u/Kulle1369

This Alessa model appears several times as memories in Nowhere, and it seems to confirm that Cheryl and Alessa are supposed to be visually identical.

This camera mode also becomes unlockable after beating the game and gaining access to the secret options menu. You can switch between it and the regular camera view by pressing L2, or you can even change it to allow you to play the entire game with this view.

Thinking about it, this was actually a real clever way to set the tone. It basically tells you right off the bat that no place is safe. The game never does this again afterwards, but still.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/198641-silent-hill/faqs/4180

Birlew wrote a number of popular plot guides on Gamefaqs under the alias President Evil, before he became a writer at BradyGames. His guide for SH1 was written shortly after the game released and I believe contains the first proposal of a time loop theory. Basically, he proposed that NG+ skipping the opening alley sequence and instead starting with Harry waking up
in the cafe was due to him being stuck in a time loop.

His guide contains a lot of theories that were invalidated by the later entries and developer interviews, but it’s still kind of interesting to read.

The contrast between the in-game PS1 model and Ito’s art is a primary reason why I am interested to see them more than any other monster once we finally get footage of the remake, since I really have no clue what appearance Bloober will go with. That, and the fact that they are one of the monsters that was not actually designed by Ito (they were instead designed by Naoko Sato, with Ito later doing his own art of them).

Personally, I feel like they could do both. Maybe have the nurses and doctors encounterd in the hospital look mostly normal aside from the parasites on their backs, while the ones later encountered in Nowhere look much more monstrous and with larger parasites like in Ito’s art.

Harry taking Cheryl on a vacation to the town results in the first game occurring, and the events of the first game are what caused the town to become the way it is for the rest of the series. If he had just taken her to Disneyland or somewhere else, both their lives and the lives of many others might be very different.

Probably the most interesting thing from the Play Novel, in my opinion. Cybil was semi-conscious and alternated between feeling nothing to feeling like her body was on fire.

The fact that Cybil will laugh and sit cross legged on one of the carousel horses if you try to run from her indicates some kind of a personality/intelligence. That the parasite did not turn her into just a mindless killing drone. There’s also the fact that she’s intelligent enough to still use her gun and realize when it’s out of ammo.

The nurses and doctors also seem to display some kind of intelligence since they are smart enough to work together when you encounter them in pairs or groups.

No weapon in any game, horror or otherwise, has ever given me such a feeling of relief and empowerment as this thing. After the hell you go through with the grey children/mumblers in the school, it feels so cathartic to grab this thing and slaughter your way through all the nurses and doctors in the hospital.

Also funny how the description says it’s hard to use, when no, it really is not. It uses the same moveset and attack speed as the pipe, just 50 times more powerful (able to kill almost anything in 1 or 2 hits, and stunlocks anything that does not get instantly killed).

There seems to be a consistent theme throughout the original games with how the cultists don't really seem to be on the same page with each other and instead each have their own personal beliefs and motivations.

Dahlia is only interested in summoning the god so she could personally command power and couldn't care less about the "salvation" that the cult preached.

Claudia is a true believer in the cults doctrine of summoning god for salvation.

Vicent is only concerned with making money from the cult and is against the summoning of god since it would interfere with that.

Walter is performing a ritual to summon the god but only because he was tricked into believing it would let him be with his mother. Also, the cultists who raised and brainwashed Walter into performing the ritual didn't plan on him deciding to make them part of it.

Silent Hill 1: The robbed corpses seen throughout the game are manifested in Valtiel's image. He also directly appears in the comic Cage of Cradle, a prequel to SH1 that takes place one day before the start of the game.

Silent Hill 2: Pyramid Head's appearance is based on the old executioners of the town who wore robes in homage to Valtiel.

Silent Hill 3: Valtiel directly appears and stalks Heather throughout the game and will resurrect her if she's killed.

Silent Hill 4: Walter was raised and brainwashed by the sect of the cult that worshiped Valtiel. One of the head cultists, who later would become one of Walter's early victims, had Valtiel snuck into Walter's subconscious so he could carry out the 21 Sacraments ritual.

The halo of the sun symbols in the corners along with Jenifer Carrol, one of the cults saints.

Kaufmann is a greedy opportunist who enabled the cults evil activities for years, is a thoroughly unpleasant man in general, and he only helps Harry to save his own skin. And that’s not mentioning what he did to Lisa.

Dahlia is both a religious fanatic and a horrible parent who saw her daughter as nothing but an object to use. Supplemental material also states that she didn’t even care about the “salvation” stuff the cult preached. She just wanted to acquire power for herself and would manipulate and use anyone to get it.

Really looking forward to see how they will be portrayed in the remake.

Something I’ve noticed.

James has Pyramid Head

Heather has the Memory of Alessa (and the God)

Even Henry has the ghost version of himself as a possible haunting.

Harry is the only one left out. Even in the later games, Travis, Alex, Murphy, Hinako all have their own monster versions.

Often, I see people say SH4 is only connected to SH2 (those connections being Walter and James’ father).

I’ve wondered why that is, since it has much more of a connection to the stories of 1 and 3. Walter’s backstory is that he was raised by the cult and his whole plan in SH4 is to summon the cults god.

The Forest and Water Prison worlds are both places that were operated by the cult and were previously mentioned in a newspaper article Heather finds in SH3 (and Henry can find that same article in SH4).

There’s a lot of cultist imagery throughout the game.

Alessa and Dahlia are both named dropped in the Forest World, along with the implication of Dahlia having a hand in guiding Walter.

Walter’s first victims were the cultists who abused him.

Not in the game, but external material also says that Valtiel has a hand in Walter’s actions.

Is it just because the non-SH2 stuff is not immediately obvious?