Exploring the Horrors of Silent Hill Homecoming
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2024
- #silenthill #horrorgaming
TGM is a horror game analysis channel with a heavy focus on Silent Hill, & other Japanese horror games.
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9:56 Element: Earth
14:08 Silent Hill
21:55 Element: Fire
26:46 Hell House
35:25 Element: Air
39:56 The Church
50:47 The Cult
58:03 Endings
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NO!
Is it me or does Homecoming (and Downpour, for that matter) have a good concept that looks like it got retouched and made into something weaker?
I like the idea of a guy who was actually delusional and the dark side of the suburbs. The abusive dad, the hapless mother, the favored brother; there were good pieces there. I like Elle and you could see genuine affection when she interacted with Alex even though she knows he has mental problems. Could have worked better.
From what Tomm Hullett has said, it sounds like there was a lot of discussion and debate about the story and at least three different versions of it, so it's possible that some of it got diluted as people with differing opinions butted heads.
@@thegamingmuse What's the expression, "Too many cooks spoil the broth"? Great job with the video. I still enjoy taking a closer look at it.
I feel like Homecoming should not have been part of the Silent Hill series, instead standing alone
These "what could have been" thoughts as a fan makes me really sad. We love our favorite franchises, but at the same time that "it is what it is" voice kicks in because we can't make any calls, the company with the IP does.
IM LOOKING AT YOU EA
(cries in Alice Asylum)
Elle is the center of all, just like James on SH2, she summoned Alex the soldier, bc she is in love with him, and somehow the powers of SH helped her, maybe was Nora that want to protect her sister, don't forget Joseph Schreiber saved Henry, and Eileen from Walter. Alex returned to save Elle, she is the only one alive again, that explained why she is gonna be Laura, or was still but on secret.
I never understood why the Shepherd family was blamed for the sacrifice "failure" when Doctor Fitch only had one daughter and Mayor Bartlett only had one son. Wouldn't they have caused the doom of Shepherd's Glen too, since there wouldn't be any more Fitch/Bartlett descendants, and the four families were supposed to do this every 50 years? Unless the whole point of this "pact" was to run the families dry until they no longer existed. But it almost seems like a plot oversight, imo
Other than that, great analysis and video!
Seems likes a good deal for the devil
BC the ritual is in fact a metaphor of child abuse, the concept of this game is, what happen if Laura Palmer from Twin peaks is a guy, not a girl, is the abuse gonna be different? The answer is no, bc Josh was the responsability of Alex, but his father just push Alex into his limits with heavy jobs or bad nutrition, once the teenager was so tired to carry on, the father approached the younger one.
The idea of little secret, the ring, The Boogeyman, and almost shadow figure of the mother are also part of the same symbolism, child abuse. Adam loves to split the brothers, and create the idea that Alex was crazy, this idea works to split the brothers, and forced Josh to only trust in him.
I guess this game is gonna be very different, but censor was apply. The big plot twist of the game is, Alex will discover the abuse of Josh. Then Alex will fight his father, but Josh will fall from the boat in the process. Then Adam will betray Alex, send him as a prisioner of the cult into Alchemilla for a lobotomy process, in this way his secret will be forever shut down. The idea of Alex be an army guy, that's probably bc he wants to be that, maybe he was ready to enlist around that time.
The next part could change by interpretation, we can say Alex got a lobotomy, so he just gone in that asylum, or by the power of the town he managed to escape his fate. If he is gone, then Alex the soldier, that's just a manifestation of the town, maybe created by the love of Elle from him. But if he can escape the cult and the lobotomy, he is the only survivor of his family.
Youre brilliant!!🎉
I figure they both initially planned to have another child after the sacrifice, so that the second child wouldn't know the pain of losing their sibling or something. So if things went off without a hitch they would continue their bloodlines.
Firstborn sacrifice rules. The otherworld already wanted Alex, not Joshua.
I appreciate you touching on this game! I felt like there was always more there.
Truly, one of the greatest through line narratives across the Silent Hill games is how horrific the cult is, the children that are damned by the cult (or forced to become the next generation), the (literal and metaphorical) monsters created as a result…and one of the greatest decisions the original team Silent made…the powers can manifest anywhere! Shout out to Silent Hill 3 and Silent Hill 4 for establishing this concept with ‘the villains’ wielding its power.
I think the implication for the ending where Alex is sacrificed after all is that none of it happened -- Joshua wasn't killed, Alex wasn't sent away, no one else died. Things are back to how they were "supposed" to be. The intended sacrifice will carry out, and nothing has changed.
As for the thematic reasons as to why you get the "In Water" (did they have to call it that?) ending when you spare only Lillian and no one else...genuinely no idea. I think this game could have benefited from a few more endings and a few more criteria for those endings; maybe Intensive Care could have been one ending earned from forgiving Adam and meeting extra criteria, and the "In Water" ending could have been for not meeting that extra criteria, or something.
If we were to thread the criteria into other games, I'd borrow from SH3 and Origins (later Downpour too but, you know, time doesn't work like that irl) using monster kills to determine things, like...maybe high monster kills would get Intensive Care and low monster kills would get "In Water"? (Like, "Non-passive" vs "Passive" behavior. A more violent Alex would have had the fight that ended in Joshua's death, so that didn't change, and a less violent, more passive Alex wouldn't have even gotten to that point, maybe...? ...Ah, maybe that's the theme between the endings. Because Lillian is "passive" and Adam is "active"; forgiving Lillian but not Adam values passivity, but forgiving Adam and not Lillian demonizes it...)
Well, I'm just kinda spitballing, but either way I think I still like my idea better. It would have been cooler if they'd created a few more endings, fleshed things out more, maybe locked away that UFO ending and had other, proper triggers for it...
