Konami Has Done A Terrible Job Preserving The Original Silent Hill

It shouldn’t be this hard to play a classic.

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There aren’t a lot of ways to play Silent Hill today. Your options are PSP, Vita, the original PlayStation, or streaming via PS Now. It’s not the most accessible of games, bar the murky legal waters that are emulators. Yet, it’s as much a landmark to the survival horror genre as its cousin, Resident Evil. Konami doesn’t seem to care, though. The prospect of sequels and remakes is growingly far-fetched, so asking for those seems ridiculous. Nonetheless, Konami would be remiss if it let Silent Hill stay trapped in a generation that’s older than me. It’s time for it to get a port or a remaster – something more contemporary that isn’t dependent on bandwidth.

I’ve never beaten the original Silent Hill. I dabbled through PS Now but the streaming quality was about as reliable as PUBG’s servers, so powering through archaic ‘90s jank, input lag, and a fuzzy resolution was too much to ask. Playing natively through PS2 isn’t any easier. Setting up the console is tougher than it was back in the noughties given that most monitors are no longer compatible. Currently, handheld is the most modern and intuitive of choices, but PSP and Vita have tiny screens, far too small for Silent Hill. That leaves emulation, which is also unreliable and, again, murky. Silent Hill is far too hard for the casual player to try out, and for those willing to jump through hoops, it’s not worth the extra cost. Like Nintendo, Konami is aloof when it comes to preserving its history.

Resident Evil has been remastered or brought to new consoles nine times. Resident Evil 4 has been ported or remastered 11 times. The difference between Capcom and Konami’s care for their flagships is staggering. It’s time for it to stomach that self-hatred and make Silent Hill accessible to modern generations. There are a few ways that can be done. HD ports are one route or Konami could remaster Silent Hill like Capcom did Resident Evil, updating the graphics, making the gameplay smoother and more contemporary, all while adding quality of life and accessibility features. That requires Konami to do the legwork, though. Given its handling of the series as of late, that seems unlikely. Outsourcing is an option though. Prior to Sony’s acquisition of Bluepoint, the studio was regularly used for updates, whether that was Uncharted for the PS4 or the fully-fledged Demon’s Souls remake for PS5. Nintendo does something similar with Grezzo. Konami needs to find its Grezzo.

Konami dabbled in an HD collection for PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2012, but it only contained Silent Hill 2 and 3. The collection’s launch was a turning point where the fans began to feel soured – the new visuals clashed with the original atmosphere, corners were clearly cut, the iconic fog was less thick and obscuring, and the cutscenes had rough upscaling. It was a poor port and, for many, a signal of the series’ decline and a sign toward Konami’s lack of interest. It’s partly why the demand for a remaster is so nerve-wracking because, should it be done in-house, it could easily result in yet another botched job quickly put together to appease the fanbase. Silent Hill’s lack of accessibility in the modern-day isn’t a band-aid job. It deserves passion and care, particularly in preserving the original’s mystified tone and sharp edge.

Outsourcing then seems the most viable option. Konami can avoid delegating in-house talent or putting too much of its own money on the line by licensing the IP to other studios. It wouldn’t hurt Konami. In fact, because it isn’t doing anything with Silent Hill, doing so would be a boon. Leaving it dormant is like Smaug sitting on his hoarded stash of gold, refusing to spend it, simply lapping up the luxuries. There’s nothing to be gained in doing so. Sometimes studios want to move on from iconic IPs to do new things, to branch out. Look at Naughty Dog who haven’t touched Jak and Daxter in nearly 20 years, now primarily known for Uncharted and The Last of Us, not the noughties platformer. Yet all four Jak games are playable on PS4 and PS5 thanks to ports, while the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy received a full-blown remake. Naughty Dog didn’t do ‘em, but PlayStation and Vicarious Visions saw the value in preserving that slice of gaming history.

It’s time for Konami to see that value. The PS5 and Xbox Series X|S have ushered in a new gaming generation, meaning that Silent Hill has lagged behind even further, straggling in the days of the original PlayStation. It’s criminal for such a beloved game, hailed as a masterpiece by many, to be left behind as much as it has been. It shouldn’t be this hard to play a classic.

Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/konami-silent-hill-video-game-preservation/