The leave ending was always the most satisfying to me and made the most sense. After making peace with Mary's passing and reading her letter, he didn't despair and give up hope like Angela, for a in water ending, and he didn't give in to his delusions like Eddie and fall in love with a fantasy and idealized version of Mary in the Maria ending. He made peace with himself and chose to move on and start a new life with Laura who represents a adopted daughter of Mary and James. Its the Canon ending in my heart lol.
I think James was already dead when he got to town. Laura too (was in the hospital with Mary for a long time, probably also had something terminal). And they're both able to move on, out of the purgatory like state. Just my thoughts.
@trentonhuggins465 yeah, james committed sui@$de, that's why you find his body on the couch with his brains blown out, I think angela and Eddie along with James are murderers that took the easy way out by sui#$de, and are facing judgment. And the town of silent hill is the only connection these three had in common in real life, like it was james honeymoon location, a very important moment in his life, but him being in his own hell, is seeing the town as a hellish nightmare
@trentonhuggins465 Yes, that's a good way of looking at it. If that was the case, at least they all moved from purgatory and went an afterlife in peace with each other.
Someone brought up a good point: In the stillness ending you can hear the car door open after the ignition is activated. This doesn’t happen in the “in the water” ending. It suggests James got out of the car and gave Mary a watery burial. I think this makes sense given that Mary forgave him in this ending and that he asked her if she’d wait for him. If he was going to unalive right there, she wouldn’t need to wait. “Stillness” may be a reference to his emotional state afterwards: not fearful, hateful, angry, in denial, or happy, just stillness. Stillness as he waits for the time they can be together again in the afterlife.
That's what I was thinking, when I heard the car door. But I'll tell you what... I started *bawling* right along with him. Not to get depressing, but after my recent loss, I leaned into this game for support. I couldn't handle seeing him shake and cry like that 😅
Yes, and they show the part ignition start in the dark which one is stillness. Nevertheless, in water part we see the ignition is started visually and after that is nothings else. He just drives into lake and crashing. The things is that i am really dubious is that we hear explosion when he drives into lake which means that it is really hard to get alive from there. It would be better if they remove explosion part so we can expect him to be alive.
The cycle continues, only Maria isn't blessed with a husband who loves her and will stay by her side. James sees Maria as an escape, as a fantasy, and when she inevitably succumbs to her fate, he'll throw her aside. At least James loved Mary. Maria isn't so "lucky".
At 19:03 he says "it was a long three years", this means that Mary did not die 3 years ago, like James says at the beginning of the game. Mary just died very recently, but when James first learned that she was terminally ill 3 years prior, he already felt like his wife was dead. That makes sense also in the ending where Mary dead body is the car: she's not been rotting there for 3 years, she was killed by James maybe that very day. The fact that James felt like he was already speaking to a dead person for 3 years is omega sad
Mary "died" 3 years ago to James because that's when she started getting sick and James started resenting her for it. You're right in that she died recently. Her body is in the backseat of the car and James just snapped into denial at the start of the game looking into the mirror in the restroom.
also makes sense because how the hell are you going to kill your wife and live free for 3 years. i started wondering that towards the end of the game. thought he may have killed her very recently and came to silent hill partially to escape police.
@baka_ali69 I'm sorry I didn't specify, silent hill 2 for the ps2 had 5 endings (I think) the one we got its called the leave ending which is probably the most family friendly one lol. In my opinion the original ps2 game did the leave ending better, look it up on TH-cam and let me know what you think
I've seen so many absolutely insane takes on this story that I feel like people are playing an entirely different game with completely different characters, and the sheer lack of ability to understand nuance and morally grey scenarios that I feel the need to throw my thoughts out into the void just to say it because its driving me nuts at how reductively people are discussing one of my favorite stories of all time. It feels like the leave ending is what the town itself is pushing James toward, the town isn't trying to outright punish James to me but more so trying to make him understand that he did a horrible thing for very complex reasons. Like his entire conversation with "Mary" where he says he did it because he hated her but then the towns apparition of Mary points out to him if that were really true he wouldn't be so torn up about it and in reality would've just left her rather than stick by her all those years. Part of him did hate and resent her, but put yourself in his shoes where you have to watch day after day the person you love most whither away in absolute agony as their body falls apart, having to hear them cry in pain as they look to you with tears in their eyes begging you for help and to make it stop while all you can do is put on a brave face, hold them and tell them its going to be okay when you know for a fact that's not true. This continues for years as your entire life revolves around trying to be there for them and as the illness progresses they start lashing out at everyone and everything including you, emotionally and verbally abusing all the while you have to sit there and take it because you know they're only acting like this because of their horrific fate and you can't really blame them regardless of how much it hurts. That's when the bad thoughts start, the bubbling resentment from the abuse and having to halt your entire life for this person, the lingering looks at potential lovers as you yearn for the physical touch and affection they can no longer give you; but these thoughts make you feel like an absolute fucking monster, how can you possibly even think like this when the person you love is slowly dying in absolute misery? You hate yourself, the guilt from even pondering those thoughts drives you further and further into self loathing that you cannot even express as how can you even think of self pity when they're in such a sorry state, how dare you feel bad for yourself and not them? So you turn to drinking to try to cope with the whirlwind of self loathing, guilt, and pain of the entire situation but it never helps only makes it worse as you begin to lose sleep, contemplate killing yourself, them, or both of you just to make this nightmare end. Part of James did hate and resent Mary as unfair as he knows that is, but he also loved her more than anything in the world and after YEARS of enduring this absolute hell consumed by hate, self loathing, grief, love, and anguish James made the selfish, straight up evil decision to kill Mary. He did it both to end their mutual suffering in an effort to selfishly take back his own life and because he couldn't bear to watch anymore as the person he loved suffered until she slowly withered away and died. James immediately completely snapped mentally under the weight of what he just did as regardless of how many times she pleaded for death she also wanted to live out her last days at home and die with the person she loved, that wasn't his choice to make and that realization broke him completely. Which is when he put Mary's body in the back of his car and drove to the town they both loved so much seemingly to kill himself both to atone for what he did and run from the guilt he couldn't bear. The leave ending shows that James took from the town what it was trying to show him that while what he did was horrific, he can't chalk it up to him being a monster who now needs to die for his sins as it was never that binary. James did a horrible thing for a multitude of nuanced reasons and suicide would simply be him running from it. James needs to live with what he has done and find some way to move on with his life the way Mary wanted then maybe at some point find some measure of happiness because then everything he and Mary went through wasn't for nothing. People somehow finding a way to reduce James and Mary's story down to James is an evil prick who wanted to murder his wife to go bang hot nurses or James is my lil pookie who loved his wife and did nothing wrong is fucking maddening and does such a disservice to what I believe to be one of the finest not just horror stories but stories in general I have ever seen in any medium.
