WEBVTT 1 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:33.719 You wouldn't believe it. The after Dark feed has returned. 2 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:37.679 Still in the darkness, it lives, It lives in the 3 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:41.399 dark and in this case, the fog. Because this is 4 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:43.719 a very special episode we are talking this is okay, 5 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:45.439 I need to get this out that you might know 6 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:47.600 this from the title, but I need to make it clear. 7 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:52.079 This is a spoiler cast about Silent Hill f Meaning 8 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:55.240 if you do not want to be spoiled on things, 9 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:59.119 go elsewhere, turn this off, turn this off, come back, 10 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:01.520 and then find your way through the fog once you 11 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:04.799 complete the lost and Fog difficulty on combat and puzzle 12 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:07.280 in Silent Hill f and then you'll. 13 00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:09.400 Know what Bill I feel like. 14 00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:12.680 It's also important to like preface this with even if 15 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:13.280 you have. 16 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:15.480 Rolled credits once, be ready. 17 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:18.200 We are going to talk about stuff that happens in 18 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:21.040 New Game Plus because it's substantially different. So if you 19 00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:25.359 do want to have that experience preserved, also, maybe come 20 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:27.480 back and listen after you played a couple of times. 21 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:30.680 An apt piece of input from Jessica Cogswell, who's joining 22 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:33.599 us on the special podcast, who is also the reviewer 23 00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:35.400 of Solent f Hello. 24 00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:38.280 Jessica, Hi, I'm so happy to be here. 25 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:42.439 I'm also joined right next to me to with a 26 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:43.599 Lucy James. 27 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:46.079 Hello, Hello, should say it like that? 28 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:51.319 Yeah? Uh And yes Toess's point, just because you roll 29 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:54.560 credits on Salent Hill f does not mean you have 30 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:57.959 completed the story. H And trust me, I have been 31 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:00.359 people have seen me in the office, and I'm sure 32 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:03.560 Jessica has felt this too. Even from Afar, I have 33 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:09.039 been a bottled up piece of anxiety and energy and 34 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:12.080 wanting to talk about this game, but also not wanting 35 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:15.879 to talk about it, and like I am, so this 36 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:17.319 is gonna be one of the most cathartic days of 37 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:20.439 my life. Oh to be able to talk about this game, 38 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:22.759 but also specifically here Jessica talk about it because her 39 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:25.240 and I have been been We've been chatting. 40 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:27.479 Oh you've had black threads. 41 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:29.039 Oh yeah, I have to say. 42 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:31.039 So one thing that I love I mean, I love 43 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:33.479 many things about you, Kurt, but one thing I really 44 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:37.039 love about you is in this I guess to be 45 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:39.599 transparent with Like, so I saw I saw some games 46 00:02:39.639 --> 00:02:42.400 recently at a showcase, and I went to Kurt and 47 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:44.919 I was like, I had okay time, but nothing really 48 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:47.879 blew me away, And Kurt was just like welcome to 49 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:51.840 kind of my experience in the industry. I have similar 50 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:54.319 feelings where like I like a lot of stuff, but 51 00:02:54.360 --> 00:02:56.919 it takes something that's like really special to kind of 52 00:02:56.919 --> 00:03:01.120 stand out for me. And it's been so cool playing 53 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:03.039 this game and talking to Kurt about it because I 54 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:05.400 can tell that it's something special to. 55 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:07.479 You, because you've been like so a buzz. 56 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:11.960 About it and just like talking talking like theories and like, oh, 57 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:13.560 I got to show you this clip. I got it, 58 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:16.719 and it's it's been so lovely to see you kind. 59 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:18.919 Of light up about it, actually see me enthusiastic about 60 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:19.360 something for. 61 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:22.360 Once, to see enthusiastic about a game that's not but 62 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:25.680 I hid an object puzzle kind of well, it kind. 63 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:26.960 Of is, I can kind of is. 64 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:29.840 But I appreciate it though, Like it feels like whenever 65 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:33.159 you do like something, it's very authentic and so I 66 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:34.159 appreciate that. 67 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:38.520 Yeah, well trust me, I uh, I appreciate that because 68 00:03:38.919 --> 00:03:41.000 I think it's okay. In our in our neck of 69 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:42.599 