My husband isn't dying, thankfully (knock on wood), but he does have a number of chronic illnesses that prevent him from getting out of bed most days, and he's always in pain; I could see him writing a letter like that to his parents. People really underestimate how incredibly taxing being the sole caregiver of an infirm loved one is, and I can see how wanting to help his wife twisted in James's mind as he struggled to cope with the stress of caring for her on top of the looming specter of her impending death. I could never, ever do what James did, even if my husband asked me to, but I understand the fear and dread that comes with never knowing if your partner will be alive the next time you come home from work.
that's the power of James character to me, I totally understand why he did what he did, and it's still wrong, but so understandable. it's a really human tragedy
My wife has extreme OCD. For 20 years it was always hard to live with, but when COVID hit, she had a complete breakdown. I saw my wife crumble away quickly in-front of my eyes. It was very painful and very difficult. It took her 3 years to get back to where she was before COVID. No one can understand how taxing and mentally damaging something like that can be on a spouse or loved ones until they live through it. When James says "its been a long three years"... believe me, I understand what he means. Knowing your spouse is going to die and living with that for three years... I can't even imagine. That's why this game hits everyone so hard. Its a horrible situation for both James and Mary.
That’s what I love about SH2 characters. They’re very nuanced. It’s clear that James did what he didn’t want Mary to suffer. He didn’t want to suffer seeing her suffer. It’s weird how relationships work. I do genuinely think James loved Mary, but I think during that love, it was somewhat twisted and intermingled with hate. Hatred at caring for a person who would never get better and rotting away. Hatred for a prospect of a future without a loved one. Hatred for feelings that would never be met(I’m referring to James’s sexual frustration by this). It must’ve been the same for Mary as well. It’s revealed that Mary wasn’t so innocent in this as well. She would often lash out at James. I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve had to take care of a loved one who was afflicted with a severe mental illness but I’ve had times where I’ve lashed out at family members/friends and vice versa. Those moments of regret are sometimes too hard to bear. These are people who raised you or who’ve put their trust in you and you hurt them. I think the reason why James and Mary’s relationship is so compelling is because it’s so realistic(maybe besides him taking her life part). There are definitely people out there who have gone through eerily similar situations. I think the whole spill was handled in a pretty competent and mature manner. P.S. I hope your loved ones get better!
@@TerryRed OCD is such a crippling, debilitating condition, I'm sure it's been awful trying to find real support for the both of you. People like to minimize it as "quirky", so I know it can be hard to get folks to take it as the serious disorder it is. I'm glad she's managed to take steps to get back to level of normalcy, and I hope you two continue to heal.
@@OldEnemy1 I agree, it's incredibly realistic! Both of their perspectives are represented well, and the tragedy is that neither of them ever intended for things to end up as they did. I'm sure James never considered, in a million years, that he would ever murder his wife, and that's why he's in such denial. Mary never thought, in a million years, that she'd be dying and helpless, and her lashing out is part of her grieving process. Neither action is good, but it's all so understandable. This is more directed at anyone reading comments (hello, reader!), but I know a lot of people struggle to understand why a sick person would be so cruel to someone taking care of them. Psychologically, it generally comes down to a lack of agency causing frustration; the early stages of dementia exhibit this kind of behavior really well. My grandmother went from a sweet old lady to always angry for two or three years, but once the dementia progressed to a certain point, she was much calmer. She was in denial about her condition for a long time, but after a point, she couldn't convince herself that she was okay anymore. PS. Thank you for the well-wishes! He's working hard to get stronger, and I'll be happy to tell him that a stranger in the comments of a SH2 breakdown video wished him well, lol.
All of your video essays on Silent Hill are incredibly well done. I like that you took a little of all of them and summarized them into this video as a reminder of the themes just before the remake is set to come out.
This game meant a lot to me as a kid. Seeing a young guy fighting through madness to get to someone that isn’t there. Oof it hit hard. Anyways I could beat it in around 48 minutes after I played it so much.
I know the “Leave” ending is the “good” ending, and makes sense with how James rises to face the two Pyramid Heads and states he doesn’t need them anymore, but I always thought the “In Water” ending makes a lot of sense, too, with James taking his own life as both punishment for what he has done but also being unable to move on from the death of his wife. Not that suicide is ever the answer, but both endings I feel work.
Clearly the Dog ending is making the most sense! Only a dog could make this up! Jokes aside but that's the beautiful thing about Silent Hill 2,you can imagine and interpret the endings at your own will and decide which you find canon. No one has to tell you that. You yourself decide.
we relate to the people in Silent Hill, James loneliness and confusion/desire to escape and eventual redemption appeals to us due to our desires and fears. We all want a silent heaven.
