Psych Profile

The Psych Profile is a game mechanic of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. It can affect several different aspects of the game, including the storyline, themes, and the appearance of the Raw Shocks. The Psych Profile operates concurrently with in-game decision making and character profiling, in which the game will monitor the player's actions and change as it is played.

How the Psych Profile works

Silent Hill Shattered Memories - Behind the Psych Profile

The Psych Profile.

There are 4 play styles, each with their own corresponding ending:

• Love Lost: Oriented on being a good person, focusing on finding Cheryl and not being distracted too much. Simply not examining any objects that will influence the other play styles will influence this play style.
• Sleaze and Sirens: Oriented on sex. Objects that influence this play style include mannequins, sexy magazines and posters, and lingerie. Looking at Cybil Bennett's, Dahlia Mason's and Michelle Valdez's breasts while speaking to them will influence this play style. While in Lisa Garland's apartment, watching Lisa undress through her bedroom door will influence this play style.
• Wicked and Weak: Oriented on being a rude, apathetic and lazy person. Examining trivial objects, such as movie posters, arcade machines and toys will help influence this play style. Choosing to "Sing for a car" in Toluca Mall and not bothering to swim in the last part of the game will also influence it.
• Drunk Dad: Oriented on alcohol and drugs. The player must answer yes to "having a drink helps me relax" to initiate this play style. Objects that help influence this ending include beer cans, barrels of whiskey and cigarette dispensers.

Whenever the player examines a certain piece of their environment (such as a poster or a calendar), or helps influence a play style in Dr. K's sessions, off-screen "points" are accumulated and the play style with the most points will have a playthrough reflecting that play style.

Dr. K's sessions and their impact on the Psych Profile

Session 1 (Questionnaire)

Garner Sobel's Personal Inventory Form K.

The Personality Inventory Form K is a short psychiatric profile featured in the beginning of the game. Before the game's main story begins, the player must fill out a small, simple Yes/No questionnaire for a company called Garner Sobel, with topics covering personal details such as the player's drinking habits, social capabilities, and even faithfulness. The questions are:

1. I make friends easily (yes influences "Love Lost")
2. Having a drink helps me relax (yes influences "Drunk Dad"; no will result in never obtaining the "Drunk Dad" style or the ending)
3. I always listen to other people's feelings (yes influences "Love Lost"; no influences "Wicked and Weak")
4. I prefer abstract ideas
5. I have enjoyed role-play during sex (yes influences "Sleaze and Sirens")
6. Working to a plan or schedule is best (yes influences "Wicked and Weak")
7. I have never cheated on a partner (no influences "Sleaze and Sirens")

While the form is only one part of the Psych Profile, the questions affect the storyline, monsters, locations and even characters that Harry Mason encounters in the game itself. The personality of the player is known by the game, which will continually react to their personality. For example, if the player has stated that he or she likes to drink when they are nervous, then they will most likely encounter a bar, whereas those who answer in the negative will encounter a diner instead. Other subtle references can include beer cans instead of soda cans.

Session 2 (Family)

The picture titled 'Happy Family'.

Before the player gets to draw, it starts out with Dr. Kaufmann asking three questions:

• Are you a private person?
• Does it take a while for people to get to know you?
• Would you prefer to spend time with friends over family?

Dr. Kaufmann then brings the player's attention to a picture that can be colored in. He states that it's titled "Happy Family". Then the player can color it. Once finished, the house that appears in gameplay mode has the same colors as that picture, no matter what colors the player painted everything. However, not all the colors chosen for each object, such as hair color, will be expressed in the cutscene.

The next scene is affected by the color in the picture. If the player rushes and doesn't color in the lines, then Harry is impatient and rude in the next scene. The opposite applies to him if the player takes their time.

Session 3 (High school)

The timetable.

To start out the high school section, Kaufmann will state a list of stereotypes and ask the player to say if it fits them or not. They are: Jock, Slut, Drunk, Virgin, Bully, Slacker. Then the player gets to pick out the perfect school day. They get to choose from 10 classes and put them in 4 periods. The classes are: Religion, Creative Writing, Geography, Literature, Theater, Football, Basketball, Sex Ed, Math, Science.

