OL wrote:I think this is part of why the western-made games were just so unfit to be a part of the series; I don't think the devs really understood any of the deeper, implied details like this. They just thought "let's make with the jump scares!" and forgot that Silent Hill actually has a really deep lore behind it.
Absolutely! That seems to be the cycle every IP goes through. One or two games/movies/TV seasons(SH actually got three good games, one fun, but only slightly less SH-esque) before the suits take notice of it making money and come in with creative differences. Then sometimes there's enough blowback that they reboot it. I really hope they get back to all the subtext and lore.
And I think atmosphere trumps jump scares every time. Jump scares are momentary but atmosphere just saturates you in fear. A couple of jump scares are fine but I'd much rather something scare me through the atmosphere. Like the balcony ghost...just him looking but not approaching or "trying to get me" is totally terrifying. I am horrified by the thought of something looking at me but I don't know it's there yet. But by definition I would eventually have to see the whatever-it-is and that's when the jibblies are cashed in and I freak out.
OL wrote:Here's hoping the team behind the new one remember all of this important background stuff.
I finally watched a longer video of the teaser (I thought I'd seen the whole thing, but it goes a bit longer), and I'm more and more sold on it. The overall style still doesn't feel distinctly "SH" to me (the main jump scare, for example, looks more like something out of Condemned), but I love the direction of it anyway. And I'm not bothered about the first-person perspective anymore; it occurs to me that the Room areas in SH4 were first-person, and they were easily the most unsettling parts of the whole game.
Nothing in there except the baby seemed very SH. From what everyone is saying it's more of a tech demo to show what we can expect from SHs' gameplay, not necessarily story, characters or villains. I do remember how SH4 had first person parts. The room was really creepy when you'd see the ghosts appear and you'd have to light the candles.