Silent Hill f and the Return of Psychological Dread
After the incredible massive success of Silent Hill 2 Remake last year, this year we are going directly to Silent Hill f, a completely standalone title in the Silent Hill series made by Taiwan-based developer Neobards. The title is planned to come to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windowson September 25 and we are truly excited to discover what it holds and means for the beloved survival horror franchise. It seems that most gamers would get access to the Silent Hill f release from the very start, since there have not been any exclusivity deals made about this title. At the moment, you could already head to the Silent Hill f Steam page and Wishlist it as a pre-order!
In this review we are going to have a better look at the story, setting and characters, as well as other important factors about the Silent Hill f gameplay and mechanics that made an impression on us. Let’s dive deep together and find out whether it would manage to captivate fans as much as possible or it would try to take things into a completely different direction from the rest of the entries in fan-favorite horror series.
Experience the Iconic Psychological Terrors in a Small 1960s Japanese Rural Town
Navigating through the streets of Ebisugaoka is both thrilling and rather odd, since it is quite different from what we are typically used to in a Silent Hill game. Gone are the rusty old and abandoned streets of western small towns in the US, as we get immersed in the much more traditionally looking Japanese aesthetic of Ebisugaoka (the town design is actually based on a real-life location called Kanayama, Gero, in the Gifu Prefecture of Japan). It does feature a lot of narrow streets intertwining between the nested houses with sections that have a varying verticality factor, which actually creates a complicated layout similar to that of a maze structure. The authentic 1960s Japanese town gets depicted in vivid 4K visuals, thus evoking a strong, nostalgic sense of both beauty and mystery at the same time.
It seems like the majority of the initial time spent in Silent Hill f would be happening outdoors as you are exploring Ebisugaoka. While you are going across the streets, around the old wooden houses and especially through the network of narrow alleyways, all of which are full with scattered everyday objects such as bikes, garden pots and even mailboxes for the households, there would constantly be a sense of creeping presence in the atmosphere. You would also have to explore different yards, paths among the nearby rice fields, which would ultimately show you the way to your greater adventure.
With an immersive and almost non-existent UI on screen during the exploration, Silent Hill f is a game that tells a convincing story through visuals with its highly-detailed and well-designed environments. All the small details such as the metal fences and railings along the river and the lonely concrete stairways on top of the little hills create a truly ghostly atmosphere.
As you roam around, you would discover files and other types of documents throughout the town, all of them would add more information to the context of Ebisugaoka, which actually once prospered as a mining town. Nowadays, it is much more of a forgotten village and the inhabitants very much prefer the old ways of doing things, such as choosing the traditional medicine over the much more modern and scientifically proven medical methods as well as being totally devout to their religious and spiritual beliefs, specifically the Shinto deity – Inari they worship.
We Get to Meet our Protagonist Too, the High School Student Hinako Shimizu
As she is walking around the empty streets of Ebisugaoka after running away from home and heading to the local candy store to meet up with her fellow high school friends, without any idea of what would happen very soon, more specifically to navigate the foggy town in complete terror and somehow survive all of the deadly horrors from an over-the-shoulder third-person gameplay perspective just like it was set in Bloober Team’s recent remake of the iconic Silent Hill 2 game.
Of course, it doesn’t take long until Hinako and her friends discover something is wrong with the town, as everything gets transformed in a sudden darker way and before you know it Hinako is holding an iron pipe in her hands, which is of course a really iconic weapon for the Silent Hill series, and you must dive into your first encounter with a deadly monster.
The sky darkens as Hinako approaches a row of houses along the forest, as the mysterious fog covers more and more territory. The fog completely covers every corner of the town, and red spider lilies begin growing everywhere from the ground. Things become much worse when tentacle-like plants begin creeping and flowing out from the walls, trying to suffocate Hinako. Now, completely separated from her friends, she has to somehow find them (all while trying to escape from the town), finding out more about their personal fears that haunt them in the process.
Unlike Silent Hill 2 or the other major entries in the franchise, this time there are no radios or any items to effectively warn you about the presence of approaching enemies, so you would have to remain fully alert about every sound and sudden movement around you.
Close-Range Combat Requires Quick-Thinking, Sharp Reactions and Strategy
Even though Hinako is just a teenager, she has a surprising amount of skills to exploit during a fight, including the ability to perfect dodge, to actively use slow down, charge up her focus-bar-draining special attack and to counterattack enemies, when she notices that they glow in a special color palette. She has the ability to even switch between light and heavy attack types, depending on how much time you have to react and hit your enemies. With the much narrower streets, the idea probably being for Hinako to feel urged to stand against her fears directly in order to survive.
