It wasn't as scary sadly. Liked the premise but it's execution could've been better. But that ending was so bitter sweet with all the other games protagonist etc
Hey, son. It's me, your favorite dad. Downpour was my first Silent Hill game and at the time I thought it was pretty great. Now that I've experienced the majority of the series I think it's just okay. Better than Homecoming and Shattered Memories in my opinion but could never come close to Team Silent's creations.
When Downpour came out my feelings were that it was an alright Silent Hill game. That while it missed the point, it made an admirable effort. Years later, I felt like revisiting Downpour because I remember not hating it. And when I played it that second time I absolutely hated it. Today I would say my feelings on Downpour are... complicated.
I will say, it really annoys me that people involved were resistant to playing a criminal because it makes them uncomfortable, as if the whole series isn't full of uncomfortable things
Yeah and even though it wasn’t as scary. It had a good story and even though the enemy designs were kinda bland I still liked some of them especially the boogieman mostly about its representation in the story.
It's also hilarious because, in SH2, you play as a literal murderer. The only difference between Murphy and James in this regard is that James was never convicted, but he is definitely a criminal nonetheless.
While I definitely didn't enjoy Downpour as much as you did, we totally agree on the story. It leaves way too much open, which in the end, almost makes you feel like you accomplished nothing.
Really glad to see Downpour be given a fair shot, it’s definitely up there as one of my favorite SH games post-Team Silent. This video was very well done and entertaining and brought up some great points about the game. Great work!
Cant emphasize this enough - Dude your amount of effort on this entire series goes so far above and beyond. You are crushing it! I have loved every single one of these and get so excited when a new one comes out. I have never played a Silent Hill game before but this is still so freakin interesting to me. Thank you for what you do!
Not watched it all yet, obviously, but I am beyond amazed with your output with these videos. To play through them, write commentary and edit the video together in a week is insane.
I'll say this, Downpour gave one of the best lps out of the Two Best Friends back in the day and how I got really into the channel aside from their Machinima stuff.
that lp was the last one i finished rewatching before they announced their split. rly puts things into perspective that maybe some jokes between them in that and the homecoming lp weren’t jokes at all 😓
There's a fine line between a singular story like SH2 or SH4 that ties into the town in various ways, but when it comes to Homecoming and Downpour, they feel like original horror game ideas given a shoddy Silent Hill paintjob.
That's a good way to put it. Homecoming could have just been called that and probably would have been much more liked. Change Pyramid Head to the Devil or something and people might have gotten behind it more.
@@A_RU-vid_Commenter It has a few interesting monster designs, but they're more in line with something like the Suffering or Painkiller than Silent Hill.
@@escalatingbarbarism5096I mean I can understand why it would kinda seem like the suffering since it's both prison themes Ironically I wish they went more crazy with the monster designs like maybe a monster that looks like different execution methods mixed together that could symbolize the guilt the main character in this weird silent hill game might have
49:34 This is the only review that talks about the extra items that can be found in the game, including the weapon DLC locker and discusses in more detail about the side quests. Good work!
Hey, son. Excellent work as usual. Silent Hill: Downpour honestly had the potential to be the first descent SH game to come out of a western studio that drew no references from any other JP studio titles, but a few key factors held back what it could be, the first of which being the studio itself, being too inexperienced to follow through with their own ideas, second being Konami as usual making terrible penny pinching decisions giving it to an inexperienced studio and third, the studio being forced to work with a game engine they had no idea how to use.
Hey, my son. I've recently been watching your Silent Hill retrospective videos. I've really been enjoying them, and I am happy to see someone who didn't bash Silent Hill 4: The Room, but took a more nuanced look at it, mentioning its flaws but also its achievements. Keep up the good work, kiddo!
