Basically, I've never really gotten into this current generation of games, particularly due to the lack of storyline-based games. These days, it's a lot more about shooting everything, pretty graphics, and online play. Well, I've found that I pretty much do not enjoy a game unless it has an immersive and captivating plot with characters that I actually care about. I want to be glued to my seat as if I'm reading a book or watching a good movie, I just enjoy it on an interactive scale like video games.
Here is my current list of games to try.
Immersive Video Games to Check Out - Alpha Protocol (PS3) - Bioshock (PS3) - Bully (PS2) - Catherine (PS3) - Dead Space (PS3) - Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PS3) - *Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (GC) - Hotel Dusk (DS) - *Killer7 (GC) - Koudelka (PS2) - L.A. Noire (PS3) - Mass Effect 2 (PS3) - Max Payne (PS2) - *Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (PS2) - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS) - NIER (PS3) - Portal (The Orange Box, PS3) - Portal 2 (PS3) - *Silent Hill 2 (PS2) - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3) - *Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) - Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (PS3)
* Owned
I'm going to be starting with Silent Hill 2, mainly because I already own it, and I've heard nothing but fantastic stuff about it. I know very little about the game outside of what I've read here--great plot, Pyramid Head is scary and has something to do with James, and Silent Hill is really foggy. I played a little bit of Silent Hill 3 and 4 a while back, but only like a half hour of each.
All right, let's do this. I'll update here and there. Starting now!
-- Women come and go, but Metal Gear is forever. And, then there were 9 ... ~ Noble 9
The thing you should know about SH2 is that there isn't really shame in FAQing through parts of it. Some of the item hunting just isn't fun for people, and it'll just detract from the overall experience.
Some people don't mind at all, but hey, just a warning.
I picked Normal and Normal. I might regret that...
Anyway, there are two things I noticed right away--the controls and the voice acting. Oh my God, old controls where left makes you turn instead of going left. Thank God you can change that to 2D Configuration! Also, the voice acting is a little... off, to say the least. However! I do enjoy that people actually cut other people off instead of waiting for somebody to trail off into an elipsis before "cutting" them off.
I just got to talking to the woman in the graveyard at the beginning. Game's already creepy. WHY ARE THINGS GROWLING ON ME AS I RUN ON THIS TRAIL. Also, found something in a well that let me save. I wanna save when I wanna save, damnit!
Also, opening video was very cool. Mary seems evil. Or, whoever that is (if it isn't Mary) seems evil.
-- Women come and go, but Metal Gear is forever. And, then there were 9 ... ~ Noble 9
Yeah, SHII suffers from the problem that games have where some of the puzzles make absolutely no sense and are more trial and error than anything else. You'll have a doll, a pin, and a toaster strudel, and you somehow have to know that you combine them to create a key to a clock.
What?
with that said try to do it yourself for a bit before finally FAQing it if you must.
Okay, well, wow. This game is definitely atmospheric and very intense.
So, la dee da, walkin' through the path leaving the cemetary, more growls, step off. I'm James, and that don't phase me. Get to the town and, oh, hello blood and creepy thing in the fog. Welp, that looks like the thing from the Silent Hill movie (which I did see and enjoyed) that spits weird acid at you from it's, erm, chest? It's sort of in a straight jacket, right? Anyway, I go chase it like any man should, and boy do I find myself checking the map a lot! Is it possible to get this far without having gotten your map from your car? If so, HOLY CRAP would this game be ridiculous without a map. My God.
Okay, so turns, some more blood, and now a tunnel. I'm like, at the northeast area of the map? Anyway, I find some sort of radio, that's cool, but DUDE YOU ARE NOT PERCEPTIVE AT ALL THERE IS A ****ING MONSTER WIGGLING IN STROBE LIGHTING BEHIND YOU HOLY **** MOVE.
Okay, first battle! I got myself a nice little rod... thingy... here. SMACK SMACK DIE.
That does not look dead.
Oh well, continue.
