Silent Hill 2 director Masashi Tsuboyama took to X to talk about his feelings on the remake that’s due to launch tomorrow. Tsuboyama-san, who has since worked in the art department of a few Nintendo games (most recently Yoshi’s Crafted World and Princess Peach: Showtime!), criticized differences like 4K, ‘photorealism’, and the bonus headgear, labeling as mediocre. However, he praised the camera change as a major improvement for the remake.
I think the value of the Silent Hill 2 remake is that a new generation can play it. As a creator, I’m very happy about it. It’s been 23 years! Even if you don’t know the original, you can just enjoy the remake as it is. Whether it’s good or bad doesn’t affect the original.
The differences between the original and the remake, 4K, Photorealism, the bonus headgear, etc. are all mediocre. Who is this promotion going to appeal to? It seems like they’re not doing enough to convey the appeal of the work to the generation that doesn’t know Silent Hill.
The thing to note is the change in camera (perspective). The change in playable camera has a significant impact on many aspects, combat, level design, art creation, etc. While the impact on the story may be relatively small, it brings a big change to the playfeel of the game. To be honest, I’m not satisfied with the playable camera from 23 years ago. Depth and angle were limited by the processing load. It was a continuous process of hard work that was not rewarded. But that was the limit. The over-the-shoulder view definitely adds to the sense of realism. In other words, it makes me want to try playing the even more immersive remake of Silent Hill 2.
The Silent Hill 2 remake officially launches tomorrow, although pre-orders of the digital deluxe already have access to the game, and user reviews on Steam are already overwhelmingly positive (96%). This lines up with our own review of the game, where Chris Wray wrote:
So, shall I succinctly finish this? Silent Hill 2 is scary, atmospheric, polished, and fun (or as fun as a game like this can be). It is great, the best game by the Bloober Team, and proof that, somewhere in the organisation, someone in Konami knows what needs to be done, and they must be nurtured.
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