The effect of the Next-Gen Consoles on Survival Horror

How is the next generation of Consoles effecting the Survival Horror Genre?

If only one console is credited for the rise of Survival Horror it is surely the Playstation. Resident Evil and Silent Hill both started off on the PS One, as well as games such as Clock Tower, Alone in the Dark and Parasite Eve.
When the Playstation 2 came out in 1999 these classic game series were brought to the newer console as well as new horror classics such as Project Zero and Siren. Obscure, Haunting Ground, Manhunt and The Suffering were also released for the console.

Nowadays however, Sony has more competition for it's games with the likes of the Xbox 360 and especially the Nintendo Wii now on the market. How exactly is the Survival Horror Genre changing with additions of these new consoles.


Increase in action orientated Horror
Offenders: Dead Space, F.E.A.R, Condemned, Resident Evil 4 & 5
Horror games are starting to get too action orientated these days with the male market in mind. The arrivals of the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 mean that game developers are focusing more on the graphics rather than the plots and story lines E.g. Resistance, Kill Zone, Halo (Feel free to backlash).

Survival Horrors are following suit. If we look at the last couple of games that were released in this genre we'll find that weapons and combat have a huge part to play. Dead Space (left), F.E.A.R, and even Horror Classics such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill are following suit with action orientated additions such as RE 4 & 5 and SH:Homecoming.
Luckily, even though it's agreeably much harder than it's predecessors, Silent Hill: Homecoming didn't stray away from the good story lines the series is known for. It did however include more combat than the previous games and health items were very hard to come by making the game more focused on the combat aspect of Survival.

Condemned was the Xbox 360's first attempt at Survival Horror and like Silent Hill Homecoming, had a lot of combat involved but it actually had plenty of scary moments that sent shivers down your spine. Later, Condemned 2 was released for the 360 and the Playstation 3 whose version received better reviews.[2]
Unfortunately games like Dead Space and F.E.A.R think Horror is about making you jump and Resident Evil has jumped on this band wagon. Horror fans and even fans of the game don't like to call Resident Evil a Survival Horror any more.

When was the last time a game freaked you out because the environment put you on edge or because you were scared out of your mind that you had nothing to defeat monsters with? When was the last time you had to put a game away because it was affecting you so much?
It seems those days have gone...


Console Wars
Offenders: Alan Wake, Project Zero IV.
OK, so the Wii is the market leader but that doesn't mean you will sell more games on that console than on any other.

Tecmo made this mistake lately with Project Zero IV: The Mask of the Lunar Eclipse. Leaving their Sony fan base behind, they sold the games rights to Nintendo who sold the game in the Japanese region. For reasons unexplained, Nintendo US and Nintendo Europe didn't feel it necessary to release the game in their regions.
The most likely reason is that the game isn't suited to their target market - family and children. Why Tecmo did this I will never know because the US and the UK (without the rest of Europe) have the two largest gaming markets in the world[3] (In fact, in the UK the Gaming Industry is outselling the music industry).[4]

Alan Wake is another Horror game that isn't to grace the Playstation 3. When it was first announced (I can't remember when because that was ages ago now) the game was to be on the 360 and the Playstation 3 but Microsoft managed to gain the rights to the game. This isn't much a loss on the West's part because the US and Europe are going to be able to play it - It's just a shame that Sony have missed out on what looks like an impressive game.


The Nintendo Wii
Offenders: The Grudge, Cursed Mountain, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

I don't have the strongest opinion of the Wii. Even though it's the main reason why the UK is the 2nd largest games market in the world, to me it defines everything that is wrong in the gaming industry.
We're living in the digital age but the graphics in the games that Nintendo bring out are going backwards and the imagination put into them are terrible. With games like the Imagine Series (Vet, Fashion Designer,Teacher), Dogz, Catz and Wii-Sports, the Wii is a novelty console at best.

