Siren

[PeteJ]

The IGN article mentions that the characters in the game are modelled to look and behave exactly like the actors providing the voices.

That makes sense, the manual has real photos for each of the characters after all...

[Bleeders]

Reading this thread alone was incentive enough for me to place my order over Lik-Sang for this.



<-- at those videos from IGN. How unnerving?

[Vaipon]

I should also mention the graphics in this game are absolutely stunning. Instead of having one huge map like Silent Hill, you have several "areas" which are closed off, and which house the scenarios. The attention to detail in each of these locations is amazing, with no repitition at all. I not long ago finished one of the doctor character's scenarios which was set in a woodland area, with a small road bridging over a river at the bottom. The feeling of walking through the trees in the middle of the night in the rain was terrifyingly realistic, and while I was sneaking around under the bridge I could hear the monsters walking overhead moaning to themselves. Fantastic suspensful moments are so common in this game. The first person view allows you to move freely while active, and the right analogue stick can be used to look around and direct your torch. By throwing the light around, it's possible to illuminate branches and leaves which arepartially obscuring the pathway, but the way it all looks while playing really is incredibly scary. The woodland areas have real depth, and the way the torchlight casts itself onto all the objects as you search an area looks fantastic. You have to play it really to see what I'm getting at, but it's basically Silent Hill's night sections X 10, it's that good. It's like the Blair Witch project film was *trying* to look, but never did.

I'm really enjoying this game, and mainly because the location atmosphere while playing is just so evil. It's the best new game/idea to arrive in ages, and it's really a step forward graphically. I can't appreciate the storyline properly yet, but in terms of atmosphere, this surpasses both Silent Hill and Fatal Frame by quite a bit (and I really like both those games). The way you can just about make out the monsters in the shadows, or you can see someone's torchlight in the distance. Very impressive. While those 2 games both had great environments, they didn't have these terrifying humid trecks through dimly lit forests with some of the most realistic rain/torchlight/falling leaves/firefly/fog effects I've seen. It's all the little environmental spot efects that really sell the graphics so well and make it so immersive. Play Siren alone at night and you really will scare the crap out of yourself, guaranteed. I haven't been this impressed with a survival horror game since the original Silent Hill on the PS1.

[PeteJ]

What do you think about when they see you? The effect hasn't warn off for me - it isn't unnerving atmospherically because it is such a panic, more of a total rush. The heart really pumps while they chase, even worse when you see them hunt you through their eyes. The whole thing is crazy.

Earlier I managed to hide from a quickly chasing zombie, and looking through his eyes I really cacked myself has he stopped right beside the wall I was hiding behind. He just went totally demented looking at the walls and ground as if he was sniffing the ground for a scent, before eventually giving up. Unfortunately, as soon as I went back to my normal view I realised that my position was part of another zombies patrol path.

Dead before dawn, let me tell you...

[Vaipon]

LOL, sounds very familiar. I've had some situations like that when a zombie stops just around the corner from the dead end you are hiding down. The short jolt on the dual-shock, and the quick glimpse from the enemy when you are spotted is a great feature, and like you say, it's insane how you spend half the game "jacked in" to other character's vision. The system is amazingly well thought out.

Have you played the Hunter's stage yet? That was a real change. Instead of the normal sneaking around, I just used it as a zombie shooting gallery. I got through all but 2 of my bullets for the rifle though, hope I wasn'tsupposed to conserve all my ammo for a later stage.

Btw, the game "loops" everntually, dunno if you have seen that. It's a cool idea. You have to do another lap of the first load of scenarios to get all the 2nd objectives cleared. Some of the puzzles to achieve the secondary goals are pretty bizarre.

Have you found any of those little stone markers yet? I think I've seen three so far. Very mysterious, wonder what they are for?

[JetBlack]

I am really diggin' the impressions from you guys! Thanks for the hands-on work.

I'm so busy lately I can't even find time to squeeze this excellent game into my schedule. I am hoping for a US release.....but I am doubting it will be anytime soon, or without censorship, bad voice work, or translation.

