Playtime: 75 Hours.
Score: 6/10

A bit of a let down for me honestly. There wasn't a single game coming out this year that had me more hyped then this one. My first RPG was Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion which is what got me into the genre, and I have loved Bethesda's games ever since then. Plus there my favorite dev team ever aside from Obsidian so I was keen to see what they would do with a new IP. I will prefice this by saying, that this is by no means is a bad game but it just fell short of my expectations, and because I love Bethesda Game Studios so much, I'm going to be giving them a lot of tough love in this review. I have a lot to say and this will be long one so strap in spacers!

Firstly lets talk performance as I know thats a big talking point about this game. I was worried going in to Starfield that my PC wouldn't be able to run it with a lack of Nvidia support (at release) and that I have a low to mid range PC. I have a Nvidia 1660 Super GPU, 32GB of Ram and 2TB SSD storage (I'm not very well versed in pc specs talk). I played it on gamepass and it ran pretty well for me. I constantly switched between medium and high settings and the framerate was solid. On high, my framerate was fine except when I was in cities like New Atlantis or Neon it would dip a little. I ended up just settling on medium since I'd take better performance over graphics any day. Load times were super fast too and I was impressed with the QOL improvments to reduce load times like being able to fast travel to a location straight from the quest log as an example.

The first major improvement is the leveling system in Starfield. On the service, it is basically the perks system from Fallout 4 but its much improved in that you have to complete challenges in each skill before you can advance to the next rank. The other big thing is your build is SO IMPORTANT in this game and you can't be a jack of all trades unless you dump hundreds of hours into this game which is a first in a while for Bethesda since Morrowind and Oblivion. They tend to love the power fantasy approach but in this game every skill point you invest matters and being locked out of things like jetpacks unless you have the skill was chefs kiss for me. You really have to have a build in mind going in and focus on specifc things. As an example I mostly focused on ballistic weapons in combat as trying to do that and energy weapons would have spread my skill points way too thin so I had to pick one style and stick with it. Another thing is, once you go past Lvl 30, things do slow down pretty significantly in terms of you level up so its important you get the basic necessity skills before then.

Roleplaying is a mixed bag for me. On one hand, I do love that they went back to the dialogue system of Oblivion and Fallout 3, where the camera zooms in on an NPC and you have your list of dialogue options. I'm also grateful they didn't go with a voice protagonist (even though they apparently tried) as it makes your choices in dialogue so much deeper where as it was very limited in Fallout 4. You do get skill checks but this is an area I was really disappointed by. 99% of the time for me, picking skill check options doesn't do anything to change a quest or what an NPC thinks of you. It really just felt like an extra dialogue option for you to select and nothing beyond that. Only a few times did it actually effect a coversation in a meaningful way. You do get some choice and consequence but only a few had me really stop and think before choosing. In some ways its an improvement over past games and in others it feels very under developed.

Combat is good for the most part. The shooting is slightly improved from Fallout 4 but I never had an issue with it since I care more about the RPG experience. You do have a lot more verticality with the jet packs in combat which I liked. My only issue is some of the enemies can be real damage sponges and they just soak up bullets no matter what difficulty you play on. Stealth gameplay is absolutely atrocious as it seemed like no matter how many points I put into the skill, enemy placement just had them always spot or hear me and I was forced into combat. The most you can do is pick off a few enemies from afar with a sniper rifle but thats about it. A big step down from Fallout and Elder Scrolls for sure. Ship combat was the most interesting for me. In the beginning it sucks because you don't have any good skills, but as you get better ships and crew members who can boost your ships weapons and shields, its a lot of fun! You get a targeting system thats basically like VATS where you can target specific parts of enemy ships. Being able to take out a ships engines and then boarding it to then steal said ship was always satisfying for me!

Oh and theres also powers which basically act as this games version of shouts from Skyrim. There okay, but the process of getting them is super boring. In Skyrim you would be exploring a dungeon, fighting your way through draugurs and traps before finally getting to the shout as epic chanting played. But wait, you need a dragon soul, so go have an epic battle with one to absorb its soul and learn the words of the shout! In Starfield, you land on a planet, follow your scanner finding a bunch of boring anomalies, until you finally get to a temple. Awesome dungeon ahead? Nah, just go into a low gravity room and fly through some floating light bulbs so a ring in the center can spin fast enough for you to get a power. You do this exact same process EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!

