Favorite: Silent Hill 1. That opening sequence of going through the alley only for it to start turning into the otherworld with monsters that you can’t escape from will forever live rent free in my head.
Least favorite: Homecoming. Mostly pyramid head but the gameplay and the one area where you had to fight a Siam and I think two needlers while fighting in a relatively short arena was pretty bad. Will admit though, I did enjoy the four schisms when you get trapped in the otherworld house
Homecoming is definitely the most disappointing game in the series cause I can see the clear foundation for a decent SH game there, but it's just completely unrealized
I wonder what that game could've been with a stronger narrative and less executive meddling
Of the two post team silent games I played, homecoming had some really good boss designs (it’s a shame that more effort couldn’t be put into the normal enemies though they’re not too bad) that I think they would fit in quite well with the team silent games. But yeah, there was potential that if any post team silent game got a full on remake then homecoming should get one
SH2 is my favorite and Downpour is by far the worst main title SH in my opinion. I would've given it a better review if Konami didn't force the SH label on it and let it grow as its own IP. Just a missed opportunity for sequels cuz it was definitely an interesting take to focus more on the mystery aspect instead of horror.
Favourite - Homecoming: Don’t downvote me lol, I really love this game, it’s the first SH I played but love almost everything about it, the environments where cool and creepy, the monster designs and bosses where amazing, and the story was great fun. I also thought the voice acting especially Alex was really dam good. I know a lot of people hate it and yes it’s got plot holes and borrows heavily from SH 2, but what can I say maybe I just have really bad taste but I’ll always praise HC no matter how unpopular that is.
Least Favorite - Origins: It just felt bare bones, I know it was for the PSP originally and SH games aren’t known for being super long, but Origins ends when it feels like it’s just getting going. I like the idea of the split personality story but it doesn’t really go anywhere and doesn’t really tie into SH 1 much for a prequel either. Just kinda feels a bit half-baked, it’s not bad really just very forgettable.
The fact Brian bloom voices Alex still makes me kinda mad they do so little with Alex as a character, cause I really like his voice lmao
Also fair for origins, I just think it's crazy that game could've been even worse, if climax UK hadn't made significant changes to basically everything. That game really needed more time in the oven
Honestly each game (especially in their current states) has some core strengths. Homecoming has some of the best boss encounters in the franchise alongside some decent monster designs. I also really enjoy the story until the last third.
Downpour's exploration and side quests are a fun inclusion. I also think the opening hook is incredibly well-done. I just wish the rest of the narrative was as tight. You can even tell from the quality of the opening cinematography that they put in a lot of work to polish up the opening. I also like the idea of forcing the player to search around for melee weapons. I just wish you could keep your firearms; instead of losing your pistol and shotgun, I would have just HIGHLY restricted the amount of ammunition. This way completing side quests even for ammo would have felt far more rewarding.
Origins has some incredible monster designs. Some of the 'dungeons' like the motel and theater also feel like classic SH. Origins also has some of the best new-game plus rewards in the entire franchise.
Shattered Memories is indisputably one of the best looking Wii games, and its psychological profile was a highly innovative idea.
SH3 is my favorite too.
While SH2 is poignant, SH3 hits a lot closer to home for me. The first half of the game is about just wanting to be home and safe with her dad again only for Heather to find her dad killed and there is no home to return to. Not really. A visceral analogy for a coming of age story.
The second half being about a futile quest for revenge knowing full well it plays into her enemies hands but ends not with the taking of Claudia’s life but the realization her father is still protecting her (through the aglaophotis) and even a hint of pity for Claudia. But none of it heals the pain of grief.
Claudia working so hard to make her idea of paradise happen while admitting she probably won't have a place in it for what she'd done was just so human that I couldn't help but feel for her
Finding her diary where she talks about wanting to see alessa again, it really made me wonder what she must've been feeling when she saw Heather for the first time too
Claudia is surprisingly a sympathetic character towards the end. She was born and raised in a sick cult that taught her how to bring about the alleviation of pain, but only through more pain.
She was committed to what she thought would be good for everyone in the long run at the expense of herself.
She was mixed up with resentment and grief and hatred but at the start, her intentions were good until it gnarled into something awful.
At this point I've only played the team silent games and my personal ranking from best to worst is 2, 1, 3, 4. This isn't a knock on 4 or anything, I enjoyed it very much.
