After two games it's time to... reboot? Let's check out the final entry in the SIREN series, SIREN Blood Curse. Facebook: / nitroradofficial Twitter: / nitrorad
What's awesome about Howard Wright is that he's voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, an American who can speak Japanese flawlessly and with a proper accent, thanks to his time studying in Osaka. But he's an amazing actor because he often gets called in for roles involving flubbed pronounciations of Japanese, or overly-affected Japanese accents. See Wonder White in Wonderful 101 for an example of the latter. He's just a really good VA, okay?
Man, I can't get over the poor bastard that didn't know it was a pseudonym. I get it, you might not know if you don't recognize the voice and/or look it up. But that damned emoji. They were so damn confident they were correcting you even though they were utterly wrong. Fucking comedy gold.
Kinda fitting how the game that's meant to be like a movie adaptation of the first Siren comes off like a crappy American remake of a classic Japanese horror film :P
Holy shit, I was making The Ring comparisons here. The original Ringu is an amazing movie, the american adaption is meh at best, an insult at its worst.
A lot of games use facial capture with 3d models. But original Siren games had direct video footage of the actors face slapped on the models face. Which was creepy.
I'm still anticipating Siren 3. After Blood Curse came out, there was an online contest to create a new monster for the next Siren game. They released the names of the winners and runner-ups, but the design entries weren't released, and this was back all the way in 2010. I also hope they bring Siren 2 to the PlayStation Store in 1080p HD and Trophies. And most of all, I hope that if they make Siren 3, have Hideo Kojima play a part in its inception because then Siren can get the worldwide recognition it deserves
I think Siren series is in PS now. PSNow n PS store should co exist. PSNow n PSStore must add all PS2 games. Specially those incredible niche horror games.
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also this game did some clever shit with howard's backstory. the blog site is real and it kind of explains why he speaks Japanese. Also the nurse is relevant to the plot, she's madly in love with the gun guy.
Too bad it's too implicit to be able to catch right away. You'd need to know every character in detail, then play through the game to catch such details.
The nurse isn't just a "random nurse", that's Yukie, and there's actually quite a bit about her backstory (and Seiga) throught the game, but mostly through texts and clues instead of straight foward cutscenes. So yeah, she isn't just a slap on character like Homecoming's were, not by a long shot.
Yes, exactly! She's actually the main motivation for Seigo to carry on in this world. Also, I think Nitro was a bit unfair with the new sightjacking mechanics. I mean, yes, the game takes a dip in performances, but it's really not unplayable and they added some very cool ideas. The fact that you can keep up to three shibito visions on screen at the same time as you're playing, allowing you to keep playing while always keeping an eye on where your enemies are is actually pretty neat and allows for a much smoother and enjoyable stealth, in my opinion. Also, while it's true that some levels are pretty much the same as in the first game, it's worth noticing that some changes were made and a lot of times for the better. For example, the mission where you have to escape the abandoned house with Miyako is better in Blood Curse: you have more things to do to be able to get out and there are some really unsettling parts, like when you have to go through the sick boy's room. And finally, Blood Curse manages to be a lot more clear regarding the primary and secondary objectives. I get that one can find it to be too simple to understand but, really, in the first game, sometimes you were doing stuff and you had absolutely no idea why you were doing it :D The frozen towel is a good example: when I was doing it, I was like "why am I putting this towel in this refrigerator? It makes no sense!" and when I got the answer, I was like "Oh... alright, that's silly..." :P I think Siren 2 is the best in the series and I love the first Siren, but I find Blood Curse to be the most enjoyable to play. I guess Nitro got a bit burnt on the series, having played the three games in a raw, and that's why he didn't really pay attention to Yukie's backstory or the new sightjacking mechanics, but he did a great job on this marathon, I really enjoyed it!
If that's the case then it definitely wasn't conveyed very well at all. In the first game I knew exactly who Mina was, I knew exactly how she was connected to the other characters, and I didn't need to read any optional material to figure that out. She's also front and center, being shown off one of the first cutscenes without any context as to why she's nowhere near a hospital. There's no way they would have introduced the character in such a random, situation-less way unless they were trying propagate that they have characters similar to that of Silent Hill.
Anther point, the iconic shibito from Siren 1 was the police officer. You encountered him a BUNCH of times throughout the game. They completely ditched that here in favor of the nurse, and there's no way you can tell me they didn't do that to compete with Silent Hill.
That's true. If I remember correctly, the Yukie story is only conveyed through some archives, so you can easily miss it. Blood Curse actually rely a lot more on the archives to tell its story than the first two games (even though they did it too). You really have to get all the archives and take the time to examine all of them to get what's going on^^ I don't know how I feel about that: I liked to piece everything together to understand, but, on the other end, I think the game can be really confusing the first time you play through, much more than the first Siren. I don't know if it was to have a similar character like Silent Hill, I mean, the presence of Yukie makes sense in the story and I don't see Toyama wanting to compete with the franchise he created (although I might be wrong), but it's true that the way Yukie is introduced is just to show off and having her breakdancing and laughing in the middle of the woods is kind of random :D
I don't belive that at all. Toyama was never one to follow "trends" and I really dont see him caring much about competing with Silent Hill, a title that not only he created himself but also one that by 2008 was already shit and in the mud pretty much. Claiming a title is competing with Silent Hill just because it has a nurse in it seems silly to me.
Apparently there is a Forbidden Siren movie that was released in Japan along with Forbidden Siren 2. The problem with this movie is that it is incredibly hard to find and the only way I managed to find it was on Dailymotion split up in four separate parts. But it did have English subtitles. Very interestingly, there is also a manga series that actually came out in October, 2016 called Siren: Call of the Red Sea.
@@BullFrogFace tbh i think I was halfway through it before i even realised it was supposed to be based on the game. Worth a watch if you can find it but it was a little slow and confusing for me.
the manga looks promising until it got cancelled after 7 chapters due to the mangaka's poor health it was then replaced by Siren: REBIRTH, which is another Siren 1 adaptation set in present times both series were even supervised by Project Siren Team and you can find them fan translated in English online not sure if the second series is complete though
Considering the idea of this game is basically making a dramatic re-enactment movie of the events in the first game you could argue that Howard is a brilliant character as he represents the way these 'real event horror movies' always have annoying protagonist that are usually handsome white guys even if that wasn't the case with the 'real' event.
