Finally beat Silent Hill 2 Remake. I think it's probably like a 7/10. Maybe if you haven't played the original, I'd bump it up to an 8 or even an 8.5. I'll have a MUCH more detailed review for it later, but for now I'll just say that it's not as good as the original in that it has a completely different atmosphere about it. It's much more of a HORROR game. So if you're looking for something actually really scary, I think it's a good bet. It's not Silent Hill, though. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that it isn't even Silent Hill 2. It's got the same story beats, but so much of it is remixed and reworked that there are times it barely resembles the original. It also clocks in at like twice the length so that's pretty ridiculous.
Oh yeah and the music SUCKS. I mean it gets the job done, but it goes way more "Hollywood horror movie" than it does "Japanese horror game." That's how I feel about the game generally speaking, but the music is the most notable downgrade. No, not Angela being less sexy or whatever the fuck, the MUSIC just really is not anywhere near as good.
Play the original. PLEASE play the original. Pass on this one unless you absolutely can't stand playing the original and want something more modern and more horror-oriented. Just know that it really is not the same.
@beardalaxy two out of three streamers whose walkthroughs I've watched got the 'in water'
the original, for all its faults, at least had the decency to gear the player towards 'leave' on the first playthrough...
@tomie yeah, you have to go out of your way to get Maria or In Water usually.
@tomie Alright I found this guide: https://www.silenthillmemories.net/sh2_remake/endings_en.htm
Here's the problem... you get points towards In Water if you kill lots of enemies and stomp lots of enemies. The game HEAVILY leans into combat. It feels downright unfair to require killing under a certain amount of enemies and not making sure they are dead.
You also get In Water points if you fight Pyramid Head instead of just waiting. But who tf is going to do that??
It really seems like you are incentivized to kill stuff. I was drowning in ammo and health items even when I was still playing on Normal difficulty. So it made me think you know, what the hell, I can just blast my way through all my problems. Plus, they made this fancy new combat system and everything... I should probably use it, right?
Also, I got the In Water ending, and it looks like the requirements to get it are much different. Namely, in the remake, you get *less* points toward the Leave and Maria ending if you look at Mary's picture and letter often, whereas in the original that only prevents you from getting the Maria ending. I think it's the game's worst ending and I'm pretty upset about that... I feel kind of cheaped out.