Thanks for explaining this. I never played the OG Silent Hill 2 but already knew a lot of the lore before going into the remake. Really enjoyed the remake (got the In Water ending) and I can see how games like Signalis and Cry of Fear were heavily inspired by SH2. Your explanation of the story and what's implied is really helpful and I appreciate it.
@@GRmasterpiece I’m glad you found some use for it, I’ve just seen so many takes online that drive me insane since the remake boost in popularity that I had to just write out my thoughts regarding the James slander. There’s so much more to discuss regarding the games themes, story, characters, design, etc but I’ve seen so many people trying to make James a black and white, good or evil character when to me the part that makes it so good is that it’s impossible to pin down in such a binary manner and the moral ambiguity is what makes it so compelling.
This was beautifully said omg. I never played the original but after watching my roommate play and reading your explaination, all the pieces fell together. Thank you!
Its weirdly nice that even in a more advanced game, they still kept the awkward as fuck twitching and shifting between the models for the boss rather than an actual transformation
I'm disappointed that they made the "in water" ending basically a much worse one by not showing the final dialogue between them like in the "leave" ending. I thought it was beautiful yet very tragic by the fact that having that discussion with Mary, James is able to come at peace with her and himself, but wanted to "join" her as he couldn't live without her. Here it's just a sad (and clearly, "bad") ending.
Well when you think about it. In water wouldnt make sense to come after the chat with Maria. "You're suffering for what you did to me, its enough james, it's okay" and then immediately jump to killing himself
@@chriskoloski32 bcs he still feels bad, killing your wife isnt something that just goes away with an apology, even thou he fel was the best to do it it is still something that fucks your mind
@@chriskoloski32 To me that line always implied that she was saying it was okay for him to end his suffering, like maybe he hadn't killed himself YET because he felt like he didn't deserve to, like he had to live with what he had done. Or maybe he was scared to see her in the after life and face her. It felt like she gave him permission to let go and be with her.. The OG version of that ending is definitely much better in that way.
Just finished the game, got Maria's ending even though I just didn't want to miss any piece of dialogue, hence my interactions with Maria leading to this ending I guess. Kinda frustrated, it was quite abrupt and immediately followed with a metal music right after in the credits which surprised me a bit. A masterpiece though, really an amazing game. Now you'll excuse me, I have to reflect on my actions leading to Maria's ending, and how blind I was to her real goal LMFAO (Quite funny as I also got a frustrating ending in SIGNALIS, I guess I'm cursed with these games)
You might be able to reload just before the twin pyramid head fight and get the other ending. I actually got all three main endings on my first playthrough by reloading. Just use the rust egg and make sure you listen to all of Mary's lines in the hallway
If you don't want maria ending, avoid her as much as you can, never visit her, and never look out for her. Idk what ending you want but that's my advice for no maria ending lol
I’ve never thought about any of these endings as “good or bad”. Silent Hill 2’s themes are too complex to just put into one category or the other. I don’t think we’re asked to judge James but more to view things as they play out and see it as he sees it (the world, the monsters, the fog). I’ve always found it weird that people focus on calling James a bad guy for what he did, it’s not about morality, it’s about a broken man’s psyche as he journeys into his own hell.
Man, I wonder which ending they’re going to go with for the movie. It’s be pretty cool if they filmed all (or most) of them and put the unused ones as extras on the Blu-ray like they did with the movie 1408.
I mean, Christopher Gans is a good director and Silent Hill (first one) was a good movie... it just feels like a Summer salad where too many ingredients are mixed-up. If you watched Silent Hill and making-of multiple times like me, you could see Gans has a deep love of the franchise and tried his best. SH was quite deeper than people think. So... since the second movie was a mess, I just expect he'll actually focus on SH2 and James story for this movie and not just another guy that goes back in the town from the movie with yet another weird cocktails of things from the licence and fan-services.
@@Brieg_Skald were you meaning to reply to someone else? I mentioned the possibility of multiple filmed endings, not the lore of the first two movies (the second having nothing to do with any of the games) or anything of the directors.
it would be cool (and incredibly ballsy) if they gave those different cuts of the film to different theaters, so it's like everyone gets their own personal "canon" ending the same way as if they played the game
So they made the popular ending of the OG (In Water) worse by James and Mary not having that convo in Leave and just have him offing himself, rather than the acceptance of what he did and wanting to join her. THEN they took that ending and decide to give it a slight tweak and addition and called it an original ending (Still)
@@lyonsrobbie999 he definitely jumped off while making the car crash into the river, hear how the door opened and the rain suddenly got louder? + why would james say "will you wait for me?" If he was just gonna off himself?
Just finished this game 10/10 its so good they could've made it a movie! Im glad i got the leaving ending it makes more sense i think the UFO ending is cool but i would've been disappointed if i had got that ending lol
@@3122kratos They changed it with their "Space James" bs but original ufo ending was the protagonist of the 1 (Harry Mason) coming to abduct James with aliens (as Harry was abducted himself in the ufo ending of the 1). Then, the story goes on with the ufo ending of the 3. I don't understand why they change the ufo ending to make it that lame in the remake..
