Why don't people like silent hill 3 as much as 2?

[SPRINGS02]

This has kinda been buggin me. I have beaten every silent hill game except for 1(which im actually playing right now) and i always hear people say silent hill 2 is the best game. I don't understand why i mean don't get me wrong its a great game but as far as horror goes i think silent hill 3 and 4 got to me more. I mean sure silent hill 2 had the legendary pyramid head(who to this day creeps me out) but silent hill 3 had a much tenser creepier atmosphere IMO and you can't forget about valitel(probably didn't spell that right) You could argue that silent hill 2 has a better story but i still don't think it was as scary or tense as 3 it was more depressing though. Maybe its because silent hill 3 was my first silent hill game but to me Silent Hill 3>Silent hill 2. What do you think?
By the way im new here.

[kideatsu]

Both SH2 and SH3 have a lot to offer. They both affected me emotionally, mentally and scared me to pieces. I think maybe a lot of people respect SH2 for its individuality from the others in the series and it's story/character driven fame. It's a very intricate game and stands alone in a few respects. SH3 also grabbed me by the balls in the sense that it branched off of the first game and featured a younger protagonist, who at the time was the same age as me, and I felt I could relate a lot to her. But as far as why people like SH2 so much over SH3, I don't know. I'm not even sure if fans like SH2 more than SH3 as of now, but I can definitely guess they do.

Personally, I like SH2 more than 3, but they are both great titles in my eyes. I play games like this with my emotions, and SH2 got me a lot more than SH3 did, mainly I think because of how the story played out and how intriguing the characters are. I just found myself more satisfied with SH2. Everything about it pulled me in. SH3, though, had some major Jacob's Ladder homage and that really psyched me. SH2 was very, very original in my mind and because it isn't tied to other titles in the series in any major ways (save for the Walter article part) I was able to focus on it and consume it's deliciousness very easily. It goes down like a really good burger. lol Or pizza. Mmm I'm hungry now.

[SPRINGS02]

Both SH2 and SH3 have a lot to offer. They both affected me emotionally, mentally and scared me to pieces. I think maybe a lot of people respect SH2 for its individuality from the others in the series and it's story/character driven fame. It's a very intricate game and stands alone in a few respects. SH3 also grabbed me by the balls in the sense that it branched off of the first game and featured a younger protagonist, who at the time was the same age as me, and I felt I could relate a lot to her. But as far as why people like SH2 so much over SH3, I don't know. I'm not even sure if fans like SH2 more than SH3 as of now, but I can definitely guess they do.

Personally, I like SH2 more than 3, but they are both great titles in my eyes. I play games like this with my emotions, and SH2 got me a lot more than SH3 did, mainly I think because of how the story played out and how intriguing the characters are. I just found myself more satisfied with SH2. Everything about it pulled me in. SH3, though, had some major Jacob's Ladder homage and that really psyched me. SH2 was very, very original in my mind and because it isn't tied to other titles in the series in any major ways (save for the Walter article part) I was able to focus on it and consume it's deliciousness very easily. It goes down like a really good burger. lol Or pizza. Mmm I'm hungry now.

Hmm i see your point silent hill 3 did have some emotional parts though(such as heathers dad dying) but i do agree that silent hill 2 was alot more emotional. I think that while i really care about a good storyline the thing that i like most about silent hill games is the psychological horror and to me silent hill 3 messed with my head more while silent hill 2 kinda messed with my emotions more. And yeah pizza sounds hella good right now luckily i have some microwave pizzas in the freezer lol

[kideatsu]

Oooh man microwave pizza... (sorry, munchies cause I a dwuggie lol)

Anyway, I can agree that SH2 played a lot with emotions and SH3 more psychologically. The thing with SH, though, is that there's so much messed up stuff in them that it's hard to find what's emotion, what's psychological horror and what's just plain fear or plain grotesque. And yes, SH3 was very emotional, especially with Heather and her Dad. Besides Alessa being (spoilers?) "part" of Heather, I saw Heather as a normal teenage girl caught in the messiness of Silent Hill, which really intrigued me. She wasn't a man in his late twenties/early thirties/middleaged or whatever, she was a teen girl around my age and being a teen boy playing a horror game with a teenage girl character he can relate to on a strange level like that is like crack. I dunno if anyone else understands, but I know everyone definitely saw the change between the two male characters in SH & SH2 and then Heather in SH3. It was a great accomplishment for the team to do this shift and still have a very awesome SH title that did the job.

