My Love Letter To Silent Hill 2: A Retrospective Analysis 

It sure is, I can’t think of many other Survival Horror games or video games in general with such an emotional weight and depth too them that really stick with people for as long as this has just from how powerful the storytelling is

The other day I was watching a different video and my husband asked me, "how many videos about silent hill 2 are you gonna watch?" All of them, the answer is all of them.

I love this comment. This is prolly the hundredth video on SH2 I’ve seen, and as you said, it never gets old. I’m glad it’s not just me!

Yeah as you never hear him reply from that point I guess we never knew If he heard that part ? That’s a really good point I haven’t thought of that before

Yeah it’s amazing to think what an emotional journey silent is for so many people and how we all interpret it, you feel it more than play it, such an emotional game, the end always makes me get upset too, thanks for your comments I’m glad you enjoyed the video 👍

For me I love this idea that the town is trying to heal. However I can’t help but think about eddie because not only did he get worse but went over the edge. The town seemed to have made his problems even worse. I love how much this game makes me think about my own ideas of reality and human emotions. It truly is the perfect game.

Yeah crazy to think it’s that old now and still causes so much discussion, just shows how much of a landmark game it was and still continues to be !

Thank you very much I’m glad it’s reaching more people as usually My videos don’t get more than 20 odd views however I put a lot of work into this so I’m glad people are enjoying it ❤

Thank you very much for your kind words and sharing your experiences with the series, the first 4 games are truly phenomenal and like you say you get more and more out of them the more you play and revisit them as an adult as sometimes the themes and ideas shown don’t hit you as hard if you play them at a young age, thank you again it’s my first upload in a while so wanted to make it as good as I could !

Thank you for sharing your story.

Happy to watch such good content

I thank you for that video. Saw a lot of SH content. But i felt the devotion in yours. and i really like it.

@@CyberXviking thank you very much, I put a lot of hours and work into this one as I want it to be as great as I can make it, I feel I owe it to such an amazing game to give it its best review possible, thanks for your kind words 👍😁

@@jb2einziger I would say you delivered well. Thanks for your work.

You get it. I can't wait for more!

Thank you very much, I tried to make it as informative as possible without being too long, glad you enjoyed the video ! 😁

Thank you so much ! I tried to put as much information in it as I could without it running too long, glad you enjoyed the video !

Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed the video 🙏

Thank you very much, yeah it’s a great documentary you can find on RU-vid in full, but yeah I thought I’d include it to further explain my reasons for loving this game even more !

Thank you so much ! Yes it’s very special to me and I’m glad you enjoyed the video 👍

Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the video ! And yeah I quite enjoy the first SH movie I think they nailed the tone and atmosphere well and I’m excited to see what the next one brings, and yeah I do really like 4, it’s definitely one of the scariest and most disturbing for sure, and it definitely did something different, I’ve been meaning to play it again recently actually as out of the first 4 I haven’t finished it as many times as the others.

Thank you very much, yeah there’s a new film coming out too which should be good hopefully 🤞 glad you enjoyed the video

Thank you very much for watching ! And yes the soundtrack to SH1-4 are amazing but 2 is my favourite ! I’m so glad I managed to see him live and get a signed poster it’s my prized possession, also I don’t know how the new remake is gonna compare soundtrack wise as I don’t know how he could ever come close to making something that incredible again ! But fingers crossed

Also the Angela theory starts at 57:28 then continues after James watches the video tape, if you’re interested 👍

Thanks 😊 I’m glad you found the video interesting ! And yes this game has so many hidden details and themes and cues that can go unnoticed for many play throughs I only picked up on the time it takes James to jump down each hole whilst editing this video and I’ve been playing this game since it released 😂

Thank you ! Glad you enjoyed the video

Thank you very much, it took me a very long time to write compile and edit but I know i wanted this video to be special, glad you enjoyed it 👍

Awesome ! Thank you very much, I hope you enjoyed the video and thanks for the subscription !

Thank you very much for your kind words ! And that’s great ! The ps2 had an amazing catalogue of games and it’s awesome to know people are still discovering and falling in love with this amazing game all these years on since its release !

