Silent hill 2 was also amazing but this feels like the real silent hill 2. Coming right after playing Silent Hill 1 was so cool just seeing glimpses of Harry at the start of the game and being like "THAT'S MY CHARACTER!!" Then when the actual game started I loved the objective of just trying to get home and exploring these buildings. The exploration and combat are basically what it is in 2 but feel a lot tighter and more 'survival horror' like. With the amount of ammo and resources 2 gave me the enemies felt pretty free to deal with and 1 was easy right after I got the hammer, but 3 truly felt like a fight for my life and I loved it.

There was an amazing sense of relief when I got to the first save room and that's when I knew I'd love this game because I had to play more careful and cautious than in any other silent hill game while still being fair and fun to play. The story was also good up to this point and I was really engaged in learning more about Vincent, Claudia, and Douglas and they were all really interesting characters that drew me in more than 1 and almost as much as 2. While these characters aren't as complex as the ones in 2, they are just as entertaining and made a really cool story that fleshes out the cult plot from 1 and I always wanted to know what happened next. The music also added to scenes and I think this is my favorite soundtrack in the whole series.

Yamaoka has more chances to actually make rock music besides the endings and openings of Silent Hill 1 and 2 and it really fits the vibe of this game. The song that plays after Harry's death especially really hit me and made me feel terrible for the character I just played as a few days ago. Actually going to Silent Hill after his death was cool seeing the map from 2 again, but I was a little underwhelmed that they reused a small area of silent hill from 2 and then made it really linear. You can't really explore these streets the same way you explore 1 or 2's, and if you try to then Heather is just like "I better turn around!"

One thing I will say is that even though you couldn't explore much of these streets, this is the most threatening Silent Hill has ever felt to me and the fog effects and music were on point. That's another reason why I wish there was more to Silent hill than just two areas. The normal version of Brookhaven felt mostly the same as in 2, but the Otherworld version actually was amazing and probably the most scary part of the game. Surviving that was so hard and it's a huge glowup from the one in 2 where I could barely even tell it's the Otherworld. I had a lot of fun here.

Lakeside also was really interesting with the haunted house and being a place that Harry visited, and I loved seeing his save points here and in Alessa's room. Not much to say on the church besides I really enjoyed it and it transforming while you explored it was cool. It was also a cool twist that there was Aglaophotis inside of the charm Harry gave Heather the entire time and it felt like he could save her even when he was dead as fuck. Killing god was a cool final boss idea but the boss kinda dragged way too long, but seeing the ending where Heather just cries for Harry really hit me and made me cry too.

The scene where she goes back for Douglas was also funny and I knew about the possessed ending before playing but not what happens so I was like "DID I REALLY GET IT SOMEHOW EVEN THOUGH ITS MY FIRST PLAYTHROUGH?" but they faked my ass out. I really like Heather and Douglas' relationship. Lastly, at the credits, hearing hometown and seeing Heather at Harry's grave felt like an amazing end for Silent Hill.

I know SH4 exists but since it's its own thing like 2, as well as Ito leaving Team Silent, this feels like the end of Silent Hill and a damn good one at that. Honestly I like it more than 2 at this point and I think this is a survival horror masterpiece, and also the most survival horror feeling game between 1 and 2. Playing 4 SOON