Or Maybe You Think You Can Save Me.

[rionaleonhart]

I was not at all psychologically prepared for how weird the release of the Silent Hill 2 remake would be.

The original Silent Hill 2 permanently rewired my psyche when I was sixteen. It's responsible for half my taste in fiction. So many of the characters I love, so many of the things I've written, they can all be traced back to James Sunderland. I have been insane about this specific fictional character for twenty years.

And suddenly he's everywhere! Suddenly everyone is talking about this character who was wildly, catastrophically formative for me!

I haven't played the remake yet, so I don't know whether it will click for me! Whether it does or not, though, it's great to see a brand new generation of gamers falling into the pit I've lived in for so long. Welcome to the world of Being Weird About James Sunderland. Here's to the next twenty years.

This morning, I saw that hamsterwoman had posted a collection of character-specific meme questions, and this seemed like a great opportunity to express some of the feelings I have about this disaster of a fictional man.

There are full-game spoilers for Silent Hill 2 below the cut. As I haven't played the remake, I'm speaking about the James of the original game; I'll be interested to learn how similar or different the remake James feels!



1. Why do I like or dislike this character?

I bonded very closely with James when playing Silent Hill 2, I think. I found the game extremely scary, and it felt like James, as the character I was playing, was the only person there who was really on my side. But the main reason he's stuck in my mind for all these years is that I find him absolutely fascinating.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

His complexity! In a lot of stories, I feel 'this guy murdered his terminally ill wife' would be taken in one of two directions: 'this man is an irredeemable monster' or 'actually it's totally fine, he put her out of her misery, let's not worry about what Mary might have wanted'.

I really appreciate that Silent Hill 2 goes 'James killing Mary was a terrible act, and a selfish act. He didn't do it for her, and her death was an atrocity and a tragedy. But that doesn't mean he didn't love her, or that he doesn't hate himself for it, and it doesn't mean there's something in his nature that's inherently worse than anyone else. He didn't do this because he's a monster; he did this because he's a human.'

Silent Hill 2 isn't interested in arguing whether James is a good person or a bad person. He's just an ordinary person who did a terrible thing. It makes him feel very real, I think.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Hmm. How awkward he is to control? The fact that I can't re-experience his story unless I'm prepared to be terrified? It might be nice if he reacted more to things, but I can understand why he doesn't.

To be honest, I don't think there's any aspect of James I really dislike. Everything we learn about him fits into the character he is.

4. If I could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would I put them in?

In a crossover sense? Honestly, I don't think James Sunderland belongs anywhere but Silent Hill. The only other canon I can even begin to envision him in is The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope, and that's only because Little Hope is essentially a carbon copy of Silent Hill.

If you're talking about changing the medium in which his story is told, it might be interesting to see Silent Hill 2 as a visual novel. Visual novels tend to delve very deeply into the protagonist's thoughts, and it'd be interesting to get a really good look at what's going on inside James's head. Then again, maybe part of what makes him such an interesting character is the ambiguity created by the fact that we mainly perceive him from the outside.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when I think about them?

'Promise', from the Silent Hill 2 soundtrack, which I have been listening to while writing this post.

6. What's something I have in common with this character?

Wow, that's not a pleasant question to contemplate. I think we're both weaker-willed than we'd like to be.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that I like?

Lots of cool symbolic fanart!

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that I despise?

I really dislike it when fans flatten James's character into 'he killed her, so he's evil' or 'but she was ill, so it's actually completely fine that he murdered her'. No! You're trying to find the correct side of a dichotomy that doesn't exist!

The questions at play here are so much more complicated and interesting than 'is he just inherently a Bad Person, or were his actions completely justified? Surely those are the only two options.' A person doesn't have to be a monster to do a monstrous thing.

9. Could I be housemates with this character?

I mean, I wouldn't die or anything, but I don't think I'd be especially happy in that situation. He's not much fun.

(The original question said 'roommates', which I think in America can be used to mean sharing a house? To me, it means sharing a bedroom, so I changed the wording to 'housemates' for clarity.)

10. Could I be best friends with this character?

It's hard to get much of an idea of what James is interested in besides 'desperately searching for his dead wife', but I don't think we have a lot in common. I don't think I'd dislike him, but he's probably not someone I'd choose to spend a lot of time around.

11. Would I date this character?

Ahahaha, no. No. Absolutely not. God, no. No.

