13 years have passed since Konami gave us a mainline Silent Hill with Downpour, and after its botched release, we never saw the studio come back with another major entry in their acclaimed psychological horror franchise. It was during that shift in Konami that players began to feel hungry for a new Silent Hill project, only to be met with half-hearted attempts, a canceled P.T. with Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro, and a webshow that nobody asked for.
Fast forward to now, and we’ve had one of the best reimaginings of one of the greatest horror games ever made with Silent Hill 2 Remake. And this week, Silent Hill f arrives, taking the franchise in a completely different direction.
Is Silent Hill f as good as its predecessors? Or does it miss the mark for Konami’s reinvigorated push for their beloved IPs? Let’s find out.
A “Dark” Coming-of-Age Story
Right from the start, Silent Hill f presents a completely different take on the mythos. There’s no Pyramid Head chasing after the protagonist and no cultists trying to awaken some Eldritch being.
Set during the late Showa Era in Japan, the story follows Hinako Shimizu as she comes to grips with her new reality in the sleepy town of Ebisugaoka, based on today’s Shizuoka prefecture.
The opening hours already set the tone. It feels like a J-horror film with a dark coming-of-age story, layered with disturbing body horror and gore. Those with trypophobia, beware. This is one of the most unsettling horror games I’ve played, with a clear cinematic touch. The atmosphere is impeccable, made even better by Akira Yamaoka’s mesmerizing score. Every shot in Silent Hill f’s cutscenes feels like it’s pulled straight from an award-winning Japanese horror film, with clever camera angles that highlight both beauty and dread. Hinako’s interactions with her parents and friends feel genuine, touching on the usual high school drama tropes and love triangles, but twisted by Silent Hill’s signature fog, which is here to unleash hell on earth for our protagonist.
Hinako is a well-written character, and her plight hits close to home. The narrative handles mature themes like family abuse and internalized misogyny in a society where women were not treated equally. Writer Ryukishi07, known for Higurashi When They Cry, brings his signature touch. His influence fuels Silent Hill f’s story, turning it into a character study about friends grappling with nightmares and Hinako struggling with the horror of losing herself to forces beyond her control.
I won’t go further into the story, as that would spoil its impact. But this is the kind of narrative that people will be dissecting for years on Silent Hill forums and subreddits.
A Girl and Her Steel Pipe
Combat in Silent Hill f isn’t groundbreaking, but it works. Hinako wields everyday melee weapons like steel pipes, crowbars, and kitchen knives. Using ordinary tools to fight unimaginable horrors feels right for Silent Hill, and with guns absent, every encounter feels hopeless in a way that enhances the dread.
Some compare the combat to a Soulslike due to the stamina meter and dodging, but after ten-plus hours, I’d say it’s far from that. It’s still the exhausting, survival-focused gameplay Silent Hill is known for. Instead of running out of ammo like James Sunderland, Hinako’s melee weapons degrade over time, forcing you to make decisions. Do you break your weapon to fight the mannequin blocking your path, or do you sprint past and never look back? These moments become more pronounced on harder difficulties, where survival feels earned.
A new Sanity Meter adds another layer. It works as a Focus Meter for counterattacks, but letting it run low risks your actual health in the process. The satisfying sound when you successfully do it makes things even better. This shifts combat toward an action-like experience but without losing its horror roots. Once you master enemy patterns, counterattacks, and dodges, Hinako becomes a force to be reckoned with, provided she isn’t surrounded by a mob of mannequins.
Puzzles are also back, which is a staple in Silent Hill titles. Harder difficulties provide far more complex puzzle solutions. One puzzle had me stumped for hours because I couldn’t identify an object, and I only solved it after chatting with another reviewer.
These puzzles are not a completely revolutionary concept in Silent Hill f. They’re still the usual “Get this key to access the door” type of formula, but as this is a Silent Hill game, there are a multitude of ways the game messes up your flow with clever enemy placements and jumpscares.
