Silent Hill Ascension is An Abomination 

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The fact that the CEO of this company who worked on this said that criticisms on the story and narrative directions are "invalid criticisms" is such a slap in the face. What a time to be alive.

“Sad” sums it up perfectly. Such an iconic legacy turned into a cash grab. I miss Silent Hill

"It's Trauma" is a blatant mockery of the franchise.

An wise old man once said: "Sometimes, dead is better."

I expected nothing but the worst from Konami, and they still managed to exceed my expectations.

The it's trauma emote will become a meme laughing about the whole series. By the way, nice looking pre 2010 CGI show you got there Konami.

“IT’S TRAUMA!” I thought that was made as a meme for the thumbnail… the fact that it’s legit is soul crushing to me… and I never even played a Silent Hill game. I feel so bad for the fans.

Something i miss from old horror games like sh2 was the very minimalistic title screen, with no music, just that one sound when you hit new game. It really set the tone of making you feel alone, unsettled and no idea what there is to come. Here its like a big obnoxious sign saying "yeeaaah be disturbed, this is scary!"

The utter *balls* to make what is essentially a CGI series have a battle pass is such a fucking Konami move it's amazing that the pre-alpha gameplay we saw from MGS Delta didn't look like shit. I knew this was gonna be somehow worse than Bloober's SH2R when I heard the premise alone, but goddamn, this is beyond my expectations. Only hope I have for something decent out of this franchise is Silent Hill F, and that is seemingly following the 4 route of having almost nothing to do with the main series. When that happens, you know we have hit rock bottom (SH4 *is* really good tho, don't get me wrong).

I'm sure there is a universe that got Silent Hills... We are in the worst timeline.

"It's trauma!" Yes, to oversimplify. Ugh. Silent Hill was about a lot more than that. All four original games explored different kinds of abuse dynamics from different angles, with different goals. The connecting thread of the original Team Silent games wasn't just "trauma" broadly, it was repeated and deliberate abuse. The games explored the effects of this with Alessa, Heather and Walter showing both the immediate and then lasting effects of parental/familial abuse on young children (and in Walter's case, it lasted even into his adulthood), while James' character explored partner abuse as an adult. I learned a lot about psychology from the games to begin with, and then further academic learning about these subjects helped me understand the games even more. This was a series made by people who wanted to teach you important things about life while they were scaring the hell out of you. Konami execs are literally incapable of understanding art at that level, and it's embarrassing that they are stupid enough to think that these half-baked ideas they're vomiting up are actually going to revive the franchise.

How can someone work on this and think "yes this is what people that grew up with silent hill on PS1 will love"

This is what happens when people without trauma write for characters with trauma.

Silent Hill battle pass. This is a dark timeline we find ourselves in, friends.

My most early memories were playing SH3 with my mom; and I cant recall much except this weird nostalgic feeling when I play/watch gameplay. Seeing where SH has been going for the past couple years has been devastating for the both of us and this just drives it home more. Edit: for fellow folks that are desperate for something similar to silent hill, check out Slitterhead. Its being made by the leaders from team silent who left after SH1

Definitely a horror experience, but not in a good way.

The “It’s Trauma!” Sticker is possibly the one good thing to come out of this. It is 100% not appropriate or fitting the tone of the series whatsoever, but in the context of this travesty it perfectly encapsulates the problem with Ascension; trying to modernize a game with exploitative gaming revenue models while also using the franchise as an aesthetic to push sales rather than make use of its setting or themes to produce a coherent story or leave anything up to player interpretation. That being said I could absolutely see Heather Mason getting a sticker like this but I know damn well that wasn’t why they made it.

As someone who grew up in a cult of about 100 people, their response to doing something wrong by flipping between being really upset and not, and then deflecting (letting someone else handle it) and offering prayers to the people they hurt, is actually VERY accurate. I enjoy how logically you said it: "If the cult responsible for the death of my sister ... and instead gave me a prayer, I'd probably beat [them] into a coma--" Yeah, no. You're right, that IS insane and terrible and you're not wrong to think it's bonkers and illogical behaviour. But to me it gave me the heebie jeebies because YUCK, that really is how they do it. No, it doesn't make sense, haha. But the only good thing I can say about this Silent Hill so far, is that it is VERY accurate in at least that small depiction.

