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4.49 average rating based on 196 ratings
P.T. AKA the playable teaser for the cancelled Silent Hills is rightfully regarded as the scariest video game ever made. Even though it's only technically a demo, this short horror experience rewrote the book on what a horror video game could be, introduced the world to a bold new strategy for releasing games, and still persists as a cursed artifact haunting the history of gaming, refusing to be forgotten. Everyone knows the story at this point but it bears mentioning that between Hideo Kojima, a true auteur of the medium and master of misdirection, alongside director Guillermo del Toro, a creative genius responsible for some of the finest horror films ever made, this creative dream-team was, and still is, one of the most compelling team-ups ever to grace the industry. The fact that Junji Ito, a master of gruesome, macabre manga was also attached only sweetens the already stacked resume.
The fact that the game that this team was creating game never came to fruition is something that breaks my heart whenever I think about it. It is undoubtedly, the most upsetting video game cancelation of all time. The only consolation that we have is that some of the fruits …
P.T. AKA the playable teaser for the cancelled Silent Hills is rightfully regarded as the scariest video game ever made. Even though it's only technically a demo, this short horror experience rewrote the book on what a horror video game could be, introduced the world to a bold new strategy for releasing games, and still persists as a cursed artifact haunting the history of gaming, refusing to be forgotten. Everyone knows the story at this point but it bears mentioning that between Hideo Kojima, a true auteur of the medium and master of misdirection, alongside director Guillermo del Toro, a creative genius responsible for some of the finest horror films ever made, this creative dream-team was, and still is, one of the most compelling team-ups ever to grace the industry. The fact that Junji Ito, a master of gruesome, macabre manga was also attached only sweetens the already stacked resume.
The fact that the game that this team was creating game never came to fruition is something that breaks my heart whenever I think about it. It is undoubtedly, the most upsetting video game cancelation of all time. The only consolation that we have is that some of the fruits of their labor saw the light of day in P.T., a proof of concept that ends up working as a flawlessly executed piece of horror on it's own. While it's by no means a long game, P.T. is anything but straight forward. Due to a simple premise of trying to escape an endless loop, it serves as a meditation on fear, isolation and insanity in a way that the Silent Hill series had not since the high water mark that was Silent Hill 2, back in 2001. Through disturbingly detailed audio design, pristinely eerie visuals, and a lone looming threat that relentlessly stalks the player, the hour or so it will take that player to complete the obscure puzzles found within are among the most harrowing in gaming.
Luckily for fans of horror games, the ripples of P.T. are still felt throughout the genre. Every year sees the release of many titles that play off of the legacy in some way or another. Because horror games are frequently short and cheap, you see a lot of wild ideas, particularly in the PC space, which houses a huge amount of retro-horror experiments that are too creepy and weird to live anywhere else. Visage, a terrific game that cribs its tone and visual style directly from P.T., finally saw a full release this year. Even the big daddy of the genre saw the influence of P.T. rear its head in Resident Evil VII, a game that steered the juggernaut franchise back into an explicitly horror-based first-person direction. Survival-horror games have made a huge comeback in recent years and P.T. can be held largely responsible for that shift. It's just too bad that the Silent Hill franchise isn't here for the party.
I'm assuming the latter. This is on my 'abandoned' shelf against my choice because it was Konami who abandoned Silent Hills. I will probably never be more bitter about a gaming situation than this. Even if Silent Hills was to be NOTHING like the PT demo, it achieved what it set out to do which was show us what the 'dream team' is capable of. Guillermo del Toro, Hideo Kojima, and Junji Ito. Ito was crucial to this team, even if most people don't know it because they haven't read any of Ito's mangas. (Google 'The Enigma of Amigara Fault' and read it online NOW to see what I'm talking about!) What's unfortunate about even Death Stranding is that it is pretty much Kojima's game alone. No Ito, and del Toro only plays a physical role in it much similar to how Reedus played only an actor for PT/SH. So the creative team remains separated. What a goddamn disappointment.
Shouldn't P.T. be their own entry, or is this the stand-in for it? Would it be deleted if I try to add it to the database as its own entry?
