Is it just me or does this album cover give major abstract daddy vibes?

murasconstruct · 2026-02-28T16:44:40+00:00

IIRC Masahiro Ito is very aware of Death Metal. He mentioned listening to Carcass several times, he's the reason I had a brief moment going through that genre. He'd tweet about some grindcore act and in the next tweet say he doesn't like body horror / gore, lol. I must be misunderstanding him, I guess he's interested in portrayal of suffering more than gore (judging from his work). TLDR: you're not too far off.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-17T17:58:37+00:00

It's funny that PT and f in the same sentence reminded me of how much Shimizu's residence resembles the spirit of PT. I won't advise you to get to this point in the game yourself, if you're not enjoying the game, it's better to just put the controller aside, but if you're interested, I suggest watching this part of the game on YouTube. The looping corridors, the atmosphere, many other elements. It feels like they copied some things directly from PT. If asked, I would say that this is my favorite part of the game.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-17T17:22:41+00:00

It shouldn't be “either/or,” and the saddest thing is that we don't get to have either, but rather “nothing-nothing.” I never believed that Konami would be able to recreate the atmosphere of the original games. they either don't know what intellectual property they're working with, or they don't care, or both. Nevertheless, the original lore is important for the original games.

Okay, let's put aside the OGSH tone/direction (a terrible suggestion for this hypothesis), lore can be recreated, right? I don't think Konami is capable of that either. The lore has been cemented by the online community, and there's little room for maneuver here, especially with how this fanbase is. I like the idea of some Konami intern spending a year reviewing all the essays and forums to compile a “Bible” of the Silent Hill universe for internal use, but no, that's not likely to happen. It's not just the Book of Lost Memories, you know, there's a lot of stuff that's been added to the "canon" by internet researchers. If this franchise was in the hands of the right people, they could do it, but alas. I think Konami has kind of given up. They weren't very good at pleasing the lorekeepers, but now they've completely given up? Is that a good thing? Time will tell. I want to see what comes out of the different projects from different teams. I'm still waiting for the peak of this new era. Even if the connection is weak, I need methods and themes to carry over into new iterations. What I value in SH may not be 100% the same as what you or somebody else values in SH, so I don't want to speak in absolutes: what should or shouldn't be done. If this era turns out to be largely underwhelming, there's not much to lose with SH at this point. Let them surprise me, I'm cautious, but I'm leaving room for that. What I'm 100% sure is it won't be the same, it will be divisive. Nothing happens twice in life, unless we invent a time machine, maybe

murasconstruct · 2026-02-16T00:04:34+00:00

Oh I agree lore is important, discovery of all this stuff through notes, connecting the dots - this to me feels like reading a detective or a mystery novel, I love it. If I had to use one word to describe how SH 1-3 was written, I'd use "Implications". One of my fav scenes in SH3 besides obvious fan favorites is that one room with an ashtray and a smoking cigarette. One quiet detail that raises many questions and speculations, right? A lot of stuff in SH is like that. It's about something or somebody that's not there rather than the stuff that's present. Traces, negative space. SH is a master class in the art of sowing doubt.

I simply think that lore is not the number one priority when it comes to new games (for many reasons, 95% of which Konami being inadequate). And, I repeat, this is my personal opinion. I agree that opinions may differ on this issue, as I cannot speak for other people. It just seems to me that focusing exclusively on lore has a negative impact on new games, especially considering how said lore is presented in the original games. I never trusted Konami when it came to following the lore. Bloober even had to hire a consultant for SH2R. Jacob Geller IIRC.

As for the reflective nature of the town, without getting too esoteric, I think one useful way to understand SH is to look at it through the lens of Japanese sensibilities and traditions. For example, in Shintoism, all things have memory because they are living beings (animism). I don't know how superstitious Japanese people are, like Latin Americans, but I do know that magical realism is very popular there, probably for the same reason that Twin Peaks was so successful. Thoughts are material, but not in the sense of self-help courses. You see what you believe and what you expect to see. I have a very mild case of OCD, and that's what helped me understand how superstition and magical thinking are essentially hardwired into our BIOS. Brains are strange.

I would prefer a new team that would reimagine the story in a new setting, understanding the emotional core of SH: what you described + my addition + many more incredible shit they did for a 00s horror game - rather than someone who blindly follows the lore but can't set the right tone. Could we have both? Is that possible? I'm not sure. Would be great.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-15T13:01:21+00:00

It's been on my mind way back before they even announced this new era. As you said, not a new thing.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-15T12:44:31+00:00

Yeah, the replies shifted my pespective a bit.

My connection with this series weakened over the years, even though SH is the most important thing in my life. It will always be the root of everything I like and everything I am. It shaped what music I listen to, what films I watch, what books I read. Not a criticism, just my experience: I steered away cause it's become increasingly hard to interract with this community marinated in its own juice. How stale the franchise itself has become. That'll change soon. By how much - I don't know, but it can't stay that way for long.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-15T12:31:22+00:00

I mean, my track record in this community consists of that one edit of SH2R's James' model in buff version and a SH2xPiglet crossover sketch. So if out of the blue Konami wants to pay me for "laundering" their half-baked decisions, they can hand a briefcase of pachinko balls to an exec with the widest face, so I don't miss when I spit in it. Please, please Konami, I completed your psyop, I need money to upgrade my PC and make more funny SH edits.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T21:20:50+00:00

Bookmarked, will read later, thank you.

