shattered memories was the first silent hill game I ever saw when I was little Idk why but I just instantly loved it, the music, art style, everything was just so good to me.

Look dude, I don't get scared of anything. But those chase sequences may have been the most intense gaming experiences I ever had. The screams, the lockers, throwing obstacles in the way, the crackling of the wiimote, the look back and panic button... it was insane. But the worst part is when those things actually caught you. They weigh you down, drain your energy, and then...They caress you. Holy crow, I would have taken any deadspace game over any day. They weren't trying to move you forward. They were trying to drag you back. Keep you there. We used to break it out at parties and load a save for people just so we could watch.

Unpopular opinion but Shattered Memories might actually be my personal favorite. It's the only post Team Silent game that I think you could call great.

I think part of the reason people are more positive towards SM is due to how derivative the other Western Silent Hill games had been of the Japanese games. While Origins and Homecoming were closer to the style of Silent Hill compared to SM, they lost most of the substance that made those games stand out, which made them feel cheaper. SM might be very different from the past Silent Hill games, but it has its own substance to stand on, coming from inspiration from past games and introducing new elements. Even if this game isn't the exact direction I would want the series to continue in, I can appreciate it as its own experience within the Silent Hill franchise, as trying to do your own thing without losing the spirit of the older games is a more worthwhile venture compared to sticking close to the originals to the detriment of a new game's identity.

Goated. What I loved the most about this game are the "echo messages" and pictures you get. They are all about the struggles of normal people (bullying, cheating, domestic abuse, rape, etc) and that's all the horror SM utilizes: the horror of trauma, of real life.

That final therapy scene hits hard, it strikes me so personally. “you never knew him, and you never will” brings tears to my eyes without fail

Every time acceptance comes on during the credits I bawl my eyes out. It might not play like a Silent Hill game but the story when everything is revealed to you by the end, captures the essence beautifully.

This was my first exposure to the silent hill series, me and my stepbrother owned a ps2 and were both young, he was 3 years older then me and our mom bought him the game a couple months before the ps3 announcement and me and my brother would play this religiously, or more so, he would and i would watch with glee, it was my first ever horror gane and loved watching him play it, we never beat the game, as we got stuck on a puzzle very early on and could never solve it before our mother bought us the ps3 and sold our ps2 and the games

The main issue about the western SH games is that, instead of taking a bunch and varied amount of inspirations and references, they kept looking at the Team Silent games for inspiration over and over, always looking inwards and adding fanservice for the sake of it. Which is why this game, which actively tries to ignore the series's conventions, shines over the rest by a wide margin (And also that's why the most interesting of the new games is probable Silent Hill F).

While i can understand why cold weather is not scary to a Canadian, as an Australian sub 0°C is so strange and unnerving to me, so it worked well in this game for me. Also, while the chase sequences did trigger huge anxiety spikes in my gameplay consistently, i would think a more traditional enemy system would have made the game better.

Great video! What I liked about the enemies not appearing outside of the chase scenes is that it made the town being empty more mysterious. In the other games, even when I had no idea what the story was gonna be about, I never really questioned why there were barely any people in the town, because the monsters running around made it seem obvoious, but here you don't get that seemingly obvious explanation, so it keeps you guessing (some characters say it's because of the snowstorm, but that doesn't actually explain a lot as you play the game).

I know it was likely just chance, but the psychological report it gave me at the end of my first playthrough left me sitting there for a while. I was freaked out. Every single thing it said about me at that point in my life was true.

This was my first Silent Hill game, also the first game that made cry, and the one that made me realize videogames are another form of art. Thanks for uploading this video!

As an Australian, if I woke up and everything was covered in blood and rust I'd likely be a little disconcerted, but not lose my mind. However, if I woke up in a frozen hellscape I'd know something was proper fucked up and everything was wrong.

One thing you didn't mention but I feel should, because it seriously colorizes my enjoyment of the game, is the insane amount of detail that Shattered Memories has. There is so much to look at in the scenery. If you ever see a phone number in the game, you can call it. You also get a map on your phone of the area, and you can draw on it. It's so fun, legitimately.