So I go back and save again (I had noticed the little fence to the save on the way here), and I'm starting to realize that there are NOT MANY PLACES TO SAVE HOLY ****. At least not a lot that are obvious. So if I die, I go back to my last save? Or the last area I loaded? If it's to the last save, man, I'm going to curse this game a few times later.
Luckily, I have a few healing items, 2 kits and a spray? I found them while wandering around in this god-forsaken mist.
Okay, now there are a ****-ton of those armless dudes walking around. I smack one and OMG IT CRAWLS LIKE A CAVE DEMON.
*Snake eater....*
Okay, so I try to hit it while it's on the ground, and I cannot for the life of me get this stick to swing DOWN instead of across. I'm successful maybe 30% of the time, which has led to this thing BITING MY ANKLES OR SOMETHING WTF. Whatever, I'm just gonna run. I'd rather they walk around like dopes and miss me with acid than scurry around like an evil toddler with colic.
Okay, so, my first instinct was to look for the church and / or school on my map. That seems to be "the thing" in the movies, so maybe in the game, too? Well, it didn't take me long to realize that every single damned road is blocked in some way and I can't get to the church. I explore almost every nook and cranny (to the best of my ability, anyway). Eventually, I found some sort of truck that had a note saying to go to some bar. Hurray save point!
More coming...
-- Women come and go, but Metal Gear is forever. And, then there were 9 ... ~ Noble 9
Off to the bar, I go. There's a handy dandy map with lots of circle destinations for me. That's fun. Continuing to the end of this alley to find a key, BUT HOLY **** THESE THINGS JUMPSCARE YOU OUT OF THE BOTTOM OF CARS.
I legitimately thought Silent Hill was all about atmosphere and unrelenting tension, and Resident Evil was more about the jump scares. Well, so much for that! I think I said "oh my God" out loud about three times between getting this key and going to the apartment building (which took me about 5 minutes to even figure out the way in to the apartment complex) because these ****ers keep scurrying out from underneath cars. Ugh.
Okay, apartment here we go. Found a map. That's handy. Went upstairs and noticed I could go through the 2nd or 3rd floor. I started with the 2nd, since scary music was playing as I went to the third. Nooooo thanks.
Checkin' every door~ checkin every door~~ what the **** is that in the trash chute.
Okay, now I can't run around enemies. Let's do this, creepers. Smack smack smack... kick? Oh, great, that would have been nice to know. Apparently I can kick them when they are on the ground and they die. Life is a whole lot easier now.
Each apartment room is really creepy. Who the hell would want to live her--- NURSE. These things were strangely sexy in the movie. They are not AT ALL in the game. It doesn't help that mannequins are already weird and creepy. Anyway, smack. Put you in your place.
So I check some more doors (I can't remember what's in every room), but eventually I come to a place where I am fighting a normal straightjacket dude and a nurse attacks me FROM BEHIND. Oh, yeah, probably because of the flashlight, right? In the movie, they stopped moving if I turned it off. Here, if they start moving, they seem to keep following me even after I turn it off. Crap. Well, I took a buttload of damage here because I was stuck in a corner of a room between a scurrier and a nurse. But, I managed to get out of it and heal myself with a first aid. Pro.
There hasn't been a save point in a long time-- I am not okay with this.
Welp, I checked all the doors (can't remember what's at the end of the eastern hall on floor 2, but I know I went in the room). Also found a room with a grandfather clock and a TV. TV is uninteresting, okay, that's cool. Clock seems to be operable but I can't move it or the hands. I tried SMACKING it with my stick of doom to break it but it seems that SH2 precedes interactive environments is a little bit. No worries, I'll get you later~ and whoever Henry Mildred Scott is, well, nobody likes you.
Okay, lots of locked doors and jammed doors, aside, time to go to floor #3.
Seriously, what the **** is in that trash chute.
-- Women come and go, but Metal Gear is forever. And, then there were 9 ... ~ Noble 9
Okay, floor #3, hey look it's a gate that I can't get through and no what no don't you dare put your hand through that what what what STOP it~~!
Well, at least it was just a creepy girl who kicked the key away instead of, y'know, biting off my fingers or something. Where are your parents, *****.
