Whether you're a fan of horror games or not, by now you’re probably aware of the success of the recent Silent Hill 2 Remake. For this reason, we may start to wonder which other game in the series could be the next one to be remade, especially because James Sunderland´s intriguing story is just a small part of this fascinating franchise, so here are the games that I would pick.
From all the games included in this post, I believe Origins is the least exciting one. First of all, the story of this prequel kind of messed up some things that were established with the previous games, because its developers (who were not the same team that created this series) took some storyline elements from the first Silent Hill movie (which is not an accurate adaptation of the first Silent Hill game) instead of maintaining the consistency of the first game’s plot and characters. Also, I think the gameplay didn’t stand out if we compared it to the previous games. I can tell you that, lore-wise, this is an installment that can be skipped since there is another game that already tells this part of the story, the beginning of how everything started, in a much better way.
Many people new to this franchise are probably making the assumption that after Silent Hill 2, the next game to be remade should be Silent Hill 3. However, there's a small inconvenience with that, you see, the story of this game is directly linked to the first installment of the series. For this reason, it could be confusing and maybe even weird for new fans if they see a new version of Silent Hill 3 without playing the first game. In other words, imagine a scenario in which Naughty Dog decided to release a remake of The Last of Us Part 2 before a remake of The Last of Us Part 1. This wouldn't make sense, right? Well, the exact same thing applies to Silent Hill 1 and 3. Anyway, I personally would like to see a modernized version of Silent Hill 3 because, in my opinion, this one is the most terrifying game of the series, but I really hope it comes after a remake of Silent Hill 1.
With this game, Konami tried to change the formula of the series in a similar way to how Resident Evil 4 or God of War (2018) did with their respective sagas. Among the cool new features that SH4 has to offer there is the option to play as a protagonist trapped inside an apartment room where all kinds of terrifying ghosts appear, and exploring disturbing dimensions created by the mind of a psychopath. Unfortunately, the gameplay of Silent Hill 4 has some clumsy mechanics that make the journey through the second half of the game annoying to play. The good thing is that all these issues could be easily fixed with a remake. A cool advantage to this entry is that, aside from some references, it’s not really mandatory for new fans to play any of the previous titles first to fully understand the plot of this fourth game.
Of all the games I’ve mentioned here, the original Silent Hill is the one that needs a remake the most. First of all, the graphics of this game have aged really badly compared to any of the other installments that I mentioned here. Secondly, the story of this game explains fundamental things about the general lore of the series, like the reasons behind the paranormal happenings in the town (something that Silent Hill 2 doesn´t dive into). Aside from that, this game has a very different vibe that leans into a more terrifying atmosphere than the second installment, which could be greatly improved with modern graphics and sound technology. After seeing what was achieved with the remake of Silent Hill 2, I dream about the many cool sequences and parts of the first game that could be recreated. I really hope this game ends up being the next one to be remade so more people can know how the story of this fascinating survival horror saga started.
