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Siren
Developer	Sony Computer Entertainment
Publisher	Sony Computer Entertainment
Designer	Keiichiro Toyama, Naoko Sato BHZ - Junya Ohkura, Kohei Nanri
Series	Siren
Released	JPN November 6, 2003 EUR March 12, 2004 NA April 20, 2004
Genre	Survival horror, Stealth
Mode(s)	Single player
Ratings	CERO: 15+ PEGI: 16+ ESRB: M (Mature)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Media	DVD-ROM
Input methods	DualShock 2

Siren (サイレン, Sairen^?), or Forbidden Siren in Europe and Australia, is a stealth-based survival horror video game developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 console in 2003. The game tells the story of several characters (most of whom are playable) trapped in an old Japanese village over the course of three days.

Siren is succeeded by Forbidden Siren 2.

Contents 1 Story 2 Gameplay 3 Characters 4 Shibito 4.1 Half-Shibito 4.2 True Shibito 5 Visuals 6 The Silent Hill connection 7 Movie adaptation 8 Reception 9 Notes 10 External links

Siren is set in a remote, rural Japanese mountain village named Hanuda, which is characterized as being very traditional and particularly xenophobic. Following a ritual ceremony, the village teeters wildly between time and space, with an infinite sea of red water in place of the usual surrounding mountains. The crux of the story focuses on the efforts of Hisako Yao, the leader of a strange local religion, to resurrect or re-awaken an extraterrestrial being known as Datatsushi through an occult ceremony. While Datatsushi is indisputably alien, the methods used to resurrect it and the effects of its presence seem to be supernatural in nature. The siren of the title is the call of Datatsushi, summoning the residents of Hanuda to immerse themselves in the red water, thus creating an army of subordinates called shibito (屍人, literally, "corpse"). The shibito then go about building a nest to house the corporal form of Datatsushi once it is summoned, as well as killing and converting any living humans left in Hanuda. The story is told through the perspectives of the ten survivors, some of whom are natives of Hanuda, and is presented out of chronological order over the three days in which the mystery takes place.

Unlike most survival horror games, the core of Siren's gameplay is in the eschewal of direct engagement with enemies (in this case, the Shibito guarding each stage). The player can walk silently, avoid the use of flashlights, or crouch behind objects to elude detection. Certain mission objectives involve the use of items and the environment to create distractions that will displace Shibito from their usual positions (the player can also shout at any time in order to call the attention of nearby Shibito). Depending on the stage, the player either begins with a weapon, obtains one during the course of the stage, or lacks it throughout. Weapons can be either blunt objects (pokers, crowbars, wrenches) or firearms (pistols, rifles). While Shibito can be defeated in combat, they cannot be killed and will reanimate after a period of time, briefly remaining on alert. Similarly, if the player is injured, he/she can also recover after a period of time.

The game's defining feature is the characters' collective ability to sightjack, or see and hear from the perspectives of nearby shibito, humans and animals. The process is similar to tuning into a radio or television frequency, with the left analog stick serving as the dial. The clarity and location on the dial of each target depend on the distance from and orientation to the player. Once a signal is discovered, it can be assigned to one of the controller's four face buttons to easily switch between multiple signals. Via sightjacking, players can discover a shibito's position, patrol route, locations and items of interest, etc. Visual cues inform the player when he or an escort is near a Shibito's line of sight. While sightjacking, the player cannot move and is thus vulnerable.

When a shibito is alerted to the presence of either the player or an escort, its sight is tinted red and a visual cue informs the player when the alerted Shibito is near his line of sight. If the shibito does not wield a firearm, it will yell to alert others nearby and pursue the target as long as he remains in the Shibito's line of sight. Once the target has remained out of sight for a period of time, the Shibito will give up and resume its usual habits.

In addition to the core game mechanics, there are also several artifacts scattered throughout each stage that give the player further insight into the story's background. Once obtained, these items are placed into a catalog called the Archive, where they can be viewed at any time during the game.

• Kyoya Suda

An inquisitive teenager, who is fascinated by urban legends. Eighteen year old Kyoya travels to the Hanuda area in search of an unnamed village where a massacre occurred many years ago. His relationship with Miyako Kajiro forms the central storyline of the game - the two meet early on when Kyoya helps her escape from her brother Jun and Kyoya spends most of the game trying to escort Miyako out of Hanuda. Kyoya is the main character in the game, and the character who finally confronts Datatsushi in combat at the end of the game.