@@DustofClouds They changed it because modeling a 4k Harry for a 1 minute gag is kind of a waste of time. If they remade silent hill 1 first, they would've done it like the og by repurposing Harry's remake model. A lot of people liked seeing old James anyways so the gag's fine imo
I got the in Water ending as my 1 ending 😢 today, and I couldn't stop crying it was the saddest one for me and I got that one damn it. Eddie dead, Angela dead, Maria dead and James taking his own life
My guess is that James sees himself in the view finder of the camera and notices that his “present self” is now in the video/time before Mary’s sickness. Because I’m sure James didn’t look exactly like he does now as he did back then on that video. But, I don’t think he’s meant to literally be there in the video with Mary because he took white claudia(a hallucinogen) before playing the tape. If you notice, the audio on James speaking is much clearer compared to Mary, almost like James is responding out loud to the screen while watching. So I think it’s actually James hallucinating that he’s there with Mary, but in reality dies from the white claudia, hence why he’s no longer there when the camera turns off. And because that tape is the last thing he’s seeing and thinking of before dying, technically it’s like he’s there with her in that time for eternity. Which for James would be… Bliss. That being said, I don’t know all the lore behind white claudia, I just have the base knowledge that it’s a hallucinogen, and I don’t know if it has the magical ability to actually put James in a video tape/different time. But considering this game deals with the idea of time loops, I wouldn’t put it past it lol
I’m confused with “The Maria Ending”. What does it mean when they are walking back to the car and Maria coughs? Does that mean she gets sick, does she become the new Mary? 🤔
It's basically a loop. James never learned anything during his journey in Silent Hill so he will be doomed to repeat the pain of losing another loved one.
It means he only thinks he's moved on. He thinks he found a better woman, he thinks everything is going to be all right now, but it's going to come back on him. Basically he didn't learn his lesson, so God isn't done with him yet.
@@as-h989 I've thought about it too as "love" is too strong to use in James' situation. Maria is like a substitute for Mary and I don't know if James will ever love Maria. Maybe he does as he chose Maria over Mary in the "Maria Ending" at least
I dont understand the bliss ending Edit: also "in water" and "still" ending are basically the same thing, still ending just eases up on the depressing part
so to get the bliss ending you gotta drink this hallucigenic drug called white claudia and during the game he's literally making shit up Tldr he never uncovers the fact he killed mary and still thinks they lived happily before her death
I got 6/8(dont want achieve ufo/dog endings) endings in that game and I love them all, they looks great, characters facial expression, how they talk, how they look on each other, but mostly likely ending for me is “stillness” ending. This is an ever more sadder ending than “in water”. Maria ending good too. It shows Mary's disappointment and that she doesn't forgive James for what he did.
more like he got sucked into the tape to be with that version of Mary forever as a way to cope and not accept her death and go into a false reality where he is always with her.
He basically consumed poison and watched the tape for the last time, thus subconsciously living this moment all over again in the reality his mind made up where Mary isn't dead
That's just how the tape actually ends. The scene where you see James choking his wife is a trick from Silent Hill. James didn't actually filmed that. lol
If you get the Toluca Lake Post card (item for stillness ending), you're locked to Stillness even if you have all the items for the Rebirth ending. Just tried it last night
Just finished this game and loved it, my only gripe is that they shortened the letter from Mary, there were some lines in there that would have destroyed me.
You aren't. The ending you get is dependent on your general actions and choices throughout the game, not any set course. If you show that you care about yourself and the people around you, you can leave. If you're infatuated with Maria and give into your emotions, you take Maria with you. If you show that you truly don't care about whether you live or die, you end up in the lake. Welcome to Silent Hill 2.
I just finished the game for the first time and got the Maria ending. Not that pleased with it... Is there a way for me to get another ending without replaying the entire game again? The saves I can go back to are all in the hotel, can't go any further back.
Ig you can try to take some damage and stare at Angela's knife 10000x and Mary's letter. Also take your personal belongings during that elevator mode. But maybe that won't be enough. Or if you're lucky and take the personal item with you, the Maria ending won't trigger cause you usually need to leave Marys pic in the locker.
@@KyIieB I went back to the save right before the two pyramid heads and got the Leave ending just by opening the door with the rusted egg. Previously I opened the door with the scarlet egg and got the Maria ending. It's weird that one simple choice like that can impact the ending you get in the game.
In Still it's implied that James doesn't kill himself. If you listen very carefully there's a sound effect for the car door opening. So it's like James jammed the gas pedal down and sent the car into the lake. I had to listen a couple times to pick up on it, it's hard to discern at first.
@@Tyrok-2000 It could have happened indeed and that's interesting... that endorses the timeloop theory. But yeah, the difference mostly lies in the fact James imagine a dialogue before going away.
How do you get so many different endings when there's not really any choices in the game? I think the funny endings take away from the game. Not that Easter eggs are bad its just idk I like my horror games to be horror. If I had gotten a funny ending I would have been disappointed.
That's the actual content of the tape James made before leaving Silent Hill with Maria, before she got sick and... you know the rest. What you actually see in the game is a deformation from Silent Hill the town does to make James face reality and accept the truth.
The one you want to be real. I really like In Water tbh, everyone says it is the worst just because it's depressing af. But bro, if you killed your wife 3 days ago and after it you saw all that stuff in Silent Hill, wouldn't you think you're better dead?
This game has no Canon Ending. You choose the one that feels right for you. But the Leave and In-Water endings are the ones that fits most with the story of the game
In the original, the dog ending was never vocally translated for some reason so even in the NTSC versions it was in Japanese, as Silent Hill 2 is a Japanese developed game. For this remake Bloober team kept the same concept alive by having James speak Polish as Bloober is a Polish studio.
how supose get other endings? i just died 3 times whole game on standard mode & my ending was *MARIA ENDING* anyway nice game ( im not horror fan games. i scared alot finish this game :D )
A bit uncanny valley with the jaw. Same with Angella, their jaws were just too blocky. found a mod that made it less uncanny valley but still kept it to how it looks in remake.
