It's hard to put into words what I experienced with this masterpiece. This isn't the first time that I've played Silent Hill 2, but it's the first time that I actually finished it.

I'm glad I did.

Ain't no point in delaying my verdict: this is one of the best games I've ever played! Silent Hill 2 isn't just a good survival horror, it's a deep psychological dive into the minds of disturbed characters, a masterclass in subjective imagery, a horrifying story to uncover and a stunning work of sound and music.

One thing that needs to be absolutely praised here is how this game uses sounds, noises, music and ambient songs to scare and soothe the experience. Not only every single noise, and even silent moments, is masterfully used in the right moment to put you in the mood that it wants you to feel, but it also packs a modest, immersive and beautiful soundtrack.

Thank you, Akira Yamaoka.

But sound design isn't Silent Hill 2's only key feature. The writing is interesting, level design is near flawless, pacing keeps you tense, the eerie voice acting fits the atmosphere, the dark graphics are nerve-racking and even the puzzles stand out.

Not to mention the story. In its own unique and subjective way of capturing your attention and desire to keep going, James Sunderland's melodic and frightening tale manages to tell one of gaming's deepest stories. It even manages to pay off with its 6 different endings.

The only bad aspect about Silent Hill 2 is that the gameplay is outdated. There's no running away from it. It may still hold up better than most survival horror games out there, but it's undeniably stiff and clunky. The camera sucks, tank controls are harsh, movement is too rigid, animations may feel a bit off during cutscenes and MY GOD the combat is bad. I know that the game's clunkiness adds up to its horror-factor, but the combat is just not fun.

The good thing though, maybe compesating to SH2's outdated mechanics, is that the experience is VERY scary. It messes with your eyes, ears, reflexes and perceptions. Even here, in 2021, this game is still one of the scariest and most intense games ever made, in my opinion. It not only does right by the genre, but by video game design as art.

If you somehow get your hands in this game, whether it's on a PS2, PC or even on the inferior HD remaster, you're in for a memorable experience. One for a lifetime. Especially if you're a survival horror fan.

Trust me. Take a trip to Silent Hill. You won't regret it.

"You snotty little brat!" "You fart face!"

I managed to stay spoiler free on this game until this playthrough. Impressive given it's a whopping 23 years old! I did manage to guess the major twist well before the end. To be fair, the game does heavily allude to it and this isn't my first foray into the psychological horror. I'm also well versed in the game's many cinematic influences. It was demanding to play though, in spite of it not really being that difficult of a game. The atmosphere is oppressive, bleak and depressing. Everything rotting and falling apart. Shrouded in either fog or darkness with a constant droning of radio static. This game took me over 8 hours to beat spread over 5 days with some breaks between. Yet it felt longer due to the dread I felt before even starting a play session. That's just how effective this game is at getting under your skin. It's deeply rich in symbolism, which gives the audience a massive amount to mull over long after the game credits roll. This has also led to the game being over analyzed into oblivion. There is certainly a ton of pointed and intentional metaphor, but looking at some of these analyses, a decent amount are built upon heavy speculation and threads of evidence. I won't bother with a deep analysis of the game since I won't have anything new to add to it. Especially since I'm 23 years late to the party!

Let's dive into just the start of the game: The opening sequence strikes a melancholic and mysterious tone, opening with you in a gross and dilapidated bathroom, coated in rust and rot, reflecting on a mysterious letter from your partner who has been dead for 3 years. It's brimming with atmosphere and the music strikes a melancholic tone with pangs of something dreadful lurking. You then walk down a path along a lake where the fog gets denser and denser to the point where you can't see past a few yards in front of you. The sound design is ominous. Blending sounds that could be either natural or unnatural. Keeping it vague but making you tense and on guard. At the first save point, you even start to hear what sounds like dogs snarling. Further elevating the tension. Then you meet a woman in a graveyard who also seems confused. She warns you before you part and you continue to walk through the fog blanketed desolated town. When you enter, you see a blood trail and of course you immediately decide "yes that's where I want to go" instead of what every other sane person would do which is run the opposite direction. You then follow the blood to a dead end where you finally encounter the first enemy. All of this happens within the first 20 minutes. All atmosphere, dread and suspense. Ending in radio static and a horrifying monstrosity you need to beat to death with a 2x4. Masterful in execution.

