~I have such amazing hands
Ultramega OK! recording!
へるしー素浪人, Namihei - Chrono Trigger - Rising Ground Lion
へるしー素浪人, Namihei - Seiken Densetsu 3 - Alone in the Evil
Kennosuke Suemura - Guilty Gear Judgement - Stage 7: Laboratory
RoeTaKa - Xenogears - Devil Flare
Frustratingly lost the last seven minutes on this, how annoying.
Anyway in other news I started Silent Hill Downpour! I'm about 40% into it right now DON'T SPOIL IT FOR ME
But so far I don't think it's so bad really, particularly compared to say, Homecoming. It feels different than the previous SH games, but that's not necessarily a bad thing depending on how you do it. It borrows some elements from Shattered Memories (like being able to look around a door before opening it and tipping things over to stop things from chasing you, as well as chase sequences in general really) but they were elements I sort of liked from Shattered Memories anyway, so I don't really mind so much, haha.
Combat has been simplified a lot and there aren't any quicktime events FOR WHICH I AM SERIOUSLY GRATEFUL BECAUSE UUUUUGH. Both Homecoming and Origins had quicktime combat and it's like why, why are you doing this to me
But it's mostly just attack or block, no charging as far as I can tell. Enemies have specific attack patterns though that you can pick up and learn, though I'm so lazy most of the time I just want to press square and kill things, so I end up getting slashed up by them more than I should. I DON'T WANT TO EXERT EFFORT ON COMBAT, MEHH
But it's not so bad really. They're less stingy with health items than Homecoming or Origins, which I also appreciate because as mentioned I get lazy with enemies. I've never felt particularly pressed in terms of finding healing or whatever, which I actually prefer really. I mean, being low on health with no healing items does add an element of tension but for me it also makes me sort of irritated at the game, you know? Haha.
The weapons still break, which is kind of annoying but not as in your face as it was in Origins where they broke after four hits on pretty much anything. More so is that you can really only have one weapon at a time, and to pick a new one up, Murphy has to put the other one down. Which is an interesting choice in a way, since it definitely thwarts my packrat tendencies and it's like ARGH I HAVE TO MAKE CHOICES ABOUT WHAT TO USE but most of the time I just grab whatever's around and it works out alright.
The gun controls are a bit wonky but I haven't used the gun very much. They're definitely fairly stingy with bullets, or I'm a terrible shot. Could be both. The toughest choice so far was that you can either have the pistol or the shotgun and its like arrrgh nooo i want them both why are you doing this to meee
Also the map controls frigging suck. The text on the screen is incredibly tiny so its hard to read (could be me using composite cables on the ps3) but zooming in is irritating as well because there's no precision to the map movements, you want to nudge it to the left and it just shoots all the way to the left and there's no way to stop it. It's completely terrible and utterly annoying and I have no idea how they let that get through. This applies sort of also to notes but the map is really what kills me. Though, interestingly enough, I haven't spent a lot of time in the game so far looking at maps. Most of the time the areas are fairly straightforward... except for the town itself, which now seems ENORMOUS. I am regularly getting lost in Silent Hill with no idea where I am or what I'm doing.
But on the whole it's not that annoying, really. Combat's doable, don't feel low on health, areas are relatively easy to navigate and figure out. Items are sometimes a bit hard to spot, but I could turn on something that highlights em for me if I felt like it. I do sort of miss being able to click things and have the character comment though. Murphy rarely comments on things I point him at, but unlike Travis, he actually comments on what's happening to him, so that's a trade-off I'm okay with.
Oh yeah, the 3D camera is an interesting addition. Most SH games have fixed camera angles which can heighten the mood and simultaeneously screw you over big time because the direction you're pressing to keep running suddenly changes. I'm mostly thinking of the SH3 Borley Mansion sequence here. But Downpour doesn't have a fixed camera, which is an interesting choice. I appreciate it since I really like looking at EVERYTHING, so Murphy spends a lot of time dawdling around as I spin the camera around to get a good look at what's going on. Some tension does get lost but I like the freedom to look at anything I want. Also some areas still have fixed angles so they aren't gone completely.
The monster designs however range from meh to terrible, though I'll get into that more under the cut. Aside from the monsters though, the game's succeeded in surprising me, creeping me out, and subverting my expectations more than once, so that's something.
Also there's a lot of use of background sounds every now and then and it's pretty effective for me. Quiet whispering, pattering sounds like footsteps, doors closing, creaking sounds, just little tiny things added here and there that help amp up tension. That's all done pretty well.
Let's see... this is all mostly system stuff on how the game works. I'll toss stuff on the game/character itself under a cut for spoilers, just in case.
[Spoiler (click to open)]Murphy so far seems to have more personality to me than Alex or Travis, which is good. He reacts to things that happen to him or things he sees, usually with completely understandable fear or shock, which helps him feel a bit more real. He talks to himself about things he needs to do, and his notes in his journal also help get him across as well. He sort of looks like Henry a bit to me, though with a thicker jawline.
I'm curious about Murphy and what his deal is. The easy answer would be that he murdered someone, and the game started with a murder, but I wonder if there's going to be some kind of twist to it. Already I was sort of surprised to find out he went to jail in the first place for something non violent, although that actually matches more with what we see of Murphy in the game. He doesn't seem like a violent guy while you walk around with him, just sort of quiet and a bit secretive, I guess. So I can see him getting sent in for something non-violent, though I still don't know WHY. My current guess is that he deliberately stole the car to get into jail to get at the pigman he killed at first, though why he'd do that I still don't know. He had a kid! Learned that much at least. And that kid is dead, which I assume is related.
The imagery in the game is interesting to me too. Obviously Murphy has issues with water, which makes me think of drowning, although it's also interestingly coupled with a lot of electricity and fire. So far, Murphy's biggest tripouts have been when he started a fire and then sprinklers came on to put it out. It's entirely possible Downpour will just drop the ball on this, but I'd like to think that this actually means something about him and his problems. It's a nice change though from most SH Otherworlds, which tend to be red and gratey and fire-based (which makes sense with Alessa and all but).
Murphy's tripout sequences so far seem pretty well timed too. I didn't expect the first one at all, and the whole sequence was so completely different than what I've done in SH before that it was like playing a new game again, very startling and intense. I've mentioned before though that being chased is a recurring theme in my nightmares so chase sequences always rev me up. But anyway, his trippy otherworld is very different and unique to him, it seems like, which I appreciate. It SHOULD be tailored to him specifically, that's what makes them interesting. It definitely doesn't resemble the otherworlds of the other characters, which is a step in the right direction. I like looking at otherworlds and trying to guess what they say about the person involved, so hopefully Downpour has something planned for all this and it isn't just a big waste of time.
The red singularity that chases you around is interesting, whatever it is Murphy is terrified of it, and it's also interesting when they decide to throw it at you. Just when you get in a new area and you want to take a look around, the singularity pops up and forces you to run. So you dash through these areas, trying to find the right way to go, and you don't have to time to get much more than a glimpse of the creepy things around you, which heightens the impact a little I think. A brief glance at something leaves most of it to your imagination. This worked pretty well for me with the first tripout, wherein I wanted to look at everything but immediately got rushed along, so I only got vague impressions of all this crazy stuff. Very interesting.
When things do calm down though, Murphy seems to have some weird issues with gravity, space, and sort of the alignment of things. Like one area has rooms on the walls and ceiling, sort of Escher-esque. PRETTY NEAT. Also there's a lot of cages and bars and prison imagery which makes total sense, considering he was a prisoner and all. There was also this crazy sequence with a deadly clock which also made sense to me, since being a prisoner would make him very aware and focused on time.
I'm curious about what Murphy's problems are. MOST of the enemies I've seen so far seem to be connected and consistent with them, which also gives me hope it'll come together in the end. I'll get more into them in a second.
