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"slimy horror pot?"
My final thoughts about 0rigins, having finished watching the Let's Play yesterday are pretty much along the lines of that Climax wasted a good story. Or a good hint at a potential story.
For a kick off, the game is more about Travis' parents than it is about him. I find Travis, as a character, really one dimensional, though that could be intentional, I suppose, but it doesn't work for me.
I do like the hints that Travis could be/was a serial killer, and possibly killed one or both of his parents. Although you don't start thinking about that until you get the bad ending, and you'd have to play the game at least twice, because the good ending is forced on you on your first playthrough. And honestly, I don't know why you'd want to play the game twice.
And the hints aren't even really hints at all. There's the description of the shovel, where Travis says it's good for whacking someone over the head and then burying them, and there's the crime scene photos which, it seemed to me, are easy to miss because a) they have no connection to the plot at large (what little of it there is), and b) unless you obsessively check everything I don't think you'd find them? (Because Climax likes hiding stuff where you can't find it and where you have no reason to go).
The actual hint that he may have killed his parents comes in the bad ending - there's two voices which I think you're meant to assume are his parents, since I think it was the same two VAs. Granted the woman says, "I'm not your momma!" but the way she says it kind of seems to me to be a spiteful way, as though she's trying to upset someone. As for the guy, well, his bit out and out sounds like he's on the receiving end of a murder.
See, I may have spent yesterday thinking about this.
Because, all in all, the so-called plot is a let down. EVEN IF we know where this story ends up (and we do, assuming we played SH1), it could've been done so much better. Also because I came to it off the back of SH2, there seem to be too many bits that appeared to be ripped off from there - such as the doctor's report about Helen (Travis' mum) and the mirror world.
And the Butcher is a fucking let down. Aside from the fact that he is a rip off of Pyramid Head (which an item you find in the theatre acknowledges!), he...we see him kill two monsters, but he doesn't stalk Travis at any point (which would be scarier, frankly. What makes P Head scary? OH GOSH I DON'T KNOW! [/sarcasm]
(The only place the Butcher isn't a let down is in the bad ending, where it's implied that that's who Travis will become because of his never mentioned, never shown violent tendencies).
Oh also, did I mention the criteria for the different endings suck? Because they do.
And the levels! There are three, past the hospital! Travis visits all of them for no apparent reason! They all involve long, drawn-out fetch quests that have nothing to do with anything (imho)! Sheesh. I am honestly SO GLAD that I did not pay the money to play this game myself, because I would feel so, SO cheated by the end of it.
OH AND. Alessa looks like the actress who plays her in the film, and that makes my skin itch, because why did Climax feel the need to alter her appearance???
UGH.
And the other characters feel useless/pointless, like they were in some badly written fanfic (though to be fair, VoidBurger does mention in her introduction to the Let's Play that it's very fanficcy in feel and BOY SHE WAS NOT WRONG).
On the other hand, I did like the way transitions from and to the Otherworld happened (via mirrors), and there were some cool VFX for that but. With the transitions being voluntary, it almost makes me wonder why it exists because I didn't really see reasons to go there, except to access areas you wouldn't otherwise reach and...that seemed kind of cheap.
ALSO WOW I AM ANGRIER ABOUT 0RIGINS THAN I THOUGHT.
~*~
I moved onto Homecoming, after that, since both games were released close to each other. Not really impressed with it so far, because of its reliance on gore for shocks/scares/whatnot. I don't appreciate that kind of horror (which is why I won't watch slasher films, I don't like Resident Evil 4, and I will never ever watch Jacob's Ladder (SH's inspiration) ).
I don't know that I'll be able to continue watching it, either, since I know how several people in the story die, and it's ways that are prevalent in gory horror films, and no. Not my thing.
That said, it does feel, so far, more like a Silent Hill game than 0rigins did (though it's still in fanfic territory, since the intro video to the game mentions how it seems to be more like the film than like previous games. Apparently it's not considered to be the worst game - that's Silent Hill: The Arcade. Homecoming is the second worst, 0rigins the third).
But its plot is a rip off of SH2, but with a different family member, pretty much (and added human sacrifice!)
Pfft. WHY AM I DOING THIS TO MYSELF.
