I just realized that the Remake’s cutscenes are brilliant, and I mean it. Let me elaborate.

In the first encounter with Eddy, James refuses his invitation to leave the town together, saying that he is there to find someone. As James says this, Eddie’s face automatically show a profound sadness, not because he would be left alone, but instead because he was sure that James was lying in order to evade his presence, like most people did through his entire life.

In his paranoid, defeated mind, James must have felt disgusted by him. Seeing things by Eddie’s point of view changes the tone of the scene entirely. In their second encounter, James makes a commentary about him recovering his appetite; I’m sure that most people noticed how Eddie got instantly and exaggeratedly angry through his facial expressions. The thing is, the evolution of Eddie’s character is much more nuanced and rich in this interpretation than it was in the original. We can understand, even though it remains unreasonable, why he got progressively mad at James just by reading between the lines of the cutscenes. It’s brilliant. Firstly he felt rejected, secondly he felt mocked at; being a severely traumatized human being, always despised and ridiculed by people around him, his reactions feel very real.

This game made justice to Eddie, made him a more humane and compelling character. In the original Silent Hill 2 he felt more like some sort of comedic relief, without much depth. Now I even felt bad for him.

Concerning Laura, I saw some folk saying that she is way more mischievous in the Remake and stuff, what I tend to agree. But let’s point some things out. She already held a grudge against James because of Mary. That being said, when they first talk, James asks if her parents didn’t teach her any manners. This visibly hurt her. To crown it all, James screams at her, calling her a lier; hence the mean behavior towards James. The girl really hated the poor man.

The cutscenes are great.