The early to mid-2000s were the pinnacle of horror gaming. We were spoiled for choice, with so many unique experiences to peruse and fall in love with. But for me, none stood taller as a part of the genre than Silent Hill. The first four games remain some of my favorites to replay again and again, and every time I do, I think of the talent and effort that was poured into every detail. Long live Team Silent.
The new avaliable technology really boosted up some more sophisticated gaming genres like stealth, horror and action rpgs. I think they outshined things that were stronger in the 90s like pure adventure games and traditional rpgs. And about horror, the ps1 was already pushed to limits by RE and SH. Actually they were too ahead of their time and didnt have a more suitable console for the scope of those ideas (except if we count the Dreamcast). Good thing SH1 particularly was from the very late 90s, because imo a ps1 sequel would feel rough and dull. SH2 was more fortunate to end up enjoying the next gen standards than RE3 for example. Even if that wasnt translated into actual superior success, but from just a technical evolution viewpoint SH sequels starting on next gen gave it an advantage over RE, that had the first sequels still on ps1 and just couldnt push the gameplay and atmosphere much further. While SH2 was an unbelievable jump in comparison.
The In Memoriam at the end. 🥺 That's so sweet of you. It hurts to see a handful of the talent pass so soon. I hope they know just how much they mean to so many, wherever they are. These were beautifully done retrospectives, and I'm grateful for your time, effort, and dedication to producing a high level of quality in every single one.
I’ve been saying for a while now that SH3 is the sequel to SH1 and continues that story, but SH4 is the sequel to SH2 and feels the most like a continuation of that side story.
If only further games would embrace the "side story" concept, coming up with unique concepts and scenarios instead of trying to live in the shadow of SH2 (or returning to the well-worn "lore" of 1 and 3).
Dude I’ve been saying that exact thing since the release of 4. So disappointed with the “fans” of Silent Hill at that time period for just not getting it.
Incredibly written, wonderful work! If you have set out to make the greatest most comprehensive series of documentaries covering the master works that comprise “Silent Hill” phenomenon, you have most certainly accomplished your goal! Hats off to you, Bravo, … bravo!
This was literally my gateway to the entire Silent Hill franchise. Were it not for The Room, I never would've gone back to the previous Trilogy and become a fan of the series lore. It was also the very first time I came to understand that revisiting previous game levels can actually be exhilirating, knowing that you've been there before, but still wary of what else might be lurking around the corner before it's too late. I love this game.
Your way of talking about games is almost addictive, it goes so deep and I think it even adds value to the gaming experience. It's not everyday that you get to know the people behind the game: their CV, their problems and even how the rest of their lives went on... I wish you would cover other horror or indie games, like for example life is strange or alan wake... I love what you do!
Also, I wanted to say about this game in particular, the ghosts were such a stressful yet great mechanic in evoking emotions as I personally felt guilty for our character not being able to save them and those ghosts chasing after you was like a reminder of our failure in helping them. I dunno if that was an intended take away but that's how I felt about it. In that way the ghosts were truly haunting to me.
Meh. So the SH games live and die by their atmosphere. The ghosts are a cool idea but the implementation, forcing you to rush panicked through multiple screens, was bad. I think without this mechanic and the escort mission/chase on the back half, SH4 would be well regarded. I think its the coolest conceptual game in the series with the coolest set pieces. But the pure mechanics are pretty shit
You need to find the swords to keep them in place, one thing that works is that you can remove the sword if you want, then use the sword in other ghosts. For example Jasper Gein wasn't too annoying, unlike others.
@@iamantieverything87 Exactly, Konami was a good company on NES, SNES, PS1, Game CUbe, Game boy. but when they need to crossover into a whole new level, like PS2, they started to flop. They didn't manage to bring Castlevania into the future of consoles, and the same happened with Silent Hill. Capcom in the other half was more smart, not only with Biohazard, but also with Devil May Cry, even if the copy of Castlevania was Ghouls and ghosts, and Demon Crest, both games were leaving in time. Some gamers still believe Konami vs Capcom is a reality, and maybe that's not the case, maybe Capcom is already in a different level, and Konami just lost the track.
Literally just finished a dozenth playthrough SH 1-4. So rare for people to recognise The Room for the gem it is, I'm thrilled! What a thorough and fascinating investigation, loved it!
I did found one copy in Montreal. It was the only copy left of SH4 OST I could put my hand on at the time. Around 10 years ago, now that I think of it. Thanks for putting context on that weird 2nd CD.
