I played the game recently and I kind of liked it. It had some problems don't get me wrong but It was an overall enjoyable experience. I was playing the PS2 version which is pretty buggy. My main issue with the game are the lore inconsistences. I question weather or not this game could even be considered cannon. The soundtrack goes pretty hard at times as well. So, it's sort of a mixed bag for me. Anyway, I'd be more curious to hear what everyone else thinks.
It is only okay, IMO. It isn't great, but it isn't Homecoming. It is probably the best Silent Hill game not made by Team Silent.
As you suggest, the game has some lore that either doesn't make sense or directly contradicts previously established lore. This is why I think Silent Hill 2 was so successful at being peak Silent Hill: it doesn't constrain itself to a person or time where there are strict lore rules. This is also why I consider Silent Hill 3's narrative significantly weaker than Silent Hill 1 and only slightly better than Silent Hill 4. (I think SH3 was too many steps backwards and one step forwards, personally).
My ranking of Silent Hill is:
SH2, SH1, SH3, SH4, Origins, everything else.
I believe Konami considers it canon. Then again, they also acknowledge Homecoming exists as anything more than a soundtrack.
Personally I am not one of the people that hates on games like Book of Memories (never played it, not buying a Vita for it) or The Arcade (I actually liked The Arcade). They're spin-off titles that aren't mainline games and are meant to fill a role that is basically just using Silent Hill for window dressing. Also the movies. But I also didn't really like Shattered Memories. It had some interesting ideas and puzzles, but ultimately it failed as a reboot of Silent Hill IMO because it removed half of the game for chase sequences instead.
I feel SH Origins could have been so much more. It was almost much worse so I guess we should be thankful we got what we got. The game does so much right but it got so much wrong.
I hope we get to see more of the cult in future games. I think it's concerning that every game since 4 has more or less been a copy of SH2. SH2 is my favorite in the series i'll confess, so I get it. I just don't think it's something that will work long term. Maybe I'm wrong though.
I haven't played Shattered Memories yet. It's next after Homecoming. I'm having trouble finishing Homecoming lol. I may have to restart the game or go to a way earlier save.
As for Book of Memories, I haven't played it myself but I'm not impressed by the gameplay I've seen. I find it funny Konami turned down a pitch to make a handheld SH game for the NDS (which later got released as Dementium: The Ward) but later decided to make a handheld game which is objectively worse.
Origins certainly could have been worse. The beta version was pretty bad.
I have to disagree here. I think the cult is the weakest part of Silent Hill. Which is why I feel Silent Hill 2 is so good (it still referenced it as the town history, just like Salem Witch Trials would be mentioned in museums in Salem), and why I dislike Silent Hill 3 going back to it and Silent Hill 4 continuing it. In my opinion, Silent Hill should be thought of similarly to something like The Twilight Zone. The town of Silent Hill itself is a character, which utilizes various things to move the plot along. This is a simple to understand concept, but it also frees up the writers from having to try to explain things unnecessarily (ie "Why does X thing happen/appear?" "Because the town made it happen/appear to that character"). The town draws characters to it, for what reason we don't know until the end of each game. The character doesn't necessarily always have to be guilty of a crime or dealing with negative emotions, a character could be an innocent that is used to move the plot of side characters along, and seeing those characters may cause the player to reflect on how different they are from the main characater. The human element could be explored in various way like this. There are many ways such stories could be explored, but Konami is just bad at picking writers I guess. (I would love to see them play with time periods too, a medieval Silent Hill would be really cool to see if written well).
Homecoming is rough. IMO, its so rough because it had a really interesting concept. Playing as a war veteran would have been a very interesting Silent Hill game, but the way the story is handled it really just falls completely apart in the end. Very disappointing. That is, if you can even make it to the end before your game crashes in the underground area.
As I said, Book of Memories is different. Its a spinoff like Hyrule Warriors is for Zelda, I wouldn't expect mainline gameplay from a spinoff. Would I have liked mainline gameplay with effectively a Silent Hill version of Resident Evil Outbreak? Yeah, absolutely. But in the end, a dungeon crawler is fine for some Silent Hill themed multiplayer. Not better than The Arcade though.
Dementium: The Ward was cool as a DS game but I can't imagine it being a Silent Hill title. Some parts of the designs and story were similar, but the gameplay was too different. I already don't like the too generic Over the Shoulder (Copying RE) camera style of gameplay shown in the remake, a first person game wouldn't be much better IMO.
I must say I like the idea of SH as a sort of Twilight Zone-like anthology series. It just hasn't been done right since 2. I'm hopeful for Silent Hill: Townfall, we may finally see it done well. I'd still like to learn more about the cult and its history as well. I recognize i'm in the minority of people who really want more of that.