CHAPTER 17 - SILENT HILL REVIEWS

The day after 'Silent Hill PT' launched, Tony was in an excellent mood. He couldn't take his eyes off the skyrocketing numbers.

The amount of points he got for his system had already jumped to over one million.

On Steam, downloads of 'Silent Hill PT' had surged past 30 million. The comment section was flooded with hundreds of thousands of reviews, most of them positive.

"No exaggeration—this is a truly next-gen experience!"

"I have a feeling 'Silent Hill PT' is the start of a new era in gaming."

"The visuals are so realistic, it felt like I stepped into a horror film. The immersion is insane."

"Follow the safety warning at the start of the game seriously, or you might actually die."

"How many people here downloaded the game but are too scared to play it? Like this if you relate!"

"I'm a serious completionist. I must 100% every game I play. This one cured my OCD."

"If your neighbor's been screaming lately, don't worry, they're probably just playing Silent Hill PT."

"My kid wanted to play games, so I gave him two options, Silent Hill or studying. He just passed the entrance exam to Harvard."

"Top marks. My roommate used to game late into the night and I couldn't sleep. So I got him to try this. He's now resting quietly in the morgue. Peace and quiet restored."

"Ignore the reviews, it's just a simple 'Corridor Simulator'. Totally not scary. You'll be fine!"

The humorous reviews poured in nonstop. Tony couldn't help but laugh at some. The players were really outdoing themselves.

Especially the nickname 'Corridor Simulator' it caught on fast, since most of the game involved endlessly looping through the same creepy hallway. It became the unofficial alias of 'Silent Hill PT', sparking endless memes online.

But there was one thing that puzzled Tony.

Why did the game have over 28% negative reviews?

That was unusually high for a game that cost nothing.

Curious, he clicked into the bad reviews section, and instantly understood.

"Low rating, but not because the game is bad, where's the French?"

"Please update and add Russian support! We can't understand the story!"

"Requesting a German translation, we need German!"

"Italian, please! I'm begging you!"

"All the text is in English. I have to use Google Translate to play!"

"Korean version when?!"

"Just at least add German. Please. I love the game but I want to understand it!"

"We need a Japanese translation too! This game is amazing!"

Turns out, most of the negative reviews weren't actually critiques, they were pleas.

International players were blown away by the quality of the game, but frustrated that it was only in English. With no subtitles or voiceover support in other languages, they couldn't understand the plot.

Tony hadn't considered this. After all, this was just a trial version. He hadn't intended to support other languages yet, especially for a free release. He'd only added English across the board.

But the game was too good. People refused to quit.

And so, hordes of international players turned to Steam reviews, and even Twitter, to voice their demands.

Within a few hours, the hashtag #AddInternationalLanguagesToSilentHillPT was trending.

Tony scratched his head and smiled. After some thought, he decided.

"Guess I'll work overtime and add International language support."

After all, more players meant more points for his system. That and more exposure was always good.

As for all the languages?

"Nope. Not worth the hassle. It's a beta game, after all."

He was willing to do the most popular one. That was already generous, but adding all international languages that was too much.

Besides, despite the glowing reviews and global hype, very few people actually dared to play the game seriously.

'Silent Hill PT' had a built-in achievement system. It tracked player milestones to reflect their progress.

The first achievement.

[If You're a Man, Last Three Minutes]

All you had to do was stay in the game for three minutes. Even standing still would count.

This was the most commonly unlocked achievement, millions had it.

The second achievement.

[Terrified Glance]

You had to make it to the second cycle and witness the ghost girl peeking through the door crack.

Now the numbers dropped sharply, fewer than a million players had reached this.

The third achievement.

[Fourth Loop]

You needed to reach the fourth cycle of the game.

The total number of global players who had done this?

Only around 34,000.

And from there, the achievements grew harder and rarer.

The final achivement.

[Perfect Clearance]

To unlock it, the player had to discover all the hidden clues, avoid being killed by the ghost, and safely escape the haunted house, with the perfect ending.

So far, not a single person had unlocked it.

Not one.

Tony smiled knowingly.

The world was terrified, and hooked.

And the best was yet to come.

813 Words.