With Silent Hill f, the series sheds familiar skin and grows something stranger beneath it. What follows is a haunting experiment that lingers long after the screen fades to black.
I’m sure some of us remember the original Silent Hill games. They were iconic for that foggy American setting and a focus on psychological horror. It was never just about cheap jump scares; it was more about a deep sense of dread and guilt. As much as I loved the classics, the old setting was starting to feel a bit played out over the course of the series.
Silent Hill f changes all this by moving the story to 1960s Japan. You play as a student named Hinako in a rural town called Ebisugaoka. I won’t spoil the plot here, I’m not sure I could do it in a way that makes sense if I tried anyway. Instead of the usual rust, grit and threat of tetanus, the world this time round is being swallowed by beautiful red flowers and strange fungi. You never quite know what is real and what is just in Hinako’s head, which keeps you second guessing yourself right until the end.
A huge part of that mystery comes from Hinako’s relationships with her peers. As you go through the journey, you start to see that each of her friends has their own complex feelings and thoughts regarding her. The game slowly peels back these layers, both in cutscene and collectible note form leaving you constantly questioning their true motives. You are never quite sure who is actually a friend or a foe.
The art style this time round is beautiful. It manages to be both stunning and deeply unsettling all at the same time. The town is based on a real place in Japan called Kanayama. I’ve been looking at photos and videos of the narrow alleyways there, and they look so close to the game’s portrayal that I’m planning to visit on my next trip to Japan. Hopefully, it’s a bit more peaceful in person.
I really enjoyed the narrative. The storytelling is subtle, and the atmosphere is heavy, slowly dripping bits of back story and plot to have you digest and chew on. It nails that classic Silent Hill feeling where everything feels slightly “off.” It’s the kind of game that stays with you long after you’ve finished your play session.
I do have mixed feelings about the combat, though. It’s functional and the hits have a satisfying weight to them, but there’s just a bit too much of it. In the later sections the constant fighting becomes a bit of a slog. It lowers the tension and makes things feel like a chore when you just want to get back to exploring the location and immersing yourself in the atmosphere and story.
Overall, I think this was a great direction for the series. Silent Hill doesn’t need to be confined to the same town forever. Bringing psychological horror to new cultures and time periods keeps the formula fresh and lets the developers experiment. With a few tweaks to combat and overall pacing silent hill could be on track to really nail this formula again and I’m looking forward to seeing what they do next
Author: Terry, Kingston Store