This is a very effective hidden tutorial. You are immediately made tense through the unknowable surroundings thanks to the omnipresent fog, yet it's safe because you don't encounter a single hostile enemy to the end of the sequence described above. This gives ample time to the player to come to grips with the tank controls and what to expect from the game. A constant lurking dread. While the game certainly has "quiet" moments, like any good horror has, the "quiet" moments are rarely actually quiet. They just lower the intensity of the horror. Maybe instead of frantically maneuvering around enemies in hallways, you are lumbering through darkness with the unnerving ambient music. Or the town treks are often low danger, yet you are always surrounded by enemies and have the constant droning of radio static. It's still safe because you are significantly faster than enemies and you have so much open space it's easy to avoid all enemies. So there is stress, yet the intensity is lower than a claustrophobic hallway with no way to get around an enemy but through them. The game methodologically shifts this from time to time, sometimes incorporating a melancholic sound track. Cuing to the player this moment is purely for reflection. Not dread. It does result in the game overall being very exhausting to play since you are given so few moments of true reprieve. But hey this is about horror so it does reinforce the game's themes and design goals.

From the tutorial the game doesn't hold your hand. Your left to blindly meander around the town, searching for Mary. Eventually you stumble on an apartment complex you can enter and the first dungeon of the game begins. Some people refer to these sections as "gauntlets" which is fair. I choose dungeon though. Here the game becomes more of a puzzle where you blindly and methodologically start to navigate through the apartments, bit by bit, solving puzzles to plunge deeper into the darkness.

It's really cool to have two different difficulty settings. One for combat and one for puzzles. I also like how they handle puzzle difficulty. Sometimes the puzzle can feel a bit unfairly obtuse, but overall most are quiet enjoyable to solve and more than a few will require you to have a pen and paper otherwise you will need to backtrack a ton! Combat is pretty lackluster, but to be fair a great horror game is typically about dis-empowering the player character, which the rudimentary combat does do.

The most brilliant moment of the game is when you need to take the employee elevator in the hotel. It can only operate with one person so you need to symbolically remove your baggage in the form of your trusty shotgun and other implements of murder. It's clever because it takes what makes horror at it's best to the most extreme. Full dis-empowerment. Not to mention you can't even take your flashlight so you must wander in the dark defenseless and blind. This section isn't hard, but it manages to be deeply unsettling and terrifying because all of your defense and offense is completely stripped from you.

For combat, you basically hold down the aim button and then either enter into a slug fest with the enemy or pop off a few shots to down them and then curb stomp their skulls in. Once I figured that later move out, I honestly just started to John Wick my way down hallways icing the monstrosities. You get plenty of ammo in this game as long as you explore thoroughly. The game even includes a few optional puzzles that give you a ton of resources. So worth spending the time doing.

While the first game certainly had stilted and campy dialogue like this game, it does feel significantly more methodological and more Lynchian in it's ability to create an uncanny atmosphere. It feels like the voice actors in this game had better chops. Most of the performance are still stilted, but there's still a bit of nuance to it that was absent in the first game. For one thing, there is a constant sense of confusion and exhaustion in James' performances, whereas Harry just felt awkward. This confusion and exhaustion make a lot of sense in the context of the games themes and major plot twists. I still think the first game is great, but I think the execution here is significantly more refined and effective in its psychological horror. The added hardware power of the ps2 certainly helps, but I also really loved the decision to add grain to the game (note the ps3 HD remaster which I own removed this which is rightfully a controversial decision). The grain adds static/noise to the game which is not only a reference to film, but also reinforces a theme of the unknown given the recurring motif of static throughout the game, mostly embodied via the radio, but there are multiple cases of seeing TVs with static as well (one of which a corpse clearly committed suicide and is wearing James' clothes... hint hint.). Adding noise and ambiguity. Also it just looks good IMO.

The games themes are clearly what lead people to over analyze this game into oblivion. It covers heavy subject matter of death, sexual abuse, suicide, grief, sin and punishment. It handles this subject matter with restraint, though it's not very subtle. For example:

Pyramid Head very clearly has lots of phallic imagery. Not only with his primary weapon and head piece, but also in how he is introduced and shown to interact with multiple enemies. When you see him for the second time he is humping two corpses. The next time you see him he humps one. It's done in a way that makes it a little vague what he's doing, but it's really not subtle and let's be real. He then switches his iconic buster sword out with a spear which is another not so subtle metaphor... then you have Abstract Daddy who's symbolism isn't left to interpretation as Angela talks about how he abused her, which led to her killing him with a butcher's knife which is why she is trapped in Silent Hill. His design is restrained though. It's basically an amorphous blob covered in cloth merged to a bed frame and he charges you to basically hump you. So yeah, not subtle, very pointed, but it never really feels that gratuitous yet still is deeply disturbing and unsettling. Not to mention how Angela's boss room has walls that look fleshy and there are pistons firing in and out of holes throughout the whole room. Not subtle but not graphic either. That's the kind of the balance the game strikes throughout the experience. It unnerves and lingers with you.

The first game certainly had symbolism, but the depth here is far greater. The enemy variety is certainly far lower compared to Silent Hill 1 though. Roughly only 10 unique enemies including bosses. In Silent Hill 1 it was over 20 unique enemies. I don't think enemies ever get boring to interact with and this doesn't hold back the game from it's punch. Just something you kind of notice. More variety and symbolism would have been welcomed, but the game is already doing so much so it's hard to knock it for this.