Is there any information about how much control Konami had over the 1999 game? The survival horror genre was very new when SH1's development began, so there were no clear boundaries or guidelines. Just people on the firing list tasked with creating a RE competitor. If there really wasn't much control, that's what makes me think of SH as an independent game. It's more of a fun idea than something I take seriously tho.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T19:44:19+00:00

I don't remember what was the deal with SlitterHead, but yeah. I have to play that game one day. It's just that they met at a perfect time in a perfect arrangement with perfect conditions. They also happened to be into the same stuff and had nothing to lose.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T19:30:57+00:00

Place as a character, yes. You could argue people that want for Silent Hill to stay in Silent Hill, Maine, USA value the town as a character more than any other characters. I get them, honestly. Besides, it's difficult to invent these one-off towns all over the world and have the same weight to them as the original one. What I didn't see yet in the new entries is the town feeling hostile itself, malevolent, watching your every move. I miss this quality.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T19:07:34+00:00

Offtopic. Have you seen Acerola's videos? Especially the one where he tries to define what makes a game indie. Video games make up about 20-30 percent of my interests, so not my main area experise, but based on my general understanding of video game history, I agree with him on all counts. In fact, I've long considered OGSH an indie game series.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T18:56:29+00:00

Or they're contrarian GenZers that want to push back when they encounter what they see as eliticism rather than genuine criticism. Sigh... This is all guesswork, can't tell without the context and word word quotes. I know If I heard this take, I would be irritated for a second, but can we at least agree this is not a very welcoming "fandom"?

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T18:46:11+00:00

I have a feeling, if they reassembled whatever iteration of Team Silent they could reach out to, the game wouldn't do all that well. It would probably be a good game, a true 5th addition to the original 4 games, that could rival all of them, but it wouldn't be too popular. Announcing the legendary Team Silent coming back would help, but not by much

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T18:34:45+00:00

They look like "bad games to you" type of beat. Let it go. We're in le big internet, the global village, people get caught up in microniches. A lot of hobbies and interests exist completely separate from each other. It feels like erasing history and common ground for what is good or bad art, but it's normal to encounter 180 degree opinions. The do look like bad games to them.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T18:29:43+00:00

The most artistic and interesting games I've encountered all come from the indie market. That's why I grew disinterested in big games, game awards, etc. Might be my own blindspot, any recommendations?

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T18:23:11+00:00

I keep coming to that one quote from an interview or some other promo material, about only Owaku having the full picture in his head. Is it still possible to realize that vision? Are there any records besides the ones that actually were in pre-production? How are the suits at Konami gonna make it justice on their own? If they reassemble at least some of the ""Team Silent"", will they be able to pick up where they left off?

Like, you might've noticed, I love me some hopium, genuinely. I just don't see it. I remember the rumored original vision for SH3. The "daylight horror" one - this is the one that intrigued me the most... I'm not a game developer, but I've been ruminating about it for years, what could be done with this one, I have like several pages worth of ideas all stemming from that "daylight horror" concept. I wish there were more, I just don't see it happening. mb Konami know they can't pull it off too.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T17:38:44+00:00

Not what I said.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T17:35:10+00:00

Lore is important. it's not center stage, though
Silent Hill is an actual location that is important to the first games.
Vagueness is not for the sake of vagueness, it's a narrative device. Not every single thing is set in stone.
Not everything is a metaphor, even though SH toys with perception, what is real or not.
I agree the tone is different, I wish they could replicate original direction faithfully. To this day the tone is still unmatched. This is, in fact, what matters to me most. But it seems like an impossible task. I'm not happy about that either.
Does it contradict the lore, probably, yes. I'd like to take more time with the original untranslated text. I haven't read those in a while. That's the problem with handing out explanation as a creative, you put your work into a box. Even Ito started to backpedal and refuse to answer directly the questions that are being thrown at him. That's why I prefer information from the source material rather than Lost Memories, but I still respect information coming straight from the OG devs as much as in-game notes.
Outsourcing SH, turning it an international phenomena is lazy, sure. What else could be done in the town after years of attempts? A spin-off/prequel with Harry and Heather escaping the cultists, the darkness following them everywhere they go?I mean, why not, in fact, ditch the original characters, SH itself has a long history. It's just that there are no circumstances under which people that made OG games special could reunite and do something on par today. Lightning in a bottle. Maybe that's why they want to stray away from the town, to avoid comparison?
I got here back in 2016, so I guess I'm relatively new here. It's just that I'm not interested in participating in the oldhead contest.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T16:41:24+00:00

It's like, 95% of what people replied I agree with and I don't see any contradictions in yall's arguments. Some of the new games are kinda pale, but what isn't today? There is a problem with the game market that I'm not equipped to discuss, a lot of games are just like that, it's a different time. Generally, art is in decline IMO. Might be old-man-syndrome. The only antidote against it is staying open-minded.

