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What's your favorite Silent Hill game?
- Thread starter Samiya
- Start date
yeah they're doing better than I thought. A remake of 1 to bring it visually in line with 2 and 3 (not modern visuals, just up to that contemporary standard) would be a dream come true for me. It's still a great game even without that though - visually incredible for that hardware.
Strangely I agree with you. 2 is more polished, but 1 as a game felt revolutionary when it arrived- and it was left intentionally vague by the narrative whether there was legitimately something supernatural going on, or whether it was all some sort of jacobs ladder-esque hallucination.
A lot of the narrative "mystery" and intensity was gone by the time 2 rolled around (it's generally understood what Silent Hill is by that point) even if Sunderland's story has more nuance than Harry's does.
The game is held back a lot by the PS1 hardware and I think much like Demon's Souls if it got a ground up remake on modern systems it's overall "reputation" would improve.
It's always a pleasure to read your opinion about horror games, and I can understand that feel. I'm always doing a SH 2 > SH1 > Sh3 every 2 years. There's nothing that resembles the experience that SH do.
This I'll give you. Silent Hill 3 does something that no other game in the genre has done, separating the combat and puzzle difficulties. You would think it would be a rather obvious option?
Personally I think the "hard" puzzles are absurdly difficult and beyond the ability of most reasonable people, so it's more the spirit of the attempt rather than the actual execution I'm applauding here.
Silent Hill 1 is still my favourite. I love the feels that it gives, I will also do a replay shortly.
My personal chart
1- Silent Hill 1
2- Silent Hill 2
3- Silent Hill 3
4- Silent Hill: Downpour
5- Silent Hill: Homecoming
6 -Silent Hill 4: The Room
7- Silent Hill: Origins
8- Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
9- Silent Hill:Book of Memories
My personal chart
1- Silent Hill 1
2- Silent Hill 2
3- Silent Hill 3
4- Silent Hill: Downpour
5- Silent Hill: Homecoming
6 -Silent Hill 4: The Room
7- Silent Hill: Origins
8- Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
9- Silent Hill:Book of Memories
I think there's a reason that whenever a new SH is announced, Konami promises it'll be "more like SH2."
It's hands-down the best one. They struck absolute gold.
It's hands-down the best one. They struck absolute gold.
Silent Hill 2 is the best horror movie... I've ever played, full stop. All horror fans owe it to themselves to experience it. It's the Terminator 2 sequel moment compared to Silent Hill 1's Terminator 1.
3 felt too... pretentious? Trying too hard? Some interesting moments but definitely the lesser product of the original trilogy. Extremely uninteresting story and characters.
4 was an interesting idea that was extremely poorly executed. A chore to go through and I'll probably never find myself wanting to play it again.
The rest of the series was just plain trash. Although Shattered Memories could have been something great if the dev team was given additional time, I suppose.
3 felt too... pretentious? Trying too hard? Some interesting moments but definitely the lesser product of the original trilogy. Extremely uninteresting story and characters.
4 was an interesting idea that was extremely poorly executed. A chore to go through and I'll probably never find myself wanting to play it again.
The rest of the series was just plain trash. Although Shattered Memories could have been something great if the dev team was given additional time, I suppose.
2 and 4
1 and 3
In that order.
SH2 will always be the goat.
SH4 has an amazing story and development, hugely underrated, but understandable thanks to the weird gameplay additions.
SH1 is pure horror. Schools and hospitales are not the same for me after playing it when I was a kid.
SH3 is also great.
The rest are good enough for at least one playthrough, except for Book of Memories lol.
1 and 3
In that order.
SH2 will always be the goat.
SH4 has an amazing story and development, hugely underrated, but understandable thanks to the weird gameplay additions.
SH1 is pure horror. Schools and hospitales are not the same for me after playing it when I was a kid.
SH3 is also great.
The rest are good enough for at least one playthrough, except for Book of Memories lol.
I think SH2 is the best all-around but I've played SH1 more and I think it's a slightly more enjoyable game in terms of gameplay somehow, not sure why.
The problem with a single choice poll is that you can never find out what people's second or third choices are.
Even though the site doesn't support ranked voting, asking people to vote for their top two games would get a more interesting result (though it's still likely to be dominated by 1–3).
