Goodbye, Blue Sky

Suddenly, we’re in Dhimani’s room without the security cam filter. The door quietly drifts open, but he doesn’t notice. It’s not really communicated to the player, but they can control him at this point. They can make him roll over and notice that the door is open at any time, to which he’ll express confusion.

He slowly gets up to observe it, as if he can’t believe it, calling to see if anyone is there. No answer. He presses forward and slowly walks out into the hallway, still calling, “Hello?” as if he’s afraid he’ll be punished for noticing the door is open. But when he gets out, the hallways are mostly dark, a far cry from the blinding, white nothingness his solitary cell constantly assaulted him with. More alarming than that, the hallways are completely empty and still. The camera gradually swoops from the fixed camera position in the corner of his solitary cell to just behind his back in the typical “third person” angle popularized by the RE series.

From that moment on, the player is on their own. There are no other characters in this iteration of Silent Hill. The first bit of the game is played in complete isolation in the empty hallways of Wyndon Prison, slowly trying to figure out how mechanics work. Once you find your first weapon about 20-30 minutes in, the hallways and main areas within the prison will slowly be populated with monsters that you’ll either have to defend yourself from, or, more likely, hide from. 

While there is combat in this game, it’s always supposed to be used as a last resort. This is a classic survival horror type game, where resource management is key, and supplies are scarce. More than that, Dhimani isn’t a particularly tough character (as seen with a few of his idle animations, where he’ll cough violently or sometimes slump against a nearby wall for a quick rest), so it doesn’t take much at all to take him down. 

There are three basic actions. Light attack, Heavy attack, and Block. All three need Dhimani to have some sort of weapon in his hand for it to work properly. Otherwise, you’ll do damage to yourself. There are also three weapons, though they have uses outside of combat as well. All weapons will eventually break with all types of usage, and spawning is infrequent, so conserve as much as you can. You can throw them as well, to sacrifice the scant durability left.

The Shiv is the lightest, weakest, and has the worst amount of reach. It also breaks the quickest, but is also the most common to find. You can do several light attacks with it in the blink of an eye, so it’s best for lighter, quicker enemies with not too much health. Outside of combat, it’s useful for cutting Ropes. Note: Shivs can be found in all sorts of varieties, from toothbrush to comb. This is completely cosmetic, and changes nothing about the gameplay.

The second weapon is the Crowbar. Medium weight, medium damage, but the longest reach. This is the “jack of all trades” weapon and can usually see you through most conflicts just fine, so long as you remember that the timing is a little different than with the tiny, dinky Shiv. It also lasts much longer than the Shiv, but doesn’t spawn as much, either. Outside of combat, it’s used for prying open Planks of Wood blocking entrance ways or doors. It can also lift up Debris in some instances.

The third and final weapon is the Wrench. Heavy damage, but also a very heavy weight. It only has medium reach as well, so you really have to pay attention to the timing with this one. Doing a heavy attack with a Wrench takes a full two second windup, but it will kill basically every common enemy in the game with one hit if you manage to land it. Outside of combat, it’s used for smashing Padlocks. It can also be used to fix Computer Terminals throughout the game. It has the highest durability as well.

You will only get a maximum of 20 uses out of each weapon, including blocks and out-of-combat utilization, so once again, you definitely should not be trying to wail on monsters willy-nilly in this game. There is also a stamina bar for sprinting, because I’m an ass. Thankfully there is no stamina bar for swinging or blocking with your weapons. That’d be a hell of a lot to think about, especially considering the timing of swings and durability with the weapons. This isn’t fucking Dark Souls.

Dhimani’s Cell on his normal block is the only save area in-game. It is usually safe, but not always. To tell if the area is safe in that instance, you have to look on his writing desk for one of his two statues of protection -- the King of Gargoyles and the Angel of Tranquility. Both will keep lesser monsters out of the cell, making it safe for you to duck inside to get a really persistent one off your tail, but only the Angel of Tranquility will heal you freely. The King of Gargoyles is the one you get much more often and is the only one you get during the beginning portion of the game.

Every time you move out of your Cell Block and then return to his cell, it’s randomized which one you’ll get, or if you’ll get none at all, in which case, you’ll get the prompt “You feel a cold chill run up your spine”. If you get that prompt and a monster is after you, hide as quickly as possible under the bed and stay still until it leaves and you no longer hear it. Or else it’ll come in and assault you. Even if there wasn’t a monster on your tail when you get in there and get the warning message, stay on your toes. They can wander by freely, and if they notice you in there, they will aggro and attack you automatically.

In your Safe Room, you have a Chest for keeping one extra of each Weapon, Healing Items, and Key Items. You can also Save. There is an Autosave function in-game, so dying to a monster won’t set you back to your last manual save unless you’re on Super Ultra Big Dick Hard Mode, but you will lose everything you’re carrying, including Key Items. If you had to beat a boss to get the Key Item, you won’t need to beat them again, but you WILL have to go all the way back to get it, and that can be challenging enough, especially during the latter half of the game where monsters wandering the halls are more common and more powerful.