Compared to other horror games this definitely scared me the most, and for such a short game that's quite the achievement. The looping hallway mechanic definitely provides an aura of uniqueness to the game. However, I feel the lack of a save system definitely took away from the game experience this game was intended to be hard enough that it took months to finish, but most people just use a walkthrough, aside from the tedium of the puzzles, solving them is really annoying when you have to start the game over every time you turn it on, waiting through all the scripted segments, and trying to get back to where you were as fast as possible, in a very slow-paced game. The graphics are extremely impressive for the time and while being very simple, the graphics also put in quite a lot of unnecessary detail which is a good thing. It looks on par with some of the newer games you see on the PS5. I will rate this game 6/10 for the gameplay and 7/10 for the story. P.T. isn't available to buy anymore, it was a demo for a then-upcoming reboot of silent hill, but unfortunately, that game …
Read MoreCompared to other horror games this definitely scared me the most, and for such a short game that's quite the achievement. The looping hallway mechanic definitely provides an aura of uniqueness to the game. However, I feel the lack of a save system definitely took away from the game experience this game was intended to be hard enough that it took months to finish, but most people just use a walkthrough, aside from the tedium of the puzzles, solving them is really annoying when you have to start the game over every time you turn it on, waiting through all the scripted segments, and trying to get back to where you were as fast as possible, in a very slow-paced game. The graphics are extremely impressive for the time and while being very simple, the graphics also put in quite a lot of unnecessary detail which is a good thing. It looks on par with some of the newer games you see on the PS5. I will rate this game 6/10 for the gameplay and 7/10 for the story. P.T. isn't available to buy anymore, it was a demo for a then-upcoming reboot of silent hill, but unfortunately, that game got canceled leaving P.T. to be pulled off of all stores, with it being a digital-only game your only chance of ever playing it is to be somebody with the game already installed or get the fan-made PC port that being said it was up for a good amount of time, a reasonable amount of people got to play it. For more about my thoughts on this game, check out my review at: https://send2mraidan.wixsite.com/aidangamereviewsoffl/post/p-t-review
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hello. I just playeda mod that doing research was inspired by this game, (which i never played) I've read that since, several unreal engine remakes have come out but eventually get quashed by konami, and currently i see one available behind a patreon. Does anyone have reccomendations on how to go about playing this and what choices are available?
After playing the spectacular demo, I have gone media blackout on the project. Can't wait to see what Kojima and the whole Konami gang cook up for this one!
It appears that someone recreated P.T. in Doom:
I'd play this, it looks fantastic!
I finally finished PT. I'd read that it could take several seconds for the game to recognize that you'd said the right name to trigger the second laugh but also that other J names sometimes work, so I said the name a few times, and then I tried a few other names just in case: Jack, James, Jedidiah when I started getting silly about it.
The second laugh triggered almost immediately after my friend suggested Jimothy.
yesterday I spent way too much time trying and failing to beat the final puzzle in PT (I’m almost positive at this point that I’m doing everything right but the FUCKING BABY WON’T FUCKING LAUGH A SECOND TIME) and last night I actually dreamed that I’d finally beaten it after all
P.T. was and is hands down the best horror experience I have ever experienced! I went into it knowing nothing except that it was connected to Silent Hill in some way. I had (and still haven't) played any of the Silent Hill games so I went through P.T with no expectations or previous knowledge. The graphics are in my opinion simply amazing and blew my mind at the time, the sound design is FANTASTIC and really adds to the terrifying atmosphere, and the overall atmosphere and reliance on subtle horror is really what makes P.T so amazing! The game was so terrifying that I literally cried on more than one occasion and had to play with the lights on. Even to this day after I have already beaten it multiple times I still get uneasy and scared while playing it! When I saw that Silent Hills was cancelled I wanted to punch something! I'm not even a Silent Hill fan, but P.T was so good and had me completely interested in whatever Silent Hills was going to be. There are so few good horror games out there here was one that had the promise to be simply amazing and break …
Read MoreP.T. was and is hands down the best horror experience I have ever experienced! I went into it knowing nothing except that it was connected to Silent Hill in some way. I had (and still haven't) played any of the Silent Hill games so I went through P.T with no expectations or previous knowledge. The graphics are in my opinion simply amazing and blew my mind at the time, the sound design is FANTASTIC and really adds to the terrifying atmosphere, and the overall atmosphere and reliance on subtle horror is really what makes P.T so amazing! The game was so terrifying that I literally cried on more than one occasion and had to play with the lights on. Even to this day after I have already beaten it multiple times I still get uneasy and scared while playing it! When I saw that Silent Hills was cancelled I wanted to punch something! I'm not even a Silent Hill fan, but P.T was so good and had me completely interested in whatever Silent Hills was going to be. There are so few good horror games out there here was one that had the promise to be simply amazing and break the mold of crappy horror titles. Despite Silent Hill's cancellation P.T still remains one of the best horror experiences out there and if anything the cancellation of Silent Hills has only added to the mystery, allure, and creepiest of the P.T demo. If you ever get the chance to get your hands on the P.T demo I HIGHLY suggest you play it. You'll regret it in all the best ways.
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You're probably all already aware of this, but in case you aren't, Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) and Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid) have teamed up to make what looks to be a Silent Hill reboot that is all kinds of perfect. Here are two silly men playing it! One is having fun, and the other is very clearly having no fun at all. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj5AF_m3-4I