2019 and we're still talking about Silent Hill. Shows how powerful this game did for the video game culture. But now that i think about it went so much more beyond that influencing the real world.
@@lowgalaxy7232 video games still can be art. Look at titles like Undertale and Dark souls not everything is Slot Machine simulator 9000 much to EA's disappointment.
Love your style man To me Maria is the most unsettling aspect of SH2 aside from the environment or Pyramid Head, the way she never interacts with any of the other human characters but appears to James when he is alone, the way she always spawns in the corner of dark rooms when you first exploring the hospital. She really like a phantom which makes her presence and connection to Mary all the more disturbing.
Also there’s a side game from her perspective. It’s sad because even she believed she was her own person and not something out of James psyche until the game further progresses
My fascination with Silent Hill is eternal. Ever since that initial horrifying descent through hell with Harry, I've been hooked into it's beautiful nightmare. Its tragic what's become of this series. So deep and haunting still to this day
In the same way that the, admittedly very different, Tomb Raider has been ruined it always seems to come down to money and milking a franchise until it is dry. For me SH4 The Room and TR IV The Last Revelation are where both these series end (they are, in my opinion, both the weakest editions but still good). Personally, nothing beyond these two games is canon. Of course, no one who was creatively responsible for the originals still has any connection to the games - something which is pretty obvious to those who love the early games.
I played Silent Hill 2 for the first time a few months back because I thought it was going to be a really frightening, memorable game. I had no clue it would be a narrative requiring thorough exposition that would probably haunt me for the rest of my life. I had absolutely no idea what I was signing up for.
Silent hill got me into psychology and religious/occult study's. Which then lead me to h.p lovecrafts world of the c'thulu mythos. Such depth is rarely seen except in games like the last of us or even older Earthbound.
Xenogears definitely fits this depth as well, and the psychological threads/concepts are very overtly seen. Psychology, philosophy, religion, and even a tad of mysticism and fantasy. I often told many friends, this game needs a psychology textbook to go along otherwise some of the ideas are just so deep it is hard to fathom them. I love Xenogears and Silent Hill for this effort they put in making the video gaming experience a complex and intricate one.
I always wondered if Silent Hill influenced Bloodborne, as it's one of the only games I've played that really understands how to get that "dark" angle right on a psycho-spiritual level.
@@KnjazNazrath bloodborn was mainly influenced by h.p and the movie brotherhood of the wolf. It had more of a cthulu mythos rather then silent hills occult psych-horror. blood borne had a more cosmic horror tone.
Well, Bioshock, Deus Ex, Fallout (1!) Inquisitor, Planescape Torment tries something like that (just naming pc games :s) Maybe suikoden 3, xenogears, chrono cross or something like that too... anyway i always tought sillent hills brought most of it's sustance from Lynch Style (also a director well known for it's simbology and tought provoking movies) especially Twin Peaks
I always felt alot of Jungian psychoology in Silent Hill 2,as well! One thing I noticed:"There is no coming to co sciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become enlightened my imagining figures of light,but my making the darkness conscious." -Carl Jung Everything hinted to James that he killed Mary:The radio noise at the beginning is Mary asking:"Why did you kill me,James?",Maria saying that he maybe hated her,Maria dying by Pyramid Head over and over again,Laura saying he never loved Mary,Angela saying he probably found someone else,Eddie saying Silent Hill called him,too,and of course,the video tape. But James way always unwilling to accept the Truth. And that was the main reason for the monster's appearances and the town's horror. "We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate,it oppresses." - Carl Jung It is when James watched the tape and accepted his fault for killing Mary that thing started changing:No more illusions like the hotel being intacked while it was actually burned down(The Flaming Staircase is Angela's illusion,and James didn't kil PH's and Maria yet,so he saw it),ability to kill Pyramid Heads once and for all,monsters were much less in number etc etc. This required exploring the deepest and darkest parts of Silent Hill(which projected James' psyche,so he was simultaneously exploting his own personaloity and psyche),but in the end,the Truth was revealed and accepted with pain. When I heard SH devs read psychology books to study the human psyche,fear and what causes fear, and made the games based on the information,I immediately thought of Carl Jung. And for the end,kickass video,earned an immediate sub from me!
Ah Sigmund Frued. You read a couple of his works it seems like he knows his stuff but the more you dig deeper into what it believes the more you question if he is really sane and/or just projecting.
Big Blue classed as classic literature now though. You won’t study Frued in modern day phychology degrees. Such a shame. True Fruedarians would hate it. I think it’s still necessary. Start at the begging.
Max knows his stuff. Go back.. and watch them all you will binge watch. He is tooo smart, especially in the area of Phych and human behaviour. Watch them you will be mind blown. Inspiring someone so young can be so deep. Nice!
Academics tend to focus on SH2 without really giving the rest of the series much credit. Every SH game is about confronting your Jungian shadow. In the first one the cursed town is born through the physical agony turned psychological psychic projection of a girl in order to birth the demon Samael. The sequels usually follow characters clashing with the town whose surroundings and inhabitants take the form of their unconscious fears and repressed traumas. Chief among these antagonists is Valtiel, Samael's "angel", who takes the shape of whatever particular horror the protagonist is most struggling with. In every SH game from 2 on that is always the thing that lurks in the background or actively pusues them. This is the purest form of their ID. Often there is a deeper core truth to conquer to escape the town but the avatar of Valtiel most represents who they are.
Eventually we are going to have to accept alternative media such as video games as a legitimate and powerful form of both storytelling and personal exploration of the philosophical. This is especially true when these ideas are formed in a way (through gameplay) that no other media can emulate. Nier: Automata is a perfect example of this.
could also use games to hide stuff that they want not on facebook youtube eta such as my mod is about the new world order but takes place in that ficctinal universe based on things that correspond to our universe. www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/60443
As a psychology student, I must said this video was very well done. A solid awesome encapsulaption of psychoanalitic theory and content with amazing interpretation of Silent Hill.
So... Let me be the one to bring you the good news... There is an academic field of studies which is centered in pop culture and its relevance to understand human nature, society, relations and mind: Pop Philosophy. It is a pretty new field of studies and there is few researchers involved. But it is growing.
I feel the biggest hurdle for video games is, they're _interactive entertainment_ and by nature requires input effort by the "audience" (i.e. player) at a certain level of _competency_ in order to overcome the challenge before progressing further into the game and narrative. Books and film are rather passive; ;the plot advances _on its own_ without audience participation. One simply takes it all in and contemplates, rewind, re-read, and contemplate even more. For games, loading up a previous save at a certain point of the game and having to re-engage those tedious platform jumps, puzzles, boss fights, etc can drain away energy and attention more than one realises, and left with little to comfortably analyse and interpret what's happening on screen. Unless said academics are avid skilled gamers themselves, it's unlikely they're going to torture themselves with countless dying and failing just to be able to conduct a deep-dive study of the title material. And to make matters way worse, the _technology system requirements_ that need to be met before one can even get to experience the game in the first place. How many arts/literature departments actually own working units of Playstation 2, Sega Megadrive. NES, and PCs with the appropriate period hardware to properly run Windows 95/98? There is a massive technological emulation challenge to face before the world gets to _easily_ access and experience these old games. For passive medium one just flips through the pages of the book, or slot in the DVD/Bluray into the player, and seat back and relax instead of trying to decipher what all those popping error messages and hexadecimal codes even mean.
I agree with your first point, in the fact that even gaming journalists are not particularly good at playing games either. However, your second point is a problem that does not exist right now. It is incredibly easy to get your hands on any gaming console and relatively cheap as well (well, for the most part, obviously a Philips CDi wasn't a commonplace item and will be more expensive but you can still purchase them). PCs capable of running Windows 95/98 exist everywhere, in fact, many businesses still run them for things like cash registers because it is a low-cost operating system. In the future, as this hardware starts deteriorating more and working ones become harder to find/more expensive, that will be an issue. However... this is why people work so hard to preserve this stuff. Beyond emulators, there are even clone consoles that exist that have brand new hardware but still operate exactly as the old systems do.
The things video games achieve through player interaction is a big part of what video games are about. Interactivity is the thing that makes games different from other mediums. That is where the potential of video games lies. So it's crucial to actually play games if you are going to analyze them. People tend to focus too much on the story and ignore the gameplay (what are you actually doing) when analyzing games. This is somewhat understandable, because in many (most?) games the gameplay is disconnected from the story or actively works against it.
@@lastburning good games and game design understands how to integrate the gameplay as a part of its storytelling. A simple and obvious example is the insanity meter in any game derivative of Lovecraft's works.
I would love to see you break down anything you can in the Silent Hill series. I have loved this series for what feels like forever but I'm not very good at digging through symbolism. Silent Hill will live on if we keep talking about it like this.
Beautiful Video as always I would add though 3:37 Fear is not caused by ignorance of the mind. We find great comfort in ignorance and strive to submerge our minds in the meaningless. Our true terror and indeed the birthplace of fear is the acknowledgement that we posses a mind which is capable of real change and thus is quite powerful. It is the promise of power and control that frightens us not ignorance. - The reason we fear power is because if I am powerful then I am in control of life. But if I'm in control....then who can I blame for my problems? To whom may I point the accusing finger and say 'You are the cause of my upset'. If I have power then I am in control and we dispise this. Thus is why we often willingly surrender power over to authorities figures such as governments and corporations. We like being slaves because then I don't have to make my own decision and I need not take responsibility for my actions. - It is the light that most terrifies us. Darkness is an ancient friend to whom we seek comfort in times of great sorrow.
That is fucking terrific, realy, just thinking abouth what you just wrote make my Brain literally begin to spam random and bizarre toughts just to prevent me from paying atention to what you're saying.
I fear my own eventual death, not out of ignorance but out of the knowledge that my consciousness will be committed to the void. I fear the knowledge that one day I'll be no longer and my daughters will lose their father. Just as I fear the day my father eventually leaves this world. Mostly irrelevant but I suppose my fears fall into a fear of the unknowable. I've struggled with this for a great while and I'm only 24. I remember being so caught up in my own death when I was in 3rd grade I used to lay awake horrified.
For me silent hill especially silent hill 2 (my favourite one by the way) while containing a lot of the elements of the freudian and junglian theories, it focuses in the most talked and perhaps popularised element in Jung theory wich is the shadow, the shadow in short contains everything (both good and bad) that we don't want to show (or recognise) that we have ourselves so, every time we deny it it grows stronger and stronger (like a snow ball) and at the end it may be our end (or bring us very bad times), the town represents this, it shows us our shadow like in the case of the other 2 characters we find through the game (I'm excluding Laura because she's not affected by the town) or even James. And another junglian element present in the same game (and the series) is the integration of said shadow into one self, it can be dangerous since it includes integrating some things we don't like about ourselves. and like chemical reactions were not the same after it. And that's the beauty (and horror) of silent hill (especially 2) as a town it puts us in front of that we hate about ourselves, makes us go through war with our shadow, but if we can be like James in the (I dare to say) "canon" ending (mostly because its the one you always get on the first playtrough) and we can integrate our shadow we can grow ourselves. Sorry for the long post, I love this game and I love the junglian psychology, I'm a major in psychology and is the one that I love the most!, I hope you keep doing vids like this max!! and to you the random person that is made it this far, I wish you a beautiful day and keep being awesome!
