52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

[bikingjahuty]

6. Silent Hill F (PS5) - ABANDONED

As cliche and annoying as it is, I'm starting to wonder if I'm less of a Silent Hill fan and more of just a Silent Hill 2 fan. I adore Silent Hill 2, both the original and the remake. They stand as a couple of the best games I've ever played and ones I frequently compelled to go back and play. However, I have struggled to get into the other games in the series I've tried. Unfortunately, Silent Hill F is yet another game in this series I just could not vibe with no matter how hard I tried.


Probably my biggest issue with F was not understanding at all what I was doing, why things were happening, or what was even my characters motivations. And before anything was even remotely explained, the game would throw several more new things at you without any explanation either. It made it hard to care or really feel invested in anything character or story-wise during my brief time playing Silent Hill F. In fact, this game felt so nonsensical that it even was killing the horror aspects of the game for me as I wondered why I was even in some creepy setting in the first place, or why an enemy type had appeared or what it's significance was. I know Silent Hill games are heavily metaphorical and drenched in layers of psychological horror, but Silent Hill F didn't have a single foot on the ground to root me into anything that was happening. It felt like some drug trip I was meant to experience and promptly forget as soon as I sobered up. Compare this to Silent Hill 2 where the character has a clear motivation of why he's where he is and what he's looking for. In Silent Hill F...I couldn't tell you why the hell I was going from one place to another other than the game telling me to go there because it was marked on the map.


Luckily, the gameplay of Silent Hill F wasn't among my problems with the game. While nothing special, it worked well enough for me to take on most enemies I ran into. Visuals and audio were also pretty good too. Not incredibe, but certainly good for a PS5 game.


The final straw for me in abandoning F was looking up when the hell this game was supposed to start making any sense, only to find it'[s not meant to make sense at all or really even reveal why anything is happening until you've beat the game multiple times. I audibly said out loud, "you gotta be shitting me..." when I read this. I could barely play this game for two whole hours and the creators of this game want me to beat the exact same game with minor extra story reveals three more times, culminating in a nearly 40 hour experience before it's going to even give me the main cahracter's motivations? Screw. That.


Because of this alone, it's tempting to throw Silent Hill F up on ebay and never entertain the thought of playing this game ever again, but funny enough I don't feel this way, at least not completely. I still feel like someday I may want to ride the game out, at least t beat it once, and then determine whether or not I'd like to play again to experience the full game. Chances are I'm deluding myself, but I'm just saying this is more of a shelved game rather than one I'm outright abandoning and never picking up again. Although, I very well could decide this game just isn't worth it given it's poor story and writing structure. We'll see someday I guess. (10/4/26) - ABANDONED

[dhaabi]

6. Silent Hill F (PS5) - ABANDONED

As cliche and annoying as it is, I'm starting to wonder if I'm less of a Silent Hill fan and more of just a Silent Hill 2 fan.

Out of curiosity, which games in the franchise have you played? Silent Hill 3 is arguably just as good as its direct predecessor while also having a very clear (and good) narrative to follow with character motivation, so it's easy to recommend.

[telly]

Game 21: Castlevania: The Adventure (PS4) - 5 Hours

The CASLTEVANIA ADVENTURE (as I will always call it), was very early Game Boy release that definitely shows its age playing it today. The graphics and music are pretty basic, and with only 4 levels it will be over before you know it. The biggest issues for me were the somewhat suspect hit detection and some input lag that limits your ability to do simultaneous actions (like whipping while ducking). Without any special items to increase your range/attack options, you're just kind of left to your whip to serve you through the whole game and it only works marginally well. It was particularly annoying that whip upgrades are lost when you get hit.

The saving grace was that with unlimited continues and a generous checkpoint system (that's native to the game), it wasn't too difficult to push through as long as I had a save state at the start of each stage. Not to mention that all the bosses were pretty easy even though individual levels could be challenging, especially the ones with instant kill spikes/pits.

The Castlevania Adventure isn't a horrible game, but it really doesn't have anything special to it. I think the sequel on Game Boy is a massive improvement and am looking forward to giving that a shot soon.

[telly]

6. Silent Hill F (PS5) - ABANDONED

I personally liked the story, but I completely understand if it's not for everyone. To me the biggest offender with the story like you mentioned was the expectation that it cannot be fully understood until you complete the game multiple times (or just look it up online like I did, haha). If the game were a fun, colorful romp, then maybe I'd be down. But this game isn't something I can play multiple times over. Certainly not back-to-back-to-back. Maybe in like 5-10 years I'd replay it.

The other thing for me is that the multiple endings make the symbolism almost impossible to decipher. Because some endings make some symbolism unimportant, and the symbolism is really only truly connected to the "correct" ending, leading for a very messy experience if you aren't at that ending yet.