the woods, we see a lot of things, and we 70 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:44.520 see a lot of games, and there's there can be 71 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:46.560 a I don't know, I don't know if I want 72 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:49.759 to call it expectation, but like, it can be hard 73 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:53.639 when you like, you see so many games and it's 74 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:57.120 when for me it's like, I don't know. In my nature, 75 00:03:57.319 --> 00:03:59.960 I'm a very opinionated person for better or for word, 76 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:03.879 and uh that means when something comes along that I like, 77 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:08.560 I most cases absolutely love it. So when this game, 78 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:11.400 every year there's at least one game, and this year 79 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:13.400 for me it's Sound Hill af where I was like, 80 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:18.199 but we'll get into it. I want to frame this 81 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:20.879 podcast really quick before we get into the think of 82 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:24.000 it because the three of us have I think, come 83 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:29.920 from interesting perspectives on this specifically yes, because one I 84 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:34.439 am not traditionally a Silent Hill fan. Two, this is 85 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:39.560 Lucy James's first Silent Hill game, yes, and then Jess 86 00:04:39.959 --> 00:04:41.920 is an og Silent Hill fan. 87 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:44.720 So it's so as I was just talking to somebody 88 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:46.839 about this today and I want to be upfront because 89 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:48.279 I don't want someone to call me out and be like, 90 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:52.720 wait a second. I love Silent Hill. I am a 91 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:55.399 baby about horror aams, but I love horror like I 92 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:57.720 love to read horror books. I love horror movies. I 93 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:01.759 love the genre. I think it's so interesting and I 94 00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:04.399 love horror games too, but I've always been a baby 95 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:07.199 about playing them. So a lot of my experience with 96 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:10.279 like Silent Hill or even like Resident Evil comes from 97 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:13.360 a lot of like watching entire let's plays or. 98 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:16.079 Whatever, and also like walk like in video essays and 99 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:19.439 stuff like that. So I am like that kind of nerd. 100 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:21.800 So this is other than two. This is the first 101 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:24.959 one I played entirely, but I've watched all of them. 102 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:26.319 If what makes people. 103 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:29.600 Feel better, I mean, I don't know. It's uh. The 104 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:31.879 one thing I'll say is I don't think any of 105 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:33.720 the soilnd Hole games are fun to play. 106 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:36.480 I can only go from. 107 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:41.759 This one, but I mean that f is probably, from 108 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:44.040 what I've seen, at least like the most fun, and 109 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:47.600 even then, like I don't know, I feel like combat 110 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:50.600 is not the focus of that game and fun gameplay, 111 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:52.680 So it's kind of a weird gauge. 112 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:56.160 I think it certainly gets more fun, Yes it does, 113 00:05:56.199 --> 00:05:56.959 and we'll get into that in. 114 00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:59.000 Which we will get into. But in terms of I 115 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:02.519 think I approach the gameplay of this in a very 116 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:04.600 particular way. I think I must be really annoying to 117 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:07.399 watch play games, and I used to stream, so I 118 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:12.040 guess people could tell me this. I check every single corner, particularly, 119 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:16.839 I am obsessive, and so my first play through of 120 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:19.000 Sulent Hill F I was, you know, friends of mine 121 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:20.560 are kind of dropping in and out and watching me, 122 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:23.319 and I was like, I'm so sorry. Is this even 123 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:27.399 fun for you? Because I approach it with methodicalness and 124 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:32.040 a meticulousness where it's sort of as if I'm setting 125 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:36.519 pacing for myself by deliberately slowing myself down to check 126 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:38.480 every single nook and cranny. And I think Silent Hill 127 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:40.560 F in particular certainly rewards you with that, with the 128 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:45.759 notes and even just incidental things in we'll get to that. 129 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:51.560 I think, you know, deliberately slowing it down rather than 130 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:53.800 you know, if I play an action game, I'll just 131 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:56.920 you know, combat, run to the next bit, combat next, next. 132 00:06:57.079 --> 00:07:00.360 Do you have the do you have the you have 133 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.560 the thing that I do where when a cut scene ends, 134 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:07.480 I always immediately turn around. So in a game, whenever 135 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:10.000 I play a game and the cut scene ends and 136 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:12.920 your characters facing the direction you're supposed to go, it 137 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:17.000 is my impulse to immediately turn around and see and 138 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:17.560 to see. 139 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:20.879 I've never thought about it, but yes, I do always 140 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:22.319 do that. I feel like I was just like turn 141 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:23.920 to the side because I'm like, okay, there's not like 142 00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:25.720 a path over this way or whatever. There's not like 143 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:28.759 an item now behind me, and so like never thought 144 00:07:28.759 --> 00:07:29.879 about it, But yeah, I. 145 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:32.439 Think that's I do that instinctually. 