Silent Hill: Shattered Memories playthrough pt. 0: Preliminary remarks

So I'm starting this. I'd wanted to play something seasonal and was thinking about replaying Silent Hill 4, but I concluded that it was too soon! (not really since my actual first playthrough, but I've been watching some LPs & listening to the soundtrack a lot). I've no interest in any of the entries in the series farmed out to Western developers after Team Silent broke up, but I find Shattered Memories' concept of a "reimagining" of the first game's story interesting. Not that SH1 was grievously broken or anything, but I think the idea of remaking a title by taking the premise and running in a completely original direction could stand to be applied to more games. (Mostly ones that weren't all that hot in the first place - *cough cough* Phantasy Star III.) Plus, as a standalone remake, Shattered Memories has no impact on the "actual" series storyline, so who cares.

I've heard only extremes about this game: that it's brilliant or that it's rubbish. Nothing in between. I also know a couple of the plot twists thanks to some indiscreet blog commenters. I'm going in mostly blind, though.

My PS2's been acting up lately - unable to read certain DVDs and in general showing signs of a weak laser - so I hope I'll be able to play the and that this playthrough won't be derailed by technical difficulties like some others (more on Mystic Ark later). I got it for $15, though, which is significantly less than going internet prices, so if this goes south, I can at least recoup my investment.

ETA: The tag abbreviates as "silent hill: shattered memo". Perfect.
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