Well, love it or hate, Silent Hill: The Short Message is pretty popular.

Surpassed a million downloads in a couple days. Free to play, but not too shabby, especially considering it's just on PS5.

Disclaimer: don't play if suicide, self-harm, depression, yada yada trigger you. Won't go well if that content type bothers you. Seriously.

FWIW, the game is pretty nice imo. The creature design is truly inspired, the soundtrack is dope (very dope), and the atmosphere is...there.

Anyhoo. Lots o' hate, too. But that's why I don't listen to reviews!

Its free, and the nostalgia is strong with this IP, so of course it was downloaded a decent amount. That doesn't mean that those who've played it are more excited to play the remake after this miserable 3/10 or whatever it got.

Silent Hill fans just don't care about reviews, by and large. It's well-received in the community, and that's what counts.

I have my doubts about the remake. But this concept:

....has a lot of potential, for various reasons. The design and concept are inspired for sure, and bodes well for upcoming SH games. (not talking about the remake here)

@nod_calypse said:

@hardwenzen said:

Its free, and the nostalgia is strong with this IP, so of course it was downloaded a decent amount. That doesn't mean that those who've played it are more excited to play the remake after this miserable 3/10 or whatever it got.

Silent Hill fans just don't care about reviews, by and large. It's well-received in the community, and that's what counts.

I have my doubts about the remake. But this concept:

....has a lot of potential, for various reasons. The design and concept are inspired for sure, and bodes well for upcoming SH games. (not talking about the remake here)

I don't believe that. If this was $30-70, forget that 1mil, and not even close.

@hardwenzen said:

@nod_calypse said:

@hardwenzen said:

Its free, and the nostalgia is strong with this IP, so of course it was downloaded a decent amount. That doesn't mean that those who've played it are more excited to play the remake after this miserable 3/10 or whatever it got.

Silent Hill fans just don't care about reviews, by and large. It's well-received in the community, and that's what counts.

I have my doubts about the remake. But this concept:

....has a lot of potential, for various reasons. The design and concept are inspired for sure, and bodes well for upcoming SH games. (not talking about the remake here)

I don't believe that. If this was $30-70, forget that 1mil, and not even close.

Lol, of course not. The game is super short.

As for the fans, the community forum is buzzing with praise over the game.

But as a full-fledged campaign? Yeah, it would sell. In fact, there is an upcoming full SH game, connected to Short Message, written by Ryukishi07. Will be dope.

From a SH fan since 1998 and was captivated since following Cheryl down the alley, this is one the worst entries because the game had no balls. It's like the developers didn't trust the audience to discover that game's psychological elements by themselves and shoved it in our faces. This used to be a series about subtlety.

Honestly think The Medium dealt with a story of trauma better than this. At least that game didn't flat out tell me how I should feel.

@vl4d_l3nin: Uh, have you played SH3? Cheryl/Heather is anything but subtle. The ENTIRE game is an explain-athon, lol. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but to claim that old school SH was always subtle is ludicrous.

wtf are you talking about? The plot of SH3 doesn't even really start until about halfway through the game, you're just trying to get Heather home up until that point. Where in the mall, subway, or sewers is anything being explained? I'd say a lack of explanation is what the first act of that game suffers from.

At any rate, you're missing the point. I'm not talking about plot, I'm talking about the psychological elements and their emotional weight.

It's free /thread

I've seen people praising it.

When will people realise that the SH franchise is niche and is always going to be niche.

One site gave a 3 out of 10 score! 😂

Xbox does Stealth release better than Sony! 😅

As everyone else said, it's "Silent Hill" and free.

@nod_calypse said:

I have my doubts about the remake. But this concept:

....has a lot of potential, for various reasons. The design and concept are inspired for sure, and bodes well for upcoming SH games. (not talking about the remake here)

A post-it monster?

3-10

@Litchie said:

As everyone else said, it's "Silent Hill" and free.

@nod_calypse said:

I have my doubts about the remake. But this concept:

....has a lot of potential, for various reasons. The design and concept are inspired for sure, and bodes well for upcoming SH games. (not talking about the remake here)

A post-it monster?

Nope, she's made out of petals.

The walls are made out of post its though.

@R4gn4r0k: Ah. :P

Yeah the picture was low quality, you are excused :p

Something totally unrelated but I have been wondering: are you planning on playing Helldivers tomorrow?

So far, yes. Gonna wait to see the recpetion a bit before getting it, and I think I have 3 friends who are also getting it. But I'll definitely play with you too if you're up for it.

It's a free 2 hour long game with the name Silent Hill... of course it will be popular as far as downloads. The popularity of the gameplay and the hype moving forward? Yeah, not so much.

@Litchie: No a flower monster.. it's like a damn walking rose bush... lol. Not the least bit scary, but those sounds it makes and way it walks are a little unsettling. The actual gameplay is why the game got a 3. It got a 0 for everything else.

@WitIsWisdom: Yeah, I find it a bit weird to prefer a flower monster over the gory, fleshy or creepy mannequin monster designs, but whatever floats your boat.

It’s free but man did it flop extra hard.

@vl4d_l3nin: Dude, SH3 literally explains everything that happens in SH1, lol. It doesn't matter that it takes a bit to get around to it. There is zero subtlety in its revelation.