Your idea of nothing happen created a different way to see the whole plot, that means once you play the game all the events are a vision, or a dream about the future, this dream ended when Alex is ready to accept his fate in the bathtub. If Josh was his responsability, he needs to face his destiny, but...
Then in a second game play, now the events are real, since Alex needs to make the quest of the Polaroid, release the souls of the kids, save Elle, then escape, but... in a credits scene we confirmed the truth, that Josh is alive, and Alex is a ghost, a manifestation of the town., that returned from grave to confirm that his brother is ok, so his sacrifice wasn't in vain.
TRIVIA:
*At first when Alex gets off the stretcher, there's a clock in that room. It's the only clock in the game that seems to work, it wasn't even two o'clock in the morning yet. then there's an entity that's killing the doctors of the place, and when the protagonist tries to escape at 2:06 in the morning (time of the accident) something doesn't let him out of Alchemilla. so the nightmare begins within the nightmare, from there time's stopped and everything takes place in alex's childhood in S.Glen in the 80's. you'll see objects from alex's childhood scattered around the scenarios, and also relics such as old cars and public heritages. in this case this game is timeless.. (however there're endings where he actually escaped from Hospital)*
*When you arrive in S.Glen, next to Dr.fitch's office there's the city bank with 4 lights on, 3 of which're bright and the last one's almost off (symbolizing the 4 families). Suggesting that the bank's still active with secret meetings, throughout the game the building remains linked with people on the premises arguing who knows what. It's one of the mysteries of the game that everything's abandoned but the financial part of the city's still in full swing! kidnappings have become a kind of business...*
*if you look at alex's house from the outside, it's empty giving the impression that the shepherds have moved but when you enter the house, it's fully furnished but completely abandoned (the mirrors still reflect no furniture inside). looking through the backyard in the kitchen part this becomes more apparent (giving a paranormal air of the house being an ancestral ghost of the city).*
*the woman locked in the hotel can also be the manifestation of alex's mother living in the world of the dead and him living in the world of the living, both're separated by a hole in the door that looks like the mouth of a monster. the 3 memories illustrate "the day of the accident" and why his mother was catatonic, it's implied that she committed suicide with that old gun and alex's at his doorstep talking to her. there're layers of SH that you can only reach if you're dead.. (there're also indications that it was curtis who built the machine that Lillian is trapped in, then it's possible to see his mother's corpse smiling.. of relief perhaps)*
*in the dr.fitch office there's an underground passage that leads to SH, this otherworld passage's the mix of a hospital and the institution that alex's in at the beginning of the game. some hallways're the same as the protagonist walks in the prologue. It's also more apparent that Alex's exploring the characters' minds and their memories\secrets..*
*this game starts in the late afternoon and culminates in a red dawn, it's notable that there's a change of climate similar to the original games. it was the first time anyone came out during the otherworld outdoors, alex was the only protagonist who saw the parallel world from the outside.*
*There're Alex's toys locked in the attic of the house (also in the audio of the tape, Alex's father tells him to "go down the stairs") implying that Alex was locked in the attic and forced to sleep alone there (a dark place full of spider webs and venomous animals) in the infernal version, there're 4 monsters that represent each member of the family (in the attic there're 3 schism which're the dead Josh, the catatonic mother and Alex crouched in the corner of the attic) and in the lower part of the house there're the more aggressive schism who is alex's father. What confirms this symbolism're the four mannequins that're in the same position (including one lying down and the other propped up in the corner).*
*if you analyze the drawings and read the descriptions, it's understood that there's an urban legend in S.Glen related to the lake (that's why the docks gate's sealed) by an alleged man who threw himself into toluca lake years ago, this story was told to scare the local children and this collective fear manifests itself as the executioner that exists in the game. So in the part where alex's with josh at the lake, james's still decomposed there in the depths and on the other side of the lake's possibly the abandoned car with a dead body locked in back seat. James' wife belongs to the same family tree as Alex (The Shepherds) although they're not related (in a promotional diary: Alex's mother was invited to attend a funeral for a childhood friend, but the funeral never took place) There's a misterious tomb named "someone's wife" in the Dargento Cemetery, but this grave has never been used. (The shepherd family mausoleum is not found in S.Glen, only the other 3 families. However, there's an abandoned mausoleum in central SH)*
*Next to Curtis' junkyard's an abandoned mine that possibly became a secret passage to SH in the final stage of the game. The lair was where people were taken to be tortured and killed by order. it's located in the basement of the church, the only sacred place in the city where it's not affected by the other world. In Curtis' warehouse, many belongings of everyone who lived in the city're hidden and also the special clothes that Curtis wore.*
*There're x-rays in alchemilla that show injuries that the protagonist suffered at the end of the game (including the brother and judge) means that this game's upside down: it starts at the end and ends at the beginning, if you reverse the acts, it's alex going from the day of the accident to the hospitalization in alchemilla in the prologue. crazy huh? (Travis was tasked with transporting the patient since he was familiar with Toluca County and worked at Brahms Station, Alex's parents lied to the city that he was promoted to the army so they wouldn't lose their last son) still characteristic the journey starts in a way and turns into a whirlwind.. there's a real pyramid involving judges, politicians, doctors and police forces\dynastic families (as if everything happens in our world and not just in a nightmare).*
The layers of Alex personality are represented by fog (sadness) and coming from the other world (hatred
esentment), how he feels at every moment depending on what's discovered
evealed.
This game is introspective as f00k!! more than it seems...
Very good writing with a small correction. "it was the first time anyone came out during the otherworld outdoors, alex was the only protagonist who saw the parallel world from the outside." Nope, it was Harry Mason, Silent Hill 1 has a lot of outdoor otherworld levels. I don't understand why they were so neglected in the later episodes.