It's definitely the best out of the western SH games. Only thing I don't like about it is representing the town as almost benign in nature, which is really not. The reason it manifests people's phobias and dark secrets is not to overcome them and become a better person, but to drive people insane and kill them, and the only reason James "survives" it is because he had the strenght to face himself and accept his sins. It's this reason why I think of the game as an alternative universe, otherwise it drives me nuts XD
I liked the simple story and unique look on the Otherworld. Enemies and symbolism are disappointing. Game combat takes a lot to get used to it. Finally, sidequests are the strong dish here with showing how the town's victims can find each other during their own "trials", even the onea that failed to learn
you’re incredible. keep it up pls your uploads give me life. reminds me of better times when i used to watch my dad play silent hill. he took his life recently so being able to understand why he loved the things he loved helps me. the way you create videos is amazing. thank you :)
That's the funny thing about Origins, Homecoming, and Downpour; they tried to imitate 2, but they are so scared to do so, so they cop-out at the last minute.
@@tonygonk His guilt was over not being there to protect his son, for losing himself to anger and nearly killing a man, and being a bystander to an officer's death.
Another one, similar to Homecoming, that had tons of unrealized psychological potential. It doesn't steal from the hollywood movie so that is a plus, and the minimalist music was better than expected for having zero Yamaoka. Characters are forgettable even though Murphy and Cunningham's dynamic was interesting. I at least got the feeling (like in SM) that they "tried" while making Downpour, but trying can't save your game if you don't have a gripping story or gameplay. This game's two greatest strengths imo were the atmosphere and the "You are the Boogieman" twist. A constant downpour of rain sets the mood, though with 2012 water tech they didn't go nearly as far with it. I expected flooding streets, or the odd scare where you have to wade around in chest-high water where you can't see the bottom... I expected water/drowned enemies etc. but we didn't get any of that. The Monster designs may be the worst in the series next to Origins or SM.
More water based otherworlds with water puzzles and special types of monsters only seen in water would have been cool, like a bag monster with ghoulish hands with the opening of the sack as a mouth for example considering what happened in the game.
This is ridiculously unrelated, but I read the line, “You are the Boogieman” in Maury’s voice as if he was saying, “You ARE the father!” 😭… I need sleep 😞 I’m literally looking at these games on my shelf, minus SH1 and Homecoming, thinking it’s time to play these again. Sweet old tanky nostalgia 😌
Thank you, binging your videos helped during my colitis flare. You can see that you put a lot of effort into it and that makes it easy to watch them all. Thank you for the content and the insane speed you release it.
This is the one I've been eager for! This was the first Silent Hill game I ever played, and, despite the negative opinions of it, its one of my most favorite ones. With better polish on it, it could have been great, I think.
Downpour: a Silent Hill story. There. Done. It’s in the same universe, but mainly it’s own game. That would’ve made it so much better for a bunch of people
In Japan, games like that are called "Gaiden" games, which, I believe, means "side-story" but I'm not 100% sure on that. At any rate, if this was called (and treated like) "Silent Hill Gaiden: Downpour" it could have been better.
That makes no sense though. For the most part every game tells it's own story. Hell, the first game was mostly about occult and rituals and the sequel was about the human psyche
Honestly "doomed to a fate much worse. Mediocrity" is a more damning indictment than calling something good or bad. I liked downpour okay, it certainly wasnt the same as the earlier games, but for a "modern" silent hill game its fine. For some people, being just fine is worse than being bad though, especially in a franchise with an excellent beginning. Truthfully, i like the story itself in the newer games, but the game itself falls short for me. A man in prison seeking revenge for his son and confronted with morality choices he did or didnt expect? A man who had repressed the memories of accidentally killing his brother and seeks him out? A father seeking out his daughter in a haunted town, only for it to be revealed that the daughter is actually creating that story to cope? They'rd interesting ideas, and honestly I think they would be better received if they weren't branded as silent hill (or mainline silent hill) games.
I mostly agree. They're cool story ideas. And they'd probably be better received if they weren't branded silent hill. But. I think what the games miss is building a real horror game. They're actiony and gimmicky. They don't build the atmosphere and psychological tension that I think is what the original games excel at and why the originals are classics.
@@DellVanity I can't remember where but I heard silent hill was made because of resident evils success. And then I also heard that after Konami saw RE4 as a giant success they disbanded team silent and went with western studios. Honestly from what I heard it made it seem like konamis whole plan was, "copy RE." Seems like a miracle the originals turned out as well as they did.