[realpoketendonl]

25. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (PC/Steam Deck)

Pff, this game. I have never properly played either of the Sonic Adventure games before, only trying out a level or two like ten years ago. Considering how iconic Sonic Adventure 2 is, I wanted to give it a fair shot and experience it for myself. And well, I can't say I particularly enjoyed it. I honestly can't pin whether this game did not age well or whether it was never that great.

There were some parts I enjoyed, no doubt. When the Sonic/Shadow stages work, they work and are fun to run through. But that's about where it ends. The Tails/Dr. Eggman stages are often pretty dull. The Knuckles/Rouge treasure hunting stages were a chore that I never enjoyed seeing pop up. The bosses I find not that well designed (having us run towards the camera? Really?). And even the Sonic/Shadow stages, I found pretty janky from time to time. I would be glad when a stage was over, but I was rarely happy to start a new one. Even when I tried to go along with the game's radical vibes, as soon as the gameplay would start I'd immediately be pulled back out.

It's a shame. I will always like this game to some extent for its cultural impact and iconicness. I really like Shadow, I will always sing along to Escape from the City and get hyped from Live and Learn, I will always quote the iconic SA2 fandub, and I really fondly remember seeing the third Sonic movie in the theatre with my friends and the whole audience roaring with laughter and cheering at all the iconic moments stemming from this game. But in terms of actually playing it? Well, I suppose I'm glad I actually played it now, but I can't say that overall I particularly enjoyed it. I don't see myself coming back to it again.

I do still ship Sonadow tho /j

[bikingjahuty]

6. Silent Hill F (PS5) - ABANDONED

As cliche and annoying as it is, I'm starting to wonder if I'm less of a Silent Hill fan and more of just a Silent Hill 2 fan.

Out of curiosity, which games in the franchise have you played? Silent Hill 3 is arguably just as good as its direct predecessor while also having a very clear (and good) narrative to follow with character motivation, so it's easy to recommend.

The original, 2, 2 remake, F, and some of 4. I know they have their defenders, but I haven't heard good things about the rest of the PS2 and PS3 era games. I hear PT is great, but it's not the easiest game to play these days. I've heard good things about 3 and plan on playing it next year. The only thing that concerns me is its a sequel to the first game, however my gripes with the first game have less to do with the story or atmosphere and almost everything to do with the controls and gameplay. I get why Konami remade 2 first, but honestly that first game needs it way more.

[bikingjahuty]

6. Silent Hill F (PS5) - ABANDONED

I personally liked the story, but I completely understand if it's not for everyone. To me the biggest offender with the story like you mentioned was the expectation that it cannot be fully understood until you complete the game multiple times (or just look it up online like I did, haha). If the game were a fun, colorful romp, then maybe I'd be down. But this game isn't something I can play multiple times over. Certainly not back-to-back-to-back. Maybe in like 5-10 years I'd replay it.

The other thing for me is that the multiple endings make the symbolism almost impossible to decipher. Because some endings make some symbolism unimportant, and the symbolism is really only truly connected to the "correct" ending, leading for a very messy experience if you aren't at that ending yet.

At least for me, the idea of not being given the payoff of understanding what the hell is even going on after beating just really kills all my motivation to play anymore. I definitely could have just watched cutscenes online, but that almost defeats the purpose of me playing a game, at least imo. To my understanding, the other games have more of a traditional story telling structure, which makes me feel better, but as to whether they're all that interesting or not is another matter. I don't know, the more I think about it, the more I feel like I probably won't play F again, but I'm going to hold onto it at least for now as see if maybe I change my mind.

[dhaabi]

Out of curiosity, which games in the franchise have you played? Silent Hill 3 is arguably just as good as its direct predecessor while also having a very clear (and good) narrative to follow with character motivation, so it's easy to recommend.

I've heard good things about 3 and plan on playing it next year. The only thing that concerns me is its a sequel to the first game, however my gripes with the first game have less to do with the story or atmosphere and almost everything to do with the controls and gameplay. I get why Konami remade 2 first, but honestly that first game needs it way more.

I understand why you'd feel hesitant about the idea of beginning a direct sequel before starting the first entry. Personally, I don't think it's an issue in this instance, though, which is why I didn't mention it. I would consider Silent Hill 3 to still be very accessible to understand without having played Silent Hill. Maybe I'm an outlier holding that opinion, though.

Or, alternatively, you could just wait until the Silent Hill remake is released in the near future and prioritize playing that version instead first.