Next exploration, which is the one key ingredient to any Bethesda game as they do open world so well and give you so many cool things to find. How is it in Starfield? It reminded me of two games, in that it's a worse version of both of them being Mass Effect 1 and Oblivion. Its ME1 in the sense that your exploring baren, uninteresting planets with a couple of locations to find. The difference is ME1 had vehicles to make it less tedious which this game SORELY needs. And its Oblivion in the sense that a lot of the dungeons are copy and pasted. The difference there is that: Oblivion came out in 2006, Bethesda was a lot smaller at the time and they had only one dev to make all the dungeons, and even then they felt more interesting to explore then this. They really needed to narrow the scope of this game way down. If they maybe did 200 planets instead of a 1000, I think it would have been better. Yes, there would still be procedural generation, but it would feel way less repetitive. The best way to explore is to simply follow the quests as they will lead you to the interesting locations. The cities like New Atlantis, Neon and Akila are cool to explore, but It doesn't make up for the rest of the lackluster exploration IMO.

Some more miscelanious stuff to talk about before companions and story. The music by Inon Zur is fantastic as he captures the wander in exploring the stars but also have some emotional tunes as well. Digipicking is a cool mini game and I like the concept but the issue is that the RNG can really screws you over, as there are times where they simply don't give you enough correct combinations to fit into the required slots. Also you can pick a master lock in this game and get nothing but random junk with no cool weapon or piece of armor guranteed to be inside. YAY! The persuasion mini game is okay, but it also seems very chance based and I honestly prefered the one in Oblivion as it was easier to get the hang of. I didn't do any outpost or ship building, since I hated doing it in Fallout 4, so I just ignored it. I do appreciate that Bethesda didn't force it on you like in Fallout 4 and that you can just play the game like a traditional RPG. Though whenever you buy a house (as opposed to building an outpost) theres no furniture inside and your forced to build and place everything inside yourself. I hated this and would have just prefered a simple buy furniture option like in older games.

Second last, lets talk companions. I was disappointed when I heard that you only have 4 full fledged companions in this game as that is just way too low for an RPG. I think 6 companions would have been the sweet spot and added a little more variety that this game really lacks in. The companions aren't bad but there not great either for me. Sarah Morgan is by far the most interesting with her back story and romance. Only issue is she's a bit of a girl scout with a very black and white view on the world. So if your doing a morally grey quest or making choices with more nuiance to them, SARAH DISLIKED THAT! Barret was by far the most charismatic as he's basically the Han Solo of your crew. I smiled and laughed the whole way through a lot of his quests. Andreja is basically the outsider of the group with a questionable past. I don't think she's a bad companion she's just not really that memorable for me. And Sam is just there. The only real interesting part about him was his daughter, Cora, who accompanies you whenever Sam's on your ship. There banter back and forth was very cute, though get ready to hear the same "buy me a book dad!" lines over and over again. "Over 200k lines of dialogue" my ass.

Finally the main story just fell completely flat for me. It had one really emotional moment for me half way through that presents a hard decision for you to make, which I was honestly shocked Bethesda went that far with it and I appreciate that they did. But beyond that its just really dull as you just collect artifact after artifact. And once the reveal came about the mystery around the artifacts I honestly just rolled my eyes and was like "Really? Were doing this now?!". Just really generic stuff man. The overall writing for the game I wouldn't say is bad, but its not great either. There were certain faction questlines that presented hard choices but I don't feel they went far enough with them. There's has just been so many great RPGs that have come out since Fallout 4 (I'm not counting Fallout 76) that have way better writing and this surface level storytelling Bethesda typically goes for just doesn't cut it for me anymore.

I guess my final verdict is to try this on gamepass, see what you think and then decide whether or not you want buy it. I probably would have preordered it if I had the money to do so, but in hindsight I'm glad I went with the cheaper gamepass option instead though I will eventually get the game on Steam once its heavily discounted. On a postive note, leading up to Starfield's release I had grown pretty sour on Fallout 4 and its many problems, but after playing Starfield I downloaded Fallout 4 to replay it and I had a blast. It definitely made me appreciate Fallout 4 a lot more so there's that.

All Games I've Played and Reviewed Ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/JudgeDredd35/list/all-games-i-have-played-and-reviewed-ranked/
Bethesda Game Studios Ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/JudgeDredd35/list/bethesda-game-studios-ranked/

In a 1999 developer interview. Keiichiro Toyama says “What is it that sets Silent Hill apart from other games? If I had to answer that question in a nutshell, it would be the atmosphere, which I suppose is vague and ambiguous. However, if you play the game, I think you will understand. Silent Hill is an orthodox game with no outlandish or innovative gameplay mechanics, but it is suffused with a unique atmosphere and mood, not only in its appearance but also in the story and sound.” - Director of Silent Hill 1(SH1).

