Silent Hill: Townfall is great... when stuff is happening in it

[u/Oraoraoraorange]

I fear their dedication in making the town so "true to life" made them miss the forest for the trees.

Im in my, like, 10th empty house with nothing in it. No creepy imagery, no easter eggs, no unnerving notes, no unique interactables. Maybe theres one bandage.

I found a hidden pub garden and it was completely barren.

When the games got its gears turning it jumps back on track, there's some great stuff here. But, God, there are these hour+ strecthes where you just run around boring empty rooms looking for keys, and nothing happens 😔

[u/BobbyMayCryBMC]

I think that's a good sum-up of the game.

It's a great game, that struggles in its own ambition. This is a small team, smaller than f, with a big budget and it shows.

Could have been more than a graphically high budget Amnesia game but not as good as the best Amnesia games. If you look at this from that perspective yeah The Dark Descent and The Bunker are just better overall games.

Townfall has Survival Horror elements but tries to lean away from it for a more linear one-note experience, and suffers for it.

The vibes are great but I think most the shit this game gets isn't even its limited gameplay. But rather from 'purist' Silent Hill 'fans' (loosely termed) who can't take it for what it is, because if it's not clearly part the main canon word for word? well, it's time to get out the pitchforks. .

We had a prior Townfall post in which I called out nonsense from someone who said it's just a "c&p Silent Hill 2". And I was downvoted to hell without any context. Just "diehard" larpers. Nothing wrong with disliking Townfall for its lack of connections but stfu with dumb shit. This is f all over again.

SH 'fans' use to be upset the franchise was dead, now they're gatekeeping twats who wish the franchise stayed dead, which is saying something because I played the original in 1999 before half these asshats was given life.

Townfall does have some pieces connecting it, and I'm sure we'll find some more secrets as well as time goes on. Chill out, the game is new.

[u/Ignechros → u/BobbyMayCryBMC]

I fully agree with you, the purist fans are annoying. The game wasn’t for me but I can objectively look at it and understand why people like it.

For me though, I feel like the game does things that have been done before but have also been done better by other horror game experiences if that makes sense. Look at Outast, Alien Isolation, SH2/R, and RE9 (Grace segments) for example. (I’d say RE7 too but I haven’t played it yet, honestly I’m a bit too scared to)

I will say that the Portable CRT was a very cool take on the radio, and that the atmosphere of St Amelia along with Clara Woods is fantastic. As a Scottish person I felt like I had non stop déjà vu.

I also feel that the game was too on the nose at times but overall it’s a solid entry. I don’t like how divisive it’s been but how can you please every SH fan when they’re arguing with eachother 24/7 lol

[u/Cuban999_ → u/BobbyMayCryBMC]

it is part of the canon, at least based off how Konami is treating it, but its treating what we knew as canon as, well, nothing. Like it doesnt exist. If we just take it "for what it is," then its messing up the lore of the universe.

It's hard to look over that fact

[u/bread_perv]

Agreed, the world is beautiful, but feels a bit empty. Would love more items, more available exploration, and more environmental storytelling

Update: this game is a mess. Enemy AI is samey, scripted events feel forced, not scary. What felt like player freedom turned into a linear slog. Cannot recommend.

[u/lamancha]

This sounds a lot like Silent Hill 1 actually. Maybe a bit more bloodstains.

[u/markallanholley]

I really like Silent Hill Townfall, and I agree with you that there should be more environmental storytelling.

[u/Short-Source-8492]

As a longtime silent hill game eager for the franchise to return properly, and who loved the RE2 remake...this game is actually quite great but I don't feel it's a silent hill game.  Or it's not the silent hill game I want to play.

Everything about it as a game is solid.  And it's creepy and stressful and "scary".  It's a very very good fps stealth survival horror game.  I just don't feel like it's what I want.  So I'm struggling to enjoy it because sneaking around constantly doesn't feel like silent hill to me.

[u/TastyJournalist8451]

i mean it doesn't have more or less stuff than silent hill 2r, it's not like an open world game. Also there are very few houses they put u in that don't have an objective or notes in it... Did u even play the game?

[u/chrisman96]

Had a good time w it and to me has some really high highs and super low lows. The weight can fuck right off

[u/TastyJournalist8451 → u/chrisman96]

Weight was one of the best parts of the game for spooks, tension and gaming out its mechanics

[u/No_Astronomer_379]

From what you describe, the hidden pub garden gets at the difference between downtime and a dead end. A detour doesn't need loot, but a clue about who used the space, an odd sound, or a new view of somewhere you've been can reward the search. Otherwise the game teaches you to stop checking side rooms.

[u/allmoneyin77777]

I mostly just wish they would’ve added more spooky notes to find, and maybe done more Easter eggs with the phone stuff, there’s only 13 numbers to find, I thought there’d be more creepy moments with it, and I tried a bunch of random numbers but nothing really happened

Outside of that i genuinely really enjoyed the game tho, I didn’t really have any technically difficulties aside of a couple random crashes, and the weight sections weren’t a game ruining for me, those two things seem to be the majority of people’s complaints with the game

[u/sakaixjin]

You probably missed the postcard in the hidden pub garden

[u/I_Heart_Sleeping_]

Beautiful game to explore but it has far too many ups and downs. I went from loving the game to hating it back to loving and back to hating it. By the end of the game I wasn’t even sure if I fully enjoyed my experience. I don’t think it’s a bad game but it wasn’t a great game either.

Maybe I’m in the minority but I’m hoping that the next couple of games decide to go back a bit and focus on Silent hill the town and the cult stuff. SH1 and 3 are still my favorites because the cult stuff is just so damn interesting.

[u/legendofmaddy]

the game is great and i liked the jumpscares as well. however there was a lot of game padding in the end building section and in the last section (simon). a lot of running to point b to retrieve an item just to run back to point a, place the item where it needs to go, continue your main task only to be met with another conflict and now you have to run to point c to retrieve another item.

[u/darn_boop]

Man, I'm having a completely different experience. It always feels like something is happening. It's tense, claustrophobic, and stress inducing. It reminds me off the core aesthetic of the first one. I have read a lot of takes on it and I don't understand how what I'm playing and my previous experience with the series can differ so much.

It's such a great entry, despite the issues I have having to creep around so much.

The thing that is kind of lame as a mechanic is the IV bag. Just give me more health. I don't need auto revive.