This and "Nebula: Echo Night" are on my "wish list" for the horror genre.

[Momotato]

Vaipon,
Like the boat load of other little items/events in this game, the stone markers unlock 2nd objectives for other scenarios and sometimes even unlock completely new scenarios. So you should definitely activate them when you find them.

[Vaipon]

Vaipon,
Like the boat load of other little items/events in this game, the stone markers unlock 2nd objectives for other scenarios and sometimes even unlock completely new scenarios. So you should definitely activate them when you find them.

That's a relief. I've just been pushing them all in regardless.

Thanks for the Link Navigator Guide you posted on GameFaqs too btw (I presume it was you coz of your nick). Once I understood how the scenarios affect each other, how to check for locked links, and how the dependancies work for opening the secondary objectives, it's a lot more enjoyable to play. It's a great idea to have "loops" and give the player the freedom to tackle the scenarios as and when they choose rather than simply being linear, good system they have come up with.

Here is Momotato's explanation of the link navigator screen for the benefit of anyone having difficulty understanding how Siren works. I found it very helpful...

You'll go through a set number of scenarios in every "Loop." If you don't find certain items or do certain things within the scenarios then you will never open 2nd objectives or new scenarios (with new characters), you will just keep playing the same stages over and over again until you do.

In the Link Navigator, if a scenario block has a RED line coming out of it, then there's a 2nd objective in that scenario. Hover over the same block and press L1 to see if the red line is "Lock!" If it IS, then locate the stage with the "Key." This means you have to do something or find something in the "Key" stage before you can complete the 2nd objective in the "Lock" stage.

Now if a scenario block DOESN'T have a red line, but it has the blue & light blue cross hatch, it means you just haven't found the certain thing or done the certain something in another scenario to open the 2nd objective in THIS scenario. (Side note: if a block is completely blue, it means you have no more objectives in that stage)

When you enter a scenario with a 2nd objective you'll get your "Required Missions" right after the short little cutscene (you can also check your missions any time within the Start menu). When you do whatever it is the 2nd objective requires, the screen will fade to black and say "2nd objective cleared" and the stage will end. Sometimes it's just a matter of finding an item (the nun's veil in one of the priest guy's stages), and other times you have to do something/get item PLUS find your way out of the stage.

I don't know if I'm responding to your post correctly here, but I hope this helps out some, as confusing as it is to read.

The system IS pretty hard to get used to, but I think it's mostly because of the language barrier. Damn kanji!


Maybe I should go ahead and list what all the colors mean.

Blocks:
Green - Cut scene
Blue - Completed scenario (no objectives left)
Light Blue - New scenario
Blue / Light Blue - Only FIRST objective completed
-------------------
Lines:
Grey: The other end of these lines are connected to the scenario blocks that LEAD (once beaten) to whatever block you're currently highlighting.

Blue: The other end of this line is connected to the scenario block you will go to once you beat the INITIAL(First) objective of the scenario block you're currently highlighting.

Red: The other end of this line is connected to the scenario block you will go to once you beat the SECOND objective of the scenario block you're currently highlighting.
-------------------
That menu that pops up when you press O on a block:
1st option: Play this scenario.

2nd option: Show me which block I will go to if I beat the 1st objective of this scenario.

3rd option: Show me which block I will go to if I beat the 2nd objective of this scenario.

4th option: Show me which block I came from to get this current block. This isn't always available if there's more than one grey line leading to the block.

[PeteJ]

Many thanks for that Momotato, very helpful. I had figured out most of the Link Manager through trial and error, but it is nice to have things confirmed for me!

I was hoping to review the game this morning, but I feel like I need more time with the game before I can come up with the quality of review the site demands.

[Momotato]

No problem guys - glad I was able to help.

[Scythe]

Ahhh how nice to read a well written informative thread, this game has certainly got my juices flowing I have to say...I f*ckin' loved SH2 (SH1 is an unknown as I never owned a playstation) but this sounds if anything even better....

