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Nov. 26th, 2025 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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cupcake_graphicsMore of the Silent Hill 2 remake! I'm still working my way through Brookhaven Hospital.
James, you cannot keep jumping down or climbing into or sticking your hand inor fucking every hole you come across! It's such a bad habit!
You also probably shouldn't keep injecting yourself with every syringe you find lying around Silent Hill. I'll be honest: I think these are unlikely to be sterile.
I yelped aloud when Pyramid Head said hello on the roof. I wonder if they changed that particular encounter specifically so it could still startle people who'd played the original game.
Actually, it might be a camera angle thing. In the original Silent Hill 2, hearing the door to the roof open just out of shot and not knowing what's coming is absolutely terrifying, but that's something you can only do with a fixed camera angle. In the remake, with its freely movable camera, you could swing the camera over to the door as soon as you heard it open, which immediately strips away that 'oh, God, I know something's here with me but I can't see what it is' terror.
I hadn't really contemplated it before, but going from the restricted camera of the original to the free camera of the remake is a pretty huge change in a horror game. What you can and can't see makes such a big difference to the atmosphere in horror, and it's a lot harder to limit what the player can see if they have full control of the camera.
I'd be interested to know all the ways the remake team tried to address this issue. It might be the reason some monsters, mannequins in particular, will run away from the player when spotted and hide in a different room. You've seen the monster, you know it's here, but it's removed itself from your sight; all you know is that it's somewhere nearby, waiting to attack. It's a way to create that sense of 'there's something here, but I can't see it' even when the player can quickly scan their immediate surroundings. (Of course, the radio is also good for creating that sense in both the original and the remake.)
The YouTube music algorithm recently served me a song that I might have heard in passing at some point, but had never really listened to before. Listening to the lyrics, I found myself thinking, Wow, this song is absolutely perfect for James and Mary.
Had it been any other song, the logical next step would be to contemplate naming a fic after it. Unfortunately, the song in question was 'My Immortal' by Evanescence.
James, you cannot keep jumping down or climbing into or sticking your hand in
You also probably shouldn't keep injecting yourself with every syringe you find lying around Silent Hill. I'll be honest: I think these are unlikely to be sterile.
I yelped aloud when Pyramid Head said hello on the roof. I wonder if they changed that particular encounter specifically so it could still startle people who'd played the original game.
Actually, it might be a camera angle thing. In the original Silent Hill 2, hearing the door to the roof open just out of shot and not knowing what's coming is absolutely terrifying, but that's something you can only do with a fixed camera angle. In the remake, with its freely movable camera, you could swing the camera over to the door as soon as you heard it open, which immediately strips away that 'oh, God, I know something's here with me but I can't see what it is' terror.
I hadn't really contemplated it before, but going from the restricted camera of the original to the free camera of the remake is a pretty huge change in a horror game. What you can and can't see makes such a big difference to the atmosphere in horror, and it's a lot harder to limit what the player can see if they have full control of the camera.
I'd be interested to know all the ways the remake team tried to address this issue. It might be the reason some monsters, mannequins in particular, will run away from the player when spotted and hide in a different room. You've seen the monster, you know it's here, but it's removed itself from your sight; all you know is that it's somewhere nearby, waiting to attack. It's a way to create that sense of 'there's something here, but I can't see it' even when the player can quickly scan their immediate surroundings. (Of course, the radio is also good for creating that sense in both the original and the remake.)
The YouTube music algorithm recently served me a song that I might have heard in passing at some point, but had never really listened to before. Listening to the lyrics, I found myself thinking, Wow, this song is absolutely perfect for James and Mary.
Had it been any other song, the logical next step would be to contemplate naming a fic after it. Unfortunately, the song in question was 'My Immortal' by Evanescence.
More horrible adventures in the Silent Hill 2 remake! I've just reached Brookhaven Hospital, but this entry contains full Silent Hill 2 spoilers.
( Notes on the Silent Hill 2 remake. )
This is such a good remake! It's clear that a lot of respect and love for Silent Hill 2 went into it. It really feels like the original without being constricted by it; it modifies and expands on details in ways that feel true to the original game. I'm so impressed!