I have to admire this game for having so much attention to detail. A game that actually had a lot of effort to make psychological differences that matter

The eerie atmosphere of the world is great, as you said the weakest part are he chase sequences. It is a pretty cool reimagining of a game that has meant a lot to me that is not perfect but it is different in many good ways.

Over the past couple weeks I’ve been consuming a ton of Silent Hill content so this is nice to see, keep it up Max

this game resonated with me on so many levels back when played it on my psp in 2010. cold and lonely the darker truths that really happened to families and youth as u grow the perception and dialogue change of each play through feels grounded and real it all depends on how you see your world. thats all everything is, perception.

I'm glad you're making this video. I would hate for this game to be forgotten in time since I find it a very interesting take on the original

Everytime you post a new Silent Hill video, it is a celebration!

I still vividly recall the marketing for Shattered Memories calling it a "re-imagining" of SH1, so the devs and marketing team knew full well that calling it a remake wouldn't sit well with fans and wanted to make it clear that it'll be "familiar but different" to temper expectations. Origins is also an unfortunate sticking point for Climax(UK) as I recall people using it as a basis of why they assume SM would be terrible and never giving it a chance. If I recall Origins was originally being worked on by the US branch of Climax and it was basically going to turn into a Resident Evil clone with a Silent Hill skin until it got moved to the UK branch and they basically scrambled to get it in the state we got it in. So while they did work on Origins I only consider Shattered Memories to be Climax(UK)'s only proper SH title as they were more or less the clean up crew for the mess Climax(US) was about to make. And honestly with seeing how well they nailed the psychological aspect of Silent Hill in Shattered Memories I would love to see a new SH game from the same team. They really understood what made SH2's horror tick more than any other western studio at the time.

Although i like the twist at the end, i still have this game down in the list. Also the cold enviroment, although not scary at all, i think is the way to put you in a semi hopeless state, a sad, depression, loneliness mood. I know people who doesn't like winter or the cold for the matter because they feel sadness, so i think it was an enteresting approach for the psychological aspect of the game.

Played this on my brother's PSP Go back in 2013, what a thrilling and exciting game! Great video essay too!

13:58 I wanted to talk about the fear factor here. While I don't find ice and snow, "scary" I still find the other world to be pretty scary in itself. Seeing the world get frozen over and destroyed, noticing the snow stop moving, and just in general, seeing the town just completely overrun with snow, with no one else there, abandoned feeling, is pretty creepy to me. It's what they do with the setting and how they use their effects that makes it work. The transformations to the other world are a highlight to me, since they usually happen in gameplay. They are very impressive, and again, seeing the world get just completely glasses so to say, is pretty scary, especially when your in the transformation.

"Ice isnt scary" As a Floridian, Shattered Memorires is heaven to me. Sign me up for a vacation.

I'm not sure if that was intentional when you said "A change needs to be made for the health of the franchise" while showing Max Payne 3 was really clever. Also SM is definitely criminally underrated! As a kid I loved the whole thing about exploring areas with a new way of controlling the camera and aiming your flashlight to check every nook and cranny in the town. It was a nice change of pace for the series I think and damn did it have some amazing music! SM is definitely in my top 3 favorite SH games!

Thanks for the video, Max! That was plenty fun.

Shattered Memories is the one game I always recommend people to start their Silent Hill adventure with. Least gross horror and most psychological thriller

To be honest this is one of my favorite. I really love the Psychological profiling in this game. I remember I was still on college when playing this game and most of the answers I made are sexual and all about booze so I got the worst endings. For me Shattered Memories is good and should be praise more.

To be fair with RE4, when it came out it was super divisive.