The ending hit so hard. The terminally ill are still very much alive. I know you've talked about your own experiences with sitting at the bedside of a dying loved on. For me, my mom was terminally ill for most of my life, passing 8 years ago. I can only imagine, based on my own experience, how hard some of these final lines were for you to write but I am so glad you're out here challenging some of the ideas people have put forth. May we both continue on a healing journey.
After all these years since Silent Hill 2 came out, my opinion on James is this. No matter what walk of life you come from, people can be worn down by their circumstances and do terrible things. I believe James did what he did partially for selfish reasons and the other as a mercy. Living with a chronically ill person is a constant drain on your empathy well. You never want to complain because what you're experiencing pales in comparison. For some, chronic pain can be so awful that death would be a welcome release.
Mary didn't actually die three years ago... She was dead to him. Everything she was, everything she meant to him... Who she was died when she got sick, and was in the hospital. She got sick three years ago. She actually died not that long ago.
36:40 - which also follows with the comment of the open fridge giving off a bad smell. Decay prehaps, maybe due to the ring representing a corpses face.
I periodically check youtube for Silent Hill retrospectives and I conveniently have been on another kick recently because I'm trophy hunting the HD collection on ps3. This was right at the top of my feed this morning and it's perfect because i drive for work and these deep and long analysis videos are perfect to listen to on long trips. Very excited for this upload. You've already earned a like
Muse, your stuff is the best. Seriously, stellar work on this one. I’ve been working through some of your back catalogue and the amount of in-depth, understandable and genuinely insightful information that you give in pretty much all of your videos is fantastic. Really looking forward to your future projects!
I never thought of it that way. I always assumed that Laura was lying about meeting Mary last year when it was James lying about her dying 3 years ago. Man that one flew by me
Excellent analysis. Loved the first one, of course, and got excited to see an upload of this. Takes a lot of love to do so much homework to put these videos together. These are quite a treat. Thank you! Looking forward to your analysis on Silent Hill 3. ❤❤❤
Silent Hill 2 has the most unique story telling about characters facing their inner most trauma and guilt. It's like the town itself is putting them on a trial of facing the crimes they've committed, and must seek redemption. Angela is the most tragic of all characters, and what she'd gone through is indeed the type of pain she could never escape nor she could ever be healed from that trauma. When she walks slowly towards the fire, was her way to get away from the pain, and as for Eddie. We all know there wasn't no redeeming of his own crimes, nor he feels guilty of what he's done. It's cool that we as a player can decide James' fate in the game, weather or not we can redeem his guilt or not. It still makes me very curious about the remake, and how they gonna change the aspect of the original game, cause it's obvious that Blooper Team aren't gonna go through with the risky themes that Team Silent did with the original.
The way you opened the video, not only works as a perfect description of the intro to silent Hill to but suddenly made me realize how many similarities silent hill to has with the David Lynch movie lost Highway from 1997. I wonder now if by chance the movie was an inspiration after all the original silent Hill has a reference to the Dario Argento movie demons, well Dario Argento produced that movie
OMG woman... i freakin LOVE you and your content! lmao SH 1/2/3 are my all time favorite games and the way you cover them always uncovers more of the things that I love about them... thank you for all of your hard work in doing these deep dives and narratives. they are amazing!
U did a wonderfull job, as usually. But the video is little bit dark, I mean the brightness or gamma can be a little up next time. Keep up the good work!
Why? She's literally a manifestation of the same demon as Pyramid Head. The only difference is the symbolic meaning she holds for James. She's still something the Demon conjured up to torture James though.
As someone who has lived with chronic, once terminal, illness, I feel incredibly seen and empathized with. Thank you so much. Some of my ex friends described Mary as an abusive bitch. I…couldn’t believe it. Amazing and beautiful analysis. If I could give an award or money for this, I absolutely would.
Good analysis and great takes and insights. Like the thing about Angela's red pants, never thought of that, very sad and disturbing. What a beautiful yet horrifying masterpiece this game is.
This whole analysis is amazing .. I think you did a wonderful job covering almost everything. However, I wish you covered a few points. One is when the game started, and in the bathroom, you can see posters of "Heaven's Night" with Maria's face on them. That always was interesting to me. Another thing is about the real face of Pyramid Head: him having James head under the pyramid mask. Ofc, we live this story from James's perspective, but I've always wondered what the story would be if we were to live SH through Eddie's or Angela's lenses. Having a different main character would mostly shape SH differently, and I wonder then if we will ever see James as part of their stories.
Masahiro Ito said, regarding the hole graffiti, that to him it represented James' alcoholism. He used to crawl into the bottom of a bottle to hide from his problems but now, in Silent Hill, that hole is gone and he has nowhere left to hide.
