Meaning behind Save system?

James got a letter. From a dead person. Oh dear.

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Talk2Luke
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Post by Talk2Luke »

It may have been answered already, but in the 3rd one it explains that they're a special sign, and that it can be different colours, blue being the most evil colour.

Usually drawn in red, but sometimes in black.

The relevence is that it's a cult symbol.

In the first one I guess it was just easy to use the notepads, as that's what most games were using at the time which it was created.
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Post by nmbdy165 »

[After taking a chill pill version]
Glazarus wrote: I think it's laughable to see people posting ideas and getting angry when someone comments it.
Why post a bad comment unless your angry, hmmmm?

St. Thomas idea used to sound plausible but now it does not. James does not ever say "Who the is that watching me" when he looks in the "window" unless its some kind of one way window or a metaphysical window into his head maybe? Care to elaborate? What sounds more probable is that it is a mirror into his own head and he is the one searching in his head. Your theories and mine are just theories. It makes more sense for it to be a mirror because this game is about repressed memories and the unconscious, not about freewill verses determinism. Believing in the window theory just brings a whole lot more philosophical questions into the game. No amount of talking is going to make a theory true. Just admit your theory is just a theory. You think your theory is in the majority? All I see is a few self-righteous people that think they are above everyone else because they have a lot of posts.
Last edited by nmbdy165 on 03 Dec 2006, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by The Adversary »

You fail.
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Post by nmbdy165 »

[Used to say 'Typical' until I edited it to something else I can't rememeber and then I edited it again to this form]

Fail what?
Last edited by nmbdy165 on 27 Nov 2006, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by The Adversary »

Typical.

. . . .
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Post by F »

Let's avoid pugnaciousness here, lads. Stay cool.
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SpearOfDestiny
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Post by SpearOfDestiny »

00000 wrote:The red save points are windows from James' mind to ours: We're the ones groping around in his skull; and we're the ones controlling James on his journey. The save screen is of him staring into our reality while we stare calmly back at his.
Oh my god, he can SEE ME :shock:

Good theory *closes windows*
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Post by atb100 »

Damn, I'm sure that he blinked his eyes when porn-popups appeared! Naughty James!
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Post by Watchdog »

December Man wrote:Tell that to St. Thomas who thinks a single sentence can make a difference and destroy the fourth wall for many people.

Plus, even I said my theory is pretty far-fetched.
Is something only true when it is explicitly stated and re-iterated? Perhaps you would accept the plausibility of St. Thomas' theory if James said "It feels like someone is playing a PS2 game, of which I am the protagonist" and made dumb Metal Gear Solid-style jokes each time you saved.

"Hey! Stop making me do that! It hurts! Guess I'll save my progress again"

I really don't get why people disapprove of the theory presented by St. Thomas. There is evidence in the game to support it. Sure, it's only explained in one sentence - but somebody purposefully wrote that sentence and placed it in the game. There is no such thing as 'meaningless,' because every insignificant detail was decided on at some point. People made Silent Hill 2.

You can't deny the plausibility of a theory purely on the basis that "they wouldn't have thought of that," which is what several people seem to be doing. I suspect that they are secretly jealous that they couldn't have come up with something so "absurd" that it makes sense.
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Post by the man in the planet »

Watchdog wrote:I really don't get why people disapprove of the theory presented by St. Thomas. There is evidence in the game to support it. Sure, it's only explained in one sentence - but somebody purposefully wrote that sentence and placed it in the game. There is no such thing as 'meaningless,' because every insignificant detail was decided on at some point. People made Silent Hill 2.
Because other theories have been presented which interpret what James says in a way that doesn't break the fourth wall.
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Post by The Adversary »

None of which adequately explain his comment or the save point's purpose.
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Post by laperfectdrug »

Ohh and then the part right before the battle with the two pyramid heads where there is like 9 of them or some amount near there. You knew something epic was going down when you saw all those..
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Post by Knick Knack »

The nine-red-squares motif is actually an extremely popular design in Japan. (My friend lived there for a long while and she informed me that the nine red squares were basically everywhere she looked.) I think the only reason the red square was what is was - a red square - is because they wanted to incorporate this design into the game somehow, as all these savepoints eventually led up to the nine square design.
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Post by TleilaxuEyes »

Knick Knack wrote:The nine-red-squares motif is actually an extremely popular design in Japan. (My friend lived there for a long while and she informed me that the nine red squares were basically everywhere she looked.) I think the only reason the red square was what is was - a red square - is because they wanted to incorporate this design into the game somehow, as all these savepoints eventually led up to the nine square design.
Do you know what the significance is in this popular design? It sounds like you're on to something.
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Post by Koudelka »

To the guy that said it represents his knowing of the crime because it's like "paper soaked in blood"... nah. It looks nothing like paper. Looks more like glass to me.
Who knows, maybe it's just his passport
James is American and thus has a blue passport. :wink:
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O.o Windows into Reality???

Post by DarKerry »

::on the "windows into reality" Theory::

Kinda would freak me out... ^_^() If James can look through... does that mean PH can too? :O
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Post by Samael »

Chrism~ wrote:Well, another argument to enforce my theory.

There's only 1 Save Point area after the cut scene where you find out that
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
James killed his wife, in this area there is more than one red note. There's 9 red notes on one wall, could it be just a coincidence or another hint to the purpose of the red note saving system? (In case you forgot my theory is that the saving system is based on hinting the player that James killed his wife, akka: Mary's letter in red, either it being soaked in blood or symbolizing it). It could be hard to tell though, because after that cutscene, the hotell and its content goes nutts.
I think this theory could be interesting, what do you think?
Actually I thought it was there to symbolize the importance of saving at that point in the game, in case you might have missed it. The game guide also suggests this.
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Post by Darth Tacos »

Chrism~ wrote:Well, another argument to enforce my theory.

There's only 1 Save Point area after the cut scene where you find out that
PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:
James killed his wife, in this area there is more than one red note. There's 9 red notes on one wall, could it be just a coincidence or another hint to the purpose of the red note saving system? (In case you forgot my theory is that the saving system is based on hinting the player that James killed his wife, akka: Mary's letter in red, either it being soaked in blood or symbolizing it). It could be hard to tell though, because after that cutscene, the hotell and its content goes nutts.
I think this theory could be interesting, what do you think?
No, there are two. Right after you watch that scene, and then the hotel is the alternate one, if you walk down the hall there is a regular red save point on the door. The one after that one is the 9 save points.
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Post by Great Knife »

I always assumed it was a letter, perhaps representing Mary's letter to James.
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Post by Sionnan »

WHAT IF-

What if the whole save point system isn't James looking back at us, but he's looking back at himself. That all James sees is a reflection of himself, and we see both him, and him looking at himself.

What if the sensation he experiences is actually some sort of really weird, really intense deja vu.

After all, if you, say, 'die' later on in the game, that funny crawling sensation could be Silent Hill voodoo ripping memories out of your head to replace them there later.

Okay. My 2cts.

(As a side note, I think that the whole 9 red squares is also a way to freak Japanese people out. If it's a very common image over there, if someone after playing this game sees them, they might get the shivers. I know for me, for a while after I was playing Silent Hill 2, when my town's siren went off, I'd stop dead in my tracks.)
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