Anyway, 3 would probably be second place for me, but it's quite far behind 2. I'm not remotely as interested in the cult stuff that most of the series focuses on.
4 is the only game in the series I haven't played or really seen much of.
I've always had a soft spot for 3. As a teen when it came out, I related to Heather and I was also very interested in cults at the time.
2 will always have the best story of the series. Psychological horror at its best. 1 is a good comfort game. 4 did interesting things that I wish they could have expanded on.
Did not care for Origins or Book of Memories. Shattered Memories was cool the first time through, but I don't replay as much as the first four. Thought Homecoming/Downpour were fine, but wished they had pushed the envelope a bit more, though I have not played them since they came out and would be interested to replay them to update my opinion.
2 will always have the best story of the series. Psychological horror at its best. 1 is a good comfort game. 4 did interesting things that I wish they could have expanded on.
Did not care for Origins or Book of Memories. Shattered Memories was cool the first time through, but I don't replay as much as the first four. Thought Homecoming/Downpour were fine, but wished they had pushed the envelope a bit more, though I have not played them since they came out and would be interested to replay them to update my opinion.
Silent Hill 2.
The rest of the series: 1 > 3 > 4 > Shattered Memories
*a large cliff*
Downpour > Origins > Homecoming > Book of Memories
The rest of the series: 1 > 3 > 4 > Shattered Memories
*a large cliff*
Downpour > Origins > Homecoming > Book of Memories
3 > 1 > 4 > 2
I always like the town as it is depicted in 1 and 3, which is a lot more rational to me that the nightmarish representation of Silent Hill 2 where everyone seems crazy.
Overall 3 is my favorite in part because of how I played it for the first time with my best friend back then, but also of how the story is better explained through the cutscene and less is left for interpretation. I know i'm in the minority here, but really I loved the story of Silent Hill 3.
To me 4 and 2 are on equal level, but Silent Hill 4 had so much new idea for the series. I think it was really bold going in that direction and like that.
I always like the town as it is depicted in 1 and 3, which is a lot more rational to me that the nightmarish representation of Silent Hill 2 where everyone seems crazy.
Overall 3 is my favorite in part because of how I played it for the first time with my best friend back then, but also of how the story is better explained through the cutscene and less is left for interpretation. I know i'm in the minority here, but really I loved the story of Silent Hill 3.
To me 4 and 2 are on equal level, but Silent Hill 4 had so much new idea for the series. I think it was really bold going in that direction and like that.
As someone who played 1-3 for the first time ever recently on original hardware - it's SH1 by a country mile.
SH1 is just an astonishing thing that stands up amazingly today, and was so far ahead of what games were doing at that time that it's not even funny.
The sequels are all great, but they haven't really matched SH1 for sheer, stupefying, out of the gate brilliance that's consistent all the way through. It's so shockingly good, so precisely sure of what it's trying to do at nearly every second, that it feels like aliens or people from the future made it.
SH2 is very, VERY different and an excellent game, and the plot (especially for the time) was extraordinary, but I don't think the overall design is as strong or as groundbreaking as SH1, and SH2's style and plot points have been copied, digested, and emulated by so many of the games that came after it that it somehow felt less fresh than SH1 to me, in 2021.
SH1 is just an astonishing thing that stands up amazingly today, and was so far ahead of what games were doing at that time that it's not even funny.
The sequels are all great, but they haven't really matched SH1 for sheer, stupefying, out of the gate brilliance that's consistent all the way through. It's so shockingly good, so precisely sure of what it's trying to do at nearly every second, that it feels like aliens or people from the future made it.
SH2 is very, VERY different and an excellent game, and the plot (especially for the time) was extraordinary, but I don't think the overall design is as strong or as groundbreaking as SH1, and SH2's style and plot points have been copied, digested, and emulated by so many of the games that came after it that it somehow felt less fresh than SH1 to me, in 2021.
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Two. It is a hands down masterpiece. 1 and 3 are very good as well — especially the horror in 1.
But 2 has legit worth to mankind. It deserves to be remembered hundreds of years from now if we don't get to choose many things to save.
But 2 has legit worth to mankind. It deserves to be remembered hundreds of years from now if we don't get to choose many things to save.
1, 4, and Homecoming are my favorites. I think 2 is a bit overrated but still quite good.