Max, I gotta tell ya... I haven't thought about Silent Hill 2 in quite some time. Just a couple of years ago I got into reading Jung psychology to understand myself. Back in November a relationship I was in was ended after 11 years. I've handled it well except for one thing: I've developed a crush on a woman at work. One who is not like my ex, and who is already married with kids (you could say, an alternate version of my ex). I just finished reading "King Warrior Magician Lover" which explores the masculine archetypes written by Jungian psychologists, and in the Lover side of things, the "Shadow Lover" can put a woman on a pedestal...Anyways...How I see my crush is not unlike how Sunderland sees Maria. It's hard to explain, but, since reading that book a light bulb went off in my head, and I've almost shaken that feeling I have for my crush, and after watching this video made me see that feeling I had, and appreciate Silent Hill 2 just that much more.
As a Psychology and English major, I wish to incorporate rich story-telling video games, like Silent Hill 2, to explain psychological concepts when I become a professor. It is good to see that individuals are observing story-rich video games seriously because according to Jung, literature is the individual's shadow. Thanks for your video!
Watching this again a year later. SH is one of my favorite franchises,the second installment is one of the greatest games ever made.Thanks for showing SH the love it deserves Max
*This deep dive was excellent but there was one thing you definitely got wrong about Silent Hill 3 **6:51** there are actual clear freudian influences in the monster designs here.* Hunger/Anger/Pleasure/Sexuality/Fear *Mandarin:* You'll notice at the ends of the "arms" are lips that could either be mouths or vaginal lips. The elongated stiffness of the arms are phallic in nature as well, like an amalgamation of the two sexual parts into one being which people romantically describe when they have sex "becoming one" etc. *Creeper:* very general Anger and Disgust are easily expressed towards pests and bugs it's hard to enjoy the pleasures in life when you're harasssed by insects and pests. *Flesh Lip/Mary* highly representative of hospital patients unable to care for themselves rendering their loved one unable to derive sexual pleasure with them. Beds are where you sleep and derive sexual pleasure (usually) mouths/lips etc it all comes together. now with SH3 it is a bit more complicated from your perspective since this is from the perspective of Heather who is a combination of Alessa and Cheryl which would represent fears/sexuality/anger of a girl in general and of her own unique make-up. A lot of the designs take form in Alessa's anguish, anger, and inability to have pleasure after the horrors she endured and then general fears/desires of a more female teenage perspective. One of the bosses in SH3 is the most obvious Phallic based inspiration in the entire SH series. *Pendulum:* Fear of intimacy/sexuality considering in an area associated with penises is a sharp blade. *Slurper:* .......Do I really have to explain the potential for sexual connotations here??? *Nurse:* Sexual competition since their outfits and body shape are idealized. *Insane Cancer:* Fear of weight gain and cancerous growths/breast cancer. I'm actually a little surprised you didn't make these connections yourself! The part about Jung's gutting of Freud's idea I have to wonder if Jung never realized the SUBconscious sexual connotations of POWER often leading to sexual gratification or RELIGION leading to sexual/marital gratification dressed up in a spiritual light since it often involves being part of a community to grow close to. I actually think a lot of our "other" motivations simply pave the way for the pursuit of sexuality to come to a pleasurable conclusion. Though I do believe with a focused mind you can possibly transcend this a bit with selfless acts I think we take for granted how subconsciously sexual these seemingly "non-sexual" motivations really are especially since it's easily proven that you can gain sexual gratification through non-intercourse/masturbatory means. Anyhow love your videos, discovered it because of you remaking that one guy's MGS "most substantial" video which I saw a loooong time ago, I really enjoyed your take on remaking it since it felt a little more concise since you were able to do your own pass over his attempt, offering slightly different insights.
lol! "Jung's gutting of Freud's idea"? You keep grindin' that axe, son. There's a reason people get annoyed with Freudians reducing the world to sexual desires, y'know? Kinda implies we're nothing but the sum of biological impulses, and that nothing we've done actually has value. There was a great satire of this in Futurama's "Don't Date ROBOTS!" sketch, actually. Still, as a religious studies scholar I'm used to people trying to argue ideas of primitive morality or death denial whilst missing the larger points. Something tells me from your writing tone you might be a touch too entrenched in your viewpoint to consider the flaws, but here's hoping I might've given you some food for thought. Nice one on linking the monsters up though. It's obvious to those of us who've studied psychoanalysis but obviously many people haven't. Speaking of which, credit for having actually read some Jung. He rarely gets mentioned in psychology courses, which strikes me as odd. They touch on archetypes and the anima, then whisk away.
@@KnjazNazrath Jung was considered racist. Even then it stroke so bad that he never cleared up his name while alive. Now ppl don't mention it, but tend not to mention Jung too.
Started in the 1990's and is still being talked about now in 2019. That's how you know it's interesting and how deep it can go. The myth, the psychology of it, etc. I like it and the more you dig into information the more interesting things you find out.
Thanks for another great video Max. I have a really odd obsession with Silent Hill and I haven't played any of them. Years ago when the original Playstation was current I borrowed a copy from a friend and tried, but I don't have the nerves for this kind of media. My sense of empathy is so strong that the feelings these kinds of games create is just too much for me to handle. What's unfortunate is that the story and lore of Silent Hill are fascinating to me, and I've been able to follow it through "Let's Play" videos as well as these types of videos analyzing the game's themes.
I agree with Nimbereth. You should really give the first game a shot. THe graphics aren't as well, graphic for violence on the PS1. You'd be surprised how much you grow when you do things that frighten you or things you don't want to do.
You should watch "silent hill analysis" videos. I dont remember the uploader but they are like 3 hours long and he goes through the whole game analysing it pixel by pixel. I didnt watch it since i want to play the games myself first
@@Nimberethno game difficulty setting can save u from being scared to play it. I would make up reasons like " the game is boring" so we wouldnt play it with my friends when i was 12 because the level of "scared" would almost come to outright panic. SH3 was the first game i couldnt make myself to play and i thought i was tough after completing the suffering on ps2. But i was 12 back then, now its a different story.
Part of the problem with the later western games is that they treat each revelation of whatever sin as the golden ticket that cures everything. When James remembers the truth, he struggles with it and gradually comes to accept not only what he did and how he felt at the time, but how what he did was understandable and even morally correct. You don't get better via catharsis. You get better with therapy and acknowledging the issue over time.
@@KneeCapHill Thanks! That's not a cover of any Tool album, but it is a painting from Alex Grey, the album artworker for Tool. Holy fucking shit, Silent Hill 2, Carl Jung, and now Alex Grey. If this isn't the best thing on TH-cam...
Talk about synchronicity, your channel and content in relation to providing a literary legitimacy to video games is the goal of my work right now. TH-cam randomly suggested your videos and I'm digesting as much as I can. I love your work.
Incredible work man. Wow. I’m beyond impressed with this analysis. There are so many of these examples and theories that I’ve thought about for years. I was born in 88 and grew up with the first three games, almost obsessively. Not in a manner that would hinder my day-to-day life, but always lingering in the very back of my mind like a sound I wanted to scratch ... not hear. I think one of the most incredible video game moments in history is the beginning of the original Silent Hill, through its unconventional camera angles and cinematography, ambiguous demonic undertones, and unexplainable circumstances in the environment becoming progressively dilapidated. However what makes silent hill one of the best moments in gaming in my opinion, is the act of creating shock, trapping the main character (which if you have an empathetic temperament, you), and forcing you to realize that there is no way out, and you have to die. If you immerse yourself into the persona of the main character of any game, this game’s example creates layers of character conflict that is basically horrifying on another level. There is no game that can replicate this as organically as silent hill did. Truly the first three games are masterpieces... at least in my opinion. Great great work man.
Thank you! This is the video I want to spread aggressively the next time someone is like “Ew! M rated games are bad and violent and no one should be playing them!” There is artistic and academic merit looking into games like Silent Hill. It’s kind of frustrating and sad when there are still people who are dismissive over video games, especially those in the M rated and horror variety. I became fixated by the franchise (especially SH2) when I was in high school. I played some of the games and watched the rest via play throughs. And then later I wanted to know from others and their insights/interpretations of the game because I can’t always explain why the game is fascinating and eerie at the same time. Hence why videos like this are not only entertaining but also enlightening. I like to learn about various things in unconventional ways so watching video essays of my favorite video games is a gateway to getting into other subjects such as psychology.
Max Derrat Excellent video! I had forgotten how good the sound track is. Silent Hill 1,2 & 3 are such intimate experiences. I'm keen to follow your journey...
In 2008 I took an experimental college course literally called Games and Lit which was an English credit course they were trying that examined games as a form of literature and story telling. Really fun class. Dude even straight up said he didn't expect people to show up to class when Gta4 dropped provided they could prove they bought/were playing the game.
This is truly great, I've often thought the same about elevating the perception of video games to the level they deserve! People often argue that video games lack depth and while in some cases that is true, isn't that the same for any medium? I can think of dozens of books, films, artwork, music, etc that have entries which arguably have no real meaning or depth- "just fluff" I suppose; but even that sort of thing has its purpose (purely entertainment) Anyway, I just wanted to say EXCELLENT VIDEO and KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!
I wouldn't call depictions drawn with period blood or female hygiene products or similar art or anything related to that. Art has fallen in front of all when it comes to depth. The japanese game LSD simulater is based on a dream diary. how deeper can you get?
I will do my best to preserve this video. It shows how videogames can become a material of deep studies in any matter. And with that, videogames can be taken more seriously as part of human culture. Storytelling and Cinematography are combined so perfectly to make the wonder that is a videogame. Excellent video.
You give video games the legitimacy it needs, your videos our very open deep and interesting diving deep into parallels of these games that many never would of seen. Your video on Metal Gear Solid was amazing as well. You somehow put into words what a lot of people have seen or thought or wanted to learn and make it transcend from just gaming but in reality, philosophy, and of course art.
Considering they once considered having an alternate version of James, named "Joseph", I wonder if the corpse of James found in the apartment was the Animus of Mary, whom is dead, so Joseph would be dead too.
I'm late but I still want to share my feelings for your work.. I'm in love with your content, really. I just discovered your channel and I can't stop watching your Silent Hill videos, they're amazing. I learn more about the games, I learn new theories I've never heard of and I learn absolutely interesting things like the psychoanalysis : I learn new things about subjects I love with all my heart. Everything about your content is great. I also love your voice, it's perfect, I feel comfortable watching your videos. Thank you so much for your work, I really love it. 🌼
SH2 was a remake of Lost Highway. It was considered a failure at first but the movie gained cult status and serious analysis in 2000s because they showed it on IFC and more ppl saw it.