Fantastic video. Extremely well written, narrorated, and edited. This was a pleasure to watch. Can't thank you enough for posting. Edit: Please do Silent Hill 3. 😂
you can see the awful night an day difference between the original and the reboot. its more of a silent hill homecoming type of game rather than the original SH2 game. it's awfully butchered for whatever reason bloober also didn't understand a single horror or unnerving original's game aspects or mechanics.
I really am curious to see if Muse will do a review and comparison of the forthcoming remake when that drops in Early October. I’ve had my doubts about the remake and Bloober Team’s ability to capture the magic of the original title. They’ve clearly made some substantial changes to the look and design of the characters and environments. I’m genuinely interested to see if Muse likes the remake or not, and how she feels it stacks up.
I am going to play this game again because of your videos. it would be my 2nd time since I first played a decade plus ago. The soundtrack is eerie and It never left my playlist ever since.
Have you ever read the SilentPyramid plot analysis of the Silent Hill games? I never see anyone talking about it really but in my mind it's the best document for unpacking everything in there, even if it's unfinished.
You are a treasure for going through all this effort to bring us this outstanding analysis. So grateful for you and your unwavering dedication and expertise ❤️
That's just a rumour due to a publication back in the day. Considering the timeline it never made sense, but it kept being repeated due to it... sounding cool and bizarre i guess?
@@makoto4341 With the "in water" ending is possible to interpret that James took Mary's body to the car with him due to the violents movements that can be heard. And Laura's age points that Mary didn't die that long ago. Also, "My wife died three years ago" could be related to the beginning of her sickness. Just trying to explain that point of view because that was my impression without reading any analisys of the game yet.
i read that the original artwork had baby faces on those nurses. Maybe that softness of the nurses faces is what one "could" interpret the way muse did.
I never played this game on the PS2 and it looks amazing. If Gods will I will see Muse playing Sillent Hill 2 Remake and then I will buy it on PC to play it too and complete it till 100%. Have a nice day to you Muse and your subscribers 🙂❤️
I actually never made the connection between James' dad and the apartments and him having this connection to the place! Even though it is more of an afterthought being possible by the Room existing.
Loved the video, thank you for putting this together and shedding light on this deep story. Where can I find the music? Looked it up but I can't find it. Would love to listen to those ambient tracks.
I don't think it does; but it brings it to mind for me (playing it again after having learned her story) and I could never shake the connection. I don't think her designer would have chosen red without some consideration on it.
My personal theory: running off the whole Christian themed, Maria's sacrifice as Jesus kind of thing, eggs are connected to Easter, and in the modern day is a holiday celebrating Jesus's resurrection after the crucifixion. The two eggs - one described more pleasantly than the other - could represent the two paths James' "resurrection" will take: a good ending or a bad one.
I believe Maria was a real person but only one James new on surface level. Lady Maria was a stripper that reminded him of his wife but only because of her name and maybe her similar looks. As most likely James would visit the strip joint right down the block after visiting Mary. And perhaps in a way his Maria entity encompasses the negative aspects of Mary that he wanted to forget.
first played this in 2020 after my friend recommended it, no experience has matched sh2+3 (other than the xbox ninja gaiden trilogy) pet peeves so far 1. the endings are ambiguous i somewhat dislike the firm narrative you seem to be taking 2. 6:16 plant life is life, the most true form of life there is
The endings are ambiguous, but they are built on a pretty solid narrative. A lot of things remain constant, what changes is how you interpret James' behavior, and the way he decides to go in the end.
a lot of this is from older videos or my written works, it's a redo to create a new vid to bring in people just checking out sh2 content now that the remake is coming. so if you've been watching the channel a whil you prolly recognize it. thanks for watching it anyway!
I never thought of this before, but in Mary's full letter at the end, she mentions having done something that James will never forgive her for. What could that be? Simply getting sick? That doesn't make sense, getting sick and dying isn't unforgivable. Is Mary as innocent as we've been lead to believe?
She was quite quick to lash out👀 maybe she could of possibly been bipolar and maybe that gave James all the more reason to do what he did. Maria’s personality’s changing in an instant could be a trait of Mary’s
bc I use a monotone voice but if u take a look at the backlog I've been doing it for years, long before ai was a thing. so you know. maybe don't discount my work cause u don't like the voice
James originally goes to town to kill himself. It makes more sense that he’d bring Mary with him than leave her at home. This is only further solidified by Silent Hill 4 stating that the not just James, but Mary too went missing.
