Board 8 > Rate the VG Story Day 209: Silent Hill 3

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Todays game is Silent Hill 3. How would you rate the story on a scale from 1-10?

You can still rate previous days games if you missed them, just write <game name><rating>. If you want to change your rating you can just specify that you are changing your rating. Nominations for future days are also welcome, nominate as many games as you like and I will get to all of them.

Previous Results:
Planescape: Torment - 9.85 (13 votes)
Clannad - 9.75 (4 votes)
Omori - 9.67 (6 votes)
Outer Wilds - 9.61 (22 votes)
Silent Hill 2 - 9.5 (20 votes)
Higurashi When They Cry - 9.5 (9 votes)
Deus Ex - 9.32 (12 votes)
428: Shibuya Scramble - 9.27 (9 votes)
Nier Automata - 9.25 (31 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC - 9.2 (20 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations - 9.19 (35 votes)
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - 9.1 (14 votes)
The House in Fata Morgana - 9.06 (11 votes)
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West - 9.06 (9 votes)
Yakuza 0 - 9.03 (13 votes)
Red Dead Redemption 2 - 9 (8 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - 8.95 (31 votes)
Steins;Gate - 8.94 (9 votes)
Mother 3 - 8.91 (15 votes)
Umineko When They Cry - 8.89 (14 votes)
Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward - 8.88 (21 votes)
Return of the Obra Dinn - 8.85 (10 votes)
Silent Hill 4: The Room - 8.83 (6 votes)
Suikoden II - 8.8 (11 votes)
Persona 3 - 8.76 (22 votes)
Grim Fandango - 8.75 (14 votes)
Xenogears - 8.73 (24 votes)
AI: The Somnium Files - 8.73 (12 votes)
Tales of Berseria - 8.71 (15 votes)
Final Fantasy Tactics - 8.67 (27 votes)
Metal Gear Solid - 8.67 (28 votes)
Pyre - 8.64 (7 votes)
Portal 2 - 8.64 (19 votes)
Bastion - 8.63 (12 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty 8.63 (32 votes)
Dragon Quest V - 8.6 (15 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask - 8.57 (28 votes)
Persona 4 - 8.56 (32 votes)
Disco Elysium - 8.56 (17 votes)
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - 8.53 (18 votes)
Fate/Stay Night - 8.48 (12 votes)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - 8.47 (16 votes)
Undertale - 8.45 (42 votes)
Mass Effect 2 - 8.44 (29 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - 8.42 (12 votes)
What Remains of Edith Finch - 8.41 (19 votes)
Chrono Trigger - 8.4 (41 votes)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon - 8.4 (5 votes)
Snatcher - 8.33 (6 votes)
Final Fantasy X - 8.31 (56 votes)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - 8.31 (17 votes)
Final Fantasy VII - 8.29 (38 votes)
South Park: The Stick of Truth - 8.25 (18 votes)
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - 8.23 (6 votes)
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 8.21 (19 votes)
Parasite Eve - 8.19 (9 votes)
Dragon Quest XI - 8.19 (17 votes)
Final Fantasy VI - 8.19 (43 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 8.19 (43 votes)
The Walking Dead Season 1 - 8.16 (22 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies - 8.15 (17 votes)
Wolfenstein: The New Order - 8.14 (7 votes)
The Last of Us - 8.13 (35 votes)
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals - 8.11 (9 votes)
The Wolf Among Us - 8.11 (15 votes)
Horizon: Zero Dawn - 8.06 (18 votes)
Silent Hill - 8.04 (14 votes)
Portal - 8 (26 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - 8 (18 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles - 7.98 (28 votes)
Hades - 7.96 (22 votes)
Tsukihime - 7.94 (7 votes)
Persona 5 - 7.92 (27 votes)
Life is Strange - 7.92 (32 votes)
Spec Ops: The Line - 7.9 (17 votes)
Bloodborne - 7.88 (20 votes)
Kid Icarus: Uprising - 7.86 (13 votes)
Psychonauts - 7.79 (7 votes)
Deadly Premonition - 7.77 (11 votes)
Final Fantasy IX - 7.77 (26 votes)
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - 7.75 (14 votes)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future - 7.75 (6 votes)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - 7.75 (4 votes)
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - 7.73 (32 votes)
The Sexy Brutale - 7.7 (5 votes)
Bioshock - 7.65 (24 votes)
Skies of Arcadia - 7.63 (15 votes)
Doki Doki Literature Club - 7.61 (28 votes)
Celeste - 7.56 (26 votes)
Half-Life 2 - 7.55 (10 votes)
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - 7.51 (31 votes)
The Last Story - 7.47 (6 votes)
Mortal Kombat (2011) - 7.46 (13 votes)
Marvels Spider-Man - 7.43 (16 votes)
Tales of Symphonia - 7.42 (30 votes)
Earthbound - 7.37 (20 votes)
Mass Effect - 7.33 (29 votes)
Batman: Arkham Asylum - 7.33 (23 votes)
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - 7.27 (20 votes)
Tales of the Abyss - 7.25 (29 votes)
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - 7.25 (12 votes)
Red Dead Redemption - 7.23 (11 votes)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 7.21 (30 votes)
Resident Evil 4 - 7.19 (25 votes)
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony - 7.17 (25 votes)
Mass Effect 3 - 7.16 (21 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - 7.11 (23 votes)
The Stanley Parable - 7.11 (14 votes)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - 7.1 (30 votes)
Broken Age - 7.1 (5 votes)
The Last of Us Part II - 7.09 (16 votes)
To the Moon - 7.07 (7 votes)
INSIDE - 7.06 (16 votes)
Warcraft III (overall) - 7.06 (8 votes)
Assassins Creed II - 7.04 (13 votes)
Final Fantasy VIII - 7.01 (31 votes)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - 7 (6 votes)