Thanks so much, I’m glad you enjoyed the video so much 👍😁

Thank you very much, that’s very kind, I haven’t uploaded in a while and have been working on this for a long time so I’m glad people are enjoying it 👍

Thanks, I’m hoping you enjoyed it or found it informative in some way, and yeah the first 4 are top tier, you get a lot of mixed reviews on 4 which can be understandable in some aspects but I really still enjoy it, just not all the escort missions with Eileen 😂

@@jb2einziger yes exactly! oh yes og trilogy is still the best. i enjoyed this video a lot and have my eyes open for new stuff coming

@@MirageOneiric thanks 🙏 and yeah hoping to make some more videos in the future just don’t always have too much time to do so

@@jb2einziger take ur time man! Good luck and wishing u well!

Thanks so much ! I’m really glad you enjoyed the video and maybe learnt some things from it, I put a lot of time and effort into making it and I’m really glad at all the great feedback and responses I’ve been getting ! Thanks for watching !

Thanks for the view and kind words, appreciate the support 👍

Glad you enjoyed the video 👍

definitely. was hoping you'd cover Born From a Wish towards the end. do you think you'd ever make a video on it?@@jb2einziger

@@Hugo_Tate come to think of it that is something I did leave out but I think that’s due to me never really playing it I always just play the main campaign but I have played it a few times, my next SH video will be on the Bloober Team Remake once it’s finally out

@@Hugo_Tate I never thought of that but yes I guess I did leave it out of this video, I think that’s mainly just due to me never really playing it that often I always just do the main campaign over and over again but I have done born from a wish a handful of times before, my next video would most likely now be on The SH2 remake by Bloober Team

awesome. cant wait for the remake and your video on it 👍 @@jb2einziger

That’s awesome 👏 that’s amazing you know the puzzles off by heart, and yes I’ve only done on easy normal and hard but never the extra riddle difficulty, I do also have a guitar cover on this channel of the theme of Laura, but not the reprise etc, and yeah I still have my signed akira Yamaoka poster in my office, excited to hear the new soundtrack and how it differs but I don’t know he’d ever come close to this kind of perfection in a soundtrack again

Thanks very much ! Hope you enjoyed it it’s by far my most in depth or complex analysis/review on my channel

Thanks very much 👍 I’m glad you enjoyed it

I hope it managed to help you in some way 😊 yes it truly is a masterpiece that is not an exaggeration, I hope you enjoyed the video

Thanks very much, and yeah I always end up getting leave unintentionally but think it suits, like you say it’s great how it can be discussed between fans and your explanation makes a lot of sense and is very well put 👍 and yeah got my fingers crossed the remake is going to be great

Thank you very much for that, that’s very kind, I did put a lot of work into making this video and it’s probably the most thought out or was treated with a level of care more so than anything else I’ve done on this channel before, so all the great feedback means the world 👍 glad you enjoyed the video !

Thank you very much, I’m glad you enjoyed the video !

Yeah I mean it’s annoying in this day and age as it’s hard to get hold of unless you still have a ps2 and can spare a lot for a used copy as they’re super expensive or can emulate it on a PC etc, there’s obviously the choice of the HD collection but I’d really avoid that at all costs as it’s so badly ported and full of bugs and incorrect stuff and issues etc, thanks for watching !

Yeah Guy has a real appreciation for the fan base and has such fond memories of his original time on SH2, he only really has any issues with Konami since because of the greatest hits, Xbox and HD collection releases re using his performance without any residuals or royalties etc

I can’t remember off the top of my head but I think the pictures mainly say about the hospital and prison camp, there’s a picture of the hospital director or something as well I think ? But I don’t think it would say anything about it burning down before we arrive as that’s spoiling the reveal before we even arrive at the hotel etc

damn

Very well said 👌 and yeah have you also played the enhanced edition for PC ? They just announced its completion, I usually just play it on my PS2 as I like the nostalgia and original feel to it being on the original hardware etc, and I also did make a couple videos after this on this channel reacting to more trailers and showcases for the remake if you’re interested, I’m still gonna give it a shot but like you say no matter how it turns out we always have the originals 👍

