In 2020, I played Silent Hill 3 for the first time.

I am incredibly bad at Silent Hill 3.

In the subway, I read the newspaper article about the guy who'd been hit by a train and concluded 'well, obviously the way to progress is to get hit by the same train'. Spoiler: the correct course of action was not to be hit by a train.

The worst part was that I'd already been hit by a train on the wrong platform, but in my head the problem wasn't that I'd been hit by a train; the problem was that I'd been hit by the wrong train. Surely getting hit by this train would be a good idea.

(It wasn't.)

AND THEN I WENT 'WHAT'S THROUGH THIS DOOR ON THE TRAIN?' AND HEATHER LEAPT OFF THE BACK OF THE TRAIN AND DIED. Heather, you do not have a shred of self-preservation instinct. Once you see there's no more train in that direction, you are supposed to stop going in that direction.

Me: It looks like this 'DANGER: KEEP OUT' sign fell off this door. I'm not sure I want to go through this door.
Tem: Hey, it's not on the door any more, right? So it's fine.

Anyway, that's the story of how I got eaten by a giant worm.

Later I found a hairdryer, which gave me the perfect way to deal with this water-dwelling worm: let it drag me into the water again, secure in the knowledge that at least I'd be able to dry my hair afterwards.

It's never good news when a building turns into the Bad Version and you go 'wait, the version I was just in wasn't the Bad Version?'

There was some graffiti visible on the wall that said 'FRIEND' when we met Vincent, no doubt indicating that Vincent is totally, totally trustworthy.

I knew in advance about the big death partway through the game, so I'm afraid I can't give an unspoiled reaction there. The scene where Heather discovers the body is very upsetting, but I found it hard to focus on it when I was so distracted by the fact that he apparently hadn't changed his clothes in seventeen years.

H-Heather. Heather, you need to tell the police about this murder. You cannot just leave the corpse in a bed in your flat and run off to another town on a revenge mission. There will be questions. Even if there weren't questions, you would regret this decision the second you walked back through your front door.

I looked at the clothes in Heather's dresser, and Heather decided she didn't need to change. Heather, you're wearing a miniskirt, which is not advisable Silent Hill attire, and your jacket is covered in blood.

I do like Heather's character design a lot, though. I wouldn't bat an eyelid if I saw her in the street, which is not something I can say for many PS2-era videogame women.

Heather, if you don't want to carry a plastic bag full of blood around, have you considered not filling a plastic bag with blood for no reason?

I really like awkward, sad detective Douglas Cartland, which I wasn't expecting! His dynamic with Heather is great. I love the strange, tense moment when he points his gun at her but doesn't shoot, and that they're still on good terms afterwards.

I'm also enjoying Vincent occasionally just showing up to make everything uncomfortable. (Are you... are you not going to ask how Vincent got into your motel room? No? You're just going to accept that this incredibly untrustworthy guy presumably followed you from your hometown to Silent Hill and you just found him in your motel room? Okay.)

Vincent saying, 'I always hated getting all... hot... and sweaty' was a bit odd. The pauses made it seem like a come-on! But the content doesn't make sense as a come-on! 'I'm repelled by the thought of having sex with you,' Vincent says, breathily.

It's hilarious to me that Heather barely reacts when Claudia stabs Vincent in front of her. Poor Vincent. Nobody cares about that guy.

Did Claudia just pick up the god foetus and eat it??? Claudia, you cannot get God into your womb that way; you are putting her into entirely the wrong orifice.

Where did Vincent's corpse go? Did Claudia eat him, too? I have so many questions.

On a serious note, Heather breaking down once everything's over hit me right in the heart. Poor girl; she really hasn't had time to grieve.

I'm glad the sad detective survived the game! It was nice to have a character who genuinely seemed to be on Heather's side. I don't know where Heather's going to go now, but I sort of hope Douglas takes her in. She needs a parental figure and he needs someone.

I really enjoyed Heather as a protagonist. She's fun in a way Harry and James aren't, and there's a lot of personality in her observations when she examines things. I can understand why Silent Hill 2 couldn't really have that levity - the idea of James Sunderland wisecracking makes me shudder; that'd be awful - but it was a pleasant change in Silent Hill 3.

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