I feel like the body in the car is one of the most misunderstood easter eggs in the game. I don't think it was meant to be cannon. You can only find it on repeat playthroughs. I think it was a subtle joke about how the player's "clung to their emotional baggage". Like, "You completed the game and are back here. Just dragging the corpse of Mary back out of the grave now, aren't we?"
Why the fuck would you spoil the big spoil not even two minutes in. People are going to be coming to the video that haven't experienced the game that are interested in it because of the remake. RIP.
And why the f*ck people who havent played the game would want to watch an analysis video? Of course there will be spoilers in this video. It's not called an analysis for nothing you genius 🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦
i disagree with the concept of maria not being real. there are so many possibilities of what maria is. im also of the belief that the monsters are real, as they are in the first and third games. just on a different plane of existence. a lot of people like to chalk almost everything up to james's visions caused by trauma but in my opinion the whole point of silent hill is that the actual place itself a like a hellmouth with gods and creatures roaming around in different planes of reality. this applies to james as it applied to harry heather and henry. i almost see maria as a mix between what heather and memory of alessa are but with mary instead. also i sometimes see her as a bystander possessed by the town with her face being an illusion by the town. it could really be anything because its all up to theory.
true maria could be a lot of things, I generally use not real to determine how she's different from the others who are what we consider normally weird. there's not an easy term for her. homunculus? dream person?
My husband isn't dying, thankfully (knock on wood), but he does have a number of chronic illnesses that prevent him from getting out of bed most days, and he's always in pain; I could see him writing a letter like that to his parents. People really underestimate how incredibly taxing being the sole caregiver of an infirm loved one is, and I can see how wanting to help his wife twisted in James's mind as he struggled to cope with the stress of caring for her on top of the looming specter of her impending death.
I could never, ever do what James did, even if my husband asked me to, but I understand the fear and dread that comes with never knowing if your partner will be alive the next time you come home from work.
that's the power of James character to me, I totally understand why he did what he did, and it's still wrong, but so understandable. it's a really human tragedy
My wife has extreme OCD. For 20 years it was always hard to live with, but when COVID hit, she had a complete breakdown. I saw my wife crumble away quickly in-front of my eyes. It was very painful and very difficult. It took her 3 years to get back to where she was before COVID. No one can understand how taxing and mentally damaging something like that can be on a spouse or loved ones until they live through it. When James says "its been a long three years"... believe me, I understand what he means. Knowing your spouse is going to die and living with that for three years... I can't even imagine. That's why this game hits everyone so hard. Its a horrible situation for both James and Mary.
That’s what I love about SH2 characters. They’re very nuanced. It’s clear that James did what he didn’t want Mary to suffer. He didn’t want to suffer seeing her suffer. It’s weird how relationships work. I do genuinely think James loved Mary, but I think during that love, it was somewhat twisted and intermingled with hate. Hatred at caring for a person who would never get better and rotting away. Hatred for a prospect of a future without a loved one. Hatred for feelings that would never be met(I’m referring to James’s sexual frustration by this). It must’ve been the same for Mary as well. It’s revealed that Mary wasn’t so innocent in this as well. She would often lash out at James. I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve had to take care of a loved one who was afflicted with a severe mental illness but I’ve had times where I’ve lashed out at family members/friends and vice versa. Those moments of regret are sometimes too hard to bear. These are people who raised you or who’ve put their trust in you and you hurt them. I think the reason why James and Mary’s relationship is so compelling is because it’s so realistic(maybe besides him taking her life part). There are definitely people out there who have gone through eerily similar situations. I think the whole spill was handled in a pretty competent and mature manner.
P.S. I hope your loved ones get better!
@@TerryRed OCD is such a crippling, debilitating condition, I'm sure it's been awful trying to find real support for the both of you. People like to minimize it as "quirky", so I know it can be hard to get folks to take it as the serious disorder it is. I'm glad she's managed to take steps to get back to level of normalcy, and I hope you two continue to heal.
@@OldEnemy1 I agree, it's incredibly realistic! Both of their perspectives are represented well, and the tragedy is that neither of them ever intended for things to end up as they did. I'm sure James never considered, in a million years, that he would ever murder his wife, and that's why he's in such denial. Mary never thought, in a million years, that she'd be dying and helpless, and her lashing out is part of her grieving process. Neither action is good, but it's all so understandable.
This is more directed at anyone reading comments (hello, reader!), but I know a lot of people struggle to understand why a sick person would be so cruel to someone taking care of them. Psychologically, it generally comes down to a lack of agency causing frustration; the early stages of dementia exhibit this kind of behavior really well. My grandmother went from a sweet old lady to always angry for two or three years, but once the dementia progressed to a certain point, she was much calmer. She was in denial about her condition for a long time, but after a point, she couldn't convince herself that she was okay anymore.