• Tamon Takeuchi

Thirty-four year old Tamon is a professor in folklore and legends at a Tokyo university, and was born in Hanuda. He lost his parents as a child during the first attempt at the occult ceremony and the landslide that followed. He has returned to Hanuda, ostensibly to study local folklore, but to search for the truth behind what happened to his parents is his true goal. Takeuchi begins with his .38 caliber revolver as a starting weapon, which trades hands with several other characters by the end of the game.

• Yoriko Anno

Yoriko is a university student from Tokyo, and a pupil in Tamon Takeuchi's. She insists on accompanying him to Hanuda, and is caught up in the events that transpire. Yoriko is twenty-two, has a huge crush on Tamon, and is quite abrasive and hysterical at times. However, she has a good heart, and has a surprising reserve of courage when called upon to fight. In the true ending of the game, she is reunited with Tamon, having been separated from him, and breaks into the Takeuchi house, beats Tamon's undead parents with a baseball bat and pulls him away.

• Kei Makino

A priest in the local religion, Kei Makino, who is twenty-seven and the twin brother of Shiro Miyata, with whom he has a frosty relationship as they were raised by different parents. Makino is killed by his brother late in the game's storyline. This is a matter of some confusion amongst players of the game, since the death of Kei Makino is never explicitly shown on-screen. In fact, before the scene in which his death takes place fades to black, Shiro Miyata has the gun to his own head, so the sound of the resulting shot gives the impression that he has committed suicide. Also, there are further levels playable as 'Kei Makino' following this scene. In fact, Miyata takes Makino's place on these levels, dressed in Makino's robes.

• Shiro Miyata

The player is first introduced to twenty-seven year old Dr. Miyata when he awakens in the forest next to a shallow grave. Miyata was having a relationship with a nurse named Mina Onda and for reasons which are never fully explained in the game, he strangled and buried her in the woods. However, the ceremony reanimated her, and she clawed her way out of the grave. Late in the game, following a tense confrontation, Miyata kills his twin brother and takes his clothes, assuming his identity as Kei Makino. He then sets out to find the Onda sisters; Risa having transformed into a Shibito. Eventually, Shiro gives his life to end the suffering of long dead corpses, the villagers who would not bend to the will of Datatsushi, inadvertently reanimated by the occult ceremony. He is welcomed into the afterlife by Risa and Mina.

• Risa Onda

A weak and petite twenty-one year old woman, born in Hanuda, who has returned from Tokyo to visit her twin sister Mina. Caught up in the aftermath of the ceremony, Risa meets up with Shiro Miyata, and they head to the hospital to search for Mina. Later on, she is killed by Shiro while under the control of a shibitofied Mina Onda and transforms into a shibito herself.

• Mina Onda

While Mina Onda is not a playable character and is never seen as a human, she plays a large part in the game. She is the identical twin sister of Risa Onda. By the time she is introduced into a level of the game, Mina has become a Shibito Brain, who stalks the hallways of the hospital looking for Risa and Miyata, leading a platoon of Kumo Shibito to surround the clinic and prevent them escaping. The shovel she carries as a weapon is very likely the same one that Miyata used to bury her in the first place. Several levels in the game revolve around defeating or subduing Mina Onda, and she is arguably the most powerful Shibito in the game.

• Hisako Yao

Hisako is the woman behind the myth of Yaobikuni, a nun granted immortality because she "ate the flesh of a merman". Although she appears to be in her early twenties, she is actually well over 1000 years old. When the God Datatsushi crash-landed in Hanuda in 684 A.D. during a great famine, Hisako was one of the villagers who ate his flesh as he lay dying. As a result, she was cursed by Datatsushi to live forever, until such time as she would be forced to resurrect him. Hisako initiates the ceremony that triggers the events of the game. Her advanced age has caused her to forget much of her real purpose, which explains her benevolent actions towards Kyoya in the early part of the game.

• Miyako Kajiro

This seventeen year old is said to be the descendant of the god Ninigi, whose offspring were cursed to be "sealed in darkness" (blind). Miyako is the latest in a line of 'special' girls born to the Kajiro family whose sacrifice is needed to resurrect Datatsushi. Miyako is eventually killed by Hisako Yao as part of the ceremony to awaken the God, but her spirit continues to assist Kyoya as he attempts to defeat Datatsushi.

