Opinions On Origins

[Cheeb]

I recently picked Origins up to play after enjoying SH's 1-3, and was interested to see what they could do as a prequel to the first game. But it really felt like a story that had already been told and felt like nothing new or even needed to be tacked onto the storyline as it was. And the fact it was graphically inferior to even the third game was pretty off putting. And the controls seems to become rather cumbersome. Even though I'm really not enjoying the experience, I've decided to battle on and get to the end just for the sake of beating it. But it made me think - what could they have done to have made it a better game? Personally, it should have been a much more original story then a guy with a dark past turning up in Silent Hill. Maybe even playing as Alessa in her own twisted mind could have been interesting?

What do other people think about Origins and how it could have been made into a more interesting prequel gameplay-wise and storywise? Or are people happy with it how it is?

[BLSR1]

I luv it

[himher_elle]

I thought it was ok, they surelly could have done a much better game (as a prequel), but it turned out to be a "no-answers" prequel (though I'm not sure about that, I didn't play the first silent hill, that's the onlly one I'm missing, so I don't know what was answered... what was answered??). I liked the game, cinematics where really nice (for PS2) and it was interesting how you colud: use a veeery large varaiety of weapons (I once thought it felt like dead rising, hahaha); pass from the "other world" to the "normal world" through mirrors when ever you wanted, it was a good gamplay mechanism; you could hit with your fists!!!!!!!!!! (I think you could... haven't played it since last year, so I don't remember much). Apart from that, everything was Ok or Bad.
What I didn't like was the story, it felt soooo random and "re-used", like: "hey, I'm driving my truck, oh, a girl in the road! (- I hope something like this doesn't hapen to someone "latter"-... Harry....); I go into town, strange things hapen. Oh! I had a life here, I didn't remember (- I hope noone else forgets things and end up in this town onlly to find out they have horrible pasts -... James... Alex... maybe Heather can be considered too... seems like the "new" story of Harry too...).
Conclusion: good game, and it's not a bad silent hill game, it felt ok for an unecesary prequel.

[James]

Well, apparently, if you are a followed of the Silent Hill story, then what happened in Origins simply couldn't happen until, well, I think, the beginning of Silent Hill 1.

[Skunky]

I played it on PS2. I went in with rather low expectations but was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed it.
There's nothing especially great about it but I thought the atmosphere, FMVs and music were all pretty good and I liked that it was in wide screen. But I think the main reason I liked it was that it was very old school survival horror. It was simple but fun and I felt like I was playing an old game that I had missed.
I started it and finished it a few days later. Unlike SH:HC, which I started and didn't get very far before losing interest. It's still on my 'to do list'. Meaning one day I intend to pick it up again but I'm not in a hurry.

I've never been fanatical about the series but Origins made me interested again. HC has kinda done the opposite...

[Cheeb]

I think I went in thinking it was going to be drastically different to the other games, probably why I ended up disappointed. The one thing I did like was the fact the melee weapons are pretty much anything. When I discovered that you could use a TV as a weapon it made me laugh - bashing enemies with drip stands, toasters and alcohol bottles can make for entertaining stuff. Though I was annoyed that the katana that was a good weapon in previous installments become as breakable as the other melee weapons.

I'm only so far through, but from looking at walkthroughs the game is rather short - is this true?

[BadWolfX]

Bought it the other day and I've only played it a little bit...it's okay I guess. I'll have to play it more and give myself a chance to really get into it.

I don't like the whole "Enter the Mirror to get to the Alt. World" thing. I am wondering if there's some sort of storyline reason for that though.

[hellrizer]

I play it on the PSP and it was alright. Nice graphics for a PSP.

[Enrico Marini]

Its ok, enjoyed it more than the polished turd that was SH5. I didn't have any trouble with the respawning mobs (as I used Mr Hand and Fist for all enemies bar bosses).

It was too much of a clone of SH2 though.

[BadWolfX]

The Sanitarium is so goddamn big |:

[himher_elle]

The Sanitarium is so goddamn big |:

I thought the same at first, but then you see you can't go to most of the places. At first I thought that was good, but then I felt I wanted to go to does places (I think they were some corridors wich had lots of rooms, like in SH2s mental hospital)

[The John Doe]

Why do I always think "Hospitals" when I think "Silent Hill"?
Anyways. I found the whole idea of entering the alternate world whenever you chose to, instead of having it come to you, took too much of the fear and tenion outta the game for my taste. That's just me.

[The Ekamp]

Its ok, enjoyed it more than the polished turd that was SH5. I didn't have any trouble with the respawning mobs (as I used Mr Hand and Fist for all enemies bar bosses).

It was too much of a clone of SH2 though.

Whatever polish in that game do you mean? >_>

[Cheeb]

The Sanitarium is so goddamn big |:

Yeah, it really seemed insanely massive, but since you only explored so much of it in either worlds it could be forgiven.

Though makes you wonder how many psychiatric hospitals they need in Silent Hill. Well, with all that fog around these days, its no wonder everyone would go loopey.

[The Ekamp]

I think I cringed when I saw the Sanatarium map. D =

But then halfway through I realized that I've been in the East Wing the whole time, and hadn't touched the West Wing. I thought that would be closed off the rest of the time, til I found a door there = (

But again, fortunately, I was almost done with the place >_>

[BadWolfX]

I really hate the Sanitarium. The Pill puzzle confused the hell out of me, I couldn't tell which room was self-harm and which room was stabbing. Overall, I hated the Sanitarium.

The Theatre felt like a waste of time. You don't really get any plot advancement from it and it felt very....meh. And that damn boss.

Got the Motel Key now. I assume The Butcher is going to be the boss of the Motel. The Butcher feels like a total Pyramid Head rip-off as well.

