Silent Hill 2‘s long-standing position as the bastion of this method of storytelling as it relates to video games can actually be attributed, in part, to those same horror elements that initially caused some to scoff at the notion of a plot-centric genre title. When Silent Hill 2 presents a part of its story that is purposefully ambiguous, our first instinct is to fear the intentions of this thing and understand its motivations later. This is why even those who do not choose to analyze the game’s plot come away speaking of the lingering feeling of terror it instilled in them.

Those who do choose to analyze the plot, however, will find that much of it plays out through symbolism. There is an old religious theory that states that man created Hell in order to satisfy the guilt they felt over their mortal sins, and that theory serves as the basis for nearly everything that occurs in Silent Hill 2. The town of Silent Hill as it is presented in this game is largely a manifestation of the conscious of James Sutherland. In fact, there are really only two characters in the game who are definitely outsiders, with their own lives and stories. There is Eddie, a bullied youth who fled his home after crippling a bully and murdering his dog, and Angela, a young woman who was molested and tormented by her family. For Eddie, Silent Hill is a place where he is constantly mocked. For Angela, it is a world literally on fire that’s trying to tempt her into committing suicide (which is possibly an allusion to David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest).

Read More: 10 Horror Games from the ’80s That Scared Us

James’ version of Silent Hill, meanwhile, is designed to exploit the guilt he feels over the death of his wife. Disembodied mannequin legs and demonic nurses are there to remind him of the repressed sexual feelings he had when he visited her in the hospital. A woman named Maria, who looks like Jame’s wife, is there to force him to come to terms with the ways he perceived his wife’s personality as well as how others look at the good and bad sides of James. The eight-year-old Laura, meanwhile, represents the innocence James lost. This is why she is typically always physically separated from James and why the two are so hostile towards each other.