Silent Hill 3

[Concept]

I am in the process of editing it now. Colour quotes aren't working on the post. I'll take it down for a sec.

[John Beaulieu]

sorted it for you mate

[yashiro]

ps concept - pointless petej hiding the spoilers in his post if you are going to then highlight them all and make them readable in the post afterwards

Indeed, judicious use of my spoiler button was required.

[Concept]

I edited my post at the same time you must have edited it, Camps.

Never mind. My timing is impeccable.

[John Beaulieu]

what you did wrong was instead of using the spoiler button you just picked colour white - didn't work right

ah well it was a good post that you did

camps

[Concept]

It's alright, m8. Got it sorted at last now. I'm not fond of those multi-quote gotta-hide-them-spoiler type posts.

[marcus]

Our Silent Hill 3 review is now online - http://www.ntsc-uk.com/MainContent/P...ilentHill3.htm

Please leave any feedback on this in the feedback forum, http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/viewtopic.php?t=5801

[channard]

As is a review by myself at http://www.pregaming.com/viewreview....2&reviewid=194 - I only gave it 7 out 10... I much prefer SH2. I hope SH4 is a return to form.

[Concept]

I'm the opposite way around. After experiencing the original Silent Hill, I didn't find the sequel's storyline to be as interesting. I found the pace to be a little too slow, which consequently made the game less scary and psychologically draining.

Although I view Silent Hill 2 as a slight disappointment, I do value it as a good game. I simply just feel it felt too much of a side-story at times in relation as to why everything kicked off in the first place. Although the monsters looked freaky, they didn't pose much of an actual threat, and there was far too much wandering and illogical design in the puzzles for my liking.

For me, Silent Hill 3 remedies this, and then some.

[Concept]

Here are some questions I have for those who've completed the game. There are still a number of loose ends which are intriguing me and I was wondering if any of you have any theories.

Major Spoilers if highlighted:

1) When Heather is in the confessional box, and she is give the option to forgive, does anyone else think this may be a chance for redemption and to get rid of her hatred? After all, Claudia wants to encourage it order to help Samael's embryo inside Heather grow stronger.

2) In the church near the end, Vincent hints that the monsters Heather is seeing may only be her perception of them as such, and that they may be people instead. How much do you think is going on inside Heather's head with regards to Silent Hill's appearance? I say this because Vincent also claims near the end that Silent Hill is like it is because of what his sister has done to it.

3) I've figured out half of the riddle of the phone call from the ‘birthday’ man. For one, he is neither Leonard or Stanley Coleman - He admits this himself. However the ages he states do make logical sense:

17 (Heather's age) + 7 (Cheryl's age) = 24
17 (Heather's age) + 14 (Alessa's age) = 31

The caller says Stanley Coleman has gone underground and is now referred to as "number 7". Does anyone else think he means Cheryl in relation to the other half of her soul, Alessa? Cheryl, who is seven, may be underground inside Alessa. I've come to this conclusion because Heather sheds away her Alessa persona at the very end when Dougla asks what she wants to be called and she replies "Cheryl". That name no longer has to hide anymore. Anyone have a different theory? Or more interestingly, anyone have an idea who the telephone caller is?

4) Leonard says he is Claudia’s father. And yet it is revealed in a birthday card later on that Claudia is Alessa’s half sister. This means that Leonard is Heather's step-father, Claudia is her half-sister and Vincent is her half-brother - When she lived and was known as Alessa. Are they all part of the same family?

5) In the mirror/running blood section, Heather’s reflection is the dark version of her Alessa "self"", that she fights in the demonic merry-go-round. This could be where the Alessa part of her personality becomes more prominent and starts to exert itself within her mind. Remember, Heather doesn’t like mirrors - She says so in text form right a the start of the game in the toilets. Does anyone else think the mirror reflection of her dark "self" indicates the two parallels in her personality? I say this because I think Alessa becomes more forceful through the representation that the blood from this other plane seeps over into Heather's dimension suggesting a shift in the balance of power. I think Heather's Alessa dark "self" in the merry-go-round is delibrately trying to kill herself so she can prevent Samael's embryo being born. I think Alessa isn't necessarily evil... She is just trying to eradicate another part of herself (Samael). Ah... Anyone think any different?

[arhra]

I`m glad I didn`t wait for the ntsc version this game it`s sooooo good.
Did anyone else try to unblock the toilet? LMAO

Glad i'm not the only one who laughed at that

[Concept]

I cleared some of the saves on my memory card (inc Silent Hill 2) just before I played Silent Hill 3, so I missed out on some of the extra scenes. Still... I suppose it'll help bring me back to both games when due time comes.

Oh, on a side note I've figured out the birthday caller scene (my interpretation) if anyone's interested:

1) When the caller says Stanley Coleman has now gone underground as "number seven", it threw me. However, if you think back to the basement morgue (which happens to be underground) at the hospital, there is clearly a corpse labelled seven.

2) This revelation also clears up the caller's possible identity, as the only way he would know about Coleman's body is if he were also a patient at the hospital. Now for me, the caller is the nameless unstable religious guy from room 312 a document refers to. This would explain how he would know about the town's cult and Heather...

3) As for the reason behind the birthday song. Well, take the word birthday on a literal level by separating it up.

Birth. Day.

Heather is to give birth to a new God (Samael) on that day, so in a sense it is a birth-day of some kind, just not hers. This separation also plays in with the game's theme of divided personalities. Rather than birthday being whole, it has two separate meanings... To give birth at a specific time.