The environments are all consistently detailed and look really nice. A lot of work was put into the houses and town itself which as mentioned IS ENORMOUS and I regularly get lost. There are some bits where you need to find certain weapons to open certain areas (a boat hook to pull down ladders mostly) which are kind of annoying, and the terrible map makes it hard to keep track of where I am at any point, and there are so many sidequests going on in town that it feels sort of distracting sometimes. But still, there's a lot of freedom you don't usually get, which is kind of cool.
From the notes in his notebook, Murphy doesn't really seem like a bad guy. He has a lot of sympathy for birds and for children, and mostly just wants to escape. I wonder how it'll all play out?
The incidental characters seem... very incidental. Most of them don't seem to show up for very long before disappearing, though I guess that sort of happened in Origins and Homecoming as well. It's too bad since I really like the secondary characters in SH most of the time, but in Downpour they so rarely appear and don't really say very much. There's angry cop lady whose name I don't know, that one guy who jumped off a bridge, and the radio DJ, but we see so little of them. Angry cop lady definitely seems to have some issues and bridge guy took care of his already, not really sure why DJ's hanging out in SH or anything though. I LIKED HIM THOUGH HE WAS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER SO FAR
I HOPE HE'S NOT DEAD
Haha there's also the postman too, who wanders around giving you cryptic advice. HE SEEMS NORMAL THOUGH just your average SH citizen the town hasn't turned on for.
The enemies, that's right. The major enemy you find are the drowned/burned women, which me and Funkmeister already shorthand to burned wife/drowned wife most of the time. I ASSUME THAT'S WHERE IT'S GOING WITH IT but heck I don't know. Anyway, they're... you know, I guess they're solid. They're actually wearing full-length dresses which is a definite change. A MODESTLY DRESSED MONSTER FOR ONCE
Another one are crazy escaped inmates who have some kind of pointy things in their faces? I dunno I didn't get a good look at em. They wander around going COME AT ME BRO and it's like alright, I can see Murphy having issues with other inmates or something, makes sense.
Another one are the Manbats, which are big gangly things that wander around on the ceiling, sort of pale and irritating as all get out to fight. SO ANNOYING. I have no idea what Murphy's problem with them is.
The real worst enemy so far are the blow up dolls. It's not just because they're really irritating to fight, althoguh that's definitely part of it (they're invisible and you have to use a special flashlight to see them). They also make sex noises when you hit them, unnecessary, and their basic design is just completly out of place, both for SH and for Murphy as far as I can tell. Nothing in the game has hinted at Murphy having any problems with women at all so far. Nothing. And he was in jail, it's not like he could have a blow up doll in jail either. They feel completely gratuitous and random and unrelated to everything and completely inappropriate for a Silent Hill and are a major strike against Downpour. THERE IS NO REASON FOR THESE TO EXIST or at least for them to have this design. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS
maybe murphy DID have issues with women though, I dunno. Still I am v disappointed in them.
The other thing I've only caught glimpses of is some guy that looks like a cultist with a giant hammer. Booo the cult. I don't want any more of the cult. JUST LEAVE IT ALONE. At least it's not Pyramid Head though, thank god. I DO NOT WANT PYRAMID HEAD TO APPEAR IN THIS GAME FOR ONCE, JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE
Hammer guy looks lame but is better than having PH in there again.
The enemies are positioned in pretty effected jump scare areas at points, so there's that I guess. They also behave in interesting ways. The Manbats in particular had a tendency to hop down near me, look at me menacingly, then sort of wander off or hop onto the ceiling. Like they were watching me. It was actually more unsettling than them just coming right for me, since I couldn't predict what they were going to do and it made me tense, haha. The inmates also sort of do the same thing, sometimes ignoring you, sometimes watching you, sometimes attacking you. It makes them interestingly unpredictable.
Guy in a wheelchair keeps popping up in places, I wonder what the deal with that is.
Anyway TL;DR I'm enjoying Downpour so far with some minor reservations. I hope it pays off on everything it sets up and doesn't just fall flat on its face. IT COULD HAPPEN. So far though it's not so bad.
As a reward for getting through all that, here's everything you need to know about Silent Hill Revelations.
I also posted this at dreamwidth with reluctant ambivalence. Comment here or there, don't matter to me!