• Reiko Takato

A school teacher of twenty-nine from the local elementary school, Reiko is conducting an outing with several pupils (star-gazing) when the earthquake hits, but only she and Harumi Yomoda remain unscathed. Reiko lost her own child in a terrible accident several years ago, and she sees Harumi as a surrogate daughter that she must protect at all costs. Reiko eventually gives her life to save Harumi, but returns to life as a Shibito. She later chases Harumi out of the Tabori settlement, and even attacks Tamon when he struggles with transformation. Even in death however, her protective instincts win out and once freed from the control of Datatsushi, Shibito Reiko saves Harumi once again from the Shibito school principal.

• Harumi Yomoda

A local ten year old schoolgirl gifted with "The Sight", a form of ESP related to sightjacking. Her journals, written before the events of the game, contain crudely rendered drawings of the Shibito, insinuating that she foresaw the events of the game before they occurred. She is getting ready to go on a school outing to study star constellations when the earthquake hits, and becomes trapped in the school along with her teacher Reiko Takato. Eventually, Harumi escapes the Netherworld and ends the game as Tamon began it: wandering alone and orphaned through the aftermath of a natural disaster. Because Harumi's bloodstream is never exposed to any of the Red Water during the game's story, she is the only character who can return from the Netherworld to the Real World. It is stated in the Siren 2 that Harumi was found, stranded in Hanuda following the landslide.

• Akira Shimura

Akira Shimura is an old man of seventy who has lived in Hanuda for his entire life. He lost his wife and son in the earthquake in 1976, and carries the pain of this loss, and his own failure to prevent the ceremony which caused it, even in his advanced years. A dedicated game hunter, Shimura carries a rifle with him at all times during the game. He knows much about the ceremony and his dislike of the local Mana religion has made him a veritable hermit. He is quite gruff and cantankerous, but would go to any lengths to avoid becoming a monster. Faced with the endless red sea filled with Shibito, and realising there is no way out of Hanuda, Shimura shoots himself to escape the horror of transforming into one of the undead.

• Naoko Mihama

A former model and current B-list celebrity, who is in Hanuda filming a cable TV show 'Occult JAPAN' ('Darkness Japan' in the Japanese version of the game). Twenty-eight year old Naoko is very vain and self-centred, and due to the fierce competition in her profession, will go to any lengths to preserve her youthful looks. She worries that the happenings in Hanuda will lead to grey hairs. Driven mad by events, Naoko submerges herself in the Red Water, in a misguided bid to stay forever young.

• Tomoko Maeda

A fourteen year old middle school student who has run away from home following an argument with her parents. Now, lost in the underworld of Hanuda, the disagreement is forgotten and Tomoko tries to find her way home to her family. Discovering that they are at the Mana church, having searched for her, Tomoko makes her way there (but not without difficulties). She finally reaches the church, but by then she has already become a Shibito, and the sight of her rapping at the window with tears of blood running down her face terrifies her parents. They later join her as Shibito, and the three take over the Tabori abandoned house to live 'happily ever after' - going about their daily routines as the living dead in a hideous twist.

• Peasant Shibito

The common or garden Shibito. They carry knives, hammers and kama, since many of these Shibito are former farmers who continue to practise agriculture, albeit in their own twisted way. They can be found cutting grass, digging holes, or occasionally hammering plywood. They do not usually actively search for humans and will only pursue if the player attracts their attention.

• Patrol Shibito

These Shibito patrol a set route hunting for any humans. They will only leave their patrol if they spot a human or if something unusual attracts their attention (such as a newly opened door). They usually carry melee weapons such as crowbars, but some carry Nambu Model 60 revolvers. Most patrolling Shibito carry flashlights to help them hunt humans more efficiently.

• Sniper Shibito

As the name suggests, Sniper Shibito carry Type 22 Murata rifles and are usually located on the tops of buildings or other high structures, where they will take long range shots at the player. They can spot the player from much further away than other Shibito, and are deadly accurate. Most Sniper Shibito will not leave their position and pursue the player, preferring to stand and take shots as the player flees.

• Inu Shibito

These Shibito run around on all fours, with long hair covering their faces, and are exclusively female. They somewhat resemble Kayako Saeki, the spirit from Ju-on/The Grudge. Whilst their name (Inu, Japanese for 'Dog') suggests a canine aspect, the insect-like antennae protruding from their heads make them somewhat resemble an ant or beetle. They are the fastest of all Shibito, and attack by swiping at the player with their claw like hands. They can jump high, but cannot open doors.

