The moment I played Silent Hill on PS1 a week after launch, I knew it was my favorite game series of all time. The physical representation of a nightmare and the fear of injury and environment that is not sanitized was perfect. It was exactly what my mind wanted. I've spent years discussing and decoding the story and the metaphors within it and it is amazing how well Silent Hill 2 can still fool the fans who play it. Do any of you here honestly believe Silent Hill has anything to do with Hell?
Well, with the fact that the demon Samael is the god of the Order and the fact that the save symbol in 3 is the seal of Metatron, I don't see how you could doubt that.
Ico. This game is really breathtaking, especially the exterior sections where the wind is whistling and it seems like you can see for miles. The game does a good job of making you feel alone in this vast empty castle and making you feel almost powerless to defend Yorda.
Well, there are only a few that really stick out for me as works of art. PSX - Alone In The Dark: The New Nightmare and Metal Gear Solid PS2 - Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance PC - Aliens vs Predator 2 Especially those in bold.
Xenogears. Specifically, most of the second half, because it sure as heckfire isn't an actual game. One might as well call it "art". (Note: Xenogears is one of my favorite games of all time; I kid because I love.) BTW if anyone's got a line on Planescape Torment, hook me up, I've been wanting to play it for years.
I would have to go with Castlevania: Symphony of the night and God of War. Absolutely beautiful games. And I'm now in the middle of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. I think it ranks up there too. Mike
I doubt it because it isn't true. Samael was a red herring that Dahlia Gillespie used to make Harry believe Alessa's spirit was a demon that he needed to destroy to save Cheryl. The problem was that Alessa was trying to complete the Virun VII crest and colapse the town into the otherworld and save reality. Dahlia needed to stop Alessa from doing this but could not get close enough, so she tricked Harry into using the Flauros to dispell Alessa's control of the town, causing Lisa's manifest to fall apart and the town's coherency to break away leading to the present of "nowhere", a mish-mash of locations that had no continuity. The being that they worship is God. Silent Hill 3 flat out states this. It may not be God that you recognize, but to them, it is God. Samael does not exist in this story. Also, the Seal of Metatron is just that..a seal. It is an emblem invoked that can shield the wielder from spiritual attack. It has no good or evil denotation. It is simply called the Seal of Metatron because of its great power, it does not relate to or invoke the present of the angel Metatron. The true name of the seal is the Virun VII crest, which Alessa was trying to complete. They are never in Hell. I'll explain why in a minute.(Hell doesnt exist)
The demonic form you fight at the end of the first game is named simply "Incubus". It takes the form of Baphomet, which was the image of God that Dahila admired. If you get the other ending, you will fight the "incubator" which is Alessa, the mother of God, empowered by God, still in her womb. In this instance, God takes the form of what Alessa admired, a beautiful mother/woman(what she wanted in life the most). Before you guys call me on all of this, this is all specifically stated in the Book of Lost Memories, a DVD study guide released by the developmental team for obsessive losers like me. http://www.translatedmemories.com/book.html here is a wonderful website containing well arranged DVD caps and translated text for anyone who is interested in Silent Hill and wants an official answer for the questions left in the games. *edit* wanted to add that Silent Hill is not in "hell". Most of its history is based on Aztek beliefs with some Kaballah in there. What you see in the games is the result of unreality, meaning the existence where we are not, having its energies manipulated and shaped by the figure at hand. We are just seeing Alessa's torment and suffering put to life through images. A world of suffering created by her darkest needs. The other games sort of continue this trend, with James and the various cast in SH2 shaping their own unrealities. In the third game, they are ambiguous about who created it, but it's most likely Claudia or Heather's other mind doing it using God's power within her womb(that she isnt aware of yet). In SH4, Walter Sullivan was shaping unreality using his childhood memories. He also summons God using the ritual described by the Valtiel sect. To him, God took the form of Room 302, which he thought was his mother/holy mother. Walter was raised from birth to carry out this act. Manipulated by Dahlia Gillespie from a very young age, this was sort of his purpose. The two sects of the cult had slighty differing views about how to raise God/The Holy Mother into our world. One used Alessa, a mother, and one used Walter, a father/summoner. Walter is also imbued with the essense of Valtiel who is the angelic protector that serves the purpose of ensuring the birth of God takes place. You actually see Valtiel in the third game, turning the valves of rebirth that keep Heather alive. In Silent Hill 3, the emblem you see is not the seal of Metatron, BTW. It is called the Halo of the Sun and is the ritual emblem of Valtiel. Walter also uses it for his portals in the fourth game. Looking upon the emblem ensures rebirth. Valtiel is also an angel of punishment and is related to James and his Pyramid Head problems.(The femenine aspect of the town's energy lent to the female looking monsters and Maria, while the male aspect(Valtiel) lent to the punishment and rebirth aspect. James wants to resurrect Mary, but he is conflicted and wants to commit suicide as justice for his crimes. This conflict appeals to Valtiel's essense and James manifests it into a personal executioner to sway his thinking-The Red Pyramid Thing)
Samael is the name that outsiders gave to their "god." They use it in a mocking tone, but as it's most likely not the "real" God, it's the only real name we have for it. Valtiel has also been described as an "Agent of God" by Hiroyuki Owaku, which is the same title given for Metatron in the game.
I'm not arguing with Valtiel, really. But Samael is not the name of God or anything they worshipped, just a red-herring. Check out the lost souls link. The God Dahlia worshipped is simply "Incubus"...Incubator is Alessa's vision of God. Neither were a Samael and were never meant to be. Dahlia was working against you, not with you. But I respect your knowledge! *edit* Are you sure its "Agent of God" and not "Valet of God"?
I agree with Tomb Raider = Art. Heheheheh. Seriously though, the first TR game was superb, and the only game I ever played faster than magazine guides. As to the Metal Gear Solid series... I agree that only the first can claim to be 'art'. The ones following all seem to try too hard, as well as suffer from that crippling game disease.. broken camera syndrome. I mean, the first time I played MGS2, the whole tanker section's overhead camera was WAY too close. Bad guys would see you from just offscreen, they altered the mechanics and made it worse, IMO. Which makes MGS on the Gamecube pretty much the best MGS game out there. And also, if aesthetic looks was the only criteria for art then the Dead or Alive Extreme series would be the greatest games in the world. Which they are. IMO.
I think you're mistaken. MGS2 and MGS:Twin Snakes(Gamecube) used the same engine, which means the camera angles were fixed and pre-determined by the designers. This was also used in Snake Eater. They didn't attempt to change this until they began developing MGS4 and the online mode, and decided to put it to market test with a version 2 of Snake Eater called Subsistence, which is incredibly well done with the new free rotating camera. Click the right analogue stick and turn on fixed angles in that game now and then and you'll see how big of a deal it makes when you can rotate the camera.
The Camera distance is shorter (on a whole) on MGS2 than on Twin Snakes. The designers purposefully did it to make the Tanker feel more claustrophobic, and they added more funky camera angles to make it more cinematic but these changes made it more unplayable. Also camera distance is defined by a value set by the game designers, the engine has nothing to do with it. MGS:TS on GC MGS2:SOL on PS2 And yes, I know you could say these pictures can't be compared, but I think they are pretty representative of the two games.