PS. Thank you for the well-wishes! He's working hard to get stronger, and I'll be happy to tell him that a stranger in the comments of a SH2 breakdown video wished him well, lol.
What is beautiful, is knowing there is a fan of the game. Person who is inspired. Thank you.
Thank you for watching!
@@thegamingmuse so nice to to able to watch your videos.
lmao, it's the most popular Silent Hill game, have you been living under a rock?
@@lainiwakura1776 th-cam.com/video/ZCBJ3Relo54/w-d-xo.html guess
@lainiwakura1776
Same thought. There are millions of fans. But I do appreciate the positive attitude, and good vibes, so what the hell right?
All of your video essays on Silent Hill are incredibly well done. I like that you took a little of all of them and summarized them into this video as a reminder of the themes just before the remake is set to come out.
This game meant a lot to me as a kid. Seeing a young guy fighting through madness to get to someone that isn’t there. Oof it hit hard.
Anyways I could beat it in around 48 minutes after I played it so much.
I think my best is about three hours, but I get lost a lot. This game means so much to so many people. I'm glad it's still being talked about today.
I know the “Leave” ending is the “good” ending, and makes sense with how James rises to face the two Pyramid Heads and states he doesn’t need them anymore, but I always thought the “In Water” ending makes a lot of sense, too, with James taking his own life as both punishment for what he has done but also being unable to move on from the death of his wife.
Not that suicide is ever the answer, but both endings I feel work.
Clearly the Dog ending is making the most sense! Only a dog could make this up!
Jokes aside but that's the beautiful thing about Silent Hill 2,you can imagine and interpret the endings at your own will and decide which you find canon. No one has to tell you that. You yourself decide.
Why is this, a horror game so comforting to me?
Great watch while I enjoy my tea and prepare for bed
we relate to the people in Silent Hill, James loneliness and confusion/desire to escape and eventual redemption appeals to us due to our desires and fears. We all want a silent heaven.
I never tire of hearing the lore of Silent Hill 2
"Man decays like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten."
The ending hit so hard. The terminally ill are still very much alive. I know you've talked about your own experiences with sitting at the bedside of a dying loved on. For me, my mom was terminally ill for most of my life, passing 8 years ago. I can only imagine, based on my own experience, how hard some of these final lines were for you to write but I am so glad you're out here challenging some of the ideas people have put forth. May we both continue on a healing journey.
Also I still can't read/hear the letter without tearing up. I'm not ready for the movie or to replay the game and yet, I am.
Mary: James, you made me happy.
TT.TT
After all these years since Silent Hill 2 came out, my opinion on James is this.
No matter what walk of life you come from, people can be worn down by their circumstances and do terrible things. I believe James did what he did partially for selfish reasons and the other as a mercy. Living with a chronically ill person is a constant drain on your empathy well. You never want to complain because what you're experiencing pales in comparison. For some, chronic pain can be so awful that death would be a welcome release.
Mary didn't actually die three years ago...
She was dead to him. Everything she was, everything she meant to him... Who she was died when she got sick, and was in the hospital.
She got sick three years ago. She actually died not that long ago.
SOme even say she is in the trunk of that car parked at the beginning of the game
36:40 - which also follows with the comment of the open fridge giving off a bad smell. Decay prehaps, maybe due to the ring representing a corpses face.
Decay is definitely a big part of the game. Everything feels aged and gone off.
I periodically check youtube for Silent Hill retrospectives and I conveniently have been on another kick recently because I'm trophy hunting the HD collection on ps3. This was right at the top of my feed this morning and it's perfect because i drive for work and these deep and long analysis videos are perfect to listen to on long trips. Very excited for this upload. You've already earned a like
Muse, your stuff is the best. Seriously, stellar work on this one. I’ve been working through some of your back catalogue and the amount of in-depth, understandable and genuinely insightful information that you give in pretty much all of your videos is fantastic. Really looking forward to your future projects!
I never thought of it that way. I always assumed that Laura was lying about meeting Mary last year when it was James lying about her dying 3 years ago. Man that one flew by me
Carnival of Souls & Jacobs ladder are very influential to this game. I would love for you to break down both of those movies
How was it inspired from Carnival of Souls?
Don't forget Twin Peaks.
I mean it straight up stole most of its narrative and themes from Lost Highway
@@Smonkus_
Never saw Lost Highway but I am familiar with the soundtrack, being a NIN fan. 🤘
@@Yuzoboy I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone, but all I could say is the 'otherworld" is pretty prevalent among other things
Beautifully written!
Thank you!
