Source
r/TwoBestFriendsPlay•
kobitz

So, if you were in charge of the Silent Hill 2 remake, what would you actually try to do?

I don’t believe there is such thing as a perfect game, or film or book, etc… There’s always room for improvement, or new perspectives or angles (which don’t even have to objectively improve the art, just be different but equal in quality)

Now Silent Hill 2 is pretty great game, its very well put together and succeeds both in telling a story, setting a mood, and being scary. But I do think there’s a couple of things that if I were put in charge of the whole project, I would think, would actually justify the endeavor

As a pre-rant: Its bad they called it Silent Hill 2. They should have either called it Silent Hill: [insert meaningful subtitle] or just bit the bullet and remade SH1 first. I think you can guess which option I think would be easier

First, of course, just smooth put the combat gameplay. I don’t subscribe to the idea that making a horror purposefully hard to play makes it scary, and after all games are an interactive medium

Second, I would ad a lot more incidental dialogue attached to things James can look at, revealing stuff about himself and Mary, in voice over. For example, if James looks at a well on the side road, have an echo-y voice over of Mary making a wish and james trying to guess what it was or on the hotel level when James look at the piano, have an audio of James and Mary (badly) signing together

Another thing, could be fleshing out Marias role both in gameplay and story. Have them have more conversations and interactions over more time, with multiple options which would count towards a different ending

Speaking of which, a thing I genuinely don’t like about SH2 is how you get the endings. I think its honestly both kinda gimmicky but not actually involved or intuitive enough. I think just having a point system, based on dialogue and branching paths is equally as game-y but more straightforward.

Well, those are my hot takes and armchair game development. Take it as you will, Im interested to know what you think

Posted Oct 25, 2022, 1:56 AM UTC

617
Sadness_Inbound•

I'd probably just can it.

That or turn it into something entirely different with a new subtitle like Shattered Memories.

18
camo_boy67•

I do kind of agree, with you on Maria bit. I get you’re supposed to care about her. But seriously, I feel like like you spend less than two hours with her tops and you’re supposed to care about her. Even after trying to get the Maria ending. (It was more a matter for James or have a happy ending). Yeah, seriously every time James sees Maria than loses her hes like whoops. I best go finishing my first plan. Also born from a wish also kind ruins the Maria plot line to me. I don’t think they should’ve add that in the game.

8
kobitzOPThe anime your mom warned you about•

And the like, the interactions with her in cutscenes are interesting and meaningful but she otherwise does nothing in-gameplay. And to get the Maria ending yoiu have to "spend a lot of time with her". Which basically means stalling for time in the hospital and praying you shot on her the back of the head by accident

2
Citizen_Nemo•

I feel like most of those changes you're bringing up would be poison for a fan like me. I'd be open to the game receiving a layer of polish, now that the illusion has been broken for me on some of the 2D backgrounds they used to make spaces feel bigger.

SH2 does a great job of saying a lot, by not saying just enough. I don't need constant dialogue to remind me that James has feelings for Mary. He's carrying around her picture and a mysterious letter from her.

Combat is easy in SH2. It might require a plan to address each enemy type, and a backup strategy in case you get swarmed. However, that game is beatable with pretty much just the plank you get at the start. The bosses are much easier with ranged attacks, and you'll have plenty of ammo if you focus on melee for standard enemies. If they wanted to add a nightmare mode that included enemies that weren't a normal part of the game, to make it more difficult, I'm on board. Heck, the game came with a 2D control scheme, for all the people less capable than lab rats that can't handle tank controls.

Adding more dialogue and "choices" was one of the worst things they ever did to "improve" the multiple choice ending system. Downpour might have been an improvement on the general course SH games had been taking, but its "choice" system allowed you to forge a narrative that made no sense. You can swing wildly from being a monster, best caged by the prison system, to a nice guy that never did anything. That's absolutely vapid in the face of SH2, where no matter what ending you get, it doesn't change James or his motovations. It just changes the method he uses to cope with his stress.

The models in that game have some weaknesses, but are surprisingly good. Even in the face of modern games. I'll defend the acting as well. Nothing throws its quality into stark relief, quite like listening to the dub they made for the HD remaster. And I 100% believe any modern dub is going to hit more "HD Remaster" than OG Dub.

Frankly, my hopes for this current remake are somewhere down the drain pipe, past that wallet James fetches from the toilet. Because they've shown once again that they think they know better than the original creators with the trailer they dropped.

tl;dr

There are maybe a handfull of things that could be marginally improved in a remake of SH2. However, there's way more that could be broken, wrecked, or lost if it's done in a heavy-handed manner.