Why developers are making Horror games for this console when they could be making them for the Xbox or the Playstation 3 confuses me. Sure, the games are cheaper and quicker to develop and I'm aware that Developers have a hard time developing games for the Sony console but surely they aren't going to sell very well.
There is currently one Survival Horror game for the Wii and two on the way...These are Cursed Mountain, The Grudge and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

Recently, it was announced that the Japanese film Ju-On (or The Grudge as it's known here) is to be made into a game. The decision to release this on the Wii is because of the Wii-mote's ability to measure hand movement. The more you're made jump and the more you shake determines your score at the end of the game. The game is to be sold in the US and UK but will it sell if the Wii's market is little children? Look at the front cover (left) and tell me what you think?

Another unfortunate point is that the best Survival Horror games are produced in Japan where the Nintendo Wii isn't necessarily aimed at the family/tween market.

Cursed Mountain is another Survival Horror game that is exclusive for the Wii and again, the Wii-mote is the attraction here. I don't know much about the game but the graphics, even though quite good for the Wii, are still leave something to be desired. (See Screenshot, Right).

The Silent Hill series has even joined the club releasing a game for the Wii. Konami however, unlike Tecmo, have stayed faithful to it's fan base of ten years, releasing the game on the PS2 and the PSP. Good news, but it's the Wii that has the better version again because of it's Wii-mote.
In Shattered Memories, you can use your Wii-mote as a Phone (you'll come across numbers to dial and the voice will emit from the speaker in the Wii-mote), Radio (again, the static will come out of the speaker), Pen (You can write notes on your map) and Torch (you can move the Wii-mote like a torch).
Shattered Memories may be more focused on the Wii, but at least it's stopping itself from being action orientated. There's no combat at all and it's going to make you think - that picture in the screenshot (left) remind you of anyone?


Summary.
A good Survival Horror game should have a plot which can get you thinking about how best to proceed. Give the player a bucket load of weapons and ammo then people are just going to blast their way through and hope for the best. Forbidden Siren made you think of a strategy to complete a mission without being spotted - you didn't get a lot of ammo in this game and most weapons you had to kill a Shibito for anyway.

Silent Hill made you think more on the storyline rather than combat. Most monsters could be out run in this game so combat wasn't always necessary but the game is still fun to play. The atmosphere in these games were the main reason why Silent Hill is scary - the thought of people watching you (Think of when Heather receives the letters from a Hospital Patient you never see yourself or when James is mentioned by name on a note put as graffiti on a wall).

Project Zero is yet another game that didn't focus on combat an those games were so scary that you had to pause the game to relax yourself a little (I know I did anyway).

Unfortunately, all these games are not as popular nowadays. Forbidden Siren has always been underrated, Nintendo decided that Project Zero IV should be kept away from us and Silent Hill is getting trampled on by those who would rather have Resident Evil because of it's "good combat an brilliant graphics".
People are even complaining that Shattered Memories isn't going to have any combat. I think it's a good thing that they're trying to put the Horror back into Survival Horror.

If games like Dead Space and F.E.A.R continue being more popular than the classics and if Resident Evil doesn't return to it's old ways, then I fear for this genre - I really do.


References:
[1] http://survivalhorroronline.com/articles/history.htm
[2] http://www.metacritic.com/search/process?sort=relevance&termtype=all&ts=condemned+2&ty=0&button=search
[3] http://www.ripten.com/2009/02/02/uk-overtakes-japan-in-the-videogame-market
[4] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7709298.stm

Siren Blood Curse

Developer: Sony Entertainment Japan
Publisher: Sony
Released (UK): Dec '07
Released (US): Nov '07

May Contain Spoilers. Siren Blood Curse is the latest instalment of the Forbidden Siren franchise and was released in Europe, Japan (where it was called New Translation rather than Blood Curse) and the US.
The game is a complete remake of the original game but with some adjustments. There is a whole new cast of characters, one reoccurrence and most of the environments have been changed although some have just been tweaked.

The story is based around an American film crew who have come to Hanuda to investigate a local cult and the sacrificial rituals the cult committed thirty years prior.

