Key Takeaways
- One of the most interesting things about Silent Hill 2 is its use of the Otherworld.
- While there’s usually a pretty clear formula for when it appears, that’s actually used to circumvent player expectations in one late-game scene.
- Masahiro Ito confirmed as much on Twitter, revealing that the first Lakeview Hotel visit is in the Otherworld.
Silent Hill 2‘s art director, Masahiro Ito, has confirmed a long-standing fan theory that James’ first trip through the “Clean” Lakeview Hotel is actually him in the Otherworld, while the burned-down sequence is real.
One of the things that has made Silent Hill 2 such an impactful and discussed survival horror game in the two decades since it originally released is how much of its horror is left up to interpretation and discussion. There are so many smaller details and things you won’t notice or understand until the game’s big twist in its final moments.
Spoiler alert for Silent Hill 2’s ending below.
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That twist is, of course, the fact that James Sunderland is in Silent Hill due to him murdering his own wife, something that he’s completely blocked out. Once you know this, so much of James’ trip through Silent Hill is put into a new light, such as the designs of the monsters and the origin of Pyramid Head, many of which have been confirmed by the game’s art director.
Silent Hill 2’s First Lakeview Visit Is In The Otherworld
Over the past month since Silent Hill 2’s launch, Ito has taken to Twitter and Bluesky to outright confirm some major fan theories that have been discussed for over two decades. One such theory was confirmed by Ito recently during a discussion about the design of the Mandarin and the creatures appearing in the Otherworld, the run-down and rusted nightmare realm James occasionally stumbles into.
While on the topic of the Otherworld, Ito revealed that the pristine version of the Lakeview Hotel that James encounters is actually supposed to be in the Otherworld, and is based on his memory of the vacation he and Mary took there. This in turn means that the burned-down version of the hotel that he’s in after watching the tape is actually the real world.
This is something that fans have discussed for a long time, as Silent Hill 2 purposefully makes it a little unclear which world you’re in during that sequence, as James usually appears in the Otherworld after visiting a key location. The Lakeview Hotel being burned down is actually alluded to within Silent Hill 2 as well, and outright confirmed by later games in the series, but it’s interesting for Ito to reveal that was always the intent.
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