I could have saved my time not watching this play though. Was very borning and the story was borning. Yeah it had a cool idea and great game details but I didn’t feel anything towards any of the characters. (I don’t need to trauma or experience in life to understand a damn fake game. Yall some sad ass people🤣)
Once you go through enough trauma in life, you will circle back to this game and connect with it. This whole game is just trauma if it manifested into reality.
Single endings work with movies, TV shows, and books because they are passive experiences. Video games are interactive, you are an active participant, so shouldn't there be multiple endings that depend on how you played the game?
the multiple endings just imply that james does this over and over again. that's why we find corpses around the game that look like him, and puzzles from the original already solved.
@@malcomalexander9437 i am going to stick with silent hill 2 as this video is about that so, the game’s multiple endings aren’t just about player choice in a typical sense rather, they are influenced by subtle player behavior, such as how often the player examines certain items or interacts with specific parts of the environment. This approach is meant to immerse players into James’s fractured psyche and i do not buy this 💩. I don't care about your question.
“You better do something about that cough”
Bro had another pillow ready💀
After you beat the game you unlock Pillow. It has a special ability to insta-kill any target that coughs.
lol 💀😊
The leave ending was always the most satisfying to me and made the most sense. After making peace with Mary's passing and reading her letter, he didn't despair and give up hope like Angela, for a in water ending, and he didn't give in to his delusions like Eddie and fall in love with a fantasy and idealized version of Mary in the Maria ending. He made peace with himself and chose to move on and start a new life with Laura who represents a adopted daughter of Mary and James. Its the Canon ending in my heart lol.
I think James was already dead when he got to town. Laura too (was in the hospital with Mary for a long time, probably also had something terminal). And they're both able to move on, out of the purgatory like state. Just my thoughts.
So I got the bad ending 😭😭😭
@trentonhuggins465 yeah, james committed sui@$de, that's why you find his body on the couch with his brains blown out, I think angela and Eddie along with James are murderers that took the easy way out by sui#$de, and are facing judgment. And the town of silent hill is the only connection these three had in common in real life, like it was james honeymoon location, a very important moment in his life, but him being in his own hell, is seeing the town as a hellish nightmare
@@trentonhuggins465 Yeah I think this makes the most sense.
@trentonhuggins465 Yes, that's a good way of looking at it. If that was the case, at least they all moved from purgatory and went an afterlife in peace with each other.
Someone brought up a good point:
In the stillness ending you can hear the car door open after the ignition is activated. This doesn’t happen in the “in the water” ending. It suggests James got out of the car and gave Mary a watery burial.
I think this makes sense given that Mary forgave him in this ending and that he asked her if she’d wait for him. If he was going to unalive right there, she wouldn’t need to wait.
“Stillness” may be a reference to his emotional state afterwards: not fearful, hateful, angry, in denial, or happy, just stillness. Stillness as he waits for the time they can be together again in the afterlife.
James decides to live on with his life, despite such emotional setbacks
That's what I was thinking, when I heard the car door. But I'll tell you what... I started *bawling* right along with him. Not to get depressing, but after my recent loss, I leaned into this game for support. I couldn't handle seeing him shake and cry like that 😅
beautifully put.
Yes, and they show the part ignition start in the dark which one is stillness. Nevertheless, in water part we see the ignition is started visually and after that is nothings else. He just drives into lake and crashing. The things is that i am really dubious is that we hear explosion when he drives into lake which means that it is really hard to get alive from there. It would be better if they remove explosion part so we can expect him to be alive.
"Better do something about that cough"
My heart is rend asunder
The cycle continues, only Maria isn't blessed with a husband who loves her and will stay by her side. James sees Maria as an escape, as a fantasy, and when she inevitably succumbs to her fate, he'll throw her aside. At least James loved Mary. Maria isn't so "lucky".
@@slayerangel6597 I thought it implied that he would kill her too.
@@JonathanCameron80085 precisely
At 19:03 he says "it was a long three years", this means that Mary did not die 3 years ago, like James says at the beginning of the game. Mary just died very recently, but when James first learned that she was terminally ill 3 years prior, he already felt like his wife was dead. That makes sense also in the ending where Mary dead body is the car: she's not been rotting there for 3 years, she was killed by James maybe that very day. The fact that James felt like he was already speaking to a dead person for 3 years is omega sad
Mary "died" 3 years ago to James because that's when she started getting sick and James started resenting her for it. You're right in that she died recently. Her body is in the backseat of the car and James just snapped into denial at the start of the game looking into the mirror in the restroom.
also makes sense because how the hell are you going to kill your wife and live free for 3 years. i started wondering that towards the end of the game. thought he may have killed her very recently and came to silent hill partially to escape police.
always thought that he initially came to silent hill to dispose mary's body because it was a good candidate to do so
With the remake new ending. The Still ending has just as much as a legitimate canon ending as 'in water' does now after watching this.
That also makes sense for the dialogue between James and Laura when he’s questioning her about seeing Mary last year in the hospital
Just finished the game 30 minutes ago. An instant masterpiece. This remake is insane
What ending did u get?
@@TheMemeXp1 I just fininshed too, I got the one where James leaves with Laura. Is that good?
@baka_ali69 I got that one too I liked it but the original did it better imo
@baka_ali69 I'm sorry I didn't specify, silent hill 2 for the ps2 had 5 endings (I think) the one we got its called the leave ending which is probably the most family friendly one lol. In my opinion the original ps2 game did the leave ending better, look it up on TH-cam and let me know what you think
Gameplay is so boring , same 3 melee moves and same 3 guns. 😂 puzzles every 10 seconds too
I've seen so many absolutely insane takes on this story that I feel like people are playing an entirely different game with completely different characters, and the sheer lack of ability to understand nuance and morally grey scenarios that I feel the need to throw my thoughts out into the void just to say it because its driving me nuts at how reductively people are discussing one of my favorite stories of all time.