@@jb2einziger I have not, the enhanced edition's main appeal (besides the great bugfixes and ps2 effects restorations of course) is the option to have a bunch of features that go well beyond the original vision, 1080p widescreen patch? absolute nonsense, Silent Hill 2 was made with 480i 4:3 in mind, i am being blown away by the original game on PCSX2 as a 27 y.o playing the game for the first time in 2024 , i can't imagine what i must've been like in 2001 , but one thing i know for certain, the game we got in the end was the genuine full vision of the artists, it's not meant to have HD textures, its meant to have the film grain, its mean to be fuzzy and dizzy. I did have a PS2 when i was 12 in 2009 for many years but i never played SH2 , i tried the third game for like 20 minutes and it bored me back then because i was so into Resident Evil 4 that SH just felt too slow , these days i only have space for 1 single CRT display so since i prefer CRT over flat panel and i mostly use my PC, i chose it to be a PC VGA CRT Monitor which is no good for PS2 (i dont even have a PS2 anyomre anyways) so while you are 100% that the og PS2 game on a CRT TV is the genuine full experience, what im doing right now is a very close 2nd, the only issue is that my CRT Monitor is minimum 31kHz so therefore 480i only runs at 120hz not 60hz like the ps2, therefore i lost a bit of motion clarity (but it doesnt break the game at all, it kinda fits it well) and the sound quality is obviously better on the PS2 because of how its sound chip worked, other than that, my way with PCSX2 is vastly more genuine to the original than the PC Enhanced Edition. And yeah the Remake, by now i guess you're able to tell, im definitely not big on it...

@@juanme555 yeah I know what you mean, I did one playthrough of the enhanced edition years ago for this channel and I was impressed by certain aspects but like you say there’s something about seeing it how it was intended, via the original hardware and on a CRT or something similar, also I love RE4 it’s my favourite videogame of all time I’ve played it hundreds of times, I still also in a similar way love to play it on my GameCube still as I love the original look and the letterboxing makes it look more cinematic, but I still have it on nearly every console still haha 😝 and yeah the ps2 had a fantastic library I’m really lucky to still own all my physical copies of SH 1, 2, 3 & 4 from back in the day 👍 it must be amazing experiencing SH2 for the first time right now ! I hope my video hasn’t spoilt any plot details etc

Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed the video, im hoping it will continue to circulate and accumulate some more views as I did spend a lot of time working on this one, but it’s still better than some of my other uploads, I have videos I spent weeks making and they’ve gotten about 90 views in a year, I guess it’s just how the algorithm works ?

Thank you

Yeah I’m currently playing it and writing my next review for it in this style ! It’s really amazing 🥲

@@jb2einziger I'm spending most of my time walking and looking around the game to try and find a fault lol I can't find a single one. I've just finished hospital and now running in the rain and dark. I still can't find a fault! Everything is perfect!

@@tjuk8050 yeah the visuals are insane they’ve nailed the fog and environments so well, super creepy and so much more expansive, tons of places to explore and see with additional puzzles etc 🙌

@@jb2einziger Dude! I was about 6 hours in before the first pyramid battle. I went into random house's all over the place (glass smash) lol the flower shop note... I don't want to say anything else. Peace out.

@@tjuk8050 awesome man ! Yeah it’s been great seeing all the new takes on the locations and some of the cool throwbacks where you inspect an area and it goes into the classic camera angle like the flashbacks when you go to shadow Moses in MGS4, it’s been so awesome ! I’m currently writing my review and will hopefully have it up in the next couple weeks ! Thanks for watching !

Yeah I’ve definitely got my fingers crossed 🤞 I’m hopeful

Wow, thanks for such a detailed answer that’s very useful to know, and yeah I feel from a normal play through I always end up with Leave without trying, I’d only probably end on in water if I played on a much harder difficulty, as on normal it’s so easy to never take much damage etc. I’ve managed to get all the special endings on multiple play throughs as well. The dog ending with Mira is my favourite special ending 🐶 hope you enjoyed the video ! Thanks for watching !

Thanks so much, I’m glad you enjoyed the video !

Ah that’s awesome thanks for letting me know !

Yeah, I do correct myself on that later in the video as I forgot about that when I originally started writing it, but by the time I got to that section I’d already recorded all of the narration so couldn’t change it etc, but thanks 🙏 hope you enjoyed the video 😁

I feel that’s the most standard to get for a general play through, I’ve only ever got in water or Maria maybe once or twice out of playing it like 20 plus times

Most people get the "Leave" ending because it's the one you don't have to do anything specific to unlock. "In Water" requires the player to examine the knife multiple times, read the diary on the hospital roof, listen to the audio recording in the hotel, not heal when damage has been taken, and listen to the entire conversation in the hallway before the Maria/Mary boss fight "Maria" requires you to not lead Maria in the wrong directions when she's following you, to not allow her to take damage, and to keep checking up on her in the hospital

Yeah for sure, I’ll be interested to see if the dialogue still carries the same emotional weight too it and if it will carry across as effective etc ?

She deserved it.