@@Trigun_Bebop it took as a while, but these newer games were what they were because of Konami's meddling, not because of Twin Perfect's punching bag, Tomm Hulett (sp?). It also made they're docu series hard to watch in retrospect.
Silent Hill Downpour was one of the first games I played in the series and it's honestly one of my favorites. I remember renting it out shortly after it came out when I was in middle school and I liked it so much that I bought it for Xbox 360. I got all endings, and almost all achievements except for 2, which I believe were both for getting all the journal mementos. I really wish they'd have come out with a PC port, but I doubt Konami ever will. Sucks that it got such low reviews, this really was a gem to me
I saw a comment on a different channel mentioning how they thought the one being tested by the town(silent hill) is Cunningham and I think this is the case if you think about it. with how Cunningham views Murphy as the boogyman and she fights him as like a final boss(from her perspective), her also being a cop and the monsters looking like prisoners while the screamers probably representing the victims of the prisoners(?). And for the wheelchair creature representing Cunningham's father and the state he was left in after the assault which Cunningham mentioned how frustrating it was to see her father like that
As a recent convert to Silent Hill, I've been looking forward to the Downpour video as I've heard it's the closest the western entries (besides Shattered Memories) get to being good. Plus it gave us Matt in the Two Best Friends playthrough throwing the fire axe down the pit which is maybe the funniest moment in any LP. Good job son, I'm proud of you for managing to do all these videos so fast.
I do not know who gave you the idea of DP being even remotely "Good". In fact, it's THE worst one of the bunch, even beating the previous crowd-favorites like 0rigins and Homecoming.
@@GugureSux This game is bad, but it doesn't come close to being as awful as Homecoming, that game was pure misery frome start to finish, and the story and plot twist are the dumbest in the series.
BIG LOVE to Downpour. I like that they focused a lot on characterizing the entity of the town of Silent Hill as almost a being that thinks and plans in this entry. Despite some of its wonkiness and mediocre monster designs, the concepts Vatra introduced are really interesting, and if another game were to take some of those ideas and expand on them more, I believe it would be a great direction for the series to take.
Stumbling across this video a year later, loving your Silent Hill series, son. Also wanted to say, RIP Daniel Licht. His crack at a SH soundtrack was a home run and paid great homage to Yamaoka’s work. Regardless of how one feels about this game, Daniel has left a positive mark on the SH series with his work. I hope he rests well.
I have spent the last few days binge watching the silent hill Playlist, having the absolute time of my life! Thank you for these wonderfully made retrospectives!
side note, as much as this game missed the mark as being a silent hill title for me, i did like murphy's character a lot. i wouldve prob did the same things he did if i was him.
If the story had more polish, better monster design and the ending had more depth then "do good guy choices or bad guy choices" the game could have been good. As it stands it is just alright.
Saved to watch later. Your video's bud are great to watch, love all the retrospectivies so far and a specially this silent hill series. Can't wait for you're next set of videos.
What to say this retrospective series is like honey for my poor over 30 yo heart. With current news about new games in working and "REMAKE" of second game by Bloober I am afraid if "modern jumpscare" heavy team will be able to handle a psychological horror with great narrative. Konami is strange with it's approach to thier legacy IP and I don't know what to think about it after PT incident. Fantastic Work with SH series retrospective.
I'm very happy to hear you say it was under-rated. As a die hard fan at the time, playing everything but the vita title, and super obscure stuff like the GB play novel, I really didn't mind this game. It had performance issues, and was far from perfect, but it was a step in the right direction. I almost got the platinum, but I f**ked an ending up, and wasn't willing to do a 4th?(I think) play through. Now that it's unavailable to me, I have regrets lol.
I was a late silent hill fan as I’m in my mid-20s now. I got hooked after playing homecoming which I got into back when I started in high school. I remember the hype that me and a few of my friends had for downpour. I even remember saving up from a part-time job to be able to purchase down for the day came out when I was in my sophomore year of high school. Gosh time flys by. I vividly remember me and my first girlfriend playing through the game when she come over after school.
You made all these Silent Hill game retrospectives feel unique and insightful, even when speaking about the rather uninteresting entries. I’m proud of you, son.
I've never played a single second of ANY silent hill game, but I absolutely love watching these walkthrough/deconstruction videos on all the silent hill games.