I couldn’t help but come to the same conclusion as Toyama’s answer of ‘atmosphere’ as the final credits rolled in my blind playthrough of Silent Hill 1. The atmosphere permeates throughout my time running through the titular town full of dense fog. As I controlled the main character. Harry Mason. An everyman who has no special titles, or special powers, is neither rich nor an individual who has super connections of note. He is simply a regular dad desperately searching every house and street for any clue, to recover his missing daughter Cheryl after a car crash gone wrong. And so begins our journey, as he battles/evades otherworldly creatures all while unknowingly trying to survive in this horror-filled place.

Storywise, I found his journey to be a cross between safe storytelling mixed with a jigsaw puzzle. Looking back I can construct how the narrative is achieved by effectively omitting key details. By the time I had all the pieces, I could complete the ‘puzzle’ so to speak. In doing so I was treated to a relatively safe journey in regards to not throwing my suspension of disbelief into smithereens while spreading the plot breadcrumbs interesting enough to lure me further into the mystery. In spite of the slow threads in the beginning. Be that as it may, once I hit my stride in schools and hospitals my will to continue deepened further. Enabling me to question everything and everyone within the bounds of not delving too outside the box to conjure. The regular who, what, where, when, why whodunit. Kept my brain tingling for morsels of information to seek the answer to my relentless inquiries. And thankfully the ending I received satisfied me to a measure I cannot help but applaud for. Well at least for receiving the ‘G+’ ending. And while there are other endings I’ve seen on YouTube. The overarching narrative felt uncommonly used amongst the other horror games I've played thus far. I wish I could give more concrete examples, but that would inadvertently lose the magic and surprise.

The atmosphere toes the line between the unknown and frightening to an absurd, but realistic degree. As I traveled deeper into the mist surrounding the locations of Silent Hill. Taking inspiration from Stephen King's The Mist among other influences. And to its credit, the close draw distance to maximize fog nearly in our faces works cleverly to hide the technical limitations of the PS1 era. The missing inhabitants while replicating a small town out in the country oozes with mystery in a sort of “Will there be something?” is teased mercilessly. I enjoyed exploring to my delight and wasn’t scared too much despite the oppressive silence and lack of inhabitants. Instead, I found otherworldly creatures prowling the dead of the day. Hairless malformed dogs prowling the streets, as winged creatures fly indiscriminately above Mason’s head to claw at him. To the nurses and doctors who are out of their freaking mind looking like a zombie at times. I admit to being scared and simply ran away from these ghastly enemies. The dense fog adds to the intrigue with incessant questions in the back of my mind. “What's happening? Where is Cheryl? What should I do? Why is this happening? How can I survive? Am I dreaming? Is this real?” These questions and more will inevitably pop up as you stumble & struggle.

The struggle is real. As I cautiously checked for enemies in rotten corridors, clean hallways, and entering empty rooms splitting the real and unreal. Confusing me, yet a handy map can be found nearby upon entering a new location. Making backtracking painless. Allowing me to easily strengthen my will, admire the presentation and reference what I had already been to. The map updates as you explore making it a vital tool to utilize. Reinforced by how simple the mechanics are. Mason can run, walk, use guns, and melee weapons, and interact with objects in the environment. The radio too helps as a sort of sound radar for nearby enemies. Helping us to prepare for what's to come. As a result, no gimmicks or very innovative systems at work as Toyama stated above. Focusing on other elements brings the core strengths to the front and center for players to devour. Grayish mist compliments well with the dead air of the soundtrack while feeding breadcrumbs to the player early on to piece and make their deductions. It is fascinating if not slightly stressful since I am playing a survival horror game. Yet I wasn’t all too bothered by the gameplay formula.

Puzzles felt adequate without being too complex. The simple systems lend themselves again and again. Becoming cyclical as you progress further in new buildings without feeling like a drag. Encounter a mysterious item? Maybe we can use this later to open a door or slot into a mechanism to open a path. Hmm, bottle? Must be some liquid I need. Keys? Oh, a locked door I couldn’t enter before surely will this time. Every puzzle I found difficult had a nearby solution to help players give off clues to solve their current dilemma. And usually, they may connect to another component, solving a dilemma could be a key to finally removing an obstacle. Out of all the puzzles I encountered. Only one of them is incredibly difficult. This was the only time I felt compelled to check a walkthrough and once I found the solution I couldn’t help but smack myself silly. So here’s a helpful tip. Check your surroundings to make sure of any missing pieces, having a separate monitor or paper on hand to visualize text hints can offer a different point of view. There are puzzles here without a hint so visuals and any patterns as delicately as I can vaguely say will prove invaluable to the naked eye. Don’t overthink, sometimes the easiest and most gut feeling may prove to be the right one.

