Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (2009)

This was a weird one, even by Silent Hill standards. It does a lot of really interesting things and takes the series in a direction that fits some of its traditional themes, while also departing drastically from its predecessors. I didn't hate the game by any means—in fact I blasted through it almost entirely in one night—but I did find it kind of eh in a lot of respects. This was very much one of those games I left thinking that I must've just totally misunderstood it, only to look online and discover that if I did, so has everyone else. Which kind of makes me wonder why there's quite so much appeal to it as I personally didn't get much out of it and found it at best, a lot less clever than it seems to think it is. From what little I've seen, this is one of those games people either loved or hated in general. However, I find myself somewhere in the middle, appreciating the experimentation the game explores, while feeling like it ultimately fell flat.

The most obvious departure from the series prior is that the gameplay is almost completely different. At a glance, it may look similar: you control Harry Mason, wandering around a spooky, mostly-deserted Silent Hill, solving puzzles and dealing with monsters. However, whereas the main series has been lauded as a Survival Horror classic, this one is barely even a Horror game. And while I personally don't like how "Survival Horror" has become a meaningless synonym for "Horror" these days, it would be a literal misnomer here considering you actually can't die in this game and there's thus no "survival" about it. In fact, most of the game, there's no apparent threats at all; you're just roaming around solving puzzles and navigating the environments. The only action gameplay is confined to various chase scenes in which you have to navigate a labyrinthine route to get to your destination while monsters jump out and grab onto you. You can get worn down by the monsters to the point you have to go to a checkpoint but it's so seamless, it doesn't even feel like a death and these sequences, despite having some really effective cinematic action to them, feel in themselves more like navigation puzzles than anything resembling "combat." I personally didn't mind this structure overly much. Silent Hill's never really shined in its combat mechanics anyway and I do enjoy puzzles. But still, on balance, I didn't find the game as fun as the usual formula. The lack of tension made exploration less engaging. Admittedly, at times in early Silent Hill games I've found it a little annoying when I'm trying to explore a side street and some monster starts beating me on the head and I have to deal with that. So I expected to enjoy the relaxed exploring, but instead, it just made navigating the town feel more like a mere mechanism for progression, rather than an appealing part of the journey in itself. As well, while the chase sequences managed to mostly look and feel pretty cool—especially for a common video game mechanic that is usually kind of bland—I found the engagement there wore off some as it got more and more frustrating trying to find the right paths while being pestered by the repetitive monsters.

The game is also striking in that, as it warns you at the outset, it's going to psychoanalyze you. This is done by the game intermittently pausing the story and exploration to transport you to a first-person therapy sessions with a rather ridiculous therapist employing a variety of stereotypical old-school psychoanalysis and questionnaires to evaluate you. The choices you make in these scenes will affect certain details of the game itself, changing character and world appearance and, of course, the ending you get. I think this was an interesting idea that fits well with some of the interplay between theme and gameplay that's been present in the series for a while now. After all, previous games could give you a different ending based on what your playstyle might imply about your characterization. However, while I've seen the game praised for this element, I found it a little too on-the-nose and juvenile at times, not just in its comical depiction of psychotherapy, but in its awkward delivery on having your decisions come to life in the game. As a side note, this was also one of those experiences where I'm like "so this is where Until Dawn got the idea." Always weird to discover a game's influence in reverse, rather than playing the influence and later seeing how other titles adapted it. But given that it suffered some of the same issues in Until Dawn, perhaps this is just something that's hard to pull off with much subtlety, ironically. I will also say I might've found it more intriguing if it weren't so obvious what the game was doing, which is partially informed by the fact I've seen it elsewhere already and the fact the game is pretty transparent about it.

The presentation for the game is overall quite good. As I've said, the chase scenes, while they could be frustrating, were really cinematic and felt good. The music for the game is quite good, with a seeming greater focus on Akira Yamaoka's chill exploration tracks than the industrial digestion-sounds ambience that permeates a lot of the more grotesque settings of earlier games. And that's in part because the grotesque settings are significantly toned down. Things are eerie, but the predominant visual theme is ice and cold found in numerous frozen doors and snow-covered streets. The implementation of the cell phone mechanic was also an immersive addition that was used in clever ways throughout. While it's not the most graphically-impressive title of its time, the game looks and sounds pretty good in a way that adds to the experience and rarely feels lazily done. That said, the game could've done with way less film grain effect. At least in the PSP version—not sure if it's the same in others—but it just got in the way much more than I felt it added to the atmosphere.

The story of the game was...something. As you might've noticed, I said you play as Harry Mason, the protagonist of Silent Hill 1, and you are searching for your daughter Cheryl after crashing your car. In some ways, the game looks at first like potentially a remake of the first game, but at best it's a reimagining, and an extremely loose one at that. I won't get into spoiler territory of what's really going on, but while you do explore many of the same areas and some of the plot parallels the first game, the resemblances are ultimately pretty minor. There are (in my opinion, somewhat thin) reasons why things are the way they are, but the game almost feels like it's tracing some weird alternate universe plotline in someone's fanfic which wanted to de-emphasize the cult subplot and remove some of the more extreme otherworld elements. You'll meet a lot of the same characters from the original, though they may look and behave quite differently and play almost none of the same roles. You even trace pretty much the same route through the town's iconic locations. But it mostly just feels like a less interesting way to have done things. I will say that even though I knew there would be a twist, I still found the ending quite shocking and it adds an interesting context to the rest of the game. But personally, I felt like it was insufficient to justify the seemingly kind of pointless progression of the game.

