How do you think they could of have improved Silent Hill 4?

[warfare315]

Hmm... surprisingly, only a few things. The story is great, the controls are fine (albeit slightly changed), and the atmosphere is pretty cool too.

I'll just go ahead and get my main complaints out of the way: I was only impressed by half of the monster designs. And the burping ones got... annoying to say the least. From time to time the camera is less than ideal. One of my bigger complaints used to be the unkillable ghosts, but they aren't as annoying as they used to be (I'm playing through again now). Now they actually creep me out like they are supposed to, for some reason. The game could have had a much better balance with puzzle and combat, but to be fair it's not as annoying as many say. And sure, the very limited inventory is kind of a surprise, but I actually think it works for the game.

My biggest complaint was unique, because the copy I used to have had a terrible problem with loading... Gamestop finally got a new copy and let me swap it the other day. Now, the load times are great. It helps soooo much, because of the sometimes too frequent apartment visits. With that problem out of the way, I can enjoy the game much more. I guess my biggest complaints would be babysitting Eileen, and the smaller amount of focus on Silent Hilly puzzles.

I just love the story. Walter is so interesting that Henry doesn't need to be.

[Silent_Storm]

The burping nurses were really annoying I wish you could of turned it off.
And maybe it had too many minor characters with very little personality.
Also invincible Walter was really annoying you always took way too much damage.

[Severeth]

SH4 is, in my opinion, a masterpiece. Okay, so the controls are all clunky and things could flow a little better, but the same could be said for every early Silent Hill game...

[Tillerman]

The biggest thing the game does wrong IMO is having you go to the apartment world in the middle of the game. You shouldn't get to see what's outside your door until you eventually unlock it at the end of the game... showing you what's outside in the middle sort of ruins the flow of the game and spoils the surprise. It's a major bummer that halfway though the game you've seen everything there is to see, and the rest of the levels are just retreads.

[Augophthalmoses]

Biggest mistake is the most obvious: traversing all the worlds you just went through a second time (save Hospital World).

[mikefile]

During my first playthrough I found the revisiting part very unsettling. It's the anxiety that makes you want to go through it all again because at one point you think you actually 'understand' the path design.

Although some may say that going to completely new and foreign places is much more thrilling, there is a charm in going to locations you think are familiar while not having a clue about what new surprise is waiting you there, or what way will the victim be manifested.

It's like entering in your own apartment after noticing the lock is broken.

[Tillerman]

During my first playthrough I found the revisiting part very unsettling. It's the anxiety that makes you want to go through it all again because at one point you think you actually 'understand' the path design.

I agree with that... I like the idea of revisiting the levels, and there were certain cool touches like the new ghosts in each level.

The problem though is that I think they didn't do enough to make each retread feel fresh. Like for example, there could have been parts of the levels that you couldn't get to the first time, or they could have thrown some otherworld stuff in. The biggest problem is that there are no new levels at all after the halfway point. Retreading the levels would've been more palatable if they'd saved some surprises for the end... but they didn't. Which leads to a feeling of disappointment.

[Dr-G0nz0]

During my first playthrough I found the revisiting part very unsettling. It's the anxiety that makes you want to go through it all again because at one point you think you actually 'understand' the path design.

I agree with that... I like the idea of revisiting the levels, and there were certain cool touches like the new ghosts in each level.

The problem though is that I think they didn't do enough to make each retread feel fresh. Like for example, there could have been parts of the levels that you couldn't get to the first time, or they could have thrown some otherworld stuff in. The biggest problem is that there are no new levels at all after the halfway point. Retreading the levels would've been more palatable if they'd saved some surprises for the end... but they didn't. Which leads to a feeling of disappointment.

I agree with most of what you said there. But I have a good tolerance for repetitive gameplay; and actually loved the fact you went back.

But what I disagree with is you saying that there is nothing new that happens after the halfway mark. I liked the fact that the in-game levels (not the apartment) merge into the room itself at the end - nightmare and reality becoming one; and when you're out there doing the actual levels the second time, you do a bit of detective work when you're in your apartment - like when you find out there was a door where the wall is now. The things that happen on the second half of the game - like you said - don't bring a great deal new to the table, but them little things that did happen ion the second half really stood out to me.

With the exception of most people on here, people that didn't like SH4 most likely didn't get it. It was a very subtle game. I found the story to actually be very deep, the gameplay to be different to what most games were trying at the time. And the visual side of the game was absolutely stunning. Even today the graphics look amazing, and give me the chill.

[the konami code]

I think the game plays very well and I have no complaints. There are some little things I would have liked to make it closely similar to the other SH games

1. a shirt-clip flashlight
2. radio
2. having to find the map as opposed to just starting with it
3. an infinite inventory

[the konami code]

isn't this the same the thread?
http://silenthillforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=19438

[pink_isnt_well000]

Close enough for a merge. Done.

