Run for the Hills Silent Hill 2 - 01

The fancy cats are back! <3

Very good.

so glad this is back- team fancy cat are the best thing going on the site rn!

There we go. There's that Jostled Jan!

Please look at video encoder, the HD download is encoded in 4K which is technically UHD. Plus bitrate is very low for a 4K video.

I know you don't produce 4K video so this should be removed until you're ready. It doesn't show up on all videos but most since the switch to RVs video servers.

Liked DDLC, disliked how it used mental illness and abuse as a shortcut for building sympathy with its characters. It was a very effective horror experience but played too deeply into the tropes about mental illness without doing anything to subvert/comment on them.

Oh man, this numbering/naming system is going to get confusing.

Edit- and it's been updated to be clearer. Thanks folks.

Oh maannn I can't wait to see Jan's reactions playing through this! I was sad he didn't make his way to Bar Neely's...hopefully he'll make a stop there after Brookhaven :)

also:

One of my favorite games of all time. So glad yall are continuing with SH2. I'll be watching every episode multiple times I'm sure.

Ah, Silent Hill 2... At the crossroads of super horny / slutty and hellish nightmare.

Looking back on this game as an adult, and it's quite obvious this is Someone's VERY SPECIFIC Fetish: The Video Game.

The mods to make the game look as good as possible are probably a factor, but even so the difference in how atmospheric and creepy the game is versus the first one is remarkable. The difficulty of getting hold of a decent copy of the game also really hit home to me how badly Konami have treated this, one of the canonically greatest games of all time. Even as someone who never had a strong connection to the series, that level of neglect is maddening.

Aww I was excited for the Run 2 the Hills branding

The vibe is immediately more unsettling and it shows in Jan's discomfort. It's an auspicious beginning.

I just wanna say, good on Jess for using the Enhanced Edition (I'm guessing it was her suggestion)! It really does rival the Greatest Hits PS2 version of the game as the definitive way to play.

The crazy thing here is that the mods are used are purely restorative, they don't bump up the quality of textures or anything, they return missing effects to the PC version that were originally in the PS2 version.

I just started my first ever playthrough of this last month and...it is NOT what I was expecting. Lots more combat-oriented, very generous with the ammo, and more linear than I was expecting.

Oh and the acting/line reads are the perfect mix of "dream-like" and "hilariously schlocky/off-kilter."

Oooooh I can’t wait for this! I mean this means they’ll at least play through the first four games!!

@the_nubster: Definitely agree and it's my main big criticism of the game! It definitely still scared the wits outta me and did a ton of very impressive and innovative things with the format, but I don't think it needed those harmful/shocking clichés to do that.

We know there's been a LOT of weird video issues lately! But trust us, they are (a) not our fault and (b) a thing we are very actively trying to get sorted out with the IT guys!

And sadly, "This should be removed until you're ready" isn't an option, cuz then we just... wouldn't be posting any video content until this backend glitch is fixed, lol. It's simply a glitch, not us selecting the wrong option somewhere and pretending our videos are 4k. It sucks, and we super appreciate everyone's patience! :( Sorry it's taking so long, it's bugging the hell out of us, too!

Aww, where's the intro video? Does it only play when you start the game? It's such a nice mood piece.

Let’s gooooo, hyped y’all are continuing this series

@glots: The intro video to SH2 plays when you sit on the title screen for a while, and unlike the first game, for SH2 and 3 you actually shouldn't watch it because it spoils some stuff.

I gotta second this. Especially seeing it's only encoded as AVC, that bitrate is hurting video quality vs keeping the resolution at 1920x1080. AVC at 5000kbps is just too thin of a bitrate to cover 4k at 60fps.

Strong first episode, looking forward to more

@lethalplacebo: Isn't this the mod that literally changed a specific scene to make it 'make more sense'? A pretty minor detail about a flashlight, but it still stuck out to me.

@theonewhoplays: No spoilers obviously, but the only scene that this mod changed that I remember was brought up for debate in the community involved a refrigerator and a power cord, as far as I know.

@voidburger: Thanks for the response. I'm going to chaulk this up to Corporate telling someone this needs to happen regardless of if the GB/IT team says it's ready.

On a happy note, the new download servers are much faster for me :) Also, the 1080p 5k videos are still being encoded even if not linked so I can change the filename to get them.

As they say in Silent Hill, "Let's a-go"

love this series! hyped for ep 2

That's wild! I knew that the PC version was bad, but that's a whole other level. Makes me appreciate what they were able to do with the PS2 even more.

But Mary, how could you send me a letter... when you died 3 years ago?

*Beyond Belief music starts playing*

Hope I'm not overstepping my bounds here, but here's a tip for the controls: Hold RB and tap A for a strong overhead strike. Hold RB and hold A for quick successive strikes (which Jess mentioned you can walk around while doing).

I only mention it here because they're not intuitive, you'd think the quick press would be the weak strike, but no. Jess is right tho, on PS2 it's pressure sensitive.

Time for the descent into Silent hill and vibe with the best OST in the series. Looking forward to this.

After the first Silent Hill and 'Jansplained' episode especially, I've got so intrigued that i started playing SH2. For the first time. I'm a little ahead (currently 3 hours in) so i can experience it for myself first and I am absolutely loving it so far!

It's been YEARS since I played this game and this time around I noticed not only the clock puzzle's obvious hint of Henry, Mildred and Scott corresponding to hours minutes and seconds but also the...ahem...symbolism of these gendered clock hands. So glad I spent tens of thousands of dollars on an art degree to be able to see hidden penises everywhere.

Anyone else find it impossible to watch videos on Giant Bomb that are hosted on YouTube? Trying to watch them here, the audio starts playing even before clicking to start the video. After clicking play on the video, there's double audio. It's impossible to stop the initial audio from playing. I always have to give up and go watch the video on YouTube.

Using Firefox on Win10.

There's something oddly satisfying about the way the Adidas logo on Jan's hat fits perfectly into his triangular icon

@donaldb: I thought that was just on my end and it's happened for months (this is also an issue I run into on youtube's site sometimes as well). Normally just close the tab and re-open and it fixes it.

@the_nubster: Totally with you. I think the game is stellar in a lot of ways, and yet its understanding of mental health issues is very stigmatizing and reductive. Unfortunately that detracted from the experience for me. I think that developer has a great, empathic horror game in them, and I'm still excited to see what comes next for them.

Maybe I’m just in a good mood, but this was my favorite episode yet. Lots of laugh-out-loud moments, but I think Jess’ hallway joke got me the most. Can’t wait to see the parts of the game I never got around to.

RIP the hammer tho

I get this too (also FF on Win10). But only the first time I go to a video, if I hit reload after it seems to work ok.

Glad to see this continuing! Jan & Jess are a great dynamic for this series.

As a kid, I never questioned why a clock could only be moved if the hands were positioned a certain way... as an adult it's the most ridiculous video game thing and I can't stop laughing at it

How do those monsters with the pantyhose on their heads/torsos scream? It really looks like they don't have a head under there...

The aforementioned Silent Hill Ranch sign from the Silent Hill HD Collection. I had to look it up myself when Jess described it.

Good getting rid of the Goth guy. Sadly Silent Hill would also turn out to be a somewhat abusive relationship.

Good shit this.

“I’m here for you and you’re doing great” could be the alternate name for Jan and Jess content.

Am I the only person for whom this video ran like garbage? Minimal frames per second and the audio is delayed throughout.

The other Silent Hill 2 video runs fine.