Overall this is considered a masterpiece and I do think it lives up to it's reputation. Not for the faint of heart, though the game doesn't use cheap gore for it's horror. I didn't think Silent Hill one did either, but it's certainly a far more gory game compared to Silent Hill 2. Instead the game relies heavily on implication of violence and symbolism to burrow itself deep under your skin. Making both games offering a different experience, yet still feeling connected. Something all sequels should strive for. Feeling different yet still familiar. I do plan to play the remake at some point, but probably not this year. I still need to recover from this one lol

Some notes I took that didn't fit in a specific section: For the hospital puzzle, you start by escorting Maria. I entered a room that contained the solution to a puzzle, but Maria stood in front of a type writer blocking the object I had to interact with. Naturally I assumed there was no puzzle solution in the room and didn't think about it. Eventually I wrote out this very complicated cypher, thinking it was the solution to the puzzle. Using patient profiles and numbers found in various journals and scrawling by patients. I came up with the right amount of numbers, but it was completely wrong. I had to look it up online and found myself frustrated that Maria boxed me out. Especially since the typewriter literally spells out the code. No cypher needed!

The game effectively uses negative space via fog and darkness to always create a sense of claustrophobia, even in big open spaces such as the town. Keeping the oppressive atmosphere even in more "quiet" moments. Great design in my book.

No HUD in the game makes it significantly more immersive. Like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. You need to pause the menu to see your health, but the game added a vibration from your controller to communicate when you are on the verge of death.

The music and ambient noise is always some combination of natural sounds presented in unnatural ways. Unnerving you, not only from how discordant it sounds, but also from hearing that discordance derived from mundane sounds like glass breaking ect. The melancholic sounds tracks are an exception but these are rare moments intended for reflection.

Descent is a recurring metaphor throughout the game and they cleverly subvert your notions of geography multiple times as the game progresses. Such as the unnaturally long elevator ride in the hospital where the fun game show plays (which is a puzzle for a cache of lots of supplies) or the elevators in the prison/labyrinth both have you plunging to unrealistic depths. There are also a few cases of unnaturally long hallways that lead to a subtle change in the level and aesthetics. All effective horror that make you feel disoriented and out of your depths. Another time this happens is on the row boat to the final dungeon of the game. You feel isolated and like you have reached a point of no return. Yet you blindly are drawn to the only light piercing through the fog.

I liked the puzzle where you need to flip a stone head around to move a room around to create an exit. I don't have much to say other than I thought it was neat.

The mermaid music box I tried picking up, and thought I couldn't so I moved on. Turns out it was just janky and I needed to stand in a specific location to loot it. I tried multiple times!

Symbolism is not usually done well in video games if at all. It's usually heavy handed (ie: a post-apocalyptic town built around an undetonated bomb) or stupid (ie: making the willfully ignorant protagonist wear a eyepatch or blindfold). It's rare to encounter a game with nuance or poetry. Silent Hill 2 has both.

Early on in the game, you enter a room with walls littered with bullet holes. In the center of the room is a shopping cart. Sitting inside the shopping cart, where child would sit, is loaded pistol. The room tells a story through haunting suggestions and makes the discovery of a new weapon a memorable moment. The game strings moments like these until the end, and while not all of them land, they are all beautiful.

Silent Hill 2 has developed a legendary status over the years. It is often called the scariest game ever made (debatable) and often shows up on lists for best narratives in video games (not debatable). The soundtrack is also lauded as one of the best in the medium. A bizarre combination of lush ambience and industrial gargling. Silent Hill 2 is as good as they say. It's not always a fun game, but it's always a satisfying one, brimming with unique artistry and craft.

Silent Hill 2 was never really on my radar if I'm being honest. I grew up playing Resident Evil and Ape Escape, not those weird, abstract horror games. As I grew to play PC games primarily, Silent Hill just sort of fell out of my gaming peripheral vision. Sure, people claimed that Silent Hill 2 was one of the best games ever made and I remember the abundance of cosplays of Nurses and Pyramid Heads, but I never gave it much thought.

So I'm very grateful that one of my friends recommended that I finally give it a shot this spooky szn. Silent Hill 2 Enhanced Edition made the game instantly playable on my modern machine with minimal effort and it wasn't long until I was in the foggy streets of Silent Hill and getting the shit scared out of me. The first few hours of Silent Hill 2 are arguably its strongest, with the real sense of unknown fear and the scavenging required for any sort of resources. Unfortunately by the second half of my playthrough I had so much ammo and health items that I never really had that same fear that I had in the opening 2 hours, but the dread permeates throughout the experience.