Your point is interesting, but I think Alex is more like Maria on SH2, GIJOE Alex is an idealistic wish of Elle, since Adam said his son went to war, but the fact is Adam destroyed both sons, one was drowned by accident, the other was send to Alchemilla, then Adam order a lobotomy for him, in cold blood. Alex probably was gone by the time the game started, Soldier Alex is just born from a wish. That's why the song of Yamaoka said "My training is perfect", sure you can't deny a GIJOE from SH will be a very effective warrior. His mission is simple, release the souls of the lost children, and save Elle one last time. Then he will fade away, just like we think happened to Maria if she tries to exit the town.
i think i've seen you in the comments on nubzombie's videos! thanks for keeping the lore alive
I'm glad that you liked Homecoming. I haven't really played the games when I was younger but I loved the lore so I watched the cutscenes and let's-plays instead. As a result, the gameplay was never a factor to me. All I was concered about was the story. Homecoming was actually my favorite for awhile. I liked the story. That is all. It reminded me of a twisted version Supernatural with Alex as Dean and Josh as Sam. But when other fans bashed it, I couldn't really defend it. Their criticisms were valid. Still, thank you for not letting its flaws hinder your enjoyment. You also showed me, as you often do, that there are levels of brillance to this that I and few others can see. How much research do you do to make these videos? Its impressive.
Homecoming was a good game
18:23 I love stories that make use of demonhood and angelhood on such a neutral manner, as mere sides of a spectrum. All are necessary.
I learned to love Homecoming for what it does right, I liked it ok the first time I played it and nowadays I have a special love/nostalgia for it. The music and environmental sounds are wonderfully creepy/sad and it had some of the best monsters and bosses of the series. I just think the visual and narrative quality is very uneven at times but this is far from a bad game, like all the other non Japanese games, it gets more right than wrong. I actually love the pact and subsequent sacrifice demanded to keep the twisted power of The Order/the town away, maybe the story would be better received if it was just about the occult/cult.
I was just looking up homecoming content yesterday, great video! You’re my favorite content creator when it comes to silent hill :)
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy the videos! :D
Ohhh first! Muse treating us with new Silent Hill videos omfg 😢
Homecoming is my favorite SH game. It is janky, no dispute there, but in terms of the lore and symbolism? It is one of the richest in the whole series. Plus the soundtrack is truly worthy of the franchise, one of Akira Yamaoka’s best.
There is one thing you seem to have missed here in two of the monster designs, which I’d like to bring up. The boss designs are not only highly symbolic of the children’s deaths and interests, but also of how they potentially perceived themselves. Asphyxia, for example, has a hand covering her crotch and at least a dozen breasts down the line of her nude body, which consists of 6 female forms fused together. Her tail ends in a folded female body with the butt prominently sticking out, and she has no face. Several of her limbs, particularly those in her second and third segments, constantly caress and cover her breasts and hips. Nora was 15 when she was sacrificed, smack in the middle of puberty; most teenagers at that time in their lives are not only very aware of how their bodies are changing, but how those new parts are viewed by those around them. Sexuality and shame, modesty and self-exploration go hand-in-hand during this phase of our lives, and Nora was still figuring out who she was. Most people with breasts have either thought or even said the phrase “My face is up here” when we notice or feel as though somebody’s eyes are fixated on it our busts, and depending on the people in question and what Mother Nature gave us, it can feel as though we are nothing more than that part of our bodies sometimes, as though that’s all we’re worth and all anybody sees, that we may as well not even have a face.
By stark contrast, Scarlet is a giant spindly-limbed porcelain doll. Her form is nearly androgynous, but for the small circular breasts attached to her chest like globes. At first, she has little in the way of details to her body, only a pair of Mary Jane shoes and her facial features, which are as basic as can be. She doesn’t even have hair. Her joints and her nightmarishly long limbs are the only detail, before we start cracking into the porcelain. She moves and stands like a marionette in the first phase, and it’s especially noticeable when she lifts back to her feet after Alex knocks her down; she rises as though pulled by invisible strings. Her armor flakes and splinters like broken ceramic shards, revealing bloody pulp within. Scarlet Fitch was still a young girl when she was sacrificed, less than ten years old (potentially the youngest of the four intended sacrifices). Her dolls were her most valued possessions, her friends and as much a part of her identity as her father’s loving care. Her perception of herself was wrapped up in the dolls, especially the one that so resembles her. Dr. Fitch treasured Scarlet and treated her almost like a doll himself, referring to how her little pure white hands reminded him of porcelain and giving her nice, fancy dolls instead of just Barbies or rubber dollies. She was given an ideal childhood for a little girl (or at least, what can be thought of as ideal) and cherished by her father. But when she was sacrificed, it would not have been a quick or clean death. The agreement made with Silent Hill’s God dictated an execution soaked in blood, and Dr. Fitch used a scalpel on his daughter. All that pure white porcelain skin, cut and rent and sliced and pierced until she was more crimson than white. It must have been a terrifying death-during the second phase of the boss fight, once you crack open her torso, you can see her heart, and it is pounding. Furthermore, the screams she lets out are hoarse, animalistic, and rasping, and at times you can hear softer, shorter squeaks. Poor Scarlet must have screamed until her voice gave out, and still the pain did not stop. It would have continued until all her “porcelain” was broken beyond repair, and she was more bloody meat than a perfect, beautiful doll.
No wonder they refused to forgive the parents who did this to them.
I think Homecoming is way more superior to Downpour. Homecoming felt like a silent hill, downpour looked like a run down very version of alan wake.
@@Kabodanki
That's interesting, for a lot of people Homecoming is the least silent hill of the silent hill games, and more like a silent hill movie game than anything.
thank you for making this video i always had an extreme attachment to Homecoming and the way you laid down all the themes and everything really goes to show they had something special they REALLY fumbled with ..
Homecoming was my first silent hill and I loved it. I always felt bad because the Fandom always says it was terrible...
Incredible video.
Muse you are amazing :)
I'm so happy I found your channel again!