10/10

Heather is one of the best characters ever created. This game's whole cast is fantastic. The amount of intricate detail and lore makes the story so satisfying. It's a great combination of tying in the first game's occult lore with the second game's more personal character-driven story. There are still secrets and intricacies I find in every playthrough.

Nominate The Great Ace Attorney

9

9.5

9

Up this goes.

7

7.5/10

This is the only one of the original four Silent Hill stories that didn't blow me away. Never quite connected with Heather (aside from that one particular tragic moment she endures about midway through), and the cult left me underwhelmed.

3/10

Welp, guess I'm the outlier here, I didn't realise this was so well-regarded but I personally didn't care for it at all! The occult stuff was a big miss for me, and the attempts at a personal story with Heather didn't resonate half as much as James' did in 2. The game is trying to balance two very differing tones and I don't think it succeeds at either- much of the setting feels like it's retreading 2's grounds for no good reason, and then the actual plot and dialogue is just absurd.

Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for this or it wasn't what I was looking for, but I found very little to enjoy here. There's a couple of very memorable gross moments, I'll give it that.

Any more?

andylt posted...

3/10

Welp, guess I'm the outlier here, I didn't realise this was so well-regarded but I personally didn't care for it at all! The occult stuff was a big miss for me, and the attempts at a personal story with Heather didn't resonate half as much as James' did in 2. The game is trying to balance two very differing tones and I don't think it succeeds at either- much of the setting feels like it's retreading 2's grounds for no good reason, and then the actual plot and dialogue is just absurd.

Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for this or it wasn't what I was looking for, but I found very little to enjoy here. There's a couple of very memorable gross moments, I'll give it that.

I actually agree with everything you said, but I thought it was decent overall.

7

In some ways, I find SH3 scarier than SH2. But they are two very different experiences. SH2 is an inwards journey into the soul and mind, while SH3 focuses more on external threats due to its far more vulnerable protagonist. SH3's true core is that of the specific female teenage experience - stalkers, (such as Douglas Cartland in the game's opening sequence), sex and teen pregnancy (this one's obvious, but one other aspect of this is how many monsters have phallic attacks or even in the case of the Slurper straight up sexually assault Heather in their attacks), finding your identity (confronting yourself in the Memory of Alessa), the very idea and nature of what it means to be "feminine" (Heather's tomboyish appearance is constantly confronted by idealized mannequins & sexualized nurses, the first area is a shopping mall and shopping is typically stereotyped as a feminine activity, the game even gives you perfume to wear which attracts more "attention" to you).

This can also be seen a lot in the game's main antagonist, Claudia. I like how she isn't a foil for Heather, but more of a kindred spirit. Claudia is a lot like Heather and rejects the notions of conformity stereotyping society places on the individual. However, Claudia is a hypocrite and places her own hatred on to Heather's shoulders ironically becoming the very thing she hates in the process. A key concept of this is how they raised: Heather had the loving Harry, while Claudia was abused and belittled by her father. It's an important distinction that shows differing masculine influences on each of their lives and how it defined them as they grey and mature.

That's just some reasons why this game is so incredible to me, but there's so much more I can get into.

Snake5555555555 posted...