The most condemning thing for a game (or story) is when a simple solution would have not only fixed the problem, but would also have helped to deepen the experience. My fix for this game would be... 1, more chase sequences 2, more of them are shorter 3, they feature more "hiding" and "duping" or "juking" the enemies than running from them 4, multiple types of enemies, but the different types that show up are determined by how you play the rest of the game 5, some enemies stick around, and will hunt you down when out of the "other world" (number 5 will get mentioned early on by one of the NPCs) 6, their behaviors change as the game progresses, both from advancement, and also from your play style 7, almost forgot. You CAN fight the enemies off, if you've got the resources, but your "energy" is limited (from it being so cold) in the "other world" which is what makes fighting so many enemies so dangerous. I've never liked the whole "blood/guts/gore" = "cool/scary/horror" ideology. That's "western" thinking IMO. The moment blood is on the wall, the adrenaline starts pumping and I start reaching for the nearest thing that looks like a shotgun. In the "flight or fight" response, you do NOT want to give your players ANY EXCUSE to go for the "fight" option. Number 5 is important because when a monster "stays behind" and where it shows up is unpredictable, and VERY affected by your choices in the game. If you fight the monsters, rather than hide from them, then a monster that you saw, but couldn't reach, will be the one that gets left behind, and can affect when it shows up to attack you. If you are stealthy and evade the monsters, then one that was in your way the most (bottleneck, unavoidable, it can be done) will be the one that sticks around instead. This not only increases the replay value, but also promotes mastery of the game. I remember years ago, watching a speed-run of the game, and most people, even the one playing it, weren't impressed with the game. I think they'd have had a different attitude if they'd used my suggestions. Mind you, it's no guarantee that they would have liked it BETTER than the game we got, but they would at least feel differently about it.

I absolutely love your videos, so glad you decided to do a spoilerfree approach!

"Ice Isn't scary! Well, maybe not to me, I'm Canadian." Bro, you must have never driven on an icy highway in the middle of the night, during a snowstorm, in the middle of nowhere.

I have been waiting for years for your take in this game im so excited!! I love this game❤❤

Great video. I agree with most of your points, and to an extent, with the criticism of the non-existent combat, they should have included other combat variations and monsters too. However, the chase sequences were really intense and sometimes stressful because you didn't know where to go or because the monsters were closing in on you. Also, the parts outside of the nightmare were really unsettling, like you mentioned, but yes, I would have liked to see some more surprises there. All in all, I think this game is great; it deserves a remake based on the psychological profile alone.

Finally someone talks about this, I’ve been saying this for years, silent hill shattered memories, although very different from the main games, this game has a certain charm to it in its chases and atmosphere and music that keeps me coming back to it. I’ve beaten it at least 16 times by now. I love this game so so much, it was amazing for a silent hill game on the Wii, the game overall is almost like a comfort to me. The fact that it takes place during winter time and there’s snow and it has an amazing soundtrack and fantastic voice actors. And I’ve gotta say, the part during the game where you finish the hospital chase and meet Lisa is one of my favorites for atmosphere and vibes because you literally get out of an icy personal hell, meet a woman in need and then immediately start talking and walking about life and jobs and stuff and what adds to it is not only that it is snowing but ALSO because (my favorite song in the entire games soundtrack) lives wasted away starts playing, and continues when you reach her apartment. I absolutely LOVE this track because it just gives me cozy ‘comfort indoor during a snowy winter day’ vibes because that is literally what is happening at this point in the game. I often times just listen to this track everytime I need to relax, it has a somber essence in it but to me it’s more just like a lonely but comforting type of feel, and I just love listening to it, and I love this game.

The idea of the monsters being reflected based on your choices sounds interesting, if only the tech was there.

one of it´s biggest sins was that you could not save your psichological analysis results on your memory card to show to friends and compare (played it on ps2 back in the day)

Plus the credits track of this game is an ABSOLUTE BANGER!

The reason I enjoyed Shattered Memories more than any of the other Silent Hill games is that it was trying something fresh and interesting within the SH universe, while the other western SH games were trying too hard to exactly recreate the first two games and kinda failing at it, which is not as interesting.

I have always heard and seen Silent Hill : Shattered Memories looked down upon. I hope Konami does a Silent Hill collection so every gamer who hasn't played all of these games can play them. Cool video. ^_^

Hey Max, I really enjoy your content. I'm a big fan of silent hill so every video made by you is an awesome way to contemplate a game message. I'm curious if you have seen Mushishi anime. It would be very nice to hear your opinion, as a man who is as knowledgeable as you, to give us your opinion.

Shattered Memories is a truly post-modern videogame that doesn't get enough love. It stands on its own as a psychological thriller adventure, but looking at the meta-textual angle with the original game and the series overall is fantastic. I'll never stop shilling it no matter what.