As for the emotional, you're off there, too. The emotion Heather feels is illustrated in her acts, involuntary or otherwise, of repulsion. For example, when she vomits up her own fetus. Pretty dang subtle, there.

They took a totally different approach with SH3.

Traditionally, SH is not about fear. It's about processing emotions and trauma on a subjective level. Objectively, there is the cult aspect, but that's a different approach. For the main character, the monster design is highly personal, and thus, highly affecting.

The "flower" is a cherry blossom. On a symbolic level it represents rebirth...but to say anything more would be a bit spoilery. Basically, it is of enormous meaning to the main character, and her trials.

Oh, look, it's that dude that never played the game, but loves to trash it endlessly.

this should of been on psvr2.

Yup, I'm down to game with my Swedish brethren.

@R4gn4r0k: o7

Lmao at the friendly fire. Gonna be crazy xD

Yeah watch out when I call in an airstrike 🙈

Yup, I'm still not going to try it..lol

@nod_calypse: I get what they are going with, but I don't like it. I miss old school Silent Hill games... the problem is, the Silent Hill 2 reboot looks a bit shit... hope I'm wrong.

Me too, dude. Me too. Silent Hill 1 and 3 are my two favorite games, all time. I miss Team Silent SO much. This new stuff doesn't touch that old content. But I can accept it for what it is.

As for the reboot.....yikes. Don't like what I see so far.

@nod_calypse: Played but I haven't finished it yet. I like how it feels like a return to form in terms of atmosphere but I REALLY don't like the use of live-action cinematics and its obsession to hold your hand every step of the way through the narrative. Even though I haven't finished it yet, I already have a good idea what the ending is going to be and that's definitely NOT a good thing. I also don't like this new story device "Silent Hill" phenomenon. It ruins the magic of the mystery the old games had and it offers a simple cop-out explanation to something that should've been left to the individual's interpretation.

But........... it was free-ninety-nine so who am I to complain? I'm just glad Silent Hill is getting more attention.

@nepu7supastar7: Not in love with the narrative structure either. But I do like the game, somewhat oddly. The atmosphere goes a long way with me. Plus the cherry blossoms. Love me some cherry blossoms.

Aside from that, yeah, just super happy to see the series getting attention. The upcoming SH game written by Ryukishi07 has me extreeeeemely excited.

@nod_calypse: That part in your childhood house where you get shorter and shorter each time you go through was kind of a cool detail and I found that part and the story beats there very unsettling and very effective

The first part has Heather meeting Claudia and Douglas. Claudia tells Heather that the monsters have come to witness the rebirth of Paradise and tells Heather to remember her true self and also that which she must become. Then Heather goes to the other world side of the mall and Douglas tries to talk to her twice and she just brushes him off as she takes the subway home. From there, it's basic game stuff until you get to her apartment but while the goal IS to go home: you already get an idea that Heather is tied to everything that's been happening around her.

Claudia literally tells Heather that she needs to become something to rebirth paradise. There's no insinuation to that, it's thrown right at your face. And Douglas tells Heather that he needs to talk to her about her birth. Again, throwing it at your face that Heather has something off about herself. I don't know what more explanation you need to know what's going on but Team Silent was very transparent with their storytelling. SH2 had similar issues too.

Yeah, for dude to be confused about original comment was a headscatcher for sure. SH3 was a complete shift in narrative style from the first game. Part of the issue was that the game was initially meant to be a rail shooter. Partway through development, cooler heads prevailed, and they shifted the focus onto a more narrative-based structure. But by that time, the subtlety that SH1 is laced with was nowhere to be found, and they didn't want to start from scratch, so the narrative for SH3 was shoehorned to some extent, leading to an utter lack of grace when it comes to delivery. Nonetheless, I freaking love SH3, so it doesn't really bother me. It kind of even fits Heather's in-your-face personality to have the story pushed on the player in that manner.

@nod_calypse: Huh. The intention to be a rail shooter actually makes sense. Come to think of it, there's a Silent Hill arcade somewhere (extremely rare) that's a rail shooter. I played it once a year ago and I did notice that a good chunk of it had levels from SH3. That was pretty weird. The Lurkers were very common and so were the split-headed dogs. I guess mystery solved! The arcade sucked though... got repetitive too fast and they just shoved Pyramid Head in there for some reason. The giant worm boss made an appearance too.

@nepu7supastar7: Oh yes, I've heard about that arcade version. Such an atrocity, lol. It wouldn't surprise me at all if it was comprised of the original design for SH3, modified a bit. Some suit and tie at Konami probably was like "Hey, we've got these old levels just lying around, let's make some money on them. Throw in a little Pyramid Head, and we're good to go." Makes me feel so bad for Team Silent.

I feel bad for Keoi Tecmo for doing a great job with their modern re-releases of their Fatal Frame games, Maiden Of Black Water and Mask Of The Lunar Eclipse, which they released on a variety of platforms. Yet, barely any recognition for it. And I'm totally pumped for whatever else they have in the works with the franchise. Hopefully Crimson Butterfly is on its way next, and likely given it's the most set up for porting given the treatment it received being ported to Wii years earlier to be adapted with modern controls.

Not to say Silent Hill isn't something to be excited about, but I feel the degree of it seems to be entirely driven by its exclusivity status.