Did you still like James at the end?

[Typographenia]

I don't know if I'd say liked is the right term, but I still felt connected with him.

I had always been terrified of horror games, and this was the first one I was ever able to play through one on my own. I felt like James and I were both having to overcome these fears, haha. When the truth was revealed, I think I was more confused and almost in denial until his confession to Laura. I didn't know what to believe about what I had seen and experienced in the game afterwards, which was great, but both of us had to press on and reach a conclusion to all of it.

James is still pretty much in my top 5 favorite characters of all time, so don't take the above as saying I dislike him now.

[SilentWren]

out of the available choices, I chose the latter.
I have mixed feelings about James. I don't DISlike him, but it would've been easier for me if "the realization" had come sooner in the game. (I know story line didn't allow, but I'm just saying for ME it would've been easier.)

He was, before Mary's death, an apparently good husband, not a bad guy, and an ok protector. I have a bit of a "Shattered Memories" complex with James--I never knew him...

[lain of the wired]

Just about everything James went through in that game, we went through right there with him, as the player. It seems unlikely that, after forming such a bond by experiencing such emotional and psychological turmoil "together," many people would be able to outright dislike him. After all, the whole point of the game was to get the player to empathize with him, otherwise the big reveal on the video would be empty.

[Tabris]

I had a lot of mixed feelings for him. I didn't hate him by any means. In a way I really respected him and others I felt he was pathetic.

There was a lot of layering to his reasons. Such as doing it to save Mary from pain and also doing it to save himself from her. Given the situations they're pretty plausible but one is extremely selfish. Yet can you blame him?

It's also pretty selfish to let someone suffer through incredible pain and loss of dignity just to make yourself feel better and less lonely in the world.

I'm pretty sure most people would at least contemplate doing it.

Also, how James forces himself into a mentally manifested hell without any real second guessing, just to find the truth about himself and his wife. That's pretty frickin hardcore.

But also practically suicidal and reckless. He knows it too.

In the end I feel pretty damn sorry for him.

[SilentWren]

^Ditto what Tabris said.
I think that's the reason the second game was so big, because of the complex characters and general depth everything had.

[SPRINGS02]

I didn't really like him or dislike him to begin with, he was just kind of there. I felt the same way at the end, i only felt bad for mary.

[SilentWren]

I have a bit of a "Shattered Memories" complex with James--I never knew him...

I didn't really like him or dislike him to begin with, he was just kind of there.

Maybe "indifferent" should've been a poll choice?

[Eraserface]

^I think so. I always thought that James was deliberately given a stripped personality so that the player could either identify with him or make him into whatever character they like. Actually, maybe stripped isn't the best way to put it. I just have a hard time putting my finger on the guy. It's hard to say what type of a person he was before coming to Silent Hill, as I would imagine he would be entirely different before "the tragedy".

[SilentWren]

^ I know, I felt that way too. The entire backstory was about "the incident" and short bits of his marriage to Mary.

EDIT: I apologize for becoming too chatty in this thread. Sorry.

[Ethos]

When I first played it, I hated him. On successive plays, I began to understand his motive for doing it. It's still despicable, but you can't help but feel for James. And for Mary.

I can't say I like him or hate him. His situation was very complicated, especially for a video game character (though it's hard to look at him as "just" after the game). So, in conclusion...Middle ground.

[warfare315]

i feel bad for both James and Mary. Mainly Mary, but.. yeah. Very excited.... found a new SH2 copy since mine decided to stop working entirely.... must replay soon!

BTW Will try to poke my head around more often!! Been uber busy with college, work, blahblahblah

[Deathbywoodenplank]

Overall I think James redeems himself if you look at the circumstances: he was so guilt-ridden and sad that he literally rewired his subconscious to invent a reason to go looking for his wife. Just the fact that he was looking for her shows that regardless of what he did he still loved her all along. On top of that he risked his life and his sanity to find her, as well as realized his sin, accepted his punishment, and in some endings, even moved on.

[timboslice]

poor James - he's the real victim.

[CeetjeBeetje]

I felt kinda sorry for James, he has regrets. He goes through hell to find out what's happened to Mary and finds out he killed her. It's sad, not criminal in my opinion.

[emptimass]

Empathy. That is what I felt.

[Vincentclaw]

James loved mary without any doubts, i felt sorry for him

[SilentWren]

^Thank you for bumping this thread. I posted in it just last month, and still somehow forgot about it.

I think my feelings about James will always be mixed, like I said earlier. If he was delusional enough to forget that he {spoiler}ed Mary in the first place, then obviously there's a lot going on there. I know the entire point of the game was for him to come to terms with what he had done, but after realizing that, there would still be a lot of psychological work to be done on him.
Idk. Look at us, this long after the game came out, and there's still stuff to talk about. Silent Hill fans be awesome.

One of the things I liked about the second game was the 1950s thing James and Mary had going on. James was rather soft spoken and kind, but he (the player, rather) immediately starts whaling on the crazy monster with a wooden plank. Hello, husband material! I guess I wish it would've been more about what he was than what he wasn't. Idk how to word it.

[Doctor Eggnog]

^ Yeah, but that's what's great about the game. In most games, it would feel only natural to start beating up on an enemy the second you see it no questions asked, but Silent Hill 2 feels so realistic and deep to many people that for once we are asking those questions.

[Miette]

To be honest, James bothered me up until I beat the game for the first time. I didn't like him much until I found out his story. Poor fella :/

[MartinStatic]

I like him, but don't feel sorry him. He's a slightly demented and essentially depressed nutter, but I don't feel sorry for him really. He's too...calm and 'in control', if a bit lost.