Combat I wasn't fighting every step of the way like tank controls. Instead I embraced the simple fighting system and abused them to my advantage. Harry can equip one weapon at a time. Utilizes a multitude of melee and ranged weaponry. From pipes to knives to a pistol, shotguns, etc. The armaments helped tremendously like a hammer and the shooting mechanics aren’t all too complicated due to the absence of a reticle. As long as you focus in the direction of the enemy. You can shoot them with extreme prejudice. And man does it feel good to lay them out on the floor and kick em when they're down. Go close to an enemy? Eat a full round from my shotgun. Enemy closing in? NOPE. Time to run in a zigzag and not look back. Dying in about one blow? Excuse me while I chug a kit and some bottles without a required animation to take effect. See several mobs? Yeah forget that, Ima run past them. Pick your battles, don’t fight everything, to conserve ammo.

Felt the resource collection and using my stockpile satisfactory. Supplies are spread throughout the town so you’ll have to do some exploring off the beaten path to see any health kits or bottles to replenish your vitality. I had a surplus of bullets and avoided combat where I could to save ammo. Didn’t need to heal every time, only when I needed to. I wasn’t hindered by any inventory limit, nor was there any sort of stamina meter. He does have a health meter once you enter the menu with a press of the button. Making the lack of any real user interface where you would traditionally see one noticeable, albeit not necessary to see. I didn’t find any major issues with finding resources.

I’ll talk more about this later, but for now, I'll praise the tank controls. The mechanic where you move the player is similar to the process of how a tank moves. And this is a process you’ll need to contend with throughout the entirety of a playthrough. Nevertheless, as I became more familiar with tank life(This was my first time experiencing the phenomenon.) I found it weirdly satisfying to look at the element from a different angle. The controls accentuate certain camera angles to invoke a sense of anxiety and unease. The combat adds to this which I didn’t mind at all considering the game doesn’t shout to the high heavens to play for the fighting module. This in turn creates anticipation and tension adding to the already unsettling atmosphere. So I like it. For adding depth to the combat and fleeing.

Honestly, this emphasizes cutscenes when they play by displaying different camera angles while the dialogue occurs. And boy do I have some good news. I’m surprised by how little text there is in the conversations. Thereby not slobbering players with text logs or lore logs. Though as a lore nut, I firmly believe as long as you have enough relative lore in hand it could prove beneficial. But that is neither here nor there. Words and phrases are used sparingly as if to uphold a sacred tenet that fewer words equals good. SH1 for example follows this rule to a T. I did not see any wasted text. Puzzles and hints are included. It's like a subtly minimalist Chekhov's gun here. And oddly enough I am praising the usage of short conversations between Harry and whoever is speaking to him to excellent effect. Why? This adds mystery and intrigue to the central locations while increasing tension, fear, etc. Reinforcing the enigmatic atmosphere Toyama envisions. Seriously this is great stuff preserving minimal, but essential text to have players piece their own conclusions. Showing us, but not telling us.

In a 2015 interview from Factmag Akira Yamaoka(composer of a majority of the Silent Hill series) talks about the franchise's soundtracks and why it continues to be as influential as ever. “One of the greatest ways that Yamaoka enhanced Silent Hill’s fear building is by using music and effects in ways that run against what you’re expecting. “I wanted it to be unpredictable: maybe during a big scare I cut everything out, and maybe if nothing was happening at all there would be a lot of sound.” You have an empty hallway? Layer a few sirens and mix it in the red. You have an establishing moment with a villain or environment? Use only the sound of a sharpening knife.”

This unpredictability by Yamaoka works to an impressive degree throughout the entire soundscape. Where I felt the absence of regular conventional instruments in favor of creepy silence, air vibrations, the beating of unconventional items like banging of doors, the scrapping of blades, and the heart-pumping scratches and fluctuating radio frequencies awakens dread. Some examples I’ll pull from the OST have silence integrated well such as: ‘Downtime, never end, never end, never end, alive, nothing else, justice for you, heaven give me say, far.’ These tracks accompany many of the gameplay segments and cutscenes in a congenial manner yet interlaced wonderfully facilitating differences from the usual effects we often hear. Creating an unsettling tone to repeat for days on end as you boot up the game. Not to the point of over-use since a lot of tracks differ in tempo, rhythm, and how untraditional sound works. Seriously listen to any of those tracks and see how it differs from classical instruments. The names of these tracks also share similar connotations. Giving off a break if you will. Or time of rest. By comparison, there is another layer. And that is the panic tracks. Imagine low drums combined with a background of haunting wails or cries of ghastly echoes.