[jim]

[color=#0000F[/color]

I might get flamed for this, but I think the only way to make SH4 better is to not play it at all. It's a horrible game with a stupid escort mission, freaking annoying monsters, nothing even REMOTELY related to the real SH, and a storyline that makes you go "I spent all these hours playing for *THAT*?!" The only thing SH4 needs is to be wiped from the SH list, IMHO

I could say the same of Silent Hill 2...

i love silent hill 2 more than the others dont be a hater!

[jim]

I might get flamed for this, but I think the only way to make SH4 better is to not play it at all. It's a horrible game with a stupid escort mission, freaking annoying monsters, nothing even REMOTELY related to the real SH, and a storyline that makes you go "I spent all these hours playing for *THAT*?!" The only thing SH4 needs is to be wiped from the SH list, IMHO

I could say the same of Silent Hill 2...

[Its Gone Now]

May be old thread but new to site so I thought I'd add my two cents.

Ways I would improve SH4 are as follows:

Bring back the flashlight, walking around in the dark with just torch light is one of the fundamentals of SH itself, you can't say it isn't because every game before or since has had it.

Those Ape monsters were not really creepy at all IMHO. Just annoying.

Cynthia (live version) did not look like a SH character (small detail)

Get rid of the health bar, No other SH has it and it breaks the immersion.

A lot of people prefer the controls from the first three. I don't see why they couldn't have added it as an option for those people. I don't mind either way but still.

I would redesign the map for the forest sections. Its a bit uninspired compared to their other efforts.

Maybe spend a bit more time in SH itself as this is the most common complaint I have heard regarding this game.

Make the hospital section bigger and take out that stupid belching noise (WTF were they thinking, just sounds funny and that's not scary at all especially when they are falling down the stairs making the noise on every step).

When you give a weapon to Eileen it should not still take up a space on YOUR inventory which is limited as is.

Jasper's voice was annoying.

That's all I can think of for now off the top of my head, I would like to point out that I do like SH4 a lot these are only minor gripes really.

Lastly though:

I'd have Pyramid Head in it.......... NOT REALLY haha imagine that s**t

[Lola_Vitriol]

More inclusion of the soundtrack and better sound effects would have made it better. I really feel like we don't hear enough of Akira Yamaoka's music in this game, and I've always considered it an integral part of the game that fleshes out the atmosphere. In 4 you're lucky to hear small snippets and the soundtrack is really great too.

And the burping nurses? I suddenly stopped feeling scared, let's put it that way...

[Don, Aman]

Personally, the biggest problem I had was some of the baffling sound design. The belching and Jasper's voice acting are both great examples of real head-scratcher moments that broke any immersion I had until then. Also, the lack of Yamaoka's score and the absence of the flashlight are both mistakes, in my opinion.

As far as the irritating escort, unkillable enemies and repeating levels, while I do agree they're annoying, I think that may have been the (admittedly sadistic) intention. The way I see it, Yamaoka and crew were trying to heighten the tension by adding an element of frustration. While it may or may not succeed at that goal, I believe it was by design.

[Chimpyglassman]

I completely agree and echo everyone's sentiments.

I have what could be considered a love/hate relationship with number 4.

I LOVE the story and the room itself.

I HATE the unkillable ghost and the escort aspect. Personally, I think it got too hard when

PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:

the room stopped healing you

.

But that's just me, and as a consequence I've not completed it yet.

I try every couple of year and just give up at a certain point.

Perhaps one day.

[warfare315]

I liked the first half of the game until Eileen comes. Looking after her was so annoying. It was almost impossible to kill Walter without her walking to her death in that spinning blade trap. So I never got the best ending. The game overall was unique. The first person view in the apartment was clever, and I liked the idea of purifying the place in the latter half of the story. But the combat sucked badly.

I never realized this back when it first came out, but you can totally heal her up with a holy candle right before the Walter fight. That and if you just bring a revolver and bullets and leave enough space for 4 spears at a time, the good ending is surprisingly easier to get. I wish I'd realized this stuff years ago!

[Jonipoon]

I never finished this without Elaine or whatever the hell her name is, dying. That's so tough to achieve anyway. She always waits behind and handbags the crap out of monsters or gets shot up by Walter, while you as Henry are ten miles ahead. Other than that, it was arguably the last great game in this series, before the move to annoying combat based horror games.

It's really not. The last time you're together with Eileen before battling Walter, just put one holy candle in front of her and that's enough to cure her completely from the possession. Then she'll walk as slow as possible during the final boss.