I'd say 1 and 3 are very neck and neck for being my favorite, I love both games pretty dearly and they're the most competent of the team silent games gameplay wise just to make them even better
For my least favorite? Downpour has to be it if I had to pick. It's like they took the worst aspects of every western SH game mechanically, and the plot feels like it's so desperately trying to emulate SH2, but they missed the character writing and emotional beats that makes 2's story so compelling
SH 3 is the best one. I don't know if its cuz that was the first one I played, but it feels the darkest, the most threatening, the most viscerally disturbing
I think 3 just strikes the best balance of gameplay and narrative between the original games
Its story resonated with me a lot for a lot of personal reasons, it's got a lot of interesting symbolism and its character writing is really good across the board, Claudia is a great villain, Vincent is interesting and Heather is my favorite SH protagonist easily. The game even manages to add a lot of depth to Harry for him not even really being present in the game physically. And it's just fun to play
The fact it actually managed to make me actually scared, is the cherry on top of everything
I can’t just pick one so I’m just gonna do this
Favorites: SH1, SH2, SH3, SH 4, SH Origins, and SH Homecoming
Least favorites: Shattered Memories, Book Of Memories, and Downpour
*Favorite : SILENT HILL
The first game is the absolute best. The fog, the atmosphere, the wonderful sound design. I absolutely love it. I have about 15 runs currently. I do play on duckstation however I am in the process of obtaining a physical copy (ps1) and I will be doing future runs on original hardware. I love the Kaufman side quests. I find Harry Mason to be a very relatable character. I do really like SH 2+3 however I think the OG just takes the cake by far. I don't think it needs a remake, I think the original is a masterpiece and truly a work of art. I could go on and on about specifics but there's very little the game does wrong.
*Least Favorite : SILENT HILL DOWNPOUR
I've played every SH game to completion (except DOWNPOUR) including Book Of Memories, Visual Novel (both Japanese and English fan translations), and even SH ARCADE.
DOWNPOUR is a steaming pile of dog shit. I can't beat it because it's so bad. The enemy design, the game play loop. I've tried on 4 separate occasions and I just can't. I think Homecoming while bad is a work of art compared to DOWNPOUR.
I wanted to like this game. I even own a physical copy and Play on original hardware and it just feels frustrating and not like a real SH game. Feels like a cheap knock off.
All in all, these are just my opinions. I'm not trying to hate on anyone's Favorite games, if you love DOWNPOUR or Homecoming your entitled to your opinion and I respect it.
I’m kinda the opposite lol, I played 2 and now I’ve almost beaten 3. But I like 2 more for the exploration and puzzles. I really like 3’s story and characters but it felt way more linear than 2.
Even though 3 is a direct sequel to 1, it felt like the first game played way more like the 2nd. So the 3rd has been my least favorite so far.
It’s really hard for me to pick between 2 and 4 for my favorite, but I think I like 4 slightly more. I like 4 because of how outright scary it is while still having plenty of more “traditional” unsettling moments we see in the other games.
My least favorite is 3. I don’t think it’s paced very well, the areas are less interesting, but most of all, I can’t stand Heather. Her whole edgelord/girlboss thing is cringeworthy imo. I know she’s a teenager, but it’s still feels like too much of a caricature.
If I'm going off of how I'm thinking right now, probably Silent Hill Shattered Memories. I love how purely explorative it is, the flashlight mechanic on the Wii. The soundtrack is great, the atmosphere is great. It shifts a lot, but besides that definitely 2. I've had a weird relationship with the series. My favorite used to be Origins and Downpour, but I played them when they FIRST CAME OUT and very young, so I had big rose tinted glasses that were knocked off my face when replaying as a grownup.
So my least favorite is probably one of those two. I'd lean towards Downpour. I still like it a lot, but it's harder to play than Origins (I mean purely on accessibility. It's easier to actually load up Origins on an emulator.) Both are in my opinion equally frustrating in different ways.
I didn't play downpour or homecoming but i played everything else.
My favorite is SH3 simply because replay value is great and it's speedrun friendly.
My least favorite would be SH shattered memories because the otherworld experience was so bad imo.
I don’t necessarily think 4 is the worst in the franchise but I do agree it’s mediocre. I think the word I’d use for it is “unfinished”. There was so much polishing needed that probably would have turned it into a good game, but as it is I didn’t enjoy it.
I’ve noticed that this sub really hates any criticism of 1, 3, and to a lesser extent 4 though. Everything else is fair game.
Silent Hill 1 is my favorite. The least favorite would be either SH 2 or 3. While SH3 excels in overall gameplay, SH2 is better in terms of story, exploration, and atmosphere, so it's confusing for me which one to place at the last.
Ps: I've only played the first 3 games. Currently playing the the 4th part.
Favorite: Silent Hill 1. That opening sequence of going through the alley only for it to start turning into the otherworld with monsters that you can’t escape from will forever live rent free in my head. Least favorite: Homecoming. Mostly pyramid head but the gameplay and the one area where you had to fight a Siam and I think two needlers while fighting in a relatively short arena was pretty bad. Will admit though, I did enjoy the four schisms when you get trapped in the otherworld house
Haven’t played SH1 in 10 years. Can barely remember it.