Yeah I got the vibe that this was deliberate. Satirical even. "This is like a movie remake" and immediately the main character is a swearing punk white handsome heroic american.
It's not just any remake. The Japanese title is "Siren: New Translation", as in "American Remake of a J-Horror Classic" Like the Ring or the Grudge. It's a homage to a very specific type of remake, it's pretty cool
AHHHHHHH It's fully first person. You could project either both eyes or just one to keep moving around. There's some huge possible design issues. Sight jacking could lead to dizziness as the displayed image wouldn't match your movements, and making it first person would be a great opportunity to let you have better interactivity with the world but combat would devolve into waggling your arms in the direction of Shibito. If anyone could crack the proper mechanics it'd be a lot of fun imo
It probably wouldn't even be that hard to impliment. Just have one eye show a different image than the usual image relative to the player's head view. The disorientation that would naturally come from that is probably enough to cut back on needing as many flashy filters and effects whrn Sightjacking
@@fleeeepp hmmm, maybe make it two player, but you get the TV and have the buddy with the headset. They can toggle between enemies, and relay information to you.
I actually really liked the enemies in the game. Yes Shibito effectively are just zombies, but I found them so much more unsettling than zombies in other games. Even if they are really easy to take down.
Because they dont act like a zombie. They cry blood while laughing and doing human activity, that's what makes shibito disturbing specially yamibito since it has more intelligence.
Lulink I think that's the reason he's obscure. Because of the games he reviews. People probably don't search for the tags he puts in the videos. I didn't even know what Blinx was. I only searched for a review of it because a friend of mine told me he really liked the game...
When you think about it in a certain context, New translation kinda did things perfectly; Almost every time there's a western remake of something, they always lose sight of what made the original good. You get english speaking characters that're usually obnoxious & annoying, and the mindset that special effects do all the work for them, as well as other problems. This game pretty much has everything a western remake is guilty of, at least as far as the visual medium goes. But the fact it was done by Project Siren means it's got a lot more heart than most other remakes. That doesn't excuse things like the sightjack being so clunky, but I can certainly forgive it for the fact that it tried & for all it's faults, isn't just a cashgrab. That & the visuals are so good & atmospheric. Also, you wanna see this formula actually get butchered? Try watching the film... And then try to make sense of it, even in the context of Forbidden Siren 1 & 2.
This reminds me, remember Playstation Home? Those big online community hubs for the PS3 that had games all over the place and you could travel to different worlds. Well, there happened to be one based on Siren Blood Curse. It was setup like a horror attraction at an amusement park. In this case, it was based around the hospital, I think, where everyone waited around the lobby to get a turn in the attraction (I remember a lot of people gathering around this hub). It was a mini game where you and I think three other people had to navigate narrow corridors to try and stealth your way from point A to B without getting caught by one of the wandering Shibito. Of all of the worlds in Playstation Home, for some reason, this is the one I remember the most.
Just recently found this channel and I know I'm late to the party, but what I've noticed is despite Blood Curse feeling bad I mean.... it almost feels like unintentionally they captured the feel perfectly. It gives the vibe of "Hey we bought the rights to make an American version of an iconic Japanese Horror movie, lets just copy paste the plot, make it prettier with a bigger budget, but also make everyone American and insufferable"
I just love how you add humor for these videos, especially for a survival horror game. XD Are you planning to review Resident Evil games at some point? :)
Personally the first forbidden siren of Ps2 is my favourite survival horror. I know it was a really weird game, really difficult and a lot of puzzles were impossible without a guide, but this game was my best survival horror experience. This remake was more "commercial", more easy to play. Project siren has finished Gravity rush 2, I hope they make a new Siren for current gen.
They should rerelease Forbidden Siren 2 as a PS2 on PS4. That way they could release it in the US and elsewhere and also update it just a little. Even a region-free PS2 Clasic would be fine. I just wish Sony would use those two things more in general.
The menu’s Japanese characters are actually Hiragana, not Kanji. In general, the Kanji characters are far more complex than Hiragana, while Hiragana are more simple and artistic, and the other set of characters, Katakana, are used for foreign words, and look very angular. Just a little lesson, in case you wanted to know. Examples: Kanji, 覧, Hiragana, か, Katakana, キ.
4:02 my understanding of the story is that Howard is a student at an international school in Japan. Many international students learn some Japanese and the ones in my class learned it fluently.
Hi dewd! I just binge watched ALL of your videos covering Siren as it is probably my favourite horror game franchise. They were great vids! I absolutely adore the story but there are a few things I noticed weren't covered (not that they had to be or anything.) There are just some small things like Kyoya's various connections with the number 3, all of the Ouroboros -y relations, how some enemies show up multiple times with more mutations to their form, and finally the real ending or beginning rather if all of the archive items are collected throughout the game which shows why the events really unfolded as the way they did in Hanuda. Also, Shiro killed Kei and dressed as him at one point. Oh and it's Takeuchi, not Takeguchi :P
It really nails the american adaptation tvshow/movie thing tho. Its watered down made pretty and super linear and serial so people watching (enphasis on watching) can digest more easily.
Bloodcurse was the first siren I was exposed to and watching this series I understand your gripes with bloodcurse, but it's soundtrack will always hold a dear place in my heart💕💕💕
I like the idea of a bunch of Americans being caught up in some crazy paranormal shit during their time visiting Japan. It's definitely a concept with potential. This game, though... There are two distinct takes present here, and they clash so badly it's hard to take the game seriously. *×* An American exchange student gets caught up in the aftereffects of paranormal rituals while exploring a small village, and then has to figure out how to escape alive. *×* An American film crew goes somewhere they shouldn't, witnesses a cult ritual, and they then have to try and escape while dealing with the paranormal. There is no guarantee that all of them will survive. Pick one. You cannot combine both into one story.
