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Let us head to a town best left forgotten. The town of Silent Hill.
We'll be playing the PC version.
I've always thought of Silent Hill 3 as the sadly overlooked entry in the Silent Hill series; the first entry in the Silent Hill series is praised as a pioneering survival horror game, rightfully so, and Silent Hill 2 is by far the most popular – both within the series and among horror games as a whole – and then people jump to complaining about the failures that are 4 and onward. But personally Silent Hill 3 is my favorite, as it combines the mechanical improvements that Silent Hill 2 made over 1 (fewer but more intimidating enemies, improved combat controls and camera, etc), but brings back the heavily mystical atmosphere and occult plot-line that were central to the first game but left out of Silent Hill 2 in favor of a more psychological horror story (except for in a secret bonus ending – no, not the dog ending…). I love the industrial horror atmosphere, and the handling of the dual realities of the Silent Hill world - in Silent Hill 3 the two worlds seem to fade into each other in a more surreal way than the previous two games, it reminds me a lot of Twin Peaks. Also the games favorite color is orange.
Anyway ghostdog (whose format I totally ripped off...hope you don't mind...) does a better job of explaining the appeal of the series as a whole, so read his Silent Hill LP if you haven’t. In fact you should really read that LP before reading this one, if you have not played Silent Hill 1!
Suffice it to say that the Silent Hill games are a pretty sublime meshing of survival horror and adventure games, and it’s a shame there are not more games in this vein. The whole genre has just sort of dried up or been corrupted with shit, like the Resident Evil games post 4. Pathologic could have been the second coming of this type of horror adventure game, but instead people choose to make Skeleton Jumps Outta The Closet simulators.
It's gonna take me a bit longer to post the prologue, I was gonna post it right after the intro...but now I need to resize all the images and edit them back in.
But personally Silent Hill 3 is my favorite, as it combines the mechanical improvements that Silent Hill 2 made over 1 (fewer but more intimidating enemies, improved combat controls and camera, etc), but brings back the heavily mystical atmosphere and occult plot-line that were central to the first game but left out of Silent Hill 2 in favor of a more psychological horror story
More recycled levels, practically it was transformed in a series of corridors with a much more streamlined gameplay and many of the subtleties of the first two games were completely put aside, overall seemed like an half-assed Silent Hill.
I love the industrial horror atmosphere, and the handling of the dual realities of the Silent Hill world - in Silent Hill 3 the two worlds seem to fade into each other in a more surreal way than the previous two games, it reminds me a lot of Twin Peaks.
I did miss being able to navigate the town freely. But in Silent Hill 2 I didn't feel like the town offered a hell of a lot, it was basically linear with a few dead end passages to run down, and at times was more annoying to get through than interesting - not nearly the town of Silent Hill 1. Silent Hill 1 and 3 are pretty close for me, and I guess saying one is a favorite over the other is kind of a mistake.
I did miss being able to navigate the town freely. But in Silent Hill 2 I didn't feel like the town offered a hell of a lot, it was basically linear with a few dead end passages to run down, and at times was more annoying to get through than interesting - not nearly the town of Silent Hill 1. Silent Hill 1 and 3 are pretty close for me, and I guess saying one is a favorite over the other is kind of a mistake.
I missed the different endings and the various ways to achieve them, and the boss battles are a joke.
Probably is the fact that the third felt very inorganic to me.
Since I finished another playthrough of SH2 recently (went for the rebirth ending this time), I was thinking of replaying this one. I found SH3 along with 4 to be several notches worse than the first 2, but they're still OK SH games and compared to the shitfest that followed they seem like masterpieces.
Some amoeba like forms swimming around? Or are they blood platelets?
Three lights, spinning an eternal ring.
A tea cup ride? It looks ancient.
My head...what is..
What the HELL was that.
Not again...
Breathe deep..
An amusement park? What am I doing here? Last thing I remember...
Oh god..what kind of place is this?