Oh right, yeah, because I love these games and I want something to entertain me while I knit this jumper.
For a kick off, the game is more about Travis' parents than it is about him. I find Travis, as a character, really one dimensional, though that could be intentional, I suppose, but it doesn't work for me.
I do like the hints that Travis could be/was a serial killer, and possibly killed one or both of his parents. Although you don't start thinking about that until you get the bad ending, and you'd have to play the game at least twice, because the good ending is forced on you on your first playthrough. And honestly, I don't know why you'd want to play the game twice.
And the hints aren't even really hints at all. There's the description of the shovel, where Travis says it's good for whacking someone over the head and then burying them, and there's the crime scene photos which, it seemed to me, are easy to miss because a) they have no connection to the plot at large (what little of it there is), and b) unless you obsessively check everything I don't think you'd find them? (Because Climax likes hiding stuff where you can't find it and where you have no reason to go).
The actual hint that he may have killed his parents comes in the bad ending - there's two voices which I think you're meant to assume are his parents, since I think it was the same two VAs. Granted the woman says, "I'm not your momma!" but the way she says it kind of seems to me to be a spiteful way, as though she's trying to upset someone. As for the guy, well, his bit out and out sounds like he's on the receiving end of a murder.
See, I may have spent yesterday thinking about this.
Because, all in all, the so-called plot is a let down. EVEN IF we know where this story ends up (and we do, assuming we played SH1), it could've been done so much better. Also because I came to it off the back of SH2, there seem to be too many bits that appeared to be ripped off from there - such as the doctor's report about Helen (Travis' mum) and the mirror world.
And the Butcher is a fucking let down. Aside from the fact that he is a rip off of Pyramid Head (which an item you find in the theatre acknowledges!), he...we see him kill two monsters, but he doesn't stalk Travis at any point (which would be scarier, frankly. What makes P Head scary? OH GOSH I DON'T KNOW! [/sarcasm]
(The only place the Butcher isn't a let down is in the bad ending, where it's implied that that's who Travis will become because of his never mentioned, never shown violent tendencies).
Oh also, did I mention the criteria for the different endings suck? Because they do.
And the levels! There are three, past the hospital! Travis visits all of them for no apparent reason! They all involve long, drawn-out fetch quests that have nothing to do with anything (imho)! Sheesh. I am honestly SO GLAD that I did not pay the money to play this game myself, because I would feel so, SO cheated by the end of it.
OH AND. Alessa looks like the actress who plays her in the film, and that makes my skin itch, because why did Climax feel the need to alter her appearance???
UGH.
And the other characters feel useless/pointless, like they were in some badly written fanfic (though to be fair, VoidBurger does mention in her introduction to the Let's Play that it's very fanficcy in feel and BOY SHE WAS NOT WRONG).
On the other hand, I did like the way transitions from and to the Otherworld happened (via mirrors), and there were some cool VFX for that but. With the transitions being voluntary, it almost makes me wonder why it exists because I didn't really see reasons to go there, except to access areas you wouldn't otherwise reach and...that seemed kind of cheap.
ALSO WOW I AM ANGRIER ABOUT 0RIGINS THAN I THOUGHT.
~*~
I moved onto Homecoming, after that, since both games were released close to each other. Not really impressed with it so far, because of its reliance on gore for shocks/scares/whatnot. I don't appreciate that kind of horror (which is why I won't watch slasher films, I don't like Resident Evil 4, and I will never ever watch Jacob's Ladder (SH's inspiration) ).
I don't know that I'll be able to continue watching it, either, since I know how several people in the story die, and it's ways that are prevalent in gory horror films, and no. Not my thing.
That said, it does feel, so far, more like a Silent Hill game than 0rigins did (though it's still in fanfic territory, since the intro video to the game mentions how it seems to be more like the film than like previous games. Apparently it's not considered to be the worst game - that's Silent Hill: The Arcade. Homecoming is the second worst, 0rigins the third).
But its plot is a rip off of SH2, but with a different family member, pretty much (and added human sacrifice!)
Pfft. WHY AM I DOING THIS TO MYSELF.
Oh right, yeah, because I love these games and I want something to entertain me while I knit this jumper.