If I had to pick one I would've went with Howard's storyline not only did I like him more then the film crew, but unlike the film crew the Japanese characters encountered wouldn't have to switch to American-English to communicate with Howard as due to being an international student at a international school located in Japan(made even more believable due to the fact the VA for Howard Yuri Lowenthal actually went to school in Osaka Japan)can actually speak fluent Japanese meaning he can understand the people in the town perfect and we can get these cool moments where Howard speaks his birth country's language American-English during sections mostly sections where he's surmising the situation to himself and speaking the occasional Japanese with an American accent mostly when he's talking to another person for those scenes and scenes when he has to translate a sign leading to a location or a newspaper, or note to figure out more of the lore that isn't told straight out. Plus his storyline of accidentally getting caught up in this due to rescuing Mikama from being a sacrifice in the cult's ritual during his exploration probably for a project on local myths, legends, folklore, and culture because he was a genuine good-hearted individual(Again this good-hearted heroic nature is shown when he actively goes to get help for a injured woman instead of abandoning her)and now has to figure out how to get both of them to survive and inadvertently end the curse since he got accidentally caught up in this due to wanting to do the right thing and save Mikama from a situation where she was in his eyes was going to be brutally murdered, so because he wanted to save Mikama he now has to get both of them out alive and end the curse, is a better storyline with the potential of great character development and is a plot that can be stomached more easily then the cliche plot of American film crew gets caught up in the paranormal stuff due to accidentally stumbling upon the ritual murder of the nurse.
Wow this was really informative, i think your reason are of disliking this remake is understandable since i didn't know a whole lot of the original two games. In the end, i think it's important to just play them ALL.
Director says imagine this is some guys who heard about the events of the first game and made it into a movie/ tv show Proceeds to go the extra mile in the presentation by doing the next time and last time and the thing movies and shows commonly do by having characters be merged or removed Then is criticized for making it like a movie/ series
@@etrs I am surprised anyone even found my comment it’s just my musing on how confusing the hate toward this game was when it’s basically a movie inside of the cannon universe technically
@@etrs your right but I don’t feel like I’m saying the flaws aren’t present I’m just saying some of the complaints are weird not really saying it’s a good game
2:38 Crazy, that's Korean underneath. The first 3 syllables are sino and I think mean "Dead Spirit Wailing" and the rest is just a Koreanization of "Siren: New Translation"
@@DuelmasterX3 i'm not sure Team Siren was working recently on the Gravity Rush games (which i love) so we don't know if we'll get a new game or Remake of Siren but hey, maybe we'll see about that
Actually the nurse was the first to be sacrificed. She was Seigo's lover (he's a doctor) but he discovered the cult was using her to spy on him, so he chose her for the sacrifice. After shooting her again as a shibito, he kills himself. so yeah, the nurse IS relevant. even the fact that she's a nurse. Her name was the last word of seigo an the last chapter.
To be honest the thing that added to siren and siren 2’s charm was the facial/motion capture technology they used for our characters and the shibito because it gave off that everybody having something wrong with them vibe and added to the horror that these characters would turn on your other characters in time but here I don’t get that same sense of horror from the characters or Shibito!
What's interesting is the voice actor that plays Howard Right, Yuri lowenthal, lived in Japan for a period of time when he was young and and speaks a bit of Japanese due to going to school there for a bit of time. It always made me think maybe that's why they picked him to voice Howard.
Enjoyed seeing these videos, pretty jealous of being able to play the first two now that Ive seen comparisons to Blood Curse but man, why you giving me Paper Mario flashbacks, I cant handle that.
I've always loved how you make these little skits before most of the halloween episodes. They don't always make sense but they are always an entertaining time
Yeah I bought a used physical copy of Siren: Blood Curse for my old PS3 from a local used game store that actually had a copy and it costed around 50 to 60 bucks way higher than most used PS3 games.
These guys are dedicated. We are going to make you a gift kid. Because of your work on this series. Merry Christmas, in advance and belated. You are welcome.
*I miss this series from 2003 - 2008, it was underappreciated back in the old days. I would like to see it get revived by the former members of Team Silent, creators of Silent Hill 1... have another sequel being made as Siren 2: New Translation instead of calling it Siren 2: Blood Curse as the title doesn't make sense for the second game. I see it's more a reboot / re-imagining of the original rather than a proper remake.* *It had three major game titles, a loose film adaptation, three manga adaptations one of them is cancelled / unfinished, two Siren Maniacs which are the official guide complete analysis handbooks and a official art book for the second game.* *Forbidden Siren (2003 / 2004, PS2)* *Forbidden Siren 2 (2006, PS2, PAL Version, EU & JP Only)* *Siren: Blood Curse (2008, PS3 / PSN, "New Translation")* *Forbidden Siren (2006 Film)* *Siren: Eternal Siren* *Siren: Call Of The Red Sea* *Siren ReBIRTH* *Siren Maniacs* *Siren 2 Maniacs* *Siren 2 Official Art Book*
This was my first Siren game I've seen part 1 in a video store when those were still around lol i wish i rented it when i had the chance but i kept renting SVC Chaos.. This game scared me i played it only at night it was hard at times it pissed me off at times but overall i like this game one of my favorite horror games on ps3
Loved this game and was always the system seller that made me want a PS3 for years. I understand your criticisms but its still my favorite horror game of the last decade. Gives that classic survival horror feel that’s kinda been lost from modern horror games
Late to the punch, but the episodic nature of the game (and it having smaller episode packs) was because on first release the game wasn't available in full, only by increments... I recall this because back when Playstation Home was a thing they had a map dedicated to promoting the game where you essentially ran around and did shit in a time limit and had to avoid the nurse shibito (I think she was the only one coded in)... or you could stand around with your avatar and just chat with people. But yeah, back then they didn't have all the episodes ready yet, and there was once even an option to buy individual episodes... but at the same time, I think the full pack was also there, so it kinda defeated the whole purpose of the other packs anyway. By the way, great video, as usual!