The knife my dad gave me...why am I holding it?
This place...it seems familiar.
I have to leave this place...
That rabbit doll is really creeping me out. Is that real blood?
We check the one on the other side as well, but nothing new.
Well the entrance is right there...so let's get the fuck on out of here.
Right. Of course.
Alright, there has to be some other way out of this funhouse. Let's see if we can find a map.
Well here's the map, but, what is this? Is this place under repairs? I can't even see the bottom...
AGH! OH MY GOD! Jesus, that was close. Who knows what kind of garbage is down there.
OK. let's not go near one of those holes again; anyway let's check this map for a back exit.
Um...good job Heather.
To the north...that is, if I keep going the way I'm facing, I'll find the roller coaster.
The roller coaster could be a nice vantage point to look for an exit. And besides, for some strange reason it just feels like the right place to go.
But first let's see what these weird cages on both sides of the walkway are.
It looks like a slab of meat.
Something strange in a cage-y box thing...
Astute deduction Heather.
There's a bathroom on the other side of this pit, couldn't hurt to check it I suppose.
Where did they go?
Men's bathroom is closed. Well at least place supports dismantling the cisgendered patriarchy.
Another one of these horrible dolls is blocking the women's bathroom.
Well that was fruitful. Back to looking for the roller coaster, and hopefully an exit.
Quite the uninviting gate.
God I want to get out of here.
HOLY SHITTING FUCK!!
SHIT SHIT SHIT!! WHAT IS THAT THING!!
OK. Stay calm. You can outrun that thing. Breathe.
What is tha-
...
wat
satan pls no
Oh no. nonononono.
There HAS GOT TO BE SOME WAY OUT OF HERE!!! Wait that door says -
ROLLER COASTER!
Everything's all boarded up; at least I got away from those...meat...things.
No...
Please...
I hate you God.
That roller coaster has to be around here somewhere, I can't keep this pace up much longer.
I should be able to see the thing by now, but this darkness is impenetrable.
A ticket booth.
Oh finally. Sweet Mountain Coaster.
One please.
Oh god I just heard something behind me!!
Don't look back.
Don't look back.
What asshole thought all these steps were a good idea?!
I swear to God there is something right under my feet. It sounds like a rabid animal is bashing itself against the metal girders.
Oh, finally, I can see the platform.
Chained up. Can't say I'm surprised.
Maybe I can turn the damn thing on myself. Why the hell do I want to ride this thing so badly.
Never mind.
Well, I'm certainly not heading back down. Don't have many options.
Maybe I can jump off the track somewhere down the line.
Down the dark narrow path we go.
Rust? It almost looks like blood.
How far does it extend...
Woop. Gotta be more careful.
It's like I'm walking above some great emptiness.
WAHP!
The single light manages to make me feel even lonelier.
Hm, the tracks suddenly started vibrating.
That noise, what is that up ahead?
Oh no. But the roller coaster isn't even working!
Oh my God. I can't jump off, I can't even see the bottom!
NO!
AGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
*crunch*
...
...
Seems as though Heather was just having a terrible nightmare.
It takes her a while to snap back to reality. Who can blame her.
The sun is setting. Must have been out for a while.
Heather touches her pendant, and places it carefully back inside her coat; this charm from her father offers a different sort of protection than the knife. More subtle, but no less important.
Time to go home.
Someone observes Heather; whoever it is had been waiting for her.
Heather decides to give her dad a heads up before setting off for home.
The fathers voice can't be heard, but it's just a casual conversation.
Yeah.
Yeah I guess I was.
...
Anyway, I'm coming home now.
Oh, I didn't get that thing you asked me to.
...
Okay.
Even from the short conversation you can tell Heather and her father are very close.
A mysterious man. Must be the owner of those shoes from before. Was he listening to the conversation?
Heather notices the man, and begins walking away.
How does this weirdo know her name?
My name is Douglass Cartland.
She gives no fucks.
Well he is persistent.