146 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:34.279 I would do it if there's a game where I'm 147 00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:37.439 specifically collecting things, because there's always gonna be something behind you, 148 00:07:37.720 --> 00:07:40.600 just as there will always be something, you know, if 149 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:42.639 I go down this this little path or behind this 150 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:44.040 wultifool's going to be something. 151 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:47.639 There's always something behind the waterfowl. All right, Jess, you 152 00:07:47.720 --> 00:07:48.920 reviewed it, you gave it. 153 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:53.319 A I gave it a nine. I think it's and 154 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:54.879 it's one of those things too where I gave it 155 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:59.839 a nine because it's not like a perfect game, you 156 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:01.600 know what I mean. Like I like, you can read 157 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:03.399 my review and you can kind of see the feedback 158 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:06.240 that I gave it there at the same time when 159 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:08.519 I put it, so I'm like a nerd. I think, okay, Lucy, 160 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:11.360 Lucy will relate to this. I use notion a lot. 161 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:14.199 Yeah, And I have like my own. 162 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:16.720 Spreadsheet on there where I track all the games that 163 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:19.519 I've played, and like I put my personal notes in 164 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:23.920 like my personal review. In my personal Notion review, I 165 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:26.480 give it a five out of five because I do 166 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:29.600 think so I don't know. So there's the game spot 167 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:33.919 review and there's the official unofficial Jessica Cogswell Notion review, 168 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:35.039 which is a five out of five that. 169 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:35.960 Only I can see. 170 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:41.679 But I think that it's fantastic, And the biggest thing 171 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:47.159 to me is it's story and its themes and the 172 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:50.960 way that it handles what it's handling. Without delving too 173 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:52.639 much into it right here, because I'm sure we're going 174 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:56.080 to talk at length about it, I think it does 175 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:59.919 it in a very masterful way, in a way that 176 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:04.240 really resonated with me and felt very cathartic by the 177 00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:05.759 time that I kind of finished. 178 00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:07.919 Things on a Bashit is the way I would put it, like, 179 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.559 I don't know. It's like there's there's plenty of media 180 00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:15.039 and horror movies and things that have tackled similar topics, 181 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:17.559 but I don't. I can't. It's so hard for me 182 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:22.039 to specifically touch on a piece of art or media 183 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:24.559 that touches on all the things this game touches on, 184 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:28.399 whether it's like femininity, the rights of a person, in 185 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:31.519 the sixties in nineteen sixty Japan, on top of like 186 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:36.279 interpersonal relationships, interpersonal dilemmas with people in your relationships, and 187 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:40.279 then on top of that medication and like like how 188 00:09:40.279 --> 00:09:43.080 those things are like blanket problems, and on top of that, 189 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:44.919 it's also just like intense body horror. 190 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:48.960 And the one thing that I think is perhaps a 191 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.159 parallel that I kept coming back to would. 192 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:53.960 Be carry m mm hmm, but that's a good one. 193 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:56.679 Yeah, but instead of I suppose medication would be the 194 00:09:56.759 --> 00:10:03.000 use of religion. Yeah, and yeah, I was. I think 195 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:05.159 the thing that got me about Silent Hill f is 196 00:10:05.320 --> 00:10:08.120 immediately when I started playing, I just kind of not 197 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:11.960 that I didn't trust everything, but I over analyzed every 198 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:16.600 single interaction I thought there was. For a while, I 199 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:18.759 thought there was like a different kinds of abuse happening 200 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:22.519 with the sister or with Hinnoco or with the father, 201 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:24.600 And it was just because there are so many ways 202 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:26.879 you can interpret so much of it. And that's obviously 203 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:28.600 just on the first play through, and then things get 204 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:33.679 recontextualized as you replay it and experience new parts of 205 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:38.080 the story. But it was I was very surprised, but 206 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:40.840 also at the same time just really it, like just said, 207 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:41.879 it was very cathartic. 