You need to play Bloodborne. Just like Silent Hill's story and in contrast to Dark Souls, Bloodborne's story is wholly ambiguous. It's not just obscure or hidden, but the story of Bloodborne and Silent Hill 2 are open for interpretation. (both with all these references to psychology and philosophers from western and eastern culture, etc. The name "Maria" is also featured in Bloodborne and has a lot of different deep meanings there as well) In my opinion, this raises a piece of work to true art. The game is not just the game, meant to be consumed. But art is in the interplay between the observer (player) and the game on screen. And those two games really need you to interpret and come up with your own story and ideas. It raises emotions far beyond just joy.
@@touchingisjustthefirststep Actually the story is really great well! ;) Just like with any Souls-games the ludo-narrative consonance is ingenious. Maybe in Bloodborne it is even more profound than it has ever been in souls games before. And during the second arc of Bloodborne where everything gets harder to grasp for the human mind the story becomes even better and way more profound and deep. Because while the plot becomes more and more obscure and incomprehensible (which is the point and ingenious), the story still works on a different level. This is just one of the reasons why Bloodborne is pure art and so profound.
@@touchingisjustthefirststep After the wall of text, I will admit that I can understand how one can simply not like Souls stories. So bear with me a little. ;) As you know from Edward Morgan Forster, while a plot describes just a series of events, the term story describes the dramatic, thematic, and emotional significance of such events. So I would say, that the ludo-narrative is a very important part of a game's story. For example, to Silent Hill 2's story, it might be more important to the story's profundity what the player feels during the big reveal at the end than what actually happens there. Which is exactly why I don't want to just read the story or watch a Let's Play but play it myself. Because that's one of these moments, only a game can do. And for me personally, the Dark Souls games do this ludo-narrative thing extremely well. Even if not a lot happens during the plot. Or if the plot might even seem nonsensical. This is especially true for Bloodborne.So my guess is that you didn't find the plot interesting enough. Maybe exactly for the reason that it becomes hard to grasp towards the end. And I can totally understand that. I also love to get this "click moment", completely understand the a very complex plot like a detective and get this kind of satisfaction out of a game's story. But I like Bloodborne's story for different reasons.
@@CycloneFox Bloodborne is just a tryhard wannabe Lovecraft (ds is more original) and Silent Hill 2 tells it's story through the characters (and the environment sometimes) It really doesn't have anything to do with how the player feels (not when it comes to the scare factor because the game can scare without ever having to throw jumpscares). I'll disagree with you here.
To me, that's my favorite kind of horror. Horror that is blatant and in your face...like jump scares or violence, to me isn't as scary as something more psychological. Mystery, suspense, or questions/experiences related to the unknown. Which is why I rate games like Silent Hill so highly. Btw, I only recently found your videos but I've been really enjoying them. Nice work.
It feels orientantive, however, there is much, close to being understood and perceived through traditional means, as the game has naturally, factors that define it. Contextual, such as the inspirations it has, films and literature; the motivations, which lie in the competitive market of videogames, it's a response to other games of the era; and whatnot convenience, after all in the job to make a project we move in inconceivable manners.
Holy crap, man. I feel like this is the channel I've always needed to find.. I have loved this game ever since '99 when the very first one came out. I remember pouring over plot theories - I think the original one I read was posted on gamefaqs by president evil! I used to spend in inordinate amount of time considering the weird plots holes.. and what it all meant. The first two games were exceptional, but it never really kept my interest in the same way after that.. even though I still played them all. Going to be busy watching a lot of your videos! I'm pretty psyched ^_^
I've been on a sh kick lately. Sh2 is my favorite. I explained it to my wife the other day. I told her that that game held a beautiful melancholy and the ending was so impactful that ive spent 20 years trying to find that feeling in a game again. It's above even the ending of bioshock witch was another game whose ending really left me in awe.
Damn dude... i just discovered your channel. Needless to say, you're showing me that I need to replay all of those games from when I was younger. So much was overlooked! I enjoyed the games so much back then... and I wasn't even getting the full extent of it. SHEESH!
By the way, did you know that Mary's archetype was actually Juno and Minerva from Ancient Rome? Did you know that the reason Mary is held in high regard as the Madonna or Theotokos to Catholics is because of an Ancient Roman need for a matron goddess to represent the capital as it was for their people's older tradition? Did you know that the concept of Jesus even having a mother was debated within the Orthodox church and lead to schisms and bloody sectarianism between denominations? Juno often wore a goat skin, which was called aegis by the Greeks when referring to Hera, which seems to be the prototype garment for the Madonna’s veiled statues. There is also reason to think that another member of the Capitoline Triad of Rome was a predecessor to Mary. This was the virgin goddess Minerva. The efforts shown by the followers of both goddesses could not be overstated. Their worship of these goddesses was just as profound, if not more profound, than the worship of Jupiter or any other god for that matter. It seems that Rome was more concerned about its goddesses than their chief god. This would explain why Mary had to assume the position of these two goddesses. It bears mentioning that Minerva’s followers reached far and wide and she was even assimilated into British regions occupied by Rome. Her attributes very much resembled a Proto-Celtic goddess, Sulis, so they combined the two and devised a cult for her in, what is today, Somerset, England [the site of the famous Bath of Rome]. Minerva was a healer and a goddess of wisdom. Her devotees would pray to her for good health and for successful medical procedures. People would also pray to her in times of crisis. Her temples were among the most popular, and they were positioned in highly popular areas. As I mentioned before, it was customary for Christians to supplant pagan ritual sites in order to build their own sites of worship. An entire Roman plaza dedicated to Minerva was repurposed for Catholic use: the Piazza della Minerva. Ironically, the piazza is home to the church Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Saint Mary above Minerva in English, which was wrongly attributed to Minerva worship by the Catholic Church when it was constructed. I'll bet you Christians didn't realize this. Before the onset of Christendom, women were largely accepted into the same positions male priests enjoyed. The position of the Virgin Mary was not something that originated with early Christians, but her divination as Theotokos [the Holy mother of God] in a way that was significant to prayer was added later. This was done almost exclusively due to the proclivities of pagan Greco-Roman culture. Before the time of Origen Adamantius [184-254CE] there was no written mention of Mary as Theotokos. In 431CE the Council of Ephesus was convened. It was in this time that the use of Theotokos became an accepted de jure title for Mary. Before the promotion of this title, Nestorius the Archbishop of Constantinople [386-450CE], debated to the Church that Mary’s role as the de facto mother of God ought to be reduced to the, ever more modest, mother of Christ, mainly so that people didn’t inadvertently undermine God. I like to compare the Council of Ephesus to a lawsuit, where Nestorius engaged in verbal arguments with Cyril of Alexandria [376-444CE] who was perhaps the most important theologian of the time. Ultimately the Council ended when Nestorius’ plot to condemn Cyril for heresy backfired. The early Catholic Church would still use the epithet Theotokos. The study of Mary is quite interesting. There is an entire field devoted to the study of her role in Christianity, called Mariology. Yet, in scrutinizing all of this material it is rather difficult to find the true reason as to why the Roman people fought so hard to deify Mary. The truth is, many Greco-Roman pagans worshiped goddesses, and many of them were, in fact, symbols of chastity and childbearing. The "archetype" of Mary isn't even of Christian origin and the Bible's depiction of her proves this. Her archetype is pagan, and this concept that her virtue is derived from the Christian god runs into trouble when we examine the unbiased historicity of Mary worship. Jungian archetypes are interesting indeed, but we have to understand the true source of archetypes in European culture, and they invariably originate from European roots, and not Judeo-Christian ones. I say this now to refute the assertions of cultural imperialists like Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson.
One of my pet theories regarding Silent Hill 2 is that Eddie Dombrowski is possibly based loosely on The Son Of Sam. My connections are tenuous, but I think the dog, the revolver and Eddie possibly being from New York due to his last name and love of pizza have a small indication that the Son Of Sam murders might have influenced Eddie's design. Like I said, it's a shaky theory at best, so I don't expect anyone else to go along with it or agree with my reasoning, but it is interesting food for thought for anyone who wants to entertain the idea.
Silent Hill taught me about mental illness and trauma all the way back when I was 11 lol. I didn’t FULLY understand what was going on until I was older... I’m 31 now and it continues to blow my mind and has remained my favorite game series of all time.
I love these videos so much dude. So good. Some topics these videos bring up for me to share are "Universal Hologram Theory" of consciousness and Gateway Experience CIA paper
Metal Gear Solid with it's society based thoughts, Devil May Cry with it's personification of one's inner self, Silent Hill has always taken a very unique look at psychological issues by manifesting them into something very unforgettable.
Really interesting analisys. Just finished SH2 (only got normal ending so far and Maria's game). A bit too late, but I was impressed by it's psychological factors. I know nothing about psychology or that book, but somehow I felt the continous pain and sadness James is intended to carry (at least related to my ending, ofc). He suffers for his wife and Maria too (as well as for other characters). And Maria seems to be an idealistic manifestation of his own wife, yes. The red pyramid thing seems to be another manifestation of James' mind. After playing Silent Hill 1. I have the feeling they dwell in some dead's realm all the time or perhaps between life and death. I sadly lack the lore but I'm anyway impressed after SH1 and SH2, as they lead to open speculation on top of being incredible games. Next one is SH3.
Maria's existence is similar to Lisa's: They were both born from a wish through the powers of Silent Hill. In a way, they are more sophisticated monsters created by James and Alessa, respectively. This is why Lisa is struck with terror and loses it at the end of Silent Hill 1. She even says herself: "I'm the same as them. I just hadn't noticed it before." As for James and Maria, things are even more overt, due to Maria's mimicking of Mary's traits (getting sick and demeaning James) and appearance. Not to mention her multiple deaths throughout the game.
When I played the game, I always felt that Maria, cause of all the obvious similarities with Mary, was the inner part of James that wouldn’t accept she’s gone. For instance, that’s shy there is an ending called “Maria” that you leave town with her, and can only be triggered when you spend time with her, protect her, etc. Also, in that same ending, you fight Mary instead of Maria. For me, what all this means is that the player, as same as James, instead of accepting the past (Mary is death), goes for hiding it, trying to embrace the idea of being with Mary again but in a different form. He is trying to camuflage the past what with what seems a new present. The intention of trying to forget the past with the present, instead of accepting it, makes sense because the player in Marias ending is too worried of protecting and spending time with Maria. She encarnates not is guilt for killing Mary, as pyramid head does, but but his fear to go on with his life (that is what Mary asks him to do in the letter and in the Leave hospital video at the end). That’s why we fight Mary in this ending: we are fighting the past, trying to suppress it, instead of fighting our fear of letting go, that should be Maria. That is also why, for achieving the Leave ending, that in other words is named “Let Go” as “Leave her behind”, we need to read Mary’s letter and examine her photograph; while not being so close and protective of Maria. Those actions shows James purpose of being focused in his “mission” to fix his own soul and mind (showing himself he misses Mary), while also trying to stay far of the lie of being with Maria, who resembles his fear to accept the past and let go.
