Everything about Silent Hill 2 and 3 were magic for me. Brought me into my first forums, meeting strangers online, those from all over the world with whom I shared a passion for the intriguing and mysterious unreality of Silent Hill. We speculated on the meaning of it all, pouring over every document, name and esoteric reference. We even shared our own writing, inspired by how these digital realms made us feel. Forged our own stories in the town of Silent Hill by sharing fan fiction with each other. This all took place on gamefaqs and the original ign. Magic.
The games themselves are of a time. Fixed angles and use of Dutch tilts will likely never be utilized the same way again, since we prefer perfect control of our protagonists these days, but these constraints of the era were essential in keeping indescribable horrors juuust out view, beyond total comprehension. The grimy and metallic textures of the environments disturbed. Is it blood or rust? Not always being sure what the developer intended created another layer of interpretation for fans to infer.
The stilted delivery of translated scripts written by Japanese developers inspired by western horror and thriller novelists…the awkward dialogue and direction of an impressionist filmmaker kook like David Lynch…we will never see the like of Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4 again.
I look forward to the future of the series, I don’t care at all for nostalgia. But these original Silent Hill games were and are special. I’m overjoyed to have SH 4: The Room on gog. I’m happy to play 2 remake and F. But I need to see the OG 2 and 3 again. I can’t bear only visiting in my restless dreams.