The audio-visuals are some of the finest seen in this novel generation, and the end result feels as unsettling, scary and ominous as the best Japanese horror. The Team Silent level of quality craftsmanship, present in the superb use of the FOX engine, and the demo’s distinct Japanese dream-logic structure, are both crucial elements of SH that are here recuperated and that had hitherto been missing from the series. honors Silent Hill 4’s design, its tension and mood, whilst reusing much of its iconography with the intelligence I associate with its original authors. Not that it is likely this was a decision meant only to honor its legacy in celebratory fashion the growing popularity of first person horror games that lived of scraps of that singular fabric that made Silent Hill the best of its kind – Amnesia, Outlast and even that Slender thing and its clones – makes the return to first person perspective seem thought from a marketing angle (and the since released trailer, showing people’s ‘reaction’s’ to the piece indicates as much). It is perhaps fitting that 10 years after the release of the last ‘true’ Silent Hill, Konami chose it specifically as the basis for this singular demo. Which is why P.T., the interactive teaser where Konami chose to encapsulate this idiotic marketing ploy is so puzzling, because it is the finest videogame experience to be associated with the Silent Hill name ever since The Room. Promote a new Silent Hill with an actor from a popular TV show that has no inkling of resonance with the game series a filmmaker who, qualities aside, is not known for either the particular surreal tone or the finer nuances in narrative and aesthetic sophistication that elevated Silent Hill and a game director whose previous collaborations with other works that not his own have ended in disaster, and whose very stylistic trademarks (design maximalism, adoption of an anime aesthetic with particular emphasis on its crude brand of humor) stand in earnest opposition to the essence of Silent Hill… promote a new Silent Hill thus, and one confirms the now constant suspicion that every new Silent Hill will come as another nail to stick into the proverbial coffin. After a decade of watching Konami lending its masterwork title to be used and abused by merit-less and unskillful western developers, one naturally becomes distrusting. “Silent Hill” is the masterpiece they just can’t leave alone. To those rare unnamed few who enjoy my writings, I can only bid a hearty farewell, and shamelessly publicize my current ventures, inviting you to befriend my facebook page (if you haven’t already) which features (but is not limited to) English posts on Metagame topics, and to those who are fluent in Portuguese follow my new bimonthly column in pt.ign.com/behindmedia, where hopefully I’ll continue my writing in true Metagame spirit. for the best and most relentless of though-provoking discussions, Jaggie on account of his ever insightful perspectives on art, manga, anime and all things Japanese (and for being the most ingenuous of my critics), and last but not least, dieubussy for being the best mentor I could hope to find, a true reference in every respect. Even though all were important to me, some will live on in my heart and deserve special recognition: CruzifixioCes, my number one fan and fellow J-RPG lover, José (or is it sir Joseph now?) for showing me that impeccable film taste does not always translate to videogames, Jorge S. A great part of that maturing experience results directly from all the delightful interactions I had with everyone who read and discussed these themes in the blog and outside it. In the many years spent writing reviews, I grew up as a person and critic, and learned considerably about videogames and games and art. This is not final, I’ll still be around, just don’t expect anything more than the recent paucity.Įver since I started writing here, I did my best to try and convey my feelings and thoughts towards this new medium. And now, on top of all this, I’ve been invited to write for a column in the Portuguese IGN website, which will likely drain all my videogame writing desires. The college paper is gone and with it my column, blogs are out-of-fashion, too wordy for the twit generation to read through, and soon I’ll have to find a proper job to make ends meet, which inevitably means an even lesser disposition to write here. Between my PhD and classes, my newspaper reviews and occasional talks, the book I can never seem to finish writing, and wanting to continue playing these darned horrible videogames, time just slips by. Sometimes, it’s an excruciatingly long winding one, as is the case with Metagame. Everything most eventually come to an end.
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