This was a truly excellent watch. Informative, creative and inspirational; and fuckin great source material. I played the Silent hills when I was 10 years old and upwards. Even through the sheer terror, brought about by the games gruesomly artistic nature, I was attracted to the franchise. As I've gotten older, and my understanding of the world and my pursuits of understanding have brought me to Freud, Jung, Watts, Mckena and Peterson. I feel now that these are not simply choices, but an inaite hunger deep within me; beyond ego. That craves this knowledge in order to become fully developed and intirgrated, so to be usefull enough to be effective. Thanks for this video Max. I'd like to see you do more on this franchise. Cause I'm a massive FAN boy 😁
Thanks Calgie! I've got four other videos on my channel dedicated to Silent Hill. If you want links to them, stick around to the end of the video to see them on the video screen. :) If you like Jung like I do, you might want to check out one video in particular called "Silent Hill Mythology - The Multiple Dimension Theory." Have a great weekend! :D
Hey there! Luckily for you there's actually been a really wonderful host of academic work on video games over the last 13 years or so, to the point that Games Studies is actually it's own dedicated discipline! I would urge you to check out the journal Game Studies, as well as the Platform Studies book series. Great stuff!
You know video games can honestly create meaning without stories. Just as music and visual art doesn't always come with some narrative, doesn't make it any less art.
Donal Kalsched "The Inner World of Trauma" also provides a very good basis for a Jungian psychology analysis of Silent Hill 2. Would give it a read if your interested on the subject, as it discusses how in many cases of trauma, especially on childhood trauma, the inner psyche and its systems attempts to protect the conscience ego from further exterior retraumatization, doing so in the form of inner traumatization though dreams and dissociation of memories and affection. In Silent Hill 2 case, the whole journey of James reclaiming the memories of his actions against Mary, and the seduction of Maria, incluinding her many deaths, as a way to discourage him from facing the truth, fits to a tee with Kalsched writings.
“20 odd years” It’s closer to 30 or 35 now. Computer RPGs in the 90s were at a level of complexity so great that we’re only barely reaching that level again now, and there were a tonne of games released in the 8 and 16 bit eras that definitely match mainstream films in terms of depth.
In terms of complexity, you have to remember that Elite came out in 84, and while the visuals and gameplay are rudimentary, the style of play and the way that systems interact are only something developers are interested in replicating now, after the drought in ~2005-2013. For another example, look no further than the Looking Glass titles. This whole "immersive sim" thing started well over 20 years ago, but we only really talk about it now. Daggerfall is around 25 years old now, and that level of ambition in world design and freeform gameplay wasn't that unique even in the 90's. The Ultima series was doing a lot of the same things in the 1980's but again, rudimentary graphics make it seem primitive today, despite the concepts in the gameplay being far ahead of their time. Like I've said, you're matching the information density of MAINSTREAM films with older video games. Obviously LGS in the mid-late 90's was blowing most movies out of the water, but even stuff like Super Metroid, the early Final Fantasy games, Chrono Trigger, and even Earthbound(not really a fan of the latter, but it's dense with information for sure) are at least on-level with your basic blockbuster films, it's just that they had to tell their stories partially through gameplay, and partially through text, which makes the experience a little less elegant, but not much less deep. I will say that only since the late 90's have we been able to make really profound video game story experiences, but it's not like the ability to do so came from nowhere, it was built up in the decade prior.
I'll stick to plot analysis online, I don't think we need academics to analyze games for us. Silent Hill 2 has sure been analyzed to death by people online. From what little academic analysis of games I've seen, online video makers seem to do it better anyway.
Well, I'm sure you find video analyses made for entertainment more fun than academic papers. But when he proposes video games having a place in academia, I don't think he means it for the sake of the average viewer.
@@toose8388 - what I meant is that academics seem to miss obvious things and insert silly theories where they don't belong when analyzing stories. Academic analysis of books I've read often miss the clear theme of a work to push their own theme which isn't present, using "death of the author" to justify it.
Silent Hill 2 got my professor to start calling video games art. I had taken a lot of cultural studies classes with him and we always went back and forward on various forms of media and had honestly similar tastes, but he hated video games and laughed when I called them art. On one of his birthday's I bought him a copy of Silent Hill 2, a memory card, and a PS2. He said nothing about my gift till about a week later when he brought the game up in class. *edit past grammar shit* Academically Silent Hill stands as a B movie version of Jacob's Ladder. The acting is what holds it back. The layers of the first four games created an experience that has not been matched emotionally. When I was in college I knew it was good and I knew it was deep, but I didn't have the language to express this. My professor stated this about it and it still is something I remember. "This piece of art makes you experience emotionally the journey of a generic protagonist. This journey becomes more and more twisted as you realize that your character has done something terrible that they, as well as you do not know about. The question that both you and your character must answer is, what have you done, and why did you do it. This type of narration alone is a fantastic, the piece however continues to add layers of subtext to press the question of both is this purgatory, hell, a dream, and the piece rightly does not answer this question". I wrote that down and like twelve or so years later still try to talk like that with my students when they express something I do not understand but try it for them.
Jung thought that the process of individuation toward wholeness begins in a negative state. A place of darkness that he identified with the nigredo of Alchemy or the more well known metaphor of the dark night of the soul. To me this is what Silent Hill 2 is: James's dark night of the soul. Mary's illness and his reaction to it have caused a confrontation with all of the repressed anxieties and bemoaning desires deep-seeded within him. The town is challenging him to integrate his shadow (pyramid head) and his anima (maria/mary). I suppose if you get the leave ending then this has been achieved; James has accepted these realities and moved on. The others are perhaps degeneration back into the chasing of a more infantile view of the feminine (maria), therefore keeping the truth of his anima and a healthy relationship to it unconscious.
Wow man I have watched so many explained videos but this is something I have wanted to study myself so to see something like this is wonderful I subscribe right away and I'm going to check out all your stuff I hope to see much more. 😁
My only issue is, the answer to what Maria IS is simply in the Born From a Wish subscenario. She is born from James' wish to have a different form of Mary in his life: one who wasn't ill, who was more sexuallh promiscuous, who wouldn't treat him so terribly with words in the mental confusion of her illness and weigh down his life. Maria was "born" from Silent Hill as a manifestation of James' wish. But in a way, this wish for a more satisfyingly feminine woman lines up with your theory of Maria fulfilling James' anima. By the way, I sincerely appreciate your videos on this series. I'm taking an AP psych course next year, and I'm even considering going into psychology in college. My love of psychology has stemmed partly from horror in general and partly from video games as a whole, and when I finally discovered Silent Hill a little over a year ago I fell in love with it even more.
a friend of mine expected too much from a certain girl, even though i knew he ain't the type of man to take it so seriously, he actually did and fell into deep depression. i thought he was way too exaggerating. well, the anima thing explains it all for me now!! guess i better read some 'bout psychology. thx max!!
I love how she gets pissed right as he begins to reject her, but once he asks if she's Maria she puts back on her sexual/smooth facade as James closes the curtain on his issues again.
Fantastic video. You are right video games are ripe for this sort of analysis and the Silent Hill games are a great example of this. A game of equal depth that I believe needs this sort of attention is Killer7.
I'd love to see you pick apart Dark Souls. That would be cool, it's not for everyone tho:/ silent hill stuff on youtube made me go into dark souls haha
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
2019 and we're still talking about Silent Hill. Shows how powerful this game did for the video game culture. But now that i think about it went so much more beyond that influencing the real world.
Silent Hill is such a landmark of its type. That age when video games can be art rather than drugs like what they are today.
Agreeeed!
*Indubitably.*
@@lowgalaxy7232 video games still can be art. Look at titles like Undertale and Dark souls not everything is Slot Machine simulator 9000 much to EA's disappointment.
@@mwperk02 Uncharted, Last of Us, Detroit Become a Human ect.
Love your style man
To me Maria is the most unsettling aspect of SH2 aside from the environment or Pyramid Head, the way she never interacts with any of the other human characters but appears to James when he is alone, the way she always spawns in the corner of dark rooms when you first exploring the hospital.
She really like a phantom which makes her presence and connection to Mary all the more disturbing.
🔥
Also there’s a side game from her perspective. It’s sad because even she believed she was her own person and not something out of James psyche until the game further progresses
She is real. If not in Silent Hill, then in the Non-world. But I think she is a canon character.
Surely it is. Sometimes I think Maria is creepier than Pyramid Head
Sounds like your talking about nurse lisa from silent hill 1 though..
My fascination with Silent Hill is eternal. Ever since that initial horrifying descent through hell with Harry, I've been hooked into it's beautiful nightmare. Its tragic what's become of this series. So deep and haunting still to this day
In the same way that the, admittedly very different, Tomb Raider has been ruined it always seems to come down to money and milking a franchise until it is dry. For me SH4 The Room and TR IV The Last Revelation are where both these series end (they are, in my opinion, both the weakest editions but still good). Personally, nothing beyond these two games is canon. Of course, no one who was creatively responsible for the originals still has any connection to the games - something which is pretty obvious to those who love the early games.
Same here...
I like, it got so much attention, so many games, but none of them besides the first 4 and Downpour, understand the mythos of the world.
You know that a game is a good game when after almost 20 years people continues speaking and making theories
And not only the game itself. But every aspect of it from the enemy design to it's characters to even it's red square savepoints
“A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever.”
― Shigeru Miyamoto
I played Silent Hill 2 for the first time a few months back because I thought it was going to be a really frightening, memorable game. I had no clue it would be a narrative requiring thorough exposition that would probably haunt me for the rest of my life. I had absolutely no idea what I was signing up for.
@@del5582 *Always read the fine print*
Yea, I always laught when people called Resident Evil a horror game back in 2000. RE were just B class bullshit compared to this masterpiece.
Silent hill got me into psychology and religious/occult study's. Which then lead me to h.p lovecrafts world of the c'thulu mythos. Such depth is rarely seen except in games like the last of us or even older Earthbound.
I was always interested in that kind of stuff but Silent Hill helped me realize it.
Xenogears definitely fits this depth as well, and the psychological threads/concepts are very overtly seen. Psychology, philosophy, religion, and even a tad of mysticism and fantasy. I often told many friends, this game needs a psychology textbook to go along otherwise some of the ideas are just so deep it is hard to fathom them. I love Xenogears and Silent Hill for this effort they put in making the video gaming experience a complex and intricate one.
I always wondered if Silent Hill influenced Bloodborne, as it's one of the only games I've played that really understands how to get that "dark" angle right on a psycho-spiritual level.
