音時雨 ～Regentropfen～

(I'm now really depressed) x 1000;
...
Exactly the same feeling I got right after clearing Silent Hill 3 in last April and Silent Hill 2 in last August--the special Silent-Hill-styled depression.

Yet I indeed love it.

Think about it again, tonight, I spent around 1 hour to finish my last portion of Silent Hill 4, and the aftermath was, I was turned down for another 2 hours.

↓↓↓
Silent Hill is so awesome! (ﾟдﾟ)ｳﾏｰ

Continued from last time, the most exciting hospital stage was right after the 1st apartment.
ただし、私はこの病院にがっかりしてます。だって、短すぎて全然怖くないもん！(￣д￣)ｴｰ ↑Completely disappointed by this hospital, which was too short and wasn't scary at all!
The otherworld hospital in Silent Hill 3 rocks so much that nothing else has a chance.
But the "male nurses" (don't know their official name so just let me keep using my nicknames here) did make me feeling bad. (their voice... and I won't spoil too much here.. ._.)

↓just this hospital's mascot~

全然怖くねぇーー

And soon at some point, I realised that I was eventually betrayed by my room--I actually panicked for quite a while → "My HP isn't recovered anymore! Is it a bug?!"

I love this spiral stairway a lot. The ambience is so unique and eerie.

More and more health drinks told me it wasn't a bug.
When I entered the subway again, I met the first "living dead" Cynthia (who I have zero interest). However, the cutscene when she appears, I couldn't stop thinking she's actually Kayako (from Ju-on).

↑back to that time I didn't know I sould use power sword to stop her, so I did it much later in the final stage..

Like the spot in SH3 where frightened me for 5 minutes by just standing there and doing nothing due to the fear toward the coming boss... (I mean this scene).

The depression is getting stronger and stronger by looking at the candles...

The "DEAD SPACE" (I game-over-ed for at least 5 times) ← fighting with 5 quick moving male nurses with only an axe--it's my fault! → perhaps the only place where a handgun works.

Let me say, isn't this a Heart of the Land (大地の心臓) that you can see in Ar Tonelico 2? lol
(saw this thing at the opening movie, and it kept bothering me during the entire period of SH4 ^^)

Sadly again, this last boss, I at first had completely no idea how to fight, that you have to use that thing (I frankly want to ask Mr. Sunderland why the hell you kept that... how many normal people would do that, and does it smell like formaldehyde? (ﾟдﾟ)！) in the very front of the huge stuff, otherwise it doesn't work. Also, for first time players, isn't it too harsh to finish this boss in time?
And of course I restarted 3 times (with the help of a superb fight guide -_-).

で、さんざん頑張ったあげく、私一人しか生き残っていなかった… I'm the only person who survived until the end--I tried but failed!

Ending credits, "Cradel Of Forest" echoes in my mind, with the only screen shot without any noise throughout this two week round trip.

At last,
見てよ、この輝かしい記録を↓
my shinning results (see, even this has noise!):

And the most shinning part is... the 463 kills. (゜_゜>) 私、もう黒化してますかも…
Missed Joseph's last letter, I want to cry... ._.

Some quick thoughts about this game overall:

• Henry is a tough guy~ <3
• Otherworld is less-seasoned compared to SH1/2/3.
• The hospital stage is a big disappointment.
• Although not that mighty scary like Mr. Pyramid, James May The Coat-Guy is stressful (especially the water-prison stage << his footsteps!!! ><).
• The story/setup is great yet I'd like to see more details in game.
• Handgun and magnum are rubbish, for general playing, first half = pipe, and second half = axe.
• The corrosion induced by the old doll is the most disgusting (I've been deceived once, and will NEVER take that again!).
• Some hidden items require the highest ranking, which is too harsh.
• The map is auto-created, which is kinda boring (I love the irritating moments when I got lost and was looking for a map).
• The 2D only control is annoying.
• I have no complaints to the music itself, but why a lot of tracks from the OST isn't shown up at all in game?
• RIDDLES, WHERE ARE THE RIDDLES???????

I've heard quite a lot negative critiques before playing this game. But it's not that bad to me. Regardless some huge changes (which might be less delicious than previous games), I did enjoy it quite a lot (hopefully my roommate doesn't mind my "voice" while doing this game ^^). But also, as this is the last Team Silent release, I should hope other main releases are not that bad as what I've heard. → My next challenge will be SH zero (aka origins). Indeed it's a challenge since ◯ and ✕ will be switched!