Good video. I agree they could have done a better job with this game. Just one thing: you CAN register up to 3 shibito's visions. You just have to hold down on the triangle or square etc buttons while sight jacking.
I re-watched this Trilogy of reviews every year or so and when I get to this game I always think to myself in the beginning "Oh this game would be cool to get" and then he starts talking about the flaws and I always change my mind
"I like the depth of field on the kanji in the lower right corner" That's actually hiragana, and not kanji. (Hiragana and katakana are Japanese characters, while kanji are Chinese characters)
Good choice for a review. Pretty sure this was free on PS Plus a few months ago, but nobody really knew what it was and there aren't many other reviews out for it.
One thing that scared me.... The bleeding eyed entity (especially humanoid and ghosts) I always petrified when I saw some weird things about eyes, anyway thank you for this video, Nitro
The thing with the episode recaps, they make sense and kind of work when you play these games as they come out, but after the entire game is released, you're likely to be playing the next episode immediately, so you don't need to be refreshed on what happened. Telltale does (or did) this with their games, though those make a bit more sense because you could make certain choices and they'd often show the outcome of the actions you chose, such as the scene in which you chose to save one character and let another die in the previous episode of the Walking Dead. That sort of recap is useful so you can also have some idea of what to expect in the new episode you're playing, and maybe prepare yourself consequences you may face for your choices, as opposed to this game where you have no choices, so you're simply being caught up on the story, so there's not as much insight to the episode you will be playing. Also, I see these recaps as a nice thought, I appreciate that they included these recaps. However, I hate it when you can't skip these recaps, because like I said earlier, if you play these games when all the episodes are available, you won't need a recap. I'd say most episodes in Telltale games are about an hour long, they're never usually too long that you can't get through them in a single sitting. Each game (and season) usually has 5 episodes, give or take 1 sometimes, so if you had the time, you could crank through an entire game in one sitting, about five hours or so, especially if you know how to go straight to whatever triggers story progression. This makes an episode recap, that you can't skip, even more annoying, because you're being told about everything you did two minutes ago.
What's awesome about Howard Wright is that he's voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, an American who can speak Japanese flawlessly and with a proper accent, thanks to his time studying in Osaka. But he's an amazing actor because he often gets called in for roles involving flubbed pronounciations of Japanese, or overly-affected Japanese accents. See Wonder White in Wonderful 101 for an example of the latter.
He's just a really good VA, okay?
Stephen Fisher is the voice actor , not yuri.😀
@@jaws00007 Stephen Fisher IS Yuri Lowenthal. lol It's one of his pseudonyms. He's also known as Jimmy Benedict. :P
Mah boi Marth voiced this guy too? He's everywhere!
Man, I can't get over the poor bastard that didn't know it was a pseudonym. I get it, you might not know if you don't recognize the voice and/or look it up.
But that damned emoji. They were so damn confident they were correcting you even though they were utterly wrong. Fucking comedy gold.
@1 It does! Thanks for noticing, I've been working on it for awhile now.
Kinda fitting how the game that's meant to be like a movie adaptation of the first Siren comes off like a crappy American remake of a classic Japanese horror film :P
ScottPillgram20 I thought that was deliberate.
You mean, crappy American remake of a classic *insert nationality of choice* horror film.
Another Godzilla?
Just Another Poppet ah, so this is the Netflix adaptation.
Holy shit, I was making The Ring comparisons here. The original Ringu is an amazing movie, the american adaption is meh at best, an insult at its worst.
"They reboot the series only two games in" Mirror's Edge only had one game come out before EA rebooted the franchise.
ikr
and the reboot was worse :^(
Pretty soon we're all going to have reboots of games that haven't even come out yet.
Reboot of early alpha games ;n;
Already happened: Duke Nukem Forever.
Fun fact, they used facial motion capture for this one as well. Just with actual 3D models.
A lot of games use facial capture with 3d models. But original Siren games had direct video footage of the actors face slapped on the models face. Which was creepy.
@@GreedAndSelfishness i actually liked it
@@jeremymueller0404 I liked it as well, but it was creepy. I think I actually liked it BECAUSE it was creepy.
@@edmilsoneletrica I mean that's what you want in a Horror game, Seems Blood Curse completely missed the mark
@@jeremymueller0404same!
I'm still anticipating Siren 3. After Blood Curse came out, there was an online contest to create a new monster for the next Siren game. They released the names of the winners and runner-ups, but the design entries weren't released, and this was back all the way in 2010.
I also hope they bring Siren 2 to the PlayStation Store in 1080p HD and Trophies. And most of all, I hope that if they make Siren 3, have Hideo Kojima play a part in its inception because then Siren can get the worldwide recognition it deserves
I think Siren series is in PS now.
PSNow n PS store should co exist. PSNow n PSStore must add all PS2 games. Specially those incredible niche horror games.
It's not happening, homie
🎶Spiderman spiderman killing all the zombies he can, can he dodge a zombie's head yes he can look out here comes the spiderman🎶 sorry couldn't resist hahahahaha
Ps Spider-Man would be a great zombie hunter >:)
LOST MEDIA
Do you have any source for that? I couldn't find anything about it.
also this game did some clever shit with howard's backstory. the blog site is real and it kind of explains why he speaks Japanese. Also the nurse is relevant to the plot, she's madly in love with the gun guy.
Too bad it's too implicit to be able to catch right away. You'd need to know every character in detail, then play through the game to catch such details.
I remember the blog site. It was great
The nurse isn't just a "random nurse", that's Yukie, and there's actually quite a bit about her backstory (and Seiga) throught the game, but mostly through texts and clues instead of straight foward cutscenes. So yeah, she isn't just a slap on character like Homecoming's were, not by a long shot.
Yes, exactly! She's actually the main motivation for Seigo to carry on in this world.
Also, I think Nitro was a bit unfair with the new sightjacking mechanics. I mean, yes, the game takes a dip in performances, but it's really not unplayable and they added some very cool ideas.
The fact that you can keep up to three shibito visions on screen at the same time as you're playing, allowing you to keep playing while always keeping an eye on where your enemies are is actually pretty neat and allows for a much smoother and enjoyable stealth, in my opinion.
