Silent Hill

After Kazue inserted the video game, the logo of KS1 and KiShin intro started.

After that, the video game "Silent Hill" intro story animation started.

It was a man driving a car, and beside him was a little girl. As the car was driving along the road, a young woman seemed to be walking in the middle of the road, causing the man to try to avoid her, but his car crashed instead.

After that, the scene flashed white before the video game menu showed.

After that, Kazue skillfully selected "start," and then the options of difficulty appeared.

As Kazue has been a gamer for quite a while, she was no stranger to video games.

When Kazue saw the options of difficulty, such as "Easy, Normal, and Hard," she snorted and said, "Hmph... I bet the difficulty doesn't matter anyway..." Then she chose the "Hard" difficulty.

As Kazue also participated in the video game production of the Suzuki, she knew that with the limited capabilities of AI, the difficulty of the game and that the enemies are just following a certain pattern or something like that. She was not aware of the details, but she got the gist of it.

But what Kazue didn't know was that the AI used in "Silent Hill" is similar to the AI used in "Metal Gear Solid I," which is actually an Adaptive AI. An Adaptive AI adapts to players' strategies and enemy patrol routes. When a player repeatedly traverses an area, the enemy adjusts its approach to catch the player. In "Metal Gear Solid I," the AI includes alert phases triggered by player detection, leading to actions like calling for reinforcements, changing patrol patterns, or initiating aggressive pursuit. Boss behavior also adds difficulty for the player. Similar mechanics are employed in "Silent Hill," although its focus on psychological horror and atmosphere exploration makes the adaptive AI less overt. Nevertheless, the AI remains valuable for setting difficulty options, whether easy or hard. Although AI wasn't as advanced in this parallel world 1995, KiShin's AI for video game development, despite being developed in this era, was commendable.

The adaptive AI used in "Metal Gear Solid I" was truly innovative for its time, specifically in 1995. KiShin stood out as an industry innovator, earning admiration from other video game entertainment companies that took notice of such AI advancements in "Metal Gear Solid I."

After Kazue selected the hard mode, the video game started, featuring the opening scene of a man stepping out of his already wrecked car. As he walked away from the car, he realized he was in an unfamiliar place.

A caption appeared with the in-game character questioning his whereabouts.

Kazue gained control of the in-game character and navigated through the foggy area.

Furrowing her brows, she had to admit that the background atmosphere was quite eerie. Simultaneously, the graphics appeared superior to those in the video game "Religion of Nightmares." However, she doubted whether "Silent Hill" would be as frightening as "Religion of Nightmares."

What puzzled her was how the KS1 hardware could handle graphics with seemingly numerous buildings in the background. She recalled Suzuki's video game developers attempting it, but the buildings and structures didn't load quickly enough.

Since she lacked extensive knowledge of video game development, she didn't dwell on it. She continued to guide the in-game character forward, and after playing for a while, Kazue unknowingly became curious about the gameplay. Then, she spotted a girl in the distance, and the in-game character's voice exclaimed, "Cheryl? Is that Cheryl!?"

The pre-rendered scene depicted the in-game character following the girl and asking, "Where are you going?"

"Cheryl, huh? Is she his daughter?" Kazue couldn't help but mutter as she observed the scene.

However, the girl named Cheryl ran away, prompting the in-game character to exclaim, "Hey, wait, stop!"

The sounds of footsteps were noticeably audible along with the soundtrack.

In the foggy area where there were no people at all, the sound of footsteps added a chilling and eerie atmosphere to the player's experience.

Kazue, holding the controller, felt a slight chill, but she quickly distracted herself, repeating, "It's just a game." These were the words she often said to herself while playing the video game "Religion of Nightmares."

Yet, the foggy setting, coupled with the soundtrack of footsteps in "Silent Hill," managed to chill Kazue even more.

Then, Kazue guided the in-game character to follow the girl's direction, leading her into a dark alley. Kazue managed to have her in-game character acquire a torch, illuminating the eerie surroundings.

The alley emanated creepy vibes, with blood on the floor and various frightening elements. The usually silent video game, accompanied only by the soundtrack of footsteps, introduced a suspenseful musical score.

Suddenly, a bloody and terrifying figure hanging appeared, prompting the in-game character to exclaim, "What is this? What's going on here!?"

After that, humanoid monsters approached the in-game character, and due to this and the chilling soundtrack, Kazue almost tossed the controller.

The monsters attacked the in-game character, prompting Kazue to guide the character to flee.

However, a fence blocked the in-game character's path, leaving Kazue with no escape.

"Damn it! Is this the end!?" Kazue exclaimed, gritting her teeth.

She witnessed the monsters embracing the in-game character, Harry Mason, accompanied by his groans.

The scene shifted, with Harry Mason waking up in bed.

Following that were pre-rendered scenes featuring Harry Mason and a police woman.

Unbeknownst to Kazue, she was gradually becoming engrossed in the video game "Silent Hill."

After playing for an hour, Kazue couldn't take it anymore and tossed the controller aside.

"Damn it! Why are those mobs so hard to kill? Besides, I remember that there are no monsters patrolling in that area?" Kazue couldn't help but complain, yet she still felt her heart throbbing in fear. "Silent Hill" is undeniably scary.

As a woman proud to believe that no video games could scare her after playing "Religion of Nightmares," Kazue found herself genuinely frightened.

Uncertain whether to continue playing "Silent Hill" or not, she admitted that she wouldn't last long, if not for the fact that it was currently morning and the maid was watching nearby with curiosity.