Smart girl.
This is very important. It's about your birth.
I'm not interested.
The woman in orange boots fled.
And the detective in the trench coat followed.
I think I have a girlfriend Can't wait to tell codex about dis shit.
Cartland isn't quite willing to follow Heather into the women's lavatory; but Heather knows he'll be waiting out there.
Maybe there's some other way out of here.
Huh...what's that graffiti on the mirror.
It's almost like there's an unknown world right on the other side.
And the person staring at me isn't really me, just an imitator.
I know how stupid that sounds, but that's how I feel.
But if I keep thinking about it, it just makes me feel sick.
Heather's certainly got some dark thoughts swimming around in her head.
The marking on the mirror wanders back into the corner of Heather's vision.
What do I know it from? Where did I once see it...?
And...why does my head hurt so much when I try to remember it?
Lost a bunch of KKK points for not having the detective wearing only boxers under the trenchcoat.
The graffiti was the check/save point in the console version.
Lost a bunch of KKK points for not having the detective wearing only boxers under the trenchcoat.
The graffiti was the check/save point in the console version.
James Burne Worson was a shoemaker who lived in Leamington, Warwickshire, England. He had a little shop in one of the by-ways leading off the road to Warwick. In his humble sphere he was esteemed an honest man, although like many of his class in English towns he was somewhat addicted to drink. When in liquor he would make foolish wagers. On one of these too frequent occasions he was boasting of his prowess as a pedestrian and athlete, and the outcome was a match against nature. For a stake of one sovereign he undertook to run all the way to Coventry and back, a distance of something more than forty miles. This was on the 3d day of September in 1873. He set out at once, the man with whom he had made the bet--whose name is not remembered--accompanied by Barham Wise, a linen draper, and Hamerson Burns, a photographer, I think, following in a light cart or wagon.
For several miles Worson went on very well, at an easy gait, without apparent fatigue, for he had really great powers of endurance and was not sufficiently intoxicated to enfeeble them. The three men in the wagon kept a short distance in the rear, giving him occasional friendly "chaff" or encouragement, as the spirit moved them. Suddenly--in the very middle of the roadway, not a dozen yards from them, and with their eyes full upon him--the man seemed to stumble, pitched headlong forward, uttered a terrible cry and vanished! He did not fall to the earth--he vanished before touching it. No trace of him was ever discovered.
After remaining at and about the spot for some time, with aimless irresolution, the three men returned to Leamington, told their astonishing story and were afterward taken into custody. But they were of good standing, had always been considered truthful, were sober at the time of the occurrence, and nothing ever transpired to discredit their sworn account of their extraordinary adventure, concerning the truth of which, nevertheless, public opinion was divided, throughout the United Kingdom. If they had something to conceal, their choice of means is certainly one of the most amazing ever made by sane human beings.
-----------
The splitting headache we got from looking at the symbol passes.
Like I said before, Cartland isn't going anywhere, so let's look for another way out of here.
A window, good thing we're on the first floor, we can escape from here.
The moment we exit the bathroom a feeling of great uneasiness passes over us.
The left end of the alley is blocked by trash.
Where did this orange haze come from?
I don't want to spend another second in this alley; getting claustrophobic.
We pass a door, but first let's check the far end of the alley.
Blocked as well. Back to the door then.
It deposits us into what is apparently the employees area of the mall.
We check every door along the way, but finding them all locked end up in front of the door at the other end of the hallway.
Luckily this one is unlocked, and we end up back inside the familiar interior of the mall.
Something seems off, however; I don't remember the mall being quite this dirty, and the mall seems to have closed up completely, even though it should only be around 7 o'clock.
The only way out must be through this clothing store; it might be slightly illegal, but I'm sure mall security will understand.
A pistol? Who could have dropped that here? One of the security guards?
Thing are getting a bit strange, so let's hold onto this.
Wait a second..there's a sound coming from the other side of the store..
Oh god...it's the thing from our nightmare.
