Silent Hull

I actually do have a save just before the final puzzle in the Prison section, but as I only actually progressed into the Labyrinth after the patch had been applied and still hit the bug, I'm sceptical that will make any difference. Will keep it as a last resort though, in case they run into difficulties getting a viable hot fix out for later save files, etc.

Bloober's response

Information on the Labyrinth level blocker issue encountered from the 1.04 patch

We are aware of an issue some players may encounter after the most recent 1.04 patch released on October the 21st in the Labyrinth level of Silent Hill 2. This blocker can occur if you load a save data from the Labyrinth level (after Toluca Prison) created before applying the 1.04 patch.

Our team has identified the issue, and a fix is in implementation. The fix will be released as soon as possible.

Currently, we would like to propose a temporary workaround which is using an earlier save, before entering the Labyrinth.

We deeply apologize for this inconvenience. We would like to sincerely thank all players for their patience.

I mean, it's not some players, it's everyone who has a digital copy and who hasn't got past the labyrinth, though right now it's only a major irritant for those of us who are at the precise soft locked puzzle. 

You can do it, Bloober - the trick is simply to fix it without breaking anything else. Godspeed!

I'm looking more for a better lock to 60. The "stutter struggle" is inherent I know and as you say I don't believe will ever get fixed. The fact it will be the goto engine this gen will probably make it worse.

I've been playing on 60, with the 90s filter and I can barely notice any issues. I think really people fixate on these things, when you start playing, it all goes away.

Yes and no. There are some games that I've played that when it's lurched hard, I've definitely noticed it and it's actively marred my enjoyment of the game. Like if you were playing a fighting game and it dropped from a locked 60 you would definitely notice it, same a for FPS as it effects response time in everything you do. Resolution I couldn't give a shit about but if you're offering a performance mode then you need to pull your finger out and offer what you're advertising. Not everyone has a VRR tv and it feels that's being used a crutch sometimes.

Bizarrely, I've put this on the 30 mode, probably the first time this gen I've done it. Possibly because it's quite a dark game and generally slow paced that it hasn't bothered me at all.

And done.

That was just absolutely fucking terrifying depressing excellent all round. What an amazing update to an amazing game. I’m very depressed happy indeed. Can’t fault it at all. It’s completely surpassed my expectations.

I’m off to do something more cheerful. Which is anything else.

Damn. That was great though. Apparently I was 23 hours and 22 mins. Longer than I thought it would be.

Yup. Plus checking every damn corner for those leggy bastards. Some of them still managed to get the drop on me.

I naturally got the ending. Because I always seem to get that one.

Ending (very vague but I'll spoiler it anyway)
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SH2 (OG, not remake) is the best horror game of all time, according to IGN:

www.ign.com/articles/best-horror-games

Well, that was genuinely depressing. Seems like an absolutely bizarre game to have come out of the PS2 era. Even by today's videogame story standards it seems, subject-wise, unique and bold.

A horror masterpiece undoubtedly, not surprised it's considered the best in the genre (objectively I'd agree, even if I'm in no rush whatsoever to replay it), but the remake was about 4 hours too long for me and it lost something (gameplay-wise) by the end. I imagine the original's ending pacing was better. Everything

BUT my god... The first fifteen or so hours, the story and the way it unravelled, the level design, the atmosphere, the surrealness, the characters, the world, the oppressiveness, the genuine horror of it all... stunning. Played with headphones I found the sound design constantly unnerving and genuinely scary at times. It's without any doubt the best sound design in any game I've ever played.

Won't forget it, or play it again, in a hurry.

Yeah, I thought that was a fair and generally very positive review.

Interestingly, and not to be contrarian, the three aspects he highlights as minor criticisms were all pretty much non-issues for me, personally. I thought Brookhaven in particular, which he uses as his main exemplar of (admittedly minor but) unnecessary expansion/artificial length, was actually pitched perfectly. I really, really enjoyed the whole area; felt it -- much like Woodside -- had a real sense of space/place, etc. Toluca Prison then just dials it up to 11.

Similarly, in terms of combat, the more modern approach to range/melee didn't feel out of place at all, to my mind. It still retained a certain element of clunkiness (whether 100% intentional by design is up for debate lol), and the melee especially I thought was visceral and satisfying. Small thing: I think the obvious design/UI choice NOT to have a weapons wheel/quick select visually represented on the screen really spoke to the care and mindfulness of their approach when it came to preserving the overall "feel" of the original. But the ability to still switch between weapons and then melee (without having to go into the menus and manually equipping them) made everything flow so much better -- and, again in my view, really elevated the combat above the original, but not to the silly levels of other more modern games in the genre, etc. Also didn't have any issue with the dodge mechanic. 18 hours in and it hadn't even occurred to me that any i-frames were present lol.

I'm currently stuck at the Labyrinth progress bug until they release the hotfix (apparently later today), and, as I say, about 18 hours in. At the moment, I certainly don't feel any sense of fatigue or being ready for it all just to be over, which he mentioned he was experiencing by the time he got to the Hotel. Guess I'll see how I feel then, but given I'm pretty well aware of what's coming, I don't foresee that being a personal issue for me either.

It's just really, really fucking good, man.

Christ.

None of this will be new information to everyone I'm sure, but I guess I've never bothered looking too deeply into the original game.