Another amazing analysis! Much appreciated.
I received this game as a birthday present, in my teens, so i am bias, definitely. I like that people are looking in to it again, in a different light. Thank you for making this video, I hope it inspires more people to examine their vidya tastes more critically. That being said, VARRIC TETHRAS. Threw me off to that Dwarven talesmith in my SH lol (edit: spelling)
Fascinating video on Homecoming it took me years to like the game even though the plot/synopsis wasn’t the greatest compared to the previous entries. I hope you’ll make more Creating Silent Hill videos for this game, Origins, Shattered Memories and Downpour similar to the first 4 games!
Speaking of the original four games, do you think the Camera Obscura from "Fatal Frame" would work on the ghosts of "SH 4" ? There's this crossover I'm working on involving "Madoka Magica" in which Silent Hill is a central piece, but its entrance must be unlocked. And to unlock it, you require a ritual similar to the one from 4. But back to the topic, do you think it would work ?
@@JabamiLainI think it could work but honestly you should ask AJ who has more experience with these games than I do!
@@willisrose9756who ?
@@JabamiLainAJ is The Gaming Muse real name.
@@willisrose9756oh ! Ok. I have a hard time with real life names.
That was great. I honestly always enjoyed this one. Some of the scenes in the Hell House have never left me. It's great hearing about all the symbolism and details I missed! Thanks for your hard work putting this all together. Also, Origins was just fun for me.
I love your silent hill videos especially the one on vincent from silent hill 3 being a great villain. Please keep making them
For my money, Homecoming has some of the best creature design in the whole series, and the music was top-notch too. I didn't enjoy playing it much, but damn if I can't sit back and be impressed by some of the outstanding art that was created for it.
Loved the breakdown of this game was so interesting to watch
thanks! glad you enjoyed it!
I love your videos. And it seems your audio quality is getting better
YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU ....I love your videos!!!
Thanks Muse, nice to here you)
Beautiful stuff! This is next on my list. Glad it came out on PC.
I LOVE THIS!! can you do a video like this for silent hill 1?? i feel like nobody gave the OG one this level of detail and thought. i feel like no one has dug deep into the symbolism/research like you did for this video. id be so greatful omg
That was an incredible analysis of the game, I haven’t touched it post-release but now I want to replay and see how I feel about it
This is actually one of my favorites. 😁
Personally, I love "Homecoming", in spite of the flaws.
The ending I'd strife the most to get is the "Drown" ending, because I feel "SH" reality warping powers need more attention, and I'd like a sequel focused on Joshua. Something similar to the OG concept of the game.
One of my fics' passions is to get underdeveloped/would be good stuff, and crossover it with greater stuff. Take it into a bigger world, where the underdeveloped elements evolve, grow and gain depth.
"Homecoming" is one of those, which I perform by taking more of the OG concept:
-After the "Drown" ending, Joshua never really copes with what happened to his brother, feeling dissociated, as if he should be the ghost. But because he's a child, he can't be sent to a hospital, resulting instead in Heather (bad ending timeline from "SH 3") reaching out to him with her power.
Since this is a crossover, he isn't the only one to go. My "Silent Hill" experience is meant to be a competition of sorts for the mother.
The game might fool us at the end, that's my favorite part of Homecoming, bc opens the gates to another scenario, what if Alex is indeed gone, and his body was at the Dargento graveyard, the lobotomy procedure sounds like something that the cult did to the prisioners, that will lead to their end, that might be the fate of Stanley on SH3.
Maybe Elle is the center of the whole game, don't forget she is gonna be Laura in the OG script. Maybe Elle summoned Alex the soldier, just like James summoned Maria the dancer, an idealistic version of a love one. In one case his wife, in other case her crush. So once again Laura will be the only person alive. Bc saddly once she gets out the fog world, Alex won't be with her.
I guess that's "the incomplete part" that the devs told in an interview that Dead Domain found, maybe Elle AKA Laura is gonna be a playable character, and we finally understand this missing part of the puzzle, bc all make sense, if Alex isn't alive, and the soldier is like Maria, that explained the reason behind his fighting skills, but also can explain a lot of other things, Maria seems to have memories of Mary too, this also explain the lack of emotions of Alex, bc he is in fact a soldier by the town.
This theory also reforce by the lyrics of Yamaoka on Alex's theme song. I've come to change the order!, My training, is perfect!, I'm back, again, I drank your sacred water, my mission, is holy! This could be sum in a more romantic way, "I return one more time to save Elle from the cult".
One phrase that hit the spot about this, happened when Alex saw Elle again, and said to her, "But I have to find my brother. He's my responsibility. After that, I'm gone" then they stare each other for a long time, this could apply that Alex also loves Elle, but he knew, he is out of time.
A similar concept also happened in a very popular tv series "Angel" by David Greenwalt, Cordelia was in love with the protagonist, and after a long coma time she returned, to save Angel from the darkness, then at the end, he got a call from the hospital, she never wake up, she just gone, Cordelia wasn't there the whole time, just like Alex wasn't there too.
Seems to me that the most interesting character of this game isn't Alex, that's Elle AKA Laura, and her unspoken love for a guy that is already gone, that's a beautiful metaphor, just like the song Soldier boy by the The Shirelles.
Out of all the Silent Hill games, I relate more to homecoming. I'm the big brother in my family and my little brother gets more love from my family. So I can relate to Alex and his trouble relationship with his parents. Also, you said it makes no sense that Alex has no combat experience and yet, he can fight well. If I'm not mistaken, in the early parts of the game, he found a pamphlet on combat and Alex read it by hard. But it's a while since I played the game.
wow. didn't expect another silent hill video when I saw your earlier announcement about a new video! Homecoming is my second favorite Silent Hill game. I think the story totally makes sense and is interesting and dark. The game is also quite scary. I really don't understand the bad reception.