Ok now on to finding pizza.

[Mis Krist.]

Silent Hill 2 built itself up and in the end didn't disappoint. There's a lot to be disappointed about regarding Silent Hill 3, mainly because it's a game that could have been MORE than what it was--but it wasn't. It's like getting some meat on the bone when you could've had the whole piece of chicken but some asshole had to go and eat part of it first That's always what's bugged me about Silent Hill 3 compared to the other Silent Hill games. They never promised more than they delivered and, well, Silent Hill 3 did. It lends itself to a rather subpar game experience.

Also: http://silenthillforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=2210 , http://silenthillforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=48 .

[The Adversary]

o1. Silent Hill 2 has James Sunderland. Silent Hill 3 does not.

o2. The plot twist of SH2 isn't revealed in the first hour of gameplay. It also didn't limit discussion w/in the context of Silent Hill b/c the answers weren't posited directly.

o3. No one likes teenage girls, except for teenage boys—and no one likes teenage boys.

o4. I've yet to find a significant reason for Heather to have visited the office building. In SH2, there is a reason for every "area" James treks through. This detail is absent in SH3.

o5. Claudia will forever be ruined by Mr. "Welcome!" himself, this forum's very own Disciple of Claudia.

Don't get me wrong: I love Silent Hill 3. Overall, it's arguably my favorite of the series to play. However, several crucial elements are lacking, while Silent Hill 2 is replete w/ everything I want in a game°.

° Excluding, of course, a) a badass planet-sized robot that destroys planets, b) running left to kill robots, and c) an alien heart controlling roboticª men who inherently run left.

ª So, ultimately, Silent Hill 2's only improvement could be w/ the inclusion of robots.

[Touch Coma]

"o4. I've yet to find a significant reason for Heather to have visited the office building. In SH2, there is a reason for every "area" James treks through. This detail is absent in SH3." - MMY

It was an obstacle much like the underground prison in sh2. She didnt go in for fun, it was because when she emerged from the sewer's only available manhole it happened to be enclosed in five stories of dirty unpassable sheets and wood... like most of silent hill. the way i see it, the town/otherworld wasnt feeding of her Psyche as much as it was james, it was more like her past trying to insist its there no matter where she goes.

[Mis Krist.]

That doesn't make the Office Building have a purpose, that just means the Underground Passage is likewise implicated in it being useless and unnecessary. Although one can argue that the Passage's significance ties into an "underworld" journey most seen in myths (Greek, predominately), you can't make the same argument for anything significant about the Office Building. In fact it's quite pointless. Just a random collection of shops and establishments. If they'd mentioned that Heather worked at one of the places, or had gone to that ballet studio, at least that'd be SOMETHING, you know? Better than nothing at all.

[kideatsu]

lol, MMY, oh my. I'm sure there's a few people who would love a teenage boy as a Silent Hill protagonist. But will it happen? Not likely. But we'll see. We've seen that a half-retarded grown man can do it, so why not a younger one? (that was a joke, btw, so don't strike me lol)

But seriously. There were a few hints in the office building of SH3 that hinted its significance. Like the "life insurance" part of it. And the psyche doctor part. After all, you must admit the dark humor/references to these things in the building aren't just by coincidence.

[alone in the town]

ª So, ultimately, Silent Hill 2's only improvement could be w/ the inclusion of robots.

Silent Hill 2 - Xenogears crossover would seriously rule the universe. Not just ours, but all the parallels and theoreticals.

And, while Disciple of Welcome was something of a Silent Hill 3 buzzkill, when it came to utterly train-wrecking every element of Silent Hill 3, no one compared to the Grand Master: Magnus_the_red.

[Arsonist]

To add up to what everyone else already said;

SH3 is a shallow milkshake version of SH1.

Recycled story, recycled characters, recycled levels, recycled monsters... No thanks.