@@KnjazNazrath bloodborn was mainly influenced by h.p and the movie brotherhood of the wolf. It had more of a cthulu mythos rather then silent hills occult psych-horror. blood borne had a more cosmic horror tone.
Well, Bioshock, Deus Ex, Fallout (1!) Inquisitor, Planescape Torment tries something like that (just naming pc games :s) Maybe suikoden 3, xenogears, chrono cross or something like that too... anyway i always tought sillent hills brought most of it's sustance from Lynch Style (also a director well known for it's simbology and tought provoking movies) especially Twin Peaks
I always felt alot of Jungian psychoology in Silent Hill 2,as well!
One thing I noticed:"There is no coming to co sciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become enlightened my imagining figures of light,but my making the darkness conscious." -Carl Jung
Everything hinted to James that he killed Mary:The radio noise at the beginning is Mary asking:"Why did you kill me,James?",Maria saying that he maybe hated her,Maria dying by Pyramid Head over and over again,Laura saying he never loved Mary,Angela saying he probably found someone else,Eddie saying Silent Hill called him,too,and of course,the video tape. But James way always unwilling to accept the Truth. And that was the main reason for the monster's appearances and the town's horror.
"We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate,it oppresses." - Carl Jung
It is when James watched the tape and accepted his fault for killing Mary that thing started changing:No more illusions like the hotel being intacked while it was actually burned down(The Flaming Staircase is Angela's illusion,and James didn't kil PH's and Maria yet,so he saw it),ability to kill Pyramid Heads once and for all,monsters were much less in number etc etc. This required exploring the deepest and darkest parts of Silent Hill(which projected James' psyche,so he was simultaneously exploting his own personaloity and psyche),but in the end,the Truth was revealed and accepted with pain.
When I heard SH devs read psychology books to study the human psyche,fear and what causes fear, and made the games based on the information,I immediately thought of Carl Jung.
And for the end,kickass video,earned an immediate sub from me!
*I Love your username!*
@@DMTInfinity Was about to say the exact same thing to you
@@BlindBosnian
😗💨 . . . *Cheers* . . . 😚💨
amazing comment, liked it just as much as i like his videos.
Ah Sigmund Frued. You read a couple of his works it seems like he knows his stuff but the more you dig deeper into what it believes the more you question if he is really sane and/or just projecting.
Big Blue classed as classic literature now though. You won’t study Frued in modern day phychology degrees. Such a shame. True Fruedarians would hate it. I think it’s still necessary. Start at the begging.
Max knows his stuff. Go back.. and watch them all you will binge watch. He is tooo smart, especially in the area of Phych and human behaviour. Watch them you will be mind blown. Inspiring someone so young can be so deep. Nice!
@@clairebear6993 Oh I know Max is smart, I am talking about Frued and his works alone that I question.
Indeed. Everything Freud says screams personal issues. Then there's his classic response to the cigar which is the biggest cop-out of all. ¬_¬
Big Blue Max was my ride or die friend online until some other friends sent me cray cray 😜
Academics tend to focus on SH2 without really giving the rest of the series much credit. Every SH game is about confronting your Jungian shadow. In the first one the cursed town is born through the physical agony turned psychological psychic projection of a girl in order to birth the demon Samael. The sequels usually follow characters clashing with the town whose surroundings and inhabitants take the form of their unconscious fears and repressed traumas. Chief among these antagonists is Valtiel, Samael's "angel", who takes the shape of whatever particular horror the protagonist is most struggling with. In every SH game from 2 on that is always the thing that lurks in the background or actively pusues them. This is the purest form of their ID. Often there is a deeper core truth to conquer to escape the town but the avatar of Valtiel most represents who they are.
Eventually we are going to have to accept alternative media such as video games as a legitimate and powerful form of both storytelling and personal exploration of the philosophical. This is especially true when these ideas are formed in a way (through gameplay) that no other media can emulate. Nier: Automata is a perfect example of this.
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could also use games to hide stuff that they want not on facebook youtube eta such as my mod is about the new world order but takes place in that ficctinal universe based on things that correspond to our universe. www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/60443
As a psychology student, I must said this video was very well done. A solid awesome encapsulaption of psychoanalitic theory and content with amazing interpretation of Silent Hill.
So...
Let me be the one to bring you the good news...
There is an academic field of studies which is centered in pop culture and its relevance to understand human nature, society, relations and mind:
Pop Philosophy.
It is a pretty new field of studies and there is few researchers involved. But it is growing.
*Nice!* 💖
I. Love. Silent Hill.
😗💨 . . . *Cheers* . . . 😚💨
It's an addictive series. Particularly #1 to 3.
SH is my most precious/favorite video game series . It’s what makes me , me .
"I walked, I could do nothing but walk. The only me is me, are you sure the only you is you?" RIP Silent Hills, still stings.
A video game makes you, you? Sad life.
Andrew Cruz Jesus Christ that DP is horrendous
I feel the biggest hurdle for video games is, they're _interactive entertainment_ and by nature requires input effort by the "audience" (i.e. player) at a certain level of _competency_ in order to overcome the challenge before progressing further into the game and narrative. Books and film are rather passive; ;the plot advances _on its own_ without audience participation. One simply takes it all in and contemplates, rewind, re-read, and contemplate even more. For games, loading up a previous save at a certain point of the game and having to re-engage those tedious platform jumps, puzzles, boss fights, etc can drain away energy and attention more than one realises, and left with little to comfortably analyse and interpret what's happening on screen.
Unless said academics are avid skilled gamers themselves, it's unlikely they're going to torture themselves with countless dying and failing just to be able to conduct a deep-dive study of the title material.
And to make matters way worse, the _technology system requirements_ that need to be met before one can even get to experience the game in the first place. How many arts/literature departments actually own working units of Playstation 2, Sega Megadrive. NES, and PCs with the appropriate period hardware to properly run Windows 95/98? There is a massive technological emulation challenge to face before the world gets to _easily_ access and experience these old games. For passive medium one just flips through the pages of the book, or slot in the DVD/Bluray into the player, and seat back and relax instead of trying to decipher what all those popping error messages and hexadecimal codes even mean.
I agree with your first point, in the fact that even gaming journalists are not particularly good at playing games either. However, your second point is a problem that does not exist right now. It is incredibly easy to get your hands on any gaming console and relatively cheap as well (well, for the most part, obviously a Philips CDi wasn't a commonplace item and will be more expensive but you can still purchase them). PCs capable of running Windows 95/98 exist everywhere, in fact, many businesses still run them for things like cash registers because it is a low-cost operating system. In the future, as this hardware starts deteriorating more and working ones become harder to find/more expensive, that will be an issue. However... this is why people work so hard to preserve this stuff. Beyond emulators, there are even clone consoles that exist that have brand new hardware but still operate exactly as the old systems do.
The things video games achieve through player interaction is a big part of what video games are about. Interactivity is the thing that makes games different from other mediums. That is where the potential of video games lies. So it's crucial to actually play games if you are going to analyze them. People tend to focus too much on the story and ignore the gameplay (what are you actually doing) when analyzing games. This is somewhat understandable, because in many (most?) games the gameplay is disconnected from the story or actively works against it.
Oh boi we have a big brained intellectual. Sergen of smert!!!
@@lastburning good games and game design understands how to integrate the gameplay as a part of its storytelling. A simple and obvious example is the insanity meter in any game derivative of Lovecraft's works.
I really appreciate that comment and place of youtube
I would love to see you break down anything you can in the Silent Hill series. I have loved this series for what feels like forever but I'm not very good at digging through symbolism. Silent Hill will live on if we keep talking about it like this.
Beautiful Video as always
I would add though
3:37
Fear is not caused by ignorance of the mind. We find great comfort in ignorance and strive to submerge our minds in the meaningless.
Our true terror and indeed the birthplace of fear is the acknowledgement that we posses a mind which is capable of real change and thus is quite powerful. It is the promise of power and control that frightens us not ignorance.
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The reason we fear power is because if I am powerful then I am in control of life. But if I'm in control....then who can I blame for my problems? To whom may I point the accusing finger and say 'You are the cause of my upset'.
If I have power then I am in control and we dispise this.
Thus is why we often willingly surrender power over to authorities figures such as governments and corporations.
We like being slaves because then I don't have to make my own decision and I need not take responsibility for my actions.
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It is the light that most terrifies us. Darkness is an ancient friend to whom we seek comfort in times of great sorrow.
So what will you do without all the fun back and forth drama?
That is fucking terrific, realy, just thinking abouth what you just wrote make my Brain literally begin to spam random and bizarre toughts just to prevent me from paying atention to what you're saying.
I fear my own eventual death, not out of ignorance but out of the knowledge that my consciousness will be committed to the void. I fear the knowledge that one day I'll be no longer and my daughters will lose their father. Just as I fear the day my father eventually leaves this world.
Mostly irrelevant but I suppose my fears fall into a fear of the unknowable. I've struggled with this for a great while and I'm only 24. I remember being so caught up in my own death when I was in 3rd grade I used to lay awake horrified.
For me silent hill especially silent hill 2 (my favourite one by the way) while containing a lot of the elements of the freudian and junglian theories, it focuses in the most talked and perhaps popularised element in Jung theory wich is the shadow, the shadow in short contains everything (both good and bad) that we don't want to show (or recognise) that we have ourselves so, every time we deny it it grows stronger and stronger (like a snow ball) and at the end it may be our end (or bring us very bad times), the town represents this, it shows us our shadow like in the case of the other 2 characters we find through the game (I'm excluding Laura because she's not affected by the town) or even James. And another junglian element present in the same game (and the series) is the integration of said shadow into one self, it can be dangerous since it includes integrating some things we don't like about ourselves. and like chemical reactions were not the same after it. And that's the beauty (and horror) of silent hill (especially 2) as a town it puts us in front of that we hate about ourselves, makes us go through war with our shadow, but if we can be like James in the (I dare to say) "canon" ending (mostly because its the one you always get on the first playtrough) and we can integrate our shadow we can grow ourselves.
Sorry for the long post, I love this game and I love the junglian psychology, I'm a major in psychology and is the one that I love the most!, I hope you keep doing vids like this max!! and to you the random person that is made it this far, I wish you a beautiful day and keep being awesome!
Max, I gotta tell ya... I haven't thought about Silent Hill 2 in quite some time. Just a couple of years ago I got into reading Jung psychology to understand myself. Back in November a relationship I was in was ended after 11 years. I've handled it well except for one thing: I've developed a crush on a woman at work. One who is not like my ex, and who is already married with kids (you could say, an alternate version of my ex). I just finished reading "King Warrior Magician Lover" which explores the masculine archetypes written by Jungian psychologists, and in the Lover side of things, the "Shadow Lover" can put a woman on a pedestal...Anyways...How I see my crush is not unlike how Sunderland sees Maria. It's hard to explain, but, since reading that book a light bulb went off in my head, and I've almost shaken that feeling I have for my crush, and after watching this video made me see that feeling I had, and appreciate Silent Hill 2 just that much more.