While the foreground is immersed with a layer of banging utensils harshly being hit on steel walls in a pattern that evokes slow encroaching terror. Yeah, terrifying isn’t it? Try listening to these tracks: Die, ain't gonna rain, half day, dead end, ill kill you, bitter season, don’t cry, for all, devil’s lyric, over, until death. I had to stomach through the OST again and it is incredible if not spooky. Yet thankfully enough here’s a secret to lessen the tension and anxiety. Lower the volume, no shame in doing so. I admit to doing so! The naming sense also is interesting to note again, with most of the tracks I chose from a small sample conveying notions of death, threats, and bittersweetness. I could’ve added more, but you can see the rest here and suit the tracks in other patterns. Regardless, I want to focus on a pattern. The silence tracks and panic tracks from the ones I listed earlier follow a theme, eh? The former inhabits an eerie vibe throughout yet doesn’t go to the steep lengths of making the player run to the hills. In my ears, I felt they were used to excellent effect, conveying a tingle of mystery as I ran to new rooms and buildings. By comparison. The latter displays the rush, the unbearing suspense mixed with a persistent rhythm forming an incessant need to get out. Run faster and get the hell out of traps and dead-ends. As a result, the panic tracks I think work in its favor and complement the silence to a proportion, I find myself fascinated by the two accompanying themes.

However, a third and smaller portion of tracks not of the two kinds emerges. And this brings to the forefront the classical tracks to a shotgun-filled bar full of emotions and relief. These tracks finally make use of classical instruments like the guitar strings. For example in the track ‘She’ I felt they provide a profound degree of closure. Some may see this as an abrupt slap of whiplash, on the other hand, I found it comforting. In the near silence and panic-filled corridors of ambiance. I found at the end of my main character’s journey and to my great satisfaction a longing feeling of contentment and tranquility. It is apt and so powerful to hear classical instruments shine so bloody hard. I am amazed how different Yamaoka's style conveys so uniquely and so beautifully to listen to. Granted, the effects on the unused may be perceived as annoying to hear repetitive noise effects. Although, I think it works to its benefit. Complementing the game to magically transport the player into the Yamaoka’s soundscape. Like a puppet master controlling how we feel. Just wow. Very different from other Japanese composers I'm familiar with listening such as Nobou Uematsu, Keiichi Okabe, Yasunori Mitsuda, Yoko Shimomura, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masashi Hamauzu, Masayoshi Soken, Keiki Kobayashi, Kota Hoshino, Falcom Sound Team jdk, and Xenoblade composers. The OST manages to ride the fine line of not being either bombastic or slamming us with gentility. Filling the player with enough suspense to not overflow in sheer terror while giving enough intrigue to the limit of genuine courage. It is as Yamaoka talks about earlier. Unpredictable in building fear.

As much as I could continue praising and analyzing every morsel. I must talk about my mixed feelings. These are neither positive nor negative, but simply some things that gave me pause, could be better and perhaps a hot take down below.

First tank controls for the unused can make it difficult to achieve the right balance in the beginning. When Harry moves in a single direction, turning becomes difficult. So you’ll have to swerve to the right or left before coming around. Takes some getting used to. I was never familiar with these types of old movements and considering it was my first foray into it. My first 15 minutes were clashing onto walls. I understand it's a product of its time. And while some may say it adds tension and anxiety, which I agree to a certain extent. More often than not I crashed into walls and wished it controlled better. Could be a dealbreaker for some. I’ve heard the newest entries after the first have better controls. Though for a first entry, it's not something I'll judge too harshly. Once an hour passed by I became used to them. To help, quick-turn using L1+R1. Helped immensely for my playthrough and thankfully the game’s runtime isn’t too long or medium to deal with. HLTB estimates put this at a short length.