12. What's a headcanon I have for this character?

I just spent a moment thinking, 'Do I... have any headcanons for James? Surely I must have some, when I've spent so much time thinking about him? What's a detail from one of my fics? He... likes to be choked in bed?' and then 'Holy shit, that's distressing and awful on levels I never really considered before.' Which makes it perfect for Silent Hill, so I'm sticking with it. He likes to be choked in bed.

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds me of this character or I think the character would use a lot?

'have u seen my [BRIDE EMOJI]?'

I don't really see James as an emoji guy.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

I don't really see James as a fashion guy either! And I'm definitely not a fashion person; I'm not really sure exactly what a fashion aesthetic is. He dresses... practically?

15. What's my favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

I have a lot of very intense feelings about James/Mary. I think it might actually be the first canon pairing I ever became really passionate about. It's so awful and tragic, but that tragedy is rooted in real feeling. He hated her and he loved her and he killed her.

16. What's my least favorite ship for this character?

Hmm! I'll limit these to things I've actually seen people shipping or writing; I'd be unhappy if I accidentally stumbled across, say, James/Laura fanart, but I've never actually seen anyone shipping them, so my preference not to see that ship has no impact whatsoever on my life.

I think the only James ships I've seen in the wild are James/Mary, James/Maria and James/Pyramid Head. Of those, I suppose my least favourite is James/Maria, which is undoubtedly interesting (I've written it myself!) but also makes me go NOOOOOO JAMES DON'T DO IT.

17. What's a ship for this character that I'm fine with (but neither hate nor have as my favorite)?

I've never seen anyone shipping it, but maybe James/Angela? It would be terrible, obviously. Absolutely guaranteed to make things worse for everyone. But it would be terrible in an interesting way!

18. How about a canon relationship they have that I like?

I've already talked about my love of James/Mary. Next to them, my favourite of James's canonical relationships is probably the weird dynamic he has with Angela. Their interactions feel so strange and awkward. Angela is so wary and bitter; James wants to reach out to her somehow, he wants to help her, but he doesn't know how.

19. How about a canon relationship they have that I don't like?

I don't dislike any of James's canon relationships. Silent Hill 2 doesn't have many characters - other than James himself, it's basically just Mary, Maria, Angela, Laura, Eddie and Pyramid Head - and their interactions with James are all interesting in their own ways.

One could argue that I don't like James's relationship with Pyramid Head, in the sense that it scares the shit out of me. From a narrative perspective, it's great! From a gameplay perspective: oh God Pyramid Head leave me alone.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character? The amount of screentime they share doesn't matter.

James cannot have a best friend. His character only works if his best friend was also his wife. When she died - or, to take the dangerous perspective that eventually destroyed both of them, when she became ill - he lost everything.

21. As a fic writer, what's my favorite thing to do when I'm writing for this character?

Destroy him. Psychologically torture him until he doesn't know what's real. Keep him anchored to Mary and nothing but Mary, so he's left completely adrift once she's cut away. Of course, Silent Hill does most of the work for me.

22. As a fic reader, what's something I like in fics when it comes to this character? Something I don't like?

I haven't read much Silent Hill 2 fic recently! But I think it's a fun fandom for playing around with game mechanics. Part of the reason I played Silent Hill 2 in the first place was because I was so fascinated by kadrin's fic Save Point: Hell Is Repetition. (NB: this is a fanfiction.net link. I tried to track this fic down somewhere without ads, but I think it's only available on ffnet!)

23. Favorite picture of this character?

This stunning piece of fanart! For a while, this was my phone background. I carefully rearranged all my app icons so they didn't obscure James's anguish.

I've only ever seen reuploads of this piece, so I just squinted at the watermark and went on a little quest to find the original artist. It seems to be 19works, who has a website here (NB: this link will immediately present you with illustrated tits).

24. What other character from another fandom reminds me of them?

Mike Munroe of Until Dawn. Personality-wise, they're very different, but they're both struggling with self-loathing after making hideous mistakes, they're both trying to atone for things that can't ever be undone, and they both undergo horrible experiences they'll never recover from or be believed about. They also both wear heavy green jackets! I love both of them.

25. What was my first impression of this character? How about now?

My first impression, when I'd just heard about him and hadn't played the game, was that he seemed to have interesting psychological problems. After playing the game, my impression was 'he has very interesting psychological problems, and also I love him.' That impression has held steady ever since!