Always a good day, when the muse uploads!
If only Homecoming didn't have silent hill in the title it would be... absolutely shamed for having ripped off everything from Silent Hill 2 and the 2006 movie: the amnesia plot twist, "the person I was searching for is actually dead and I killed them" plot twist, the transition to the otherworld, the miners, the falling ash/fire under the street, the Jacob's Ladder references that are absolutely blatant, and, you know, Pyramid Head (or any of the other monsters which are just variations of things from the other games). Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this video, but I somehow find it unlikely that in between cribbing every element of silent hill 2 and working in references to early 00s torture porn movies, the writers of the game where researching the etymology of the names of their characters and studying Talmudic folklore.
It's a bit wild, Homecoming has some great ideas and concepts but it ends up falling flat on them. Like, the whole set up of Alex's backstory and the setting of Shepherd's Glen is genuinely eerie. Alex has many comments about his surroundings that add in a flair to his character that's very reminiscent of Heather's own environmental comments in 3.
Like, there is a decent amount of work here for a 2008 game but having Silent Hill be treated like some throwaway property for any team to try their hand at like a licensed tie-in game is beyond weird for a franchise.
I can understand people ragging on Homecoming for being more combat-focused, which I think was one of the biggest things that set it apart from the RE series. People said the same thing about SH4 too, which I thoroughly enjoyed as well. I've always seen the SH series as being more scary for the psychological horror element and RE for the monsters/conflicts. But I still think Homecoming was a solid SH entry, especially the fact that a completely different team had worked on it. I also like how they used elements from the film (which I also really liked) in the game such as the look of Pyramid Head and the outfits that the cultists wore. It definitely deserves more credit than it generally gets. Thank you for making this in-depth analysis and giving some more attention to this great game!!
I normally throw on videos like these as background noise while I work, but I had to put this one on pause and ended up watching it with my full attention after working. Regardless of what people thought/think of the game, I really enjoyed Homecoming even upon release. This video was excellent and I never noticed all of these biblical allusions when I first played this game as a young teen back when it was released.
I've always felt that people treated Homecoming rather unfairly. I still firmly believe that it's incredibly underrated and this video only proves it. Thank you for giving its time in the sun!
Glad you enjoyed it! It definitely has more going for it that I think gets overlooked.
I will die on the hill that Alex was better than James as a protagonist because at least we SEE Alex and his brother whereas we know so little of James' life outside Mary.
Whenever you post a new video my day immediately gets better :)
She's that good, isn't she ?
@@JabamiLain regarding horror games she's the best one.
@@douglasborges8558indeed ! If Yoko Taro is my God, she'd be one of the prophets leading us, the people.
This video, combined with Dead Domain's retrospective, has given me a new appreciation for Homecoming.
I ove your videos, your are amazing Muse!
Great video as always! The monster designs and ideas on this one were so strong they just need a more polished hand to slot everything together. Would love to know your thoughts on ascension at some point cause my goodness it definitely was something haha
Personally, I love "Homecoming", in spite of the flaws.
The ending I'd strife the most to get is the "Drown" ending, because I feel "SH" reality warping powers need more attention, and I'd like a sequel focused on Joshua. Something similar to the OG concept of the game.
This game is definitely a fine addition to my fic multiverse. It's rough around the edges, but it's still my beautiful baby.
I really like this game, and that was a pretty good analysis
If this is the ugly duckling what is Downpour lol.
A better written game to me; programming wise, depends on your experience. I had less problems with Downpour than most folks.
@@thegamingmuse Sweet I always heard it was worse than Homecoming, I got a copy on PS3 but never got around to playing it.
@@thegamingmusepersonally, I still like "Homecoming" more. Always loved stories about siblings.
Plus, I don't like how "Downpour" portrays the "Don't do vengeance" message. The WHOLE TOWN is designed to punish thoroughly those who'd sin against humanity, particularly children ! Now, I get saving the guy who drank on the job, because otherwise would be the easy way out, but I'm not gonna lamment a pedo's death, or see the ending in which a dirty cop is punished as a "middle ending".
Sometimes, justice is extreme. And while revenge isn't the answer, at least it accomplishes something.
@@thegamingmuse I did like Downpour, but I didn’t understand the main plot. The game seems to have 2 very different plotlines (a drowned child / a mutilated prison guard) which are only connected incidentally (as Murphy was involved n both). Murphy was just a victim, yet was somehow punished.
This is video is Fantastic, i hope you will do something similar for downpour somewhere in the future
I definitely will, it's one of my favorite games c:
@@thegamingmuse wow , thank you! i also really enjoyed that game! have a nice week and thanks for replying!
This video has been, is, and will be my favorite thing about Silent Hill: Homecoming hands down.
I don't know if it's a nostalgia thing, but i sincerely like the atmosphere of this game. It's kinda heavy in it's own way, and i could say that it nails the macabre pretty well in it's scenarios. I kinda like it
I also love how this game drew so much from the movie "Jacobs ladder", just like silent hill 2. You're right, it seems like the preview of what could be a better game, but I still hold it dearly ❤
Thank you so much
SH homecoming is one of the best looking SH games with good combat and a clever story, idk why gamers pretend this is the worst in the series when imo it’s 4th best game behind SH 1-3
I would put 4 in front of this one, but it wasn't that bad. I will agree on this.
Personally, I love "Homecoming", in spite of the flaws.
The ending I'd strife the most to get is the "Drown" ending, because I feel "SH" reality warping powers need more attention, and I'd like a sequel focused on Joshua. Something similar to the OG concept of the game.
This game is definitely a fine addition to my fic multiverse. It's rough around the edges, but it's still my beautiful baby.