Uh, Heather, I don't think that's going to be work. I don't think this thing even has ears.
FOR FUCK SAKE SHOOT IT!!!
Heather empties an entire clip magazine into fleshlight face, but it keeps coming. Is our journey to end so soon?
It falls down inches from Heather. Guess it was dead and didn't know it.
And no way is it a costume...
It sounds crazy when you say it, but "monster" is the only word for it.
But....I don't think I'm crazy.
Some ammo. Good thing too, since Heather got a little trigger happy back there.
Here's the poor dude that the monster was feasting on.
Should I call the police?
Not like they'd believe me if I said, "Someone's been killed by a monster..."
I think we're far beyond the reach of the police at this point.
We find a staff exit behind the counter and use it.
It puts us on the other side of the first door we tried after coming in from the alley way.
Let's unlock it, and check the other side while we're at it.
Agh! Bad idea bad idea! Go back!!
Fucking hell. OK, first things first, let's find a map of the mall.
The elevator is out of power or something.
But we find a map on the wall opposite.
That's a lot of rooms. Of course we can count on most of them being locked. There's no direct route out of this area we're in, so let's try getting upstairs first.
More employee areas. We need to get back into the mall proper.
Hey an unlocked door! And another one of those red signs.
For maximum gains.
Something under the crates catches our eye.
If my arms were a little longer, I might be able to reach it.
There's a huge pile of cardboard boxes on the tale, full of book. It's way too much of a pain to move something that heavy...
Yes, way more of a pain than possibly being face fucked by a meat golem while we look for something that can reach that key.
The circle beckons us.
Does it seem so familiar because I read about it in that book?
No, that's not it.... It's not the book.... It's from the altar......
Altar? What am I thinking?
Maybe it'll come to us in time. Anyway let's not forget to reload before heading back out there.
The fuck? Some kind of dinosaur?
It's fairly easy to run past them, so let's not waste ammo for now.
The exit to the second floor mall is at the far end of the hall, and should deposit us onto the diamond looking walkway.
Yep. A bunch of stores are laid out in a circular-y fashion, so all we need to do is run in one direction till we find a shop that's open.
Right off the bat. At least we can get a good look at the thing.
Its size is imposing, but it doesn't give it a lot of agility.
The bakery is the first unlocked door we find.
The real enemy. According to some people on the codex.
But I'm not really hungry, so I guess I don't need to worry about it.
I'd be stuffing my face personally.
Something unnerving about this flyer.
As we're about to head back out, we notice a pair of tongs. We can use these to reach that key we wanted.
Wala! I mean voila!
The key turns out to be a bookstore key. I think we passed one of those earlier.
While we're at it let's go through our inventory.
Hopefully we'll get to use this again.
We open up the pendant hanging around Heather's neck.
When I asked Dad what it was, he said "Just a little lucky charm."
But then he told me to take good care of it and never take it off.
Interesting..
Let's get to that bookstore and find a way out of this hellhole. The place is getting more infested with these creatures by the minute.
Ah, my favorite store in the mall.
We head to the back and find some ammo on the counter.
The back exit is locked.
With a keypad.
This note taped next to door seems to be a clue for the code.
"In here is a tragedy---
art thou player or audience?
Be as it may, the end doth remain:
all go on only toward death.
The first word at thy left hand:
a false lunacy, a madly dancing man.
Hearing unhearable words, drawn
to a beloved's grave---and there,
mayhap, true madness at last.
As did this one playing at death,
find true death at last.
Killing a nameless lover, she
pierced a heart rent by sorrow.
Doth lie invite truth?
Doth verity but wear the mask of falsehood?
Ah, thou pitiful, thou miserable ones.
Still amidst lies, though the end cometh
not, wherefore yearn for death?
Will thou attend thy beloved? Truths
and lies, life and death:
a game of turning white to black and
black to white.
Is not a silence brimming with love more
precious than flattery?