Ah ok I never knew that I think I’d heard from other sources what I state in the video here and always stuck with it as i thought those themes still fit those characters so well but guess I was wrong 😅

Thank you very much ❤

Thanks so much for watching my content and all your constructive feedback, all your comments are so well written and informative and you make very good points !really appreciate it🙏 and yeah I understand what you mean regarding the kind of effects these games and titles leave on us from an early age especially ones as heavy theme wise as this. Thanks for all the views and likes and yes I’m sure I’ll have another video up once the remake is out !

@@jb2einziger writing comments and cheering-on content creators is something I've enjoyed doing for years, ever since finding the Machinima genre. I hope you know what that is! Either way, you're very welcome, and I'm pleased you received them well, thanks! I've learned to understand that making good RU-vid videos is hard work and unforgiving at times. Writing a few words is no trouble :) I'd love to make something for RU-vid too, but I'm an absolute techno-retard! xD Take care, bro.

@@ninstar8165 that’s awesome ! And is machinima like what Red Vs Blue was by Rooster Teeth ? Like an animated web series etc ? And yeah a lot of hours do go into this so it’s really worth while knowing I’m teaching people who enjoy the content ! Thanks again man 🙏

Yes I did realise this in the later part of recording but I’d already recorded and matched up all the narration for the first half of the video but I do correct myself towards the end of the video when talking about the last boss fight 👍

Oh wow I never knew that ? That’s really interesting, I absolutely love Jacobs Ladder it’s amazing

@@jb2einziger Yeah, it's one of the best psychological horror films I have ever seen. I never would have heard of it if it wasn't for Silent Hill 2.

@@MonkTlön same here I only found it a good few years ago, even though I’ve been playing silent hill 2 for over 15 years, but since I’ve found It I’ve watched it tons

Ah ok that’s cool, I haven’t read the novelisation but I need to, I didn’t come up with that theory of the hotel and Angela but do you know the twin perfect RU-vid channel that did the real silent hill experience, Fungo from that used to do lore runs on twitch for all the silent hill games and he had a good hour or so of this theory and evidence for as well as against, but since I’ve heard it I think it makes sense but that’s what’s great about these games there’s just enough ambiguity to leave us discussing and guessing different things about it 😊

Yeah, I've been consuming Silent Hill 2 stuff since the game released in 2001, and this is the very first time I've ever heard anything about Angela setting the hotel on fire. It feels very...fanwank-y. Like the whole "Mary's body is in the trunk of the car" theory.

@@dungeonsanddobbers2683 I’d never heard the theory myself until a couple years back and I’d been playing it since the early 2000’s as well, it’s from a streamer on twitch that was previously part of Twin Perfect who did the real silent hill experience series on RU-vid if you’ve ever seen that ? I heard it through himself and since hearing it I think a lot of it does add up but again that’s what’s great about this game it causes a lot of discussion between fans and has done for many years :)

Yeah I understand it will never be able to replicate this amazing title as well as the original, it’s too big a task for anyone to take on, but I’m hoping it’s at least passable 😂 I don’t think we need a remake of 2 at all, I’d much prefer to see a remake of 1 first, and yeah when I wrote the script for this I said I’m only going to refer to him as the red pyramid thing but I’ve had lots of comments saying he does call him that at the end boss fight with the two after they kill themselves and you take the eggs from their hand but I do correct myself at that stage, but by that time I’d already recorded all the voiceover 😂 thanks for watching ! Hope you enjoyed the video

Yeah I love SH 1-4 however 2 just has a special place in my heart, 3 is incredible but I find it quite tense and it scares me more than any of the other titles, I think I find 2 so memorable and great as it seemed more of a sad love story with creepy elements to it, where as in Silent Hill 3 I’m more alert and on edge as I’m more focused on survival etc so I guess I can’t relax with it in the same way etc if that makes sense ?

Thank you 🙏 it all helps greatly

Yeah I realised towards the end of the game James calls him by that name for some reason I thought he didn’t as I only remember him speaking to Eddie on it as “that red pyramid thing” then too Maria in the labyrinth as “that thing” but yeah thought I’d correct myself at the end as I’d already recorded the first half of the videos audio by the time I’d realised 😂

Yeah it’s an incredible game that really holds up with all the right factors, do you mean it’s your first time playing silent hill 2 when you say you’re an hour or so in ? If so I hope I didn’t spoil anything in this video for you

@jb2einziger I already knew the entire plot but am forgetful just like James XD. So most of the puzzles and stuff I have no clue how to solve lol.