This is largely due to the incredible sound design and soundtrack, both of which perfectly immerse you into the horrors of Silent Hill. Even in rooms where you are safe, you don't feel safe because the soundtrack is normally injecting fear directly into your eardrums. The monster designs are also a huge influence on the fear and dread here. They start pretty basic with the Mannequins and Lying Figures, but become more frightening as James continues to sink deeper into Silent Hill. The incredible pacing really keeps you on your toes and I never really did feel at ease when I knew that a pyramid head could appear at any moment.

The story and presentation of Silent Hill 2 may have been the thing that caught me off guard the most. The majority of the game involves a pretty basic story of James trying to find his wife who has supposedly been dead for the last 3 years. It's as straight forward of a setup as you could hope and, outside of a few bizarre moments, doesn't really seem interested in deviating from the expected outcome. That is, until you reach the Historical Society. Then the story flips itself on its head, and becomes a true nightmare. The ending took me completely by surprise and once it all clicks, it became one of the most satisfying stories that I've ever seen in a video game.

So yeah, 22 years later and Silent Hill 2 is still awesome. It was very nice to play the game (mostly) blind and able to appreciate it to its fullest extent. There is the occasional obtuse puzzle that frustrated me more than challenged me, but the amazing atmosphere, fantastic scares, and truly surprising story more than make up for it.

[WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR SILENT HILL AND SILENT HILL 2]

Early on in this year, I beat Silent Hill 2 with my cousins, but I was busy with schoolwork, and then catching COVID in May, and just generally a lot of things happening in my life got in the way of spending the time to really get my thoughts down, because I had a ton to think about with this game.. So even though it’s been a couple months, I still wanted to get my thoughts on the game out there because of just how much there is to say about it. So here it is, my thoughts after having completed Silent Hill 2, and having plenty of time to reminisce and learn a little bit more about the game, how it was developed, and how it works.

It was interesting playing this one after having played the original, as the first one doesn't get talked about nearly as much as this one. In some areas they are extremely similar, with some similar UI and mechanics. In some areas they are markedly different, to the extent that even having played through the first one (which I feel does deserve more credit than it gets sometimes), and being somewhat familiar with some of what the game entails, I was surprised by how those previous expectations differed from how the game ended up.

I think the most striking thing for me was how both games handled the concept of Silent Hill. For one thing, even though they are both unmistakably Silent Hill, there are a lot of differences as to what that means in each game. The first game felt to me like it involved being in the actual town itself a lot more, feeling more populated as you got to meet some of the citizens of the town and their cult traditions, and with lots of enemies hunting after you. The nature of the surreal happenings seem to be manifestations from the psychic power of a girl named Alessa Gillespie, and the citizens you meet seem very surprised by what has been happening recently, and as our protagonist Harry Mason lingers more in Silent Hill he delves deeper into her creations and the messed-up backstories of the town and what the people who live in it do. The soundtrack can get very Reznor-y, very industrial and disorienting and uncomfortable, which is also represented in how the Otherworld is very industrial and rusty, very mechanical and torturous. In his own way, Harry is also subconsciously drawn to the town, but not over anything he did, but because of the presence of his daughter Cheryl and what he doesn’t know about her, and a car crash is what thrusts him suddenly into Silent Hill and left to figure out the nature of this strange town.

Silent Hill 2 unmistakably follows in the footsteps of the first, but much has changed between the games and the emphasis is very different. The very nature of the town itself seems to have changed, now being an omnipresent entity that conjures a subjective reality for the individuals who find their way here, very different from the first game, possibly as if what Alessa did to the town has taken a life of its own now. Unlike Harry who just wanted to find his daughter when Silent Hill turned out to be different from the resort town it used to be, as soon as we meet James he seems to be a broken man, returning to the Silent Hill he used to visit (but now completely different) willingly because of a mysterious letter saying that his dead wife is waiting for him in their “special place,” and referring to a promise. Considering that he even sought out his wife who had been dead for three years, and seems so willing to continue despite warnings of danger and doesn’t even try to leave, it gives the impression this is a man who doesn’t really have anything else left. He doesn’t even seem to travel in much of the main town itself. Where Harry found himself in the residential area and then managed to get to the economic center of town, James has to get to Silent Hill by a hikers path and spends much of his time near the road that leads to the more tourist-oriented part of town Harry visited. A lot of the places James visits feel more like the outskirts of town, more out-of-the-way business like a bowling alley and a nightclub, entering apartment complexes instead of houses, visiting the more historical tourist spots that generally don’t attract as much attention as the more consumer-oriented resort area. This is reflected in the map, where you can just only barely see Lake Side Amusement Park, the only visible area on the map from the previous game, which you don’t even make it far enough into Silent Hill to get to. It’s ironic, Harry was a tourist that ended up right in the middle of the town and its citizens’ dark secrets, whereas James is returning to Silent Hill but only ends up as a tourist, wandering on the fringes, seemingly completely abandoned. Even the enemies in the overworld don’t give as much difficulty, being easier to get away from than the dogs and pterodactyls and hopping creatures of the first game. And the soundtrack is notably different from the first, both of them being absolute masterpieces in their own way. The first one was more mechanical and threatening, whereas the more I’ve relistened to the second soundtrack, most of it is actually very soft, melancholic, and ethereal. The combination of the soundtrack with a Silent Hill that has generally less threat and a stronger emphasis on isolation creates a very different vibe, especially when thinking of the locales in the game, where it’s not so much the rusty NIN-scapes of the first go-around, but instead decrepit, sad, lonely places who have been abandoned by whoever had a function for them. The first game was like a gradual descent into a nightmarish hell, but the second one is more like wandering by yourself in a gauntlet you conjured for yourself, occasionally more dark and disturbing, but mainly with a lot of melancholic ambience. The first game’s soundtrack reflects Harry’s primal fears in his quest to save his daughter, while the second game’s soundtrack reflects James’ barely lucid attempts to process what has happened to him.

