Hinako's intrusive thoughts (& playing Silent Hill games for the first time)

been playing Silent Hill f.. not done yet (maybe 3/4 of the way through)
i've been enjoying it quite a bit!

just a relatively quick drawing, i was merging down layers as i drew, so i dont have much files for this drawing to share, but i did record a timelapse where you can see i almost committed to something less shitpost-y looking

gamer update?
actually, i only started playing some of the Silent Hill games myself the first time this past month or so. its strange because i've been a massive survival horror simp most of my life, the Resident Evil games of course being my favorite. i've played an endless slew of survival horror games over the years from random obscure forgotten stuff from the 90s, to modern indie steam ones, but for whatever reason, i seemed to avoid SH a little bit. i think i played SH1 on an emulator when i was like 13, got lost within 10 minutes, and just gave up. cool! this, along with its reputation for more obtuse puzzles compared to typical RE-fare, i imagined it being something a bit more akin to the actually obtuse Forbidden Siren games and being a lot harder to penetrate.
but i finally decided to give them another whirl in the lead up to F and am really glad i did! i played the original Silent Hill 1, 2 & 3.
i don't really know what 13 year old me's F'ing DEAL was that made me quit so soon, but giving SH1 another shot, i found that actually the games were a lot more accessible and even easier (at least on the normal difficulties) than i had anticipated. i wasn't expecting to be so flush with resources for instance. and even the puzzles weren't that bad, aside from maybe 2 or 3 puzzles in total across the three games. of course, the piano puzzle in SH1 was one of them.

my first impression gamer thoughts of the three:
Silent Hill 1 - i think for reasons i can't even articulate, might have been my favorite one to actually play. is that an unpopular opinion? i just really enjoyed exploring the locations, the music (Lisa's theme is probably my fav song of all the SH games i've played), the uncanny FMV cutscenes. it is just such an overall charming experience.

Silent Hill 2 - may be unsurprising, but this one has my favorite story of the 3. and also my favorite side characters, in Eddie, Laura, Mary, Angela. Angela in particular leaving a very strong impression. the FMV cutscenes again are a highlight in this one , because I love the heavy dark shading that often hides the characters eyes in many of the scenes. it's a very striking look that i see sadly wasn't quite replicated in what i've seen of the remake.
i do plan on playing the SH2 remake though, and am otherwise actually quite excited to try it out. i don't expect to like it more than the original - i rarely do prefer videogame remakes over their original - but i'm interested in seeing their take on it.
i haven't played Born From A Wish yet either though, so that's something to go back to in the future.

and Silent Hill 3 - has to be my favorite protagonist. Heather! visually a great design and just has some funny lines of dialogue. it also helps that i learned that having a save of SH2 on your memory card (or emulator) means you get to access a couple of easter egg extra cutscenes in 3, like approaching a certain toilet with Heather has her practically turn to the camera and exclaim what kinda idiot would think of sticking their hand down there? that made me find her even more charming.
i already kind of knew for years how the story would eventually unfold, but it was still enjoying to see it unravel.
i think as a game playing experience, i'd have to rank SH3 the lowest of the 3 i played so far, just because a fair chunk of the game being the hospital from SH2 again was a little disappointing (especially playing the games essentially back to back), and also those crawling bastards in SH3 i think might be my least favorite enemy i've came up against so far FUCK those guys!!!!! but i still loved playing it regardless of those nitpicks. something has to be in last place but it's still like an 8/10 for me!

and as i said, i'm still not done F yet (Hinako's arm just got a little hairy) but i'm really enjoying it as well! i'm enjoying the story, and i like the characters a lot, even Rinko who i drew in the art above, split seconds before her head gets bludgeoned in.
i saw a common complaint was that it just doesn't feel very much like a "Silent Hill" game, and i suppose i can understand. i think even if it was an entirely new IP instead of being a "Silent Hill" game, i'd still enjoy it all the same. it certainly reminds me of the extremely-Japanese era of PS2 survival horror games like the Fatal Frame series, and Forbidden Siren, and Ku-On.
and seeing how Hinako is now at the point of the game that i'm at, and comparing it to Harry Mason running around Silent Hill, it is definitely quite the change in tone. but i still think pretty highly of it so far!

i'm mostly interested in SH2 Remake and Silent Hill 4 beyond this point. i don't know if i'll be braving the rest after that, but who knows. i probably won't let you know because who cares?

thanks for reading my cool videogame reviews. also i'm making Punch Punch Forever still? and drawing more pictures soon? err/?????