Tem, Ginger and I have been watching a Let's Play of the first Silent Hill game. After the awkwardly voiced first conversation between Harry and Dahlia:

Riona: You see, my big concern about the Silent Hill 2 remake is...
Tem: ...what if the voice acting is too good?
Riona: Exactly! It won't be the same with actual professional voice actors.
Tem: These characters aren't supposed to be voiced by people who know what they're doing!
Riona: The awkward voice acting between James and Angela really gets across the fact that these characters are trying to have a conversation while barely being capable of registering the fact that anyone else exists. Their interactions feel deeply weird, and they should, because these characters are not normal.
(pause)
Riona: And I realise I'm being the worst sort of fan here. Trying to explain why a game's shortcomings are actually good and important. I got so annoyed with people going 'have you considered it's actually a good thing you can't pause in Bloodborne?'


The 'Could I be housemates with this character?' question reminded me of a Tumblr post I saw a few weeks ago. It said, paraphrased, 'Think of a fictional character. You now live with them, in their living situation, for the rest of your life. How are you doing?'

Very unfortunately, my first thought was Light Yagami of Death Note.

There are technically worse people to live with. Light would be tidy, he'd be polite on the surface, he'd be absent most of the time, and he wouldn't try to hit on me. But our cohabitation would be inconvenient for him, so I’d die in a mysterious accident the moment he thought he could get away with it, if Misa didn’t kill me first.

Comments

[doreyg]

It definitely sounds like an fun experience with the Silent Hill remake! I haven't played the games myself, but there are so many things I got into intensely as a teenager and it'd be both a good and weird experience to see them getting remade.

Living with Light would be a terrifying, if mercifully brief experience. He'd be very polite! But you'd definitely have to deal with Misa being horrifically jealous and possibly trying to murder you with her bare hands, and probably have to deal with L turning up and asking you a series of increasingly intense questions. And all the apples would mysteriously disappear! It would be an experience.

[rionaleonhart]

and probably have to deal with L turning up and asking you a series of increasingly intense questions.

I hadn't even considered this! A very alarming experience.

'And all the apples would mysteriously disappear!' made me laugh aloud. This was also a downside I had not considered! I like apples a fair bit, too. I wonder whether Ryuk would go 'good, a person of taste' or 'Light, you have to kill her; she keeps eating my apples!'

[doreyg]

This was also a downside I had not considered! I like apples a fair bit, too. I wonder whether Ryuk would go 'good, a person of taste' or 'Light, you have to kill her; she keeps eating my apples!'

Light would also hilariously overthink whether you were eating the apples as a way to hint that you knew he had the Death Note/suspected him of associating with a Shinigami. Are you spying on him for L, are you??

There is no way you're ever eating an apple in peace again if Light (with Ryuk) is your housemate, is what I'm saying. XD

[(Anonymous)]

For what it's worth, I've watched through the remake now a variety of different times (not the whole game a variety of times for obvious reasons!), so wondered if you were interested in My Thoughts on Voice Acting (and also: interpretations I've seen people take who had never played the game before or had any familiarity with the story) or if it's a conversation you'd rather not have until you get to playing the remake yourself. So I thought I'd ask first!

-timydamonkey

[rionaleonhart]

Thank you for checking! I'd be delighted to hear any thoughts you have on the remake. I'm definitely planning to play it, but, given that I already know the central story, I'm happy to hear things about it in advance.

[(Anonymous)]

SPOILERS FOR THE PLOT OF SILENT HILL 2 ALL THROUGHOUT THIS POST

Excellent, here are far too many thoughts about voice acting.

On the whole, I prefer the remake's voice acting to the original. I should add that I'm incredibly partial to the voice acting of the original, too. I know that the voice acting in the HD version is much maligned, but generally speaking it seems to be broadly considered to be good by the fandom in this remake, too, though obviously that opinion varies. It's mo-cap too so the physical actions of the characters feel like they match the voicing since, well, there's an actor actually making those movements and expressions.

I think what helps it is that while the script is near identical (I'm sure there are some additions unless I just didn't find them particularly memorable in the original game), it for the most part doesn't just try to mimic it but lets the voice actors do their own interpretation.

I'm very attached to certain line reads in the original. As you may know, I'm autistic and tend to get very very into things when they're my interest/obsession to offer an excessive degree. When I was enjoying my Silent Hill kick, I really liked a trail for the original Silent Hill 2 that had cool music and a lot of line reads in it. I had this on repeat for... probably at least a week or two? Maybe more? So I know some lines very, very well, and just as well I know their original read. I think this is relevant to mention as it possibly influences some of my Thoughts on Voice Acting.

