Oct 182019
Are we still talking about Silent Hill 2? That’s right, we aren’t done yet.
The version of Silent Hill 2 I played was the Greatest Hits version, which includes the sub-scenario Born from a Wish.
Born from a Wish is a short prequel in which you play as Maria prior to her meeting up with James in Silent Hill 2. This is an interesting decision for a side story, considering the nature of Maria.
It’s short, taking about an hour to complete (a little more or less depending on how much you explore the town), and it mainly focuses on Maria’s encounter with a mysterious man named Ernest Baldwin. Maria, who is searching for a way to escape the insanity of Silent Hill, begins exploring the Baldwin mansion and learning more about Ernest.
Since it’s so short, there’s not much I can say about the story without spoiling it. I will say that it feels a lot different than a typical Silent Hill story. Like the main story of Silent Hill 2, it’s also sad.
More than anything, it raises questions about Maria. From Silent Hill 2 alone, it’s easy to come to the conclusion that Maria isn’t a “real” person in the same way the others are, but Born from a Wish shows that she has her own hopes and fears – and that she might be concerned, on some level, about the nature of her existence.
Gameplay-wise, it’s pretty much just more Silent Hill, and that’s always a good thing.
So if you have time and a copy of Silent Hill 2 that includes it, it’s worth playing through Born from a Wish to see a side of Maria that doesn’t come through in the main game.
I wish you had included a hidden spoiler-tag section for this article like you did with SH2, so we could see your thoughts on the story itself.
I remember being disappointed the first time I watched it that it didn’t really include any concrete lore bits or (at least on the surface) add to the story much, but I hadn’t considered before that what it’s doing is exploring the nature of Maria as more than just a manifestation of Silent Hill. Kinda makes me wonder if any of the other Silent Hill games that had non-real characters had a similar existence.
Well, there’s always Vincent’s “joke” in Silent Hill 3: “Monsters? They look like monsters to you?” which would fit in to some degree with Maria being self-aware rather than just a manifestation.
The Twin Victim enemies in Silent Hill 4 can speak and recognize Henry, so they might have some self-awareness despite being manifestations of the victims rather than the actual victims like the ghosts.
And of course, Shattered Memories… all of Shattered Memories kind of ties into the same idea.
And then there’s Lisa in the original, who I believe is supposed to be already dead, but she just hasn’t realized it yet. *shudder*
Yes, I was thinking about that, but I decided that’s sort of the opposite of a manifestation having self-awareness (but it does support Vincent’s joke).