True to Forbidden Siren form, the story line is a confusing one. I cannot remember if the original had a time line situation but Blood Curse does. The game's time line is back and forth between 1976 and 2007 and times can even join together. The best example is the opening scene...The TV crew are in 2007 but they are witnessing a ritual which took place in 1976 and characters from both time periods can be seen in the same mission. Siren_Hill, a member of the US Playstation forum has done a nice thread on the time line which makes more sense [Here]

The cast in this game are mostly American, except from two from the local area of Handuda Village, Japan.

Howard Wright is travelling across Japan and has found himself stranded in Hanuda after his motorcycle broke down (His blog - http://hw-biker.blog-paradise.com/e/index.html confirms this) but why was he in the deserted village of Hanuda anyway?
We first see him in the opening scene when he stops a religious group half way through performing a ritual. One girl has already been stabbed and he manages to cause a distraction so a second girl can run away.
Howard is the main character in this game and the character we play as the most. His character is of course similar to the role of Kyoya Suda in the original.

Sam Monroe is a College Professor and Folklore expert who is in Hanuda to act as a consultant for a TV show that is being filmed on the rituals that happen there.
His character is based on Tamon Takeuchi from the original game because he is the guy who figures out what has been happening in Hanuda and how to stop it.
Sams part in this game is slightly confusing because there are two versions of him. One is the Sam Monroe who is new to Hanuda and the other is the older Sam, who knows exactly what to do to stop the games events from happening again.

Melissa Gale is a Television presenter who has come to Hanuda to get footage for her show called 'Encounters'. She is the ex-wife of Sam Monroe and was unaware that her ex-husband was going to be the consultant for the show.
Her role is similar to the roles of Reiko Takato and Naoko Mihama from the original game.
She is very protective of her daughter and spends most of the game trying to save her from the wandering shibito walking around. She is eventually sacrifices herself whilst blowing up a maggot shibito in order to save her daughter.

Seigo Saiga is one of the characters local to the area and is one of two of the non-American member of the cast. Seigo is a member of the cult (like Jun Kajiro in the original) and is the guy seen stabbing the girl in the opening scene (notice the white shoes). He is one of the characters stuck in 1976 and relives the time again and again despite killing himself halfway through the game.
He is also a doctor at the local hospital (Shiro Miyata in the original) and always carries a gun (like Akira Shimura in the original).
As a human he is of no threat to anyone, befriending and helping Sam in one mission but as a Shibito, tries to stop Howard from performing his task of finishing off Kaiko, the cults god.

Bella Monroe is the daughter of Sam Monroe and Melissa Gale. She has come to Hanuda with Sam who couldn't find a baby-sitter in time for the trip. She finds herself in the care of Sol after the TV crew were separated. Bella spends most of the game by herself and we first find her hiding in the hospital after Sol promises to come find her.
Bella is the only character who doesn't hold a weapon and cannot attempt to fight the shibitos she comes across. Like Harumi Yomoda in the original game she will cower when too close to a Shibito so stealth is necessary.
She is also similar to Tomoko Maeda who in the original game turned into a Shibito herself.

Amana is also a member of the cult of Hanuda. We first see Amana in one of Howards mission where she finds him recovering from a gunshot wound. She promises to help him escape but they part ways after Amana is flown away by a Shibito.
We play as Amana only once where she tries to recall the memories she lost before the events of the game. Amana's character is similar to Hisako Yao in the original game because she is the one who is trying to bring back Kaiko.
Like Sam, Amana has another version wandering the village [Major Spoiler Here]: Amana is Bella, grown up. This means that Bella joins Sam and Howard as the only characters live through the events of the game.

Sol Jackson is the camera man for 'Encounters' and is a friend of Melissa. An archive item, which shows a film script written by Sol shows that he is in love with his friend and colleague.
Sol dies pretty early on in the game and although his death isn't shown, we can gather he was killed by a Shibito whilst he tried to distract it away from Bella. Sol can be found everywhere as a Shibito, especially if Bella or Melissa are around. His character is similar to the role of Yoriko Anno in the original game seeing that he is in love with one of the more leading characters (Anno took a fancy to Tamon Takeuchi in the original).

