Don't see a Silent Hill 2 remake topic here so.

Never played the original version but I picked up a steam copy.

I've already had most of the plot spoiled due to curiosity on youtube a long long time ago, but excited to try it out first hand.

Silent Hill is one of those series that appealed to me in theory but I never quite got into it for whatever reason. I think I only played a bit of the first one. I was always more of a Resident Evil guy.

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IIRC there were two difficulty settings in the original, one for the combat and one for the puzzles. I played through on normal difficulty for the puzzles and still got semi-stuck on a fun, but eventually figured them out without help. I can only image how hard they were on hard.

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SH2 puzzles weren't too bad. SH3 on max puzzle difficulty was impossible - like I have no idea how anyone could figure them out on their own. You need to seriously know Shakespeare to do the book riddle

LINK

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From left to right, with all the books in proper order, the code appears to be 4-1-3-5-2.

The penultimate (second to last) verse describes the manipulations needed to perform with this code to receive the final solution.

One vengeful man spilled blood for two
The "vengeful man" is Hamlet, Anthology 4. "Spilled blood for two" means that the book's number has to be multiplied by two; 4 × 2 = 8. The code is now 8-1-3-5-2.
Two youths shed tears for three
The "two youths" are Romeo and Juliet, Anthology 1. "Shed tears for three" means that the book's number has to be multiplied by three; 1 × 3 = 3. The code is now 8-3-3-5-2.
Three witches disappeared thusly; And only the four keys remain
The "three witches" appear in Macbeth, Anthology 3. "Three witches disappeared" means that the number 3 taken from the anthology number of this book needs to be omitted, leaving the code with only four digits.
The final answer is 8-3-5-2.

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Hopefully the remake preserves this.

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Review excerpt

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However, some of the simpler puzzles have been expanded upon a touch too much. Take one early obstacle in the original that effectively required you to solve a fairly straightforward riddle in order to wind a grandfather clock to a specific time. In this remake, I had to undergo a sequence of multi-part treasure hunts to gather up each of the three hands for the clock face – fending off enemy hordes and completing additional puzzles along the way – which ultimately meant that close to an hour of my playthrough was spent simply attempting to make the clock chime and unlock the way forward.

It’s because of the expanded puzzles and combat sections, that the new Silent Hill 2 is considerably longer than the original despite the fact it seems to stick to all the same story beats. The main campaign of the 2001 Silent Hill 2 can be completed in around eight hours, but my playthrough of this 2024 remake hit the credits at just over 15. While it’s almost twice as long, I don’t really feel it’s doubly as good. This remake is genuinely excellent for large stretches at a time, particularly during the escalating stakes of its climactic final third, but there are definitely moments throughout the early parts of the journey that are lined with more padding than the walls of the Brookhaven Hospital psychiatric ward.

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From reviews, a lot of the areas they expanded on become a bit too tedious

Yeah, horror games are the genre where pacing is the most important.

It's impossible to make a long horror game, just doesn't work. We sadly live in an era where people always demand more hours out of hteir games, but that has led to a lot of bloat. That is, most 50 hour games are actually just 30 hour games with 20 hour of pointless, tedious garbage put in to pad it out longer. Thankfully most of the time the padded content is optional, but often times isn't.

Almost all great horror games can be completed in under 10 hours on a very casual first playthrough.

As for the combat, the main improvements SH2 could have used were to simply make the controls feel more fluid.

Although I'm def. one of those people that think the clunky actions of SH1 and SH2 added to the atmosphere and tension.

You're not supposed to be a trained, elite fighter, you're basically some rando middle aged white dude who likely never been in a fight in his whole life. You shoot your gun and swing your club exactly as you would expect to. Making your character feel weak and vulnerable is an important part of horror games.

Perfect timing releasing this in October. I may check it out down the road

Downloaded last night but fell asleep too early. Looking forward to playing today

Made it into Woodside. First section was well done

I’m having fun with it so far. The combat is rather easy but you still have to manage health and be careful .

Those frickers hit hard

Made it to the otherworld. Get me outta these apartments man

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I'm a pussy with horror

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Really impressive that you're powering through this despite being averse to horror. It is not an easy experience