When you boot up Silent Hill 2 (2024), you know you’re in for some weird stuff. A lot of the monsters are indeed connected to the state of James’ mind and guilt, so they’ll take on a variety of twisted forms, but that’s just one thing to worry about.
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Silent Hill’s Otherworld can take on various properties to change environments or show James things that weren’t apparent before. A prime example is the infamous Hole message that James can encounter while exploring a certain area of the town. It was a strange message back then, and it’s a strange message now.
Where Is The Hole Message?
While exploring Silent Hill, James will be led to many locations, some important and others not so much. Even though there is a natural progression path to the game, James is mostly free to explore on his own and may come across a place known as Neely’s Bar.
He can be directed to it by finding a message in the motor home on Saul Street that says, “I’ll be waiting at Neely’s Bar.” The bar will help guide James to the Apartment Gate Key, but he can visit it on his own by going to the corner of Neely and Sanders Street. While at the bar, there will be a message scrawled on the window that reads, “There was a hole here. It’s gone now.”
What Does The Hole Message Do?
There is no gameplay purpose for the message and it could simply be seen as another way to unnerve the player with cryptic wording.
It’s never revealed whether someone (or something) physically wrote the message or if James is imagining it.
Writing on the wall is a common occurrence in Silent Hill 2 (2024), with “Reap what you sow” having been highlighted due to the trailer.
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In the original version, James can return to Neely’s Bar to find a much more disturbing message in its place that reads, “If you really want to see Mary, you should just die. But you might be heading to a different place than Mary, James.”
After James visits the bar to get a hint about finding the key, he can choose to revisit, if he wants.
What Is The Symbolism Of The Hole Message?
In a discussion with the game’s Art Director, Masahiro Ito, he stated that this message was likely the work of one of the writers, Hiroyuki Owaku, or the environmental artist, Takeshi Miura. However, he offered his insight into the meaning of the message, saying that it could be symbolic of the fact that James can no longer hide from the truth of what he did.
It’s worth noting that this message is located in a bar as it’s been established that James resorted to drinking in response to the suffering he endured as a part of his wife Mary’s illness.
Since he’s been brought to Silent Hill, it can be argued that James has no more holes to crawl into and has no choice but to confront his guilt. There’s an ironic side to this, as when James reaches the Historical Society, he is forced to jump down literal holes to navigate the area until finally arriving at the Labyrinth. This contrasts with the last area of the game where James has to climb to the top of a building to confront the final boss.
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