@@JabamiLain the monster designs are great too
@@A_TH-cam_Commenterdo you think the Camera Obscura from "Fatal Frame" would work on the ghosts of "SH 4" ? There's this crossover I'm working on involving "Madoka Magica" in which Silent Hill is a central piece, but its entrance must be unlocked. And to unlock it, you require a ritual similar to the one from 4. But back to the topic, do you think it would work ?
@@albertg947indeed. I love especially the re-use of Pyramid Head, implying his role as one of God's angels rather than another of the town's creations, essentially meaning if you turn into one, you might be doing Silent Hill's ultimate will. I feel kinda honored, truth be told.
Plus, it'll be an important component to unlock Silent Hill in my fic.
Very good break down, and I agree it does deserve a remake.
The most horrific part of the game for me was that sliding puzzle you needed to do for a key.
Lore wise, it's done perfectly. The familys STILL connected to Silent Hill's terrifying history is done well.
There was a miscalculation in their plan, and that miscalculation is called Joshua. Had the ritual gone as planned, he'd have grown completely alone and lonely, and given his artistic side, coupled with his passion for the military, I think you might guess his career choice, especially once he found out about the ritual.
I mean, he was already using Joey's hobbie to collect animals. The garden was their little hunting ground. He was the Angel keeping watch. Child characters and their innocence are extremely underrated.
Dang it ! How I wish there was a sequel focused on him !
love to see it
Personal suggestions to make the story better -
1. Get rid of Josh entirely OR he's an adult (important). Alex ran away from home before the sacrifice ceremony, causing Josh to be killed instead. As Alex was supposed to be the sacrifice, it's rejected, meaning Josh died for nothing.
2. Alex returns, homeless and in poverty (pushing the importance that family support has on someone, which is a central theme) seeing the town in shambles and searching for his missing adult brother whom he had a complicated relationship with - black sheep and favorite - but Alex cares enough to search.
3. Push the theme of adult survivors of child abuse. There is a lot to explore there that would make for a great Silent Hill game if it stays on topic.
The game is unfinished, seems like the plot was simple, Alex Shepherd was ended by the cult, he was send to a hospital to be destroyed, similar to Stanley, then he returned in a born from a wish kind of way scenario, the wish of Elle. All that was a great concept, a reverse of Maria, and James.
Josh plot should be more around Adam, which is what really happen, that explained why Adam splitted the brothers, and said to Josh that only trust on him, bc he was indeed an abuser of kids, but that topic was too much for the DEI, so the devs hide this in the background. This also explained the attitude of Lilian like the mother of Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks.
The big revelation was the abuse of Josh, that Alex discovered probably the night before enlisted in the army, the scenario was the police boat. Alex discovered the abuse, tried to stop the father, Josh drowned in the lake, Adam managed to knock out Alex, and dragged him into the hospital, there he asked for a lobotomy as a way to silence his son about what he saw.
A full circle of the game, both brothers were destroyed by the father. Adam just covered the fate of Josh, like part of the sacrifice of the founders of the town, and Alex just went to the army.
That means the ritual is just a background for the abuse of children, which is in fact the main topic of the game. This also explained the reason of the name The Boogeyman.
I played all SH games on PC when they first came out. I didn't experience the many problems the console versions of HC had (though there were PC problems too). Luckily today you can play HC on PC with fixes in place that take care of most problems, and also lets you play in 4K at 60 fps which makes the game look and play much better. Homecoming was not perfect, but there was MUCH more there than many wanted to give credit to, and you did a great job in showing that. I always felt HC's monsters were a very strong point (the human miners should not have been there, and the dog was too typical)... and it had the best bosses in the series imo. The combat, while flawed I enjoyed MUCH more than all other SH games by far. We just could have toned his moves down a bit to make him less "badass". There is a lot to like in HC if, like you said, it is not compared to other games in the series.
Personally, I love "Homecoming", in spite of the flaws.
The ending I'd strife the most to get is the "Drown" ending, because I feel "SH" reality warping powers need more attention, and I'd like a sequel focused on Joshua. Something similar to the OG concept of the game.
A note about the Siam: the female half's kicking is also dangerous. As she's being hauled around her flailing does potential damage, showing how a submissive parent in attempting to adapt to the dominant partner actually does do damage of their own.
Ooh, that's a nice touch. Thanks for pointing it out!
The Silent Hill that we don't talk about.
subscribed
52:27 it’s almost a no brainer. It’s a single med kit that is a medium tier healing item.
They should have made you give up 4 ampoules or something.
@53:15 This part about the symbols brought back memories from when I was a child and how much I hated being in school Sometimes I felt like I had a rope around my neck, and if I dont trie to escape and break free , I would suffocate. But as the years went by, I learned not to cause trouble to escape from school jumping from the walls or i would simply 'get lost in my own world,' as long as one had decent grades and attendance, there was no problem haha... I love those details about the elements. I had no idea about those details, like the one about water owo. That ending on the hospital , gives me a feeling of being trapped in a cycle of reincarnation, something like that vibe when going through a second playthrough . another 10/10 video *o*
Tis the season
I loved this game, had to get all endings
WOW they didn't even TRY to do an og design with the Boogie Men
I know its not everyone's favorite silent hill game but i still had fun playing it
Agreed.
the monster design in this game is amazing
Great video! Just a little FYI
The Hebrew part of the Samuel and Joseph are written backwards (since hebrew goes from right to left)
So, it should be שמואל
and
יוסף
:D
9:16 lily fits perfectlly for what she looks like in steller blade,she looks like a kid.
I hope one day we can get a more "put together" version of this game.
the secret good silent hill homecoming that lives in our heads
Well, the devs said the game is incomplete, so according with them, they were an small studio, they said that with big words, so they just can't handle the story well, but if we think about this, Owaku gave us the concept of SH5 in the game SH3, the story of Stanley. Somehow Homecoming is that, probably Alex was a prisioner, tortured by the cult, and he was finish just like Stanley.
