The best game ever made. There is never a week that goes by where I don't think of this game whether it be James and Mary's terrible situation comforted by their deep love for each other to Mary's reading of her letter given to James before she passed. The story is something I didn't expect at all from a horror game and I didn't expect it to be so touching. The characters and events are so human that it hurts to see them turn out the way they do by the end of the game.
Adding to this is the fantastic music, ambience, and sound design by Akira Yamaoka as well as the terrifying monster design and art by Masahiro Ito, Team Silent worked hard to guarantee such an immersive experience and fantastic story.
Akira Yamaoka perfectly creates music/ambience that gives a soothing yet lost feeling and it's reflected here with songs like White Noiz, Forest, Heaven's Night, etc. Then there's the amazing sound design for the monsters like the Lying Figure which make disturbing screeches as they slither around and when getting hit.
Masahiro Ito creates monsters that not only symbolize and reflect characters so well, like Angela and James, but monsters that stay memorable due to their striking design like Pyramid Head, Abstract Daddy, and the Mannequins. Compared to the first Silent Hill, the monsters and environments featured here are so different that it's insane how well they symbolize so much with designs not seen before. Then there are environments that transition from everyday places that've been abandoned to surreal paintings, you never know what lies behind each room or passage way the deeper you get into the game.
Nowadays there's tons of "walking simulators" but I don't think none have done it like Silent Hill 2, this game influenced tons of other horror and non-horror games with it's psychological horror and themes while having been influenced from works done by David Lynch and Francis Bacon and especially by Jacob's Ladder.
This is all while having combat that has little to no thought behind it. Even with combat so terrible, it no way affects how great this game is because of the tragic story it creates with characters like James, Angela, and Eddie who are flipping between their wit's end and what needs to be done throughout the game.
I could go on and on about this game but I'll stop here. I will never stop recommending this game to anyone and everyone I meet, even with how scarce it is on modern platforms, but hopefully the remake will soon remedy this problem.
Adding to this is the fantastic music, ambience, and sound design by Akira Yamaoka as well as the terrifying monster design and art by Masahiro Ito, Team Silent worked hard to guarantee such an immersive experience and fantastic story.
Akira Yamaoka perfectly creates music/ambience that gives a soothing yet lost feeling and it's reflected here with songs like White Noiz, Forest, Heaven's Night, etc. Then there's the amazing sound design for the monsters like the Lying Figure which make disturbing screeches as they slither around and when getting hit.
Masahiro Ito creates monsters that not only symbolize and reflect characters so well, like Angela and James, but monsters that stay memorable due to their striking design like Pyramid Head, Abstract Daddy, and the Mannequins. Compared to the first Silent Hill, the monsters and environments featured here are so different that it's insane how well they symbolize so much with designs not seen before. Then there are environments that transition from everyday places that've been abandoned to surreal paintings, you never know what lies behind each room or passage way the deeper you get into the game.
Nowadays there's tons of "walking simulators" but I don't think none have done it like Silent Hill 2, this game influenced tons of other horror and non-horror games with it's psychological horror and themes while having been influenced from works done by David Lynch and Francis Bacon and especially by Jacob's Ladder.
This is all while having combat that has little to no thought behind it. Even with combat so terrible, it no way affects how great this game is because of the tragic story it creates with characters like James, Angela, and Eddie who are flipping between their wit's end and what needs to be done throughout the game.
I could go on and on about this game but I'll stop here. I will never stop recommending this game to anyone and everyone I meet, even with how scarce it is on modern platforms, but hopefully the remake will soon remedy this problem.