Another new system would let you turn your resources into an in-game currency (called Faith) at the different save points, which could then be used to upgrade your stats or get new amulets that can be used to grant you specific buffs. If you are careful enough and manage your resources, they could be turned into much more useful skills or stats, which is an awesome mechanic if you plan things properly. Keep in mind that Hinako is able to carry a limited number of items, which could only serve as a reason to actively exploit this new trading system. Silent Hill f solves the stacked inventory problem by making it possible to trade resources for Faith, especially now that there is no ammo to collect.
The combat system also features a brand new Sanity meter and counterattack mechanic to specifically target the more vulnerable enemies. Counters could be activated with a single press of the button during openings in the enemy’s guard. This does not consume stamina and if it hits successfully, the enemy is going to get knocked down for a short period of time. You would see a special visual effect appear on the enemy when you are able to execute the counter.
Although Focus mode consumes Sanity, this state is going to slow down time and allow for a longer opening marker, thus making it much easier to strike a sudden counter. Also, when Hinako’s Focus gauge gets filled up she is able to unleash a very powerful Focus Attack, inflicting significant amounts of damage. However, there is a price to pay with that move as the current Max Sanity capacity would get decreased a bit, making it even harder to go into the Focus mode, so you would need to precisely execute it for the peak moments of the fights in order to take full advantage of this sort of attack.
Keep an Eye on Weapon Durability and Find the Tools to Fix Them
Hinako is able to acquire all sorts of different melee weapons, from iron pipes to kitchen knives and even baseball bats. With a few exceptions to the rule, most of these weapons would have to be obtained throughout the world of Silent Hill f and Hinako is able to carry up to three different weapons at any given time.
For the first time ever firearm rifles and guns are not a viable option in the weapons department with this entry of the series. Instead, Silent Hill f has a much greater focus on melee combat only. As you manage to make your way through the morbid chaos around you, you are going to notice something peculiar - the game has weapon durability and degradation included as a mechanic. Weapons inSilent Hill f have different levels of durability and will break faster the more they’re used. It is indicated through visual wear and tear that shows the weapons you are using are about to break, since they do experience a change in their appearance, which means you might be holding a bent over pipe or a broken bat.
Another thing that functions as a hint to the player is the fact that Hinako would mention something about fixing her weapon. Weapons could be fixed when you use an in-game item named “Repair kit”, but it is quite rare and difficult to find such and you may have to discard your new favorite weapon when it breaks, thus adding another layer to the survival factor of this Silent Hill game.
While weapon durability is typically regarded as a burden in most other games, it works very well here as finding a new weapon and repair kits quickly becomes an important part of the resource management system that the survival horror genre is quite known for. But there are weapons like the dagger and naginata, which can only be used in the Otherworld of the gameplay, which have no durability meter and can be used without the worry of fixing them.
Intricate Puzzles that are Closely Tied to the Storyline and In-Game Characters
In the typical for Silent Hill fashion, the in-game puzzles would very often help you understand something about Hinako or the other characters in the world she inhabits. For example, a puzzle you discover on a misty rice field makes you examine different scarecrows on the field in order to learn the direction you should be heading in, which is directly connected to a childhood trauma that Hinako had experience, when getting lost and being afraid of the scarecrow figures.
In many cases you could find doors and windows that were left open, and that would allow Hinako to get inside the traditional tatami-floored houses, where she would need to solve some simpler puzzles in order to make her way through to the next area of interest.
Puzzles have always been one of the definitive features in the Silent Hill series, and they are featured in this title as well. Many of them are deeply connected to the story, masterfully written by scriptwriter Ryukishi07, and it is quite intriguing to find out how they are linked to the characters’ emotions and personality. Producer Motoi Okamoto detailed the team's approach for the vibe of the Silent Hill f gameplay, revealing that the "puzzles are grounded in psychological anguish and suffering. They are all deeply connected to the storyline, as well as traditional elements of Japanese culture and folklore. Hints provided by files you obtain never make the solution too obvious, while still giving the player an idea of what they need to do.
Silent Hill f has a set of difficulty settings for both the combat and puzzles aspects of the game. Story mode is easier and more of a cinematic experience, while Normal mode lets players to take on the challenge of battles with more effort.
Another very unique component of the storytelling in Silent Hill f is the notebook that Hinako carries with her everywhere. In it, you would be able to read more information regarding the characters, locations and the events that are shown in the overall story. All of the entries are written from Hinako’s perspective and it seems to be a pretty straightforward archive at a first glance, but events in the story could put additional text in the previously unlocked entries. These additional texts go much deeper into the lore and background. Sometimes, they could slightly contradict or change your view on the characters and events, showing that things are never what they seem to be in the first place. It is not too hard to imagine that for a deeper understanding of the story and characters in Silent Hill f, examining these texts would be of crucial importance.
