I was somewhat disappointed by the Silent Hill 3 episode. They skipped Claudia entirely and the voice acting done by Donna Burke who would go on to do some amazing songs for both Ace Combat and Metal Gear Solid. And then the episode came off as more of joking about the game's quality, its developers, and what appeared to Voidburger, Bob, and the other Bob as being flaws that made the game bad or shitty. Instead of reading the game's flaws and why people might like it somewhat charitably, the people on that episode seemed more dismissive and joking rather than trying to engage with why the game is the way it is and what that tells us about the themes the game covers. The best example of this disappointment was talking about the confessional booth section were it was just dismissed as a rush job rather than trying to engage with what that particular scene meant on a narrative level. The same with how the hosts were laughing about the enemies and the use of bosses rather than trying to put the game in the context of its narrative predecessor and what that meant on a thematic level (and design-wise). The episode just came across as a long series of jokes - which is fine! But I would also appreciate some serious engagement with the text and how it came to be and how it was received.
There was also a lot of time spent on shitting on the Silent Hill fanbase and their wild theories - which I totally understand and agree with in many respects - but it just took up a lot of time to just entirely dismiss fans and what they think - again, rather than either moving on to spend time on more interesting topics or at the very least, try to understand where other people are coming from with regard to for example liking Silent Hill 3 or trying to understand the game's strengths and weaknesses.
It was just an episode that rubbed me the wrong way. Too many jokes and dismissals of various things around and in the game from its developers to the actual text that could have been approached more seriously, imo. I appreciate the work that everyone put into the episode and also the great work that voidburger and bob do with the whole Silent Hill stuff on their youtube channels, but the way this episode was handled as being an episode mostly just laughing at the game and dismissing it rather than *also* taking it seriously.
The episode also ended up on a sour note by spending 10 minutes on the incredibly shitty film adaptation. Instead of talking about Silent Hill 3's legacy, what it meant for the series, the team who made it, the survival horror genre, representation of women in games, and so on. Just stuff that could be so much more stimulating and insightful to listen to. Just something a bit more interesting than "haha look at this dumb 3D film, can you believe how shitty it is?"
Anyway, I know it doesn't really matter and my opinion is worth nothing, just figured I'd share how I wish things could've been improved. I don't just listen and support Retronauts because of their amazing humor and jokes, but also because of the trivia, knowledge, research, and insight I get about certain games. This one felt too much like more of a long line of jokes or dismissals of a game, imo.
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