208 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:46.279 It's so I'm actually curious. I have a question for 209 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:50.840 both of you. Did you think that the twist was 210 00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:55.200 something entirely different? Because I was convinced through my first 211 00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:58.039 playthrough until I rolled credits and got like the police 212 00:10:58.039 --> 00:11:00.960 scene afterwards, I was convinced it was like a totally 213 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:01.519 different thing. 214 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:07.240 My theory for the for the majority of me playing 215 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:10.519 it was I believed she had some kind of dissociative 216 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:13.919 personality that she had manifested as a result of abuse, 217 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:19.440 and that personality became the protector role, and that's where 218 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:22.159 like she lost part of herself and put on the 219 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:24.519 mask and she had like the different abilities and the 220 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:28.440 powers in the arm, and so that was what I 221 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:30.080 kept thinking in my brain. 222 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:34.120 And then yeah, which is not entirely Yeah, wrong to 223 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:38.600 answer your question, Jess, I feel too. I felt like 224 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:41.799 I was. I was. I'm so used to playing sound 225 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:45.720 hell games and knowing what they end up being that 226 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:48.840 I was very deliberately just trying to I always try 227 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:51.799 to experience things in the moment as they are happening. 228 00:11:51.879 --> 00:11:54.039 In any moment, I try, like I start to think, 229 00:11:54.120 --> 00:11:57.240 like maybe assume one thing. I just have to be like, well, 230 00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:59.519 maybe we'll find out, maybe we won't do so I 231 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:01.399 always try to absorb it and just wait to the end. 232 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:03.799 But as as in my nature, I was absorbing. I 233 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:06.559 was looking at every single character, enemy design type and 234 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:09.840 be like this, I know how Silent Hill works, I 235 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:12.399 know how they conceptualize these things. I know how they 236 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:14.440 think about their monsters, and I know how it's all 237 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:17.399 supposed to tie into something. So if anything, I was 238 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:20.399 less analytical about her interactions and more staring at the 239 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:23.600 monsters themselves, being like, what are you representing? What are 240 00:12:23.639 --> 00:12:24.600 you trying to be? 241 00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:25.080 Well? 242 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:27.600 Gee, I wonder what the pregnant bellies wanted. 243 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:31.759 I was attached to the back of a man. So 244 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:33.639 one question a half for you, jess Or at least 245 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:37.159 it's something I want to absolutely praise you for for 246 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:39.840 being not only just an incredible writer, but an incredible 247 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:44.000 The ability to talk about a piece of media so 248 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:48.320 eloquently is you did that entire review without even remotely 249 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:52.960 spoiling anything. And I want to one applaud you because 250 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:56.320 five half of that game. I don't know why you 251 00:12:56.360 --> 00:13:00.000 didn't talk about, but I think it is a testament 252 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:01.519 to be able to talk about a piece of media 253 00:13:01.559 --> 00:13:05.360 without having to specifically point and get nitty gritty about something. 254 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:08.519 So I want to get your perspective on writing this 255 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:13.600 review without talking about anything that happens past a certain 256 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:15.759 point in Shoe's house. 257 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:19.600 Gosh, I'm trying to think of how I ended up 258 00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:20.320 doing this review. 