I just can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the remake there’s an overwhelming about of new tiny details and mysteries and endings
Excellent analysis. Loved the first one, of course, and got excited to see an upload of this. Takes a lot of love to do so much homework to put these videos together. These are quite a treat. Thank you! Looking forward to your analysis on Silent Hill 3. ❤❤❤
Your videos are always a delight for me to listen to while working. Thank you ❤
thank you! I'm glad u like them
YESSSSS!!! LOVE YOUR CHANNEL
Silent Hill 2 has the most unique story telling about characters facing their inner most trauma and guilt. It's like the town itself is putting them on a trial of facing the crimes they've committed, and must seek redemption. Angela is the most tragic of all characters, and what she'd gone through is indeed the type of pain she could never escape nor she could ever be healed from that trauma. When she walks slowly towards the fire, was her way to get away from the pain, and as for Eddie. We all know there wasn't no redeeming of his own crimes, nor he feels guilty of what he's done. It's cool that we as a player can decide James' fate in the game, weather or not we can redeem his guilt or not. It still makes me very curious about the remake, and how they gonna change the aspect of the original game, cause it's obvious that Blooper Team aren't gonna go through with the risky themes that Team Silent did with the original.
The way you opened the video, not only works as a perfect description of the intro to silent Hill to but suddenly made me realize how many similarities silent hill to has with the David Lynch movie lost Highway from 1997. I wonder now if by chance the movie was an inspiration after all the original silent Hill has a reference to the Dario Argento movie demons, well Dario Argento produced that movie
it was! a lot of David Lynch is in sh but this game in particular was influenced by lost highway.
Really brilliant analysis, nice work!
Doesn’t matter how many videos about silent hill 2 I watch, I can always watch more
beautiful work, muse!!
OMG woman... i freakin LOVE you and your content! lmao
SH 1/2/3 are my all time favorite games and the way you cover them always uncovers more of the things that I love about them...
thank you for all of your hard work in doing these deep dives and narratives. they are amazing!
Fabulous analysis! A+
You know, I never realized the symbolism of Angela's wardrobe. And that's just the start of this video.
U did a wonderfull job, as usually. But the video is little bit dark, I mean the brightness or gamma can be a little up next time.
Keep up the good work!
I always felt so bad for Maria
It’s okay. She’s not people.
Why? She's literally a manifestation of the same demon as Pyramid Head. The only difference is the symbolic meaning she holds for James. She's still something the Demon conjured up to torture James though.
Just finished watching this video, and I have to say your video essays are always so well made. It's a blessing to have a SH fan like you. ❤
Plus, the scene at 54:59 is epic. The lighting, the framing, the atmosphere...
Excellent analysis and video essay. Kudos. 😊
As someone who has lived with chronic, once terminal, illness, I feel incredibly seen and empathized with. Thank you so much. Some of my ex friends described Mary as an abusive bitch. I…couldn’t believe it.
Amazing and beautiful analysis. If I could give an award or money for this, I absolutely would.
I deeply enjoy content like this. You go into great depth in this analysis, thanks a lot for your effort.
I absolutely love your videos covering SH and the high level of dedication to the subject. Keep up the good work.
thank you sm!
Good analysis and great takes and insights. Like the thing about Angela's red pants, never thought of that, very sad and disturbing.
What a beautiful yet horrifying masterpiece this game is.
This whole analysis is amazing .. I think you did a wonderful job covering almost everything. However, I wish you covered a few points. One is when the game started, and in the bathroom, you can see posters of "Heaven's Night" with Maria's face on them. That always was interesting to me. Another thing is about the real face of Pyramid Head: him having James head under the pyramid mask. Ofc, we live this story from James's perspective, but I've always wondered what the story would be if we were to live SH through Eddie's or Angela's lenses. Having a different main character would mostly shape SH differently, and I wonder then if we will ever see James as part of their stories.
a lot is cut out to keep this concise, but I have a lot more in depth vids that cover topics like these c:
Masahiro Ito said, regarding the hole graffiti, that to him it represented James' alcoholism.
He used to crawl into the bottom of a bottle to hide from his problems but now, in Silent Hill, that hole is gone and he has nowhere left to hide.
Fantastic video. Extremely well written, narrorated, and edited.
This was a pleasure to watch. Can't thank you enough for posting.
Edit: Please do Silent Hill 3. 😂
Thanks Muse, for this nice reminder before october 8.
You're welcome!
Love me some Silent Hill 2!
I can see only the Water ending for James. I don't believe he can come back from this crime. He is done.
Rebirth might be a viable choice too.
Hope the remake can make me feel even 25 percent as immersed as the original
I'm excited, however it turns out, it's so neat that SH2 is relevant again.
you can see the awful night an day difference between the original and the reboot.
its more of a silent hill homecoming type of game rather than the original SH2 game. it's awfully butchered for whatever reason bloober also didn't understand a single horror or unnerving original's game aspects or mechanics.
