Silent Hill 4 Isn't That Bad...

[MSperoni]

Originally Posted by phil_

Crystal Bearers would have been better if..

Well I figure it would have been better if it was just a better game :p What I meant was if the FF lable wasn't on it, would that have made it seem like less of a disappointment. Or erm.. if you took the game for what it is as it is, and not what it is in relation to all the other Final Fantasies (if that makes sense)

Originally Posted by Mirai Gen

Yeah MemorWiis was pretty terrible. I think the whole 'being nicer to Silent Hill' applied to 4 and Homecoming.

I thought it was that people were "meaner" (as in more critical) toward it because it was Silent Hill and the expectations were high, rather than seeing it more favorably due to the Blindness Inducing Magic that is nostalgia/hype. Then again I guess both are true..

I thought Homecoming was pretty good all things being said. Three is still my favorite though.

I wonder if the SH series is in a kind of limbo right now. I mean, they came into the video game arena in the wake of the Resident Evil popularity boom (sorta like how Street Fighter begat all those fighters). Now that RE has metamorphosed itself, I wonder if Silent Hill is going to stick w/ the old formula for much longer or try to reinvent itself too. Maybe MemorWiis was a half-assed attempt at this.

[Seil]

I am not a fan of the later Final Fantasies. I like RPGs, and the FF series is pretty much the standard, but I can't get behind anything past 6 - the SNES was good to the FF series.

Originally Posted by Mirai

I honestly don't think a title with a kind face could save any game from repeating the same levels in reverse order in any game.

There are certain things I can forgive if I like a particular game. I think we all make concessions for something if we like it. Like Metal Gear Solid - I love the series, it's in my top five, but I understand that some of the things in the game are pretty out-there and over-the-top. I can forgive SH4's shortcomings because I like it as a whole - it's pretty awesome. That being said, there are also some things that I dislike about it - escorting Eileen, Walter Sullivan showing up and generally being an powerhouse while you're doing that later bits, and taking the doll from Sullivan proving to be the biggest mistake I made in-game.

Originally Posted by Ms. Peroni

I thought it was that people were "meaner" (as in more critical) toward it because it was Silent Hill and the expectations were high, rather than seeing it more favorably due to the Blindness Inducing Magic that is nostalgia/hype. Then again I guess both are true..

I thought Homecoming was pretty good all things being said. Three is still my favorite though.

I wonder if the SH series is in a kind of limbo right now. I mean, they came into the video game arena in the wake of the Resident Evil popularity boom (sorta like how Street Fighter begat all those fighters). Now that RE has metamorphosed itself, I wonder if Silent Hill is going to stick w/ the old formula for much longer or try to reinvent itself too. Maybe MemorWiis was a half-assed attempt at this.

I think you're probably right. I liked two the best, and that set the bar really high for me. I played two after three, so I just got really into it, and was disappointed with that later games. I will concede that Homecomings, Origins and Shattered Memories probably have great moments, (I know Origins and Homecoming do, some of them are my favorites from any SH game) but I just dislike the overall product.

I do think that the series has already changed a bit - CLIMAX adding their own flavor to it, with stuff like a bigger emphasis on combat, but I'm curious as to what they do with the series via Wii. Memories sounds pretty terrible, both as a re-imagining of the first SH game, and by itself, though it does look like they implemented some neat features. The whole camera phone thing does look pretty cool, but I've never played it so I wouldn't know. If they could do a new game in the same style as SH2 or SH3, with the new features implemented, I think they could have something great on their hands.

[Odjn]

SH1's gameplay reallllllllllllllllllllllly sucked. I played it again recently and it was clunky as hell.

Gameplay rocked, though.

[Seil]

SH1's gameplay reallllllllllllllllllllllly sucked.

Gameplay rocked, though.

Odjin... what?

[phil_]

Originally Posted by MSperoni

Well I figure it would have been better if it was just a better game :p What I meant was if the FF lable wasn't on it, would that have made it seem like less of a disappointment. Or erm.. if you took the game for what it is as it is, and not what it is in relation to all the other Final Fantasies (if that makes sense)

Without the notions of the significance of giant floating crystals, what magic is and what it can do, and the class and character archetypes that come attached to Final Fantasy, Crystal Bearers' plot would be indecipherable. No, wait, not indecipherable... more inexplicable. Either way, FF:CC:CB needs that FF.

Also, I'm glad that I listened to you guys and didn't get Silent Hill. That money would be better spent on Fragile. Spooky times, but with the animu BS that I crave.

[MSperoni]

So if CB was the first FF type game a person ever played ever and had no prior knowledge or familiarity with any of the character archetypes, floating crystals, magic systems, monster types, etc. In other words, it being "Final Fantasy" was completely irrelevant and the person was just playing it as a game w/ no past experience... It would REALLY suck then, huh?

I guess it goes to show you that Franchise Nostalgia can work for you AND against you..

[PyrosNine]

Silent Hill Shattered Memories is okay in my book just because it has a TRUE UFO ending, and thus it is the most canon ever, if you'll notice my avatar.

Spoilers: UFO ending.

Silent Hill for the Wii get's flak because it's not a survival horror game at any rate, and is more like an advanced personality test. The "reimagining" of Silent Hill one is to throw you off base with your expectations and free your mind towards the psychological and philosophical questions asked of you. Also we get to see major characters from previous games in a sexy Oedipus/Electra complex. Now if we could only replace Alessa's mom in SH1's cutscenes with the one from the SM for much sexy hilariousness.

Silent Hill 4 is okay, but I feel it's almost a "spin off" story, and Silent Hill 5 should have been about Cheryl's kid, since Cheryl should be old enough to have a bitchy kid by now.

[Mirai Gen]

Originally Posted by Odjn

SH1's gameplay reallllllllllllllllllllllly sucked. I played it again recently and it was clunky as hell.

Gameplay rocked, though.

I think you mean "Story," on that last part.

[Kim]

Originally Posted by PyrosNine

Silent Hill for the Wii get's flak because it's not a survival horror game at any rate, and is more like an advanced personality test.

I give it flak for me having no influence whatsoever on the appearance of the monsters, and my decisions along the story path actually being utterly meaningless, because, you know, that's what they talk up. Oh, and the dealing with enemies part being worse than in any Silent Hill before it. Also, for the puzzles being completely gutted in favor of "Watch as Strong Man Harry Mason pries nails out of a window with his BARE HANDS." and waggletastic key finding. Also also for the story being worse than that of the original games. Furthermore for it claiming to be a retread of the first game when it could just as easily be completely seperate from the other games and make about as much, if not more, sense. Or for about a billion other problems I could come up with if I wanted to be SUPER-douchey.

[stabbity death]

I love Silent Hill 4: The Room's story and hated the gameplay. All in all, I consider it a fair entry.

Fun fact: It actually was intended to be a Silent Hill game right from the start.