Second, this might be a hot take. But I think going into the game blind completely would be a mistake. I tried playing blind for 95% of my experience and while I did have a good time, once I removed some tips to know beforehand along with some of my friend's advice I would’ve unknowingly struggled. Please check out some tips. I'll put some links further below to help newcomers. Therefore to prevent further suffering. Not required, but it doesn’t hurt to know ya know? For example, Running away from enemy mobs in the streets to conserve ammo. Quickturn if you hit a dead-end and I abused the hell out of that to counter the rough tank controls. Furthermore, going blind may inadvertently cause players more trouble when trying to achieve certain endings. They can be strict. Without going into concrete details of spoiler territory. To get the G+ ending, players need to somehow pick up a liquid in a hospital and use it in a boss fight. Not the last one. There’s a bit more, but I'll let Before I play handle that. Highly recommend referencing that in hand while you play. I hope that’s vague enough to say. I am not advocating for everyone to achieve that outcome, rather I think it would help in the long run when thinking about the game as a whole. It is simply a suggestion.

Third, boss fights I think could’ve been improved a little more to induce more puzzley in design without reverting into too gimmicky territory. As vaguely as I can say. I usually evaded their attacks, then shot bullets during appropriate moments. I’m torn on this point since I think this ties into the combat not being a true highlight to look forward to. I didn’t come to SH1 to be amazed by fighting. Yet unironically Toyama in another interview back in 1999 echoes similar sentiments by saying how “The action part of the game is really just something to create the horror.” A medium to enhance the horror if you will. Although, I still can’t help but add my suggestions on how this could be remedied to make boss fights more horrory. Off the top of my head: More on escaping, instead of traditional fights. Destroying objects in surrounding environments then switching to a different weapon like melee. Surprise me with dialogue maybe and if I answer wrong, game over. Taunt me while chasing me. I wouldn’t say they're bad by any means. The first, second to last boss and final boss do a decent job.

Fourth, I wish there was more interaction in the environment instead of literal observations anyone can make. When exploring anything of relative interest in his surroundings. Harry will make a direct, blunt phrase. “No useful books.” “Nothing unusual.” “Drugs? Better leave it.” “Just a wall.” Granted, there are plenty of notes, diaries, letters, and documents to give some relevant lore or plot hooks so it’s not all bad. Feels weird though. Why not have him say different lines like “Cheryl would’ve loved this book.” or “Ah I remember this drug from long ago my wife used to use.” See how those suggestions would’ve changed some of the stale observations? Makes me wonder if the other installments made some changes to his inspection.

Ultimately I found Silent Hill 1 to be largely a leap of faith as one Ubisoft franchise likes to say. While it does have some dated mechanics like the tank controls which may vary from person to person. And the story may not resonate with everyone. Along with my other mixed feelings. In the end, hidden beneath these varying qualities I found the everyman plot to be equally as satisfying as my time in Signalis. I can only leave pretty positive after my ten hour playthrough. And oddly enough, I regret not playing this title back then in my childhood. Never played any other entries in the series either. And yet for a PSX title released in 1999, I am pretty impressed how much it holds up. Stands tall amongst the other horror games I played. Sure the title doesn’t boast the Lovecraftian edge Bloodborne grasps. The excellent pacing of The Last of Us. Great lessons from Omori or hitting the fine balance of horror and action in the Evil Within series and Metro 2033. Nor does it provide richly diverse cast to the gills like Shadow Heart and Koudelka.

Rather, Harry Mason’s troubled venture to recover his daughter is a powerful incentive to keep in mind. And the feelings of “annoyance, anger and incredible kind of powerlessness” evoked by the protaganists voice actor Michael Guinn moved me enough to see what happens in the end. Strong to witness amongst the clever backtracking, colliding with interesting and well-thought-out puzzles. Constant showing, not telling, and remarkable use of minimal dialogue I found in contrast to Parasite Eve. Demonstrating how much this little gem can achieve in a concise manner without padding. I wasn’t bombarded by useless cutscenes or tearing my suspension of disbelief a new one. Beyond the palpable unique atmosphere, intriguing everyman story and excellent sound design lies something special to anyone who has never played Silent Hill 1. I’d even go as far as to say the game has made me appreciate horror much more than I thought.