A Silent Hill analysis from the Gamingmuse. An automatic thumbs up.
Agreed 💯
Great video! And I’ve seen lots.
One thing, Ito said that Pyramid head is not abusing the mannequins at any moment.
I really am curious to see if Muse will do a review and comparison of the forthcoming remake when that drops in Early October. I’ve had my doubts about the remake and Bloober Team’s ability to capture the magic of the original title. They’ve clearly made some substantial changes to the look and design of the characters and environments. I’m genuinely interested to see if Muse likes the remake or not, and how she feels it stacks up.
I definitely will!
I am going to play this game again because of your videos. it would be my 2nd time since I first played a decade plus ago. The soundtrack is eerie and It never left my playlist ever since.
I'm glad my work inspired you! It's a game I replay often.
More more more 🥳
Fantastic video and I finally got to learn a little bit more about Eddie since I didn't see you make much on him
I'm actually working on a vid on him rn!
21:46 I always saw that as James looking into a mirror.
Just finished it today at 5 am. It broke me.
this is my fifth analysis of sh2 now
This was amazing! Thank you !
As long as the remake approaches the topics of guilt and abuse with the same subtlety that the original does, I think it'll be just fine :)
A NEW THEGAMINGMUSE SILENT HILL VIDEO?????? AND ITS AN HOUR LONG????? YES!!!!!!!!
Have you ever read the SilentPyramid plot analysis of the Silent Hill games? I never see anyone talking about it really but in my mind it's the best document for unpacking everything in there, even if it's unfinished.
Thanks muse!
You are a treasure for going through all this effort to bring us this outstanding analysis. So grateful for you and your unwavering dedication and expertise ❤️
Thank you!
AMAZING VIDEO ❤
Here after finishing the remake
woah woah, mary is in the car trunk?! i had no idea! thats darrrrk.
Not in the trunk... In the back seat.
That's just a rumour due to a publication back in the day. Considering the timeline it never made sense, but it kept being repeated due to it... sounding cool and bizarre i guess?
@@makoto4341
With the "in water" ending is possible to interpret that James took Mary's body to the car with him due to the violents movements that can be heard.
And Laura's age points that Mary didn't die that long ago.
Also, "My wife died three years ago" could be related to the beginning of her sickness.
Just trying to explain that point of view because that was my impression without reading any analisys of the game yet.
33:25 Am I missing something here? I’ve never had that impression of the nurses
i read that the original artwork had baby faces on those nurses. Maybe that softness of the nurses faces is what one "could" interpret the way muse did.
Great deep dive into SH2!
Thank you!
@@thegamingmuseyou’re welcome!
I never played this game on the PS2 and it looks amazing.
If Gods will I will see Muse playing Sillent Hill 2 Remake and then I will buy it on PC to play it too and complete it till 100%.
Have a nice day to you Muse and your subscribers 🙂❤️
WOOOOOOOOOOOO YEAAAAAAH BABY!
I actually never made the connection between James' dad and the apartments and him having this connection to the place! Even though it is more of an afterthought being possible by the Room existing.
Loved the video, thank you for putting this together and shedding light on this deep story. Where can I find the music? Looked it up but I can't find it. Would love to listen to those ambient tracks.
check just happy burgers yt channel!
@thegamingmuse thank you so much! There's a typo on your description that's why I had trouble finding it at that time
❤❤❤❤ thanks for this great video
You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed it :D
hey muse, any interest on discussing suda51 games? would love to hear some kickass writing from you about them! great video btw
amazing analysis. 🙂
thank you!
Great analysis. Sometimes I think this game is over-analyzed though. Saying Angela’s red pants represent bleeding is quite a stretch.
I don't think it does; but it brings it to mind for me (playing it again after having learned her story) and I could never shake the connection. I don't think her designer would have chosen red without some consideration on it.
What do the eggs that open the two doors after defeating Pyramid Head symbolize?
My personal theory: running off the whole Christian themed, Maria's sacrifice as Jesus kind of thing, eggs are connected to Easter, and in the modern day is a holiday celebrating Jesus's resurrection after the crucifixion. The two eggs - one described more pleasantly than the other - could represent the two paths James' "resurrection" will take: a good ending or a bad one.
i will love the remake ❤childhood memories ❤️
Does anybody else think Mary being in the backseat makes the "Leave" ending pretty awkward? Sorry, just a bad joke but now you're thinking about it.
tysm. i would love to see your thoughts on the dlc part, born from a wish
I believe Maria was a real person but only one James new on surface level. Lady Maria was a stripper that reminded him of his wife but only because of her name and maybe her similar looks. As most likely James would visit the strip joint right down the block after visiting Mary. And perhaps in a way his Maria entity encompasses the negative aspects of Mary that he wanted to forget.