So Homecoming tried to tied up both concepts, the dead of Stanley by the cult, and the revenge that Alex will have by the energies of the town, but also by the power of love, in this case, Elle love, that bring him back as a soldier. Just like James summoned Maria on SH2.
According with the devs, there was an asylum stage in the game, probably in there Alex will saw his reality, that he was tortured, and ended by the cult, unlike Maria, she never knew the truth about herself. But seems like Alex knew he was just there for a last mission, bc he even told that to Elle when he saw her near by the police station, he said after find Josh, he will gone.
To be fair, not every character has to have trauma. Cult could have easily brainwashed his memory via otherworld magic to keep him quiet.
Alex was interestingly very loving, trying to choose between mercy or compassion, never revenge or absolution. He was in denial, not traumatized imho
Him having trauma would just be yet another retread. I like seeing a healthier minded main character every once in awhile.
Yes, there were ways to make him more interesting, but I like that they avoided making him mentally ill or trauma fueled in hiw I personally interpreted it. His nightmare comes from the mistake itself.
As for the water, most of the kids have something involving asphyxiation or losing air, with the exception of Scarlet who was vled to death.
Pyramid Head in this game is not the Red Pyramid from SH2 this is more of the movie version, too. So we only connect more of what we think we should see, not what might actually being presented.
But thats my opinion, but happy to see more people seeing the potential this game could have had to be better than it was. Still worth playing through at least once.
I did the Xbox “getting all achievements” award for this game
I do not remember even half of these details and I beat it around 6 times. It was so forgettable.
One I do remember is feeling terrible about eliminating “the children” in a way extremely similar to how they were sacrificed
I think I was turned off from the game doing very obvious knock offs of Hostel, human centipede, Saw, and some others.
I simply watched 1 hour video without being bored about the least entry in the SH series yeah that’s says a lot which’s im Silent hill lore addict at this point (im proud of it)
“Needs a renake”
Noooo thank youuuu
I missed youuuuu!!!
It could've been a very good psychological horror game, and Alex Sheppard could've been a tragic character. If they done it right, and this game is a direct take towards Jacob's Ladder. The movie Team Silent took its inspiration to make the SH franchise to begin with.
But he is in fact a tragic character. Owaku has a thing, that he always gave hints on the next project in the actual project, happen with SH1, the story of Lisa was more elaborated on SH2, but also happened in SH3, the story of Stanley, that's probably the sequel of SH2, the story of SH5. That means Alex was a prisioner of the cult, tortured, and ended by a lobotomy. Then he returned one last time for revenge. This also means that like Maria, he didn't remember all, and he didn't know Elle summoned him, just like James summoned Maria. This seems to apply to the song "You are not here" bc that's in fact truth, neither Alex or Maria are alive.
Travis Grady is in the game so Homecoming deserves a full on remake
Can u enable background listening on the vid?
There should have been two children each in every family, Scarlet having an older sibling, while Joey had a younger sibling, most likely a todler, Elle and Nora should have had their names switched around...
Why should Elle and Nora have their names switched ?
And why should Scarlet's sibling be specifically older, while Joey's should specifically be younger ? Is it cut content ? Is it related to the parents' age ? Or to the kids' personalities themselves ?
@@JabamiLain Elle's name is literally just 'girl' in French. Meanwhile, Nora is Latin for 'honor'...I just personally think their names made more sense if they were switched around.
Nora is also French for light from what I found; definitely a name with more meaning than Elle. The game really squanders her character.
@@halliehallock5731ok, what about your parameters for the sibling part ?
@@thegamingmusespeaking of missed opportunities, there was a miscalculation in their plan, and that miscalculation is called Joshua. Had the ritual gone as planned, he'd have grown completely alone and lonely, and given his artistic side, coupled with his passion for the military, I think you might guess his career choice, especially once he found out about the ritual.
I mean, he was already using Joey's hobbie to collect animals. The garden was their little hunting ground. He was the Angel keeping watch. Child characters and their innocence are extremely underrated.
Dang it ! How I wish there was a sequel focused on him !
Fell in the well...
7:08 I have to disagree. I think nondescript amnesia would just feel lazy and/or would immediately raise suspicion. As a setup military stuff is perfectly fine, at the beginning of the game we have no reason to suspect what Alex says isn't the truth, but like you said, the problem is that the payoff is lackluster.
Also, yes, I'd sell both my kidneys for reimaginings/remakes/whatever of 4 and Homepour by an experienced team that is given enough time and resources to properly flesh out these games' good ideas and trim the bad ones. But, alas, it's but a pipe dream - redoing a good idea done poorly that didn't go well with the public is a far greater risk than redoing a god idea done well that already has an established customer base.
7:55 - I'm not sure I agree here. To me, the constrant pressure of his father and his subsequent breakdown makes perfect sense why he'd become dillusional over being a soldier. He yerns to have some sort of recognition from his father whom he greatly fears, and have some respect over. Like " _See, I followed in your footsteps. Are you proud father?_ "
So I definetly buy that.
Excellent video.
I agree it makes sense, I just don't think it's involved in the narrative enough. compare to how much effort sh2 puts into showing us James believes Mary is alive. very little in homecoming relates to Alex and his false beliefs so it doesn't feel as believable to me.
In the title screen, if you wait long enough you can hear Judge Holloway saying our sacrifices were in vain!
Spoiling the game of who the main antagonist is
I'm also pretty good at analysing media and quite a few of my deductions turn out correct 😊
43:18 The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb
Is the full saying. This makes tons of sense as the parents sacrificed their children for this cult
I looked into that quote but the source is uncertain and no major academic research substantiates it that I can find. it seems to be a well spread story online but not one strongly supported by fact.
EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!
Will you be reviewing Silent Hill Ascension in the future? I would like to hear your view on it.