Miyako Kajiro (her surname isn't used in BC) is the second of the Japanese characters and is the same Miyako from the original with one difference. She can see in Blood Curse so isn't as clingy as in the first one. You never play as Miyako making her the only non-playable character.
Miyako is the sidekick to Howard for most of the game but is kidnapped by Amana in order to be sacrificed for Kaiko's revival.
The 'Fruit' which is mentioned throughout the game, is Miyako's blood which she gave to Howard after he was shot by Melissa (who had mistaken him for a Shibito).
Even after being sacrificed for Kaiko, she helps Howard to defeat it by showing his whereabouts.

Shibito make an excellent comeback and look better than ever. The same Shibito types are in Blood Curse although a new Shibito has been created for Blood Curse.
You have the regular Shibito which look and act as normal human beings, the Spider Shibito, the Moth Sbibito, the Brain Shibito and the new Maggot Shibito.



Human shibito (above) act just like normal people, carrying on with their daily lives as if they were still alive. They follow a routine just as they do in the original, patrolling the same areas making them easy to predict. They're pretty easy to defeat despite the fact that most of them carry a weapon of some kind. You can just sneak up behind them and impale them with one weapon or another or you can just hide in a closet until they go away.

The Spider Shibito (left) walk on all fours in a yoga, crab-like position which looks quite painful. They are more on guard and will spend time in one spot looking out for any intruders. They can be hard to spot too because they can walk on walls an on ceilings. They do have some limits though because they can't climb ladders and they can't open doors so they're easy to trap. They are quite fast when they see you and can jump on you from quite a distance so watch you're back carefully.

Moth Shibito (below) are Shibito with wings, so they can fly. They hide in bushes and in shadows so they can come out at you from anywhere. They will not hesitate to sweep down and grab you dropping you when high in the air. Some Moth Shbito carry guns so they can shoot you from afar making it harder for you to kill them before they kill you.
In all fairness, they are very seldom around so don't get in your way too much.



The Maggot Shibito is a new form of Shibito to Blood Curse but they aren't common and they sometimes act as a mini boss in the levels where they appear. They are the biggest form of Shibito and look like Maggots but with long arms. They are also in control of the Moth Shibito's meaning that once the Maggot is down, all the Moths go down with it. They're quite vicious and will throw things at you so you really nee to keep your distance and kill them using some kind of trap. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pictures of them.

The Brain Shibito has also returned from the original game but the designers have done massive improvements to their appearance. Each Brain shibito looks different unlike in the first game where they all looked the same. Brain Shibito are your best bet of a scare in this game because they look that disgusting. The Brain Shibitos are much more shy then their maggot counterparts because they run away from you when they see you coming.
There are many Brain Shibito about so I'll go through each one. (I've named them myself because they have no official names - well one does)


Patient Brain (above) - Is seen in the Hospital when playing as Melissa Gale. It a large, black tumour-looking blob that is pushed around in a wheel chair by a Human Shibito nurse. It can't run away like the others because it has no legs but it is protected by the Nurse who will come running at you when she sees you - Knock her down first then you can attack the Brain. Easy isn’t it?

Headless Brain (below) - This Brain is located in the mines when playing as Howard Wright. This has tentacle things coming from its neck where a head would usually be. These tentacles grab onto the ceiling but this brain doesn't move. However, its position changes each time you play the level. This Brain startled me the first time I saw it because it looked violent, in fact it just stays there and lets you whack it to death.


Bee Brain - This is the Brain Shibito at the Shibito Nest when playing as Howard Wright. It looks like a Male Human Shibito but it has a head that is an oversized Bee. This guy is fast and wanders around in the pitch black making him hard to see so you have to trap him (with an animal trap) or cut him off. If you can catch a glimpse of him as the lightning goes off, the effect quite be quite surprising if you run into him unexpectedly.

