Silent Hill: The Short Message and The Weight of the Past

Silent Hill: The Short Message is a flawed game, but it is not the lost cause so many people have called it. In this video essay, I make the point that The Short Message stands strong enough within the Silent Hill series despite its failures. I go through the context of the game’s release, its influences, and how they reflect on The Short Message. From there I go into a section on my criticisms, and then what I think the game did right/new. This was written near the beginning of 2024, recorded around April, and edited even later. Working on this off and on has made some things a bit outdated, like when I talk about Silent Hill 2 Remake (SH2R), but I think it is mostly timely. I hope you enjoy this video, even though it gets a bit rambley at times. Trigger Warning: A lot of rough topics are discussed in this video, but if you are familiar with Silent Hill as a series, you likely know what you're getting into. Tiny Epilepsy Warning: There is quite a bit of flashing when footage of the Silent Hill: Shattered Memories trailer is shown for a moment. Music from Silent Hill: The Short Message Soundtrack listed in order of use (first number is the disc, second number is the track): 3-10, 2-20, 1-01, 3-09, 1-16, 3-02, 1-05, 3-13, 2-02, 2-06, 3-23, 1-23, 3-03, 1-19, 1-29, 2-12, 3-06, 1-20, 1-22, 1-26, 2-19, 3-21, 3-17, 2-14, 2-15, 2-16, 3-16, 3-12, 2-01, 1-10, 1-21, 1-10, 1-11, 1-15, 3-19, 1-25, 2-08, 2-22, 2-05, 3-01, 3-10 Chapters: 00:00 Intro 07:37 10yearsgames 23:08 A Silent Hill Story 38:22 Criticism 1:08:06 What The Short Message Does Right/New 1:28:30 Outro Game footage sources: Visage Xbox One No Commentary Playthrough Part 1 From Channel: @nocommentarygameplay38 Layers of Fear - Full Game Walkthrough Gameplay & Ending (No Commentary) (Horror Game 2016) From Channel: @nikolasines Madison - Part 1 - Full Gameplay Walkthrough - No Commentary - PS5 - 4K From Channel: @HarleyS90 SILENT HILL: The Short Message | Commentary 01: Production Team Interview (EN) (Spoiler Warning) & SILENT HILL: The Short Message | Commentary 03: Sound Team Interview (EN) (Spoiler Warning) | KONAMI From Channel: @silenthillofficial P.T. SILENT HILLS | Full Game Walkthrough | No Commentary From Channel: @thegamearchivist Silent Hill 2 (2001) - Wood Side Apartments | No Commentary #04 & Silent Hill 2 (2001) - South Vale: West | No Commentary #09 & Silent Hill 2 (2001) - Brookhaven Hospital | No Commentary #13 From Channel: @gamesgroundnocommentary Silent Hill 4 - The Burp From Channel: @MrMysterio2201 Silent Hill 3 Silent Gameplay No Commentary Part 1 From Channel: @silentgameplays #silenthill #silenthilltheshortmessage #videoessay #silenthill2 #horror #gaming #horrorgame