Post by Cenobite, that cute pariah on Mar 18, 2012 8:57:08 GMT
So, I just completed the game for the first time, getting the "Forgiveness" ending.
In a sentence, I think its a strong entry in the series marred by some technical flaws.
I thought the story was quite good. Murphy Pendleton is a great protagonist, possibly the best the series has ever had. I also quite liked Howard, who I was already familiar with from Past Life, but I was hoping to see a bit more of him. He's a character I wouldn't mind seeing appear in future games.
Monster design was a mixed bag. I thought the Screamer and the Prisoner monsters were fairly unimpressive, though the Juggernaut was better then the Minion. The Weeping Bat and the Wall Corpse were decent, I'd put them at middle ground for the franchise.
However, I really liked the Dolls, the Bogeyman, and especially the Wheelman. I feel that the Bogeyman is a much more successful way of making a "Pyramid Head level" monster then the Butcher was in Origins.
On the technical side of things, in keeping with Silent Hill tradition, combat was pretty bad. I don't usually mind that, but I felt that there was just too much of it. I generally try to avoid fights, but some monster's foot speed (Weeping Bats in particular) made that problematic at times, but in a frustrating way rather then exciting. I was playing on Normal difficulty, but for subsequent playthroughs I'll probably turn it down to easy.
The framerate did chug at times, and to my amusement I actually outran the loading a couple times. I'm hoping this is something that can get patched.
To say that I'm not a fan of Korn would be like saying that the natives of Pompei aren't fans of lava, but to my surprise I thought their song actually kind of worked for the purpose of the attract video. On the other hand, the end credits should have lead off with one of the McGlynn songs.
The music in general was pretty strong. I'm familiar with Daniel Licht from his Hellraiser work, so I knew he'd fit right in. I also enjoyed the use of older songs like Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen.
Aesthetically I really liked pretty much everything. The town looked great, particularly when it was raining. The rain itself was well done. I loved the visuals for the Otherworld, though I wish there were a few more exploration scenes in it. Also: cute easter eggs for longtime fans.
I also really liked the addition of the UV light. Finding hidden clues is always neat, but I really liked how it slowly built up the mystery of the Wheelman. I found tracks all over the place!
I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but right now its 5am and I want to go pass out. More later as I think of it.
In a sentence, I think its a strong entry in the series marred by some technical flaws.
I thought the story was quite good. Murphy Pendleton is a great protagonist, possibly the best the series has ever had. I also quite liked Howard, who I was already familiar with from Past Life, but I was hoping to see a bit more of him. He's a character I wouldn't mind seeing appear in future games.
Monster design was a mixed bag. I thought the Screamer and the Prisoner monsters were fairly unimpressive, though the Juggernaut was better then the Minion. The Weeping Bat and the Wall Corpse were decent, I'd put them at middle ground for the franchise.
However, I really liked the Dolls, the Bogeyman, and especially the Wheelman. I feel that the Bogeyman is a much more successful way of making a "Pyramid Head level" monster then the Butcher was in Origins.
On the technical side of things, in keeping with Silent Hill tradition, combat was pretty bad. I don't usually mind that, but I felt that there was just too much of it. I generally try to avoid fights, but some monster's foot speed (Weeping Bats in particular) made that problematic at times, but in a frustrating way rather then exciting. I was playing on Normal difficulty, but for subsequent playthroughs I'll probably turn it down to easy.
The framerate did chug at times, and to my amusement I actually outran the loading a couple times. I'm hoping this is something that can get patched.
To say that I'm not a fan of Korn would be like saying that the natives of Pompei aren't fans of lava, but to my surprise I thought their song actually kind of worked for the purpose of the attract video. On the other hand, the end credits should have lead off with one of the McGlynn songs.
The music in general was pretty strong. I'm familiar with Daniel Licht from his Hellraiser work, so I knew he'd fit right in. I also enjoyed the use of older songs like Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen.
Aesthetically I really liked pretty much everything. The town looked great, particularly when it was raining. The rain itself was well done. I loved the visuals for the Otherworld, though I wish there were a few more exploration scenes in it. Also: cute easter eggs for longtime fans.
I also really liked the addition of the UV light. Finding hidden clues is always neat, but I really liked how it slowly built up the mystery of the Wheelman. I found tracks all over the place!
I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but right now its 5am and I want to go pass out. More later as I think of it.