Also, while it's true that some levels are pretty much the same as in the first game, it's worth noticing that some changes were made and a lot of times for the better. For example, the mission where you have to escape the abandoned house with Miyako is better in Blood Curse: you have more things to do to be able to get out and there are some really unsettling parts, like when you have to go through the sick boy's room.
And finally, Blood Curse manages to be a lot more clear regarding the primary and secondary objectives. I get that one can find it to be too simple to understand but, really, in the first game, sometimes you were doing stuff and you had absolutely no idea why you were doing it :D The frozen towel is a good example: when I was doing it, I was like "why am I putting this towel in this refrigerator? It makes no sense!" and when I got the answer, I was like "Oh... alright, that's silly..." :P
I think Siren 2 is the best in the series and I love the first Siren, but I find Blood Curse to be the most enjoyable to play.
I guess Nitro got a bit burnt on the series, having played the three games in a raw, and that's why he didn't really pay attention to Yukie's backstory or the new sightjacking mechanics, but he did a great job on this marathon, I really enjoyed it!
If that's the case then it definitely wasn't conveyed very well at all. In the first game I knew exactly who Mina was, I knew exactly how she was connected to the other characters, and I didn't need to read any optional material to figure that out.
She's also front and center, being shown off one of the first cutscenes without any context as to why she's nowhere near a hospital. There's no way they would have introduced the character in such a random, situation-less way unless they were trying propagate that they have characters similar to that of Silent Hill.
Anther point, the iconic shibito from Siren 1 was the police officer. You encountered him a BUNCH of times throughout the game. They completely ditched that here in favor of the nurse, and there's no way you can tell me they didn't do that to compete with Silent Hill.
That's true. If I remember correctly, the Yukie story is only conveyed through some archives, so you can easily miss it. Blood Curse actually rely a lot more on the archives to tell its story than the first two games (even though they did it too). You really have to get all the archives and take the time to examine all of them to get what's going on^^
I don't know how I feel about that: I liked to piece everything together to understand, but, on the other end, I think the game can be really confusing the first time you play through, much more than the first Siren.
I don't know if it was to have a similar character like Silent Hill, I mean, the presence of Yukie makes sense in the story and I don't see Toyama wanting to compete with the franchise he created (although I might be wrong), but it's true that the way Yukie is introduced is just to show off and having her breakdancing and laughing in the middle of the woods is kind of random :D
I don't belive that at all. Toyama was never one to follow "trends" and I really dont see him caring much about competing with Silent Hill, a title that not only he created himself but also one that by 2008 was already shit and in the mud pretty much. Claiming a title is competing with Silent Hill just because it has a nurse in it seems silly to me.
They should've kept the weird face capture technology.
Bruce Forte The similar technology that made show call Angela Anaconda
@@ninetailfoxahri8642 yeah Angela Anaconda was scary as fuck
But then you get mass effect Andromeda
Apparently there is a Forbidden Siren movie that was released in Japan along with Forbidden Siren 2.
The problem with this movie is that it is incredibly hard to find and the only way I managed to find it was on Dailymotion split up in four separate parts. But it did have English subtitles.
Very interestingly, there is also a manga series that actually came out in October, 2016 called Siren: Call of the Red Sea.
Was the movie any good?
@@BullFrogFace Nope. Terrible and boring. End credits music is pretty good though.
@@BullFrogFace tbh i think I was halfway through it before i even realised it was supposed to be based on the game. Worth a watch if you can find it but it was a little slow and confusing for me.
@@etrs :(
the manga looks promising until it got cancelled after 7 chapters due to the mangaka's poor health
it was then replaced by Siren: REBIRTH, which is another Siren 1 adaptation set in present times
both series were even supervised by Project Siren Team and you can find them fan translated in English online
not sure if the second series is complete though
*Hears Howard's voice* Why hello again Yuri Lowenthal.
why is Sasuke everywhere
He is everywhere these days, not that there is a problem with that, he is really talented.
Spidey ❤️
The fact the same developers made Gravity Rush fills me with so much joy. What a great team. Horror and action adventure.
What a surprise!
Considering the idea of this game is basically making a dramatic re-enactment movie of the events in the first game you could argue that Howard is a brilliant character as he represents the way these 'real event horror movies' always have annoying protagonist that are usually handsome white guys even if that wasn't the case with the 'real' event.
Yeah I got the vibe that this was deliberate. Satirical even. "This is like a movie remake" and immediately the main character is a swearing punk white handsome heroic american.
It's not just any remake. The Japanese title is "Siren: New Translation", as in "American Remake of a J-Horror Classic"
Like the Ring or the Grudge.
It's a homage to a very specific type of remake, it's pretty cool
@@11tw48 White?
Yeah, this got really Meta.
It also explains all the guns and ammo. Obviously an American remake would have tons of those.
Oh my god, I died from that Soulja Boy joke.
Dominik Buch YYYOOOUUU
Ikr, it's so timely done
Nitro Rad Tell'Em
I think that's my favorite part of the video. That joke has aged like fine wine.
@@jakedanielsen4512 YOUUUUU
I'm really glad someone finally made videos about this awesome series.
LOVE YA
that soulja boy reference really caught me off guard
"It's like the cast of a bad horror movie."
It's funny because they're suppose to be in a movie.
Sightjacking in VR. That's all I'm saying.
H&F OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH YYYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS
AHHHHHHH
It's fully first person.
You could project either both eyes or just one to keep moving around.
There's some huge possible design issues. Sight jacking could lead to dizziness as the displayed image wouldn't match your movements, and making it first person would be a great opportunity to let you have better interactivity with the world but combat would devolve into waggling your arms in the direction of Shibito.
If anyone could crack the proper mechanics it'd be a lot of fun imo
It probably wouldn't even be that hard to impliment. Just have one eye show a different image than the usual image relative to the player's head view. The disorientation that would naturally come from that is probably enough to cut back on needing as many flashy filters and effects whrn Sightjacking
How the fuck would that work
@@fleeeepp hmmm, maybe make it two player, but you get the TV and have the buddy with the headset. They can toggle between enemies, and relay information to you.
