Silent Hill: The Short Message (2024)
Genres:Adventure
Themes:Action, Horror
Game modes:Single player
Story:Silent Hill: The Short Message is a free-to-play Silent Hill spin-off set in modern-day Germany. Players explore a location known as The Villa from a first-person perspective.
Vote to bring this game to GOG and help preserve it.1 948
20 years after the last Eastern developed Silent Hill title in 2004 and ten after the release of P.T., several of Team Silent's alumni -- including Masahiro Ito, Akira Yamaoka, Atsushi Tsujimoto, Kurita Yukito, Eiichi Ito, Norio Takemoto, and Chieko Ogura, as well as a handful of P.T. staff -- came back. Working with a concept by producer Motoi Okamoto, writer Kiichi Kanoh of the When They Cry series, and a talented team at HexaDrive, they have created an unflinching story about self-loathing/self-harm, cultural displacement, xenophobia, sociological taboo, and psychological struggle in the digital age. The Short Message also reframes key elements from the previous games for a younger generation unfamiliar with Silent Hill, distilling the familiar cyclical motifs of previous titles into a condensed two to three-hour experience.
Its exclusivity on PlayStation 5 limits the game in several ways, chiefly performance. Stunning environmental detail and mind-bending set pieces are often hampered by frame rate issues not uncommon to Unreal Engine 5 titles, especially during encounters with the game's beautifully imposing Cherry Blossom (I don't accept "Sakura Head", sorry). Additionally, the game is currently only available with an English voice track, which does a disservice to the game's most harrowing moments, despite the involvement of Jeremy Blaustein and some prominent Western voice actors.
I believe a PC port would do wonders to correct many of the obstacles that this game encountered, both with the audience and its overall presentation. It remains the only reason I have a PS5, honestly, and I would pay full price for what was originally a free title if it meant experiencing The Short Message in its original language with improved graphics performance. This game deserves its flowers, pun intended, for what is functionally a reunited Team Silent's first Silent Hill in two decades.
P.T. emulation aside, this was my first Silent Hill game. I'll never forget how it felt to truly play a Silent Hill game for the first time. While this game certainly isn't perfect, I'd say that it gets far more hate than it deserves. The art-direction is fantastic, the story is really good and has a fantastic message for the younger audience now getting into the series (awful dialogue aside), and overall I quite liked it. It'd be great for other people to be able to experience it too.
RenegadeUnlike Technos' subsequent game Double Dragon, the playing field is limited to one two-screen-wide area (a subway platform, a harbor, an alley, a parking lot and the hideout of a gang) and does not scroll continuously. Out of the four stages in the game, the first, second and third each begin with the player fighting a group made up of two different types of small fry enemies: one with fewer hit points and a stronger attack (usually armed with a weapon) and one with more hit points, but with a weaker attack and the ability to grab the player from behind, making him vulnerable to other enemies' attacks.
When only three underlings remain (in any combination of the two) their boss will come in from the sidelines and join the fight. When the boss is defeated, any remaining enemies retreat off the bottom of the screen, and the stage ends. The second stage follows this same formula, but begins with a series of enemies riding motorcycles trying to run the player down, and brings in the normal enemies once the bikers have been defeated. The third stage is a gang of women; their boss is a very large woman who cannot easily be knocked to the ground. The fourth stage features a single type of knife-wielding enemy who can kill the player with one hit. Once the player has defeated this first wave of enemies, the main character proceeds to enter a building at the far right of the stage. There, he faces three more knife-wielding enemies and the final boss, a mobster whose gunfire is also deadly with one hit. Once the final boss is defeated, the main character exits the building and is greeted by his rescued girlfriend, who proceeds to give him a kiss. The game then begins the next cycle with an increased difficulty.
In addition to an eight-direction joystick, there are three buttons; left attack, right attack, and jump. Pressing the attack in the direction the character is facing will punch, while attacking in the opposite direction will perform a rear kick. Jumping, followed immediately by one of the attack buttons, which will perform a jumping kick in the direction of the attack.
Pressing the joystick twice quickly either left or right will cause the player to run, at which point attacking in the direction of the run will perform a running punch, jumping will automatically perform a flying kick, and attacking in the opposite direction will bring the player to a sudden halt and perform a back-kick. Pressing down over a downed enemy will make the player sit on top of the enemy, at which point attacking toward the enemy will cause the player to pummel him. The bosses can only be sat on if all normal enemies have been defeated, and unless the boss' energy level is low enough, he'll throw the player off.Action Survival
Magic Cauldron: DungeonsMagic Cauldron - Dungeons is a classic dungeon crawler with a pixel art look. The game is reminiscent of the good old days of grid crawlers, which were still completely 3D-free.
Bomb ChickenAfter a freak accident a seemingly ordinary chicken becomes a bomb laying free range hero!Action Fantasy
Falcon AgeBond with a baby falcon and go on an adventure. Falcon Age is a first-person, single-player action adventure where you’ll play as Ara in her fight to reclaim her cultural legacy in the lost art of falcon hunting against a force of automated colonizers.Action Science fiction
Fallout ZXLittle project about the Fallout saga. This is GD49Games' idea of what the game would be like if it had been released for the ZX Spectrum. Discover the 128 shelter and what will be your mission.Survival
Little VampireLittle Vampire is an adventure-style visual novel (ADV) published in Japan by AliceSoft's predecessor company, Champion Soft, in 1988. It is the direct sequel to Little Princess, and continues the adventures of Kurusu Miki and Ogawa Kentarou after their escape from Dracula's Castle. The events of the game would later be retconned into the timeline of the Rance series, with Dracula developing into the Demon King Gi, and the game's central antagonist, Ramon C. Burksham becoming one of the earliest-appearing Dark Lords.
Elven AssassinTake a bow and kill hordes of orcs in the epic town defense game. You can play alone to conquer the leaderboards or unite with other assassins in online co-op mode.
PS. Be careful to avoid massive axes thrown at you by orc warriors.Action
Various DaylifeVarious Daylife is an RPG set in the year 211 of the Imperial Era. Players explore a newly discovered continent while living life to the fullest in the city of Erebia.Fantasy
Schoolhouse Rock!: Math RockLucky Seven Sampson has a problem. He needs a band. The inhabitants of Funky Numberland might be able to help, but they all have their own problems to solve if they are going to join Lucky Seven's band. So, he needs your help. If you can help his friends, they can join his band.Educational Kids
Return From CoreExplore the Inner Earth world and its mysteries in this survival sandbox adventure game! Dig for materials to craft new gear and defend your camp against the creatures and perils of the Core. If you recover the technology lost after the catastrophe, maybe one day you can return to the surface!Action Sandbox Survival