A peaceful slumber preferred to a throne
besmirched with blood?
One vengeful man spilled blood for two;
Two youths shed tears for three;
Three witches disappeared thusly;
And only the four keys remain.
Ah but verily...
In here lies a tragedy.
Art thou player or audience?
there is something which cannot become
a puppet of fate or an onlooker,
peering into a cage."
The riddle has something to do with Shakespeare, and there happen to be 5 Shakespeare volumes lying on the floor.
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player. That struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more."
OK. So. The riddle is referring to each of these 5 plays. And somehow that leads us to the code for the keypad.
Codex, dost thou know thine Shakespeare?
If you already know the answer, because you played the game, please give others a chance to figure it out.
And this is what happens to people who look the answer up on gamefaqs.
Heh, so when a bunch of demonic mutant abominations are trying to molest you to pieces, you are not only blocked by such impassable objects as empty cardboard boxes, you also have to figure out fricking Shakespeare puzzles to proceed.
No pressure!
(this truly is some devious nightmare stuff alright)
Since I finished another playthrough of SH2 recently (went for the rebirth ending this time), I was thinking of replaying this one. I found SH3 along with 4 to be several notches worse than the first 2, but they're still OK SH games and compared to the shitfest that followed they seem like masterpieces.
Yeah. The worst part of SH4 was that I actually really liked how the story started out, had a good air of mystery to it; and some of the concepts like unkillable enemies and the only save point being in the room were cool, but others like the limited inventory just became fucking tedious. It was all just handled so poorly, and felt like they tried to fit too many ideas into the game. Would have been better if it had had nothing to do with Silent Hill.
...once upon a time there was a poor girl who said she would go into the hollow pit, and everybody tried to stop her, but she would go. And she went down into the pit and came back laughing, and said there was nothing there at all, except green grass and red stones, and white stones and yellow flowers. And soon after people saw she had most beautiful emerald earrings, and they asked how she got them, as she and her mother were quite poor. But she laughed, and said her earrings were not made of emerald at all, but only of green grass. Then, one day, she wore on her breast the reddest ruby that any one had ever seen, and it was as big as a hen's egg, and glowed and sparkled like a hot burning coal of fire. And they asked how she got it, as she and her mother were quite poor. But she laughed and said it was not a ruby at all, but only a red stone. Then one days she wore round her neck the loveliest necklace that any one had ever seen, much finer than the queen's finest, and it was made of great bright diamonds, hundreds of them, and they shone like all the stars on a night in June. So they asked her how she got it, as she and her mother were quite poor. But she laughed, and said they were not diamonds at all, but only white stones. And one day she went to the Court, and she wore on her head a crown of pure angel-gold, so nurse said, and it shone like the sun, and it was much more splendid than the crown the king was wearing himself, and in her ears she wore the emeralds, and the big ruby was the brooch on her breast, and the great diamond necklace was sparkling on her neck. And the king and queen thought she was some great princess from a long way off, and got down from their thrones and went to meet her, but somebody told the king and queen who she was, and that she was quite poor. So the king asked why she wore a gold crown, and how she got it, as she and her mother were so poor. And she laughed, and said it wasn't gold at all, but only some yellow flowers she had put in her hair. And the king thought it was very strange, and said she should stay at the Court, and they would see what would happen next. And she was so lovely that everybody said that her eyes were greener than the emeralds, that her lips were redder than the ruby, that her skin was whiter than the diamonds, and that her hair was brighter than the golden crown. So the king's son said he would marry her, and the king said he might. And the bishop married them, and there was a great supper, and afterwards the king's son went to his wife's room. But just when he had his hand on the door, he saw a tall, black man, with a dreadful face, standing in front of the door, and a voice said--
Venture not upon your life, This is mine own wedded wife.