I know its kinda obvious but with the references made to the 'heavy dialogue' and the way the game appears to crank up the tension I would say it seems the dialogue would be a fairly important factor in upping the atmosphere of the game, if the western release is handled right this could be a proper scorcher....why did I sell my PS2?

[Vaipon]

I know its kinda obvious but with the references made to the 'heavy dialogue' and the way the game appears to crank up the tension I would say it seems the dialogue would be a fairly important factor in upping the atmosphere of the game, if the western release is handled right this could be a proper scorcher....why did I sell my PS2?

Believe me, I don't understand the storyline in this game fully outside of the published stuff from Sony, but the atmosphere while playing is incredible. It's probably the most atmospheric game I've ever played, even though all the language is in Japanese. When I first had Silent Hill 1 for the PS1, I was really blown away by the evil dread feeling while playing, it was the first game to create genuine fear in me. Siren is doing that all over again. The only difference this time round is that the Japanese have designed a game *for* the Japanese, using their characters, their locations, and their mythology about ghosts instead of doing what they normally do and catering primarily for the Western audience. The game takes place in a traditional Japanese village, all the scenery is completely authentic Japanese, and the ghosts are all Japanese folklore rather than the standard "Night of the Living dead" zombies. I really like this, as it's a nice culture-shock and allows us to experience horror and fear done the Japanese way, just as we did when watching films like Ringu or Audition. They have a slightly different way of presenting the Horror genre, and Siren is no different.

Back to the language issue though. The game is definitely fully playable in Japanese, so anyone tempted to place an order but worried about the barrier, well don't be. It doesn't make the game impossible at all, you are just required to work a little bit harder while playing. If you can wait until the US release then by all means do as the experience will be better overall, but it's still months away at the moment, and the game still provides a great deal of enjoyment without the full story. I say "full", because there are many aspects of the plot that are obvious, and many of the cutscenes are very visual showing what's happening through the excellent motion captured gesticulation of the lead roles. I had reservations at first about how difficult it was going to be for non-Japanese speaking players, but that's pretty much a non-issue now. The game works in a very visual way, with clues being highlighted in similar ways to Silent Hill. If an item is to be collected, the camera will change when you are near to highlight it. You never have to "select" an item from your inventory to use it in the game either, you just bring up the action menu while standing in front of something, and if you posess an item that can be used the option to do so will just be there on your menu. This helps with the obscure Biohazard type puzzles in some stages. Even in English, these games don't always tell you that you have to use a particular object somewhere, there is still trial and error in all Survival Horror games. I'm quite a long way into the game now (on day2), and so far there have only been a few essential pieces of information that are of paramount importance to progressing. I will list them here in case any potential buyers wish to know how hard it is going to be to play.

Link Navigator.
Momotato has posted an excellent instruction for using this core game screen. The link navigator is where the entire timeline of Siren all ties together, and is used to select missions to play. It allows you too see what stages hold the key to unlocking certain things. See his translation in an earlier post in this thread.

Learning the select menu items
This is easy, even if it sounds hard. There are several standard options on the in-game select menu (triangle button). They are Japanese characters. You just need to remember which one does what. Literally takes 5 minutes to learn this. Standard options include "Get", "Partner Hide", "Partner follow", "Partner Stay", "Reload gun", "Yell". It's context driven, so not all options will be there all the time, but if you have learned them it's simple to see which ones are missing. Other items appear on this menu when you are doing certain things. Really though, it's dead simple.

Japanese numbers 0-7
There is a puzzle where 4 numbers are read out. These change from one play to the next. You will need to know the numbers, and what they sound like. I did a search and found a website with these on anyway, complete with sound examples so no problem there.

http://www.kids-japan.com/numbers.htm

In the game, they are read very slowly and clearly. It's no problem.