259 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:22.159 I feel like I. 260 00:13:23.960 --> 00:13:26.279 Know some people and I think it depends on the game, 261 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:31.039 but this game is very much a atmosphere, vibe, story 262 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:34.320 driven game. So for me, it's not like I'm sitting 263 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:37.159 there really collecting notes. I know some people are like 264 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:39.600 religious note takers, and it's so weird because that seems 265 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:42.519 very contrary to like my entire personality. But I wasn't 266 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:45.879 really taking notes. I just wanted to like experience it 267 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:49.440 and get lost in the fog. And when I went 268 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:54.440 to write it, I think that it was just really 269 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:57.000 important to because, like I said, I kind of had 270 00:13:57.080 --> 00:13:59.120 a whole different theory about what was going on, and 271 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:00.600 then I got to the end, and in some ways 272 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.919 it's more straightforward than I thought, but at the same time, 273 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:07.000 it's very ambiguous. And I played the second time before 274 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:09.720 I started writing my review, and I got to the 275 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:12.120 end of that, and it kind of made me tear 276 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:15.080 up a little bit, and I just really wanted to 277 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:19.879 preserve that same sensation for people who would play it. 278 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:22.360 And so I don't know, So I guess that's like 279 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:24.240 the biggest thing is it's just kind of comes out 280 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:27.519 of place of like trying to be compassionate and understand that, 281 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:30.720 like I need to kind of avoid that to talk 282 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:35.919 about it. And I think that sometimes my reviews or 283 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:38.200 even just like my writing can be kind of flowery. 284 00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:40.159 But at the same time, when it comes to a 285 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:43.000 game that is like Silent Hill, where it is, like 286 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:46.960 I said, very atmospheric, I think that by digging into 287 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:49.799 that and conveying that that is what it's trying to do, 288 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:52.399 it gives people a pretty solid understanding of the game. 289 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:55.080 So leaning into that was kind of the key, and 290 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:58.639 just making sure that I spent my time to kind 291 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:02.320 of create a little piece of this world because I 292 00:15:02.360 --> 00:15:03.559 think it's a really special one. 293 00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:06.759 I didn't ask you this, so I want to take 294 00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:09.440 it back. What was your take on that first play through? 295 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:11.720 What did you think was happening by the end that 296 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:12.159 I came. 297 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:15.639 Well, it's so funny, Okay, So what I thought was happening, 298 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:17.279 and sorry, this is kind of dark, but I think 299 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:20.320 it is one of the trigger warnings. I thought that 300 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:23.679 Quinoko maybe committed suicide, and I thought that she was 301 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:26.120 kind of in like have you ever seen the movie 302 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:28.120 Wrist Cutters. It was like some indie movie that came 303 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:30.600 on twenty something years ago. I thought it was kind 304 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:33.399 of like in a weird limbo place like that, and 305 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:35.120 that's what she was going through. And I kind of like, 306 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:37.559 once it started with the Hinko is Dead stuff with Rinko, 307 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:41.120 I was like, maybe that's what's going on. Maybe there 308 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:43.000 was just like all of this pressure and she feels 309 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:46.080 abandoned by her sister. She has these problems at home, 310 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:49.799 like maybe this happened, and she's kind of like deciding, 311 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:52.559 not deciding, but like going through the motions of like 312 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:54.679 do I want to live and what kind of life 313 00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:56.639 do I want to live and all of the things 314 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:58.759 that adolescents kind of do go through at that time. 315 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:00.159 I feel like, or at least. 316 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:03.919 What you thought, Yeah, you thought, it's not doing that. 317 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:07.720 It's it's not that uh, it's not actually that dark, 318 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:08.519 which is you know. 319 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:12.879 Yeah. I also I also did have a similar suspicion. 320 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:16.159 But again, I try to keep my theories at bay 321 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:17.960 to just kind of take it as is, but that 322 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:21.159 was definitely one of those like, oh, maybe this happened, 323 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:25.960 or oh maybe she was killed by her father, or 324 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:28.919 like oh like throwing the knife. 325 00:16:29.960 --> 00:16:33.399 Yes, yeah, And for a second I thought that maybe 326 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:36.080 she killed her father, Like when that scene was happening, 327 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:38.000 I'm like, maybe she picked it up and like, and 328 00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:39.840 I think that that's kind of a testament to the 329 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:44.600 fact that, like the I don't think that the game 330 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:47.519 misleads you at all, Like it doesn't intentionally try to, 331 00:16:47.720 --> 00:16:50.440 like it's it's definitely ambiguous at times, but it's not 332 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:53.679 like trying to make you second guess or it's not 333 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:55.279 trying to lead you down a path and then it's like, oh, 334 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:57.960 just kidding, you know, it's not I don't know, it's 335 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:02.120 not unfair in that regard or tricksy. But at the 336 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:05.720 same time, I feel like there's a lot of interpretations 337 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:07.960 and it did it actually genuinely surprise me at times. 