8.5/10

References & Additional Material:
1st interview - Shmuplations translated the 1999 interview with Toyama and others
Wiki links - Everyman - Inspirational works of Silent Hill - Tank Controls - Chekhov’s Gun - SH1 OST - Soundscape
2nd interview - Akira Yamaoka interview
3rd interview - Another interview with Toyama back in 1999. Different from 1st.
4th interview - a 2018 interview with none other than the original Silent Hill voice actor for Harry Mason. Michael Guinn. Fair warning does contain spoilers for SH1 & SH3. I only read the SH1 portions.
Silent Hill 1 Before I Play Tips
Silent Hill 1 manual
A short history article on the origin of Tank Controls - Cool TIL tidbits.
My spoiler thoughts on Silent Hill 1 - Heavy spoilers from beginning to end of the game

Yeah this is the best 2D Mario. After years of stagnation with the NSMB series (and i love Wii), Nintendo comes in with this banger of a game. I won't really be stating the obvious here, everyone knows how much of a breath of fresh air this game is, thanks to the new Wonder gimmick and just generally the really appealing artstyle. But in addition to the Wonder effects and the cool new powerups, the level design benefits from simply just removing the time-limit that the previous games had. It's enough of a difference that allows levels to be a little bit more complex than they were before.

If there's one problem with the game, it's the boss fights. For a game as creative as this one, the boss fights are lacking even by Mario standards. The exception is the final Bowser fight but that's it. Actually, there's a second problem: badges. Outside of the specific Badge Challenge levels, badges in this game are wildly unbalanced. The tierlist is Grapple Vine > Glide Cap > literally everything else. Great idea but the normal level design doesn't make enough use of them.

All of that said though, at the end of the day....it's still 2D Mario. Levels are fun and creative but even with the Wonder effects, they still don't reach the heights of Donkey Kong Country. The Wonder helps set them apart and there's enough variety, even when certain gimmicks are reused, but some levels do inevitably.....blend in. Difficulty is fairly easy (Special World good challenge though).

It feels almost absurd to praise Jusant, for its physicality. You are, after all doing no more strenous exercise than pressing and holding a few buttons but its mechanics bring that act as close as it possibly can to the feeling of climbing. Just from the demo I played of it I was instantly sold. Press and Hold LT to grab a ledge with your left hand, use the analogue stick to direct your right hand forward, Press and Hold RT to grab the next ledge with your right hand, let go of LT, rinse repeat.

Jusant uses these ideas as a base which it expands as the game goes along but its so solid as a base, its honestly hard to communicate without barging into your house and handing you the controller to try it out for yourself (incidentally the PC version has a free demo unsubtle hint). I have only ever climbed in indoor rock climbing places or bouldering or whatever its called but it so perfectly recreates the emotional experience of it, a constant tactical and physical question, where do I put my hand next, can I make it from here without losing perch etc.

Added to that the rope mechanics allowing you to set your own pseudo checkpoints, rope swinging physics, momentum, these are all great. Even though the game is really not very hard and the illusion could be broken if you ever honestly tried hard to fuck yourself up, this didnt really bother me. The familiar "Oh is that how you were supposed to do that?" and giddy laughter at pulling off some complicated maneuver as simple as letting a rock bug carry you left so you can place a piton (thing you use to attach the rope to the wall to make sure you dont fall all the way down) to then rappel a bit and use left to right momentum to jump on to a previously unreachable ledge, well, it's pretty goddamned great.

The structure works so well, the constant climb weaves in and out of the rock wall like a sewing needle, after a few subsections in the dark underside of the mountain being greeted by our old friend the sun feels so novel you forget you already saw a similar view 10 minutes ago. The ever vertical climb works narratively and spectacle wise, constantly recontextualising the scale of it all by seeing familiar landmarks grow smaller and smaller until they are but a speck in the distance. And if you pay attention to the changing environments (and admittedly rather weak random documents/journal entries that every videogame and their dog needs to have which rather overexplains things) they tell a story too, of the society which lived on the mountain but which slowly saw the tide and water recede away...

On that note, I share the game's fascination with seeing previously underwater areas dry. I grew up near a beach filled with banks of sandstone and other such structures which made the bay a natural pond when the tide receded. Everything that was unearthed temporarily just made child me fascinated. The game is thankfully, gorgeous, its nice to see a game use Unreal Engine's fancy new tricks to make a nice stylised game which goes for a sort of moebius by way of claymation and pixar movie? I could almost feel the rock and clay surfaces from its smooth gradients of grey, yellow, red and brown.

My only real complaint is the vertical charged jump seems temperamental, and especially when the "sparks" ability is introduced in chapter 4 which is not entirely unrelatedly my least favourite section of the game. It replaces your double jump with a sort of vertical glide but I was just constantly being flung diagonally by my first jump, meaning the upwards thrust left me too far to reach the ledge. With decreasing max stamina from each jump this got quite annoying, let me tell you. Eventually I overcame that section through what seemed to me to be luck, essentially. If there is something Im missing here or a mechanic I misunderstood Id genuinely love to hear it.