Downpour's reveal of the wheelchair man being Colridge is actually one of the most traumatic reveals to me in this series. Murphy believing that he's fighting a terrible monster when it turns out it was just the prison guard who tried to help him, and the reveal that Colridge lived his life as a crippled broken man due to Murphy's actions is real hard. SH1-4 are far and away my favorites, but kudos on some of the things these developers tried. Except for Homecoming. None for Gretchen Wieners.
Loved this games view of the otherworld. Felt like a good image of what the mind would look like amidst alzheimers or some form of memory or mind loss.
Man I remember this game. I always carried 2 different guns and used one as a rifle as a melee weapon because it was the only thing I could find that didn't break, lol.
Your videos are awesome. I cheer whenever I see a new upload. I love horror games but due to my anxiety disorder I have a hard time playing them. Your videos are a wonderful way for me to experience these gems. Thank you!
Been loving binge watching your whole channel, keep it up! Would be interested in hearing your thoughts on other horror titles like the suffering or condemned. I may be a bit biased as a horror junkie, but I feel like your style is really good for breaking down horror titles.
Ahh Downpour the best of the western developed SH games….not a big achievement by ANY means but this one actually managed to be intriguing most of the way through. I know a lot of people don’t like this game, and hey that’s a valid opinion. However I think this game felt like the one to get it closest to the first 4.
the statue is the best melee weapon imo, during my playtrough, it seems to take less hits to get them monsters down. i might be wrong, it might be wish-thinking 'cuz of the time used completing it, but thats what it seemed to me. 😂
I dunno about anyone else but the rain in downpour always felt like it added more of a somber undertone rather than a scary one. Rain is typically used to convey sadness right? And a somber tone could be used to convey how Murphy feels about losing his son as well as guilt and regret of what happens in the end of the game. Hell even the enemies themselves as uninspired and humanoid as they are might be trying to convey something as they are humanoid in nature, maybe they represent people trying to help Murphy cope with losing Charlie. Who knows. Sadness bundles up into anger which makes sense, being the father of Charlie and having said horrible events happen to Charlie in game, it makes sense why Murphy would have the obvious anger that was taken out on Napier at the start of the game because of what Napier did to Charlie but also it makes sense would feel mad at himself for being unable to save Charlie. If anything the rain in this game makes me feel bad for Murphy at times. Maybe it makes more sense of it feeling like Murphy's regrets personified in the world while literally being the boogeyman is a more literal personification of his regrets of himself. Just some thoughts
While flawed, I actually thought Downpour was a step in the right direction for the series with its story, gameplay and exploration. It's a shame it ended up being the last.
It was mentioned in your S.H. 2 retrospective that S.H.2 was influenced by Crime and Punishment. This is definitely present in it's themes and atmosphere, if not necessarily the narrative structure. It makes perfect sense that one of the greatest novels of all time influences one of the greatest stories in gaming. Perhaps instead of trying to recapture the magic of S.H.2, they should instead draw inspiration from other masterpieces in literature. I think Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov would make for an absolutely terrific source material, as many complex social, religious, and personal ideas are represented in a masterful weaving of character. Perhaps a S.H. game with 3 protagonists could work...
ngl, I would totally play an indie horror game with the premise of exploring the story by going inside films and looking for clues! Also, you know you need to do PT before the complete retrospective right? Pleeeez son :')
Really love the way you structured your reviews, it's a good combination of going over the story without feeling redundant as well as gameplay gradually throughout. I especially like we're kind of placed as listener, really gives me vibes of Deadly Premonition (a recommendation of mine, would be an interesting look at)
I remember really liking that bit in the theatre with the fairy tale. The side quests were really cool too and I liked some of the exploration you could do. Overall, I found this game to be a mixed bag and kinda forgettable, but it wasn’t all bad. It definitely didn’t ‘feel’ like a Silent Hill game, that’s for sure.
This is a unique entry. Decided to play it before you dropped your review this time, and I've got to say, not as bad as I expected. This game is very much a cup of sugar and a cup of dirt. There are some interesting ideas here, and somewhat decent story telling. Of course, that's followed by atrocious combat, and genuinely uninspired enemy design. But all around, C+ to B- I'd say. Screw Konami for burying this franchise though. Oh and, great work son.