へるしー素浪人, Namihei - Chrono Trigger - Rising Ground Lion
へるしー素浪人, Namihei - Seiken Densetsu 3 - Alone in the Evil
Kennosuke Suemura - Guilty Gear Judgement - Stage 7: Laboratory
RoeTaKa - Xenogears - Devil Flare
Frustratingly lost the last seven minutes on this, how annoying.
Anyway in other news I started Silent Hill Downpour! I'm about 40% into it right now DON'T SPOIL IT FOR ME
But so far I don't think it's so bad really, particularly compared to say, Homecoming. It feels different than the previous SH games, but that's not necessarily a bad thing depending on how you do it. It borrows some elements from Shattered Memories (like being able to look around a door before opening it and tipping things over to stop things from chasing you, as well as chase sequences in general really) but they were elements I sort of liked from Shattered Memories anyway, so I don't really mind so much, haha.
Combat has been simplified a lot and there aren't any quicktime events FOR WHICH I AM SERIOUSLY GRATEFUL BECAUSE UUUUUGH. Both Homecoming and Origins had quicktime combat and it's like why, why are you doing this to me
But it's mostly just attack or block, no charging as far as I can tell. Enemies have specific attack patterns though that you can pick up and learn, though I'm so lazy most of the time I just want to press square and kill things, so I end up getting slashed up by them more than I should. I DON'T WANT TO EXERT EFFORT ON COMBAT, MEHH
But it's not so bad really. They're less stingy with health items than Homecoming or Origins, which I also appreciate because as mentioned I get lazy with enemies. I've never felt particularly pressed in terms of finding healing or whatever, which I actually prefer really. I mean, being low on health with no healing items does add an element of tension but for me it also makes me sort of irritated at the game, you know? Haha.
The weapons still break, which is kind of annoying but not as in your face as it was in Origins where they broke after four hits on pretty much anything. More so is that you can really only have one weapon at a time, and to pick a new one up, Murphy has to put the other one down. Which is an interesting choice in a way, since it definitely thwarts my packrat tendencies and it's like ARGH I HAVE TO MAKE CHOICES ABOUT WHAT TO USE but most of the time I just grab whatever's around and it works out alright.
The gun controls are a bit wonky but I haven't used the gun very much. They're definitely fairly stingy with bullets, or I'm a terrible shot. Could be both. The toughest choice so far was that you can either have the pistol or the shotgun and its like arrrgh nooo i want them both why are you doing this to meee
Also the map controls frigging suck. The text on the screen is incredibly tiny so its hard to read (could be me using composite cables on the ps3) but zooming in is irritating as well because there's no precision to the map movements, you want to nudge it to the left and it just shoots all the way to the left and there's no way to stop it. It's completely terrible and utterly annoying and I have no idea how they let that get through. This applies sort of also to notes but the map is really what kills me. Though, interestingly enough, I haven't spent a lot of time in the game so far looking at maps. Most of the time the areas are fairly straightforward... except for the town itself, which now seems ENORMOUS. I am regularly getting lost in Silent Hill with no idea where I am or what I'm doing.
But on the whole it's not that annoying, really. Combat's doable, don't feel low on health, areas are relatively easy to navigate and figure out. Items are sometimes a bit hard to spot, but I could turn on something that highlights em for me if I felt like it. I do sort of miss being able to click things and have the character comment though. Murphy rarely comments on things I point him at, but unlike Travis, he actually comments on what's happening to him, so that's a trade-off I'm okay with.
Oh yeah, the 3D camera is an interesting addition. Most SH games have fixed camera angles which can heighten the mood and simultaeneously screw you over big time because the direction you're pressing to keep running suddenly changes. I'm mostly thinking of the SH3 Borley Mansion sequence here. But Downpour doesn't have a fixed camera, which is an interesting choice. I appreciate it since I really like looking at EVERYTHING, so Murphy spends a lot of time dawdling around as I spin the camera around to get a good look at what's going on. Some tension does get lost but I like the freedom to look at anything I want. Also some areas still have fixed angles so they aren't gone completely.