While I don't hate the ideas for this game in theory, it fell flat for me. I felt Silent Hill: Homecoming was a game attempting to be traditional Silent Hill while not grasping everything that makes Silent Hill really click. This game feels like it has the same problem but almost in reverse. It follows some of the thematic and psychological elements to a lesser degree, but hamfists them into a game that lacks the charm and delivery of the original, some of which was at least more evident in Homecoming. That probably sounds harsher than I mean it as it really didn't miss the mark entirely, but it's the best way I can explain why a game that in some ways sounds pretty up my alley, ultimately fell short of my hopes. It's an alright game and I hate to sound as negative as I likely do, but I wouldn't highly recommend it to most people, even fans of the series.

My other Silent Hill reviews:

Silent Hill: Homecoming ★★★

Silent Hill: Downpour ★★★★

Silent Hill: The Short Message ★★★

Shattered memories more like shattered my heart I'm dying.

Seriously one of the best games and story I've ever experienced. And it's all so coherent, in its gameplay, level designs, cinematics, even menus. Of course, depending on your personal sensiblities it may not touch you like it touched others. But the ending you get will fit your playstyle and conscious/uncouscious choices.

You start after a car accident just like the first Silent Hill, but you are headed towards a whole different story and gameplay. You're basically walking, exploring, analysing the environment, solving puzzles, until you reach some nightmare sequences where you're being chased, or first person therapy sessions. During all these phases, the game analyses you and adapts itself to your personality.

The exploration is very immersive, the environments and sound design draw you in, and the Wii controls become second nature very quickly. It's a real pleasure, and glancing at objects feels intuitive. It can feel creepy at times but is mostly chill as you know you're safe. Some people wish monster were around in the normal world, but I think you'd be less confortable looking around, and thus it the game would collect less data. You can also find phone numbers to call, receive messages/calls from characters and call them back, and most importantly, find memories. Weither they are objects you get through a puzzle, or messages you receive by discovering anomalies in the world, you get to feel like you found a piece of someone's past, a look into their story, and it gets in your feelings.

The puzzles are mostly fun, with some being really interesting.

The nightmare world is more depressing than it is scary, but it does get to you. And the transitions to this world are so sudden and unpredictable it destabilizes you. The chase themselves aren't scary (to me), but the anticipation as you're trying not to be spotted and the inevitable scream of the monster that saw you can be anxiety inducing.

The therapy sessions are at times fun, at times invading. Dr Kaufman is a very excentric therapist, and his methods are interesting even when they feel inappropriate.

All of this serves a great story. Depending on you, it can be a beautiful or a dirty one. The characters you interact with will wear different clothes and act in a certain manner, places will change and some will be inaccessible. The monsters will morph into shapes defining your character. Even the memories you get will change. As the game learns from your behaviors, it unfolds a coherent story fitting your interpretation of Harry, and of life.

For spoilers now :

The game subverts your expectations by making you play a fake Harry, constructed by Cheryl's mind and the town, while the real Harry died 18 years ago. You feel like you're losing your grasp on reality, but you're not actually real. And everytime you're close to learning what you really are, the nightmare catches on. Having played SH1 and the others, the twist is very unexpected (until some point before the end). You expect something to have happened to Cheryl. And you naturally feel like Harry is the one in therapy to process what happened after the car crash.

The Harry you play is coming from Cheryl's mind, so it makes sense that if you play a certain way, the game will show you memories reflecting the real Harry whose traits influenced the one created by Cheryl. And his behavior will also correspond to some of Cheryl's traits, as she was influenced by the man who raised her.

And of course, you also influence her will to change. No matter how your Cheryl behaves, how the fake Harry acts, and what kind of father Harry was, Cheryl is not mentally healthy.

Before you reach the end, you meet all those characters who may have known Harry, or who interact with his ghost, and who all seem lost in the fog like us. You want to help them (or run away from them sometimes). Walking all this time in Harry's shoes as he pushes through a nightmare for his daughter makes you feel connected to him, and collecting memories of people Cheryl may have know, and memories of Cheryl herself, seeing the many stabs in the heart she received in all her life makes you care for her, and you want to help her. Then, Dr Kaufman is such an interesting character, you sometimes doubt him, but you realize he's being himself, doing all he can to help you. Being intrusive, yelling at you, saying what he genuinely thinks, to finally break your bubble and save Cherryl.

In the end, Kaufman's therapy succeeds, Harry's journey leads to his office, and Cheryl has to face him. Their separation depends on how you played this entire time. And as the game ends, you finally see the end of the tape you saw on the menu. What you see is the Harry who inspired all of this game's story.

