Analysis.

Analysis: -SPOILERS- Silent Hill games are begging to be analyzed and
picked apart. I think this was a problem with Origins and Homecoming,
lacking in the subtitle and symbolism. Shattered Memories gives you all
the clues and answers in indirect and out of sequence ways and makes
you analyze and put all the answers together in the end. This added
much to the characters and game play. There are several endings to the
game. This section will contain SPOILERS so don't read on from this
point on. The ending I got was the "Drunk Dad" ending, which I thought
fit perfectly with the story. It added much to the character of Harry
Mason and his relationship with his daughter and made him much more
than just a "loving father". In truth, it made him out to be only a
good, loving father on few occasions, while most of the time he was a
drunk, a failure as a writer, deeply pessimistic and deeply depressed,
and vented his aggression and depression on his family. He became
unsatisfied with his wife and began to be unfaithful. All of this young
Cheryl couldn't understand, and when he died in a car accident, she was
left with that image of a father without answers to questions she
couldn't understand. She went into denial and tried to cling on to the
happy moments in her relationship with her father, such as going with
Lakeside Amusement Park with him and tried to ignore the facts that he
was a drunk most of the time, and verbally abusive. After his death,
she wanted to believe he was a hero to her, and not what he really was.
This brings far more meaning in the opening sequence when Harry and
Cheryl are poking their heads out through the picture, Harry as the
Knight in Shining Armor and Cheryl as the Princess, saving her from the
dragon. In the end, once Kaufman tells her as it is to her, Cheryl
meets her father one last time and forgives him. I thought this was
really beautiful. A horrible father who was only good on few occasions,
and her daughter forgave him and still loved him regardless, even
though he is long since gone. The ambiguity and subtle clues throughout
the game gave these generally vacant characters far more meaning and
layers and executed them in brilliant ways. Every character in the game
is somehow relevant to Harry or Cheryl. And it's for that reason that I
place this game on the same tier as the brilliance that was Silent Hill
2.

You don't *beep* understand what it's like working with actors.
-Christian Bale