Yukie (Nurse Brain, right) - Again, it's Howard that comes across this Brain, in the Mines. Yukie plays a small part in the story line because she's close, and I mean very close to Seigo Saigo (think of Mina Onda from the original game). She looks human but has some slug like things draping off of her face and like the Bee Brain, she is very fast and has a huge area to hide in. I remember having a hard time bringing Yukie down - get a sniper gun an you should get her quite easily.


The Sight-Jack has been changed in two ways although one of them is quite the annoyance. The Sight-Jack mode now allows the character to move whilst keeping tabs on a specific Shibito. The screen splits whenever you do this so half of it shows where your character is and the other half shows the view of the Shibito. Good Luck if you have a small TV screen because it's hard to see where you're going when this happens, especially if it's dark.
In the previous games, if a Shibito catch sight of you, the screen would flash re to show you what direction it was coming from. In this game, the screen splits again and will stay, showing you where the Shibito is coming from, until you press R2 to get rid of it. These are very annoying because they are uninvited by the player so they get in the way.

The archive item has returned with 50 items to collect as well as 50 different weapons to find. Some of the archive items are really interesting and give more information and background history of the characters. Sol's ID sheds light to a secret crush on Melissa, A tape can be found with an episode of 'Encounters' on it and Howard's mobile phone has a message on it from a friend. If you bought the game from PSN, there is an option to save some items onto your hard drive. One archive item seems to be an MP3 player and you can download the end music from Siren 1 and Howard’s phone has some pictures on it which can be downloaded. Some of them are quite nice too, if you like Japanese Landscape.

Forbidden Siren always had mixed reactions with the acting, especially the voice over’s, but with an American cast this isn't a problem with Blood Curse. The characters are played by proper actors just as in the first too games although it's not as obvious in this games graphics since it's for a next-gen console with next-gen graphics.
The environments look really good on this game although some areas are too dark to see at times but as a Survival Horror, you would expect it to be dark. The house is especially good, especially when you get into the living room which is very detailed.

The environments have changed in appearance, although some have stayed the same.
You have the Fields (below) where the church is located. The church's location has changed but apart from that, the area looks the same.


The Mines have returned but look completely different to the mines in Forbidden Siren 1 and are maze like in appearance because it has many levels with blocked stairways and elevators.
The house is also here and looks way better than in the original although the layout has stayed exactly the same.
The Hospital has changed, and looks more like it belongs in a Horror Game. It has changed in appearance and has a bit more blood in it as you can see in the picture below.
The shopping area from the original (where the restaurant is) has also changed in appearance and for some reason, is flooded. The picture of the Human Shibito's that is in the Shibito section are seen in this area if you want to know.
The Nest has to be back because it's very important to the story line and it's in much more detail, with items such as fans knocked over and broken plates all over the floors.


The school has gone and the area where Harumi manages to escape in the original game is not here either. Some other areas whose name's I cannot remember have also gone - The level where you had to hear Harumi's message from the tower and the level where you first play as Shiryo Miyato aren't here either.

The problems that the original had have all been erased. Checkpoints are more frequent, the characters are stronger taking more damage and archive items stay in the archive once it's been collected. These problems of course were all dealt with in Forbidden Siren 2 but if you're American, you wouldn't know about them.
The maps are another improvement for the series. You can view the map down from the top by which I mean in a Birdseye view or you can view the map in 3D, which shows each level at the same time. The map also locates where you have to go in order to fulfil your objective which makes the game easier.

Overall the game is fantastic and definitely improves on the original game. For me, the storyline wasn't changed enough to make sense to me so Forbidden Siren 2 has managed to beat it on that respect which means Blood Curse cannot score as highly that. Close but I'll give it...

9.5/10

All pictures have been taken from the Japanese Website which can be found HERE.