In retrospect, I’m so in awe of what the game accomplishes, but to be truly honest, it’s really been the weeks and months reflecting after the game, and after researching more deeply into it and its development that I truly started to grasp what makes it so brilliant. I will admit that (and probably my autism has a lot to do with this) I have a tendency to come up with weirdly rigid and completely off pre-conceptions of what things are supposed to be like before I experience them. So I could recognize early off that this was following heavily in the footsteps of the first game, but there were some decisions that I found curious initially. Why was there so much less incentive to actually explore the town? Why does it feel like I spend more time in fewer locations, covering less ground? Why are a lot of these enemies way easier to deal with (especially with the option of a new control scheme that I preferred)? Why do we spend a lot less time with the Nurses and Pyramid Head (who is definitely important but much more of a minor character than I would have figured) than their fandom prominence would suggest? The initial questions of someone coming in with certain expectations. I definitely thought it was amazing as I first played it, but true understanding of what really made it an all-time best took a little longer to digest as I thought back on it, some of which I’ll get to in a bit.

I’ve already given an outline of aspects of the game in how they contrast to the first, but it’s time to go a little more in detail, starting with the story. Taking place after the first game, but in a way that’s unclear what has happened between then and now, James has returned to Silent Hill, in the already-mentioned quest to discover why he would receive a letter from his dead wife saying she is waiting for him in their “special place.” Parking his car and continuing on foot, it’s clear that for James, answers are more important than anything else in his life right now, including his safety, as it becomes apparent early on that Silent Hill is a hostile and mysterious place now, filled with weird monsters, and of course, the ominous, foreboding presence of an entity that came to be known as Pyramid Head. He comes across other people who have made their way to the town, each approaching the town differently, as their experience with Silent Hill seems to have a lot to do with whatever baggage they bring to it. Eventually James comes across something very surprising, a woman who seems almost identical to his dead wife Mary aside from a different personality and more provocative wardrobe, whose name is Maria, and she seems to know stuff that only Mary would know. As they continue to explore Silent Hill searching for Mary and a young girl named Laura who says that she knew her, they encounter many distorted and unsettling enemies, and a lot of strange and paradoxical happenings start to revolve around Maria. And James’s further interactions with the other people who arrived to Silent Hill deteriorate as they struggle to deal with the issues plaguing them. He starts to question what really even led him to the town. He ends up at the hotel where they visited when they last came here, returning to their “special place” and discovering just why he was really brought back here. Ultimately he ends up having to directly confront his relationship with Mary and Maria, with the final outcome dependent on which ending you get, which I’ll get more into soon.

The storytelling was already pretty solid in the first Silent Hill, but it really expands here into doing some super compelling things. While the first game was also a masterpiece in its own right, its story does draw more from existing cliches, especially with the town that’s more than it seems and secret cults and demonic rituals and such. And Harry is a bit more disconnected from the things that happen, kind of an observer who ended up in the middle of the forces the town is dealing with, just trying to get his adopted daughter back, and the story never really gets more into their relationship beyond that. In Silent Hill 2, the focus is a lot less external and much more personal, and it manages to flesh out an ultimately more original narrative. Almost everything that happens in the town in the game has to do with James being there. The monsters reflect what James has been dealing with and his subconscious thought processes. It ends up being more narratively distinct from the first in how it really centers around James as a character, how he relates to his dead wife and the lookalike of her he comes across, and how he comes to terms with them. It really delves into themes of how the human psyche deals with sex and death, those themes being abstracted into the reality James experiences. It’s really well-paced in a way that makes the town feel very lived in, spacing out the more narratively crucial moments with a lot of opportunity for atmosphere and exploration. The tone is expertly handled, interweaving the different emotions James must be feeling, occasionally more viscerally disturbing and hard-hitting but with a lot of low-key ambience for reflection as well.