Hope I'm not the only person who didn't realise going back to 'my room' will recover my HP until dying 3 times in Silent Hill 4. ~_~

Actually I do feel much more confident in horror games compared to last year -- in which I couldn't dare to do full-screen mode, or being freaked out even with KOKIA's healing melody flowing in background (dark-history memory in the first week Silent Hill 3 playing experience)... Now I begin a new game under 'Normal' mode + full-screen -- which is a huge improvement -- although my playing style isn't favoured by the game developers so I usually end up with a rather low rank. I can't help, for the first time play I simply tend to press '○' at every single corner (and again I complain about North America's reversed '○' and '✕' settings... not really a big deal as most games I play are from Japan though).

A bit off topic. I really wanted to start this post by:

↑Welcome to Silent Hill's most fun place -- the otherworld!

Finally I come to this far! First otherworld visiting in SH4--have been looking forward how it looks like all the way along my trip!
such as...

coming out of the hole and being welcomed by a woman manikin with bloody right hand...

or

standing right in front of this seal-engraved door with my previous Silent Hill memories...

or

wandering on the clock prison tower with merely a metal pipe (the foggy whitish environment chills me down to the bottom of sea)...
(and I wonder on Hard Mode whether you can fall off and die)

or

being deceived by the otherworld-like view and got confused between monsters' or my footsteps... (I indeed got killed in this stage once due to being surrounded by a group of ugly and stupid monkies <<< and afterwards I realised I missed the stungun in the previous stage and a power-sword here >_<)

P.S. 2D control is really annoying. I want 3D/radio control back! ><

Anyway, when things turn to the otherworld, your mind gets to be changed as well. Dogs? They're not a problem any more (thanks to the rusted axe <3). Yet my only problem is the hide-and-seek with my dear perverted neighbours!

When I just encountered them in the subway, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't kill them. Later I learned that they're not killable, the only thing you should do when meet them is to run.
Fine, so at first I called them 'stalkers'. But soon I realised something was wrong -- how they attack is... π-touch + heart-gouging...

Stalkers are much cuter. These drifting guys are absolutely nothing but perverts! Even you beat them to stop, they raise up almost immediately when you try to leave the "crime scene". And they move fast, leaving you almost no time to investigate (I guess that's how I missed my second power-sword).
So since I came back from the subway, I gave them a new name: 近所の変態オヤジ ⇨ my perverted neighbours. <<< This simply came up so I can't tell more in the wording.

However, I never knew that there's a stage right in 'my' apartment in Silent Hill 4 -- and ghosts appear a lot!
What a ghost-haunting house (even more exciting since it's in the otherworld)!
Wait a moment, so they are now literally my neighbours!
What a perfect match coming from the random! (つд⊂)

As what I know, I'm entering the middle part of SH4. I guess my current progress is about to finish the apartment stage. Since I've heard there'll be a hospital stage (of course, 95% HORROR GAMES HAVE A HOSPITAL), I'll bet I'm going into the otherworld of hospital as well! -- I'm so excited and, it's true that you can't say you've visited Silent Hill unless you had lots of fun in its otherworlds~♥

At the very last,

@Mr. Sunderland: I really had a grate time with your son a year ago and I'm planning to meet him again in this winter (in HD)! m(_ _)m

I always wanted a pipe when I was doing biohazard (although I won't use it), and now I want a rocket launcher while doing Silent Hill 4...

↑Right after prologue, the pipe is in my "collection". No wonder it is the standard SH equipment! ♥

--Just started the game for around 30 minutes, and I've died 3 times.. ><

↑Henry: Why I keep dying (*facepalm*)?! ( ﾟдﾟ)

I've been waiting for playing this game since this June when I was doing bio3, so let me enjoy my death this grey tainted world. (indeed biohazard is much more colourful-I should stop comparing these two..)

↑Yet I do love this kind of settings (this is perhaps the safest room in the world).

↑Mr. Sunderland!!! God, I loved the period while adventuring with James in last year!

However, just let me compare for one more time...

↑The standard item box in biohazard now comes into Silent Hill?!
It's not fun! Heather from SH3 has ever carried 5 Shakespeare with her from the beginning to the end (<<not me, it's from someone's gameplay video ^^;).

At the very beginning, when I wasn't able to see the character, I thought SH4 was a first-person game--the playing screen captions are lying?!--But seems the first-person view only applies in "my" room. Nice, now I felt so relieved (it can't be helped, I get serious motion sickness in first-person games =_=).

Like any other horror games, I'm looking forward to see how long (and how bad) I'll do SH4 till the end. Actually currently (about 40min after start) I've already got stuck. All doors are tightly shut, exits are blocked, the first living person other than myself disappeared, and around the entire map, what I got was 10 handgun bullets (not that powerful though << self-description). You believe KONAMI does bother players like this at the very beginning (I got lost in SH3 beginning as well, because the only usable door was so hard to see)? lol.

P.S. I personally prefer radio control over the 2D moving style...