Hiro Usuda also took pictures of the mgs3 devs for the Sorrow boss fight, where you can take & find hidden photos of the staff, she modeled the famous cemetery where Snake salutes the Boss (she has her name on one of the tombstones which in return carried over to the Pachislot). For MGS4, she designed the Gekko legs, was responsible for creating the 2006 Meryl model and much more.
@@ChristopherSadlowski Japanese pachinko slot machines? I know silent hill has a couple, and I'm sure konami has pumped some out, but as to what they actually look like and do, I don't know, I'm just running on inferred information lol. Except for pachinko, its an asian thing but pachinko looks fucken FUN
This is my favourite Silent Hill game, and I will die on this haunted hill. There are probably a couple of things leading to this preference. First of all, ghosts are probably the only horror monster that genuinely scares me (and the minute a movie reveals the ghost was a demon all along, the tension immediately evaporates). So this game is especially effective for me. I'm a very slow and meticulous gamer, and I will spend way too much time poking at the world, looking for secrets or glitches or admiring the look. It took me, no joke, 10 hours to play through the desert level my first time through NieR Automata, and most of it was just me futzing around and admiring everything. SH4 rewards you for doing this by unravelling more of the story and fleshing out the world, Henry especially. In that way, the game is tailored to both my horror genre and playstyle. Nice. But the best thing about the story is the slow invasion of your safe place. It's perfection. Also, I don't know why, but when I try to sleep with a door partially closed, I always imagine the Twin Victims on the other side, pointing at me. Nope nope nope nope nope nope! Loved all the extra details about the staff behind the game, especially Henry's mocap and voice actor. Learning what each member of the team worked on makes me want to look up more of their projects, because I love what many of them did here. Having a name for who worked on the models or the scenarios or environments is invaluable. I appreciate your hard work, as always!
'This is my favourite Silent Hill game, and I will die on this haunted hill.' you are not alone,buddy! save a room for me! get it? room? like in the title of the..... nah....you get it,right? we are going to have a blast on top of that hill. wait....hill???? is that a pun as well??? now i know for sure that we are meant to be with each other! we are so in sync.....wait...where are you going,pearl? pearl? the hill is over here. pearl??????
@@ssllsg9439 ....What the hell? (Haha... get it? Cuz like... Henry... and the escalator... and he's like 'What the hell'.... Look, just get over here in the hill already.)
What an incredible channel, what an incredible series of videos, yt show me this out of the blue, as a long time fan (circa 99), your channel is my flauros now.
@@WolfHero the dedication she puts on every vid is incredible, i already watched most of the sh analysis, im in awe, im in love with the muse now, incredible channel
Just finished watching all 4 parts, great series! Got a ton of tidbits and info I've never known about, I appreciate the deep dive into the production and especially the feedback each game received! Also, as a big Grasshopper fan, I'm happy to see the original devs look at multiple games under Suda51 for inspiration!
Good freakin' work, Muse! Ya got me to shed a few tears at the end of this one. Excellent work doesn't come close to describing what you've put together with these KCET essays. Thank you very much.
1:02:19 All these years we've condemned Konami for pulling the plug on the og Silent Hill 5 back in the day. But hearing this makes me realize it was possibly a good thing this game was never released...
One of these days I hope to see a discussion on how Tsujimoto Atsushi created that legendary "opening movie". I love the "filmed off a CRT" look that it has for some of the shots. A similar look can be seen in SILENT HILL 着信ロビー Robbie from Silent Hill 4: The Room Official Japanese Site. But that video says its edited by Takayoshi Tanaka(Usagi Tanaka). You can find it on youtube on the Silent Hill Memories channel or on USAGI TANAKA's channel
hello! I think this is my first time commenting on your channel. I can't play horror games bc they're too scary for me lol but I enjoy watching them and your videos ✌🏽
As usual, just incredible work in general here. Definitely didn't expect to cry (the memorial section) and Shingo's passing really took me off guard. RIP to all those who passed. Would be neat to see this series continue with Origins, as that game's development history is positively insane and fascinating as a result. Finding devs who worked on them would be much easier than with the KCET titles as well.