I think I zone out a little due to the unbearable disgust I feel towards Konami right now, but again, what is the point of having an avatar for a livestream series that already has set characters? Does your avatar ever going to appear in the series at some point? Does Konami think we're stupid or they are sure we are?

So Konami put all their Silent Hill fans in their own version of Silent Hill. 🤣

I'm glad I saw this. It's disappointing to see. You saved us a lot of time from venturing into this.

I just feel bad for whatever devs are trying their best to work with what they're given in this project. You just know that there was an original idea here that might have been good at one point, but out of touch higher-ups trying to please shareholders are always going to force live-service monetization in wherever they think they can get away with it...

The way they initially advertised it made it seem like this would be some kind of episodic Unfiction project where there would be some social media audience interaction and puzzle solving with the cast in between major story breaks, something even the most basic ARGs can manage in some form. I would even have accepted some kind of Until Dawn clone with a Silent Hill skin, if it was halfway decently executed. You don't even have to watch the streams or recap movies! You can log in after the stream, vote, and log out without actually knowing anything that's going on. It's nuts.

This is like something out of an episode of Black Mirror

This would have been fine without the microtransactions but no. This is seriously the most offensive thing they can do to Silent Hill fans. It’s a complete mockery and the developers are in it for the money. They could give a rats ass about silent hill. This def does not look good at all and it better be a learning lesson for all the other companies who have the IP. Too many hands are in the cookie jar rn and the only one that is hopeful is SH2 remake and if Bloober Team doesn’t pull it off I hope it’s their downfall.

I saw the founders pack, and forgot what game this was about. I saw the battlepass, and had to check the title to remember. I saw the "It's Trauma!" from the thumbnail was an actual thing from the game, and I died on the spot.

I've had to mourn the death of Silent Hill more times than I'm comfortable with... This feels particularly undignified, though...

If you trust Konami, you deserve to be preyed upon.

Doesn’t bode well for the Silent Hill 2 remake when you see how little respect Konami has for the IP when they shamelessly monetize it. The Silent Hill franchise has so much potential but Konami hasn’t seemed to learn from the mistakes they made with the Franchise post Silent Hill 3.

My friend told me something along the lines of "Konami is now contractly obligated to make nothing but bad games now." And he couldn't be more right at this point.

pretty cool having a Silent hill game actually made by demons.

This is really bad man... Sometimes I wonder if maybe its time for us to appreciate the era we experienced and just let these franchises go to possibly make way for a new way forward. *All* of the complaining is 100% warranted but these greedy companies wont change and I worry about our health...only so often we can take disappointment on this level before our blood pressure skyrockets😅. The Indies are a silver lining, I have to give them their props.

They did it...Konami made writing/watching a story pay to win.

FucKonami, am I right? It's clear there is no talent left at Konami, not since Hideo Kojima jumped ship like the first white woman off the Titanic as soon as he could. "Oh no, we couldn't actually make a real Survival Horror style game in the classic style of the first 3 Silent Hill games, that would require someone at Konami to actually know what they're doing! Instead, here's SIlent Hill Pachinko and whatever the hell Ascension is supposed to be." Oh, I can pay to customize an avatar? I can customize a better-looking avatar in Baldur's Gate 3, and I don't have to pay for additional cosmetic microtransactions to do it!

It's like Telltale game with random plot generator.

This is depraved and sociopathic, in a way that not even real life serial killers can sink this low to deny their victim a dignified death. Jesus Christ, a bad game would have been bad enough, but Konami had to jam a battle pass in there. Incompetent alone can't explain this. This is malice.

Silent Hill 2 is one of the best things in all of horror imo, and horror is my fav genre. I really put that game on a pedestal. So to see all of the crap that happened to this franchise and how it lead to...this. Man :(

The animation is more horrifying then the monsters

It’s refreshing hear Smough being super critical here😂

I guess it's time to accept there won't ever be another real silent hill game. The IP no longer has any meaning. Let's just keep an eye out for games like signalis that capture some aspects of the original masterpieces. And of course FUCK KONAMI

Signalis, an indie game that came out on consoles at the start of this year, replicates the Silent Hill feeling and mystery *far better than this official Konami product.* Christ.

God I really hope they don’t fuck up Silent Hill 2 remake like this

The its trauma emote I think is supposed to be quirky. Ive seen (mostly) girls online treat trauma, depression, other sad shit as like some quirky thing about them. Some might say its meant to make something sad into something funny and to destigmatize it but for me its just fucking cringe and unfunny.

this game is a man made horror beyond all human comprehension

Remember when Silent Hill was actually on par with Resident Evil franchise in terms of one of the best horror franchise. The only difference between the two is, RE manage to get back up after getting knockdown, while SH got knockout for good.

