Silent Hill is a franchise about trauma manifesting in ugly and tormenting ways, and whether or not we can redeem ourselves or ultimately succumb to the demons of our own creation. Which I guess in many ways sums up Konami's surprise return to game development after the absolute sin of killing off the Metal Gear Franchise in favour of a zombie survival game trainwreck. It has been Silent Hill that the company announced their return from the land of Pachinko's with, and though I can't imagine in a thousand years why they want to step away from the sure-fire world of exploiting people with gambling addictions to eek back into the high risk world of expensive video game development- this is the world we're in and the Silent Hill revival is the litmus test for how that process is going. And for that case- how exactly is the Silent Hill revival going?
Well, there was the Silent Hill 2 remake by Bloober team- an absolute sure-fire way to announce the franchise is back given the cult classic status of that original thriller which shocked the entire horror space and changed that genre of games forever. That remake looks a little ropey, but how bad can going back to your roots really end up? I mean Resident Evil has turned it into a fine art over the past few years, EA shut me the hell up with all the side-eye I was giving Dead Space, and Square have pretty much turned their remake of Final Fantasy 7 into the next phase of that franchise for the foreseeable future. And with all that strategically placed on the table by me- allow me to kick out the legs by announcing that people are seriously reconsidering what slight praise Bloober earned out of them for taking on the project and it's looking like another mess.
A recent combat-centric trailer released for the game showcasing one of the weakest aspects of the Silent Hill franchise- monster fighting. Which makes sense given the fact that the player isn't really supposed to kill their way through Silent Hill- but this was a combat trailer so I guess this remake had some interesting work to show. And you know what- had this released a decade and a half ago it would be mightily impressive. Right now, it looks clumsy, messy, boring and uninspired. Resident Evil 4 Remake fans practically weep at the sight of James wrestling in a mad grapple against a monster- with no arms. But the big problem is that... well... Silent Hill isn't really a franchise where a 'combat trailer' would make sense at all. It's about atmosphere and mystery puzzle solving- so advertising material like this kind of makes it seem like the franchise owners don't really understand the property they're working with. The Bloober team insist the trailer was put together by Konami, not them- but that just heightens my unease and supports my grim theory.
Of course, I didn't really need that combat trailer to form doubts about Konami's viability as 'the parent who stepped up for Silent Hill'. Not when Silent Hill Ascension already exists! An attempt to turn Silent Hill into a multiple choice watch-along TV show with audience participation- Ascension practically had 'disaster' written across it's face from the very day it was announced. And now it's out? Yeah, it was as bad as we thought. The microtransaction ridden watching experience was regularly marred by bad cameos from audience member characters haphazardly shoved into scenes, ungodly unnatural lines read by actors who sound starved for an in-booth vocal coach and a reportedly lacklustre narrative that does a disservice to the integrity of the franchise. Oh, but to it's credit the game did give birth the hilariously out-of-touch official rainbow emote joyously announcing 'it's Trauma!'- and that is objectively the funniest thing to come out of this franchise.
But at least there's the small free game Silent Hill: The Short Message to keep everyone's spirits up, right? (Good god, how many Silent Hill projects did Konami greenlight?) This one actually jumped up out of nowhere whilst I was busy with other things and so I didn't even realise it was out- of course I had no reason to keep up with the game's release now finding out that's it's a Playstation exclusive for some insane reason. (The game is free! Why buy it's exclusivity?) There are actually some quite distinct opinions on this game, with some thinking it's actually pretty good- although those more familiar with the franchise, and coincidentally more jaded, seem to think that 'goodness' is only apparent in relation to everything else that the franchise has been spitting out of late.
The Short Message appears to be an attempt to capitalise on the kind of fan which was brought into the franchise back when 'Silent Hills' was first teased through PT; but doing so in a manner that lacks the revolutionary appeal of that frank classic. It's a bit generic, but not bad. Which for modern Silent Hill might as well be calling it the next Metal Gear Solid 3. But most importantly, Silent Hill: The Message is not a full game. It's more akin to an experience, and therefore it is not enough to reinforce the public against the current trajectory of the franchise. That lies in the hands of the two major projects currently in development which are becoming more and more worrisome as everything around them peels and rots in fast motion.
So there is Konami's grand return to the Video Market by the Piliferous Pachinko Purveyors themselves, and considering all that time they spent developing solely for that market- no wonder they've lost their touch! As part of polishing off Yakuza 7 I've finally had a chance to try out a virtual simulation of those machines for myself and I have to say- they're bloody boring! Konami have forgotten how quality control works in the game market and though their projects appear to headed in an upwards trajectory to the point that Silent Hill F might be worth the time to actually load into a console- it's going to be a long time before they're treated in anyway seriously within this market again. Maybe it's best they just cut their losses. And sell their franchises! I cannot stress that last part enough! Please be sure to flog off Metal Gear before the next time you go out for milk, Papa Konami!
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