As a Psychology and English major, I wish to incorporate rich story-telling video games, like Silent Hill 2, to explain psychological concepts when I become a professor.
It is good to see that individuals are observing story-rich video games seriously because according to Jung, literature is the individual's shadow. Thanks for your video!
I'm glad to see others out there who share similar goals to my own. Thanks for watching!
Watching this again a year later. SH is one of my favorite franchises,the second installment is one of the greatest games ever made.Thanks for showing SH the love it deserves Max
Well, one of the most well written characters in all of fiction is Kreia from KOTOR II. You should take a look at the video on her philosophy.
*This deep dive was excellent but there was one thing you definitely got wrong about Silent Hill 3 **6:51** there are actual clear freudian influences in the monster designs here.* Hunger/Anger/Pleasure/Sexuality/Fear
*Mandarin:* You'll notice at the ends of the "arms" are lips that could either be mouths or vaginal lips. The elongated stiffness of the arms are phallic in nature as well, like an amalgamation of the two sexual parts into one being which people romantically describe when they have sex "becoming one" etc.
*Creeper:* very general Anger and Disgust are easily expressed towards pests and bugs it's hard to enjoy the pleasures in life when you're harasssed by insects and pests.
*Flesh Lip/Mary* highly representative of hospital patients unable to care for themselves rendering their loved one unable to derive sexual pleasure with them. Beds are where you sleep and derive sexual pleasure (usually) mouths/lips etc it all comes together.
now with SH3 it is a bit more complicated from your perspective since this is from the perspective of Heather who is a combination of Alessa and Cheryl which would represent fears/sexuality/anger of a girl in general and of her own unique make-up. A lot of the designs take form in Alessa's anguish, anger, and inability to have pleasure after the horrors she endured and then general fears/desires of a more female teenage perspective. One of the bosses in SH3 is the most obvious Phallic based inspiration in the entire SH series.
*Pendulum:* Fear of intimacy/sexuality considering in an area associated with penises is a sharp blade.
*Slurper:* .......Do I really have to explain the potential for sexual connotations here???
*Nurse:* Sexual competition since their outfits and body shape are idealized.
*Insane Cancer:* Fear of weight gain and cancerous growths/breast cancer.
I'm actually a little surprised you didn't make these connections yourself!
The part about Jung's gutting of Freud's idea I have to wonder if Jung never realized the SUBconscious sexual connotations of POWER often leading to sexual gratification or RELIGION leading to sexual/marital gratification dressed up in a spiritual light since it often involves being part of a community to grow close to. I actually think a lot of our "other" motivations simply pave the way for the pursuit of sexuality to come to a pleasurable conclusion. Though I do believe with a focused mind you can possibly transcend this a bit with selfless acts I think we take for granted how subconsciously sexual these seemingly "non-sexual" motivations really are especially since it's easily proven that you can gain sexual gratification through non-intercourse/masturbatory means.
Anyhow love your videos, discovered it because of you remaking that one guy's MGS "most substantial" video which I saw a loooong time ago, I really enjoyed your take on remaking it since it felt a little more concise since you were able to do your own pass over his attempt, offering slightly different insights.
lol! "Jung's gutting of Freud's idea"? You keep grindin' that axe, son. There's a reason people get annoyed with Freudians reducing the world to sexual desires, y'know? Kinda implies we're nothing but the sum of biological impulses, and that nothing we've done actually has value. There was a great satire of this in Futurama's "Don't Date ROBOTS!" sketch, actually. Still, as a religious studies scholar I'm used to people trying to argue ideas of primitive morality or death denial whilst missing the larger points. Something tells me from your writing tone you might be a touch too entrenched in your viewpoint to consider the flaws, but here's hoping I might've given you some food for thought.
Nice one on linking the monsters up though. It's obvious to those of us who've studied psychoanalysis but obviously many people haven't. Speaking of which, credit for having actually read some Jung. He rarely gets mentioned in psychology courses, which strikes me as odd. They touch on archetypes and the anima, then whisk away.
Because we are a sum of biological impulses. And yeah nothing matters , why would you think otherwise ?
small addition to the creeper: it's literally a bug. could be a metaphor for HIV (bugchasing) and thus sexually reckless behavior.
Nice symbolism parallels you drew there.
@@KnjazNazrath Jung was considered racist. Even then it stroke so bad that he never cleared up his name while alive. Now ppl don't mention it, but tend not to mention Jung too.
Started in the 1990's and is still being talked about now in 2019. That's how you know it's interesting and how deep it can go. The myth, the psychology of it, etc. I like it and the more you dig into information the more interesting things you find out.
Thanks for another great video Max.
I have a really odd obsession with Silent Hill and I haven't played any of them. Years ago when the original Playstation was current I borrowed a copy from a friend and tried, but I don't have the nerves for this kind of media. My sense of empathy is so strong that the feelings these kinds of games create is just too much for me to handle. What's unfortunate is that the story and lore of Silent Hill are fascinating to me, and I've been able to follow it through "Let's Play" videos as well as these types of videos analyzing the game's themes.
Put the game on easy mode and just play it.
I agree with Nimbereth. You should really give the first game a shot. THe graphics aren't as well, graphic for violence on the PS1. You'd be surprised how much you grow when you do things that frighten you or things you don't want to do.
You should watch "silent hill analysis" videos. I dont remember the uploader but they are like 3 hours long and he goes through the whole game analysing it pixel by pixel. I didnt watch it since i want to play the games myself first
@@mir9168 He should play the game and not watch another you tube video about. Like I said, just put on easy mode and he can do it.
@@Nimberethno game difficulty setting can save u from being scared to play it. I would make up reasons like " the game is boring" so we wouldnt play it with my friends when i was 12 because the level of "scared" would almost come to outright panic. SH3 was the first game i couldnt make myself to play and i thought i was tough after completing the suffering on ps2. But i was 12 back then, now its a different story.
Shakespeare is overated, silent hill is where it is now
*#lolz*
I wonder what William would think of these games
@@viktorthevictor6240 William Shakespeare never existed. He was a fictional creation of Sir Francis Bacon, an occultist.
Exeunt, pursued by a grey child
@@FlashProAnimations Could you go into more detail? I've never heard of this.
Part of the problem with the later western games is that they treat each revelation of whatever sin as the golden ticket that cures everything. When James remembers the truth, he struggles with it and gradually comes to accept not only what he did and how he felt at the time, but how what he did was understandable and even morally correct. You don't get better via catharsis. You get better with therapy and acknowledging the issue over time.
I KNEW TOOL ALBUM COVER WAS LURKING AROUND IN THE Video.
What?! Must've missed it. Can you send me the timestamp?
@@BlindBosnian 09:43
@@KneeCapHill Thanks! That's not a cover of any Tool album, but it is a painting from Alex Grey, the album artworker for Tool.
Holy fucking shit, Silent Hill 2, Carl Jung, and now Alex Grey. If this isn't the best thing on TH-cam...
@@BlindBosnian yeh i knew all that
@@BlindBosnian
He should have put the album cover in it though. *X,D*
I am so glad i found your channel. I love silent hill so much as well as psychology. This feeds psychology soul satisfaction. Haha.
Talk about synchronicity, your channel and content in relation to providing a literary legitimacy to video games is the goal of my work right now. TH-cam randomly suggested your videos and I'm digesting as much as I can. I love your work.
Pong had a great plot,and a wicked twist at the end!
Incredible work man. Wow. I’m beyond impressed with this analysis. There are so many of these examples and theories that I’ve thought about for years. I was born in 88 and grew up with the first three games, almost obsessively. Not in a manner that would hinder my day-to-day life, but always lingering in the very back of my mind like a sound I wanted to scratch ... not hear. I think one of the most incredible video game moments in history is the beginning of the original Silent Hill, through its unconventional camera angles and cinematography, ambiguous demonic undertones, and unexplainable circumstances in the environment becoming progressively dilapidated. However what makes silent hill one of the best moments in gaming in my opinion, is the act of creating shock, trapping the main character (which if you have an empathetic temperament, you), and forcing you to realize that there is no way out, and you have to die. If you immerse yourself into the persona of the main character of any game, this game’s example creates layers of character conflict that is basically horrifying on another level. There is no game that can replicate this as organically as silent hill did. Truly the first three games are masterpieces... at least in my opinion. Great great work man.
Thank you! This is the video I want to spread aggressively the next time someone is like “Ew! M rated games are bad and violent and no one should be playing them!” There is artistic and academic merit looking into games like Silent Hill. It’s kind of frustrating and sad when there are still people who are dismissive over video games, especially those in the M rated and horror variety.
I became fixated by the franchise (especially SH2) when I was in high school. I played some of the games and watched the rest via play throughs. And then later I wanted to know from others and their insights/interpretations of the game because I can’t always explain why the game is fascinating and eerie at the same time. Hence why videos like this are not only entertaining but also enlightening. I like to learn about various things in unconventional ways so watching video essays of my favorite video games is a gateway to getting into other subjects such as psychology.
Max Derrat Excellent video! I had forgotten how good the sound track is.
Silent Hill 1,2 & 3 are such intimate experiences. I'm keen to follow your journey...
In 2008 I took an experimental college course literally called Games and Lit which was an English credit course they were trying that examined games as a form of literature and story telling. Really fun class. Dude even straight up said he didn't expect people to show up to class when Gta4 dropped provided they could prove they bought/were playing the game.
This is truly great, I've often thought the same about elevating the perception of video games to the level they deserve! People often argue that video games lack depth and while in some cases that is true, isn't that the same for any medium? I can think of dozens of books, films, artwork, music, etc that have entries which arguably have no real meaning or depth- "just fluff" I suppose; but even that sort of thing has its purpose (purely entertainment) Anyway, I just wanted to say EXCELLENT VIDEO and KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!
I wouldn't call depictions drawn with period blood or female hygiene products or similar art or anything related to that. Art has fallen in front of all when it comes to depth. The japanese game LSD simulater is based on a dream diary. how deeper can you get?
I will do my best to preserve this video. It shows how videogames can become a material of deep studies in any matter. And with that, videogames can be taken more seriously as part of human culture. Storytelling and Cinematography are combined so perfectly to make the wonder that is a videogame. Excellent video.
I gotta admit, your narration and the way you go through your interpretations are pretty interesting and entertaining to listen to.
You give video games the legitimacy it needs, your videos our very open deep and interesting diving deep into parallels of these games that many never would of seen. Your video on Metal Gear Solid was amazing as well. You somehow put into words what a lot of people have seen or thought or wanted to learn and make it transcend from just gaming but in reality, philosophy, and of course art.
