LogFAQs > #966215464

6.5/10

About as good a Silent Hill story as you can get post-SH4. The decision to reimagine the original Silent Hill is a contentious one. While at times SM unfolds as if someone only read the Wikipedia plot summary of the original, its frame narrative plays it close-to-the-chest for some surprisingly enjoyable twists & thrills, even if these thrills do turn Silent Hill more into a gimmick roller coaster ride rather than standing on its own merits in the formerly well-textured worlds of Team Silent's works. Characters are turned more into clichs or props here than well-realized people - for example, each of Harry's endings portray him as an "insert sin here" type - alcoholism, adultery - boiling Harry down to one-line personality words. Cybil is treated similarly, with her appearance changing based on your answers but not really affecting much else. Something I will praise a lot more is the exploration elements - the Echo Photos, the Phone Numbers, the Mementos. Finding these ended up being the most compelling part of the story, as they ended up enriching the story SM was trying to get at and were interesting bite-sized chunks of the people and items that make up the larger world of Silent Hill. Even though Shattered Memories is a skin-deep affair, its "PSYCHOLOGICAL WARNING" and end-game twist at least warrant one full playthrough. The game's sleight-of-hand can trick you long enough into thinking that something interesting is actually happening at least. It was good enough that Until Dawn cribbed its psychologist set-up!