The monster designs however range from meh to terrible, though I'll get into that more under the cut. Aside from the monsters though, the game's succeeded in surprising me, creeping me out, and subverting my expectations more than once, so that's something.
Also there's a lot of use of background sounds every now and then and it's pretty effective for me. Quiet whispering, pattering sounds like footsteps, doors closing, creaking sounds, just little tiny things added here and there that help amp up tension. That's all done pretty well.
Let's see... this is all mostly system stuff on how the game works. I'll toss stuff on the game/character itself under a cut for spoilers, just in case.
[Spoiler (click to open)]Murphy so far seems to have more personality to me than Alex or Travis, which is good. He reacts to things that happen to him or things he sees, usually with completely understandable fear or shock, which helps him feel a bit more real. He talks to himself about things he needs to do, and his notes in his journal also help get him across as well. He sort of looks like Henry a bit to me, though with a thicker jawline.
I'm curious about Murphy and what his deal is. The easy answer would be that he murdered someone, and the game started with a murder, but I wonder if there's going to be some kind of twist to it. Already I was sort of surprised to find out he went to jail in the first place for something non violent, although that actually matches more with what we see of Murphy in the game. He doesn't seem like a violent guy while you walk around with him, just sort of quiet and a bit secretive, I guess. So I can see him getting sent in for something non-violent, though I still don't know WHY. My current guess is that he deliberately stole the car to get into jail to get at the pigman he killed at first, though why he'd do that I still don't know. He had a kid! Learned that much at least. And that kid is dead, which I assume is related.
The imagery in the game is interesting to me too. Obviously Murphy has issues with water, which makes me think of drowning, although it's also interestingly coupled with a lot of electricity and fire. So far, Murphy's biggest tripouts have been when he started a fire and then sprinklers came on to put it out. It's entirely possible Downpour will just drop the ball on this, but I'd like to think that this actually means something about him and his problems. It's a nice change though from most SH Otherworlds, which tend to be red and gratey and fire-based (which makes sense with Alessa and all but).
Murphy's tripout sequences so far seem pretty well timed too. I didn't expect the first one at all, and the whole sequence was so completely different than what I've done in SH before that it was like playing a new game again, very startling and intense. I've mentioned before though that being chased is a recurring theme in my nightmares so chase sequences always rev me up. But anyway, his trippy otherworld is very different and unique to him, it seems like, which I appreciate. It SHOULD be tailored to him specifically, that's what makes them interesting. It definitely doesn't resemble the otherworlds of the other characters, which is a step in the right direction. I like looking at otherworlds and trying to guess what they say about the person involved, so hopefully Downpour has something planned for all this and it isn't just a big waste of time.
The red singularity that chases you around is interesting, whatever it is Murphy is terrified of it, and it's also interesting when they decide to throw it at you. Just when you get in a new area and you want to take a look around, the singularity pops up and forces you to run. So you dash through these areas, trying to find the right way to go, and you don't have to time to get much more than a glimpse of the creepy things around you, which heightens the impact a little I think. A brief glance at something leaves most of it to your imagination. This worked pretty well for me with the first tripout, wherein I wanted to look at everything but immediately got rushed along, so I only got vague impressions of all this crazy stuff. Very interesting.
When things do calm down though, Murphy seems to have some weird issues with gravity, space, and sort of the alignment of things. Like one area has rooms on the walls and ceiling, sort of Escher-esque. PRETTY NEAT. Also there's a lot of cages and bars and prison imagery which makes total sense, considering he was a prisoner and all. There was also this crazy sequence with a deadly clock which also made sense to me, since being a prisoner would make him very aware and focused on time.
I'm curious about what Murphy's problems are. MOST of the enemies I've seen so far seem to be connected and consistent with them, which also gives me hope it'll come together in the end. I'll get more into them in a second.