Welp, I can't go very far up here, but hey! I gots a handgun! Why is there a shopping cart in this room? That's really odd. Anyway, I had gotten lots of bullets earlier, so I'm glad I have a gun to actually use them now. Unless James was going to drive bullets into enemies' heads with his bare hands, in which case, I would vote for him in every character battle ever.
Does anything else happen up here right now? I can't remember. Anyway, I'm a little confused now, but I go back to level 2 to try to figure it out.
... Okay, so NOW I hear some ****ed up noise down the hall where that grandfather clock was. k. All the enemies are dead thanks to my rod of doom (and curbstomp), so at least I can just run through. Oh, hey, random enemy on the other side of the gate that I can see with my flashlight but can't do anything about.
HELLO RANDOM CARCASS THAT WAS NOT PRESENT IN THAT CHAIR 5 MINUTES AGO.
Classic television left on snow. How appropriate. Wait, was this key here last time I was in this room? I don't think so. Either way, I can now unlock ROOM 202, so let's go UNLOCK THAT SLUT. Also, James, you are one weak little boy for not being able to move that clock.
Room 202, why do you have creepy music. Whoa, the bedroom this got creepier. Wait a second... isn't that the music for Pyramid Head? I'M PRETTY SURE THAT METAL SOUND MEANS PYRAMID HEAD. I hope not. I STILL haven't found a save point, so I REALLY REALLY hope not.
Now, I got stuck here. I couldn't find anything to proceed. There's a circle on my map where that trash chute is, so I go check it out again, but I still can't interact with the weird thing in the chute beyond "there's something weird there." I found myself running room to room a few times, and I almost checked a FAQ here.
Then, when I went back to re-examine room 202, I realized there was a hole in the wall. Kamikazi, you weren't kidding.
WHY MUST YOU STICK YOUR HANDS THROUGH HOLES.
... Does that sound dirty?
Anyway, I got a CLOCK KEY. Pro, I bet I can use that to change the time on the clock (which seems to be what I need to do, since I have a document riddling me about the three hands and a message on a wall showing me what direction they should be). Not too hard of a riddle. I go back and leave that creepy metal music (seriously, f Pyramid Head, I saw the friggin' movie), and I play with the clock. 9:20ish, gotcha.
Oh, now you can move the clock. Wimp.
OMG YES A SAVE POINT. Save save save save.
And this is where I stopped for now.
Impressions so far, seems very interesting, CRAZY ATMOSPHERIC, and legitimately scary. If I didn't have an option to use 2D controls, I would HATE the gameplay with a passion, but because I was able to switch, I don't mind it. It's definitely outdated, but not unbearably so. The cutscenes are interesting, the enemies thus far definitely frightening, and I haven't needed to use a FAQ yet (which I'm pretty proud of). I can definitely see myself resorting to one later on, though.
I'm also not quite sure what triggered the person being dead in the grandfather clock apartment. The first time I went there, nobody was there. Did I need to go upstairs and get the handgun first? Or was it that I needed to reach through the gate and have the little girl kick the key away first?
Either way, this game is intense and there's no way I can play it straight without taking breathers.
-- Women come and go, but Metal Gear is forever. And, then there were 9 ... ~ Noble 9
All right, so I played some more today. I left the other side of the hole in the wall from the clock and, of course, that enemy I used to see there isn't there anymore. I wandered around a lot here. I actually don't remember all of the rooms as well as I did last time, but I do remember a few key things.
First of all, HOLY ****ING **** PYRAMID HEAD. Is it... is it raping those mannequin things? Whoa. I seem to remember something about Pyramid Head sort of "mimicking" James' life, so I'm wondering if James ever raped people. Or... mannequins. Anyway, I'm hiding, and why the hell am I shooting it just ****ing hide.
**** that.
Okay, more exploring and monsters walking down narrow halls. Ahhhh. At least I have my rod of doom. Smack smack smack die mother****er. Curbstomp! FATALITY.
