Silent Hill Chat

[Sacred Jellybean]

Not gonna lie, I searched for "Silent Hill" to see if you'd given your opinion on that. Awesome! Even though that game isn't to your liking, I still think it's a big touchstone in gaming. Silent Hill 1 is the first one I played and still my favorite of the series.

As in most survival horror games, Silent Hill has slow tank controls

I think you're right that RE paved the way for this. The controls are necessary because of the style of gameplay: you enter arenas that have different camera vantage points. Silent Hill especially uses this in its opening scenes, where you're running through a dark alley. Since you're not a horror aficionado, I can see how this didn't do anything for you. I think the game does a fantastic job of terrorizing the player, though.

But in any case, these controls are necessary, because you would get whiplash trying to keep up with a traditional analog stick. From a practical sense, you have to consistently keep one thumb down to be able to continue running straight, as demons chase you through dark hallways and foggy alleys. One thing SH did better than RE was, instead of having pre-rendered backgrounds everywhere, there were many areas where you could run in all eight directions and look at things.

IMO, the pixelated graphics actually sort of enhance the game. They make it feel vague (which adds to the mystique) but undeniably sinister. Sort of like finding a VHS tape somewhere, having no idea of its origins, but looking at it and seeing something terrifying. It's like Lovecraft said, "The most compelling emotion is fear, and the greatest fear is that of the unknown". I never really made the Lovecraftian connection to the game until now (I know, doi, underground cult that wishes to summon a demi-god into reality, me big dummy, and isn't there a street named after Lovecraft?).

and nowhere near enough ammunition to actually shoot all of the enemies.

This is a central plank in survival horror. The game forces you to flee enemies, which means you must be on your guard. Seeing your bullet and health counts drop is part of what adds to the terror. I played through the school recently (I began another playthrough this past fall, had to keep with the halloween spirit!). I found it easier to avoid them in places where I reliably could (like corridors) and don't bother clearing them out until you've explored everything.

The advantage is two-fold: a better knowledge of the area, and more opportunities to find/stow health and ammo.

You do get a few melee weapons, but I found actually trying to hit anything with them impossible, so that's not much help.

Ya, it's all about the timing. I've played the game for years and even I still have trouble with this. The demon babies have varying walking speeds so it's tricky to get them down right. I favor holding down X to deliver a slow but firm blow to knock them back. Those dead babies are still horrifying, oof. You'd think the effect would wear off all these years.

As an aside, Silent Hill apparently is supposedly in Maine, but I live in Maine. I can say this right now, there's no town or city that looks remotely like this here. But is there any town anywhere with crosswalks this absurdly wide, among other things?

This is very interesting to me too. I've only been in New England to visit Providence, RI and Vermont, neither of which would be what this game is trying to capture. Even so, I figured that the designers nailed that small town look. If there aren't any places like that in Maine I could see them perhaps in Baltimore. I figured they'd at least get the architecture and small shops right. It felt very touristy but spooky. The amount of details are impressive, Kojima and the Silent Team are a true gift to gaming.