Why do I find the Labyrinth so unsettling?
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Heh, you're not the only one. I find it terribly unsettling and dread every time I have to go down there. I try to avoid it at all costs, but sometimes if I'm feeling daring, I'll go down. The reason why I find it so freaky is the fact that you know Pyramid Head is down there, but you never know when he will show up. To make matters worse, the radio doesn't emit any static when you do meet up with him.
*Deep Sigh*.... I love this game... this series... So amazingly beautiful in all that it does. I used to be an atheist... now I'm a Silenthilleist. (Joking). There was a hole here and now it's gone... Jumping down holes, that plays a big part. How do you manage that in your head? Did anyone else find themselves avoiding going into those holes, their first time through the game? How do you get back... to something safe, familiar? Your leaving all that you know potentially (and realistically as you find out) forever (or until you play through again, or load up an old save.) As well as the other stuff alreadly said about the absolute blandness. I've always told people Hell for me would be a white room with no windows and no way of going "crazy" to cope with it. This section comes very close.
- Cold_Ethyl
- Just Passing Through
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What I find the most fascinating about the Labyrinth is that it couldn't even exist. I like how you go deeper than deep just to get there and you end up like not to far away from where you started. It makes me wonder what part of that whole Historical Society to Labyrinth was real and what wasn't. I really enjoyed the Labyrith for it's unsettling atmosphere. Some of the major advances in the plot happend there. As well as scenes that still make me think today(i.e. Angela and Maria scenes). I recently replayed SH2 again and I still am afraid of getting lost in that place.
[img]http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff343/Wafflepudding/machinegunmovsma.gif[/img]
The labyrinth isn't really a maze, just like going through nowhere in a dark haze, getting lost for hours or getting lost for days,
no map to rely on just a series of twists and turns, things you've never seen disturbing things....your stomach churns,
locked up in your own mind's prison with hope but without a key,
peace of mind is what you seek the truth shall set you free
no map to rely on just a series of twists and turns, things you've never seen disturbing things....your stomach churns,
locked up in your own mind's prison with hope but without a key,
peace of mind is what you seek the truth shall set you free
- syntheticlung
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I love the labyrinth, it's a really well thought out portrayal of limbo to me. It kind of reminds me of the dark lodge off of Twin Peaks, a place that doesn't physically exist outside of the imagination and it unfolds as the character traverses it's "rooms". I think both Silent Hill 2's and Twin Peak's versions of limbo create a feeling that nothing exists beyond the walls that you see, kind of like it is suspended in a vacuum.
Ah yes, the Labyrinth. I remember the first time I entered this disturbing area, I really wasn't expecting it. After having James transverse the prison, and jump through all those holes, and that never ending descent, I was expecting to end up in some kind of chasm. The Labyrinth made no sense at all, the design of the place was totally obscure. I mean Silent Hill was strange enough, but things really got a whole lot stranger to me. And it didn't help having all those monsters lurking in the corridors. My first time through I got lost but I kept at it, the battle with Angela's 'father' and running into Maria (Who should have been dead!) really added to the strangeness of this place. Personally, I found it to be memorable because of it's strangeness.
- MooseFlanagan
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To be honest, although the Labyrinth was incredibly unsettling, I actually found Lakeview Hotel to be creepier. As you go through SH2, things gradually slide away from reality, starting with the relatively normal apartments, moving into the hospital, then into the otherworld, and then, as a climax to the insanity, you have the Labyrinth. After that, the sudden switch back into what was (aside from the odd Mannequin and Doorman) an entirely normal area was really disconcerting, IMO, moreso than anything else you see in the game.
"So what if the world hands me a pile of shit? I'll comb through it for the corn. I'll dodge enemy bullets by a hair's breadth. I'll slaughter Mimics with a single blow. If Rita Vrataski is a goddess on the battlefield, I'll watch and learn until I can match her kill for kill. I have all the time in the world. Nothing better to do. Who knows? Maybe something will change. Or maybe I'll find a way to take this fucking world and piss in its eye. Only time will tell."
That's why most of us found the labyrinth so disconcerting. We descend through a tunnel to an abandoned museum of sorts, and then into a long-abandoned prison, and then to a morgue, and then to what looks like a mineshaft, complete with elevator, that takes us so far down that we feel like we should be treading magma. And where do we end up? Someplace that looks like the hallways at our school. I mean, one of those doors could be leading to Mrs. Desmond's English class, and another into the little boys' room.
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- SHACKled89451
- Gravedigger
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And after jumping through all those holes, you end up being on the normal surface when you leave, which is very unsettling. I wasn't too fond of jumping through the grave at first.
I always thought that part was so clever, a perfect twist to complete your seemingly imaginary journey to the depths of hell. This part of the game creates a sense of despair and isolation that I've never experienced from a game, or even movie. huh.. a video game that can do that is pretty impressive.
revalations 23:16
- syntheticlung
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Exactly, by this point in the game your so immersed and then you have to throw yourself down a handful of holes and by the time you reach the bottom it has successfully created a feeling of hopeless isolation. Genius, if only people who had creative control over other games and movies thought this way.SHACKled89451 wrote:This part of the game creates a sense of despair and isolation that I've never experienced from a game, or even movie. huh.. a video game that can do that is pretty impressive.
- SHACKled89451
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Very true... One movie that came very close to creating that feeling for me was "Book of Shadows..." Man, that movie is downright creepy...Genius, if only people who had creative control over other games and movies thought this way.
The labyrinth will remain my favorite part of any game... so lonley and disturbing...
revalations 23:16
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^Oh, yeah. You can see a lot of what inspired Silent Hill if you watch Jacob's Ladder. That is a good movie. One day I made a rental list from the thread of Movies that inspired Silent Hill on here, and I got Jacob's Ladder, The Shining, and Session 9. I loved all of them. I have The Changeling in my Queue. The original, not the new Angelina Jolie one.