Remake being twice as long as the OG already tells me it will not be as good.
Wait a minute, his dead wife was in the car when he arrived? Enlighten me!!
It’s one of those old rumors that gained steam but never confirmed.
i am commenting to increase engagement metrics
ty!
first played this in 2020 after my friend recommended it, no experience has matched sh2+3 (other than the xbox ninja gaiden trilogy)
pet peeves so far
1. the endings are ambiguous i somewhat dislike the firm narrative you seem to be taking
2. 6:16 plant life is life, the most true form of life there is
The endings are ambiguous, but they are built on a pretty solid narrative. A lot of things remain constant, what changes is how you interpret James' behavior, and the way he decides to go in the end.
an hour long video where not every part of the game is analyzed, but only briefly discussed is crazy.
this is a brief overview to cover the highlights, but I have over 115 videos on the series if you'd like more in depth vids
Are you a writer ?!
Anyone know what song plays in the background starting at 38:57?
Hey there! Thanks for enjoying the track - this should be it 😎
th-cam.com/video/ST2h6Hpo-RY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VmD-7Lki-57SM87p
Am I losing my mind or is this video a reupload?
a lot of this is from older videos or my written works, it's a redo to create a new vid to bring in people just checking out sh2 content now that the remake is coming. so if you've been watching the channel a whil you prolly recognize it. thanks for watching it anyway!
Who delivers pizza in Silent Hill?
dominos silent hill
For the algo...🎉🎉🎉
ty!
Hey
I never thought of this before, but in Mary's full letter at the end, she mentions having done something that James will never forgive her for. What could that be? Simply getting sick? That doesn't make sense, getting sick and dying isn't unforgivable. Is Mary as innocent as we've been lead to believe?
She was quite quick to lash out👀 maybe she could of possibly been bipolar and maybe that gave James all the more reason to do what he did. Maria’s personality’s changing in an instant could be a trait of Mary’s
Why does this video feel like AI?
bc I use a monotone voice but if u take a look at the backlog I've been doing it for years, long before ai was a thing. so you know. maybe don't discount my work cause u don't like the voice
🙊👍
The body being in the car isn't canon though, the game never says this.
James originally goes to town to kill himself. It makes more sense that he’d bring Mary with him than leave her at home.
This is only further solidified by Silent Hill 4 stating that the not just James, but Mary too went missing.
It's never discussed in game, but word of god has confirmed it, so it's basically canon. I wouldn't be surprised if its addressed in the remake.
@@thegamingmuse It's already been addressed in the game, James has her body in the Rebirth ending. If she's not in the car, how does he get it?
@@_GeneralMechanics_exactly
I feel like the body in the car is one of the most misunderstood easter eggs in the game.
I don't think it was meant to be cannon.
You can only find it on repeat playthroughs. I think it was a subtle joke about how the player's "clung to their emotional baggage". Like, "You completed the game and are back here. Just dragging the corpse of Mary back out of the grave now, aren't we?"
God why is my TH-cam being flooded by silent hill 2 analysis videos. There is SOOO many of these 😂
The remake
Why the fuck would you spoil the big spoil not even two minutes in. People are going to be coming to the video that haven't experienced the game that are interested in it because of the remake. RIP.
And why the f*ck people who havent played the game would want to watch an analysis video? Of course there will be spoilers in this video. It's not called an analysis for nothing you genius 🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦
People should know better than watching COMPLETE ANALYSIS of stuff they don't want to be spoiled of
@sekilhos4176 That's true but there should of been a spoiler warning just in case.
@@VibinWithBrian231 No because it is not needed in this case. Title itself is a spoiler warning. Just use your brain.
@@Xhanatos you don't have to be a dick about it.
WTF is that thumping sound?! It's distracting and annoying!
i disagree with the concept of maria not being real. there are so many possibilities of what maria is. im also of the belief that the monsters are real, as they are in the first and third games. just on a different plane of existence. a lot of people like to chalk almost everything up to james's visions caused by trauma but in my opinion the whole point of silent hill is that the actual place itself a like a hellmouth with gods and creatures roaming around in different planes of reality. this applies to james as it applied to harry heather and henry. i almost see maria as a mix between what heather and memory of alessa are but with mary instead. also i sometimes see her as a bystander possessed by the town with her face being an illusion by the town. it could really be anything because its all up to theory.
true maria could be a lot of things, I generally use not real to determine how she's different from the others who are what we consider normally weird. there's not an easy term for her. homunculus? dream person?