In some ways, I find SH3 scarier than SH2. But they are two very different experiences. SH2 is an inwards journey into the soul and mind, while SH3 focuses more on external threats due to its far more vulnerable protagonist. SH3's true core is that of the specific female teenage experience - stalkers, (such as Douglas Cartland in the game's opening sequence), sex and teen pregnancy (this one's obvious, but one other aspect of this is how many monsters have phallic attacks or even in the case of the Slurper straight up sexually assault Heather in their attacks), finding your identity (confronting yourself in the Memory of Alessa), the very idea and nature of what it means to be "feminine" (Heather's tomboyish appearance is constantly confronted by idealized mannequins & sexualized nurses, the first area is a shopping mall and shopping is typically stereotyped as a feminine activity, the game even gives you perfume to wear which attracts more "attention" to you).

This can also be seen a lot in the game's main antagonist, Claudia. I like how she isn't a foil for Heather, but more of a kindred spirit. Claudia is a lot like Heather and rejects the notions of conformity stereotyping society places on the individual. However, Claudia is a hypocrite and places her own hatred on to Heather's shoulders ironically becoming the very thing she hates in the process. A key concept of this is how they raised: Heather had the loving Harry, while Claudia was abused and belittled by her father. It's an important distinction that shows differing masculine influences on each of their lives and how it defined them as they grey and mature.

That's just some reasons why this game is so incredible to me, but there's so much more I can get into.

@Snake5555555555

I've told you this several times, but your analysis is always insightful and a joy to read.

Great point about the shopping mall being a go-to spot for teen girls. What about the train station? Does that symbolize the fact that she has the potential to go many places (or become many selves)? The train station was the most terrifying part of the game IMO.

Also, what's your take on the haunted house?

@plasmabeam

And as always I appreciate the compliment!

I think the train station represents a few different things. I think you are somewhat right in saying that potential is there for many destinations into an unknown future. But by the same token it could easily be the opposite: Heather might feel rail-roaded in her life by an unknown force of destiny she can't control. Notice how the subway station fights back against her with psychological tricks, or how she can play into her own fear of the paranormal by reading that article on ghosts and then getting pushed down on the tracks. Or when she finally gets on the train and it feels like an endless loop.

On the mansion... I actually think it's intended just as a joke really. Like obviously the voice takes digs and shots at Heather, especially taunting her with thoughts of suicide, but I always thought it was sort of a shot at Resident Evil's cheesiness. The typical haunted mansion setting with the trap doors and falling ceilings like what you usually expect from a horror game or movie, etc, and hell one of the rooms is even a dining room which is the first room you explore in the original RE.

Snake5555555555 posted... @plasmabeam

And as always I appreciate the compliment!

I think the train station represents a few different things. I think you are somewhat right in saying that potential is there for many destinations into an unknown future. But by the same token it could easily be the opposite: Heather might feel rail-roaded in her life by an unknown force of destiny she can't control. Notice how the subway station fights back against her with psychological tricks, or how she can play into her own fear of the paranormal by reading that article on ghosts and then getting pushed down on the tracks. Or when she finally gets on the train and it feels like an endless loop.

On the mansion... I actually think it's intended just as a joke really. Like obviously the voice takes digs and shots at Heather, especially taunting her with thoughts of suicide, but I always thought it was sort of a shot at Resident Evil's cheesiness. The typical haunted mansion setting with the trap doors and falling ceilings like what you usually expect from a horror game or movie, etc, and hell one of the rooms is even a dining room which is the first room you explore in the original RE.

Great insight on the train station... The frustration of someone with so many possibilities who can't act on any of them.

I envy your interpretation skills. Is this something you're naturally gifted at, or did you take a class or something? I wish you'd write a book on how to interpret horror--or stories in general.

Pretty much just naturally gifted but it's something I've nurtured my whole life because it's interesting to me to know and investigate the meaning behind things and I've had many influences that help inform my style too. I think what's most helped me most though is just keeping an open mind about everything and being willing to try new things and not just take things at face value or for granted ever. And I try to remember there's a person behind all art even if it's bad or sub-par.

I'd really love to write a book like that one day for sure! I'll make sure this board is the first to hear about it!

8/10

I remember my mind being blown at the midgame twist at the time

9/10

The Alternate Hoapitsl Storeroom (Mirror Room) is one of the creepiest rooms in all of gaming

Cavedweller2000 posted...

The Alternate Hoapitsl Storeroom (Mirror Room) is one of the creepiest rooms in all of gaming

Hell yes it is! And the best part is the scare is optional & all up to you.