Considering they once considered having an alternate version of James, named "Joseph", I wonder if the corpse of James found in the apartment was the Animus of Mary, whom is dead, so Joseph would be dead too.
Fresh SH content? You're a blessing, kind sir.
I'm late but I still want to share my feelings for your work..
I'm in love with your content, really. I just discovered your channel and I can't stop watching your Silent Hill videos, they're amazing.
I learn more about the games, I learn new theories I've never heard of and I learn absolutely interesting things like the psychoanalysis : I learn new things about subjects I love with all my heart.
Everything about your content is great. I also love your voice, it's perfect, I feel comfortable watching your videos.
Thank you so much for your work, I really love it. 🌼
I love these kind of theories specially regarding silent hill which for me the best horror game series of all time
SH2 was a remake of Lost Highway. It was considered a failure at first but the movie gained cult status and serious analysis in 2000s because they showed it on IFC and more ppl saw it.
Interesting. I just finished Silent Hill 2 for the first time a couple weeks ago.
I really appreciate your videos. I've been a fan ever since your MGS 2 analysis, and you continue to impress with your thoughtful yet succinct videos.
Thanks so much, Forrest! Hopefully I can continue to provide worthwhile content for all of you.
You need to play Bloodborne.
Just like Silent Hill's story and in contrast to Dark Souls, Bloodborne's story is wholly ambiguous. It's not just obscure or hidden, but the story of Bloodborne and Silent Hill 2 are open for interpretation. (both with all these references to psychology and philosophers from western and eastern culture, etc. The name "Maria" is also featured in Bloodborne and has a lot of different deep meanings there as well)
In my opinion, this raises a piece of work to true art. The game is not just the game, meant to be consumed. But art is in the interplay between the observer (player) and the game on screen. And those two games really need you to interpret and come up with your own story and ideas. It raises emotions far beyond just joy.
I mean the lore is nice but story nahh.
@@touchingisjustthefirststep Actually the story is really great well! ;) Just like with any Souls-games the ludo-narrative consonance is ingenious. Maybe in Bloodborne it is even more profound than it has ever been in souls games before. And during the second arc of Bloodborne where everything gets harder to grasp for the human mind the story becomes even better and way more profound and deep. Because while the plot becomes more and more obscure and incomprehensible (which is the point and ingenious), the story still works on a different level. This is just one of the reasons why Bloodborne is pure art and so profound.
@@CycloneFox I never found the soul series impressive for its story but i loved it for it's gameplay obviously.
@@touchingisjustthefirststep After the wall of text, I will admit that I can understand how one can simply not like Souls stories. So bear with me a little. ;)
As you know from Edward Morgan Forster, while a plot describes just a series of events, the term story describes the dramatic, thematic, and emotional significance of such events. So I would say, that the ludo-narrative is a very important part of a game's story.
For example, to Silent Hill 2's story, it might be more important to the story's profundity what the player feels during the big reveal at the end than what actually happens there. Which is exactly why I don't want to just read the story or watch a Let's Play but play it myself. Because that's one of these moments, only a game can do.
And for me personally, the Dark Souls games do this ludo-narrative thing extremely well. Even if not a lot happens during the plot. Or if the plot might even seem nonsensical. This is especially true for Bloodborne.So my guess is that you didn't find the plot interesting enough. Maybe exactly for the reason that it becomes hard to grasp towards the end. And I can totally understand that. I also love to get this "click moment", completely understand the a very complex plot like a detective and get this kind of satisfaction out of a game's story. But I like Bloodborne's story for different reasons.
@@CycloneFox Bloodborne is just a tryhard wannabe Lovecraft (ds is more original) and Silent Hill 2 tells it's story through the characters (and the environment sometimes) It really doesn't have anything to do with how the player feels (not when it comes to the scare factor because the game can scare without ever having to throw jumpscares). I'll disagree with you here.
To me, that's my favorite kind of horror. Horror that is blatant and in your face...like jump scares or violence, to me isn't as scary as something more psychological. Mystery, suspense, or questions/experiences related to the unknown. Which is why I rate games like Silent Hill so highly. Btw, I only recently found your videos but I've been really enjoying them. Nice work.
I am a historian and I wrote a paper on Celtism on The Legend of Zelda, was surprised of how much literature there is on The Legend of Zelda.
i love you for including OG dumbly!!!!
It feels orientantive, however, there is much, close to being understood and perceived through traditional means, as the game has naturally, factors that define it. Contextual, such as the inspirations it has, films and literature; the motivations, which lie in the competitive market of videogames, it's a response to other games of the era; and whatnot convenience, after all in the job to make a project we move in inconceivable manners.
Holy crap, man. I feel like this is the channel I've always needed to find.. I have loved this game ever since '99 when the very first one came out. I remember pouring over plot theories - I think the original one I read was posted on gamefaqs by president evil! I used to spend in inordinate amount of time considering the weird plots holes.. and what it all meant. The first two games were exceptional, but it never really kept my interest in the same way after that.. even though I still played them all. Going to be busy watching a lot of your videos! I'm pretty psyched ^_^
I've been on a sh kick lately. Sh2 is my favorite. I explained it to my wife the other day. I told her that that game held a beautiful melancholy and the ending was so impactful that ive spent 20 years trying to find that feeling in a game again. It's above even the ending of bioshock witch was another game whose ending really left me in awe.
Amazing video! Very useful for my thesis on Homesick. Many thanks😊
Damn dude... i just discovered your channel.
Needless to say, you're showing me that I need to replay all of those games from when I was younger.
So much was overlooked! I enjoyed the games so much back then... and I wasn't even getting the full extent of it.
SHEESH!
By the way, did you know that Mary's archetype was actually Juno and Minerva from Ancient Rome? Did you know that the reason Mary is held in high regard as the Madonna or Theotokos to Catholics is because of an Ancient Roman need for a matron goddess to represent the capital as it was for their people's older tradition? Did you know that the concept of Jesus even having a mother was debated within the Orthodox church and lead to schisms and bloody sectarianism between denominations?
Juno often wore a goat skin, which was called aegis by the Greeks when referring to Hera, which seems to be the prototype garment for the Madonna’s veiled statues. There is also reason to think that another member of the Capitoline Triad of Rome was a predecessor to Mary. This was the virgin goddess Minerva. The efforts shown by the followers of both goddesses could not be overstated. Their worship of these goddesses was just as profound, if not more profound, than the worship of Jupiter or any other god for that matter. It seems that Rome was more concerned about its goddesses than their chief god. This would explain why Mary had to assume the position of these two goddesses. It bears mentioning that Minerva’s followers reached far and wide and she was even assimilated into British regions occupied by Rome. Her attributes very much resembled a Proto-Celtic goddess, Sulis, so they combined the two and devised a cult for her in, what is today, Somerset, England [the site of the famous Bath of Rome].
Minerva was a healer and a goddess of wisdom. Her devotees would pray to her for good health and for successful medical procedures. People would also pray to her in times of crisis. Her temples were among the most popular, and they were positioned in highly popular areas. As I mentioned before, it was customary for Christians to supplant pagan ritual sites in order to build their own sites of worship. An entire Roman plaza dedicated to Minerva was repurposed for Catholic use: the Piazza della Minerva. Ironically, the piazza is home to the church Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Saint Mary above Minerva in English, which was wrongly attributed to Minerva worship by the Catholic Church when it was constructed.
I'll bet you Christians didn't realize this.
Before the onset of Christendom, women were largely accepted into the same positions male priests enjoyed. The position of the Virgin Mary was not something that originated with early Christians, but her divination as Theotokos [the Holy mother of God] in a way that was significant to prayer was added later. This was done almost exclusively due to the proclivities of pagan Greco-Roman culture. Before the time of Origen Adamantius [184-254CE] there was no written mention of Mary as Theotokos.
In 431CE the Council of Ephesus was convened. It was in this time that the use of Theotokos became an accepted de jure title for Mary. Before the promotion of this title, Nestorius the Archbishop of Constantinople [386-450CE], debated to the Church that Mary’s role as the de facto mother of God ought to be reduced to the, ever more modest, mother of Christ, mainly so that people didn’t inadvertently undermine God. I like to compare the Council of Ephesus to a lawsuit, where Nestorius engaged in verbal arguments with Cyril of Alexandria [376-444CE] who was perhaps the most important theologian of the time. Ultimately the Council ended when Nestorius’ plot to condemn Cyril for heresy backfired. The early Catholic Church would still use the epithet Theotokos.
The study of Mary is quite interesting. There is an entire field devoted to the study of her role in Christianity, called Mariology. Yet, in scrutinizing all of this material it is rather difficult to find the true reason as to why the Roman people fought so hard to deify Mary. The truth is, many Greco-Roman pagans worshiped goddesses, and many of them were, in fact, symbols of chastity and childbearing.
The "archetype" of Mary isn't even of Christian origin and the Bible's depiction of her proves this. Her archetype is pagan, and this concept that her virtue is derived from the Christian god runs into trouble when we examine the unbiased historicity of Mary worship. Jungian archetypes are interesting indeed, but we have to understand the true source of archetypes in European culture, and they invariably originate from European roots, and not Judeo-Christian ones. I say this now to refute the assertions of cultural imperialists like Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson.
One of my pet theories regarding Silent Hill 2 is that Eddie Dombrowski is possibly based loosely on The Son Of Sam. My connections are tenuous, but I think the dog, the revolver and Eddie possibly being from New York due to his last name and love of pizza have a small indication that the Son Of Sam murders might have influenced Eddie's design. Like I said, it's a shaky theory at best, so I don't expect anyone else to go along with it or agree with my reasoning, but it is interesting food for thought for anyone who wants to entertain the idea.
Silent Hill taught me about mental illness and trauma all the way back when I was 11 lol. I didn’t FULLY understand what was going on until I was older... I’m 31 now and it continues to blow my mind and has remained my favorite game series of all time.
I love these videos so much dude. So good.
Some topics these videos bring up for me to share are "Universal Hologram Theory" of consciousness and Gateway Experience CIA paper
I would like to thank you for chaging the way I think in life.
Once again Max you provide some well crafted arguments and great content overall.
Thanks so much, Folke!
Metal Gear Solid with it's society based thoughts, Devil May Cry with it's personification of one's inner self, Silent Hill has always taken a very unique look at psychological issues by manifesting them into something very unforgettable.
Really interesting analisys. Just finished SH2 (only got normal ending so far and Maria's game). A bit too late, but I was impressed by it's psychological factors. I know nothing about psychology or that book, but somehow I felt the continous pain and sadness James is intended to carry (at least related to my ending, ofc). He suffers for his wife and Maria too (as well as for other characters). And Maria seems to be an idealistic manifestation of his own wife, yes. The red pyramid thing seems to be another manifestation of James' mind. After playing Silent Hill 1. I have the feeling they dwell in some dead's realm all the time or perhaps between life and death. I sadly lack the lore but I'm anyway impressed after SH1 and SH2, as they lead to open speculation on top of being incredible games. Next one is SH3.
