Top 8 Best Ways to 'Fix' Silent Hill: Origins

And to address another issue repeated throughout the later games, Origins‘ inclusion of the sadistic “Butcher” monster was an even earlier attempt to cram SH2‘s “Pyramid Head” into a new story (again, going against Ito’s wishes to keep him an exclusive entity to SH2). I’m actually for keeping the Butcher (and his symbolic “half-mask”) but significantly overhauling him to be the physical opposite of main character Travis Grady: obese, hideous, hunchbacked, and more prominently diseased/deformed-looking (and now wielding large meat hooks instead of a giant meat cleaver).

6. Make the Butcher More Unique (Pt. 2)

To expand on the entry above, I also think that Origins should be heavily rewritten/refocused to clarify that the Butcher is a completely separate entity that’s as exclusive to the psyche of Travis Grady as Pyramid Head is to James Sunderland. More specifically, the Butcher shouldn’t serve as an archetype of a guilty conscience like with Pyramid Head and James – rather, the Butcher should be an externalization of something much, much darker inside Travis that he’s struggling to keep in check…maybe even embracing/canonizing what’s being implied about Travis in the “bad” ending.

5. Rework the Melee Weapon System

Overlapping once again with other combat-related issues present in Homecoming and Downpour, the implementation of Origins‘ breakable melee weapon system was – to put it very, very bluntly – so haphazardly designed and unbalanced that it borders on absurdity (because, somehow, Travis Grady can fit an infinite number of toasters, portable TVs, and other items in his pockets). Here, I’d suggest adopting the system utilized in Downpour where you can only carry one melee weapon with you at a time, but with the amount of available melee items greatly reduced even on lower difficulty settings.

4. Incorporate New Areas Between Key Locations

While Origins‘ small scale and short length is understandably attributable to it being originally (and specifically) developed for a portable gaming console, I could see a hypothetically “enhanced” version of the title allowing for additional in-game locations to explore. In general, I’d suggest the placement of new side-areas between the game’s primary locations (hospital, sanitarium, theater, and motel) to lengthen playtime; but in particular, I’d expand the butcher shop into a full-fledged slaughterhouse and “main” area to put more space between the back-to-back (and similar) hospital and sanitarium.

3. Redefine Lisa’s Role in the Story

For the last three entries on this list, I’m going to go over specific changes that should be made in Origins to address narrative issues that clash with the canon established in SH1: in this case, having Lisa Garland featured as already working as a “trainee nurse” seven years prior to the original video game…despite chronologically only being 16/17 by that point. I’d try to rectify this by rewriting her to be a “candy striper” who’s been volunteering at Alchemilla Hospital; however, as dark as it is to say, I’d retain her implied “relationship” with Dr. Kaufmann since it makes him an even bigger scumbag.

2. Have Dahlia Behave More Consistently

Another established character reappearing from SH1 is cult leader Dahlia Gillespie, sporting a noticeably younger (but still fairly weathered) look than her much more recognizable “old hag” appearance from the original game. However, Origins presents her as being way too obviously villainous, even openly admitting to “burning” her daughter Alessa (more on that in a bit): this greatly contradicts her depiction as a schemer and manipulator in SH1, and I’d suggest playing her more guarded and standoffish around Travis since he’s not useful to her as a pawn like Harry Mason.

1. Compromise on the Gillespie House Fire

This one is somewhat excusable since the appearance of an in-game file elaborating on the fire that burned the Gillespie house – and where it started – doesn’t always trigger in SH1…and is contradicted by supplemental material (as well as another file in Origins that suggests a cover-up). Personally, I’d recommend a “compromise” between both stories and have Travis see multiple “afterimages” of Alessa in the burning Gillespie house (with Alessa’s “real” body being found in a randomized spot), while also having the latter’s ritualistic burning now causing the boiler in her basement to explode.