Thoughts on Silent Hill

[The Sage of Sega]

I know the series is strange enough as it is, but as I started playing SH2 for the second time, I noticed some idiosyncracies which seem to suggest that the game world is stuck in a cultural limbo.

A friend mentioned to me about how he feels the game gives enough evidence to suggest that the entire world the player experiences is merely a dream, an illusion cooked up by the player's character. It seems odd that there are a lack of corpses or any sign of human life, except for the few characters that dot the storyline and seem to have some sort of connection to the main character, one way or another. The jailbait girl who resembles James' wife is an example.

Also, the cryptic messages scrawled everywhere seem to have almost no meaning, and if one takes the storyline as my friend presents it (as a dreamworld), they could very well be the random spewings of the main character's mind.

Thirdly, and most strangely, the game seems to melt together Japanese and American references. Even at the start of SH2, the combination is somewhat apparent; a decidedly normal-looking parking lot opens up into a graveyard, and from there, a mountain road with a high barrier on one side and just enough room for one car. This is what reminded me the most of a Japanese street (as an example, play Shenmue and you will see the exact same road widths and barriers). Then, it all of a sudden opens up into a large neighborhood with two-lane roads and English signs, but when James goes through the archway barrier to get the wooden plank and face his first enemy, the barrier he goes through is comprised of a mixture of bamboo and scrap two-by-fours. Also, when you finally face the zombie nurses, they seem to be wearing the same outfits you would see a Japanese nurse wear in World War II (or even today, depending on the location.) It's an interesting idea to dwell over, and I'll have to play through more of Silent Hill 3 and 4 to see if it is apparent in those games as well. So far, everything I have seen in SH3 would not look out of place in an American town.

To any of you who have played these games; have you seen any strange references or sudden environmental shifts like this? Is there anything else to suggest that the worlds in the game are not completely comprised of reality? It'd be interesting to hear your experiences with these games.

[njiska]

Near as i can tell from everything i've read, Silent Hill is a town that exists on several plains.

There's normal populate Silent Hill and then there's the Foggy Silent Hill and Nightmare Silent Hill. Every thing in the Nightmare plain seem to directly effected by the character's mind and past.

Read the Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Hill) on it and you'll find lots of useful info.

[exit]

Ah Silent Hill, what fond memories I have of the series. It's been hinted through the game that it's several realities that are sometimes created by the "hero/heroine" and sometimes created by someone else.

Silent Hill 2 shows what's created by a tormented mind, a lot of the time showing some kind of guilt, or regret of something from the past. Maria would be the prime example of this, especially her creepy little skit in the jail cell and then turning back to her "normal self" shortly after.

Laura was probably the only innocent one in the entire series, she never mentioned anything about monsters and was more than likely on a different level of Silent Hill created by her innocence.

There's a lot more you could get into, like the possibility that Heather was killing actual humans she thought were monsters, or the possibility that you can enter Silent Hill from anywhere as shown in SH4. Most of the time it's what the player wants to assume, which is what always made SH such a great experience to take in.

[sabre2922]

This is the simplest explanation of what SILENT HILL represents as defined by team Silent Hill at Konami :

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/weblogs/upload/50/2018437937441efebc042c8.jpg

Quotes from the official Silent Hill 2 guide:

"I believe the Konami's burgeoning Silent Hill series is quite possibly the deepest and most satisfying horror experience on the market today. I am hard pressed to think of any FILM OR NOVEL THAT CAPTURES ONE TENTH OF THE CREEPY ATMOSPHERE AND UNBEARABLE TENSION FOUND IN THESE TITLES. Nor have I seen any other attempt to incorporate surreal elements into a game thats half as successful as Silent Hill 1 and Silent Hill 2."

Akihiko Imamura and staff have succeeded on so many levels that it is truly amazing. Not only is the story deep and challenging to the mind, bu tthe game play is original and more realistic than what one normally finds."

"The character is a human in very supernatural circumstances. If James Sunderland (the main character in SH2) were a superhuman combat vet, the situation would hardly be as frightening or as intense."

"Due to this perfectly planned combination of classic horror elements , Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 are more like INTERACTIVE WORKS OF ART THAN MERE GAMES."

" I believe that the entire game development community has a new standard to wich to rise , and I look forward to future entries in this amazing series of games."

-Dan Birlew

[sabre2922]

From my blog - in wich if u go back a few pages holds the entire Book of Lost Memories text from Team Silent Hill (although it is very roughly translated its all there).

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/weblog.php?w=50&previous=10

Its a long read but explains a LOT about the Silent Hill games straight from the source: SPOILER ALERT it does contain many spoilers for those that havent played all 4 of the games

-------------------------------------------------------

Taken from THE BOOK OF LOST MEMORIES-officially from the Silent Hill team at KONAMI


POWER OF THE TOWN
Just what is the effect of the mysterious power of this town that was revered as a sacred place?
Originally Silent Hill was a holy place to the area's former inhabitants. It would seem that although
the power of the town was not evil in nature, due to a number of factors including the spread of an
epidemic and executions at the prison, the power that this place held was greatly distorted.
Furthermore, due to the large-scale shift to the otherworld that occurred in the first game, the town
has become a great catalyst for the manifestation of peoples' unconscious minds. It appears to have
become a place that beckons to those who hold darkness in their hearts.