Played the game back when I still had my PSP. Played it for the first time, booted it up at night. That was a big mistake since I was alone at home that night. I was able to finish it overnight around 3-4 am. I didn't sleep that day because of it but it was a scary and awesome experience. I would definitely play this again if they decided to do a good remake of it with modern graphics, overhauled psyche analysis and stranger, scarier puzzles/ monsters.

If Shattered memories has a million fans, then I'm one of them. If Shattered memories has one fan, then I'm THAT ONE. If Shattered memories has no fans, that means I'm dead.

Still the only western SH game that got it right. It just had to be more open with it's levels to get a better reception.

I absolutely LOVE the little quips throughout the video. “Sure you didn’t go in the Woman’s restroom” 😂 Keep those little jokes up Max! Great video by the way

The Room was incredible. They did an amazing job at making that apartment feel claustrophobic, yet completely new with every trip into Silent Hill. I’ve never played this game, so I have no frame of reference. But games that try to reinvent the basic concepts of a series are generally great when they put a lot of love and effort into the experience.

Insightful as always.

I loved this game as a kid, replaying it right now, loved this video!

amazing video of redemption for one of the only games that has made me feel anything in years. that last hour of the game is an absolute swan dive into insanity. that being said, i want to point out something that you may have misunderstood - ice, or any form of water directly symbolizes emotion in both psychology & dream interpretation. this is brilliantly portrayed in the game by the world freezing over with any revelation that brings strong emotions to *you know who*. the ice itself is not meant to be scary, the true despair is what's being kept hidden within it.

roaming around the city and shops exploring gives a very deperssing feeling, the emptiness of places that once was filled with people they nailed it for me

I started playing it recently, I'm up to the part in Midwich Highschool during the third chase sequence and so far it's surprisingly good. I definitely wouldn't say it's as good as any of the first four Silent Hill games (yes, even Silent Hill 4, which I'm a pretty big apologist for tbh), I do have some issues with it, the gameplay is pretty boring and I don't really find it scary because you know when enemies aren't present which kills the horror, but overall I think it's a good game. The plot is interesting, characters are well written, the psychoanalysis mechanic is unique and fun to engage with and the atmosphere, while very different from the mainline games, is on point. I also like all the branching paths and different choices you can make, so I could see it having some decent replay value.

Shattered memories holds one of my favorite moments playing a game. I just bought a Wii and my first game was shattered memories. I did the basic Wii set up with setting up my account with my name etc. then the game started with the warning that the game played you I brushed it off. Then though my gameplay when Michelle Valdez was introduced I got so freaked out I unplugged my system 😅 and couldn’t bring myself to turn it on until I Google searched the game and saw that was really her name. Michelle Valdez is my name! I thought the game was reading me and it got me 😩 I thought the game read me so much it even had my name.

Thank you!!!!! I have loved this game from the moment it came out… i think it might actually be my favorite one along with 3 then 2. This game’s atmosphere is amazing. Played on the wiimote was great aiming the controller at the tv… very memorable and fun

I remember liking shattered memories well enough on its own. I don't compare it to the original 4. I didn't care for the monster chases. It may have been ok in one sequence, but the lack of threat just brought down the horror for me. P.s. the song Acceptance is one of the best of the series. Chilling... pun intended.

It seems like, if this hadn't presented itself as reimagining to SH1, and if it had some traditional combat combat with more enemy variety, then this would unambiguously be on par with the original games.

Great video as usual Max

The Wii's mechanics really help with this game. Since it's not a difficult game, the immersion helps the experience. (Unless you suck with the Wii.)

Hearing that Konami would have greenlit a silent hill 1 remake and then they made something else kind of pissed me off

Timing! Just started playing and pleasantly surprised. Especially if you view it as its own game

No dopamine. No Berserk Armor. The reloaded version of the life of Job.😩

SM is one of the best if not the best 'westen' SH that was ever made, specially if you consider it, and origins, were essentially rushed and crunched to unbelievable degrees. Also, the drawing of the house and the people in it, as well as the freezing mechanics are both extremely important and impactful to the story, it's just that as a player you might need a couple replays to even come to realize this. I love that game and its mechanics :)

SH origins,SH,SH3 and SH Shattered Memories is all about Cheryl Mason /Heather Mason aka Allessa Gelippse. SH2 is about James Sunderland. SH4 The Room is about Walter Sullivan.