Good work yet again, Son. I'm still surprised by how quickly you can put these out. Most people can barely seem to put out videos half the length in a week, but here you are. I knew you were my favorite son for a reason. So, now that all the real SH games are basically done do you already have plans for what you'll be tackling as your next big project? Watching you go through some behemoths like Resident Evil, or maybe even Elder Scrolls stuff (ala Salt Factory and Strat Edgy Productions) would be delightful. Pretty much all the stuff that let's you talk for long periods of time LOL
Downpour to me was a game that took all the games into account and showcased diffrent ways of how they worked and I'm honestly very happy with it. I also felt the story was unique and the mini open world aspect I can't say how much time I spent looking for easter eggs and tales alike. And with Downpour done you complete the main 8 games. I love them all and find them to be unique and tell diffrent tales and play diffrently to one another. I know that the Western games have their crititics and while yes there are problems with them that to a regular fan may seem to be too much to overcome, I have always found them to hold a lot of charm and dignity for the game they have and respect them alot of it.
That was exactly what I was enjoying same time. Maybe It is time for some coffee whlie playing it again. I mean it is autumn. Awesome time to go through it again.
Your silent hill series brought me to u and because of your time and effort I subscribed to u and after I watch this vid I'll see if u did resident evil vids or something else. Of coarse I'm gonna watch all your silent hill videos. I like the franchise so much I like to watch everyone's take on it
Weird that people can play as a bad guy guy in games like Grand Theft Auto that are more just supposed to be fun but they feel uncomfortable playing as a bad guy in a horror game that is supposed to make people feel uncomfortable. Anyway i love Silent Hill Downpour and think its a really great game for the most part with a great story and characters and the town is fun to explore so the only big negative thing about it to me is that its the least scary game in the series. I guess i also dont like that it only got 1 real boss, only got a few kinds of enemies and that what Murphy did is different depending on what ending you get.
I cannot fathom how anyone could even jokingly claim a total clusterfuck like DP to be a "great" game. As a Silent Hill title, it is outright insulting.
For your first sentence I think I know why. I ran and played some D&D games in my time and people like playing the bad guy but don't like feeling bad about it or find some way to justify their actions and just want to treat the world like a literal sandbox. There is even times when people try to play the hero and want to be treated like one but all the actions they do show they are the bad guys and not even anti-hero material. It's like how that one scene in GTA where you torture the guy, that's the scene everyone remembers because it gets personal with them despite how they play the game.
I’ve got to say, I haven’t played any of the silent hills and have only seen a few video essays on certain entries so I’m almost certainly talking out of my arse, but these “spin-off” type games makes Silent Hill feel more like a construct to me, like it’s not a town in a certain place on a map, but it’s more of a town that comes to people it deems have commuted some sort of sin and needs to be punished. To me, the idea of a town that travels from place to place through the mist, punishing people who are racked with guilt is more interesting than an actual town in a set place that tortures those who actively seek it out.
I'm in from the first game on. Born in 1985 I was playing Resident Evil 1 and Nightmare Creatures before Silent Hill 1. First game on Ps2 was Silent Hill 2 and I was immersed... Same Thing happened with "downpour". Maybe because I was in a difficult time in my life, but that title shocked me, but put my body up again straight and then I enjoyed life more after playing through it. Played it on Ps3. It was honest and real with imagination of my reality at that time. I felt better somehow. Except the disastrous release of korn's track to the game, the soundtrack is blending in really well with the game. I'm a musician myself. Into dark stuff... I'm an eternal defender of this approach of silent hill. Downpour is magic to me after all hating from others. Cheerz
Hello son, it’s your Dad here. I’m super proud of the works you’ve made and the growth you’ve achieved. I just had one question for you, any advice you can give your old man on starting his own RU-vid channel? I’ve been streaming for over a year and have a lot of footage, I have opinions on my favorite games I want to share but can’t find the motivation (maybe due to anxiety and depression). Any and all help you could provide son would do immense wonders for your Dad. Have a wonderful day son and keep doing what makes you happy.
