of the UFO joke from the first game where we discovered James getting abducted by a group of aliens led by a familiar face Harry Mason the protagonist of the first game it's just a bit of dumb fun nothing too serious and we all know how much Silent Hill loves aliens for some reason [Music] to obtain this ending we need to grab a blue gem drawing a second playthrough and use it in three locations spread across Silent Hill the first in Brookhaven Hospital Garden after the flesh-lit boss fight the second in front of the rowboat on the dock after fighting Eddie and the third is in room three one two do that and when we finish the game we get to see this beauty in all its comical Glory foreign much like the different endings unlockables are a big part of Silent Hill I mean who could forget the princess heart outfit from Silent Hill three and in Silent Hill 2 there'd be more secrets the first is the easiest to obtain all we have to do is beat the game once or play on easy mode like a [ __ ] child like a silly little [ __ ] child playing an adult horror game on easy mode anyway do this and we unlock a new weapon the chainsaw a devastating weapon that really is a staple of the horror genre James will even do a funny bobber impression of the idols over a dead body for too long literally me camping a hook Survivor we can find that after talking to Angela at the start of the game leaving the graveyard to find it jammed in a log ready for the taking no more running for James head on confrontations only the second unlock is also a weapon or before technically if we complete the game on hard mode or complete the game three times on a lower difficulty we unlock the deadliest of weapons the hyper spray eat [ __ ] you smelly bastards this weapon comes in four variations depending on the rank you go at the end of your playthrough with three of them being basically worthless and the green one being an absolute Beast you unlock this color by getting 10 Stars at the end of your playthrough which means only professionals will be getting it but it is an instant killer it's basically easy mode but I suppose after you've beat the game multiple times and achieves the highest possible ranking why not let us break the game a bit there's only one unlock left and sadly it ain't a cute little dress number for James it's actually a whole new difficulty level one called extra riddle mode and its purpose is pretty self-explanatory harder puzzles with more vague and confusing solutions to unlock it you have to complete the game on each Riddle level at least once and it's all yours which I don't think makes much sense surely you should just unlock after beating the hardest difficulty once you've done that who cares about easy right that seems like a waste of time but who am I to question the old gods this is the Day of Reckoning with that this tale is finally at an end leaving us with only one question to summarize what does this game this journey represent I was weak that's why I needed you well as we established the main themes are guilt self-hatred remorse and grief aspects we not only see through James's eyes but through every character we interact with from Angela to Eddie everyone in this town is broken and struggling to accept their reality or running from their past I was just joking James James having killed his own wife suffered from a mental breakdown taken himself to Silent Hill in a self-imposed illusion that maybe everything will be alright once there the town turned on him taking his deep rooted fears he suppressed memories and his secret desires only to corrupt and weaponize them a journey that depending on which ending you get depicts him as a man willing to accept his actions and face the consequences or a delusional broken individual that will either ignore the past or fight with the old gods to get it back the old guards haven't left this place ultimately considering our protagonist is a man that murdered his wife when she was at her most vulnerable they do a damn good job of making James someone you for there's something about his struggle and his want the things to be better that makes him an extremely engaging character it's not cut and dry good and bad life and in particular sickness is a very gray area and James captures that perfectly without having to spoon feed the player some good evil narrative his actions are just what they are and how we view them is entirely up to us no that's not true and for those that don't know a big inspiration for the plot was a little book called Crime and Punishment which laid the foundation for the themes of murderous guilt this is my copy and I read it back to back in preparation for this video just to do my due diligence and see if there's any interesting connections to be made and if anyone likes the psychology aspect of Silent Hill or the impact guilt has on a human condition this is a must read it's written by Dostoevsky a Russian author and he has a bunch of books that have been major successes and being a Russian author it's very slow and somewhat depressing definitely a product of its time but he has a lot of interesting philosophies he tackles in his books mostly about kind of depression Human Condition and just accepting and living with different versions of misery and guilt another interesting fact about this author is that it's Jordan Peterson's favorite author do with that what you will I mean in a way we're all killing old ladies right up yours work authors we'll see who out cries who this video is going off the [ __ ] rails I'm sorry I don't know how I segued into Peterson on a song Hill analysis but the point I'm trying to make is that the themes between this book and the game they're actually very similar and if you want something that looks in a much deeper level at the actual effects of guilt on the mind I would definitely recommend this book it follows a man named rodion Raz kolnikov who decides to murder a nasty Rich old lady with the plans of stealing her wealth to do great charitable Deeds like improving the city or helping his poor family and after initially justifying his actions and committing to the ACT he then has to contend with his declining mental health as he tries to rationalize what he previously thought was a justifiable murder it's not about monsters and demigods only the horrors of a desperate poor student that makes awful choices but you can clearly see the game's inspiration throughout and one of the most interesting moments for me was the scene just after he kills the old woman and narrowly manages to escape now in a delusional State he wanders around town ending up in various locations with no idea how he got there a situation that sounds awfully similar to the start of Silent Hill 2. I think what I loved about this game is how you you can appreciate it with a newfound love the second or third time round with full knowledge of what's going on every location and creature takes on a different deeper meaning which is a really difficult thing to pull off but they managed it perfectly you only care about yourself anyway you're disgusting Pig the lighting set pieces mood and puzzles are all to this day beautiful hell I was still getting spooked even though I've played the game dozens of times weirdly the greatest concern I had when making this video wasn't that people wouldn't enjoy it but that I wouldn't do the game Justice that I'd undersell it in some way or just harp on the same Tire talking points but I hope that isn't the case and I hope this video captured the many nuances that make the game gray it's ugly and beautiful it's Melancholy and horrific it's a game of contrast that manages to create one of my favorite horror experiences of all time and I'm honestly just happy that I've been given the opportunity in life to talk about it and share it with so many people I am if you want me to be hello again I know three face segment in one video my haters are crying right now but I'm here to celebrate the fact that we just passed 500 000 subscribers Honestly though from the bottom of my heart thank you so much half a million is crazy and as I said earlier to have an opportunity to talk about things I love as a career and a way to get paid it's Indescribable and I'm infinitely grateful as cliche as that is to say it's genuinely true I'm not going to go too in depth and thank you here because I do plan on making a separate video where I kind of talk more candidly about my thoughts about reaching half a million maybe I'll even do a little tour of this office kind of show you the machine that makes it all move I don't know I think it would be a fun thing to do and a nice way to have a bit more of a personal thank you for the intense and ongoing support that everyone's had especially as I've transitioned into different type of content also uh if you're new to the channel and you haven't subscribed yet don't think that hitting this Milestone means you don't have to subscribe as well oh no sir a million that's the next big milestone double it give it to me make it happen [Music] ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha [Music] ha [Music] ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Channel: TotallyPointlessTV

Views: 1,268,260

Keywords: The Silent Hill Game Everyone Hated, silent hill, downpour, silent hill downpour, silent hill analysis, silent hill video essay, downpour review, downpour analysis, who do people hate silent hill downpour, the most underrated game, the most underrated silent hill, postal, the suffering, manhunt, the most violent game ver, silent hills, kojima, konami, silent Hill 2, The silent hill everyone loved, Totallypointless, totallypointlesstv, The Best Psychological Horror Game Ever Made

Id: Xa1i06kVIVQ

Length: 114min 51sec (6891 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 24 2023