Just like Heather's soul has two meanings. One from the past and one from the present.

Also, if you want a small amusing mini egg after completing the game the first time around, then...

Highlight the "Extra New Game" option at the main menu and press Up twice, Down twice, Left, Right, Left, Right, Circle, X. Heather will sigh after you choose a difficulty and riddle level to confirm correct code entry. Now watch the scenes with Douglas in.

[PeteJ]

I think you are right about the Birthday thing, does make sense.

I got the 'Number 7' thing straight away, as I had actually visited the Morgue before the phone call. If you walk around body number seven, something is said to you but it's impossible to make out what. Spooky though!

Douglas suddenly seems less mysterious

Anyway, there is something about Douglas I don't get. There is no point to him; he has no role in the story other than a father figure for Heather. You could easily tipex his lines and scenes out of the script and nobody would have known any different.
He says that Heather reminds him of his dead son, why? Why on Earth would he say that, considering Heather shrugs it off as a stupid line? Either it's a cynical attempt at adding a human eliment into the character, or something with a bit more depth.

Could it be that Danny is Douglas' son? Danny is of course, the dead body in the Haunted House who "lost his way". Douglas states that he had been to Silent Hill before, on a failed missing persons case, and I put it to you that it was his Son he was looking for, which would have lead to Douglas stating that Heather reminded him of the son. They had both lost their way and ended up in Silent Hill.
When we see Danny, there is an old man in a rocking chair. Meaning...Douglas was always moving, looking for Danny, but he never got anywhere. Danny was always close, but beyond help.

Makes sense, kinda. Probably stretching the story a little though

I also think it is possible that Douglas could have been created by Silent Hill, since all he really does in the story is get Heather to the town.

[Concept]

All good points.

I think Douglas’ main role in the game is as helper to listen to Heather’s problems. After Harry dies he assumes a father role for her, and also an outlet in the car to help further the story along for those unfamiliar with the first Silent Hill. For the majority of play, perhaps the point of Douglas is that he has no point. The fact a world weary cynical man is outpaced by a young girl descending into hell helps underline how strong (or weak depending on p.o.v) Heather becomes in her thirst for revenge on Claudia.

Danny could be Douglas’ son, but I think, like the streets named in the first game after famous horror authors, that it’s an off-key reference to The Shining… (Haunted house, kid named Danny ) Also, about the missing person's case... In Silent Hill 2, Douglas is briefly mentioned in a case file James picks up. I think the missing person's case refers to someone he was looking for in that game.

I think you raised an interesting theory when you said Douglas could be part of Silent Hill, because in the shopping mall after the fight with the worm, he claims to have seen the same things Heather did. Yet Vincent suggests much later on that each interpretation of Silent Hill for the various characters is different… "You saw them as monsters?"

There is also burning smoke and a match card in a room during the dark version inside the apartments. In the motel room before Douglas leaves, he says he could die for a smoke… Which suggests he is being pulled in and out of the same realties as Heather. After all, he does appear in the transformed amusement park too. However, he does exist outside of Heather’s perspective which harms this theory a little, because he confronts Claudia in an aim at stopping her to turn everything as "paradise". Why would he bring Heather to the town if he had no intention of using her for that purpose in the first place? Especially if he was created by Silent Hill.

I think the answer could be is that the town is created around Heather… Her power. For example, the only reason the shopping mall, subway and apartments turn evil are because they happen to be Heather’s surrounding environment, one that the demon (Samael) within her is using to its advantage to encapsulate her along a path towards Silent Hill. Douglas is being manipulated to that end as well by outside forces.

However, when Douglas tells Heather to check out the hospital for no good reason in the motel apartment... It raises a disturbing thought. What is there to check out? Why does he not tell Heather? Does Douglas know something we don't?

As always in Silent Hill, there is that thin line blurring who we think we can and can't trust... So it's difficult to tell whether Douglas is on your side or not.

Having said that, when Douglas raises his gun in the amusement park towards Heather, claiming the only way to stop everything is to kill her, she comments he may be right - Yet he doesn’t shoot. Now, if he were created by Heather that’d be like shooting herself… This act of mercy could also contradict the boast Douglas makes to Claudia about killing, as he doesn’t have the stomach and the bottle to even shoot an unarmed 17 year old girl with her back facing to him. He’s not entirely the hard bastard he’d like you to assume he is.

And think about it... This is an act of mercy.. Doesn't Claudia say the only way the world can be saved is by turning it into hell and unleashing a merciful God? Douglas kind of mirrors that here, because by not shooting her, Heather ends up descending into the most hell-ridden part of the entire game: The Chapel.

I think the fact that Douglas doesn't shoot her at this point also demonstrates that Heather isn’t the only vulnerable character in Silent Hill 3. He's clinging onto the girl as some kind of hope for salvation, (and to an extent redemption), because of the guilt he blames himself for over the loss of his son.

Douglas is also used to confirm Heather’s identity at the end, because he asks her what she wants to be called now that she realises her true "self". To the player (and character) Heather makes the bold distinction of keeping in-line with her father by using the name Harry originally gave to her: Cheryl.

So… I think Douglas does serve a purpose as Helper (attempts to fight Claudia), Listener (helps the game to emphasise important narrative points) and Dispatcher (takes her to Silent Hill).

[arhra]

omg

I just got back to the apartment and found Harry

ft: