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My first ending when I originally played the game back in 2001, was the In Water ending. I actually got that ending for the remake as well (I wanted to, it -was- my favorite one). But I think now I prefer the Stillness ending. I like the idea, with the Stillness ending, that James at least has part of himself that is willing to forgive and let go, before he goes crashing into Toluca Lake instead of being completely broken like he was in the In Water ending.
One thing that puzzles me, is that the leave ending gives extra context to James killing Maria. It reveals that she -wanted- him to do it because she was suffering, and frames what James is going through in a much different light; moreso PTSD and survivor's guilt. I studied a bit of psychology before stupidly deciding not to finish (I joined the military instead, yay). For those couple of years though, one thing we learned about was people caring for those who are terminally ill; and how, family members can come to feel a sense of relief when the person they cared for passes away because of the added stressors from being in that situation. Then there's the guilt for those feelings in the first place, though they are perfectly normal feelings to go through. James tale becomes an even sadder one.
Glad you enjoyed the game, and if you look up youtubers ReInstallPaul and Max Derrat, they both do some deep diving into the Silent Hill lore, including SH2 but they basically cover all of the mainline titles.
The Maria ending, if you catch the symbolism and what it is inferring, is arguably one of the WORST actually. That cough she does at the end, and James telling her she better do something about it--he is about to go through the same damn thing again. It's quite a tragic thought.
Then again, depending on how you feel about James by the end of it, you may feel he deserves it.
Remake: "Leave".
I'm going for Dog right now.
Fun fact, the original developers favored the In Water ending as well; that is the closest statement we have to a "canonical" ending, but there is no definitive canonical one. So if you want to play again and get a different ending, whichever one you prefer is completely valid for what you want to be canonical! I love that they did that, tbh.
Yeah, I was reading non-spoiler stuff about the different endings after I finished my first playthrough, and I thought it was cool I got the devs "preferred" ending for my first playthrough. Pretty sure it's because I was curious and inspected the knife that Angela gives you. It is pretty awesome that they don't consider any one ending the most valid. This is the first Silent Hill game I ever played, and I really love the experience it offers. I'll probably finish my current playthrough for the "Leave" ending within the next couple months.
I was skeptical about the loop theory that James keeps going in and out of Silent Hill 2 on a full circle. However, more I play more I agree with it. Those bodies you found about are all similar to James (there are many) and a considerable of the letters you find about I'm starting to believe it's written by James himself.
I don't, tbh. I really don't want the loop theory to be true, because to me that basically invalidates a lot of what happens in the game. There's also the fact that, for this to be true, I don't see how Silent Hill could be a real place, and you'd have to subscribe to the idea that SH is a purgatory of sorts. But it very much is a real place that exists in the universe of the Silent Hill games. A place of power, partially because of The Order cult (and forgive this incredible oversimplification here), and partially because the entire town was founded and built upon an old indian burial site.
It's an interesting theory, I'll give it that, but I think it clashes too much with established lore to be true.