Then the king's son fell down on the ground in a fit. And they came and tried to get in to the room, but they couldn't, and they hacked at the door with hatchets, but the wood had turned hard as iron, and at last everybody ran away, they were so frightened at the screaming and laughing and shrieking and crying that came out of the room. But next day they went in, and found there was nothing in the room but thick black smoke, because the black man had come and taken her away. And on the bed there were two knots of faded grass and a red stone, and some white stones, and some faded yellow flowers.
----------------
Well that was a fucking annoying puzzle. Christ. Least I don't have to carry around a bunch of fancy fucking keys.
We must be close to getting out of this place, let's go.
Hey! Another person! Finally. Maybe they can help us.
Hey...wait!
What's goin' on? Where is everybody?
The rebirth of Paradise, despoiled by mankind.
What are you talking about?
Don't you know? Your power is needed.
How should I know?
So what?
Remember me, and your true self as well.
Also that which you must become.
Claudia, right? Did you do all this?
It was the hand of God.
Ugh...some horrible moaning...pulsing sounds...
Blacking out...
I don't get it.
What does she want me to remember?
Though the worst of the otherworldly noises leave us, the gloomy chanting returns.
An elevator, and this one actually works. I guess the only way out is down.
The chanting stops the moment we enter the elevator. But the total silence isn't any comfort.
The elevator beings its descent.
Wait. What the hell is that noise? It sounds like it's coming from right above us. Oh fuck it better not be scissor man.
....
....
Actually...it sounds like static?
*CLUNK*
*KITSH*
What the hell. A radio? Where did it come from? Who uses portable radios now days?
A radio.... What the hell is this doing falling down from the ceiling?
Anyway, I guess that explains the static from just before.
But all it's picking up is static... I wonder if it's broken.
Just as we pick the old radio up the elevator grinds to a stop, and the doors open onto total blackness.
Not like we have much of a choice.
....
....
....
Ugh! God! What in the name of!
The elevator doors close and an iron gate slams shut over them. There is no way back now.
Only a thin, rusty metal grate stands between us and that abomination.
Not even a kid could believe in this.
Is that the ceiling or the floor? I can't even tell which way is up.
Heather sinks to the ground. This elevator better stop soon; feels like it's extending straight down to hell.
Just as the darkness erases the horrible creatures, the elevator stops and the door springs open. If we never take another elevator ride it'll be too soon.
There's a couple of bandaged dogs slinking around, but they get distracted by a hunk of meat, maybe a body, on the ground. Let's take advantage of the situation and book it.
Shit, one of them caught our scent! We get through a door and slam it behind us just as the monster springs for us.
But it's out of the frying pan...
...into the fire.
We duck down the lighted side passage, and only to be faced with another of the flesh fiends.
We still have no trouble dodging past the thing. Hopefully we never get trapped in a locked room with one.
We duck under the shutter.
And emerge in another quarter of the shopping center.
The things are all over the place now. This place becomes more of a nightmare by the second; in fact now that I think about it, everything does look dirtier and darker than it did before, and I don't think it's just because the lights are out.
A single store has kept its doors open.
Wait a second...this place looks familiar. Even with the near total darkness it's obviously that clothing store where we first saw one of the monsters. How did we end up back here...and why does the store look like it hasn't seen people in a decade?
Oh for fuck sake, Heather, if you know something is there just pick it up and take it to a light, you have infinite inventory space after a-
NO! I am not sticking my hands where I can't keep track of them, who knows what kind of fucked up flesh eating rats are crawling around?!
OK, OK, point taken...I guess. We'll look for a damn flashlight.
Let's find that thing as quickly as possible and get back here. We exit the store and dash back towards the elevator.
We run out of breath after so much running. Thankfully the monsters are so slow that we can afford to catch our breath.
*gasp* OK. Good to go.
After stumbling around in the dark for a while, we find another unlocked door.
The strange room doesn't seem to contain much...just a door on the opposite end.
But what's this? A ladder leading up to...probably the second floor, hopefully.
But nothing is so easy in this nightmare.
Even if I stand on the table and stretch my hands out, I can't reach it.