I actually really liked the enemies in the game. Yes Shibito effectively are just zombies, but I found them so much more unsettling than zombies in other games. Even if they are really easy to take down.
yeah but forbidden siren 2 had the Yamibito who were so much more disturbing.
Because they dont act like a zombie. They cry blood while laughing and doing human activity, that's what makes shibito disturbing specially yamibito since it has more intelligence.
When I first saw pewdiepies let's play of this game the shibito fucking terrified me
So, they just like the ganados from RE4 isn't it?
@@neemojenkins881 Yes to a point, though I think the PS3 meant that a point more life could be put into the shibito.
Still not 100k subs? damn... You are as underrated as the games you review!
Lulink He's basically a cult classic type you tube channel at this point
Lulink I think that's the reason he's obscure. Because of the games he reviews. People probably don't search for the tags he puts in the videos. I didn't even know what Blinx was. I only searched for a review of it because a friend of mine told me he really liked the game...
Lucas Pontes I'm not sure about that. He did review Undertale after all. That's actually how I found out about him.
Jono99 Yeah, good point...! Mysteries of TH-cam.
Jono99 Let's keep supporting him... That's all we can do to really help him (and share his videos, too)!
When you think about it in a certain context, New translation kinda did things perfectly; Almost every time there's a western remake of something, they always lose sight of what made the original good. You get english speaking characters that're usually obnoxious & annoying, and the mindset that special effects do all the work for them, as well as other problems.
This game pretty much has everything a western remake is guilty of, at least as far as the visual medium goes. But the fact it was done by Project Siren means it's got a lot more heart than most other remakes. That doesn't excuse things like the sightjack being so clunky, but I can certainly forgive it for the fact that it tried & for all it's faults, isn't just a cashgrab. That & the visuals are so good & atmospheric.
Also, you wanna see this formula actually get butchered? Try watching the film... And then try to make sense of it, even in the context of Forbidden Siren 1 & 2.
This reminds me, remember Playstation Home? Those big online community hubs for the PS3 that had games all over the place and you could travel to different worlds. Well, there happened to be one based on Siren Blood Curse. It was setup like a horror attraction at an amusement park. In this case, it was based around the hospital, I think, where everyone waited around the lobby to get a turn in the attraction (I remember a lot of people gathering around this hub). It was a mini game where you and I think three other people had to navigate narrow corridors to try and stealth your way from point A to B without getting caught by one of the wandering Shibito. Of all of the worlds in Playstation Home, for some reason, this is the one I remember the most.
Yes man I remember this one it was fun and scary at the same time. I miss Playstation Home so bad 😭
Just recently found this channel and I know I'm late to the party, but what I've noticed is despite Blood Curse feeling bad I mean.... it almost feels like unintentionally they captured the feel perfectly. It gives the vibe of "Hey we bought the rights to make an American version of an iconic Japanese Horror movie, lets just copy paste the plot, make it prettier with a bigger budget, but also make everyone American and insufferable"
Maybe if we do get another SIREN game, it could be a reboot of the reboot.
rebootseption
They made a remake instead of a remastered, which was a terrible decision.
I just love how you add humor for these videos, especially for a survival horror game. XD
Are you planning to review Resident Evil games at some point? :)
If I had to guess, I'd say not to get your hopes up. He generally sticks with lesser known horror games like this.
he reviewed silent hill that was very popular like resident evil, so maybe.
I'm suddenly imagining the terrifying idea of Siren and it's Sightjack mechanic is some sort of VR game.
Honestly, the most important thing this video proves is that the Earthbound soundtrack fits anything!
This is the version I got, I had to import the disk version. This game was super creepy and graphics were amazing. This game is underrated.
Personally the first forbidden siren of Ps2 is my favourite survival horror. I know it was a really weird game, really difficult and a lot of puzzles were impossible without a guide, but this game was my best survival horror experience. This remake was more "commercial", more easy to play.
Project siren has finished Gravity rush 2, I hope they make a new Siren for current gen.
They should rerelease Forbidden Siren 2 as a PS2 on PS4. That way they could release it in the US and elsewhere and also update it just a little. Even a region-free PS2 Clasic would be fine. I just wish Sony would use those two things more in general.
Unfortunately the region locked ps2 library was way more rich and interesting than the region free ps3 one
The menu’s Japanese characters are actually Hiragana, not Kanji. In general, the Kanji characters are far more complex than Hiragana, while Hiragana are more simple and artistic, and the other set of characters, Katakana, are used for foreign words, and look very angular. Just a little lesson, in case you wanted to know. Examples: Kanji, 覧, Hiragana, か, Katakana, キ.
4:02 my understanding of the story is that Howard is a student at an international school in Japan. Many international students learn some Japanese and the ones in my class learned it fluently.
ive always wondered what shall happen next to black jontron
You made my day with this video, I WAS SO BORED!!!
Hi dewd! I just binge watched ALL of your videos covering Siren as it is probably my favourite horror game franchise. They were great vids! I absolutely adore the story but there are a few things I noticed weren't covered (not that they had to be or anything.) There are just some small things like Kyoya's various connections with the number 3, all of the Ouroboros -y relations, how some enemies show up multiple times with more mutations to their form, and finally the real ending or beginning rather if all of the archive items are collected throughout the game which shows why the events really unfolded as the way they did in Hanuda. Also, Shiro killed Kei and dressed as him at one point. Oh and it's Takeuchi, not Takeguchi :P
It really nails the american adaptation tvshow/movie thing tho. Its watered down made pretty and super linear and serial so people watching (enphasis on watching) can digest more easily.
Poor Seigo has to fill in for Shiro, Kei, Akira AND Miako's brother Jun.
I get super giddy whenever I see a NitroRad video of a horror game
Bloodcurse was the first siren I was exposed to and watching this series I understand your gripes with bloodcurse, but it's soundtrack will always hold a dear place in my heart💕💕💕
Coming soon for PlayStation 4: Siren Hills
...pls?