It feels like the leave ending is what the town itself is pushing James toward, the town isn't trying to outright punish James to me but more so trying to make him understand that he did a horrible thing for very complex reasons. Like his entire conversation with "Mary" where he says he did it because he hated her but then the towns apparition of Mary points out to him if that were really true he wouldn't be so torn up about it and in reality would've just left her rather than stick by her all those years. Part of him did hate and resent her, but put yourself in his shoes where you have to watch day after day the person you love most whither away in absolute agony as their body falls apart, having to hear them cry in pain as they look to you with tears in their eyes begging you for help and to make it stop while all you can do is put on a brave face, hold them and tell them its going to be okay when you know for a fact that's not true. This continues for years as your entire life revolves around trying to be there for them and as the illness progresses they start lashing out at everyone and everything including you, emotionally and verbally abusing all the while you have to sit there and take it because you know they're only acting like this because of their horrific fate and you can't really blame them regardless of how much it hurts. That's when the bad thoughts start, the bubbling resentment from the abuse and having to halt your entire life for this person, the lingering looks at potential lovers as you yearn for the physical touch and affection they can no longer give you; but these thoughts make you feel like an absolute fucking monster, how can you possibly even think like this when the person you love is slowly dying in absolute misery? You hate yourself, the guilt from even pondering those thoughts drives you further and further into self loathing that you cannot even express as how can you even think of self pity when they're in such a sorry state, how dare you feel bad for yourself and not them? So you turn to drinking to try to cope with the whirlwind of self loathing, guilt, and pain of the entire situation but it never helps only makes it worse as you begin to lose sleep, contemplate killing yourself, them, or both of you just to make this nightmare end.
Part of James did hate and resent Mary as unfair as he knows that is, but he also loved her more than anything in the world and after YEARS of enduring this absolute hell consumed by hate, self loathing, grief, love, and anguish James made the selfish, straight up evil decision to kill Mary. He did it both to end their mutual suffering in an effort to selfishly take back his own life and because he couldn't bear to watch anymore as the person he loved suffered until she slowly withered away and died. James immediately completely snapped mentally under the weight of what he just did as regardless of how many times she pleaded for death she also wanted to live out her last days at home and die with the person she loved, that wasn't his choice to make and that realization broke him completely. Which is when he put Mary's body in the back of his car and drove to the town they both loved so much seemingly to kill himself both to atone for what he did and run from the guilt he couldn't bear. The leave ending shows that James took from the town what it was trying to show him that while what he did was horrific, he can't chalk it up to him being a monster who now needs to die for his sins as it was never that binary. James did a horrible thing for a multitude of nuanced reasons and suicide would simply be him running from it. James needs to live with what he has done and find some way to move on with his life the way Mary wanted then maybe at some point find some measure of happiness because then everything he and Mary went through wasn't for nothing. People somehow finding a way to reduce James and Mary's story down to James is an evil prick who wanted to murder his wife to go bang hot nurses or James is my lil pookie who loved his wife and did nothing wrong is fucking maddening and does such a disservice to what I believe to be one of the finest not just horror stories but stories in general I have ever seen in any medium.
Thanks for explaining this. I never played the OG Silent Hill 2 but already knew a lot of the lore before going into the remake. Really enjoyed the remake (got the In Water ending) and I can see how games like Signalis and Cry of Fear were heavily inspired by SH2. Your explanation of the story and what's implied is really helpful and I appreciate it.
@@GRmasterpiece I’m glad you found some use for it, I’ve just seen so many takes online that drive me insane since the remake boost in popularity that I had to just write out my thoughts regarding the James slander. There’s so much more to discuss regarding the games themes, story, characters, design, etc but I’ve seen so many people trying to make James a black and white, good or evil character when to me the part that makes it so good is that it’s impossible to pin down in such a binary manner and the moral ambiguity is what makes it so compelling.
its truly a struggle for those who see this game as representation for the complexity of human emotions, well put
This was an incredibly good read thank you for typing out your thoughts
This was beautifully said omg. I never played the original but after watching my roommate play and reading your explaination, all the pieces fell together. Thank you!
1:17 the subtitle changes from mary to maria.. man, the details ❤
I just finished the game tonight. I didn't know there were other endings. I got the leave ending. I'm happy with my ending.
Same, I finished the game today too with that ending
@@ObiWanCannoli95 we got the best ending.
@@vee1072 Oh yes 😎
Which last weapon u used to kill maria ??
@@laxminarayanlala6850 The shotgun.
Its weirdly nice that even in a more advanced game, they still kept the awkward as fuck twitching and shifting between the models for the boss rather than an actual transformation
I thought i was the only one who noticed that.
And they deleted the Maria Boss fight theme song "Confronting the Beast"
Honestly it could still use some blurring effect
Remember yall. "All of the endings are canon if you want them to be"
Oh shut up mor on
The sheer implications of the UFO ending
ooohhhh boy lmao they are very aware
For me the stillness ending is saddest for me because of james emotions😢
i agree
Agree
That’s the only one that made me cry, surprisingly!
His reaction to her touch was just so well done.
@@rosenrot234 definitely, that’s what got me. T-T
“you better do something about that cough”
maria: 👁️👄👁️
Not the space ending being friggin' old james telling remake james he's a clone. That's TOO real.
For me the canon ending is stillness... This hit hard on my heart.
he don’t even gaf about maria’s coughing omg?? his response sounded so flippant 😭😭
I think it means he will kill her too if she gets sick.
He's gonna repeat the cycle is what I think his tone insinuates, even I was kinda shook 😂😂
"Ahh, shit... Here we go again."
"You better do something about that cough....or I will."
1 miss opportunity to end the video with the DOG ENDING especially it's CREDIT SONG
I'm disappointed that they made the "in water" ending basically a much worse one by not showing the final dialogue between them like in the "leave" ending. I thought it was beautiful yet very tragic by the fact that having that discussion with Mary, James is able to come at peace with her and himself, but wanted to "join" her as he couldn't live without her. Here it's just a sad (and clearly, "bad") ending.