If only I had something to snag it...
Well, we'll be back.
We head out of the door we saw before, and make our way through more darkness. There's a whole lot of disgusting sounds surrounding us.
Phew. We find a room with light and a break from the cacophony.
And would you look at that, a flashlight just lying around for the taking. Now we're set. Well, if we had a flamethrower we'd be set, but a flashlight is nice too.
We pick up a first aid kid and some ammo as well. We haven't needed either so far, but I wouldn't count on our good fortunes keeping up.
OK, somehow the light makes everything even more dismal.
We make our way all the way back to the clothing store and look for that previously hidden item.
Niiiiice.
We also grab one of the coat hangers while we're here. No we're not gonna be giving back alley abortions. Remember that ladder we couldn't reach?
The vest will cut down on the damage we receive from enemies, but it weighs us down; we won't put it on for now, since we can maneuver around most things, but it'll come in handy if we come up against something we have to fight.
More backtracking to the room with the ladder.
And we climb up. If the first floor was this bad, what's gonna be waiting for us upstairs?
The second floor looks like it's in worse condition than the first; the floors are caving in. What happened to this place? Only an hour ago the mall was perfectly fine.
Yeah I don't wanna know.
There's a sound coming from that TV.
Is it just white noise? Hold on, there's something...
What was that, I wonder?
I thought I heard someone say "Daddy"...
Pretty sure I heard it too.
Around the corner we find another of those symbols, this one emblazoned on a TV.
This again....
Looking at it makes my head hurt, but at the same time, it's like, so familiar....
I know I've forgotten something really important.....
Let's move on. Not entirely sure where we are, so let's check the map. First let's try going south.
Well this path is...gone.
There is, however, an unlocked door right near.
Guess it was the jewelry store.
A single object remains in one of the busted up display cases.
Not exactly what I expected to find.
Good job Heather.
We check the other display cases, but no luck. Not like jewelry would do us any good in this place.
Bummer that it's gone, huh.
One walnut richer, we head through the door at the back of the store.
And turn 180 degrees and walk the fuck back out because it sounds like a meat-grinder in there.
We didn't bother checking before, since there's no way it can be that easy, but let's go down the escalator and check the front door.
Man it's dark down there. Even the light from the flashlight gets absorbed in the blackness.
I should be able to see the floor by now...
ohhhhHHHHHHH!! THE FUCKING FLOOR IS GONE!
Ah!! That was, like, too close!
OK. Let's try upstairs. I don't think its possible to fall up into a void.
Great. Now you jinxed it.
There's a few monsters upstairs but we duck past them and through a door.
Into what might have once been a nice cafe.
Ugh god. We must have wandered into a Chinese restaurant.
What is this...barbecued dog?
Who the hell would make something like this?
Furthermore, who the hell would eat it?
We find a key...somewhere...
Yeah. Well.
We find some first aid and health drinks behind the counter. Who needs food when you have drugs.
Ah. Now I've figured it out. We've stumbled into the codex cooking thread.
The only other door around leads to a useless bathroom.
As we explore more of the second floor we find this enigmatic door.
The door has a red crescent and a round dent.
Something's wrtten here in the same color red.
Piling up the 300th day and night
From beyond the door,
cries of pain are heard
And the final destination
has become real
Though not a blessed beginning
Not entirely sure what that means, but I'm guessing we need to get through this door to get out of this nightmare.
Nowhere else to go up here, so let's head back downstairs.
A little wandering around and we find an explored area. Actually this seems to be the nightmare version of the corridor where we met Claudia.
And here's the elevator that took us into this hell.
Did I get to this world by riding in this thing...?
Wonder what would happen if I gave it another whirl?
I can press the button all I like, but the doors won't open. Oh, well.
Near the elevator we find a door, and use the key we found in the dog.
Looks like a kitchen.
Well, well, what have we here.
Somehow the steel pipe makes us feel more confident than the pistol. We head out of the front door of this restaurant.