Nightmares and Daydreams
Like previous entries, Silent Hill f explores dual worlds. Hinako’s journey splits between fog-covered Ebisugaoka and her bizarre nightmare sequences inside ritual temples filled with Inari statues.
This separation distinguishes Silent Hill f from earlier games. In previous entries, the town of Silent Hill will occasionally warp to a twisted version of the place, adding in more horrors and unfathomable sights our feeble minds can’t comprehend. In Silent Hill f, the levels are separated by these two dimensions. The town of Ebisugaoka is where most of the game’s exploration and Silent Hill-y vibe take place, whereas the nightmares will have some of the toughest encounters with monsters chasing you from the ends of the earth and puzzles that feel like a battle against time.
The nightmare scenarios are also where most of the combat encounters take place. These battles are fantastic, echoing what Silent Hill 2 Remake did so well, where you’re confined to a claustrophobic arena, having to fight for your life as you learn the enemy’s attack patterns and knowing when to strike. These encounters are tough as nails, forcing you to scour for resources and manage your health and Sanity. This is where your skill shines, as dealing with these bosses requires you to master counterattacks and perfect dodges, saving you from becoming mincemeat.
That said, the nightmare sections drag on, especially in the third act, where it’s mostly combat encounters rather than good ol’ exploration. They risk feeling repetitive and arcade-like, even if smashing mannequins is still fun.
Personally, I wanted more freedom in Ebisugaoka. I half expected I’d be scavenging houses, uncovering lore, and exploring at my own pace. Instead, I was often pulled into nightmare levels with no way to backtrack when I would have preferred to stay in town.
Another drawback is the lack of memorable interior locations. Past Silent Hill games had prisons, hospitals, and run-down apartments, but here you rarely get that level of detail. The middle school is one standout section, offering one of my favorite monster encounters, but overall, the interiors feel underused and that’s a missed opportunity. The nightmare sections did make up for its lack of interior levels, though.
A Silent Hill Without Silent Hill
Many fans questioned whether Silent Hill f could feel like a “true” Silent Hill game since it leaves behind the familiar Maine town. This will be a major issue among fans, as I see it as splitting the playerbase into two: the purists who want a Silent Hill game taking place in the West, and those who want to see the franchise evolve.
This is a double-edged sword, to which I was also initially conflicted. But then I realized, this is going to be a major step-up from the franchise’s established formula. Silent Hill f has opened the floodgates for fresh Silent Hill stories not necessarily needing everyone’s favorite town. This is the perfect opportunity for Konami to tell different stories from around the world, each brandishing the Silent Hill brand with the usual fog-covered towns, heavy-handed subject matters, and the psychological horror that we’ve all come to love. It doesn’t necessarily have to take place in Maine, as Silent Hill’s stories have always been about coming to terms with trauma, grief, loss, and other debilitating mental stress made worse by the ever encroaching fog.
That’s what Silent Hill should be, and developer Neobards has clearly understood the assignment with Silent Hill f.
Verdict
Overall, my time with Silent Hill f has been fantastic. While there are moments where I feel like it drags on, its themes and atmosphere kept me hooked. Multiple endings leave me with questions, and even ten hours on from finishing the regular ending, it feels like I’ve only scratched the surface, as there were clear secrets I missed out on in my first playthrough.
Is it a scary game? Yes, though it’s tamer compared to Silent Hill 2 Remake (especially its prison section). For newcomers to horror, it’s still a nerve-wracking experience filled with disturbing imagery and gore. Don’t expect constant jump scares as this is a game built on atmosphere.
Silent Hill f is going to be a game that many players will theorize in the years to come, with players armed with their own interpretations to Hinako’s story. Even though it doesn’t take place in the familiar foggy town, it’s still a full fledged Silent Hill story with a culturally resonant narrative about abuse and problematic gender norms that feel relevant even today. For Konami, this is just the beginning, with more Silent Hill projects on the horizon.
There has never been a better time to be a Silent Hill fan.
