Import Silent Hill?

Until this past weekend, I'd never played any of the Silent Hill games - for whatever reason, I just never picked them up and gave them a chance, despite being a huge Biohazard/RE fan. After seeing all the recent SH threads (what to play for Halloween, etc), I got curious, so at the end of last week I started playing a friend's copy of the first Silent Hill for the PS and got completely sucked into it. I'm not that far, but I'm absolutely loving the atmosphere, settings, everything about it, and can't believe I didn't get into this series sooner.

Obviously I'm going to pick up Silent Hill 2 soon (I suppose for the XBox, since that seems like the most complete version?), and I'm wondering - is there any reason for me to pick up a Japanese copy? Any censorship, missing areas, things like that? Language isn't an issue, since I read Japanese fluently - but I'm curious to know whether there's anything missing from the version I can get within walking distance for 20 bucks. I seem to remember someone posting about import Silent Hill not too long ago - Verbatum, maybe?

Anyway, if anyone's got JPN copies of the Silent Hill series games, please post differences. For instance - how's the voice acting? I sort of enjoy the ridiculously bad and stilted English voices in the PS original. Keep in mind - I'm only a few hours into the original. No spoilers, please!

Hello!

I have all the Japanese versions my friend! They are all in spoken english, with english or JPN text except SH1, which has JPN text, and english voice only. Here are the differences:


SH 1:

The childeren have a very different appreaence in the JPN version: They have claws, a hole for a face, and are brown in color.

SH2:

Some art on the walls have been censored, and some scenes have been shortened for sexual content. Buy the Japanese "A poem at the end of life" version of Silent Hill 2. It is a rerelease, with the extras the X-box has, plus more. The definitive version for sure.

SH 3:

Some music was not included on the US version due to copywrite laws.


There you go! Enjoy the wonder that is Silent Hill, perhaps the greatest series ever made!

Almost forgot:

There is a Japanese-only Silent Hill game for the Gameboy Advance called: "Silent Hill Play novel". It's really a choose-your-own adventure novel with really nice stills! You have two books, one for Harry, and then one for Cybill, after you read Harry's book. You can go back to any part in the book, and read again making different choices to see how the story splits.

Very interesting indeed, and worth picking up!

What music had to be taken out of the U.S. version of SH3?

Also, anyone know where I could pick up that GBA Silent Hill game?

Verbatum said:

SH2:

Some art on the walls have been censored, and some scenes have been shortened for sexual content. Buy the Japanese "A poem at the end of life" version of Silent Hill 2. It is a rerelease, with the extras the X-box has, plus more. The definitive version for sure.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! I figured you were the man to speak to about this.

I take it that the "A poem at the end of life" PS2 edition is Silent Hill 2: Saigo no shi?

How considerable are the shortenings for sexual content in the US XBox version? I'm mainly trying to decide whether importing this PS2 remake is worth it, compared to just picking up a copy of the US XBox version, considering it seems to be insanely cheap these days - around $15-20 everywhere I look!

Since it's nasty and raining here today, and I've got little to do, I'm making my way further and further into Silent Hill 1. As a huge Twin Peaks fan, I'm continually being bowled over by how much Konami was obviously inspired by Lynch/Frost's TV masterpiece.

gmw said:

Thanks for the reply! I figured you were the man to speak to about this.

I take it that the "A poem at the end of life" PS2 edition is Silent Hill 2: Saigo no shi?

How considerable are the shortenings for sexual content in the US XBox version? I'm mainly trying to decide whether importing this PS2 remake is worth it, compared to just picking up a copy of the US XBox version, considering it seems to be insanely cheap these days - around $15-20 everywhere I look!

Since it's nasty and raining here today, and I've got little to do, I'm making my way further and further into Silent Hill 1. As a huge Twin Peaks fan, I'm continually being bowled over by how much Konami was obviously inspired by Lynch/Frost's TV masterpiece.

Click to expand...

That's the one! The X-Box version is decent, but the PS2 re-release is the one to go for! Much cleaner, plus the X-Box version constrained the grain filter effect. The editied sexual content might seem like no big deal to most, but to me, any kind of deletion or censoring is a no-go. It really helps create the tension of Death, sex, and love that surrounds SH2. THe US PS2 greatest hit's version of SH2 is the same as the JPN re-release, but I don't know for sure if it is un-edited or not.

Make sure you finish SH1 with the best ending before you play SH3!!!! Also, have completed SH2 data on you PS2 memory card before you play SH3. Some cool things will pop up that normally wouldn't!

Just finished SH2 for the second time last night.

Verbatum's right... it's not just a game, it's an experience.