RE Outbreak and Silent Hill 4 both went from being my most-hated, to being my most loved in both their respected series. UwU

I agree. For me Silent Hill was always about the psychological factors, and this one got them. It might be a bit rough, but for its time, I think I like it even more than Origins tbh.

The Most *RATED* Silent Hill _It exists_

Best KZfaq channel there is🎃

Whereas the horror of Silent Hill 3 comes from the experience of being a woman, the horror in the western SH games comes from being a consumer of Konami products. This is the best take I've seen of this game, because others were bunching it in with games like Homecoming, and that's really not the case.

Shattered memories and origins both are underrated ! Both of them are amazing !

Great shout out to Conversations With Curtis!

That was mine first SH game and it was a push for me to go on therapy. Gameplay wise, not so good, everything else- very good and creepy as hell. Thank you for this video

I bought this game on a whim when Wii titles were on clearance at GameStop. Loved this game since then. I’d love to see a remaster on the Switch.

I never really a fan of SH games tbh but this one is the only SH game I've ever finished and definitely one of my favorite horror game. It's odd I'm not even a fan of horror walking sims, Shattered Memories is feel different somehow for a horror game at least at the time. Also i just realized that we're not threatened all the time in this game, the fact that the chasing sequence is small part of the the game.

The ending of Shattered Memories fucked me up, I had a rocky relationship with my dad at the time and I sobbed during the credits and just wanted to give him a hug

I do like the idea of a Silent Hill game based around police and investigation, I wouldn't make it an action shooter that's dumb. I would want something closer to a Telltale style game, You have to give a feeling of helplessness with the police/investigator character like they are investigating a case and the whole world's working against them. Honestly a game like that where you play Cybil Bennett would be great. Oh she they could do a twist like Silent Hill 3 where she's under cover and you don't know she's Cybil Bennett unit later in the game.

Loved the idea of this game but never had a chance to finish it. The psych profiling was a very cool feature. Interestingly, just after watching this video I started playing Until Dawn, and little did I know they have a profiling mechanic that feels very similar! I’ll be curious to see how it plays out. If you haven’t played it yet, I would definitely recommend it from just the first few chapters I’ve played.

MORE SILENT HILL!?

Disbanding Team Silent was one of Konami’s biggest mistakes.

This was my first SH game, and I only played it recently. I knew it wasn't traditional SH right off the bat, but I enjoyed it and it made me curious about the rest of the series. I immediately played SH1 and Origins after and fell in love. I will say though, I don't see any replay value in SM unlike the others, and yes I'll play SH2-4 eventually.

I bought Silent Hill the day it came out in '99 and have loved the series ever since. I thought Shattered Memories was a cool spin on the story, and honestly, ORIGINS has been the title I have replayed the most (that may just be because of how accessible it is being on the PSP).

I played it when it came out, i really wanted the ice parts to be more memorable or explorable and combat focused, would loved to become more twisted more broken, seen things that are not there, jumping from reality to reality, and having that jacob's ladder feeling of uneasy

I think the game would have been GREAT if they replaced the chase sequences with slow-burn otherworld sequences when you head back the way you came, maybe with some paranormal investigation mechanics to heighten the tension.

I think the ice is a metaphor of how you feel when you're scared which cold lonely and abandoned not only that but it's a reminder that life and human nature is cruel kinda like mother nature you know I think 🤔

I remember reading about this game as a little kid in Nintendo Power - hearing about how you can’t fight the monsters and you can only run away really made me scared to sleep at night!

I played through Shattered Memories for the first time earlier this week and I really liked it. It was such a unique experience

I agree with a lot of your points, but I feel as if this game has lots of missed opportunity Spoilers: This game could have been really fit with the mainline series. I mean, Harry is dead in this game and dies in Silent Hill 3. This game had the perfect opportunity to expand on the supernatural aspects of the silent hill universe, flesh out harry more as a character post SH1, and give a proper send-off to the character that started this series. The world Harry is in could have been more of a purgatory, rather that Cheryl's thoughts, where Harry is struggeling between the Death of his original child, and struggeling to accept the new Cheryl as his own daughter. Really, even with everything I said, it would require very little alteration to the main game, just a different ending, scene, or something would have worked

Dear Max, please play Genesis Noir. It's one hell of a profound experience. I bet people would love to hear your take on it. And on a personal level, I'm begging you to play it.

