The Otherworld?

[Mercury]

I've never really talked with anyone who's played the game that agrees with me, so maybe I'm insane, but does anyone else find the otherworld in this game to be a huge pain in the ass? I'm not talking about aesthetics or anything like that, just the actual gameplay of the otherworld. I have yet to beat this game and a game-breaking glitch caused me to start from scratch, but what I did play I really loved. The exploration during the normal world is great (a bit too much exploration at times, but hell I play Final Fantasy XII so it's nothing) and I love the Kaufmann scenes and playing on the phone is fun, but despite all of this, I genuinely do not want to replay this game just because the otherworld is such a chore. I like Clock Tower, but that game gave you more of a chance to survive. In this, it's basically a one-shot; either you get it or you don't. And if you don't get it (which happens to me a lot, apparently), you're sent back to the beginning to start from scratch again and again and again and again until you get it right. It's just too repetitive and makes the otherworld not fun gameplay-wise, for me at least. What does everyone else think about this? I'm curious to know.

[what]

The otherworld has a trick: whichever way has the most ice, is usually the way you want to go. Except for a few trouble spots here and there, that trick alone takes most of the hassle out of navigating.

The last otherworld area, in particular, is a cakewalk because of this.

[Augophthalmoses]

The otherworld has a trick: whichever way has the most ice, is usually the way you want to go. Except for a few trouble spots here and there, that trick alone takes most of the hassle out of navigating.

The last otherworld area, in particular, is a cakewalk because of this.

Right on the money. I can see how this would go right over everybody's heads. It took me a few rounds of room wandering to notice and think "hey, what if I just picked each door with all the ice around them?".

[samael21walter]

The otherworld sequences on this game are generally too easy. Sure, the first time they can be challenging, but after you know where to go, you just go there. I wish they were longer, and that the hiding mechanic actually worked. There's no reason to hide in the otherworld at all.

[captain crowbar]

I liked the concept, but not the execution. It's one of the main reasons I don't replay the game. The otherworld parts are just annoying to me.

[samael21walter]

To me it felt too shallow. It felt like a pretty tech demo. I wanted more mechanics in there...and for them to be a lot longer. Also...getting hugged to death? Yeah, I know it symbolizes the memories and truths weighing Cheryl down, but it really is more comical than anything.

[captain crowbar]

I think they just tried to hard to make it NOT violent. No blood and gore (besides Lisa, but that wasn't anything even remotely gory...children have seen nose-bleeds before), no really dark concepts, no overtly absurd sexual references...I mean, the worst we got was random sexting and a really out of place cable sex scene that didn't even show anything.

It's like they were having a hard time remembering who the target audience was...little kids or horror gaming fans, lol. "Oh, we'll just make it work for both"

pfff

[Purramid_Head]

I did not play the game, I watched a good portion on youtube. I lack a Wii, but I did catch that the sex scene was really out of place. REALLY, out of place. It was so bizarre. When it happened I was like "wtf just happened?"

[captain crowbar]

especially considering:

REVEAL SPOILER

you're actually supposed to be Cheryl the whole time. She just had sex with her mother in her head. As her father. WTF Devs? Can we please go back to the cult here?

[devil hunter]

I think they just tried to hard to make it NOT violent. No blood and gore (besides Lisa, but that wasn't anything even remotely gory...children have seen nose-bleeds before), no really dark concepts, no overtly absurd sexual references...I mean, the worst we got was random sexting and a really out of place cable sex scene that didn't even show anything.

It's like they were having a hard time remembering who the target audience was...little kids or horror gaming fans, lol. "Oh, we'll just make it work for both"

pfff

I dunno man, not every SH game needs to be super gory or have sexual references. If they did make it gory SH fans would be like: "The series turned into crappy american gory horror, where's the psychological horror, where's the subtlety?!"

Also, about Raw Shocks hugging, I heard somewhere that they're taking away your body heat when they hug you. Yes, they represent Cheryl trying to prevent herself going deeper into her memories. Also, you can look at it this way, she really loved her dad, remember this "I love my daddy, I love my daddy." You can look at hugging that way.

especially considering

REVEAL SPOILER

you're actually supposed to be Cheryl the whole time. She just had sex with her mother in her head. As her father. WTF Devs? Can we please go back to the cult here?

Actually

REVEAL SPOILER

you're going through Cheryl's memories, she probably saw her mother and father having sex, that's one of her memories.

[Purramid_Head]

But it's horribly misplaced lol. That doesn't excuse it.

Frankily, since I do love both sex and violence, and I love gore I would like that. It seems more realistic than a bunch of monsters hugging me to death. If I wanted that I'd go to woodstock.

[Mercury]

The otherworld has a trick: whichever way has the most ice, is usually the way you want to go. Except for a few trouble spots here and there, that trick alone takes most of the hassle out of navigating.

The last otherworld area, in particular, is a cakewalk because of this.

Really? I never knew that. haha Thank you, I'll keep that in mind next time I play.

The otherworld sequences on this game are generally too easy. Sure, the first time they can be challenging, but after you know where to go, you just go there. I wish they were longer, and that the hiding mechanic actually worked. There's no reason to hide in the otherworld at all.