( Notes on the Silent Hill 2 remake. )
This is such a good remake! It's clear that a lot of respect and love for Silent Hill 2 went into it. It really feels like the original without being constricted by it; it modifies and expands on details in ways that feel true to the original game. I'm so impressed!
It is time for me to be disproportionately bothered by a single detail in a videogame! Today, we're watching me get frustrated over the story implications of the Silent Hill 2 remake's Wood Side Apartments coin puzzle.
There are major spoilers for the entire story of Silent Hill 2 below the cut.
( Silent Hill 2 remake: the narrative problem with the coin puzzle. )
Please acknowledge receipt of my suggestion, Bloober Team. I look forward to seeing it patched in.
I'm still enjoying the remake! But this one detail is sticking in my teeth.
There are major spoilers for the entire story of Silent Hill 2 below the cut.
( Silent Hill 2 remake: the narrative problem with the coin puzzle. )
Please acknowledge receipt of my suggestion, Bloober Team. I look forward to seeing it patched in.
I'm still enjoying the remake! But this one detail is sticking in my teeth.
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I'm taking ficlet requests over on my Tumblr for the month of November! There are still prompts waiting in my inbox to be written, but I thought I'd do a roundup before this entry gets unmanageably long.
( Death Note/Danganronpa: Light and Genocider Syo. )
( Clair Obscur: Verso/Maelle from Alicia’s perspective. )
( Clair Obscur: Maelle/Verso, Maelle struggling with her crush after act two. )
( Lost: Jack/Kate, post-finale. )
( Omori: Headspace Aubrey meets real Aubrey. )
( Omori: the real Hero enters Headspace. )
( The Long Walk: Pete/Ray, written from osmosis. )
( Forgotton Anne/The Amazing Digital Circus: Ragatha meets Fig. )
( Deltarune: Snowgrave route Kris/Noelle. )
I’ve been getting assorted anonymous requests from people who evidently know my fandoms and taste in themes extremely well! Are they from multiple prompters, or am I receiving a lot of carefully calculated requests from some sort of mysterious Riona expert? I’m so curious!
( Death Note/Danganronpa: Light and Genocider Syo. )
( Clair Obscur: Verso/Maelle from Alicia’s perspective. )
( Clair Obscur: Maelle/Verso, Maelle struggling with her crush after act two. )
( Lost: Jack/Kate, post-finale. )
( Omori: Headspace Aubrey meets real Aubrey. )
( Omori: the real Hero enters Headspace. )
( The Long Walk: Pete/Ray, written from osmosis. )
( Forgotton Anne/The Amazing Digital Circus: Ragatha meets Fig. )
( Deltarune: Snowgrave route Kris/Noelle. )
I’ve been getting assorted anonymous requests from people who evidently know my fandoms and taste in themes extremely well! Are they from multiple prompters, or am I receiving a lot of carefully calculated requests from some sort of mysterious Riona expert? I’m so curious!
I've started playing the Silent Hill 2 PS5 remake! I picked it up in a used electronics shop.
Cashier: Oh, great choice.
Riona: Thank you! I went insane about the original when I was sixteen.
Cashier: Me too. But I wasn't sixteen; I was, er, eleven.
Riona: Wow, that is not the right age to go insane about Silent Hill 2.
I'm a little over an hour in! I can already tell I'm going to regret this, but in an 'I'm so bad with horror' way rather than a 'why did they remake this?' one; the remake itself seems pretty great so far. It's clear that it was made by people who love the original, which makes such a big difference.
Playing through the opening was an absolutely insane experience. I know that sequence so well, and suddenly it had been completely transformed while still feeling like the same place. Seeing that familiar car park in modern graphics! The long walk down to Silent Hill! So pretty and unsettling!
Regrettably, I thought it was cute when James was leaning on the barrier at the start of the game. There's no hope for me at all. I'm so much fonder of James Sunderland than I should be.
(Although not quite as fond as half of Tumblr, which, it turns out, is startlingly horny for remake James.)
The first thing I did, when I gained control of James, was turn around and try to leave Silent Hill. Unsurprisingly, James did not allow me to do this, but I was delighted when I got a trophy for the attempt.