Wow... Just finished this "saga" of the 'Complete History" Silent Hill games and could not hesitate to leave a comment. I'm very grateful to have found your channel this year. Your work, dedication, passion and delicacy are so exciting. But I must also thank you for the feeling of sharing such a lovable saga with us. Its heart-warming to know that we are not alone in the love we all have for the Silent Hill Universe. If you ever come to Lisbon (Portugal), do not hesitate to reach out 😉
I appreciate the work behind this video. Silent hill videos are a common place now that the games are cult classics but I think yours stand above most of the others that I’ve seen. Keep it up!
Many thanks for all your work and faithfulness to the developers and their creative legacy!! Didn't know Shingo Yuri died after Death Stranding. Of course his touch will be missed in the characters of Kojima's next game.
Making my way through SH4 for the first time. It can be a bit unforgiving at times, but I’m glad I didn’t skip it. It’s also terrifying as hell… especially the hospital! Seriously this game actually made me jump a few times, like when Walter shows up behind you in the subway hallway…
I just beat it for the first time as well. First played it when I was 13 and didn’t understand the story and only got to the Apartment world… 22 now and I can say it’s definitely the most disturbing out of the first four due to how real and voyeuristic the whole experience feels.
SH4 is my second favorite after the first one, is so bold. I love the contrast between the protagonist and the antagonist, i also relate to Henry a lot, by his fear of reaching out, staying home, listening to the voice that says "Don't go out!!". Ah, just so great, love it
I am new to the channel, and wow this video truly did justice to the game (which happens to be my personal favourite in the whole series). Great analysis!
Great video dude! pretty neat as always. I love SH4 premise, I think is a pretty decent game on it's own, it expands the concept, and the mythos like no other game before in the series. The ghosts certainly felt out of place when you started the game, they're still pretty disturbing but when you started to get a grip on the story and realized they are Walter's victims, you start to see this game was very well written, disturbingly creative in comparison of the later games after it. The chained door is a HUEGE allegory, It's a very conceptual/psychological game, It's plot is as worthy of being a SH title like 2 itself. SH4 set the milestone, that hasn't been achieved in later non Japanese games. When they stopped innovating and started to try to solidify soul less recreations repeating concept design disregarding the story and mythos, SH became a hollow franchise. That's why SHSM is so decent. That's why PT is superb. that's why I'm so not hyped about SH2 Remake (¿why remaking a perfect game?) and that's why I admire SH4. It innovated, it even did stuff you weren't prepared to see on a SH game. Games like these aren't easy to achieve. I'm glad it exists. BTW I wanted to recommend you all a manga I've been following for a while called *"Chi no wadachi" a.k.a Trail of Blood by Shuzo Oshimi.*
I know the blue tones and dark, black screens in some parts of this documentary are Vegas' misedits, but I feel it gives the video a more "ghostly" vibe, fitting for SH4!
I love SH4. It's technically not as good as SH3, but it's more ambitious, and I have always appreciated that. (It's not as successful, but that's okay!) Compare SH4 to the post-"Team Silent" games to really appreciate how creative and daring it is. Everything after 4 is unable to escape the shadow of SH2, but Team Silent kept trying to innovate.
Thanks for the video! Do you think we will ever see a team from Japan producing a silent hill game, or are the multiple game announcements possibly an “audition” to see who can carry the franchise next?
This was just.. so amazing and so well put together- Do you still have the source of the video of Tesui Ichiryusai's performance shown around 52:40? I'd really like to see it in full
SH4 is an amazing game! Once you get over the differences in comparison to the prior titles it really is a masterpiece. It's fucked up beyond belief and that's awesome 😃
For this game, the only thing that really hurt it in my eyes was the sound. Specifically, the use of zoo animal sounds, with extremely little variety. Some blatantly stock sounds.
I hate the comparisons of Silent Hill and Resident Evil. They are two distinct types of horror. Can't you love BOTH ? I love Fatal Frame,Siren and Clock Tower as well. None are like the others.
I never understood the negativity towards SH4 - I fell in love with it as soon as it was released. I’ve been playing them all since the first one came out and the 4th still felt like that world but had a fresh take on it, rather than repeating the same ‘man goes into town’ routine.
Silent Hill 4 was my first Silent Hill game followed by the games made by Team Silent. The Room might be flawed, but the opening trailer still gives me creeps.
With the continue rise of hikikomori and post CV19 in the West...this game takes on another life and is more relevant today. I was drawn to this game as a young teen, partly for my love of horror but also homeschool as a youth for many years. I love the idea of the safe room that you have to continue to go back to and then leave to explore. That concept captured my imagination and also trying to find little changes that occurred.