I so enjoy your use of the word "satisfice"
Maria's existence is similar to Lisa's: They were both born from a wish through the powers of Silent Hill. In a way, they are more sophisticated monsters created by James and Alessa, respectively.
This is why Lisa is struck with terror and loses it at the end of Silent Hill 1. She even says herself: "I'm the same as them. I just hadn't noticed it before."
As for James and Maria, things are even more overt, due to Maria's mimicking of Mary's traits (getting sick and demeaning James) and appearance. Not to mention her multiple deaths throughout the game.
Excellent analysis! I've been looking forward to reading/listening to a well put together analysis of my favorite game series of all time!
8:28 Wise old man steals party hat
When I played the game, I always felt that Maria, cause of all the obvious similarities with Mary, was the inner part of James that wouldn’t accept she’s gone. For instance, that’s shy there is an ending called “Maria” that you leave town with her, and can only be triggered when you spend time with her, protect her, etc. Also, in that same ending, you fight Mary instead of Maria. For me, what all this means is that the player, as same as James, instead of accepting the past (Mary is death), goes for hiding it, trying to embrace the idea of being with Mary again but in a different form. He is trying to camuflage the past what with what seems a new present.
The intention of trying to forget the past with the present, instead of accepting it, makes sense because the player in Marias ending is too worried of protecting and spending time with Maria. She encarnates not is guilt for killing Mary, as pyramid head does, but but his fear to go on with his life (that is what Mary asks him to do in the letter and in the Leave hospital video at the end). That’s why we fight Mary in this ending: we are fighting the past, trying to suppress it, instead of fighting our fear of letting go, that should be Maria.
That is also why, for achieving the Leave ending, that in other words is named “Let Go” as “Leave her behind”, we need to read Mary’s letter and examine her photograph; while not being so close and protective of Maria. Those actions shows James purpose of being focused in his “mission” to fix his own soul and mind (showing himself he misses Mary), while also trying to stay far of the lie of being with Maria, who resembles his fear to accept the past and let go.
This was a truly excellent watch. Informative, creative and inspirational; and fuckin great source material.
I played the Silent hills when I was 10 years old and upwards. Even through the sheer terror, brought about by the games gruesomly artistic nature, I was attracted to the franchise. As I've gotten older, and my understanding of the world and my pursuits of understanding have brought me to Freud, Jung, Watts, Mckena and Peterson. I feel now that these are not simply choices, but an inaite hunger deep within me; beyond ego. That craves this knowledge in order to become fully developed and intirgrated, so to be usefull enough to be effective.
Thanks for this video Max. I'd like to see you do more on this franchise.
Cause I'm a massive FAN boy 😁
Thanks Calgie! I've got four other videos on my channel dedicated to Silent Hill. If you want links to them, stick around to the end of the video to see them on the video screen. :) If you like Jung like I do, you might want to check out one video in particular called "Silent Hill Mythology - The Multiple Dimension Theory." Have a great weekend! :D
I don't know of any piece of literature that is equal to Silent Hill.
Confirmed from Jesus Christ silent hill story > the Bible story thank you lord haha.
Then you haven't read enough books tbh.
repok55 do I got any top recommendations you could share? I’m dying to consume some content like like Silent Hill
Paradise Lost
Hey there! Luckily for you there's actually been a really wonderful host of academic work on video games over the last 13 years or so, to the point that Games Studies is actually it's own dedicated discipline! I would urge you to check out the journal Game Studies, as well as the Platform Studies book series. Great stuff!
You know video games can honestly create meaning without stories. Just as music and visual art doesn't always come with some narrative, doesn't make it any less art.
You used the word nascent correctly and this playlist is amazing, I subbed based on that. Thank you.
*. . . Such an underrated channel . . .*
Donal Kalsched "The Inner World of Trauma" also provides a very good basis for a Jungian psychology analysis of Silent Hill 2. Would give it a read if your interested on the subject, as it discusses how in many cases of trauma, especially on childhood trauma, the inner psyche and its systems attempts to protect the conscience ego from further exterior retraumatization, doing so in the form of inner traumatization though dreams and dissociation of memories and affection. In Silent Hill 2 case, the whole journey of James reclaiming the memories of his actions against Mary, and the seduction of Maria, incluinding her many deaths, as a way to discourage him from facing the truth, fits to a tee with Kalsched writings.
“20 odd years”
It’s closer to 30 or 35 now. Computer RPGs in the 90s were at a level of complexity so great that we’re only barely reaching that level again now, and there were a tonne of games released in the 8 and 16 bit eras that definitely match mainstream films in terms of depth.
In terms of complexity, you have to remember that Elite came out in 84, and while the visuals and gameplay are rudimentary, the style of play and the way that systems interact are only something developers are interested in replicating now, after the drought in ~2005-2013. For another example, look no further than the Looking Glass titles. This whole "immersive sim" thing started well over 20 years ago, but we only really talk about it now. Daggerfall is around 25 years old now, and that level of ambition in world design and freeform gameplay wasn't that unique even in the 90's. The Ultima series was doing a lot of the same things in the 1980's but again, rudimentary graphics make it seem primitive today, despite the concepts in the gameplay being far ahead of their time.
Like I've said, you're matching the information density of MAINSTREAM films with older video games. Obviously LGS in the mid-late 90's was blowing most movies out of the water, but even stuff like Super Metroid, the early Final Fantasy games, Chrono Trigger, and even Earthbound(not really a fan of the latter, but it's dense with information for sure) are at least on-level with your basic blockbuster films, it's just that they had to tell their stories partially through gameplay, and partially through text, which makes the experience a little less elegant, but not much less deep.
I will say that only since the late 90's have we been able to make really profound video game story experiences, but it's not like the ability to do so came from nowhere, it was built up in the decade prior.
You deserve way more likes and subscribers, there's some top quality content here.
I'll stick to plot analysis online, I don't think we need academics to analyze games for us. Silent Hill 2 has sure been analyzed to death by people online. From what little academic analysis of games I've seen, online video makers seem to do it better anyway.
I want the UFO ending analyzed in the academic literature! Very important!
Well, I'm sure you find video analyses made for entertainment more fun than academic papers. But when he proposes video games having a place in academia, I don't think he means it for the sake of the average viewer.
@@toose8388 - what I meant is that academics seem to miss obvious things and insert silly theories where they don't belong when analyzing stories. Academic analysis of books I've read often miss the clear theme of a work to push their own theme which isn't present, using "death of the author" to justify it.
thanks for this Max!
Thank you for your comment, Cristian! :D
In Shattered Memories we play as the Animus
Silent Hill 2 got my professor to start calling video games art. I had taken a lot of cultural studies classes with him and we always went back and forward on various forms of media and had honestly similar tastes, but he hated video games and laughed when I called them art. On one of his birthday's I bought him a copy of Silent Hill 2, a memory card, and a PS2. He said nothing about my gift till about a week later when he brought the game up in class.
*edit past grammar shit*
Academically Silent Hill stands as a B movie version of Jacob's Ladder. The acting is what holds it back. The layers of the first four games created an experience that has not been matched emotionally. When I was in college I knew it was good and I knew it was deep, but I didn't have the language to express this. My professor stated this about it and it still is something I remember. "This piece of art makes you experience emotionally the journey of a generic protagonist. This journey becomes more and more twisted as you realize that your character has done something terrible that they, as well as you do not know about. The question that both you and your character must answer is, what have you done, and why did you do it. This type of narration alone is a fantastic, the piece however continues to add layers of subtext to press the question of both is this purgatory, hell, a dream, and the piece rightly does not answer this question".
I wrote that down and like twelve or so years later still try to talk like that with my students when they express something I do not understand but try it for them.
dude i love your videos. love the title "animaria" :D...
thank you so much for this video! very engaging and i'd love to see more videos of you digging into the silent hill universe
Thanks so much! If you stick to the end of the video, there are video links on screen that will direct you to other Silent Hill videos I have done.
This channel is absolute gold, as Silent Hill. Thank you
I always thought of Mr Burns glowing like a alien before the befhomet fight in sh1
Jung thought that the process of individuation toward wholeness begins in a negative state. A place of darkness that he identified with the nigredo of Alchemy or the more well known metaphor of the dark night of the soul. To me this is what Silent Hill 2 is: James's dark night of the soul. Mary's illness and his reaction to it have caused a confrontation with all of the repressed anxieties and bemoaning desires deep-seeded within him. The town is challenging him to integrate his shadow (pyramid head) and his anima (maria/mary). I suppose if you get the leave ending then this has been achieved; James has accepted these realities and moved on. The others are perhaps degeneration back into the chasing of a more infantile view of the feminine (maria), therefore keeping the truth of his anima and a healthy relationship to it unconscious.
Great video! I really love Silent Hill and the aspects of Psychology.
Wow man I have watched so many explained videos but this is something I have wanted to study myself so to see something like this is wonderful I subscribe right away and I'm going to check out all your stuff I hope to see much more. 😁
This video seriously helped make sense of so much...
Really incredible incredible analisys! Thank you so much for this video!
My only issue is, the answer to what Maria IS is simply in the Born From a Wish subscenario. She is born from James' wish to have a different form of Mary in his life: one who wasn't ill, who was more sexuallh promiscuous, who wouldn't treat him so terribly with words in the mental confusion of her illness and weigh down his life. Maria was "born" from Silent Hill as a manifestation of James' wish. But in a way, this wish for a more satisfyingly feminine woman lines up with your theory of Maria fulfilling James' anima.
By the way, I sincerely appreciate your videos on this series. I'm taking an AP psych course next year, and I'm even considering going into psychology in college. My love of psychology has stemmed partly from horror in general and partly from video games as a whole, and when I finally discovered Silent Hill a little over a year ago I fell in love with it even more.
a friend of mine expected too much from a certain girl, even though i knew he ain't the type of man to take it so seriously, he actually did and fell into deep depression. i thought he was way too exaggerating. well, the anima thing explains it all for me now!! guess i better read some 'bout psychology. thx max!!
It is not easy to know what is any illness unless you see it yself
Loving your channel so far
I love you silent hill series!! Awesome and deep analysis
God I love your videos. Can't wait for what's next.
Excellent video.
Now do DOOM 2016. The game that banks on your Bloodlust.
Respectfully beautiful analysis/&dissection👑🎞
You fkn nailed it man.!!!
Great job!!!
I love how she gets pissed right as he begins to reject her, but once he asks if she's Maria she puts back on her sexual/smooth facade as James closes the curtain on his issues again.
Fantastic video. You are right video games are ripe for this sort of analysis and the Silent Hill games are a great example of this. A game of equal depth that I believe needs this sort of attention is Killer7.
I'd love to see you pick apart Dark Souls. That would be cool, it's not for everyone tho:/ silent hill stuff on youtube made me go into dark souls haha