That's why the stillness ending is the best one in the remake.
Well when you think about it. In water wouldnt make sense to come after the chat with Maria.
"You're suffering for what you did to me, its enough james, it's okay" and then immediately jump to killing himself
@@chriskoloski32 bcs he still feels bad, killing your wife isnt something that just goes away with an apology, even thou he fel was the best to do it it is still something that fucks your mind
@@chriskoloski32 To me that line always implied that she was saying it was okay for him to end his suffering, like maybe he hadn't killed himself YET because he felt like he didn't deserve to, like he had to live with what he had done. Or maybe he was scared to see her in the after life and face her. It felt like she gave him permission to let go and be with her.. The OG version of that ending is definitely much better in that way.
nothing good ever comes from killing yourself
and, nothing beautiful
That tone he had with Maria’s cough is off putting
Just finished the game, got Maria's ending even though I just didn't want to miss any piece of dialogue, hence my interactions with Maria leading to this ending I guess.
Kinda frustrated, it was quite abrupt and immediately followed with a metal music right after in the credits which surprised me a bit.
A masterpiece though, really an amazing game.
Now you'll excuse me, I have to reflect on my actions leading to Maria's ending, and how blind I was to her real goal LMFAO
(Quite funny as I also got a frustrating ending in SIGNALIS, I guess I'm cursed with these games)
You might be able to reload just before the twin pyramid head fight and get the other ending. I actually got all three main endings on my first playthrough by reloading. Just use the rust egg and make sure you listen to all of Mary's lines in the hallway
If you don't want maria ending, avoid her as much as you can, never visit her, and never look out for her. Idk what ending you want but that's my advice for no maria ending lol
26:42-26:58 James doesn't even know if he wants to laugh or cry
Still, in water and leave are my favorite endings
Still water
💀those who know
Balkan rage+nero aderline + jamaican smile+japnese samurai +luncy +thick of it
@@aaraw401 Most funny youtube commenter:
I just finished this remake it was great!
I think maria is the darkest one, becaise irt shows that james hasnt learned or regret anything
Except joke endings, every ending has gone darker
I’ve never thought about any of these endings as “good or bad”. Silent Hill 2’s themes are too complex to just put into one category or the other. I don’t think we’re asked to judge James but more to view things as they play out and see it as he sees it (the world, the monsters, the fog). I’ve always found it weird that people focus on calling James a bad guy for what he did, it’s not about morality, it’s about a broken man’s psyche as he journeys into his own hell.
Man, I wonder which ending they’re going to go with for the movie. It’s be pretty cool if they filmed all (or most) of them and put the unused ones as extras on the Blu-ray like they did with the movie 1408.
I mean, Christopher Gans is a good director and Silent Hill (first one) was a good movie... it just feels like a Summer salad where too many ingredients are mixed-up.
If you watched Silent Hill and making-of multiple times like me, you could see Gans has a deep love of the franchise and tried his best. SH was quite deeper than people think.
So... since the second movie was a mess, I just expect he'll actually focus on SH2 and James story for this movie and not just another guy that goes back in the town from the movie with yet another weird cocktails of things from the licence and fan-services.
@@Brieg_Skald were you meaning to reply to someone else? I mentioned the possibility of multiple filmed endings, not the lore of the first two movies (the second having nothing to do with any of the games) or anything of the directors.
it would be cool (and incredibly ballsy) if they gave those different cuts of the film to different theaters, so it's like everyone gets their own personal "canon" ending the same way as if they played the game
@ That would be AMAZING. Even funnier if they left in the joke endings for that. Lol
@@conelybiscuit4985 They did this with a movie I watched in theaters one time, "Unfriended: Dark Web", not a very good movie but still really cool.
Aww I like the Bliss ending 😊 what a feel-good game
stillness.... i relate to this ending the most. if i were in his shoes, this is probably what i would've decided as well.
I absolutely loved the space ending OG James meets the new James
So they made the popular ending of the OG (In Water) worse by James and Mary not having that convo in Leave and just have him offing himself, rather than the acceptance of what he did and wanting to join her. THEN they took that ending and decide to give it a slight tweak and addition and called it an original ending (Still)
If you look at the sound at the end it suggests that James didn’t off himself because it sounds like he opens the car door
@@iot2319 He could be driving into the lake though?
@@lyonsrobbie999 he definitely jumped off while making the car crash into the river, hear how the door opened and the rain suddenly got louder?
+ why would james say "will you wait for me?" If he was just gonna off himself?
@@iot2319 i dont think thats the sound of car door
@@iot2319 where
I got the leave ending, but still, i wish i could've saved mary.
She's dead even before the game starts. That's a common thing in the license.
Just got Maria's and loved it.
Just finished this game 10/10 its so good they could've made it a movie! Im glad i got the leaving ending it makes more sense i think the UFO ending is cool but i would've been disappointed if i had got that ending lol
but in reality...the UFO ending is canon
How so? 😳
@@3122kratos The UFO endings all kind of link together in the series
@@korye6324 But how? Please explain.
@@3122kratos They changed it with their "Space James" bs but original ufo ending was the protagonist of the 1 (Harry Mason) coming to abduct James with aliens (as Harry was abducted himself in the ufo ending of the 1).
Then, the story goes on with the ufo ending of the 3.
I don't understand why they change the ufo ending to make it that lame in the remake..
@@DustofClouds They changed it because modeling a 4k Harry for a 1 minute gag is kind of a waste of time. If they remade silent hill 1 first, they would've done it like the og by repurposing Harry's remake model. A lot of people liked seeing old James anyways so the gag's fine imo
I got the in Water ending as my 1 ending 😢 today, and I couldn't stop crying it was the saddest one for me and I got that one damn it. Eddie dead, Angela dead, Maria dead and James taking his own life
Angela can die ?