[marvelvscapcom2]

Silent Hill Townfall ABANDONED/SOLD


The same fate befell silent hill 2 for me when I owned it but I admit I didnt give that one a fair shake nearly as much as this one.  I am not going to say these are bad games solely because I don't like them as I know they are beloved lately but this series really just doesn't resonate with me.  I wanted to say because this had a dev I enjoy AnnaPurna and FPS pov, and stealth elements id love it. Fresh slate. It was giving Resident Evil because RE had a cool FPS shift I enjoy.  Maybe meets Metal Gear.  I watched trailers that felt paced nice.  But it simply uses none of it to merit.  It is such an excruciating vague, and slow bore game.  I've spent hours simply wandering around and watching ugly static videos on some sort of CRT gimmick. Which ends up being more of an annoyance than feeling like it was properly integrated into the puzzle elements or plot. You have to backtrack and aimlessly wander to find things that really coulda been in the spot where you already were.  To me that's not boundless exploration. It's padding of the time. It feels rushed and pretty.


Tbh I think I keep chasing the rabbit on this game franchise. I am looking for the Joy the resident evil franchise gives me and Silent Hill just isnt that.  It takes a special mind set.  It relies heavily on a slow building dread then anything flashy and it's not for me.  I also hate games with maps as obscure as this one.  Feel like Lewis and Clark.  I'm barely told anything and have to now wander a city looking for a combination to a organ cooler.   Why? I can go on fetch quests in my regular life. I don't need to do the whole "go to Walmart on the other side of Skyrim map to get bread for the lonely wizard" let me solve puzzles, avoid beasts and see guts. 


Maybe its because my backlog is too large and if something doesnt wow me right away I got no patience but I rather ditch this while I may get most of my money back then wait out for the joy.  I may revisit it if its ever on subscription service or sale.

6. Silent Hill F (PS5) - ABANDONED

As cliche and annoying as it is, I'm starting to wonder if I'm less of a Silent Hill fan and more of just a Silent Hill 2 fan. I adore Silent Hill 2, both the original and the remake. They stand as a couple of the best games I've ever played and ones I frequently compelled to go back and play. However, I have struggled to get into the other games in the series I've tried. Unfortunately, Silent Hill F is yet another game in this series I just could not vibe with no matter how hard I tried.


Probably my biggest issue with F was not understanding at all what I was doing, why things were happening, or what was even my characters motivations. And before anything was even remotely explained, the game would throw several more new things at you without any explanation either. It made it hard to care or really feel invested in anything character or story-wise during my brief time playing Silent Hill F. In fact, this game felt so nonsensical that it even was killing the horror aspects of the game for me as I wondered why I was even in some creepy setting in the first place, or why an enemy type had appeared or what it's significance was. I know Silent Hill games are heavily metaphorical and drenched in layers of psychological horror, but Silent Hill F didn't have a single foot on the ground to root me into anything that was happening. It felt like some drug trip I was meant to experience and promptly forget as soon as I sobered up. Compare this to Silent Hill 2 where the character has a clear motivation of why he's where he is and what he's looking for. In Silent Hill F...I couldn't tell you why the hell I was going from one place to another other than the game telling me to go there because it was marked on the map.


Luckily, the gameplay of Silent Hill F wasn't among my problems with the game. While nothing special, it worked well enough for me to take on most enemies I ran into. Visuals and audio were also pretty good too. Not incredibe, but certainly good for a PS5 game.


The final straw for me in abandoning F was looking up when the hell this game was supposed to start making any sense, only to find it'[s not meant to make sense at all or really even reveal why anything is happening until you've beat the game multiple times. I audibly said out loud, "you gotta be shitting me..." when I read this. I could barely play this game for two whole hours and the creators of this game want me to beat the exact same game with minor extra story reveals three more times, culminating in a nearly 40 hour experience before it's going to even give me the main cahracter's motivations? Screw. That.


Because of this alone, it's tempting to throw Silent Hill F up on ebay and never entertain the thought of playing this game ever again, but funny enough I don't feel this way, at least not completely. I still feel like someday I may want to ride the game out, at least t beat it once, and then determine whether or not I'd like to play again to experience the full game. Chances are I'm deluding myself, but I'm just saying this is more of a shelved game rather than one I'm outright abandoning and never picking up again. Although, I very well could decide this game just isn't worth it given it's poor story and writing structure. We'll see someday I guess. (10/4/26) - ABANDONED

Not sure how closely Townfall plays like F but your assessment fits mine of townfall pretty spot on. Refreshing actually lol. I have 0 clue of what is going on.  A Spanish lady is showing me clues on a portable TV and I keep going from that to random streams of consciousness before I can even get my bearings.  The monster it did show me is heavily ripped off from the mind flayer from stranger things and the plot is disjointed so much I feel car sick.  Maybe the confusion is supposed to add to the dread and feeling of disoriented hysteria?  Idk.  But it isnt the easiest game to follow early on.  And imo the first few hours of a game are very important to anchor the plot.

[dhaabi]

The monster it did show me is heavily ripped off from the mind flayer from stranger things

I've not played Townfall, but that's probably an unfair assessment. After all, Stranger Things' mind flayer is taken straight from Dungeons & Dragons, which, in turn, was a monster whose design was inspired by Lovecraftian horror—specifically an artist whose drawings accompanied a horror fiction writer's works.