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I just woke up to a rather curious idea involving Shattered Memories... What if they'd swap the name around a little?
"Shattered Memories - Silent Hill".
Okay... so it doesn't flow that well, but the general idea was:
"What if Shattered Memories became a franchise?"
You know how we've got all those LEGO ____ games, or how Resident Evil's got its sister series Dino Crisis and how they got to cross paths under the RE-centric "Gun Survivor" franchise (Gun Survivor 3).
What if we could get a similar take the general "re-imaginating" take on a franchise that Shattered Memories applies to Silent Hill 1 and apply it to more games/franchise? Of course, Shattered Memories' approach might not widely be applicable to anything and everything, but just using it as a sample now, as it's a good sample of a title that does something old, but does it different enough to be called a new game and not just a remake or port. I'm sure (mostly) everyone agrees that Resident Evil Rebirth was a fantastic remake, but you gotta agree that the game mostly still played within the rules and framework of the original's gameplay and narrative. While on the other hand, you've got something like the RE1 chapters in Umbrella Chronicles, which was a more liberal take on RE1 (mostly due to its radical gameplay change).
Now... if we compare these two samples (REmake + UC) to what we're about to experience with Shattered Memories (or what we know from previews), I guess it's safe to say that Shattered Memories is more of a middle ground mixed with something new. Not in the Evil Dead 1 -> Evil Dead 2 type of way, but maybe more in a Battlestar Galactica (1978) -> Battlestar Galactica (2003) type of way. Or maybe Ozamu Tezuka's Metropolis vs Fritz Lang's Metropolis. There are familiar faces and ideas, but you don't quite know for sure how the pieces connect to one another unless you actually "jump in" and experience it all over again (using "again" loosely here).
So what if you could apply the Shattered Memories concept and apply it to another game? Not necessarily a Silent Hill title, but something else. Shattered Memories is a pretty clever title that of course probably refers to part of the game itself, but at the same time also mirrors the fact that this is Silent Hill 1 in a "... but is it?"-type of way. There is a game I feel already kinda managed to touch this concept, without really being a remake/reimagination of anything, and that's Eternal Darkness, which pretty much self-contained pulled off the task of making itself not be the way you though it would and should be.
Does this sound like a way to maybe re-tell something like Resident Evil Franchise Favorite; Resident Evil 2?
Use a similar presentation as Shattered Memories? Sherry Birkin, Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy, survivors of the Racoon City Incident, maybe re-living the nightmare through a new pair of goggles with a different "truth" to it all than what we've currently come to accept? Elements of a storyline that can only be told/revealed by going down a different path. Stuff that you as a player may only know if your actions lead to the certain death of characters whom may otherwise have survived (or vice versa; elements that may only be told, should people who may not have been meant to survive suddenly survive)
Dino Crisis is of course another personal favorite of mine that I wish would be revisited in more than just a straight up remake form. By all means, reuse the locations and some of the action scenes, but in overall; make sure it's a new game. To avoid the simple remake label. Add layers upon layers of new actual game content, beyond fanservice and a graphical makeover.
Now... what other games with a relatively short storyline do you think could be retold in such a manner? Something with a relatively short, but rich, story and setting. Where the element of replay value should be considered the center of attention. Which means that the story, upon replays, probably shouldn't be hogging more than a short weekend of casual gaming.
If you have any ideas, try to elaborate on what makes you feel it would be a good sample for this type of treatment. Where the unexpected is to be expected. Where your choices may allow you to look beyond doors you normally couldn't have.
tl;dr Shattered Memories seems to be positively received, the idea is a pretty nice (compared to just straight up making the same game/story again with new graphics). What games do you think would lend itself nicely to a similar "Shattered Memories"-treatment? (elaborate!)
"Shattered Memories - Silent Hill".
Okay... so it doesn't flow that well, but the general idea was:
"What if Shattered Memories became a franchise?"
You know how we've got all those LEGO ____ games, or how Resident Evil's got its sister series Dino Crisis and how they got to cross paths under the RE-centric "Gun Survivor" franchise (Gun Survivor 3).
What if we could get a similar take the general "re-imaginating" take on a franchise that Shattered Memories applies to Silent Hill 1 and apply it to more games/franchise? Of course, Shattered Memories' approach might not widely be applicable to anything and everything, but just using it as a sample now, as it's a good sample of a title that does something old, but does it different enough to be called a new game and not just a remake or port. I'm sure (mostly) everyone agrees that Resident Evil Rebirth was a fantastic remake, but you gotta agree that the game mostly still played within the rules and framework of the original's gameplay and narrative. While on the other hand, you've got something like the RE1 chapters in Umbrella Chronicles, which was a more liberal take on RE1 (mostly due to its radical gameplay change).
Now... if we compare these two samples (REmake + UC) to what we're about to experience with Shattered Memories (or what we know from previews), I guess it's safe to say that Shattered Memories is more of a middle ground mixed with something new. Not in the Evil Dead 1 -> Evil Dead 2 type of way, but maybe more in a Battlestar Galactica (1978) -> Battlestar Galactica (2003) type of way. Or maybe Ozamu Tezuka's Metropolis vs Fritz Lang's Metropolis. There are familiar faces and ideas, but you don't quite know for sure how the pieces connect to one another unless you actually "jump in" and experience it all over again (using "again" loosely here).
So what if you could apply the Shattered Memories concept and apply it to another game? Not necessarily a Silent Hill title, but something else. Shattered Memories is a pretty clever title that of course probably refers to part of the game itself, but at the same time also mirrors the fact that this is Silent Hill 1 in a "... but is it?"-type of way. There is a game I feel already kinda managed to touch this concept, without really being a remake/reimagination of anything, and that's Eternal Darkness, which pretty much self-contained pulled off the task of making itself not be the way you though it would and should be.
Does this sound like a way to maybe re-tell something like Resident Evil Franchise Favorite; Resident Evil 2?
Use a similar presentation as Shattered Memories? Sherry Birkin, Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy, survivors of the Racoon City Incident, maybe re-living the nightmare through a new pair of goggles with a different "truth" to it all than what we've currently come to accept? Elements of a storyline that can only be told/revealed by going down a different path. Stuff that you as a player may only know if your actions lead to the certain death of characters whom may otherwise have survived (or vice versa; elements that may only be told, should people who may not have been meant to survive suddenly survive)
Dino Crisis is of course another personal favorite of mine that I wish would be revisited in more than just a straight up remake form. By all means, reuse the locations and some of the action scenes, but in overall; make sure it's a new game. To avoid the simple remake label. Add layers upon layers of new actual game content, beyond fanservice and a graphical makeover.
Now... what other games with a relatively short storyline do you think could be retold in such a manner? Something with a relatively short, but rich, story and setting. Where the element of replay value should be considered the center of attention. Which means that the story, upon replays, probably shouldn't be hogging more than a short weekend of casual gaming.
If you have any ideas, try to elaborate on what makes you feel it would be a good sample for this type of treatment. Where the unexpected is to be expected. Where your choices may allow you to look beyond doors you normally couldn't have.
tl;dr Shattered Memories seems to be positively received, the idea is a pretty nice (compared to just straight up making the same game/story again with new graphics). What games do you think would lend itself nicely to a similar "Shattered Memories"-treatment? (elaborate!)
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