The only one I didn't really like in the main series was Origins. It wasn't terrible but there was just nothing really unique about it at all.
The only one I didn't really like in the main series was Origins. It wasn't terrible but there was just nothing really unique about it at all.
Shattered Memories by a fucking mile.
The way the games story unfolds and the twist at the end was absolutely perfect. Add in to the fact I brought my new born daughter home 2 weeks earlier and it was a magical experience.
Not only best Silent Hill, but best game released on the Wii.
The way the games story unfolds and the twist at the end was absolutely perfect. Add in to the fact I brought my new born daughter home 2 weeks earlier and it was a magical experience.
Not only best Silent Hill, but best game released on the Wii.
2, 3, and 4 are all very close for me, so which one's my favorite just depends on my mood on the particular day you ask me (voted SH4 since it's lagging behind severely). 1 is also great, but just isn't quite as compelling as the PS2 entries for me.
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2>1>3>4>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>who gives a shit.
Difficult choice because I love 2&3 equally, but I voted 3. I love 4 too, but not quite as much, although it's close. I want to love 1 more, but the sewer level and annoying monsters hold it back a bit for me.
In order from best to worst:
Silent Hill 1 = Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 3
Silent Hill 4
*insert moderate gap here*
Homecoming
Origins
*insert enormous gap here*
Downpour
Silent Hill 1 and 2 are both excellent horror games with different approaches, and are essentially equal in how good they are. Silent Hill 3 is also a very good game, and I totally understand picking any of these three as your favorite.
Silent Hill 4 has very strong highs and lows, and I would say the highs are outnumber the lows.
I would never say that Homecoming is a good Silent Hill game, but I think it does make a decent action-horror game with a cheesy b-movie story.
Origins is fine for what is: a Silent Hill spin-off for the PSP. It does not come anywhere close to the quality of the original four console games, but it works as a decent time waster as a portable horror game with the gameplay and style of SH 1-3.
Downpour is one of the worst, if not THE worst, mainstream horror games to have been released on the PS3 and X-Box 360. The ONLY thing it has going for it are some cool ideas, which it does absolutely none even semi-competently. I honestly have nothing positive to say about it anymore, and my respect for its developers literally diminishes every time I play it.
So, in short:
Silent Hill 1 and 2: Fantastic
Silent Hill 3: Great
Silent Hill 4: Good
Origins and Homecoming: Mostly decent for what they are, with occasional bits of badness.
Downpour: Astonishingly terrible
Silent Hill 1 = Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 3
Silent Hill 4
*insert moderate gap here*
Homecoming
Origins
*insert enormous gap here*
Downpour
Silent Hill 1 and 2 are both excellent horror games with different approaches, and are essentially equal in how good they are. Silent Hill 3 is also a very good game, and I totally understand picking any of these three as your favorite.
Silent Hill 4 has very strong highs and lows, and I would say the highs are outnumber the lows.
I would never say that Homecoming is a good Silent Hill game, but I think it does make a decent action-horror game with a cheesy b-movie story.
Origins is fine for what is: a Silent Hill spin-off for the PSP. It does not come anywhere close to the quality of the original four console games, but it works as a decent time waster as a portable horror game with the gameplay and style of SH 1-3.
Downpour is one of the worst, if not THE worst, mainstream horror games to have been released on the PS3 and X-Box 360. The ONLY thing it has going for it are some cool ideas, which it does absolutely none even semi-competently. I honestly have nothing positive to say about it anymore, and my respect for its developers literally diminishes every time I play it.
So, in short:
Silent Hill 1 and 2: Fantastic
Silent Hill 3: Great
Silent Hill 4: Good
Origins and Homecoming: Mostly decent for what they are, with occasional bits of badness.
Downpour: Astonishingly terrible
Homecoming was actually the first Silent Hill game I played, and I have fondness for it as well. It's not a great game, but I would say that it is the best of the Western developed games. Note that I have not played Shattered Memories.
My choice has always been SH1. SH2 is great, it has a story that is better presented and with more complex and thought-through themes going on perhaps, but I always find the rust-covered pulsating brutal despair and darkness in SH1 to win me over. It is like SH2 was more refined, polished and even beautiful at times, and like a really dark thriller more than a horror experience, but that also took some of the edge away.