I was concerned that the remake's voice acting might feel too good, but so far it's working for me! They've taken the interesting and clever approach of hiring people who can act, but directing them extremely weirdly, with a lot of strange awkward pauses. Even if the voices and the line delivery aren't the same as the original game, the dialogue has the same feel to it. The creators of the remake evidently understand how the limitations of the original, like its restricted visibility and bizarre voice acting, ultimately contributed to the atmosphere.
After James and Angela's first meeting, I spoke to Angela a couple of times to see if she had any more dialogue, but I felt very bad about it. Angela's a severely traumatised young woman with no capacity for trust, and an unknown man lingering to talk to her a little too long is probably going to make her uncomfortable!
I like how violent and frantic James's fighting feels. No finesse to it; he's just desperate and terrified. You can just keep stamping and stamping on the enemies once you've knocked them down; he doesn't know when it's safe to stop!
Every blow feels like it has a real weight to it, both the ones James lands on enemies and the ones they land on you. I very much feel in danger from even the most basic enemies, despite playing on easy mode. It's stressful!
I initially thought I'd be fine with the stresses of this game after my experience with Little Hope, the most stressful game I have ever played. In a Silent Hill game, if you get the character you're playing killed, at least you can just reload and try again; Supermassive games are considerably more stressful because character deaths can't be undone!
But I'd failed to consider the stress of Silent Hill 2's ending system. My actions during the game determine how this story ends! I'm trying to keep James in good health, because that's one of the details that impact the ending, but how can I look after him when I'm bad at the combat and I keep burning through my very limited healing items?
I'll try my best. Come on, James; we can get through this together.
Cashier: Oh, great choice.
Riona: Thank you! I went insane about the original when I was sixteen.
Cashier: Me too. But I wasn't sixteen; I was, er, eleven.
Riona: Wow, that is not the right age to go insane about Silent Hill 2.
I'm a little over an hour in! I can already tell I'm going to regret this, but in an 'I'm so bad with horror' way rather than a 'why did they remake this?' one; the remake itself seems pretty great so far. It's clear that it was made by people who love the original, which makes such a big difference.
Playing through the opening was an absolutely insane experience. I know that sequence so well, and suddenly it had been completely transformed while still feeling like the same place. Seeing that familiar car park in modern graphics! The long walk down to Silent Hill! So pretty and unsettling!
Regrettably, I thought it was cute when James was leaning on the barrier at the start of the game. There's no hope for me at all. I'm so much fonder of James Sunderland than I should be.
(Although not quite as fond as half of Tumblr, which, it turns out, is startlingly horny for remake James.)
The first thing I did, when I gained control of James, was turn around and try to leave Silent Hill. Unsurprisingly, James did not allow me to do this, but I was delighted when I got a trophy for the attempt.
I was concerned that the remake's voice acting might feel too good, but so far it's working for me! They've taken the interesting and clever approach of hiring people who can act, but directing them extremely weirdly, with a lot of strange awkward pauses. Even if the voices and the line delivery aren't the same as the original game, the dialogue has the same feel to it. The creators of the remake evidently understand how the limitations of the original, like its restricted visibility and bizarre voice acting, ultimately contributed to the atmosphere.
After James and Angela's first meeting, I spoke to Angela a couple of times to see if she had any more dialogue, but I felt very bad about it. Angela's a severely traumatised young woman with no capacity for trust, and an unknown man lingering to talk to her a little too long is probably going to make her uncomfortable!
I like how violent and frantic James's fighting feels. No finesse to it; he's just desperate and terrified. You can just keep stamping and stamping on the enemies once you've knocked them down; he doesn't know when it's safe to stop!
Every blow feels like it has a real weight to it, both the ones James lands on enemies and the ones they land on you. I very much feel in danger from even the most basic enemies, despite playing on easy mode. It's stressful!
I initially thought I'd be fine with the stresses of this game after my experience with Little Hope, the most stressful game I have ever played. In a Silent Hill game, if you get the character you're playing killed, at least you can just reload and try again; Supermassive games are considerably more stressful because character deaths can't be undone!
But I'd failed to consider the stress of Silent Hill 2's ending system. My actions during the game determine how this story ends! I'm trying to keep James in good health, because that's one of the details that impact the ending, but how can I look after him when I'm bad at the combat and I keep burning through my very limited healing items?
I'll try my best. Come on, James; we can get through this together.