What's the name of the song at the start of the video??

Having almost frozen to death during a blizzard at camp, I'd say Ice can be pretty scary

Funnily enough, SH4 and Shattered Memories are the only two I've played for more than an hour. I went through 1/2 of 4 and decided I was good when they wanted me tp go through the game a 2nd time. ALL my friends when crazy over Shattered Memories. They all played and/or watched each other play. My brother went through it many timess, determined to see the many little changes and endings. (It was aliens the whole time, of course). It was also this game that propelled my brother into playing theough just about every SH game. One extra note about the raw shocks thet I'm pretty sure isn't just conjecture is that the player playing honestoly will be treated differently by them. I, sadly, got almost no death caresses, where my brother and some friends got many. Also, my friends who were more scared of jump-scares rarely saw them in front of them while running, i stead most commonly behind doors or jumping them from behind while climbing something. Other people had them front and center constantly. Love the analysis!

Shattered Memories is amazing. Going into it, I was expecting not to like it, but I ended up absolutely loving it.

What’s the music at the beginning of the video ??

I finished Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 4 before finishing Silent Hill Shattered Memories. One thing unique about it is there is no combat. You are left helpless and can't fight back. Only sorting to running.

AGREED 100%!!! Great video as always. Sorry for wall of text: Shattered Memories is one of the most underrated horror games the last 15 years. You are totally on point with your analysis. It did not deserve all the hate it got. Shattered Memories did not have "build-up, and release" It just kept a constant feeling of hopelessness, the entire game through. Loosing all hope is to me WAY scarier than just being chased by scary monsters. That being said, the chase sequences was fierce. Really enjoyed them. And that the monsters changed appearance after the way you played the game was a cool addition. I question if anyone actually noticed it while playing. I live in Sweden, we have a lot of snow. I am not scared of snow, but it helps adding to the nihilistic scenery in a way. The Wii version is really well done. The motion controls are often mocked, but are perfectly put to use here. The flashlight being the basis for the Wii-mote seems like a natural reason as to why you have to sit with your arm stretched out for hours. And that the speaker inside of the controller acts as the "radio source", is just a stroke of genius. I love that when you receive phone calls in game. You actually have to put the wiimote to your ear to hear everything (unless you change the default volume settings). They even make the obvious lack of resolution for the console to their advantage. There are several times where a part of the horror is that you can't see too far ahead. It's way to uncommon to utilize a consoles flaws in this way anymore. And that design choice would require some work if it should be ported sometime. The PSP port is better than it should be, and actually is one of those PSP games that manage to use as much of the hardware as possible. When emulating (I do own the game on Wii and PSP though), you could easily upscale the game 4-5 times. And it kind of looks like a late Xbox360 game. I love this game, it's a shame the the entire franchise is just centered around SH2. When actually all of the games have their merits in a way (except for Book of Shadows).

Being Candadian isn't the reason you find the ice scary. As Zero Punctuation pointed, blue (especially the shade they chose) tends to be a calming color for most people, not a frightening one. Maybe it's because the sky on a clear day is blue. Maybe it's because medical workers (people who help us), tend to wear blue clothing. Game designers have known this for a long time. It's why rooms with a blue light tend to be SAFE areas. Rust, on the other hand, is a much more threatening color. It's composite of both brown and red which are the same colors we find in human blood (dried blood especially has a lot of brown in it). I remember being really excited for this game and then, upon seeing the cover, suddenly feeling less interested. Despite being an SH fan, something just felt off. I knew it had something to do with the snow and ice but I couldn't quite put my finger on WHY all the footage I saw of the game felt so NOT scary. It wasn't until I saw the Zero Punctuation review that it suddenly made sense.

I love everything about this game. I play it on my Vita at least once a year, usually around this time.

my favorite thing about this game is if you type in the help line phone number from the manual you get a little easer egg.

I love shattered memories, the soundtrack alone is goated