338 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:13.480 I want to talk about the so you brought up 339 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:17.000 the carry thing, which I think is like rock solid comparison, 340 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:23.759 and it's I obviously there this game is doing like 341 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:25.759 when this game is first being previeuw by you, just 342 00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:28.000 I couldn't help it be like, all right, it's a 343 00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:31.720 game about being a woman, a sixteen year old woman 344 00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:35.039 from what we understood originally being written by a guy 345 00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:38.000 not and like it just was I wasn't not as 346 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:39.720 familiar with his other work and it's just one of 347 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:41.319 those things where was like, well, we've had a lot 348 00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:44.440 of media written by both men and women about being 349 00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:48.839 a woman, both bad cases, both good cases. And the 350 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:51.240 thing is for me is like playing this game, I 351 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:55.559 still had a lot like I really this game affected 352 00:17:55.559 --> 00:17:58.000 me deeply at times, like very specific scenes. There's stuff 353 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:01.240 in the opening that game specific the very open cut 354 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:03.799 scene when she's playing with the doll. Having watched that 355 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:06.119 scene multiple times every time I watch it, even though 356 00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:08.480 it doesn't like the context of it doesn't really change 357 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:10.599 all that much, but just absorbing it over and over 358 00:18:10.599 --> 00:18:13.799 and over again for all the playthroughs it did, it 359 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:16.640 hits hard for me. I it was like there's like 360 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:18.400 just heving this person be like I can't play with 361 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:20.359 the boys, so therefore I'm not allowed to play with 362 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:22.000 anyone until her sister's like, do you want to play 363 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:25.400 with her with me, and like the excitement that that 364 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:27.480 like that she feels as a darb, like really and 365 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:29.680 then's a hard cut and this playing faced woman is 366 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:34.319 just like it is brutal. Anyways, it's quick tangent about that, well, 367 00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:35.759 go ahead, something that. 368 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:37.599 I really love because I want to and I wanted 369 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.279 to talk to you about it because you know, there's 370 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:44.960 not enough male representation in games. But but something that 371 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.079 I loved about the game is that in like the 372 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:53.839 second and third playthrough, we also kind of it's it's like, 373 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:56.240 I think it's very very very fair to say this 374 00:18:56.279 --> 00:18:58.559 is a very feminist game, but at the same time 375 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:01.000 it does touch on something that's part of feminism, but 376 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:03.960 it's also just kind of the the roles that men 377 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:11.119 are meant to have and. 378 00:19:08.359 --> 00:19:09.720 And and kind of like the. 379 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:13.839 I don't know, just like that the lack of emotion 380 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:16.000 you can have, and and something that I really love 381 00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:19.960 too with Fox Mask or why can I not remember 382 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:20.920 his actual name right now? 383 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:25.480 Codro, I can't remember the boy? 384 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:30.039 Yeah, yeah, but Fox Mask in like the third ending 385 00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:33.920 that I saw, it's the one where essentially it's like 386 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:37.279 this this figure maybe his dad's kind of what interpret 387 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:41.440 it as or just like familiar figure basically starts to 388 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:46.240 give him shit for like you tried to woo this girl, 389 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:50.720 you know, by basically treating her like a person, and 390 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:51.640 like that's not. 391 00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:52.279 The way to go. 392 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:54.880 You should just claim it, like that's the way that 393 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:55.680 this is done. 394 00:19:55.880 --> 00:19:57.160 And you know, like you. 395 00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:00.599 Are kind of lesser of a man for for like 396 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:03.759 being passive in this when really you should just like 397 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:07.480 go for it and make her, you know. And I 398 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:10.960 think that that was I didn't expect it to kind 399 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:13.519 of go into that side of like toxic masculinity, and 400 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:16.519 I'm really happy that it did. And I don't know, Kurt, 401 00:20:16.519 --> 00:20:18.119