29:50 and 33:05 OMG bro thats make me sadness.
fastest ending to get is the dog ending
Nope, because you can only get the dog ending in new game +, meaning you HAVE to get a different ending first
@@xandrite_ i meant if you wanna make a speedrun playthrough
Well. No. That's just incorrect
@@illogicalgarage8641 can you delete this comment cuz i saw someone doing speedrun for the faster than fog trophy on the ps5
@ahmedalanzi. no I can't. You're just objectively incorrect since you need to do two entire play throughs to get that ending.
Just finished the game and had the "In Water" ending. Game took me 20 hours to complete
In Maria Ending , Maria starts coughing, hinting she might suffer the same fate as Mary.i personality like the leave ending which is too emotional 💔.
Any guess what James saw or noticed when he picked up the camera again ? 32:00
My guess is that James sees himself in the view finder of the camera and notices that his “present self” is now in the video/time before Mary’s sickness. Because I’m sure James didn’t look exactly like he does now as he did back then on that video. But, I don’t think he’s meant to literally be there in the video with Mary because he took white claudia(a hallucinogen) before playing the tape. If you notice, the audio on James speaking is much clearer compared to Mary, almost like James is responding out loud to the screen while watching. So I think it’s actually James hallucinating that he’s there with Mary, but in reality dies from the white claudia, hence why he’s no longer there when the camera turns off. And because that tape is the last thing he’s seeing and thinking of before dying, technically it’s like he’s there with her in that time for eternity. Which for James would be… Bliss.
That being said, I don’t know all the lore behind white claudia, I just have the base knowledge that it’s a hallucinogen, and I don’t know if it has the magical ability to actually put James in a video tape/different time. But considering this game deals with the idea of time loops, I wouldn’t put it past it lol
That “everything is fine.”
I got the in water ending...
Same, it sucks lol.
@@AFSKID I actually liked it
@@MrLoverman7134 its extremely depressing
@@Stargazing_night_sky oh I know, I'm not saying it isn't, but to me out of all the endings it feels the most realistic, and I like that.
@@MrLoverman7134 honestly, true. I know I wouldn't be able to go on after seeing everything james saw in silent hill.
I’m confused with “The Maria Ending”. What does it mean when they are walking back to the car and Maria coughs? Does that mean she gets sick, does she become the new Mary? 🤔
It's basically a loop. James never learned anything during his journey in Silent Hill so he will be doomed to repeat the pain of losing another loved one.
Yes, pretty much.
It means he only thinks he's moved on. He thinks he found a better woman, he thinks everything is going to be all right now, but it's going to come back on him.
Basically he didn't learn his lesson, so God isn't done with him yet.
@@daxmj09i don’t think he even loves maria
@@as-h989 I've thought about it too as "love" is too strong to use in James' situation. Maria is like a substitute for Mary and I don't know if James will ever love Maria. Maybe he does as he chose Maria over Mary in the "Maria Ending" at least
I dont understand the bliss ending
Edit: also "in water" and "still" ending are basically the same thing, still ending just eases up on the depressing part
so to get the bliss ending you gotta drink this hallucigenic drug called white claudia and during the game he's literally making shit up
Tldr he never uncovers the fact he killed mary and still thinks they lived happily before her death
In 'still' ending its implied that James doesn't kill himself.
@@viclost1236 you can still hear him crash into the lake though
In the bliss ending, he basically enters the video tape. Thats all.
@@Stargazing_night_sky The stillness ending audio implies James opens the car door -- sending the car into the lake by itself.
I got 6/8(dont want achieve ufo/dog endings) endings in that game and I love them all, they looks great, characters facial expression, how they talk, how they look on each other, but mostly likely ending for me is “stillness” ending. This is an ever more sadder ending than “in water”.
Maria ending good too. It shows Mary's disappointment and that she doesn't forgive James for what he did.
Still is probably the best ending
So, in bliss ending, James used the magic or whatever of Silent Hill to prevent Mary from falling ill? Just trying to understand it.
more like he got sucked into the tape to be with that version of Mary forever as a way to cope and not accept her death and go into a false reality where he is always with her.
He basically consumed poison and watched the tape for the last time, thus subconsciously living this moment all over again in the reality his mind made up where Mary isn't dead
I guess that would explain the body in front of the t.v.
I think that, thematically, it is identical to the Maria ending.
That's just how the tape actually ends. The scene where you see James choking his wife is a trick from Silent Hill. James didn't actually filmed that. lol
If you get all items needed for Rebirth and Stillness which ending is prioritized?
rebirth is always prioritised no matter what
@@mjc2701 thanks for info.
@@mjc2701 just played NG+ and looks like Stillness locks Rebirth ending.
If you get the Toluca Lake Post card (item for stillness ending), you're locked to Stillness even if you have all the items for the Rebirth ending. Just tried it last night
The thumbs up @&#%ing kills me!!!😂
Dog ending was the best
Silent Hill is stressful place but at least can get a second chance.
Just finished this game and loved it, my only gripe is that they shortened the letter from Mary, there were some lines in there that would have destroyed me.
How are we supposed to know which endings we’re going get?
You aren't. The ending you get is dependent on your general actions and choices throughout the game, not any set course. If you show that you care about yourself and the people around you, you can leave. If you're infatuated with Maria and give into your emotions, you take Maria with you. If you show that you truly don't care about whether you live or die, you end up in the lake. Welcome to Silent Hill 2.
@@wolfcl0ckbut how do you know it if there aren't really any options or choices in the game?
@@MillieBlackRose I feel like... that's the point...
@@leonardomasi5974 it was a question not a comment.
i got "in water" ending 😃
James hated Mary but not anymore and he hates that he hated her before that’s why he’s a visual mess
If I’m not mistaken Masahiro Ito said the in water and stillness ending is games
True endings
Stillness is the BEST ending.
I just finished the game for the first time and got the Maria ending. Not that pleased with it... Is there a way for me to get another ending without replaying the entire game again? The saves I can go back to are all in the hotel, can't go any further back.
