Yeah this just kinda sucked ass.
While the monster design and Akira Yamaoka score are both pretty nice, all The Short Message is able to really achieve is falling flat on its face. The script is laughably inept in its handling of such heavy topics as mental health and suicide, and its subpar voice acting does not help its case. Very tame in puzzle solving AND exploration to the point I would’ve probably fallen asleep if not for the occasional laugh out loud moment (and alcohol). Add the way the game treats the player like a toddler in terms of exposition on top of all that, and you have one of the most underwhelming horror games from the last 10 years.
The final nail on The Short Message’s coffin is the weight of the Silent Hill name attached to it. It fails as a game and spectacularly so as a Silent Hill game; if this is the direction the next few projects are headed towards, then I think I’ll be more than happy staying cozy with my PS2 and some of the best horror titles the medium has to offer.