Anyway, character by character.

I heard a lot of positive thoughts about James' voice actor from the trailers. I was a bit more apprehensive: the bit from the beginning of the game had a gruffer voice than I imagined, and I was worried they were going to go with a gruff action man sort of thing, which really would not fit James at all. I know original James' performance isn't exactly amazing voice acting, but I did like the choice of how soft-spoken he often was, especially when dealing with characters like Angela. But I needn't have worried. I really liked James' voice by the end as I got to hear the actor handle the (obviously challenging) material and he can do the calmer thing, actually. He was probably one of my favourite performances by the end.

Angela is probably the voice that is most different to the version in the original for me - it's a different direction. For the most part, I think it's good and fits her better. I do think certain line reads (more in terms of emphasis) are better in the original, particularly in her last scene, but that's a personal preference thing and the new voice is undeniably better acting.

Conversely, Eddie's is the voice that's closest to the original for me, with similar type of line reads, but thought he sounded excellent throughout. I felt I had a better understanding of his character, too.

Laura's another one who is definitively better, though it does lose a bit of its sass, I thought (to be fair I don't think you could go much more sassy than the original Laura voice, lol). Definitely no complaints here.

The voice I've seen feelings to be mixed on is Maria/Mary. I suppose it shouldn't be that surprising, as I think it's definitely the strongest voice acting performance in the original game. I think that in both the original and remake there's good voicework there, but the actresses definitely take a different interpretation. It's funny as before the game was released, I saw some complaints about Maria's design and a single line of dialogue from a trailer as they seemed to feel that some of her flirtiness was being sanitised? That's the best way I can think of to describe it. So it was quite funny when I watched it and actually felt that this version of Maria comes across as flirtier than the original, for me. And that's with seeming to lose one or two of her lines (this is not something that happened much - the script is near identical - but I do think "The hotel was your special place, huh? I'll bet it was" seems to have disappeared unless I missed it or it's been moved around). I'm sure not everyone will agree with that, but there's definitely a different interpretation here, and I think that's probably for the best rather than trying to directly compete - although, like with Angela, I think certain line reads worked better in the original. I think her line reads as Maria work better than line reads as Mary, whereas in the original I'd probably have said the opposite.

Moving away from voice acting...

I was watching a blind playthrough and was fascinated when they came to the conclusion at the end (Leave ending, in case it's relevant) that James didn't actually kill Mary, but that he was just voicing his guilt that she'd died. I'm so used to people knowing the plot that it was curious to see somebody else's interpretation, in the face of everything else. I did actually prefer that relevation scene in the original, but it's not bad - it's just a very iconic scene, really, isn't it?

There are some new endings which obviously I won't divulge details of but would be curious to discuss when you play.

-timydamonkey

[rionaleonhart]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share these thoughts! It's good to hear the voice acting worked for you. I'm especially glad to know you liked James's voice, as obviously I have a particular investment in his portrayal!

I'm surprised to hear that the script is almost identical! One thing I'd heard is that the remake is considerably longer than the original, so I'd assumed that they'd added more story. I suppose the extended length must be more down to gameplay, though.

they came to the conclusion at the end (Leave ending, in case it's relevant) that James didn't actually kill Mary, but that he was just voicing his guilt that she'd died.

Huh, interesting! To be honest, if I hadn't known the revelation before I played the original game, I do wonder whether I would have been able to understand what was being shown on the videotape; I suspect I'd have found it confusing.

I hadn't heard about new endings! I'm very curious to learn more about those.

[militarypenguin]

Wonderful answers! I especially love:
I really appreciate that Silent Hill 2 goes 'James killing Mary was a terrible act, and a selfish act. He didn't do it for her, and her death was an atrocity and a tragedy. But that doesn't mean he didn't love her, or that he doesn't hate himself for it, and it doesn't mean there's something in his nature that's inherently worse than anyone else. He didn't do this because he's a monster; he did this because he's a human.'

Silent Hill 2 and the character of James are so intensely personal for me and for a long time it was hard to articulate why that was. Looking back, it was the first work of art I experienced that really made me wrestle with and confront all those seemingly contradictory feelings you described. On my first playthrough, when I was seventeen, I related a lot to James, and when the twist came it was such a gut punch on both a "What? No, he (I) would never--" and "oh god but he (I), could, couldn't he (I)?" level. And from there on out I experienced a sort of journey of coming to peace and appreciation with this portrayal of humanity that can't be distilled into a good/bad dichotomy.