• Saying no to all but Virgin will help influence the "Love Lost" ending.
• Saying yes to Slut and no to Virgin will influence the "Sleaze and Sirens" ending.
• Saying yes to Bully and Slacker will influence the 'Wicked and Weak" ending.
• Saying yes to Drunk will influence the "Drunk Dad" ending.

The second part changes the 4 clouds, showing different classes inside the school's courtyard.

Session 4 (Death)

The dead/sleeping form.

This session shows up one of two ways. Harry either stays in the car and 'dies', or eventually gets the door open and swims out. Either way, Cybil ends up saving him somehow.

In this session the player must divide a group of pictures by who's dead and who's sleeping. Depending on how the pictures are arranged, Dr. K may tell the player that there was no right or wrong answer, although he will say that they were all sleeping or dead. If the player placed all the pictures on one side, Dr. K will laugh and say that they probably thought it was a trick question.

This test may change the dialogue used by Cheryl Mason and Harry in the end sequence.

Session 5 (Guilt)

The Bull, King Harold, Prince Wilhelm, Celestine (from left to right).

This session occurs after Harry gives Lisa Garland her pills.

In this session Kaufmann will tell the player a story:

"Prince Wilhelm is passionately in love with Celestine. But she does not love him. One day, Wilhelm comes to the King and asks for Celestine's hand in marriage. Celestine begs the king not to marry her to Wilhelm, but the king ignores her pleas. Royal protocol means he must say yes to the match. They are married and Wilhelm takes Celestine back with him to his kingdom. That night, he attempts to consummate the marriage, but the distraught Celestine flees. She runs from the safety of the castle and across a field, ignoring the sign which warns of danger. In that field is a bull, who, seeing the girl, charges her. She falls under his hooves and is killed instantly."

Once the story is over and the player puts the people in order of their guilt, Kaufmann will make a comment on whoever is chosen as most guilty.

• "Poor Celestine. She didn't have to run, right?"
• "Poor Wilhelm. You think if he really loved her, he would never have forced the marriage." (Influences "Acceptance")
• "Poor Harold. You felt he should have ignored protocol."
• "Poor Bull. You couldn't ignore the facts. He was the one who killed her."

This test may change the dialogue Cheryl and Harry have in the end.

Session 6 (Marriage)

The pairing form.

Kaufmann will ask the player some questions:

1) Do you think marriage can really last?

2) Should a couple stay together for the kids?

3) Do you think it's a bad idea to marry young?

4) Do you think sex becomes stale after marriage?

After the questions, the player will match up 6 people into couples.

The couples.

• Sorting them by their backgrounds (house, backyard, lake) means that the player values convenience in a relationship.
• Sorting them by their expression (smile, indifferent and crossed arms) means the player values emotion and personality in a relationship.
• Sorting them by their outfits (T-shirts, button shirts, jacket) means the player cares about appearance in a relationship.
• Sorting them randomly means that the player thinks outside the social norm and thinks in their own way. The player can also choose to create heterosexual or homosexual couples.

This session changes how Michelle Valdez and John break up.

• If the player generally supports marriage (yes, yes, no, no) and sorts the people by their background or appearance, John will initiate breaking up with Michelle, who believes that their relationship can work without loving each other for who they are.
• If the player generally disapproves of marriage (no, no, yes, yes) and sorts the people by their expression, Michelle realizes her personal happiness is more important than their relationship and initiates the break up.

Session 7 (Sex)

The sexual and non-sexual form.

The cards.

This is the last session before the end of the game. Before the player gets to pick out a group of pictures and decide if they're sexual or not, Kaufmann states that the player is either obsessed with sex or obsessed with not having sex. He then goes on to state that since the player needs psychiatric evaluation, they clearly aren't getting enough.

The truth is that all of the pictures are not sexual and represent death in some way, such as a skull, a noose or a knife. Since the number of pictures are odd, the player must put more of them in the sexual or non-sexual category. If the player puts more of the pictures in the sexual category, this will influence the Sleaze and Sirens ending.

If the player puts all of them in the non-sexual category, Kaufmann will accuse them of "screwing" with him. But either way, he'll then talk about the other side of sex: death.

Credits

Based on the choices of the player throughout the game, Dr. K will begin to type on a computer "Notes about the patient" which will describe the player's personality. If the player played the game "with honesty" (choosing what they wanted to choose and not following some order to achieve something they wanted, a particular ending for example) then the description will usually be very accurate to their personality.