Konami
One of my favorite dealership is the Tales serial , and in 2014 , when Bandai Namco announce that the Vita - exclusiveTales of Hearts Rwas beingtranslated into English , I rifle out and corrupt Sony ’s hand-held with my severely - earned college line of work money . Like any in effect gamer seek to justify their leverage , I started seeking out moreVita - single games . That really inclose me to many other franchises that I never would have otherwise tried .
Persona 4 Goldenwas my first Persona plot , Uncharted : Golden Abysswas my first Uncharted secret plan , andKillzone : Mercenarywas my first Killzone game . These entries accomplish the Vita ’s promise of convey console - tier play to a handheld . However , others were n’t as successful .
Konami
The Vita - exclusiveSilent Hill : Book of Memorieswas released in 2012 and received fair reviews at the time . It was criticized for not being either a good Silent Hill game , or even a good donjon crawler . I always knew about the Silent Hill series , but had never played any of its game . After all , I was a toddler and former adolescent during its glory class in the 2000s .
So when I got my Vita , I dove into the Silent Hill series . Yes , the military action - focusedSilent Hill : Book of Memorieswas my first Silent Hill game . Now coming off the heels ofSilent Hill 2 ’s splendid remaking , I ’m left reminiscing about an underappreciated game that merit to be remembered too .
Reading time
Even though I had n’t played a Silent Hill game before , I knew that it was a repulsion series , but I was surprised when I bootedBook of Memoriesup and did n’t discover it scary at all . After create my character and find out the intro cutscene of a guy delivering a strange Good Book to him , I was immediately thrust into a tutorial where I learned how to bash the catgut out of classic Silent Hill goliath like the Nurse .
At the time , I was n’t used to Silent Hill ’s more cryptic storytelling in the form of collectibles and symbolism . Up until then , I had almost entirely played Japanese RPGs , which were much more straightforward and expository . Eventually , I was able to nibble together the plot : theBook of Memoriesallows users to rewrite events in their lives , but there ’s a arrest . When asleep at night , they are transported to a domain ravaged by monsters . By defeating the shielder of that especial reality , the rewrite becomes successful .
It ’s a solid apparatus , but the story never quite resonated with me . Cutscenes were ill animated and its graphics are n’t as impressive they are in asKillzone : MercenaryandUncharted : Golden Abyss . That can make it tough to fully get into it .
As for its gameplay , it ’s presented from a top - down eyeshot , likewise to Diablo , and players must go through several “ zone ” in a donjon wiggler way to make it to the boss . Each zone contains segmented rooms with various challenge to collect puzzle pieces that will unlock the way of life to the next zone . It ’s really light to not observe that an hour has gone by as the zone social organisation complement the Vita ’s pick - up - and - go nature .
My line of work in college was to sit at the front desk at my dorm and perform administrative tasks . I often assume nightlong shifts so I ’d have few student derive up to the desk and break my gaming sessions . Even at 2 in the morning , Book of Memoriesfailed to dash me .
As you remain defeating monsters , you ’ll even up and increase your stats , just like with any other RPG . you’re able to also equip artifact that can boost your stats even further . While the combat mechanics do n’t really evolve over the path of the game other than just swinging or shooting , the simplicity is really what keeps it engaging . The light RPG auto-mechanic feel conversant and at long last led me to stick with the plot for the long haulage . There was just enough here that it still somehow sunk its teeth into me .
Sharing the pain
While Silent Hill is mainly a exclusive - player enfranchisement , Book of Memoriesexperimented with full - mature multiplayer . Here , up to four player can join together to undertake the zones , and they can continue from where they leave behind off in exclusive - player . However , what ’s baffling is that other players ca n’t simply pass over in or out of a host ’s session in progression . To get everyone on the same page , you have to boot up multiplayer from the carte and then make your manner to where you were before , which harbour the feature back at the time of liberation .
Luckily , Book of Memories , like many other Silent Hill entries , has plenty of replay value due to its multiple ending . player have an conjunction gauge that swing between Light and Blood . By choosing whether to complete challenge , the annotation you chance will have a specific alignment . Depending on how many Light or origin conjunction notes you ’ve collected , your ending will deepen .
After I unlock the Platinum prize for the game , I walked away with ambivalent opinion . While other Vita games led me to explore their various franchise more , I was n’t exactly indisputable if I wanted to check out another Silent Hill game . I knew thatBook of Memorieswasn’t agoodone . as luck would have it , I was able-bodied to cast aside those feeling and I played theSilent Hill 2remake . Now I know why fans consider it a classic , and I ’m expect forward to revisitingprevious entriesthrough Xbox ’s backward compatibility curriculum . I just hope players get a opportunity to do the same withBook of Memoriesrevival one day .