Hey, I have lots of handgun bullets now. Let's try this out. I got through some doors (don't remember how, keys and stuff), and now I'm outside in this pool area. A bunch of freaks are dancing around in the waterless pool, time to bust a cap. Pew pew pew.
Hey, I got a Snake Coin. Snake? Snake??! SNAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!!!
Okay, new entrance to the building, some more exploring... ugh, Pyramid Head music at every turn, why why why. I hate that, God the sounds in this game are just not okay at all whatsoever.
I found myself looking around forever, but I finally managed to find that key that the litle creepy girl kicked away. Hurray. Thank God it said where I could use it on the key when I examined it. So I make my way for the westside or whatever and jump to the new building. Glass shards. Great.
There's a door here that has a letter on it, go find the key here. Also, there's some, like, key combination thing I could dial enter, but I have no idea what it is. So, uhh, forget that for now? Not gonna lie, all these puzzles make my brain hurt. I sorta just wanna know what happens and play through this game with my heart still, y'know, attached to my body.
Anyway, I'm looking for some key near the 1st floor staircase (the letter said that the key was somewhere down there), and I'm in an apartment that has another puzzle, the 5 coins thing. Wow, this is some ancient writing judo mystery. I only have a serpent, so I can't do much, I'm assuming. Do I need 3 or 5 coins? I couldn't quite figure it out based on the gibberish. Also, more scary Pyramid Head music at some point. More mannequins and straight jackets. Rod of doom, etc.
Save.
Stop @_@
-- Women come and go, but Metal Gear is forever. And, then there were 9 ... ~ Noble 9
Hey, uhh, I'm stuck. I managed to get the safe open, but it was just handgun bullets. I'm wandering around without a clue of what to do, so I turned to a FAQ, and it says to go into Room 109, but I can't open the door. It says there's some force on the other side.
-- Women come and go, but Metal Gear is forever. And, then there were 9 ... ~ Noble 9
Oh, I guess I needed TO USE THE CANNED JUICE ON THE TRASH CHUTE EARLIER BECAUSE THAT WAS JUST SO OBVIOUS. >_> Okay, so I got the Old Man Coin or whatever, maybe they'll let me through that "force" door now.
-- Women come and go, but Metal Gear is forever. And, then there were 9 ... ~ Noble 9
Okay, so I finally did all the necessary things to actually be able to enter Room 109. By the way, Eddie is weird. Just saying.
Oh, it's this chick again. Suicide is your only option. You're also weird. I don't like talking to you while you hold a knife. Gimme dat knife.
... WHAT I CAN'T USE IT F THAT. Well at least I got the third coin.
Okay, spent a bit of time on the coin thing, putting it in. Ugh, puzzles are annoying sometime. How the hell was I supposed to know what "wind" meant. Like, seriously? Ugh. Well, I got more keys, went into the person's room, got another key after crossing the balcony, and now, I can go out that door up there and ****ing **** **** it's ****ing Pyramid Head holy ****.
OMG I HAVE TO FIGHT HIM.
WHAT THE HELL DO I DO.
MY ROD OF DOOM ISN'T WORKING. I HAVE 120 BULLETS TO USE BUT NONE OF THEM DO ANYTHING.
WHY CANT I USE THIS KNIFE.
PLEASE DON'T RIP MY SKIN OFF.
-- Women come and go, but Metal Gear is forever. And, then there were 9 ... ~ Noble 9
Ran into that little brat girl that stomped on my foot (again, at least she didn't eat me). Apparently she knows Mary. Great...
And now I ran into a woman who looks exactly like my wife named Maria. She looks sorta creepy and hot at the same time. Not really sure. I vote that I bang her, but it seems James doesn't want to. Well, I need to stop here and I don't know where there's a save point, so it looks like I'll be keeping this on pause for awhile. Gotta run for the day.
-- Women come and go, but Metal Gear is forever. And, then there were 9 ... ~ Noble 9
I went ahead and just shut off the console, so next time I play, I'll have to beat Pyramid Head and do the cutscenes with the little girl and Maria again. No biggy.
-- Women come and go, but Metal Gear is forever. And, then there were 9 ... ~ Noble 9