[Canas Renvall]

When I first played, I thought a sanitarium was like a city cleaning plant. Not a mental hospital. XD;

But yeah. Origins was pretty good. And I like how they cameo'd Travis into Homecoming. :P

[Cheeb]

I finally finished Origins (took me a while mainly because I kept putting it down and got caught up playing other games. I wasn't all that happy with how it panned out (especially because it was pretty short) - it could have done better. I did like some of the enemy designs and the game at least picked up a bit better towards the end, even if the final boss was a little too easy. I did have a nice opening as well. Travis was a reasonably good protagonist, but it seemed like the game was trying to borrow too many ideas from Silent Hill 2. It at least aimed to be unique with the mirror switching between both worlds, but it took away some element of fear.

[Cloud Strife]

The Sanitarium is so goddamn big |:

I got confused in the sanitarium especially figuring the place out>_<

[alf717]

My only gripe with the game was the combat system. Items that break and the button mashing got annoying after the first half hour.

[Canas Renvall]

I recently picked Origins up to play after enjoying SH's 1-3, and was interested to see what they could do as a prequel to the first game. But it really felt like a story that had already been told and felt like nothing new or even needed to be tacked onto the storyline as it was. And the fact it was graphically inferior to even the third game was pretty off putting. And the controls seems to become rather cumbersome. Even though I'm really not enjoying the experience, I've decided to battle on and get to the end just for the sake of beating it. But it made me think - what could they have done to have made it a better game? Personally, it should have been a much more original story then a guy with a dark past turning up in Silent Hill. Maybe even playing as Alessa in her own twisted mind could have been interesting?

What do other people think about Origins and how it could have been made into a more interesting prequel gameplay-wise and storywise? Or are people happy with it how it is?
I like it a lot, it has some really creepy locales.

And what do you mean, "graphically inferior even to even the third game"? I'm pretty sure SH3 looks better than Homecoming, a current-gen game, let alone a PSP game. I can cut it some slack for that (sorry if that sounds harsh, I don't mean to come off like that). But yeah, overall I liked it. I still just can't understand how an axe or a katana can shatter so easily, though, but since you get a lot of stuff anyway, I can let it slide. Also, sometimes you're stuck without a weapon, which increases tension.

[alf717]

I still just can't understand how an axe or a katana can shatter so easily,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e77oXjFkIs

[Dot50Cal]

:lol: I agree on the melee items though. By the end of the game, I think I was hauling around 20 television sets. They should have thought about the weapon system a bit more.

[GuardhouseMusic]

Well, the fact of the matter about katanas is the ones that are made today can be compared to replica guns. They're props, or gifts. Not the same material as their prime (obviously periods like Sengoku or Edo, etc) so they definitely have a greater chance of breaking.

Lol, I was going to get Origins for PS2 today but I ended up just getting Haunting Ground. Which one is worse, Origins or Homecoming?

[alf717]

Which one is worse, Origins or Homecoming?

I found both Origins and Homecoming to be worthy entries into the SH series. I played Origins on the PSP which after a while your hands may feel a bit cramped and Homecoming I finally beat today which was the PC version. I can't speak much about the console versions of Homecoming but the PC version had some moments of long load times, and random locks up during game play but nothing that required me to drop back to desktop, I just had to wait about 10-20 second at various parts of the game. Again they are both decent games and I'd actual go as far as to recommend both. Origins however is most likely the cheapest one to buy since its an older game.

[Cheeb]

I like it a lot, it has some really creepy locales.

And what do you mean, "graphically inferior even to even the third game"? I'm pretty sure SH3 looks better than Homecoming, a current-gen game, let alone a PSP game. I can cut it some slack for that (sorry if that sounds harsh, I don't mean to come off like that). But yeah, overall I liked it. I still just can't understand how an axe or a katana can shatter so easily, though, but since you get a lot of stuff anyway, I can let it slide. Also, sometimes you're stuck without a weapon, which increases tension.

When I looked between the third and Origins, I just felt that the backgrounds didn't look quite as polished. Inferior was probably the wrong word - Origins did have some good backgrounds, though the third game had some better textures, even though it was a few years older. Haven't played Homecoming yet to compare so I can't comment on that. (I really should play it - its just sitting there.)

No worries on the harshness, you're free to feel differently on the subject. ^_^

[cooker]

My only gripe with the game was the combat system. Items that break and the button mashing got annoying after the first half hour.

yes,i have to agree with you,the biggest flaws in the game are camera angles and combat system,while game is not great,but it's good.

[TheOrganization]

The only interesting thing in origins was exploring more of a back story to the characters we already knew.
Lisa's story, however, should have been used more, we didn't really learn anything more about her than we already knew.
The locations were good especially the sanitarium and theatre but the weapons and control system absolutely sucked, i wasn't impressed with the constant shattering of weapons.
Not a bad game in the way of it being a back story but thats probably the only thing it had going for it, oh and it held one amazing cutscene, when the town changes infront of you outside alchemilla hospital, amazing!!!

[Jill Lover]

I didn't enjoy it as much as i did with SH3 (Which in my opinion, is the best from the series) but it was okay. The graphics were cool, and the story didn't tell much but it was quite enjoyable. It fails as a prequel, they could've told a lot but bleh... I wish i had more time to get the extras but they were just some boring clothes.

[Rose312]

I though it was an ok addition to the Silent hill Games. It could have been a lot better. But I noticed one thing...I Believe in the first SH It said she was burnt in the basement...why was she found upstairs in Origins? I liked the Mirror Idea as well, helped me answer some things about the SH games...

[Acintris]

Aah, I need to buy it again. I played it too much, I think. It was great for me, especially when I don't tend to play Silent Hill as the others. Silent Hill is becoming an absolute favorite as R.E has been doing for me. :)