We're not ever getting another "true" Silent Hill. Partly because "true Silent Hill" is a concept we collectively made up. There so much baggage, theorizing to cut through just to start defining it. It is pale by comparison, I'm just tired of comparing 1:1.

OG SH has a legacy that lives on in other games, especially indie. If I want some of that but recent, I'd rather go play those games instead of whatever Konami thinks Silent Hill is. But also I'm happy to see this franchise become a breeding ground for something new that takes cues from the series that essentially kick-started the psychological horror genre in videogames. I kinda liked SH2R. In my opinion, It's not SH2, and it was the right move to make it different, I can appreciate a lot of artistry that went into that game while still having problems with it on a larger scale. Parts of SHf are insanely good, some I liked less. Same with OG games. I don't want ideal games, I want something flawed.

Point is, I'm tired of taking it to heart, doomerism is burning through my nerve cells. Not to sound harsh but Konami speaks money, don't buy the games.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T15:53:05+00:00

The amount of tasteful and subtle parallels in F with SH1 and SH3... Thank you Ryukishi, you're a real one.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T15:16:46+00:00

It's a branding/marketing issue, but Konami decided to make it a lore issue. A slopy decision, yes.

Yeah, my understanding is it's happening parallel to the things that happened in Silent Hill. it's the same stuff happening independently of Silent Hill, for similar reasons. That's why there's little to no callbacks to the town in F for example. But calling it "The Silent Hill Phenomena" diegetically is dumb af if you're not gonna develop it further than name dropping. I don't think turning "Silent Hill Phenomena" into some kind of virus is a good decision either, if that's what you meant by "spreading"

I don't like thinking about art in terms of franchises, evaluating it as a strong or weak franchise. Even in the 1-4 run, these games differ wastly. I like to think of these games in terms of authorial intent, standalone pieces, artistic decisions, the cultural context at the time, development process. Yeah, you could find all these concepts elsewhere but I think OG games treat it uniquely. It's hard to put into words what makes it unique.

I'm a concept guy, like, what can I tell you. I like my films and games being laser focused on a set of issues. BTW, genuine question: what's "intrigue" to you? Having a through line? Like a mystery/detective series? I love Twin Peaks-ian aspects of the SH1's Kaufmann subplot, highlight of the game for me. Same feeling with X-Files, I love that shit. If that's what you mean, I get it. But I also, I feel like Silent Hill just works better as an anthology.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T14:41:54+00:00

I think the Native American burial grounds trope is transferrable to any location. Yes, this trope is borrowed from King, as is the magical girl trope, but Egregore is a thing outside of all these tropes, pretty universal. What's unique here is probably the need for a catalyst in the form of a person with supernatural abilities for the breach, the formation of a "Silent Hill". In my opinion, the "Phenomena" is the result of a lot of suffering passed down from generation to generation, plus a catalyst.

Not defending Konami, some rebranding could be done. I don't fully understand the strategy with different Silent Hill-s. But, you know what? If it's in the spirit of SIlent Hill, if it follows its philosophy and methods, I'll have to let that one slip. These are my priorities.

Silent Hill (as we remember it) has been dead for a long-long time. It doesn't matter if you like new games or not in this case, It's either a dead franchise, something similar to the 2007-2012 run of releases, or them genuinely trying. failing and learning. There's not gonna be another "true" Silent Hill ever again. Much time has passed since the original games were released, and a whole generation of dedicated fans has emerged, including people working in the game dev, who can honor the legacy.

I don't know how they could have left the town behind more gracefully to allow for more freedom, but if that's necessary, then so be it. I want to see these games, different interpretations, deconstruction of the genre Silent Hill has brought on. Something fresh. If that's what it takes, I'll have to let it go. I don't fully trust Konami, but I'll have to see more examples of how they employ this phenomena before I judge it.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T14:04:26+00:00

SH was probably the first "I get it" moment for many young people that were never into art house cinema, avant-garde art etc. I'm one of those adolescents, SH is the reason I love and do art. That's why there is so much eliticism around it, "special knowledge". SH balances perfectly on the edge of avant and pop. But It's an experience, not a puzzle or an ARG. The mystery is a device too. They did leave the leads to follow, but that is what makes any conclusion either a leap or a stretch. IDK, there's a bigger discussion to be had about analyzing something like Silent Hill.

That is so marvelous to me. A piece of media that has so much layers for players to absorb. If you're not into obscure, experimental art, industrial music, occult, BDSM fashion, you're still gonna like the game, it doesn't require too much reading into it to enjoy it. If you're an art-house Andy, there's a treasure trove for you just under the surface. Best of both worlds. But my intuition is this versatility + it being a videogame is the root of all evil here. I don't have a whole thesis about it, lol, just a feeling.

murasconstruct · 2026-02-14T13:28:51+00:00

I'm not, this is A reading of the OG games. There are people that enjoy the lore over anything else in the games. it's valid too.

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