• Kumo Shibito

These Shibito are male humans who crawl around on all fours like Spiders. Their heads have been rotated 180 degrees and extra eyes have grown on the top of their craniums. They can crawl across any surface, even straight up walls (although ironically enough, they cannot climb ladders) and attack by head butting the player, however like the Inu Shibito, they cannot open doors, or use tools or weapons. The Kumo Shibito have the quickest recovery time of any standard enemy, and will regain consciousness approximately ten seconds after being knocked out, compared with several minutes for a standard walking Shibito. Also, because they sense vibrations through their limbs like spiders, these Shibito can hear a player's footsteps from much farther away - even through solid walls.

• Hane Shibito

Shibito with insectile wings like those of a dragonfly. They can hover above ground and are thus not bound by the geographical contours of the level in the same way as the player, making them very dangerous. All Hane Shibito carry firearms, and behave in a similar way as sniper Shibito.

• Brain Shibito

These Shibito act as broadcasters for the Shibito hive-mind. Some Brain Shibito will run away from the players, and can move at high speed, whilst others are very aggressive, and can withstand greater punishment than a normal Shibito. They always emanate a strange sound and their faces are obscured by octopus-like tentacles. Rendering them unconscious will also knock out all the other Shibito in the level, until the Shibito Brain revives.

Rather than employ traditional facial animation methods with polygons, images of real human faces in motion were captured and superimposed on the character models. This eerie effect is similar to projecting film onto the blank face of a mannequin, a technique long used to animate a severed head in Disney's Haunted Mansion attraction.

The most notable aspect of Siren's development is that it was co-conceived and directed by Keiichiro Toyama, who had previously directed the original Silent Hill for PlayStation. Other members of the original Team Silent, Naoko Sato and Isao Takahashi, also had critical roles in Siren's creation. This connection is reflected in major aesthetic and gameplay features, including a remote countryside town with a mysterious history, a local cult seeking to summon a supreme deity through ritual ceremony, a gradual shift of the environment from normalcy to darkness and vice versa, a thick pervading fog, strategic considerations in running or using a flashlight, and the civil defense siren that is heard from time to time.

The film rights to Siren have been acquired by Ghost House Pictures, a production company founded by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert in 2002 Michael Gordon has been hired as the screenwriter and reportedly will work closely with Keiichiro Toyama. The story focuses on an American med school student searching for her missing sister in Hanuda. [1]

Siren received a generally positive score (7.7 IGN, 6.7 Gamespot) for it's dark tone and different gameplay compared to games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil. Although the critics gave Siren a lower score for the game being pretty complicated.

• The legend of the Yaobikuni is a real-life Japanese folk tale about a nun who ate the flesh of a merman and was cursed to live forever. [2] The name Yaobikuni literally translates as "Nun of Eight Hundred Years," and Yaobikuni characters can be found in other contemporary Japanese media, such as the manga series Blade of the Immortal.

• The tsuchinoko is a mythical Japanese animal, and the Japanese government actually offers hefty rewards for the live capture of one. In the game, Tomoko Maeda spots a tsuchinoko entering a sewage pipe and finds a tsuchinoko reward poster. Also, Kyoya Suda discovers a live tsuchinoko in the bathtub of the abandoned Tabori house. Shiro Miyata also finds papers dropped by Naoko Mihama regarding episode #8 of "Occult JAPAN," which details the discovery of a tsuchinoko at the site of a mass-murder spree.

• The skyfish found at Gojaku Peak is a common Japanese folk tale used in many anime, most notably in Eureka Seven. It is believed, by some, that skyfish are also known as a rod in cryptozoology.

• Issues with censorship caused several minor changes in the game for its American release. Kyoya Suda, Miyako Kajiro and Tomoko Maeda were issued with new dates of birth in the documents found in the game that regard them; Miyako and Tomoko's ages changed from 14 to 17, and Kyoya's from 16 to 18.

• One of the trailers for the game was taken off Japanese television because of its alleged frightening nature. It depicted a girl banging on a window calling to her parents who, to their horror, discover their daughter is a Shibito creature.

• Official Japanese Website
• Official European Website
• Official American Website
• The Truth Behind the Hanuda Incident (Hoax site)

v • d • e Siren video games
Games	Siren • Forbidden Siren 2
Film	Forbidden Siren