The characters are all really solid, each one makes an impact in their own way and none are forgettable. James perfectly embodies the mood that Silent Hill gives off in this game, dejected and deflated, coming on his own to a hostile, abandoned town for the only thing that really seems to be on his mind right now. So many other people wouldn’t have even bothered driving out to the town, but James is exactly the kind of broken person who would still go through with it, even with all the threats sent his way. I saw a video where his voice actor, Guy Cihi, says that towards the end of his difficult first marriage he had dealt with his own suicidal feelings that helped inform his performance, which I think I can feel in the very melancholic way he speaks. Maria is a fascinating enigma, sometimes an idealized version of Mary, sometimes hostile and condescending. The way her character ends up toying with James’ emotions really adds to the unsettling feeling of the general uncanniness. Angela’s instability makes her very pitiful, I was really concerned for her, which makes it all the more of a gut-punch how her demons seem to consume her. Eddie’s complete apathy to everyone else and off-kilter desire for vengeance adds to the sense that the town constructs subjective realities for its visitors, playing off of and potentially worsening their mental states. Laura can be aggravating in how she makes things harder for James, but really comes across as the innocent, naive soul that does not see the same things the adults with more baggage do, wandering the town as if nothing were really out of the ordinary. And of course Pyramid Head, who doesn’t ultimately have to actually be around a lot of the time, to still be this imposing surreal presence when he arrives, who has become an icon of the series precisely because he embodies what makes it distinct, a corrupted form of a human being with just enough odd touches that reflect the strangeness of the games. And while the voice acting is very of its time, I really liked it. I thought the performances were very fitting for the characters, especially in their uncertainty. I’ve noticed that sometimes I genuinely prefer the style of some older dubs to the way newer ones are done because even if older ones tend to be more amateur and less professional, sometimes there’s a genuine distinct personality they’re able to tap into that a more “professional” approach sometimes doesn’t, going for something that meets standard expectations but doesn’t add a truly unique, personal voice to the character. Basically, I think the cast they got did a lot to really humanize their performances.

But while the story and its characters are amazing, what truly makes Silent Hill 2 what it is, is its gameplay, the subjective experiencing of its narrative, the kind of storytelling that couldn’t be done in the same way if it was a book or a movie. And probably the most brilliant aspect of its gameplay was something that I wasn’t even aware of as I was first playing. Like many games, Silent Hill 2 has multiple potential endings, and usually games with multiple endings have set paths to align yourself with to aim for, and the most binary of them will have a good ending and a bad ending. Silent Hill 2 doesn’t explicitly ask you to pick a path to get your ending. There are no dialogue trees or morality bars. You get the ending you get based on how you played in totality. As I was playing, my cousins would often tell me to go ahead and check my picture of Mary or other weird little actions, and I was so confused by these little rituals, wondering what the point of it was. As it turns out, the game’s evaluation of what ending James deserves depends exactly on little gestures like these, whether you looked at Mary, whether James took care of himself, whether he tried to protect Maria, etc. Your playstyle is being judged by the game to determine what kind of person James is, his story is an incomplete template, it’s up to what kind of James you are that the rest of the context is filled in. When I first read up on this, I was blown away. I had no idea this had even been happening. The game had been examining how I was playing to determine my fate without my knowledge. This alone gives massive props to Silent Hill 2 for such an ingenious element of immersion.

In terms of how the game plays in the moment, it’s a lot like the first game. Combat is stripped-down and basic to reflect the everyman perspective, there isn’t much to it and it’s a bit clunky, which is very adequate and appropriate for James. His ability to move around is also pretty basic and modest, properly matching the energy of this man. With less prominent bosses and enemies that are easier to manage, as well as easier movement when compared to the first game, surviving in the game is generally easier, but the focus ends up shifting more to the experience of it all. So in a sense I feel like this almost pushes the game slightly more in the direction of walking simulator, as much as that concept would have existed at the time, while still being much more interactive and evaluative than the average one. Puzzles are still an aspect of the game, though I remember them also not being as prominent as they were in the first one. Like the first, the story revolves around focusing on clearing out one area at a time, with exploring the town at large in between, though comparatively you explore less of the town and focus even more on the specific areas. Ultimately I get the impression that compared to the more game-y original, the sequel ends up going in a more experiential direction. Slightly downplaying the more genre elements of what is expected of a survival horror game in order to more strongly emphasize immersing the player as James Sunderland, rather than the more puppeted relationship the player had with Harry Mason. And I think it ends up working in favor of the game, establishing a more first-person association to the events that are happening instead of a third-person one.