Ig you can try to take some damage and stare at Angela's knife 10000x and Mary's letter. Also take your personal belongings during that elevator mode. But maybe that won't be enough. Or if you're lucky and take the personal item with you, the Maria ending won't trigger cause you usually need to leave Marys pic in the locker.
@@KyIieB I went back to the save right before the two pyramid heads and got the Leave ending just by opening the door with the rusted egg. Previously I opened the door with the scarlet egg and got the Maria ending. It's weird that one simple choice like that can impact the ending you get in the game.
@@royeryit’s not just one choice. This game from what I heard starts prioritising endings you didn’t got before on replay and loading saves counts.
26:25 bobr kurwa
So. No one will taking about that in the ending with the dog the main character suddenly started speaking Polish?
Can anyone explain the water ending to me? When did he get in the car? Was it before? How do you even get it im lost
Are some endings depends upon the last wepon we used to kill maria?? 🤔🤔
whats the difference between "in water" and "still"
"Still" He's hallucinating that she's there and talking to him through the end. "In water" she doesn't talk, she's just a dead body in his back seat"
In stillness he doesn't read the letter.
In Still it's implied that James doesn't kill himself. If you listen very carefully there's a sound effect for the car door opening. So it's like James jammed the gas pedal down and sent the car into the lake.
I had to listen a couple times to pick up on it, it's hard to discern at first.
@@Tyrok-2000 It could have happened indeed and that's interesting... that endorses the timeloop theory.
But yeah, the difference mostly lies in the fact James imagine a dialogue before going away.
i dont get the rebirth one can someone explain?
The space James one got to be a joke, was the development team on acid?
we will always love u
The dog ending 😂
How do you get so many different endings when there's not really any choices in the game?
I think the funny endings take away from the game. Not that Easter eggs are bad its just idk I like my horror games to be horror. If I had gotten a funny ending I would have been disappointed.
Funny endings only available in NG+ mod. And they need specific items used in specific places YOU CAN’T JUST STUMBLE UNTO THEM.
@@mrksimka1159 alrighty
Can someone explain me the Bliss ending please?
white claudia is a hallucinogen from the first game, and james uses it to from what i can assume overdose into a happy delusion
That's the actual content of the tape James made before leaving Silent Hill with Maria, before she got sick and... you know the rest.
What you actually see in the game is a deformation from Silent Hill the town does to make James face reality and accept the truth.
lmao what was that UFO ending😭
Wtf are the Dog and the UFO ending 😂😂😂
What is the real end of this game?
there is no real ending to silent hill
@@bobjack2497 better, all of them are real endings
The one you want to be real. I really like In Water tbh, everyone says it is the worst just because it's depressing af. But bro, if you killed your wife 3 days ago and after it you saw all that stuff in Silent Hill, wouldn't you think you're better dead?
@@kidamn3siac I think the last ending where James is crying and his wife's ghost telling him not to cry is real
This game has no Canon Ending. You choose the one that feels right for you.
But the Leave and In-Water endings are the ones that fits most with the story of the game
34:47 my heart 😢😢😢😢 ❤️🩹
Why is the dog one in a different language?
In the original, the dog ending was never vocally translated for some reason so even in the NTSC versions it was in Japanese, as Silent Hill 2 is a Japanese developed game. For this remake Bloober team kept the same concept alive by having James speak Polish as Bloober is a Polish studio.
@@OffTheRocker thanks I had no clue.
how supose get other endings?
i just died 3 times whole game on standard mode & my ending was *MARIA ENDING*
anyway nice game ( im not horror fan games. i scared alot finish this game :D )
Hello,
I got the Maria ending in my first play through as well. PowerPyxx has a great guide on how to get all the endings.
Sorry Powerpyx
@@HelpMeLeon dont be sry
be better son
@@madmaster3d Thanks daddy Kratos
The dog ending?? Wtf was that 😂
to nie moze byc prawda
The dog and UFO endings are the biggest bullshit i have ever seen.I mean that they are ruining the game's story....
Those are the canon endings
They are in the OG. E certainly The UFO ending Is a little different.
Agreed.
Did you think Maria looked ugly in the Silent Hill 2 Remake?
No.
Madonna after her plastic surgeries
very much so
A bit uncanny valley with the jaw. Same with Angella, their jaws were just too blocky. found a mod that made it less uncanny valley but still kept it to how it looks in remake.
so ugly i couldnt stand the character at all
Why it look old
I could have saved my time not watching this play though. Was very borning and the story was borning. Yeah it had a cool idea and great game details but I didn’t feel anything towards any of the characters.
(I don’t need to trauma or experience in life to understand a damn fake game. Yall some sad ass people🤣)
Thank you 14 year old very cool
@@illogicalgarage8641 I bet you say that sentence a lot 🤣🤣
@@zaddyybbaz3141 I'm betting you hear it alot.
Once you go through enough trauma in life, you will circle back to this game and connect with it. This whole game is just trauma if it manifested into reality.
@@tomosmells I didn’t connect with it because I didn’t have enough trauma. THE STORY WAS BORNING ASF….. the characters was basic.
I don't care about other endings never liked the idea of having multiple endings i am happy with what i got
Single endings work with movies, TV shows, and books because they are passive experiences. Video games are interactive, you are an active participant, so shouldn't there be multiple endings that depend on how you played the game?
the multiple endings just imply that james does this over and over again. that's why we find corpses around the game that look like him, and puzzles from the original already solved.
@@sabrinas.79 i did not ask for an explanation and i do not care
@@malcomalexander9437 i am going to stick with silent hill 2 as this video is about that so, the game’s multiple endings aren’t just about player choice in a typical sense rather, they are influenced by subtle player behavior, such as how often the player examines certain items or interacts with specific parts of the environment. This approach is meant to immerse players into James’s fractured psyche and i do not buy this 💩. I don't care about your question.
@@COYG94 Sadge.