I will eventually, but it likely won't be for a while
TWhat tis deep dive has shown me is that the team behind the game really poured a TON of effort into the symbolism and plot-connections- so many times that the number four repeats like Four families, four puzzles in Alex's house, four family mmebers in the Shepherd family, four elements etc etc. They really went all in on the symbolism, and that does deserve credit... but man, not only was the "he wasn't REALLY a soldier!" plot twist so meaningless, going back to articles and reviews from the era also reminded me the game had a TON of bugs, some of which necessitated the player to erase their whole save file and start all over! Even if the plot had been truly refined to be the best version of itself that it could be, the poor dev team probably had t work exactly according to Konami's dictates, and back then the unhealthy business practices they'd used for ages were growing WAY out of control, so that they got something with all the good points it does is probably a small miracle. But with bugs, a plot twist that sinks like a lead balloon and a sense of aesthetics that probably went against what a large portion of the fanbase appreciated about Silent HIll, it probably never stood much of a chance. But I wonder if it could ever have gotten to be a really good and polished game. I really do doubt that Konami were capable of that, back then...
Though personally even if we just stick to criticizing the themes of the plot, I'm not feeling so fresh about the good ending relying on Alex forgiving his parents for their horrid abuse while he's going throuhg the worst day of his life or else we get condemned to superhell. Though I guess that could be seen as an expression of the strengthh of his character that he's capable of it at those moments... it also kiiinda feels like a very black and white and simplistic choice considering the history of this famil and what they had done to him. Real "it takes two to tango"-vibes about the story where an abused child comes home to his town that wanted to sacrifice him, and has to be the bigger man about it.
Great video! I feel Homecoming gets more shit than it should.
3:35 LOL
it was Cain how kills Abel
I wish this game wasn't attached to SH and was more fleshed out and then I would of liked it sooooooo much more. It's very bland looking, the characters are boring...Wheeler is my favorite because he's just the comic relief lol. Love ya Muse, u still make the best SH content.❤
So if the gods and monsters in Silent Hill universe don't exist, than it means that they were created by the town and collective unconscious of cultists? Just like with Alessa in 1, James in 2, Hether and Claudia in 3 e.t.c. They were created by peoples fears and faith.
I feel that Homecoming is the weakest entry in the canon series. Given where his story is meant to go; you’d think the developers would have gone with the series strength and focused on his alienation. His deliberate separation from family, a search for love and acceptance, as well as the town in a wider sense. Alex learning he wasn’t the only child to undergo such treatment; giving him understanding that he was not alone in his torment and sadness that others also experienced his pain.
There is not enough backstory to establish Shepherd’s Glen, let alone the characters. You can see where the game took inspiration (the scene in the hospital at the start almost wholly lifted from Jacob’s Ladder, imho) but didn’t translate it into something original. There’s also the failure as a whole in the series to move on from Silent Hill 2. The tacky reuse of the amnesiac protagonist. You can keep the idea of an unreliable narrator, or protagonist, but can we please drop the amnesiac? It is, by now, a far overused trope in horror literature, cinema, and games.
You make a valid point that we’re just given character stories here, instead of experiencing them to inform us. This is the exact same problem that would later trouble Silent Hill: The Short Message, although game length and imitations may explain that occurrence. I shouldn’t need to be told I am experiencing the fantastical, weird, or horrific. I should feel it. Show, don’t tell.
Another major issue here is this; who are Alex’s family to us to care about them? We get the punishing father stereotype, a mother who, while not actively physically abusing him, withholds love and emotion. Worst of all is Joshua. We are meant to see him as the drive for Alex to remain in the town undergoing this unnatural phenomena. Yet, in my view, all they manage to is present him as is a selfish, uncaring mannequin that ultimately does nothing. These stereotypes are meant to be shortcuts to meaning, but these very stereotypes distance us from them, we don’t actively hate them. We just don’t care about them. Hence, the revelations about the family fall flat.
What we needed was something that made us care; clues that all was not as it appeared to Alex. Small clues that let us see that his parents did care, making them people instead of stereotypes. Perhaps a medical file, explaining the mother’s catatonic condition developing from shutting down emotionally, entirely so as not to continually experience the pain of loss? A diary or recording of the dad despairing at having to be such a monster to go through with the inhuman ritual? Can we even make Josh human so we can connect with Alex’s determination to save him?
Maybe focus on the bargain that is the base of this story. Yes, the four families escaped the town of Silent Hill, but in accepting the bargain, they’ve never really left because they’ve condemned future generations of their to torture and death. Ultimately, we should experience the descendants realisation that it is too high a price.
Homecoming is a boat that sinks, not because it’s innately badly made, but so full of holes that it has become a submersible. Fix those many spots and you night just have a tolerable story and game.
Only three SH games I've beaten were Shattered memories Downpour and The room
I actually had fun with this game and Downpour they weren't perfect but fun in their own way.
Silent Hill Homecoming felt to me more like a sequel to the movie than the games. The cult, with the soldiers in miner suits, Pyramid Head in his movie appearance, the transformation of the otherworld etc. But I didn't hate it, I finished the game for all the endings.
It was definitely intended to tie into the movie, the visuals are far too similar to ignore.
@@thegamingmuse Similar to Origins, but there it felt more like they were combining the cinematic and video game worlds, whereas Silent Hill Homecoming is perfectly understandable even if you've never played any Silent Hill game before, only seen the movie.
Which, by the way, I admit I loved (unlike the second film). It had a mood, and somehow the church in hell feeling really hit home for me, I often had dreams where the church I went to was in the middle of a hellish place as a last resort.
Anyway, I totally agree that I don't think Silent Hill Origins needs a remake, it relies so much on the first game that they should remake the first game instead. Which was the scariest Silent Hill game for me, but maybe only because I played it when I was youngest.
By the way, have you played the Silent Hill 1 fan remake demo?