Of course, the stylistic elements of the game are also crucial to what makes it the game it is. This game’s atmosphere is so rich and immersive, it excels at engrossing you in a certain state of mind whenever you play. The graphics are amazing for the time, and I still adore the game’s aesthetics and presentation. The cutscenes are phenomenal, really well-directed, well-animated, and striking. The motion-capped performances of the actors are well choreographed and laid out. The character designs and models are super memorable and distinct, perfectly fitting the personalities they’ve been attached to. The locations are all lovingly detailed and convey a strong sense of once having been lived-in places. Watching some of the behind the scenes for the game, they talked about how the environments were designed to be both repulsive and attracting, something I had picked up on myself, that despite being an inherently creepy and off-putting place, parts of it are almost “comfy” in the weirdest of ways. And of course we have to get into the audio. This soundtrack appeals to me so much, with its generally ambient and ethereal soundscape, inspiration from trip hop and industrial, combination of engrossing atmosphere and strong melodies, densely layered with impeccable production, perfectly switching between different styles and keeping it all cohesive. I’ve relistened to it over and over in the months since beating the game, and I could easily do so again without getting tired of it. Honestly one of my favorite soundtracks of all time, across all mediums. And the general sound design is impeccable, very memorable and appropriate. All these stylistic elements given such care and craft and humanity come together to create a game that is such a complete package, and a truly inspired vision.

I struggle to even consider anything I would really think truly wrong with the game, or at least much worth mentioning. Bosses are adequate for the game but leave something to be desired, it’s not really the type of game that lends itself to complex bosses, but even the first game pulled this off generally better I feel. Combat is also more on the adequate line which does feel very appropriate, but it makes some bosses feel especially clunky. The final boss showdown feels a bit anticlimactic compared to the first game’s one, which I was not actually a big fan of fighting either but it felt more impactful. Enemies probably could’ve been a little bit more threatening. I would’ve appreciated some incentives to explore a bit more of the town proper, as spatially I felt like I wasn’t drawn into that area as much, which leads the geography to feel a little bit weirder than the first game. Some more slightly branched off content like the first one would’ve been cool, though I wonder if it would’ve distracted too far from James’ primary quest. It’s a little too easy to get disoriented when rowing the boat towards the light if you lose track of where you are. And the one puzzle that involves rotating the room, I think the concept is fascinating, but I had such a hard time trying to wrap my head around it in practice, would’ve helped if it was easier to visualize what I was doing. Off the top of my head these are the only things I can really think to gripe about, kind of a few scattered things and they don’t ultimately bring down the overall experience that much.

Silent Hill 2 will now go down as one of my favorite games of all time. Even now I’m still gripped by its characters, its story, its soundtrack, and the imagery of the surreal zone of Silent Hill. It masterfully puts the character in the shoes of James and asks you to determine what kind of James he is and what it really was that brought him back here. And it puts you in a unique atmosphere that no other series could properly replicate. Even all these years later it manages to impress and be relevant. I highly recommend it to anyone who seems interested.

This game was a big surprise. I've never played anything from the Silent Hill series and I expected something really cheesy and dull. I thought this game would be about spooky ghosts and vampires and shitty tank controls, haunted mansions, predictable damsel in distress love story, etc. I expected just a run-of-the-mill horror game in the style of Resident Evil/Alone in the Dark. But I was wrong, this game is truly something else! Since this game series has such a following of young goofy teens I expected it to be bad, but I guess you can't judge a game by its fanbase.

The story was really deep and mature and intense. The game had very few jump scares, instead it had this heavy brooding atmosphere. The gameplay elements were pretty easy, I think I could have beaten the game without saving and I only died once or twice. Instead the focus was on the story. My favourite part of the game was the monsters. Instead of the standard fare of zombies or whatever, the creatures were truly the stuff of nightmares. Truly bizarre shit, like from H R Giger or James Gleeson/Lem, weird blobby things with metal frames. The environments were so bleak and detailed. The overall feeling was a bit like Deadly Premonition; a Twin Peaks vibe: the characters and voice acting was cheesy, but it's good cheese. I was definitely spooked in parts, some of the dirty environments and surreal monsters.. I wish I'd played it when I was younger. It has this surreal dream-like feeling throughout, something really wonderful and unique.

I played the PS3 HD re-release. People complain about how this version is shit, but I thought it was great (though I've not played the original). Really pumped up now and excited to played Silent Hill 3. This was definitely better than any of the Resident Evil games I've played. For the record I completed the game in 9h04m, collected238 items, defeated 6 enemies by shooting (80 w/ melee). Boat stage 1m 07s 93. Overall rank = 4 stars (out of 6?).

The infamous Silent Hill 2 explores the nuances of the dark and often traumatic human experience. The strange, terrifying creatures of the titular lakeside town are not the only horrors players will encounter during their time in Silent Hill.