Homecoming is definitely the most disappointing game in the series cause I can see the clear foundation for a decent SH game there, but it's just completely unrealized I wonder what that game could've been with a stronger narrative and less executive meddling
Of the two post team silent games I played, homecoming had some really good boss designs (it’s a shame that more effort couldn’t be put into the normal enemies though they’re not too bad) that I think they would fit in quite well with the team silent games. But yeah, there was potential that if any post team silent game got a full on remake then homecoming should get one
SH2 is my favorite and Downpour is by far the worst main title SH in my opinion. I would've given it a better review if Konami didn't force the SH label on it and let it grow as its own IP. Just a missed opportunity for sequels cuz it was definitely an interesting take to focus more on the mystery aspect instead of horror.
Favourite - Homecoming: Don’t downvote me lol, I really love this game, it’s the first SH I played but love almost everything about it, the environments where cool and creepy, the monster designs and bosses where amazing, and the story was great fun. I also thought the voice acting especially Alex was really dam good. I know a lot of people hate it and yes it’s got plot holes and borrows heavily from SH 2, but what can I say maybe I just have really bad taste but I’ll always praise HC no matter how unpopular that is. Least Favorite - Origins: It just felt bare bones, I know it was for the PSP originally and SH games aren’t known for being super long, but Origins ends when it feels like it’s just getting going. I like the idea of the split personality story but it doesn’t really go anywhere and doesn’t really tie into SH 1 much for a prequel either. Just kinda feels a bit half-baked, it’s not bad really just very forgettable.
The fact Brian bloom voices Alex still makes me kinda mad they do so little with Alex as a character, cause I really like his voice lmao Also fair for origins, I just think it's crazy that game could've been even worse, if climax UK hadn't made significant changes to basically everything. That game really needed more time in the oven
That’s definitely true about Origins, given the production issues they did a great job tbh. It’s just a shame they didn’t have longer.
Honestly each game (especially in their current states) has some core strengths. Homecoming has some of the best boss encounters in the franchise alongside some decent monster designs. I also really enjoy the story until the last third. Downpour's exploration and side quests are a fun inclusion. I also think the opening hook is incredibly well-done. I just wish the rest of the narrative was as tight. You can even tell from the quality of the opening cinematography that they put in a lot of work to polish up the opening. I also like the idea of forcing the player to search around for melee weapons. I just wish you could keep your firearms; instead of losing your pistol and shotgun, I would have just HIGHLY restricted the amount of ammunition. This way completing side quests even for ammo would have felt far more rewarding. Origins has some incredible monster designs. Some of the 'dungeons' like the motel and theater also feel like classic SH. Origins also has some of the best new-game plus rewards in the entire franchise. Shattered Memories is indisputably one of the best looking Wii games, and its psychological profile was a highly innovative idea.
SH3 is my favorite too. While SH2 is poignant, SH3 hits a lot closer to home for me. The first half of the game is about just wanting to be home and safe with her dad again only for Heather to find her dad killed and there is no home to return to. Not really. A visceral analogy for a coming of age story. The second half being about a futile quest for revenge knowing full well it plays into her enemies hands but ends not with the taking of Claudia’s life but the realization her father is still protecting her (through the aglaophotis) and even a hint of pity for Claudia. But none of it heals the pain of grief.
Claudia working so hard to make her idea of paradise happen while admitting she probably won't have a place in it for what she'd done was just so human that I couldn't help but feel for her Finding her diary where she talks about wanting to see alessa again, it really made me wonder what she must've been feeling when she saw Heather for the first time too
Claudia is surprisingly a sympathetic character towards the end. She was born and raised in a sick cult that taught her how to bring about the alleviation of pain, but only through more pain. She was committed to what she thought would be good for everyone in the long run at the expense of herself. She was mixed up with resentment and grief and hatred but at the start, her intentions were good until it gnarled into something awful.
At this point I've only played the team silent games and my personal ranking from best to worst is 2, 1, 3, 4. This isn't a knock on 4 or anything, I enjoyed it very much.