Idk why, but I'm really bad with the mazes. There was one path that was right in front of me and I kept missing it for at least 10-15 tries, so you can imagine how repetitive this was for me. I usually just end up using a guide, but I'd rather not have to resort to that.

Yeah, I totally agree. I had a hard time shaking off the enemies with the motion controls and hiding, while completely useful and vital in Clock Tower (hey, that's my best reference point), served no purpose here. Even if you get the rare opportunity to successfully hide, it doesn't do very much for you since the enemies keep walking in and out so that by the time you get out, you're pretty much dead. Checking the map is pointless too since you slow to a stop on the phone.

I liked the concept, but not the execution. It's one of the main reasons I don't replay the game. The otherworld parts are just annoying to me.

This is how I feel. It just feels a bit incomplete and I end up dreading it. I'll try doing what What suggested though and see if that pays off for me or if I'm still the dumb mouse that gets lost in the maze. haha

[nur_ein_tier]

I was actually good with the later mazes, because of what what said: you look for the ice. It's the earlier ones that I hated, especially the pre-hospital part. I always get lost there in the stupid train cars. I've gotten better with the school one, but it's still a pain in the ass.

The idea was ok, but the whole nightmare portions seemed really annoying and tedious to me after a while, definitely my least favorite aspect of the game. also hated how you can't really explore those areas because you can't kill the monsters and always have to be running. I will say that I like the later nightmare portions better than the earlier, not just because they're easier but i think they are just cooler.

[captain crowbar]

REVEAL SPOILER

you're going through Cheryl's memories, she probably saw her mother and father having sex, that's one of her memories.

Technically, the way I see it:

REVEAL SPOILER

youre a mental projection of what Cheryl expects you to be, so it's actually her pulling the strings the whole time...which means that she's technically Harry via an alternate personality, and she's using him to act things out in her head... so at some point she's mentally having sex with her mother as her father

[devil hunter]

REVEAL SPOILER

you're going through Cheryl's memories, she probably saw her mother and father having sex, that's one of her memories.

Technically, the way I see it:

REVEAL SPOILER

youre a mental projection of what Cheryl expects you to be, so it's actually her pulling the strings the whole time...which means that she's technically Harry via an alternate personality, and she's using him to act things out in her head... so at some point she's mentally having sex with her mother as her father

Didn't really understood that but from what I understood

REVEAL SPOILER

Cheryl was holding onto the memory of her father, Harry you're controlling is her delusion. Kaufmann tries to help Cheryl let go of that painful memory, so they're exploring her memories, like what psychiatrists do.

[Asylum-Alice]

I think they just tried to hard to make it NOT violent. No blood and gore (besides Lisa, but that wasn't anything even remotely gory...children have seen nose-bleeds before), no really dark concepts, no overtly absurd sexual references...I mean, the worst we got was random sexting and a really out of place cable sex scene that didn't even show anything.

It's like they were having a hard time remembering who the target audience was...little kids or horror gaming fans, lol. "Oh, we'll just make it work for both"

pfff

I dunno man, not every SH game needs to be super gory or have sexual references. If they did make it gory SH fans would be like: "The series turned into crappy american gory horror, where's the psychological horror, where's the subtlety?!"

I agree that the subtle horror of the first few games are what really made them terrifying, even though, yes, not everything was subtle, but in the general way it was executed the games succeeded. Even the gore is pretty low key, until Homecoming where they really Americanize it. Not that it's bad, it's just really out of place. SHSM isn't too bad, but it's definitely not as great as 1 - 4 (and sometimes 4 can be a bit annoying with the replay-ability).

Point being, "the otherworld" in SHSM isn't a very great "the otherworld".

[KLan]

I didn't like the otherworld/iceworld because you can't explore it. One of the main things good about Silent Hill is how scary the otherworld is. Shattered memories took that away. First of all it's not really scary, and second of all Harry doesn't explore it, he runs right through it on a time limit.
The game's story was good, but not really something worth a replay for as it simply wasn't scary.

[Augophthalmoses]

That was my main complaint with those segments. You'd want to explore the scenery like the Otherworld in previous games but you can't do so for being mobbed all the time. I get what they were trying to do with the chase sequences but if you really want to catch the player off guard it would be much better not to tell us the game has chase sequences. It would have a better chance of catching us off guard.

[Mercury]

The exploration for most of the mid-world was fantastic and the Kaufmann scenes were fun and great. With the SM otherworld, it's not a huge loss that we can't explore it since there's really nothing to explore in the first place with it, but I wish it was more interactive. I played Midwich and the idea there was really fresh and fun, but it's more of an exception and not a rule.

[Brispir]

This is the only Silent Hill game I haven't played yet, although I've seen clips. I was wanting to know, how DOES the Ice World do for a Silent Hill game?

One of the main things that drew me to Silent Hill in the first place was the concept of the "Otherworld" in Silent Hill 1... as if there was a regular world and on top of that an otherworld that twists and distorts this world into a nightmare. I have to ask... how does the Ice World fare for a Silent Hill game?