One's I've Never Finished...Part 2

Forbidden Siren

Developer: SCE Japan
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Released (UK): Mar '04
Released (US): Apr '04

I saw this game get a good 9/10 score from the Official Playstation Magazine. I decided to buy it, although it took me some time to find it. It's not well known in the UK unless you are a Survival Horror fan and has only now found itself known after the recent release of Blood Curse on the PS3.
(Note: Because of this reason, I haven't been able to find any good pictures, just various screenshots.)

What's it about?

Forbidden Siren is set in Hanuda Village, Japan where various different characters find themselves. The story is actually very confusing so I've put this excerpt from Wikipedia's article on the game:

"Siren is set in a remote, rural Japanese mountain village named Hanuda, which is characterized as being very traditional and particularly xenophobic. Following a ritual ceremony near midnight, the village teeters wildly between time and space, with an infinite sea of blood-red water in place of the usual surrounding mountains. The crux of the story focuses on the efforts of Hisako Yao, the leader of a strange local religion, to resurrect or re-awaken a being known as Datatsushi through an occult ceremony. The siren of the title is the call of Datatsushi, summoning the residents of Hanuda to immerse them selves in the red water, thus creating an army of subordinates called Shibito. The shibito then go about building a nest to house the corporal form of Datatsushi once it is summoned, as well as killing and converting any living humans left in Hanuda. The story is told through the perspectives of ten survivors, some of whom are natives of Hanuda, and is presented out of chronological order over the three days in which the mystery takes place."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Siren

There are four types of Shibito in this and they aren't defeatable meaning they will eventually wake up after being knocked out. They are attracted to noise and light so always walk (never run) when close to them and turn your torch off when around them.
The four types are:

Human Shibito - (Left) These look like Humans as normal, except for the blood coming from their eyes and the black stuff around their mouth.

Spider Shibito - They are called Spider Shibito because of how they walk. Like the Crab Yoga position they walk on all fours, their back towards the floor. At some point you see them creating webs with rope and string.

Moth Shibito - These Shibito have wings like a moth or butterfly. They also carry gun's making it harder to avoid them.

Brain Shibito - (Right with Risa) There are few of these about and they have worm like things hanging from their faces. They control the Spider Shibito so when the Brain is down, the Spiders will fall down also.

Sight Jacking is a concept within the game where the characters can see what the Shibito and other characters can see. This is vital plainly because this game involves more stealth than action. One character in particular wields no weapons whatsoever throughout their part in the game so stealth is absolutely necessary or you'll fail. Some Shibito hold rifles which can get you from far distances so sight Jacking informs you of what the shibito is focused on.
Shibito are very predictable and always use the same route either A to B or in circles. Sight Jacking various Shibitos in the area will make to wise to where they patrol as well as using their sight to find items.

There is a huge cast in this game, some characters being more important than others. Some characters you'll only play as once or twice, some characters you don't play as at all. Here's a list and the reasons they are at Hanuda Village.

Kyoya Suda (left) is our main character in the game and is the hero at the end (apparently). He's come to Hanuda to find out more about the massacre that happened there years ago.

Kei Makino is a Priest of the local religion. I haven't come across him much whilst I've been playing but he's the brother of Shiro Miyata is a doctor at the local hospital.

Risa Onda is is back at her hometown from Tokyo to see her twin sister Mina Onda who is a nurse at the hospital where Shiro works.

Tamon Takeuchi (right with Yoriko)is a teacher who grew up in Hanuda Village and has returned to find out what had happened to his parents who had died when Tamon was a child.

Yoriko Anno is Tamon's student who has come along uninvited. We find that she has a crush on her teacher which is the unofficial reason for coming along. She's quite annoying is this character - I don't like her much.

Hisako Yao is one of our bad guys although she is nice at the beginning of the game. She is a nun of the local religion and she's the reason the events of the game occur, reincarnating the god of their religion.

Miyako Kajiro (left) is the latest girl within the Kajiro family to be sacrificed for the religion. She is goes along with Kyoya for most of the game but she is completely blind which can be a pain for whoever is playing the game.

Reiko Takato is a teacher at the local elementary school whose student is Harumi Yomoda. Reiko spends half of the game protecting Harumi from the Shibito before sacrificing her life in order to save her once again.