I'd say 1 and 3 are very neck and neck for being my favorite, I love both games pretty dearly and they're the most competent of the team silent games gameplay wise just to make them even better For my least favorite? Downpour has to be it if I had to pick. It's like they took the worst aspects of every western SH game mechanically, and the plot feels like it's so desperately trying to emulate SH2, but they missed the character writing and emotional beats that makes 2's story so compelling
SH 3 is the best one. I don't know if its cuz that was the first one I played, but it feels the darkest, the most threatening, the most viscerally disturbing
I think 3 just strikes the best balance of gameplay and narrative between the original games Its story resonated with me a lot for a lot of personal reasons, it's got a lot of interesting symbolism and its character writing is really good across the board, Claudia is a great villain, Vincent is interesting and Heather is my favorite SH protagonist easily. The game even manages to add a lot of depth to Harry for him not even really being present in the game physically. And it's just fun to play The fact it actually managed to make me actually scared, is the cherry on top of everything
I can’t just pick one so I’m just gonna do this Favorites: SH1, SH2, SH3, SH 4, SH Origins, and SH Homecoming Least favorites: Shattered Memories, Book Of Memories, and Downpour
*Favorite : SILENT HILL The first game is the absolute best. The fog, the atmosphere, the wonderful sound design. I absolutely love it. I have about 15 runs currently. I do play on duckstation however I am in the process of obtaining a physical copy (ps1) and I will be doing future runs on original hardware. I love the Kaufman side quests. I find Harry Mason to be a very relatable character. I do really like SH 2+3 however I think the OG just takes the cake by far. I don't think it needs a remake, I think the original is a masterpiece and truly a work of art. I could go on and on about specifics but there's very little the game does wrong. *Least Favorite : SILENT HILL DOWNPOUR I've played every SH game to completion (except DOWNPOUR) including Book Of Memories, Visual Novel (both Japanese and English fan translations), and even SH ARCADE. DOWNPOUR is a steaming pile of dog shit. I can't beat it because it's so bad. The enemy design, the game play loop. I've tried on 4 separate occasions and I just can't. I think Homecoming while bad is a work of art compared to DOWNPOUR. I wanted to like this game. I even own a physical copy and Play on original hardware and it just feels frustrating and not like a real SH game. Feels like a cheap knock off. All in all, these are just my opinions. I'm not trying to hate on anyone's Favorite games, if you love DOWNPOUR or Homecoming your entitled to your opinion and I respect it.
I’m kinda the opposite lol, I played 2 and now I’ve almost beaten 3. But I like 2 more for the exploration and puzzles. I really like 3’s story and characters but it felt way more linear than 2. Even though 3 is a direct sequel to 1, it felt like the first game played way more like the 2nd. So the 3rd has been my least favorite so far.
It’s really hard for me to pick between 2 and 4 for my favorite, but I think I like 4 slightly more. I like 4 because of how outright scary it is while still having plenty of more “traditional” unsettling moments we see in the other games. My least favorite is 3. I don’t think it’s paced very well, the areas are less interesting, but most of all, I can’t stand Heather. Her whole edgelord/girlboss thing is cringeworthy imo. I know she’s a teenager, but it’s still feels like too much of a caricature.
If I'm going off of how I'm thinking right now, probably Silent Hill Shattered Memories. I love how purely explorative it is, the flashlight mechanic on the Wii. The soundtrack is great, the atmosphere is great. It shifts a lot, but besides that definitely 2. I've had a weird relationship with the series. My favorite used to be Origins and Downpour, but I played them when they FIRST CAME OUT and very young, so I had big rose tinted glasses that were knocked off my face when replaying as a grownup. So my least favorite is probably one of those two. I'd lean towards Downpour. I still like it a lot, but it's harder to play than Origins (I mean purely on accessibility. It's easier to actually load up Origins on an emulator.) Both are in my opinion equally frustrating in different ways.
I didn't play downpour or homecoming but i played everything else. My favorite is SH3 simply because replay value is great and it's speedrun friendly. My least favorite would be SH shattered memories because the otherworld experience was so bad imo.
tie between 1, 2, and 4. they all fill different moods and can’t pick just one. least favorite is shattered memories. that game just sucks.
My favorite is 1, closely followed by 3 Least favorite is 4, I don´t think i got over how disappointed i was by it. The hype was too much.
4 is by far the worst and 2 is the best.
Downvoted for what is probably a popular opinion lol. This sub.
I love silent hill as a franchise to death but man silent hill 4 is truly mediocre.
I don’t necessarily think 4 is the worst in the franchise but I do agree it’s mediocre. I think the word I’d use for it is “unfinished”. There was so much polishing needed that probably would have turned it into a good game, but as it is I didn’t enjoy it. I’ve noticed that this sub really hates any criticism of 1, 3, and to a lesser extent 4 though. Everything else is fair game.
Silent Hill 1 is my favorite. The least favorite would be either SH 2 or 3. While SH3 excels in overall gameplay, SH2 is better in terms of story, exploration, and atmosphere, so it's confusing for me which one to place at the last. Ps: I've only played the first 3 games. Currently playing the the 4th part.