Ah. We've ended up back on the second floor walkway where we the bakery and book store were.
We use the expert tactic of running in a circle checking every door we come across.
There we go.
No idea what this room is for.
A janitorial equipment room?
I'm sure we'll find a use for this industrial strength detergent.
The room has a backdoor and we head through it.
Oh man. There is some horrible noises coming from around that corner. And light glow. What terror awaits us beyond...
....
....
....
Oh.
Well that got rid of the noise. Not sure what this fan is really for.
We go through the only other door.
I guess the air vents on the wall are connected to that fan.
Yeck. A swarm of moths.
There's got to be a way. I can't very well stab them one by one...
Some insecticide would do the trick.
Hmm. I think my dad once told me that mixing ammonia and chlorine would produce poisonous gas, and I think that industrial detergent we picked up contains ammonia.
If it was meant for the bathroom, and there's nothing else in the janitors room, then the other cleaning supplies must be in one of the bathrooms.
And the only bathroom we haven't checked is...back on the first floor. Let's hoof it.
On our way we finally get knocked by one of the dinosaur looking monsters.
But we jump up and get some payback on it with our steel pipe. Bashing its not-quite-face in.
Then stomp the little fucker to death.
Suck it down!!
Back down the ladder.
And here we are.
Back in the bathroom where it all started.
Bleach, the type that contains chlorine.
Just for the hell of it we try the window we crawled through, what feels like ages ago, but it's boarded solid.
I actually totally forgot about this the first time we were in this bathroom; if you knock on the final stall at that time, it will be occupied by someone.
And now upon our return...we try the stall again.
Is the same person still in there? How is that possible.
And when we turn to leave....
We check the stall and all we find are buckets of blood. (Anyone seen the movie Deep Rising?)
It's soaking with blood...but there's no one here.
Did someone respond, or is it just me?
The other toilet is less eventful. However, if we were on the PS2 with my Silent Hill 2 save file, we would get this cutscene; a reference to a sequence in Silent Hill 2 where the protagonist James Sunderland has to fish a key out of a disgusting toilet bowl. When I saw this scene on the PS2 version I assumed it was a standard easter egg, but since I didn't get it on the PC version I guess it confirms that a Silent Hill 2 save file is needed. Kinda like in MGS1 where Psycho Mantis would make different comments if you had save files from certain other games on your memory card.
With the two chemicals in hand we head back to the bug infested corridor.
We play mad scientist and mix the two together in this conveniently placed bucket.
Ugh! Shit! I think I inhaled some of it! *COUGH*
We turn the fan back on to clear out the homemade mustard gas.
Now that the bugs are gone it's a relatively safe corridor.
In one of the side rooms we find some beef jerky.
And some ammo.
What the hell are we supposed to be looking for again?
That long shopping avenue to the north is one of the few unexplored places left. Let's head that way.
We find a door that leads into it.
Let's get some light in here.
Oh god more of those meat grinder noises.
What in the fucking shitfire is that?! I am not sticking around to find out!
We burst through the double doors into...
An operating room? In a mall?
I don't want to know what kind of operations that were doing here.
Hm. That reminds me. We still have that walnut we picked up back in the jewelry store. Let's crack that thing open.
There's only one possible place we could use this weird thing: that strange door we saw on the second floor, by the escalator.
Let's run our ass back there-
HOLY FUCKING GOD MY FUCKING EARS JESUS NO
SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT
FUCK PLEASE NO GET ME OUT OF HERE
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
We get out of there as fast as our legs will carry us and head straight back the way we came. Bashing apart any smaller monsters that get in our way.
Finally we make it back to our safe haven. The crescent door is just upstairs. What waits for us behind it.
Heh, yeah, I've actually been feeling bad about not including more of the in-game soundtrack. Especially since I've been listening to the SH1 soundtrack on the drive to school. I'll start doing so next update. And I'll give soundcloud a try, thanks.