I played the Demo for jusant back in June and was dismayed to realize it wasnt coming out until october (almost november, really) but I think it was worth the wait. Loved the soundtrack and the finale is a great little send off for the game as a whole, I would recommend Jusant to anyone who would read this whole thing to the end, have a good one.

Edit : I am the dumbest person alive. On a second playthrough, I realize that I read the tutorial wrong, the charged jump works by pointing towards the thing you want to jump, not inverted. I went through the entire game not realizing that somehow. In my very weak defense, when charge jumping horizontally you point away from the direction youre going (logically, thats how momentum works) but when jumping up/down seemingly the animation is the same i.e pointing down. Anyways I havent finished my replay but as an apology and because it was my only real complaint, Im awarding an extra half star to Jusant, godspeed.

I feel bad for anyone trying to gaslight themselves into thinking this remake was good.

This remake butchers so many things from the original game like Jill's character and Nemesis as a whole. This game does some puzzling changes in terms of level design changes as well as cutting out entire parts of the game.

The game is also absurdly linear, feeling almost on rails at points with QTE like cutscenes, which is insanely cringe.

The game is also only around 5 hours long and really has no replayability.

Playtime: 15 Hours
Score: 8/10

So after just finishing Resident Evil 8, I can now say I have finished yet another RE game, with that being this remake. I never played the original version, as RE4 was my first real Resident Evil game, but this remake has been very high on my want to play list as I love this series and the survival horror genre! I spend about 8 hours in Leon's campaign and then 7 hours in Claire's. So what did I think?

I will say first off the graphics are top notch, even a few years later. The detail in characters faces is incredible and I love the design of the police station and many of the areas. Combat is more like the modern RE games with over the shoulder third person shooting, You still have to manage inventory space with ammo, key items and other useful things like planks to board up windows to stop zombies coming in. The weapons all feel good to use, though Claire by far gets the better arsenal, as she gets multiple ammo types, with special ammo for her handgun that blows zombies heads off with a single shot. It felt like favoritism on the devs part lol.

I played on Assisted difficulty and it felt just about right for me personally, as the game is still challenging but not brain dead easy. Zombies still take a million shots to kill with one time I fought a zombie that took 10 shots to the head to die which was ridiculous. But overall it felt fair for the most part as you can't go in guns blazing, and have to be strategic with your shots and use of items. The puzzles as well were really good and had me stop and think for a few minutes to figure them out which was good.

The story is serviceable overall, and again I never played the original, but I liked seeing the two sides of the story. Leon's campaign goes into how the outbreak happened and the two scientists who did it, where as Claire's is more personal through her side character Sherry, which I enjoyed seeing too. Playing Claire's campaign second helped humanize a lot of the characters and add more depth to it all. There are some plot inconsistencies towards the end between the two campaigns though, with regards to when certain events play out for each character and in what order.

Some of the negatives, are the new remake soundtrack. Its awful honestly. I played the first few hours with it, but then caved and switched to the original music which isn't even in the base game and you have to pay extra for it as DLC. This is just unacceptable in my opinion as there are plenty of other remakes like Trials of Mana that include both versions of the OST in the base game. What makes it even worse is that it feels like they deliberately put zero effort into the remake OST, so that classic fans or ones who care about good music in video games would cave and buy the DLC. Even though you have to pay extra for it, if you do decide to do it, the original OST is awesome and it even includes the old SFX when selecting items in your inventory and the creepy voice at the title screen.

The other negative is the lack of boss variety. I understand this is a remake, so they probably were just being faithful to the original game, but you literally only have two bosses in the whole game that you have to fight multiple times. Mr. X and another boss I won't spoil. I can understand Mr. X since he's meant to stalk you throughout the game, but the other boss you have to fight multiple times too in scripted events which is just lazy. Even RE1 had more boss fights than this. I guess because they had Mr. X following you, maybe they had to cut back on adding more bosses, but to me I just wasn't a fan. I'd rather have more unique bosses for each of the areas, while still having Mr. X show up occasionally. Mr. X is cool though, and the fact that you can often hear him stomping around looking for you, always sent chills down my spine.

Overall though, this was a solid Resident Evil game and I enjoyed playing through it. RE4 will always be my favorite in the series though!

All Games I have Played and Reviewed Ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/JudgeDredd35/list/all-games-i-have-played-and-reviewed-ranked/
RE Engine Resident Evil Games Ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/JudgeDredd35/list/re-engine-resident-evil-games-ranked/