• IMAGE: Mary from the video in the opening movie
Silent Hill was once revered as a sacred place. That power has been completely twisted over the
course of history.
SECTION TWO: Embody
The materialization of the darkness that sleeps in peoples' hearts
In the town of Silent Hill, a power exists that gives discernable form to peoples' innermost thoughts.
As for the otherworld that appears in the series, the town is not merely showing the characters their
nightmares, but actually manifesting elements of their unconscious minds.
• IMAGE: the otherworld in the chapel from the third game
If the subject's mind is in a state of turmoil, the state of the otherworld will be chaotic as well.
SECTION THREE: Calling
Those who have guilt are summoned
Due to the appearance of the otherworld on a massive scale in the first game, the town has come to
be a place that calls those who hold a profound darkness in their hearts. It seems that people with
afflicted minds are easily drawn to the otherworld.
The town calls to those who bear the weight of some crime and shows them what is in their hearts.




The World
ANOTHER WORLD
Does the real world influence the otherworld born of delusions and the power of the town?
The power of Silent Hill absorbs what people hold in their hearts and manifests delusions and
elements of their subconscious minds. And so, the truth is that the consciousness that becomes the
main constituent of what is called the «otherworld» varies. As a few different incarnations of the
otherworld have been presented up to this point in the series, let us ascertain the differences in each
of these respective works.
• IMAGE: Angela tells James, «For me, it’s always like this».
In the otherworld of Silent Hill, the world is seen differently depending on the person.
• IMAGE: Heather experiences the shift in the office building
On some occasions the shift to the otherworld can occur suddenly.
SECTION TWO: The main constituent of the otherworld differs in each work of the series
Silent Hill
Due to her severe burns and endless suffering, Alessa's power runs wild.
Her agony is manifested and the entire town is swallowed up by the otherworld.
• IMAGE: Harry ponders the presence of the wheelchair
Harry searches for his daughter in the otherworld.
Silent Hill 2
Regarding James, who escapes from the crime that he has committed, elements from the depths of
his consciousness are manifested. What the power of the town causes to appear before him is an
otherworld that is a combination of his delusions and his desire for punishment.
• IMAGE: «I was weak. That’s why I needed you»...
As James acknowledges his crime, the otherworld disappears.
þ Note: Interestingly enough, what the Japanese script says here is «dakara omae no sonzai o nozonde ita», which
literally means, «and so I desired your existence».
Silent Hill 3
The shift to the otherworld that occurs in the shopping mall, among other places, has to do with
Claudia. As she recovers her memories, Alessa's influence grows stronger.
• IMAGE: Claudia in the chapel
Claudia possesses a unique power.
69 SECTION THREE: Inclusion of a phantom ending
If Heather should attack Claudia in the final stage of the game, God is born and it's «game over».
However, this can be interpreted as another conclusion to the story.
• IMAGE: Claudia's dream of reviving God is realized
It's intended not to simply be «game over», but another ending.

Creator's Commentary
The truth is that when we first started development on this project, we considered including an
ending for this situation. However, in order to show another means of resolving this in a way that
could be easily understood, we decided to show it in the form of a «game over». Just what sort of
god was born, and what happened to the world? These questions remain, but Heather is already
gone so the player has no way of knowing what happens next.
-Hiroyuki Owaku
-Hiroyuki Owaku
The form of God that is born to the earth changes depending on those who summon it
The God that sleeps inside Alessa has appeared in various forms throughout the series. The fact is
that there is no one form of God because the formthat it takes is projected by the minds of those
who summon it.
--------------------------------------------------------

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Like all classic horror films, the first is always a classic. The one thats sets the standards for countless crappy sequels. as good as the subsequent games are, I think the first Silent Hill is and will always be the best. Plus, it is one of the most twisted games I have played (Some of those end scenes are gross)

[dairugger]

the silent hill series is a great one, just dont play it when your depressed...! acouple years ago i was really depressed-for acouple months on end-and made the mistake of playing silent hill 2 - big mistake! i couldnt shake that feeling for days.. kind of like a bad dream that clings to you long after youve awoken.. i still havent tackled part 3 and 4.. i bought them, but im kinda hesitant to experience that feeling again! :-)

[Juganawt]

SH1 was simply awesome and a breakthrough in the survival horror genre. A masterpiece indeed.

Shame they made 3 absolutely dire sequels to it with a 4th one on the way really.

It's like Wes Craven's directing debut... if he had quit after Last House on the Left, people would call him a genius... but he let things run on too far, diluted his visions to make them easier to swallow for the mainstream...and now people think of him as a joke. That's how I feel about Silent Hill.

There are now only 2 good Survival Horror franchises - Resident Evil, and Fatal Frame / Project Zero.