Giuseppe Nelva
Ito-san explained that in the intro of the game James isn’t looking at the player (basically breaking the fourth wall), but he’s simply looking at his own reflection.
He also added that he’s fed up with being asked about it, and fans should consider the context of the story, which is that James is there to seek his wife.
Ito-san concluded by explaining his extensive involvement in the development of the game and its cutscenes, clarifying that if James was intentionally looking at the player, he would know.
The “headcanon,” as Ito-san calls it, was generated by a Reddit post in 2020, which was then picked up without proper verification by several media outlets and went viral.
The topic may have come back to the surface with the recent reveal of Silent Hill 2’s remake developed by Polish studio Bloober Team (which created Layers of Fear, Observer, Blair Witch, and The Medium). The trailer shows the same scene in much higher definition, and James is definitely looking at his reflection. Below you can check out the original scene and the remade version.
It’s worth mentioning that Ito-san is directly involved with the creation of the remake alongside other members of the original Team Silent and composer Akira Yamaoka.
Incidentally, during the same event, we also saw the reveal of Silent Hill Ascension, Silent Hill f, and Silent Hill: Townfall, on top of the official unveiling of the movie Return to Silent Hill.