The environments are all consistently detailed and look really nice. A lot of work was put into the houses and town itself which as mentioned IS ENORMOUS and I regularly get lost. There are some bits where you need to find certain weapons to open certain areas (a boat hook to pull down ladders mostly) which are kind of annoying, and the terrible map makes it hard to keep track of where I am at any point, and there are so many sidequests going on in town that it feels sort of distracting sometimes. But still, there's a lot of freedom you don't usually get, which is kind of cool.
From the notes in his notebook, Murphy doesn't really seem like a bad guy. He has a lot of sympathy for birds and for children, and mostly just wants to escape. I wonder how it'll all play out?
The incidental characters seem... very incidental. Most of them don't seem to show up for very long before disappearing, though I guess that sort of happened in Origins and Homecoming as well. It's too bad since I really like the secondary characters in SH most of the time, but in Downpour they so rarely appear and don't really say very much. There's angry cop lady whose name I don't know, that one guy who jumped off a bridge, and the radio DJ, but we see so little of them. Angry cop lady definitely seems to have some issues and bridge guy took care of his already, not really sure why DJ's hanging out in SH or anything though. I LIKED HIM THOUGH HE WAS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER SO FAR
I HOPE HE'S NOT DEAD
Haha there's also the postman too, who wanders around giving you cryptic advice. HE SEEMS NORMAL THOUGH just your average SH citizen the town hasn't turned on for.
The enemies, that's right. The major enemy you find are the drowned/burned women, which me and Funkmeister already shorthand to burned wife/drowned wife most of the time. I ASSUME THAT'S WHERE IT'S GOING WITH IT but heck I don't know. Anyway, they're... you know, I guess they're solid. They're actually wearing full-length dresses which is a definite change. A MODESTLY DRESSED MONSTER FOR ONCE
Another one are crazy escaped inmates who have some kind of pointy things in their faces? I dunno I didn't get a good look at em. They wander around going COME AT ME BRO and it's like alright, I can see Murphy having issues with other inmates or something, makes sense.
Another one are the Manbats, which are big gangly things that wander around on the ceiling, sort of pale and irritating as all get out to fight. SO ANNOYING. I have no idea what Murphy's problem with them is.
The real worst enemy so far are the blow up dolls. It's not just because they're really irritating to fight, althoguh that's definitely part of it (they're invisible and you have to use a special flashlight to see them). They also make sex noises when you hit them, unnecessary, and their basic design is just completly out of place, both for SH and for Murphy as far as I can tell. Nothing in the game has hinted at Murphy having any problems with women at all so far. Nothing. And he was in jail, it's not like he could have a blow up doll in jail either. They feel completely gratuitous and random and unrelated to everything and completely inappropriate for a Silent Hill and are a major strike against Downpour. THERE IS NO REASON FOR THESE TO EXIST or at least for them to have this design. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS
maybe murphy DID have issues with women though, I dunno. Still I am v disappointed in them.
The other thing I've only caught glimpses of is some guy that looks like a cultist with a giant hammer. Booo the cult. I don't want any more of the cult. JUST LEAVE IT ALONE. At least it's not Pyramid Head though, thank god. I DO NOT WANT PYRAMID HEAD TO APPEAR IN THIS GAME FOR ONCE, JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE
Hammer guy looks lame but is better than having PH in there again.
The enemies are positioned in pretty effected jump scare areas at points, so there's that I guess. They also behave in interesting ways. The Manbats in particular had a tendency to hop down near me, look at me menacingly, then sort of wander off or hop onto the ceiling. Like they were watching me. It was actually more unsettling than them just coming right for me, since I couldn't predict what they were going to do and it made me tense, haha. The inmates also sort of do the same thing, sometimes ignoring you, sometimes watching you, sometimes attacking you. It makes them interestingly unpredictable.
Guy in a wheelchair keeps popping up in places, I wonder what the deal with that is.
Anyway TL;DR I'm enjoying Downpour so far with some minor reservations. I hope it pays off on everything it sets up and doesn't just fall flat on its face. IT COULD HAPPEN. So far though it's not so bad.
As a reward for getting through all that, here's everything you need to know about Silent Hill Revelations.
Click to viewI also posted this at dreamwidth with reluctant ambivalence. Comment here or there, don't matter to me!