I'd love to see Silent Hill 2 as a visual novel. That reminds me there's an official novel I still need to read.

And yes, James absolutely likes being choked out in bed.

I, uh, can't look at the remake at all. I see gifsets and video clips and instantly recoil. I saw how the prison scene was done and went "No, no, wrong" (and I know that's not blind adoration for the original talking--where are the shadows so stark you can't see their eyes, giving them ghostly appearances? I'm not opposed to "different", but for something where recreating the feeling of the original was its end goal, that was the red flag that this was not "my" Mary Silent Hill 2.) And completely co-signed that it's not the same if the voice acting is polished and "good"! I connected so hard to the original because it was awkward and surreal.

That said, I promise not to drop any negative comments should you check it out and enjoy it! (My partner is enjoying it and joked that she felt like she was betraying me.)

[rionaleonhart]

I related a lot to James, and when the twist came it was such a gut punch on both a "What? No, he (I) would never--" and "oh god but he (I), could, couldn't he (I)?" level.

Oh, wow, that sounds like an intense experience! And it's a revelation that makes a lot of sense. James could be any one of us; he's just an ordinary person who, when he felt cornered by an impossible situation, ended up doing something desperate and terrible.

Your aversion to the remake makes a lot of sense! I definitely had an instinctive 'no, wrong, not my James' when I first saw images. I honestly have no idea how it's going to hit me, but I'm compelled to give it a try.

[marginaliana]

Which LP have you been watching for the first game? I'm curious but I know I'll never play it myself.

[rionaleonhart]

The Let's Play is by agentjr, who's also done other games in the series, but I don't know if it'd be the best choice for you! We're watching it as a nostalgic exercise - it's the Let's Play that originally introduced Tem to the series - so it's fifteen years old, meaning the video quality is relatively low (although it doesn't make a huge difference to a PS1 game) and the video length is tightly limited (the Let's Play is around forty videos of approximately ten minutes each).

Whether you watch this one or a different one, I hope you enjoy the game, if you do check it out! Although I might recommend starting with Silent Hill 2, which is standalone and, in my completely unbiased opinion, the best one.

[zarla]

I FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT THE WEIRD STILTED VOICE ACTING it makes it all feel very dreamlike and surreal, haha. I heard from one friend that the remake was really good, and from another it was kind of meh, and I'm still dubious about it myself, but I do wonder what kind of impact having competent voice actors would have on the whole feel of the game.

[rionaleonhart]

Remaking games like this is a real challenge, because horror games are in a weird situation where they often benefit from technical limitations. The awkward graphics and voice acting help to make Silent Hill 2 a more unsettling game! I'll be interested to learn how different the atmosphere of the remake feels.

[zarla]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking! Like part of SH2 for me was the crunchy textures and clunky controls and the weird faces and the bizarre voice acting, haha. Same thing for SH1 with the low poly things and Harry's blank pixel face. It obviously left an impression since a lot of indie horror games nowadays deliberately imitate that more low-poly look! Maybe if I think about it as sort of its own thing rather than a redo of SH2...

[night_owl_9]

No! You're trying to find the correct side of a dichotomy that doesn't exist! - Thank you!

[rionaleonhart]

It's interesting to see how, when presented when a sympathetic person who did a bad thing, a lot of fan attitudes split into either 'well, he did a bad thing, so he's a bad person' or 'well, he's not a bad person, so the thing he did must not have been that bad'. Trying to divide the world into good people and bad people is really limiting, I think, and I'm glad that Silent Hill 2 avoids that pitfall.

[night_owl_9]

I agree wholeheartedly.

[storme]

I'm not a Silent Hill person but I fully understand the voice acting thing! I don't want someone to remake The Last Remnant with new voice actors and competent voice editing! It would ruin it!

(The weird awkward gaps after lines are easy to attribute to 'everyone is embarrassed you said something that dumb, Rush' or 'uh, how do I converse with this pretty person' or 'it is wise to politically be silent until it's weird' and they are FUEL for my FANFIC URGES as I fill the gaps with internal screaming for everyone.)

[rionaleonhart]

I haven't played The Last Remnant, but I absolutely love this comment. You've really captured the experience of looking at canon through a ficwriter's eyes!