Akira Shimura is also a resident of Hanuda and is the oldest character of the game. His Shotgun makes him the easiest character to play as although he is pretty slow. He kills himself to avoid becoming one of the un-dead, failing. He eventually becomes a Shibito.

Naoko Mihama is a model/TV Presenter who is in Hanuda to film the Television series, Occult Japan. Going a little bit crazy she drowns herself in the red water in a bid to keep her youthful looks. She is my personal favourite in this game.

Tomoko Maeda is a middle school student who becomes a Shibito. She dies off screen so we don't know how she died but she was probably killed by another Shibito

Mina, Yoriko and Miyako are the only characters we never play as through the game but all have quite important parts in the plot.

A lot of the time the playable character will have a sidekick with them. These don't attack the Shibito themselves but rely on you to do it. They'll do pretty much what you tell them to such as "Wait","Hide" and "Come Here". Female sidekicks may also need your help in pulling them up high places such as sheds, rocks etc. In some cases, hiding a sidekick in a certain place may encourage them to find items such as keys.

The graphics used in this game are very unique in the fact that the characters are played by actors (I don't just mean the voice). The actor’s faces are imposed onto the character models making them look more realistic. Going to the Menu Page allows you to see the real life actor playing the character.

The areas in the game include The Elementary School, The Maeda House, Lower Arato, Janokubi Valley and the Shibito Nest amongst others and there are some really good props hanging around such as the payphones, drawings (by the children at the school). The clothes the female characters wear are nice too - Risa Onda and Naoko Mihama for example.

In order to find out more about the plot, there are 100 Archive Items to find throughout the game. I love this part of the game because the guys at Sony have been really innovative regarding the kind of items you can get. Videos and Tapes are some of the best you can get but there are also newspaper and magazine articles which can be quite funny. I think these can be really interesting to look at.
The weapons are quite unique too. You have the staples such as the rifle and the pistol but you also have the Poker, Umbrella, Hammer and the crowbar.

Why I never completed it:

This game is extremely hard and that is the only reason I haven't been able to complete it. The game is much harder than most for the following reasons:

1) Where Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Project Zero have healing items to collect; Forbidden Siren has nothing like that. If you get trapped by several Shibito’s you will die, your energy however will go back to normal when you haven't been hit for a while.

2) If your Sidekick dies you will have to start from the top and because they don't attack Shibito they usually do unless you tell them to stay put.

3) Checkpoint is a word Sony Japan doesn't know about in this game. Checkpoints are exceptionally rare meaning that you have to do the whole mission from the start which is obviously a pain when you're near the end of a mission. Checkpoints do occur occasionally but not very often.

4) The game is quite time consuming if you're a magpie gamer like me I.E. You have to collect everything available to you. If you find an archive item then die during the mission, you will have to go and get the archive item again. It takes forever on the harder missions at the end of the game.

5) It is a very confusing storyline on religion which is a subject I personally find boring. To make the game even more confusing, the events of the game are not in chronological order so you're going back and forth but the link navigator will help you out a little. The link navigator is a graph with the character names at the top and the times on the left so you can look back at what mission came first. Unfortunately you won’t get control of it until halfway through the game.

The first time I played this I didn't get as far as the third or fourth mission without getting killed over and over again. I put it aside and just never went back to it...In fact, I sold it without giving it much of a chance - I found it just too hard.
Then Forbidden Siren 2 was due for release and despite the fact I was unsure about getting the second after failing the first, it was Christmas so I got my Mum to buy it for my present. I’m going to talk about Forbidden Siren 2 later but for now I’ll just say this. It impressed me so much I decided to get the original again and give it another go.
The second time I got a little further but I still found it rather hard and for a second time I put it aside. As I’m writing this now, I am attempting it again after the recent Blood Curse has been released although I’m using a walkthrough in order to do it.

Anybody else find the game extremely hard?
Archive Items? A pain or useful?
Who's your favourite character?