I got the ending in which Cheryl lets go of Harry, and the tape showed Harry trying to confort his daugher.

Thank you to everyone involved in this game. It's a true masterpiece

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a (vague) reimagining of the first Silent Hill that takes extreme departures from the series formula, removing combat entirely and exchanging it for exploration and narrative. I'll cut to the point, I loved playing this game, and I cried at the ending. While being an extremely different take on Silent Hill that isn't particularly "scary" (Bright red flag for some, but personally I only found the first game scary if any), it is an extremely unique experience with mechanics rarely if ever seen elsewhere alongside an extremely compelling narrative, thought provoking symbolism, and a worthy successor of the SIlent Hill name. You couldn't do this in any other medium, and I'm very biased in favor of games that push the medium like this.

I'd like to praise the games' title screen as being the best the series has seen yet. We open on this VHS of a home movie being played, with different options playing and rewinding through different segments of the tape. The game opens after the whole tape has been played and rewound three times.

We then see a cutscene of Dr. Kaufmann, a controversial psychologist seeing a new patient, and we take control of this patient. The player is asked to complete a psychological profile, which has influence on many aspects of the game including its events, character personality/dialogue, and possible resolution and ending (kinda separate). I really enjoyed this, and seeing how the patient can resembles you in some ways while also being their own person who went through their own struggles is very unique. Upon future runs, tweaking this profile and altering playstyle can be done to get specific scenarios and endings (the SH classic but even further). The psychologist segments break of the flow of gameplay at good times to keep things fresh and players intrigued, it's similar to SH4's apartment but with more graceful execution.

We then switch scenes, and as we then take control of our character, we are introduced to the main mechanics of this game. Controlling Harry's flashlight and inspecting the environment is very immersive, especially when he comments in the environment as "we" read or inspect something. Puzzles are done through manipulation of physics using the wiimote, and the usage of the phone. (I'd recommend using a real wiimote to play this game, a controller gyroscope on Dolphin will not cut it) These puzzles end up generally easy, but satisfying to complete (my favorites are the shadow and principal ones). Later on we discover the peculiarities in this world, mementos, emotion filled objects, and shadow people that we can use our abilities to reveal and learn more about the setting we are in.

SM has a slower pace, but it allows you to take in the setting and plot well due to this. You have a good balance of wanting to press on but also to not miss anything you'd like to see. Somewhat awkwardly there is a mechanic that is counter-intuitive to this philosophy, and it is the chase sequences. Chase sequences require Harry to get to an exit point further up on the map, while being chased by Raw Shock creatures, he is unable to fight these and can only run or shake them off. They are a common point of criticism, and while I had fun once I figured out how to use my map and direct myself properly, they are pretty flawed. Only having enemies in the Ice Nightmare is very antithetical to horror, you always know when you are safe. Additionally, the only loss is reviving from a checkpoint when death occurs is a very small punishment, so tension is lost.

The setting of this Silent Hill is similar in the normal world. We go through similar areas that we have seen before, a high school, a mall, an amusement park, but through the narrative and secrets these areas are given life and meaning. We want to understand why Harry has been brought to this place, and what exactly is going on. I also adore the new Otherworld. An icy cold nightmare realm being the reality Harry must fight through is extremely fitting narratively and also is a new interesting and pretty location. SM is probably the best looking realistic Wii game I've ever seen.

Characters and plot are excellent in SM. The characters have very good voice acting, and based on a variety of factors, characters will act and look different (which reflects the path you are on towards resolution and ending). On any one playthrough it fits, but looking at the possible paths it paints a bigger and more interesting pictures. The game keeps you on the edge of your seat as to what is going on with Harry and Cheryl until the very end, when we are given resolution.

If this is appealing, I'd stop reading and play it as soon as you could, everything further on is in heavy spoiler territory (though I played this game spoiled and still greatly enjoyed it)

*** Major plot spoilers ahead ***

As the game comes to the close we understand more and more, many phone calls we have heard involve Harry or Cheryl, that teenager we was tormented in high school was a grown up version of Harry's daughter, but the final piece of information is delivered by Cybil on the lighthouse island. Harry Mason has been dead for 18 years. Your quest and journey as Harry has been as a living memory of sorts, akin to Maria in Silent Hill 2, manifested by potentially the powers of the town and Cheryl's traumatic background, constant rewatching of home movies, and her want to live in a delusion where her father is still around. While I got the ending where Cheryl accepts the death of her father and the videotape sequence where he is shown consoling her, I found every possible ending and tape sequence to be reasonably plausible, and considering how specific versions of characters show up during specific paths and what that might mean for Cheryl's perception of these people is really interesting. It's probably the best implemented ending system since SH2 (mostly In Water and Leave). I plan on looking through all the possible things I could have seen and seeing what meaning I can derive from them.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is an excellent entry to the SH series and deserving of its name, but it is worth noting the flaws in the chase sequences and the divisiveness of completely removing combat. It isn't perfect, but its strong sense of uniqueness and how compelling it is would allow me to recommend it to most anyone willing to put up with its flaws, let alone horror and SH fans. Climax did good on this, and I may have to check out Sam Barlow's other work.