The relationship between James, the denizens, and Silent Hill itself has changed. No longer are we at the threat of ritualistic cultists but from the ghosts of our past and of those we meet along the way. All of the characters are unique to this iteration. They are just as eccentric though maybe a bit more unhinged and meaner than the previous cast.

There were a handful of things I disliked such as how tiny items are. This is really egregious considering the dark environments and the danger of standing still searching for goodies. I also got quite bored with the locked door hallway rinse and repeat environments. I want more interesting layouts.

And while this isn't a "dislike" per se but the game leaves a lot of unanswered questions that leave plenty food for thought when the credits roll, especially for the "In Water" ending. And yes, multiple endings have returned.

Silent Hill 2 is a must play if you're a fan of horror or video game history. If you're waiting to get your hands on the remake like I am, the original is a perfectly great way to spend your time.

Finally, I cross from my list the biggest blind spot in my life. Back in 2018, I bought the SILENT HILL HD collection determined to go through the series, specially SILENT HILL 2, which I had heard to be a perfect case of ‘game as art’ and one of the best horror games out there. I also bought SILENT HILL 1, and while I beat that -it remains a favorite of mine- at the moment I was starting SILENT HILL 2, life happened, stopped playing and never took it back. (I never took it back, because I saw two images -which wouldn't be big of a spoiler, if I hadn't overthink them too much, but somehow convinced that my experience was ruined… Which has proven to be false.)

So, quick thoughts -since the work is so vast, that I’d like to replay it again!

1. This is an incredibly complex text; the imagery of the psychosexual frustration carried by James is just so well done. The concept of Silent Hill as it is, is one of the finest ideas for a horror story, why Konami hasn't bombarded us with stories like this is anyone’s guess. But SILENT HILL 2 knows how to use it, a deep dive into one man’s psyche, a face-to-face with regret, trauma and sexual repression. A literal downward spiral into accepting the truth.

2. The fact that 2001 saw Konami releasing both Metal Gear Solid 2 and Silent Hill 2 -sequels to their best franchises. It's kind of insane, especially when taking in consideration that regarding content, these might be the two best narratives put into a game ever. Without a doubt, the most complex I have yet experienced. Not to mention that gameplay/design wise, they still prove to be flagships of their respective genre (stealth and horror). It's quite unparalleled.

3. Regarding the endings of SILENT HILL 2 (I won't spoil or give details of what happens, but I'd advise to not read further if you haven't beaten the game). I got the Leave ending, which to me was a bit of a tonal shift -especially given by the way that I had played as James. Looked into the web, and most users thought that the In Water ending was the one. Looked at the requirements, and it seems that I fulfilled all of those (I did, the issue is that I had overused a bit the first med kits in the last 10 minutes or so), so I replayed it, and indeed I got the In Water ending. And whilst both (Leave and In Water) have their strengths, it's true that the latter delivers the emotional gut punch this story deserves. Just so moving… A beautiful game all around.

The best horror game ever made imo. No shitty jumpscares or cliché story, it’s just pure horror and anxiety the whole time. Almost every horror game to date (and even games outside the genre) have taken some sort of inspiration from Silent Hill 2. It’s legendary.

Silent Hill 2's atmosphere is one of the most unsettling I’ve seen in any game, and that’s what makes it great. Everything is just so perfect. The foggy town, the music, the monsters, the puzzles...all of these elements work together to create this crazy world straight out of a nightmare.

The story of Silent Hill 2 is one of the best in all of gaming HISTORY. You play as James Sunderland, a man who received a letter from his wife who supposedly died three years ago. The letter tells him to come to the small town of Silent Hill, and that’s where the game begins. There are so many twists, turns, and unexplained events (until the end) that happen in the game. I won’t spoil anything of course, but the game is filled with metaphors, symbolism, and psychological concepts and there’s just so many layers to the story. If you put two people in a room together who have both played Silent Hill 2, they could probably talk about it for hours.

My one complaint would be the controls and combat, but the combat is passable because James isn’t exactly a fighter and the game came out in 2001. Also, the voice acting is kinda cheesy but I’ll let that slide too because it’s funny at times.

To this day I’m surprised I was able to get through the whole game. I’m not really a horror guy, so there were a few points where I was legit scared. Or...maybe not scared but it definitely made me uncomfortable at parts because of the creepy atmosphere, but that’s exactly why this is the best horror game.

This is a game everyone needs to experience. Its story and themes are more complex than most games that come out today, and it is WITHOUT A DOUBT a perfect example of how a game can be art. It also only works as a video game. If they tried to make this a movie (which they did), then it’d suck (which it did [although it's probably the best video game movie]). Oh and also, DON’T play the remastered version of this because for some reason they took out all the fog!

I’d give it a high 9/10