I know, old post is old, but this was nagging me. Apologies, banana slug, I'm not trying to single you out but I do need to comment on what was said before moving forward with my take here.
Also, just for reference, I'm used to referring to the darker, grimier, more dangerous part of the Otherworld as 'darkworld' but if there is a more accurate term just let me know.
untamedbananaslug wrote:You only 'think' it has become dark. It is more likely that the darkness is due to technical limitations (much like the fog, which only exists so a large draw distance isn't required)
This doesn't make sense given the context.
If it weren't significant, it wouldn't have become dark at all and would have just stayed the fog whenever not darkworld but this isn't the case. There are quite a few instances where it shifts between day, night, and darkworld in a cycle and this is the second time in the game it has happened. The first time was in Harry's initial dream where both times there is a short scene to show the shift.
That said, yes, they put the fog there so you wouldn't see buildings and objects 'form' in the distance but it's shown in cutscenes to legitimately be foggy so that became a part of the plot and setting even if it wasn't directly mentioned in dialog.
since Harry and the official game guide doesn't comment on the transition. If the developers intended for the transition to be significant to the plot, they would have had Harry (or even better, an impartial observer, since Harry is an unreliable protagonist) go "Gee, it's gotten dark all of a sudden. Just a moment it was as bright as day, now it is dark".
Funny you should mentioned that, because he does comment. Both times there's a cutscene for it, in fact.
The first time, in the alleyway, he pulls out a flare in reaction to the sudden darkness. He even says "That's strange. It's getting darker."
The second time he says "What? It's getting dark again?"
So, wouldn't you know it, it
does have a purpose. Just as well, the game guide is a walkthrough and the night time doesn't affect gameplay so, while I don't have the guide to verify, it seems to me like something they wouldn't mention especially when the game takes note of it on its own.
Seriously though. Doesn't he go through a door which requires the Key of Eclipse? Stuff gets dark during an Eclipse, and maybe the developers are trying to compare the nature of Cheryl/Alessa to an eclipse. I dunno though, I've never thought of it before, and I don't have the time atm to contemplate this. Just throwing a thought out there.
It seems a little strange to make a post when not fully contemplating the significance of the subject matter. Just saying.
You still might be onto something with the whole eclipse thing but that theory does contradict your previous statement of it not having any purpose.
Anyway, I'm sort of inclined to agree on certain levels.
We have Cheryl and Alessa, one who is happy with her life and loves her family, and the other who is sad, angry and tortured by the mother she desperately wants love from. Cheryl could, in effect, be the 'dream' portion of Alessa's nightmare; the day and snow where not all things are bad (but there are still monsters because it cannot be a perfect utopia) and when it turns to night it is a change over, an eclipse if you will, of the dream and Cheryl as Alessa's pain takes over and eventually brings the darkworld out.
It would all have to be symbolic, rather than directly referencing Cheryl or Alessa being 'dominant' because, unless I'm mistaken, once Cheryl was in Silent Hill proper she and Alessa merged.