Explore the Dark and Mystical Other Dimension in the Endless Shrine Temple
Another iconic element to the series is the existence of an alternate world, which is present in Silent Hill f as well. Hinako is transported to another plane of existence, walking through a temple that seems to be filled with a myriad of stronger monsters and ancient demons, diving into some mythology and history as well. We already know from the released trailers that there is going to be some deep psychological elements of terror at play throughout Hinako's journey and she would have to delve into her deepest fears in this place.
In this different dimension we are shown a much more traditional version of Japan, where a mysterious masked figure guides us through the grounds of various sacred shrines. Here, Hinako is able to obtain the far more traditional Japanese weapons such as the Naginata, a pole weapon with a curved sharp blade, similar to a glaive that is mostly used by women in battle. Weapons that Hinako discovers in this alternate world do not break, but she would not be able to carry them over to Ebisugaoka.
Here we have seen Hinako going against a grotesque demonic monster dressed as a shrine maiden. Hinako calls this monster by the name “Sakiko” when she confronts it in the Otherworld dimension. But Sakiko is one of the dead friends of Hinako, and why would she be in this dark and mysterious world? Why does she call Hinako “a traitor”? The scenario writer for Silent Hill f Ryukishi07 sees Japanese horror as a sub-genre that doesn’t rely as much on physical threats to the protagonist's life, but rather makes you feel uncomfortable and confused by creating situations that feel awfully strange and somehow out of place.
In other cases, Hinako and her friends are trying to find a way to escape the haunted town of Ebisugaoka. Interactions with these friends seem normal at first, but then suddenly they say or do something that catches you off guard and you start wondering, why this is….
The series producer Motoi Okamoto added in that the combat in Silent Hill f was greatly inspired by the ongoing popularity of some difficult action games. With the inclusion of multiple difficulty settings, Silent Hill f is by no means a Soulslike, but it definitely shows the inspiration in the boss fight design, since it does share a similar learning curve that results in a greater feeling of satisfaction when you finally do manage to beat the opponents. Silent Hill f is a story-driven experience in the first place, but it just happens to offer a really solid set of combat mechanics and gameplay systems at the same time.
While keeping combat engaging and complex, Silent Hill f does a great job in making the player feel weak. The design of the title cleverly incorporates this sense by actually demonstrating what initially seems to be a regular boss battle to play out as an escape sequence in which the player has to find the route to get rid of the giant monster that is chasing them. Fighting just one regular enemy is relatively manageable, but when you get confronted by a few foes, retreating and running away would often seem like the best option, especially since enemies do not reward you with experience points or drop any type of resources.
Since Focus Mode is deeply tied to Hinako’s mental energy gauge, which exists apart from her stamina and health bars it is a rather interesting fact that the upper limit of her mental energy gets decreased when enemies do something to scare her or when she gets so frightened by a certain event, connecting the Silent Hill f gameplay to the story and Hinako’s mental state.
Luckily, there are in-game items that are able to recover the lost upper limit of her mental energy gauge, but Hinako’s stamina is limited as well. When she runs out of stamina and mental energy at the same time, she could become so terrifyingly frightened and mentally exhausted that she would not even be able to move for a certain period of time. So, managing her energy resources is of key importance to her survival.
The developers have also confirmed that the game would have a total of 5 different endings, including the iconic for the Silent Hill series UFO ending. Each first playthrough would always end the same way, but the repeat playthroughs are going to add new elements such as new areas, branching pathways, boss types and important lore to better understand the storyline variations and changes.
Currently, Silent Hill f pre-orders are live for physical copies on both the PS5 and Xbox Series X platforms. You are able to also pre-order the digital version for the PC via Silent Hill f Steam page and enjoy the terror on Windows as well!
With such a high bar set by the recent Silent Hill 2 Remake and the more iconic entries in the series, it may be a bit difficult for the Silent Hill f release to overcome the expectations, but it does seem to be a strong candidate for the job, with its new setting, mythology and mechanics leaning towards the action side of things, that would appeal to younger audiences, but might seem too detached for seasoned fans of the franchise, as it seems to distance itself from the legacy that the franchise has held for so long. In any case we are quite eager to see what it holds and the ways it ties into the greater Silent Hill universe of nightmares.
Thank you for reading the whole blog post and until next time as we keep on exploring new and interesting gaming titles and news. Stay tuned for more!