@@Neros_light ah ok that’s cool then, and yeah silent hill puzzles are so well written, they are next level

@jb2einziger I'm pretty excited for the SH2 Remake but cautiously. I really hope the atmosphere of the original is there. It's my one of my only criticisms of Resident Evil 3 Remake. The dark depressing atmosphere of OG RE3 is just non existent in Remake

@@Neros_light yeah we’ll they’ve obviously seen the success of the RE Remakes like 2, 4 etc as those ones were great but yeah I was let down by 3 for sure, can’t beat the original nemesis and yeah I’ve got my fingers crossed, we’ll see how it turns out

Yes I do bring this up later in the video for the final fight with the two.

Yeah I think the Mothman Prophecies was really silent hillesque, I think I watched it off the back of someone saying it was very silent hill, have you ever seen the movie adaptation of Dean Koontz phantoms ? I’ve also been told that’s very silent hill

@@jb2einziger yes. Phantoms definitely had that eerie abandon town mystery to it. Tho I’m not sure what other movies that director has under their belt but yeah. First half of that movie was superb. Then it gets kinda silly. Mark Pellington films say consistent with its tone throughout. I just want a good film. No more over bloated blockbuster wannabe cgi messes.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video ! I haven’t uploaded any reviews or analysis in a while my channel has always largely been let’s plays but I will definitely do more videos in this style from now on 👍😁

Happy Halloween 🎃 and thanks for the subscribe 👍

@@jb2einzigerLooking forward to more SH content if you're up for it!

@@jaredmatthews9403 I’ll definitely be reviewing the remake when it’s out as well as the movie most likely but I probably won’t spend anytime reviewing any other new SH titles as I can already tell I won’t like them from the trailers etc

@@jb2einzigerI hate to say it but I agree with you. I'll give them all a try but the only one I'm buying is the remake.

@@jaredmatthews9403 yeah I think from what I’ve seen so far with ascension etc I really think Konami or whoever is working on these titles have really misunderstood the core concepts and everything’s just a cheap carbon copy of SH2, sh2 was one of the only titles to differ from the key story of 1, 3 & also in part 4, but for some reason Konami just keep retrying to make SH2 over and over again, and although I love SH2 as you can tell by this video, I do also love 1 & 3 just as much I think it’s a really great series up until anything past 4, I’m just hoping bloober, because they already have some form of a well told story layed out in front of them, all they have to do is not go outside the lines too much, I’m also looking forward to the movie I’m hoping it’s good !

I thought in the game when you find it towards the end in the labyrinth it’s known as the great knife ? I know James calls it pyramid head after the last fight with them but before then I thought it was only ever referred to as the red pyramid thing

It may have sold badly upon original release in Japan but you have to admit it’s a real milestone of a game and is still treasured by a lot of people to this day ? I agree there is a lot of people who would prefer the original 1st SH game and it’s continuation in 3 over SH2 for sure, I made this as my own personal opinion why I love this specific title so much as I have a lot of history with the series. But that’s the great thing about the SH series it promotes discussion between fans, I love hearing people’s experiences with the franchise and why they like or don’t like certain titles

@@jb2einziger I understand I honestly want to see silent hill return to its dark super natural story telling of the lst game,the guilt theme was done best in sh2,all the other copycats in the other silent hill ganes failed and uts why sh2 is still at the top of all of them and it's why I don't care for the remake to much because it doesn't really need one it's fine as is.

*Not Maria.

Really ? Can you explain why though ? I’ve always heard it was Maria as she is a more seductive version of Mary/always flirting with and trying to tempt James, Angela is quite repulsed by men due to her trauma from her father/brothers abuse, which is why she killed them, I can’t see why she would be the seductress, as she doesn’t give that off at all ?

​@@jb2einziger btw, angela didn't kill her father and brother in self-defense. she murdered them violently with a knife. for the former, there is an in-game newspaper detailing the crime. think about it. why would she be punished in silent hill, with flames and the abstract daddy, if she were an innocent? does killing in Self-Defense merit being tormented by Silent Hill? you want an example of an innocent who can walk around silent hill without being bothered by monsters? Laura.

man. i typed my resource for the angela = seductress thing. but youtube/ google automatically scrubbed it, thinking it's a link spam.

my gosh. youtube and google keeps deleting the konami resource i post. youtube, google, get your heads out of your butts.