I played this earlier in the year and was ultimately pretty disappointed with it. The gameplay was poor, spending most of your time checking for keys for various doors and locks, while the controls where ugh.
The monsters were also pitiful, there was never any real sense of danger. Instead of feeling scared-alone it was lame-there-is-nothing-here-alone. However I enjoyed the music and atmosphere.
Maria has to be the most annoying character though. I seriously picked up on what she was well before James ever did. That's why I got the 'Leave' ending anyway.
Some people say you can gain a better appreciation for the game once you play it a second time. I want to do it on the hardest settings too but apparently the riddles are ridiculous.
When it comes to horror I enjoy the psychological aspect of the Silent Hill series. I enjoyed Silent Hill 1 in this way even if it wasn't focused so much on psychology as Silent Hill 2 was.
Silent Hill 2 has some really enjoyable parts in terms of music, the creepy radio show, and especially Pyramid Head's implementation. However its the repetitive doors/locks that really drag it down. Silent Hill 1 was good at keeping the environments varied.
Silent Hill 1also had a sense of danger all the time. Not just because there were monsters who were faster than you, but also because of the other world shift etc. Silent Hill 2 only had a sense that that the town itself was out for you, but it was never threatening enough. Silent Hill 1 had that as well as the physical threats too.
I find when making a topic like this, you probably are interested in giving it another chance so I say go for it. Also, my fav survival horror game, really really well done and depressing as hell game right there.
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