Hey, James, nice trilogy! Thanks for introducing me to a really cool series that I didn't know about!
You've become my favorite TH-camr in just a few days, I love your content!
I like the idea of a bunch of Americans being caught up in some crazy paranormal shit during their time visiting Japan. It's definitely a concept with potential.
This game, though... There are two distinct takes present here, and they clash so badly it's hard to take the game seriously.
*×* An American exchange student gets caught up in the aftereffects of paranormal rituals while exploring a small village, and then has to figure out how to escape alive.
*×* An American film crew goes somewhere they shouldn't, witnesses a cult ritual, and they then have to try and escape while dealing with the paranormal. There is no guarantee that all of them will survive.
Pick one. You cannot combine both into one story.
If I had to pick one I would've went with Howard's storyline not only did I like him more then the film crew, but unlike the film crew the Japanese characters encountered wouldn't have to switch to American-English to communicate with Howard as due to being an international student at a international school located in Japan(made even more believable due to the fact the VA for Howard Yuri Lowenthal actually went to school in Osaka Japan)can actually speak fluent Japanese meaning he can understand the people in the town perfect and we can get these cool moments where Howard speaks his birth country's language American-English during sections mostly sections where he's surmising the situation to himself and speaking the occasional Japanese with an American accent mostly when he's talking to another person for those scenes and scenes when he has to translate a sign leading to a location or a newspaper, or note to figure out more of the lore that isn't told straight out.
Plus his storyline of accidentally getting caught up in this due to rescuing Mikama from being a sacrifice in the cult's ritual during his exploration probably for a project on local myths, legends, folklore, and culture because he was a genuine good-hearted individual(Again this good-hearted heroic nature is shown when he actively goes to get help for a injured woman instead of abandoning her)and now has to figure out how to get both of them to survive and inadvertently end the curse since he got accidentally caught up in this due to wanting to do the right thing and save Mikama from a situation where she was in his eyes was going to be brutally murdered, so because he wanted to save Mikama he now has to get both of them out alive and end the curse, is a better storyline with the potential of great character development and is a plot that can be stomached more easily then the cliche plot of American film crew gets caught up in the paranormal stuff due to accidentally stumbling upon the ritual murder of the nurse.
Wow this was really informative, i think your reason are of disliking this remake is understandable since i didn't know a whole lot of the original two games.
In the end, i think it's important to just play them ALL.
I love how I had the video bookmarked at 0:41 just so I could get jumpscared the next time I opened the video.
Thanks, rad.
6:45 pimp slapping, a zombie's true weakness
Director says imagine this is some guys who heard about the events of the first game and made it into a movie/ tv show
Proceeds to go the extra mile in the presentation by doing the next time and last time and the thing movies and shows commonly do by having characters be merged or removed
Then is criticized for making it like a movie/ series
What's your point?
@@etrs I am surprised anyone even found my comment it’s just my musing on how confusing the hate toward this game was when it’s basically a movie inside of the cannon universe technically
@@sammarino7357 That doesn't fix any of it's problems.
@@etrs your right but I don’t feel like I’m saying the flaws aren’t present I’m just saying some of the complaints are weird not really saying it’s a good game
@@etrs What problems?
loved your scared reaction to that head thing, adorable :D
Righteous, I just binge watched his Silent Hill and Siren videos. Righteous content, mate!
2:38 Crazy, that's Korean underneath. The first 3 syllables are sino and I think mean "Dead Spirit Wailing" and the rest is just a Koreanization of "Siren: New Translation"
I hope they make a new one for ps4
Moist Chungus better yet a 2!
Moist Chungus They won’t. This series is dead
They said Spyro and Crash were dead, look what happened
Also, Bubsy got a new game as well
Haze X2 That’s a good point actually....... I guess we’ll wait and see
@@DuelmasterX3 i'm not sure
Team Siren was working recently on the Gravity Rush games (which i love) so we don't know if we'll get a new game or Remake of Siren but hey, maybe we'll see about that
Actually the nurse was the first to be sacrificed. She was Seigo's lover (he's a doctor) but he discovered the cult was using her to spy on him, so he chose her for the sacrifice. After shooting her again as a shibito, he kills himself. so yeah, the nurse IS relevant. even the fact that she's a nurse. Her name was the last word of seigo an the last chapter.
I've waited for that scene ever since I knew you reviewed this and this game had that "point of view"
Only nightmares I had with this was the download size and times. This was AGONY to download back then.
I just discovered your channel Nitro and I've been binging!
Love these reviews!
To be honest the thing that added to siren and siren 2’s charm was the facial/motion capture technology they used for our characters and the shibito because it gave off that everybody having something wrong with them vibe and added to the horror that these characters would turn on your other characters in time but here I don’t get that same sense of horror from the characters or Shibito!
What's interesting is the voice actor that plays Howard Right, Yuri lowenthal, lived in Japan for a period of time when he was young and and speaks a bit of Japanese due to going to school there for a bit of time. It always made me think maybe that's why they picked him to voice Howard.
Imagine Kojima working on a Siren VR game. That would be an awesome combination, especially since the sight-jack mechanic would just be awesome on VR.
Why
The nurse does have a name. It's Yukie. She's the girl that was sacrificed at the start of the game.
legit you need more attention, you are one of my favorite review channels keep it up!
What do you call a japanese horror game?
SIRENt hill
Alex Conley they should make that
Omg lol, do you think that's a coincidence haha
Enjoyed seeing these videos, pretty jealous of being able to play the first two now that Ive seen comparisons to Blood Curse but man, why you giving me Paper Mario flashbacks, I cant handle that.
5:15 “dis is a matter of rife and desu.”
We need a spin-off where Seigo is the only character.
"Harry mason lookin ass"
Omfg my sides are in orbit.
I've always loved how you make these little skits before most of the halloween episodes. They don't always make sense but they are always an entertaining time
Great use of the Split screen good one Nitro.
"You have to use your index finger which... nobody wants to do this."