[anirrationalseason]

James is a character I thought about for a long time after experiencing SH2 for the first time. I was early twenties and at the time I was appalled at James's behavior, but at the same time I... didn't exactly hate him, either? idk it's like what he did was just so strange and horrifying, but also very human and almost--well--mundane. (I read somewhere that many men irl cannot cope when their spouses get terminal illnesses, and they end up abandoning them or worse--I don't know if the game developers pulled from that real-life statistic to create their story? although I felt like James was having some kind of mental breakdown and that was what precipitated his actions)

It'll be interesting for sure to see more discourse on the game (and James) now that it's gotten a remake.

[rionaleonhart]

He's such an interesting character! He really sticks in your mind. 'Strange and horrifying, but also very human' is a good way of putting it.

I read somewhere that many men irl cannot cope when their spouses get terminal illnesses, and they end up abandoning them or worse--I don't know if the game developers pulled from that real-life statistic to create their story? although I felt like James was having some kind of mental breakdown and that was what precipitated his actions

This is interesting (and sad), and I wouldn't be surprised if mental breakdowns accounted for a lot of those cases. I've heard it's a common problem for men not to have close confidants beyond their romantic partner, which makes breakups or the loss of a partner even harder to handle; suddenly you're going through an emotionally difficult time, and there's no one you feel you can talk to about your emotions.

I was thinking of that when I wrote my answer to question 20, actually: 'James cannot have a best friend. His character only works if his best friend was also his wife.' I don't think James had any close friends to rely on, and he couldn't really talk through his feelings about Mary's illness with Mary herself. So those feelings just built up inside him, and eventually they destroyed both him and Mary.

[juushika]

You got some really thorough replies about how the remake maintains the tone, so I won't go too deep into that. But it's one of the things I love best about it! It handles cutscenes so ridiculously well; there's a sort of foggy fade-in, sometimes literal and always tonal, as control and camera angle shifts, and the pacing and dialog (both script and delivery) have a distinctly surrealist, dreamlike feel. It echoes exactly that "feels weird because it should, because these characters are trapped in their own heads/worlds/hells" vibe that you landed on re: voice acting in the original.

It's also so beautiful. I'm not an ultra-fan of the original (watched the game twice, once with roommate, once with partner, loved it but never engaged in fandom) but I have enjoyed every second of the remake. I find Bloober Team a little hit & miss, but they were exactly right for this project. Something like: their body of work is in the legacy of Silent Hill but lacks the depth of Silent Hill, so when they can bring what they know of that legacy to the better script/imagery of the actual thing, then...

Have you played Signalis? It's one of my favorite games and also very much in the legacy of Silent Hill, but now that I'm rewatching SH2 the parallels are just screaming at me. You'd probably like it!

[rionaleonhart]

I'm thrilled to hear such positive thoughts about the remake! Delighted to know that the character interactions still feel deeply weird. I'm excited to play it, by which I mean I will probably hate every second of playing it, because I am terrible with horror. It's very unfortunate that I got so deeply into this horror game.

Thank you for the Signalis recommendation! I'm a little nervous on account of the aforementioned being terrible with horror, but horror games do occasionally grab me, so I've made a note of it. Maybe I'll take a look at a Let's Play at some point and see if it catches my attention.

[necrophilia]

Didn't a re-release of SH2 get professional VAs? Wasn't James Sunderland voiced, at one point, by Troy Baker?

[rionaleonhart]

He was! I did not play the poorly received HD rerelease, but I watched a trailer, and hearing it with professional actors was incredibly weird.

disclaimer: link may not lead to real trailer; that video is just the only thing I can think of whenever I'm reminded of the HD rerelease, even all these years later

[necrophilia]

I laughed so hard I thought my chest was going to burst.

[thenicochan]

I'm looking forward to the remake! I've downloaded it, but no real time to play it right now. I did treat myself to the scene where James meets Maria on YouTube just to get a feel for it. The new dialogue and blocking, aside from being longer, was really interesting. I've heard a lot of positive stuff about James' portrayl, so I'm curious as to what you'll think!

For my part, I've always liked James, but I never really connected that strongly with him. But I did connect with Maria immediately. First for the whole ~mystery~ element, but as time went on I started to really feel for her story and the metatextual narrative-- and specifically how she exists beyond James' consciousness. Now, if you'll sit down and allow me to discuss her character at length for the next six hours...

Uh, anyways! I have the same feelings you do for James re: Maria in terms of wondering how the remake will work for me. It'll be fun to share thoughts when we both get around to it!

[rionaleonhart]

I remember you wrote a really interesting essay about Maria years ago! I'd love to hear how you find her portrayal when you do get around to playing the remake. I hope we both enjoy it!