Definitely the best "Silent Hill" thing that has come out since PT, which was now about 10 years ago. And still, it's nowhere near as nuanced, subtle and terrifying as that short demo.
This gets off to a pretty awful start. It has the main character narrating and commenting on every little thing in a very "breathy" tone that gets incredibly annoying. All the bullying and trauma themes are shoved down your throat with no care to actually make it matter to the story or characters, more just to be edgy. Honestly, it was nice looking but wholly uninteresting and hollow. However, the last two thirds of the game pick up considerably, taking obvious inspiration from the previous "PT", as well as a dash of "Shattered Memories" which was nice to see. I think it actually improved upon the chase formula of "Shattered Memories", and made for some effective terror. The music and monster design were of course great, because Yamaoka and Ito came back to work on both for this game. And it takes a while, but the story does end up having somewhat of a point and message, and they do add a level of care to the heavy themes further into the game.
This game is more or less screaming for subtlety. It has a decent story at the helm, and some good ideas, but needed to explore it without being so obvious about everything. Overall, it's a mixed bag, but a step in the right direction. I hope this will be a launching pad to actually revive the name of Silent Hill.
This gets off to a pretty awful start. It has the main character narrating and commenting on every little thing in a very "breathy" tone that gets incredibly annoying. All the bullying and trauma themes are shoved down your throat with no care to actually make it matter to the story or characters, more just to be edgy. Honestly, it was nice looking but wholly uninteresting and hollow. However, the last two thirds of the game pick up considerably, taking obvious inspiration from the previous "PT", as well as a dash of "Shattered Memories" which was nice to see. I think it actually improved upon the chase formula of "Shattered Memories", and made for some effective terror. The music and monster design were of course great, because Yamaoka and Ito came back to work on both for this game. And it takes a while, but the story does end up having somewhat of a point and message, and they do add a level of care to the heavy themes further into the game.
This game is more or less screaming for subtlety. It has a decent story at the helm, and some good ideas, but needed to explore it without being so obvious about everything. Overall, it's a mixed bag, but a step in the right direction. I hope this will be a launching pad to actually revive the name of Silent Hill.