6
Nelsonizzy•

I agree with every point you make so much I want to kiss you (platonically as bros). Everything that people say could be "improved" comes from a perspective that fundamentally does not understand what about Silent Hill 2 is great and unique.

3
AnalogFlame•

I don't much care for the second one you mention. I doubt James would be focused on the good times with her there while disassociating and telling himself he has to find his dead wife in a town of monsters. The fact James wants to punish himself this much subconsciously already tells us just how much he cared for her before she got sick. And how bad he felt for his thoughts and actions during it. I think adding little moments like you mentioned would be kinda too much.

5
markedmarkymarkSmaller than you'd hope•

Nothing much other than give GoG the greenlight to release a fixed SH2 Port like SH4 there. Or just make new ports of old school ones.

My issue ain't just that its different and overacted, it's the fact you don't have ease of access to the OGs, having both, having both would be fuckin' neat.

5
EldritchBee•

I would give a hunk of money to the Enhanced Edition team and make that official. Then I would do nothing else.

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leabravoGracious and Glorious Golden Crab•

First thing first, make sure everything from the original game gets captured in some form, do NOT do like RE3make and slice out significant chunks of the original game.

Second, focus on QoL improvements to gameplay overall. I agree with adjusting the ending requirements to make them less obtuse - maybe have them unlock based on gameplay and then let James/the player choose at the end, a la Elden Ring.

Third: if I HAD to add stuff, I'd look at fleshing out Eddie a bit more, maybe have him viewable to the player as a legitimate potential ally before the full heel turn. I don't know that Angela needs anything additional.

Last, maybe let James find some stuff from the cult - nothing too definitive, but some teaser material to set up potential remakes of 1 and 3.

3
jackprime91•

Not hire bloober team

2
LadyXexyzToken Furry Mom•

Can it and remake Silent Hill 1. I’m not even in the SH2 devout worshipper club (I’m a SH3 gal).

Out of everything, a remake of that would actually be a pretty good jump ball for whoever handled it. That needs updated visuals.

2
robertman21•

Dog ending is the only ending

1
AzureKingLortrac•

First, make the OG game more readily available. That is the first thing with a bullet.

I agree with the combat being tweaked but not quite for same reasons. I think 2 has the most basic enemies in the series (no fast enemies like the dogs or flying enemies), with the combat being real easy when you get a hang of it. 2 also is the only game of the OG 4 without a defensive mechanic (1 has backstep, 3 has guarding, 4 has backsteps and sidesteps). So those could be worked on so that you actually need to care about your resources. Maybe >!introduce dog enemies as Eddie's monsters in the Prison, like with the Abstract Daddies from Angela's SH!<.

The Mary memories idea would work great when exploring SH after the hospital, since it is the best spot for it from a story and gameplay standpoint. From a gameplay standpoint, that part kinda feels like filler and it would be nice getting extra lore from exploring would be nice.

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Nelsonizzy•

I don't think it's worth trying to remake. Well, financially it's worth it. I'm sure theyll make good money off of this. But artistically? There's no point. Silent Hill 2 was already made, it already exists. Even if its remade beat for beat, not even a single mailbox out of place, there wouldn't be any point. Other then looking prettier. Which even that might not even be beneficial to the narrative.

Frankly, those suggestions would only be harmful to the narrative. Combat isnt the point, fighting the monsters should feel kind of shitty. Like a burdensome thing. Because of what the monsters represent. Having James make comments about his environment, or having those additional voiceovers would dilute his strong characterization of being largely detached from himself and the world around him. And constant references to his past with Mary in some sort of audio flashback would feel a bit like overkill, and ruin the ambiguity of their relationship.

The only thing that would be worth the retread would be if it was the events of silent hill 2 exclusively from Maria's perspective. Like a more fleshed out version of that bonus scenario. Theres some interesting themes to explore there, with Maria being a sentient being basically created exclusively for the sake of playing a part in James' fantasy of punishment and self loathing.

Sorry if I got preachy there. I have grown to fundamentally hate remakes and each one that is announced my cynicism meter goes up more

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kobitzOPThe anime your mom warned you about•

More Maria content for sure. I love how... sincere she sounds in the Maria ending, like she really wants to be with James and its not an act - born from a wish scenario really helped on that

1
Nelsonizzy•

See now that's the most interesting (and fucked up) part. Of course she sounds sincere, she was literally created to feel that way. she can't feel any other way about james, even if she wanted to

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NivrapNon-Z-Targetable•

Let the game be all pretty and shiny and next-gen looking, but keep all the monsters, as well as the entire otherworld, with PS2 graphics. Personally I think low-res monsters are scarier than high-res monsters, and I think it would be cool to see how even more fucked up they look next to photorealistic James. Even better, have James' model slowly degrade to PS2 quality the longer you spend in the otherworld.

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