Silent Hill 1: I arrived to a creepy town and my daughter is being used to bring a dark god to the world. Also hot cop girl. Silent Hill 2: Actual trauma and guilt, sorrow and melancholy. Also pyramid head. Silent Hill 3: A cult wants to use me to bring an even more twisted dark god to the world. Also my dad died. Silent Hill 4: I'm trapped in my creepy apartment, and a ghost psycho is on a killing spree. All Silent Hills after: Trauma and guilt, so deep!😱

So disappointing. I cant even begin to describe how these games changed my life. To this day I listen to the Osts. I just hope they learn from this launch and make an effort to make something better

The fact that die hard SH fans like my friends and I didn't know about this... nuff said.

I miss old games. So many new games look great, but are missing so much heart

Nothing says meaningful, thoughtfully put together horror like egregious monetization. “Pre-Order the Silent Hill 2 remake today for an exclusive: “Lol Dead Wife” sticker and floss emote!”

This isn't a game. It's a cutscene with a battlepass and premium cosmetics. Why the hell did they do this to silent hill of all franchises?

The game should have been called $ilent Hill Wallet Inspection!

Absolutely heartbroken. My love and support have just completely crumbled for the new Silent Hill games. I’m just PRAYING they will prove me wrong when the others release, cause this one is just… it’s embarrassing!

that "it's trauma!" sticker thing was total cringe. this is worse than konami's silent hill pachinko machines.

I really wasn't able to let Silent Hill go, until this and Alan Wake 2 came out at the same time. I'm now finally at peace knowing that the spirit of Silent Hill and its influences will live on forever in other games, like Wake, while also finally accepting that the "brand name" experiences will always be desperate cash-grabs aimed at nostalgic fools. Thanks, Konami.

I'm glad you checked it out! I just read the description and there was tons of red flags. I still have Shattered Memories about when they screw up the basic game.

My favorite part of Cat's Cradle was the prologue, where Kurt Vonnegut explained that it's a powerful story about the dangers of nuclear proliferation, and a critique of how the various world powers handled weapons of mass destruction

This is the worst things I’ve ever seen happen to a video game. From selling out to the west for money, Konami canceling PT, letting the game die for over 10 years just for this

I honestly don't think that (from 1 to 3 at least) devs wanted to show-off or brag about making a masterpiece; they just wanted to create a very different experience (from the RE action-like one) with more psychological elements, background and weird/gory situations - but I agree, this is the worst destiny I could imagine for the franchise...

Well yeah, I wonder who at Konami thought: "This looks badass, this is exactly what fans want, not PT.

Honestly, everyone needs to reign in their expectations for MGS: Wallet Eater Delta. I don't care if David Hayter is involved; it's going to have a massive, Hideo Kojima-sized hole where its heart is supposed to be.

Honestly the part where the woman gives the brother the cult prayer makes perfect sense to me. it just seems like something someone who has been indoctrinated would do.

Silent hill f is our only hope for good konami content because ryukishi07 does great horror and coverage of sensitive topics. tatarigoroshi changes a man

WTF why did it cost 100 (in game money) per vote on mine it costs 200 per vote is there a difference if you paid for the battle pass OMG

If I had to guess, this is Konami's first venture into AI generated content in order to make games for cheaper to make more money. It honestly seems like a lot of this is AI generated based on the low quality.

Silent Hill fans used to wail about the series being reduced to a skin for a pachinko machine. It's like Konami set out to show just how much worse it could get. Or maybe we're all being punished for begging for Kojima's Silent Hills. We're not taking you to McKojima's, we have Silent HIll at home!

I've been wondering how the premiere went after initial wet fart, looks like all according to expectations... I only feel genuinely sorry for all the people who got hyped about the return of the franchise - believe it or not, the actual worst is yet to come

If I had to do something like this, I think I would have made it a 'choose your own adventure' style game with cut-scenes. If I absolutely had to do a game like this, but if I had a choice I would have made an actual survival horror game people would want to play!

Dude. I downloaded this and it said, EVERYDAY at 8pm for the next 6 months. I was like... dang I can't keep up with that! That is a mighty ask. The "app" was just encapsulated browser. Then I saw the monetization and I instantly uninstalled it. The game was telling me in the tutorial that in order to 'vote' you need to pay money. The the battle pass. The whole thing was really sad.