Translation of the 2 mission goals for each scenario.
Without knowing the secondary goals for the scenarios, they can sometimes be a little too obscure (climbing to the top of a guard tower and listening to the school warning siren for example, never would of got that in a million years). The first scenario is usually just to escape from the area alive, sometimes while protecting a partner character. The secondary ones though always involve a sort of "adventure" section, very similar to the sequence in the hotel in Silent Hill 1. You are required to do something to meet a condition. The secondary objectives are only given as clues sometimes. Here are all the objective translations. The format is

(character name)
(stage number) "(first objective)"
(second objective)

All objectives of missions(according to the characters)

Kyoya Suda
1.Escape from police officer.
2."Reach road to Karuwariwith Hisako Yao."
Find letter.
3."Reach road to Tabori settlement with Miyako Kajiro."
Find grave of Takeuchi family.
4."Escape from abandoned house with Miyako Kajiro."
Find scythe embedded in wall.
5.Drive off Shibito.
"Acquire .38 caliber police-issue revolver."
6."Infiltrate The Nest with Yoriko Anno."
"Create entryway for Harumi Yomoda."
7.Defeat Datatsushi.
Decapitate Datatsushi.

Tamon Takeuchi
1."Reach road to Karuwari with Yoriko Anno."
"Listen to in-school announcement while on top of fire tower."
2.Drive off Shibito.
"Find item dropped by Yoriko.Drive off Shibito."
3.Defeat sniper.
Remember Akira Shimura.
4.Pick up Yoriko Anno's trail.
Find album.
5."Arrives as Kyoya Suda at gate to The Nest's core."
"Penetrate gate to The Nest's core as Kyoya Suda."
6.Find charred remains.
Reach Takeuchi residence.

Kei Makino
1.Reach road to Karuwari.
Find Sister Hisako's veil.
2.Reach road to Hirasakai.
"Find item dropped by Tomoko.Reach road to Hirasakai."
3.Drive off Shibito.
Acquire explosives.
4.Reach road to flood gates.
"Defeat all Shibito and reach road to floodgates."

Siro Miyata
1.Escape from Janokubi Valley.
Find nurse's shoes.
2."Reach upper waters of river with Risa Onda."
Acquire notebook.
3.Defeat Mina Onda.
Acquire Uryen.

Risa Onda
1.Escape from abandoned house.
Discover Mana cross.
2."Warn Miyata and Makino of approaching Shibito."
Find angel statuette.

Harumi Yomoda
1.Escape from abandoned house.
"Find ornament.Escape from abandoned house."
2.Escape from the Nest
Reach central intersection.

Reiko Takato
1."Escape from the school with Harumi Yomoda."
"Unlock door to gymnasium fire exit from within.Help Harumi Yomoda escape from the school."
2."Let Harumi Yomoda escape from Karuwari."
"Light lanterns in order.Help Harumi Yomoda escape from Karuwari."

Akira Shimura
1.Reach road to Hirasakai.
Reach road to Dousojin stone.
2."Reach road to Hirunotsuka with Yoriko Anno."
"Reach road to Hirunotsuka with Yoriko Anno within 115 seconds."

Tomoko Maeda
1.Escape from Hirunotsuka.
"Escape from Hirunotsuka within 115 seconds."
2.Reach road to church.
"Reach road to church without being discovered by Shibito."

Naoko Mihama
1.Reach road to Janokubi Valley.
"Reach road to Janokubi Valley after defeating all Shibito."
2.Escape from the school.
"Find Book of Hanuda Folk Tales.Escape from the school."

Thanks to ian42952 on Gamefaqs for providing that.

That's about it. With the above info, you will be fully equipped to tackle Siren in Japanese. I really hope a few more people on here get hold of this, and we can get some discussions going about the various locations, characters, monsters and cutscenes. It's a great game. I will be playing it again of course when the US version is released, but I really couldn't bear to wait several months for this incredible game.

[Ravon]

Stop talking about Siren .... Me wants too much already...

[Bleeders]

Mine still hasn't shipped from Lik-Sang, despite the fact that on the website, the game should ship between 1 and 2 days.

[dave heats]

Mine hasnt been shipped from yesasia either, and is also meant to be shipped within 1-2 days.
Its a christmas present anyway, so theres no rush