Heather, was also IMO annoying as hell, and her motivation is generally questionable, making her harder to relate to. The plot itself, was nonexistent and had nothing to offer.

This game stood on atmosphere and un-lockables alone, and that just plain sucks.

[SPRINGS02]

To add up to what everyone else already said;

SH3 is a shallow milkshake version of SH1.

Recycled story, recycled characters, recycled levels, recycled monsters... No thanks.

Heather, was also IMO annoying as hell, and her motivation is generally questionable, making her harder to relate to. The plot itself, was nonexistent and had nothing to offer.

This game stood on atmosphere and un-lockables alone, and that just plain sucks.

Yeah but almost every silent hill game recycles some levels and monsters think about it in almost every game you go to the hospital and every game has some form of nurses or dogs. Also I don't think heather was really annoying to me she was a more realistic character that i could relate to maybe its because im young(im 18 now but i was like 13 or 14 when i first played it) but to me she acted more like i normal person would in a situation like that. She seemed alot more freaked out about the monsters than James did but then again James was kinda crazy which is another reason i couldn't relate to him as much lol But i did feel sorry for him at the end.
And like i said earlier Silent hill 2's atmosphere was more depressing while silent hill 3 had a more fierce all hell has broken lose atmosphere which was more scary to me.
Oh and im playing the original silent hill right now i'm at the part where your on that boat and i have to say it's not nearly as good as silent hill 3 so far imo

[The Adversary]

>There were a few hints in the office building of SH3 that hinted its significance.
Minor references aren't significant. In Silent Hill 2, everywhere James went had purpose and acted as a reminder of Mary, or what happened, or somewhere they'd been together. Silent Hill 3 does not do this.

[kideatsu]

That's because the two games are constructed much differently. I found that where SH2 had obvious/subliminal references to Mary and what happened and where they went together, SH3 had Heather surrounded by cult references, environment references, Jacob's Ladder references (lolz) and even references to the first game. And because some of these may not be as effective or impacting, it doesn't make them any less of a reference as the ones in SH2.

There's a lot of references in the game significant to where her father had been and how her past lives as Alessa and Cheryl played out and how they are important to Heather in the game. So that could pose as a much a purpose as going places in SH2 that reminded James of Mary. Think about the hospital and how it pertained to both James and Heather. And the church and how it pertained to Heather like the hotel pertained to James. So yeah, while there are minor references in both games, I believe there are major purposes in both as well.

[The Adversary]

O.K. Great. There's still nothing significant in the office, though.

The underground tunnel makes sense: The Order is an underground organization and does its dealings out of the public eye. The amusement park, too: Alessa went there, spread the Virun VII Crest. The chapel is obvious. Brookhaven Hospital is a senseless addition b/c Alessa wasn't there. And the office is nothing but filler between one area and the next: Nothing new is introduced in the office, nothing substantial to the plot is included, nothing happens—it's a Dragon Warrior-esque fetch-quest for no other reason than "'cuz."

[Ratiocinator]

Brookhaven was mostly brought back because it was already modeled and textured. In other words, less work for the development team. But yes, the office had no signifigance to the story whatsoever--it's a shame it couldn't have been another environment more crucial to the plot progression.

[Mis Krist.]

I'm tellin ya, it'd take a grand total of 5 seconds to come up with a Heather inner monologue saying she had to work at one of those stores and hated it then to just make the building some random BS stop along the way. Although now I feel inclined to try to find SOME significance to the place. A menagerie of shops like that would be a fun place to analyze, kinda like the Building world in SH4.

[alone in the town]

It's a statement against the evils of capitalism.

That along with the mall.

God bless me, but I tried.

[Mis Krist.]

That's more effort than I saw Team Silent trying to do~ Though I imagine you could say the mall is because she's, you know, a teenage girl and what better things do us girls have than to hang out at malls all the time. . If I didn't have a sense of humor I'd be vaguely insulted.

[Touch Coma]

I seriously think they were trying to convey that her past is going to catch up with her no matter where she goes, no matter how insignificant that place is that reminded of her old self is going to follow. its not like sh2 in symbolic depth, it was not meant to be. At least not in that fashion.