So, we went from "survival horror" to "pay to maybe survive the horror (the way you want!)." Makes me remember that one Harry Potter mobile game from a while back where you had to pay up or you get to see your characters get strangled to death for possibly days. Grandiose. Marvellous. Not predatory at all.

What is being done to this series is a perfect example of why I pretty much exclusively stick to indie games or just re-play the classics or seek out the hidden gems of previous generations gone by. The gaming industry in its current form is absolutely shameless.

Hear me out! Remember how Silent Hill is about people living through trauma and going through their own hell? What if Konami is playing 4D chess by making US the fans go through our own silent hill? They consistently do everything in their power to screw the die hards!

absolutely criminal what became of the Silent Hill IP

Only Konami could be that depraved as to put microtransactions on a TV show

wow i expect anything and i'm still let down

The it’s trauma emoji is like going “ItS TrAuMa” In your own story, you are making fun of yourself when you are trying to be taken seriously. It makes no sense.

I knew it was gonna be hot garbage ever since it was announced, funniest thing we can do is collaborating among ourselves so we can get all characters killed and intentionally create the lamest ending possible

First Silent Hill release in a decade and this is what they put out. Apparently Konami wants to win people back and this is their attempt. I was somewhat hopeful that Konami was being serious about trying to fix their bottom of the barrel reputation, but looking at this and the disappointing MGS Masters collection, it ain't looking too hot.

I miss silent hill so much 😢 Atleast we can always go back and play the original 4, if only they’d make a 1-4 collection, they are underestimating how much money they would make from it. I’d buy 100 copies myself just to get us steered in the right direction and away from this abomination. Just so sad, Silent Hill had MAGIC and they are trying to strip it away

Konami had all these years to figure out this SHOULDN'T be a way to sell your franchise.

I really had hope for this franchise revival...

This game is like watching a live stream of irl streamers. This is weird

"It's Trauma!" Every game after SH4 in a nutshell. So cheesy and stupid.

the fact that they shut down del toro and kojima 's silent hill project, after an overwhelming positive reaction to PT but produced this monstrosity... i have no words...

Sometimes change is bad. If something works, why fix it? They always say “you can’t fix stupid.”

Golly I can't wait to face my trauma together with such great strangers on the internet as "Ballfondler420", "HxC~CbT" and "A Racist".

this is how I found out about smoughtown having a second channel?!

To quote the wise words of Leon Kennedy: "No thanks bro"

I can't find the actual song in the video, I beg of you its a bop, what is the name besides it being from the King's Field games (Found it// King's Field Additional II - Declined, or just King's Field - Declined)

This "revival" doesn't just feel like digging up a corpse of a beloved relative and punching them in the face, it's more like turning them into a cane-wielding tap-dancing puppet on an over-designed flashy scene and punching them in the face with oversized boxing gloves. The monsters should weaponize the cringe emojis and "IT'S TRAUMA LUUULLLL LMAO XDDDDD" stickers to use against the "traumatized" characters, that would actually be a psychological torment experience.

having a detroit become human like game for silent hill could have been cool

someone proposed smearing a lore heavy game with battle passes and microtransactions to decide its canon someone approved this idea someone paid for this to go into production Ah...Konami, you will never learn.

If you told me years ago that there would be a Silent Hill game with a battle pass and emotes I would have never believed you. This is absolutely ridiculous.

"Silent Hill" and "Battle Pass" are words I didn't thought I'll see together even in my worst nightmares

Can we just pretend this doesn't exist It's just not there.

The rancid cherry on top is that not only does none of this take place in Silent Hill, but half the story doesn't even take place in America. At least when Silent Hill 3, 4, and Homecoming did this, there was still some connection to the town justifying the Silent Hill-y stuff happening. This is Konami selling the Silent Hill name for some otherwise unrelated project that you just know probably had NFTs at one point.

From all the Silent Hill announcements besides Silent Hill 2 Remake, Silent Hill F is the one I'm looking forward to the most. I hope it will be good.

In a way it's impressive how Konami can so aggressively miss the point. If I wanted to be charitable, I'd think they were trying to make us look more kindly on the pachinko game.

I like that Silent Hill fans are always having to learn that it can get worse. Might actually be the most punished fandom there is.