Note: This article contains spoilers for the story of Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 2 Remake.
Read on at your own risk.
Is he trapped in a hallucinatory nightmare of grief and guilt?
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Or is he dead and in Hell, paying for his sins?
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In doing so, the developer has expanded the story of Silent Hill 2.
Or were these bodies meant to be a subtle hint at something deeper happening in Silent Hill?
It’s a theory of the game that suggests James is already dead.
And just like in the original game, those bodies look a lot like James Sunderland.
Some speak directly to the reader, hoping you might use what was learned before you to move ahead.
“I can leave by not leaving,” it reads.
“I canonlyleave by not leaving.
The deal is done.
He said he left it for me.
Where they once were.”
If you follow the clues, you’ll eventually find a hallucinogenic drug called White Claudia.
It also makes reference to “where they once were.”
That location is Pete’s Bowl-o-Rama.
The bowling alley is still there in the remake, but it’s empty.
In other notes, you get the sense that the writer is driving James on.
“Their images became blurry, melting together,” it says.
“Not sure if I can do it, but maybe you might.
This will take you where you better be, though probably not the way you want to.
And there’s bound to be some pain involved.
There always is.”
Accompanying the letter is the key to the hospital’s roof.
There’s another particularly revealing note you might find inside Wood Side Apartments.
“You must think I’m cruel,” it says.
“But this is a prison of your own making.
The choice was yours.
I watched you make it.
Over and over and over again.
This time’s not gonna be different.
And I’ll be here.
Silent Hill 2 Remake seems to be making it pretty clear.
The original Silent Hill 2 documented one set of James’s experiences.
The remake is another.
He’s experiencing them all in some kind of endless torment.
Or at least, it sure does look like him.
But as these other James bodies suggests, sometimes, he kills you.
What’s more, the two of you repeat this process continually.
But both characters are trapped in Silent Hill, reliving their sins and their horrors over and over again.
It’s like Eddie is always somewhere cold, even if no one else is.
And in fact, every time you play the game is another repetition of that loop.
Every time you die in the game is a trip through the loop.
They’re all, seemingly, happening.
James reaches them all, but none of them end his torment.
And with that, the game becomes much more horrifying.
There is no escape from Silent Hill.
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