*Literally every person who uses the claw grip in Smash:*
This game is way better than the original siren
Actually it did come out in physical form in the US However those copies are very rare and twice the price
Yeah I bought a used physical copy of Siren: Blood Curse for my old PS3 from a local used game store that actually had a copy and it costed around 50 to 60 bucks way higher than most used PS3 games.
Great as always nitrorad!
Damn dude you need even more recognition.
I just discovered this channel an hour ago because of Rayman and now I fucking love it.
These guys are dedicated. We are going to make you a gift kid. Because of your work on this series. Merry Christmas, in advance and belated. You are welcome.
What?
*I miss this series from 2003 - 2008, it was underappreciated back in the old days. I would like to see it get revived by the former members of Team Silent, creators of Silent Hill 1... have another sequel being made as Siren 2: New Translation instead of calling it Siren 2: Blood Curse as the title doesn't make sense for the second game. I see it's more a reboot / re-imagining of the original rather than a proper remake.*
*It had three major game titles, a loose film adaptation, three manga adaptations one of them is cancelled / unfinished, two Siren Maniacs which are the official guide complete analysis handbooks and a official art book for the second game.*
*Forbidden Siren (2003 / 2004, PS2)*
*Forbidden Siren 2 (2006, PS2, PAL Version, EU & JP Only)*
*Siren: Blood Curse (2008, PS3 / PSN, "New Translation")*
*Forbidden Siren (2006 Film)*
*Siren: Eternal Siren*
*Siren: Call Of The Red Sea*
*Siren ReBIRTH*
*Siren Maniacs*
*Siren 2 Maniacs*
*Siren 2 Official Art Book*
still no sequel 16 years later lol
Thank you for all your good work ! I think you're really cool.
3 years later and "Harry Mason lookin ass" is still hilarious
4:50 im dying
"The black guy who dies first."
So true.
This was my first Siren game I've seen part 1 in a video store when those were still around lol i wish i rented it when i had the chance but i kept renting SVC Chaos.. This game scared me i played it only at night it was hard at times it pissed me off at times but overall i like this game one of my favorite horror games on ps3
Loved this game and was always the system seller that made me want a PS3 for years. I understand your criticisms but its still my favorite horror game of the last decade. Gives that classic survival horror feel that’s kinda been lost from modern horror games
Late to the punch, but the episodic nature of the game (and it having smaller episode packs) was because on first release the game wasn't available in full, only by increments... I recall this because back when Playstation Home was a thing they had a map dedicated to promoting the game where you essentially ran around and did shit in a time limit and had to avoid the nurse shibito (I think she was the only one coded in)... or you could stand around with your avatar and just chat with people.
But yeah, back then they didn't have all the episodes ready yet, and there was once even an option to buy individual episodes... but at the same time, I think the full pack was also there, so it kinda defeated the whole purpose of the other packs anyway.
By the way, great video, as usual!
I was laughing way too much at that reboot joke XD It's so true
2:27 I love how they used Mongolian Throat Singing even though it takes place in Japan! XD
I really enjoyed the game, but there is one thing we can all agree on...
That FILM GRAIN is INTENSE
This game was scary as hell
Good video.
I agree they could have done a better job with this game.
Just one thing: you CAN register up to 3 shibito's visions. You just have to hold down on the triangle or square etc buttons while sight jacking.
If your woman does not have the balls to KO an enemy with a stick, she isn't worth it.
That "Reboot the series" line with that voice reminded me of Urai Fen from Star Wars Empire at War Forces of Corruption.
I re-watched this Trilogy of reviews every year or so and when I get to this game I always think to myself in the beginning "Oh this game would be cool to get" and then he starts talking about the flaws and I always change my mind
Play it for yourself. I think the game is was more playable than Siren 1 which has some really weird gameplay choices that ruin the game for me.
Is the one dislike from NitroRad?
My fave part of this video is, ironically: "HA HA HAAAA HAA HAHA... hehe- HAAA HAAA!!"
"I like the depth of field on the kanji in the lower right corner"
That's actually hiragana, and not kanji. (Hiragana and katakana are Japanese characters, while kanji are Chinese characters)
I'd give anything for a modern siren with that freaky photo face technique.
I wish I had known about these games back in the ps2 days. I was a huge fan of Silent Hill and this looks like it woild have been a good fit
Good choice for a review. Pretty sure this was free on PS Plus a few months ago, but nobody really knew what it was and there aren't many other reviews out for it.
One thing that scared me.... The bleeding eyed entity (especially humanoid and ghosts) I always petrified when I saw some weird things about eyes, anyway thank you for this video, Nitro
You think that's scary try playing fatal frame alone in the dark I dare ya
@@ichihimefan91 Oh, man. Believe me, I've done that and needless to say, I've slept with the lights on
13:39 Slightly disappointed we didn't get a clip of Tamon's 'Oh, shut up' from the original.
The thing with the episode recaps, they make sense and kind of work when you play these games as they come out, but after the entire game is released, you're likely to be playing the next episode immediately, so you don't need to be refreshed on what happened. Telltale does (or did) this with their games, though those make a bit more sense because you could make certain choices and they'd often show the outcome of the actions you chose, such as the scene in which you chose to save one character and let another die in the previous episode of the Walking Dead. That sort of recap is useful so you can also have some idea of what to expect in the new episode you're playing, and maybe prepare yourself consequences you may face for your choices, as opposed to this game where you have no choices, so you're simply being caught up on the story, so there's not as much insight to the episode you will be playing.
Also, I see these recaps as a nice thought, I appreciate that they included these recaps. However, I hate it when you can't skip these recaps, because like I said earlier, if you play these games when all the episodes are available, you won't need a recap. I'd say most episodes in Telltale games are about an hour long, they're never usually too long that you can't get through them in a single sitting. Each game (and season) usually has 5 episodes, give or take 1 sometimes, so if you had the time, you could crank through an entire game in one sitting, about five hours or so, especially if you know how to go straight to whatever triggers story progression. This makes an episode recap, that you can't skip, even more annoying, because you're being told about everything you did two minutes ago.
The Soundtrack is the best part of this game.