Konami’s Silent Hill revival has found great success in the last two years. Silent Hill f continues this great trajectory as Neobards Entertainment delivers a new modern horror classic that successfully explores the “beauty in terror”.
Combat and horror come together to make Silent Hill f a must play for fans of the series that are wanting a different kind of challenge from the almost three decade old franchise.
Silent Hill f was written by ‘ryukishi07’, a well known horror creator that’s best remembered for his When They Cry series. His specific writing style is very clear throughout f as the whole game is heavily reminiscent of When They Cry.
Taking place in 60’s Japan, the story follows Hinako, a teenage girl that’s forced to confront unbeliveable horror’s after a strange fog brings her worst nightmares to life.
Without spoiling the truth of Hinako’s journey, her tale continues to tread the line between reality and dream’s, just as many other Silent Hill game’s have.
It’s important to explain that Silent Hill f isn’t for the faint of heart, the game’s story explores disturbing subject matter that many player’s may be unaware of before booting it up for the first time.
Thankfully, there’s a warning screen that’s shown every time you boot up the game that describes the subject matter the game explores.
Interestingly to fully understand Silent Hill f’s confusing narrative structure multiple playthroughs are required. No matter how you play you’ll always get the “bad” ending on your first time round, meaning if you want to see an ending that’s slightly more hopeful, you’ll have to crawl back through the fog once again.
This isn’t bad considering the game can be completed in just under ten hours, however if you’re someone that likes to explore as much as you can, you’ll find that playthrough’s could vary from 12-16 hours.
New Combat, New Challenges
An issue many players have brought up is that the combat was unable to hold them over multiple playthroughts. This is a fair judgement considering Silent Hill f is a major departure from last year’s Silent Hill 2 remake combat wise.
To stay alive as long as you can in Silent Hill f you’ll need to bear in mind Hinako’s minimal stamina and habit of snapping weapons in half after a couple of swings.
The combat is cumbersome at first, but becomes easier as the game introduces more enemy types. There’s; basic attacks, heavy attacks, dodges, perfect dodges, counters, and a special attack unique to each weapon.
To describe each system indivdually would be to do a diservice to the game itself, as each individual strand of the combat puzzle comes together to create a more action packed experience than any Silent Hill game before f.
Horror and action are a package deal during Hinako’s mind bending adventure, to take one away would undo the point of her character.
Boss Fights With a New Coat of Paint
There’s also segments of the game that include “boss” fights. Though these encounters only occur a handful of times, they stand out as being particularly important and peculiar when examining Silent Hill f as a horror game.
Though there’s nothing new about “boss” fights in the Silent Hill series, f’s fights are far more intense and visceral, demanding far more of the player than prior games have. The first fight in particular is incredibly tough if you’re not expecting it.
Each boss fight is important to the disturbing narrative of the game, with the final few in particular unraveling some of the mysteries the game presents.
Flowers and Fear
The cast of Silent Hill f is slightly larger than that of the older Silent Hill games, there’s Hinako, the player character, her friends Shu, Rinko and Sakuko. Hinako’s parents, her sister Junko and the mysterious Fox Mask.
Character’s like Fox Mask and Junko are primarily important in the game’s ‘Dark Shrine’ chapters (Silent Hill f’s stand in for the series’ ‘Other World’ areas). Both the town of Ebisugaoka and the ‘Dark Shrine’ are linked to each other, even if it’s not clear in the beginning areas of the game.
Each area drips with a horrifying atmosphere which is mostly built from the games use of flowers. Every time there’s an enemy near by, or a horrific puzzle waiting to be completed, there’s a mess of Sakura-like flowers and roots growing into each surrouding.
As the game rushes towards it’s dreary conclusion, the entire town of Ebisugaoka which was once drenched in fog becomes something other worldly. The flowers bloom in every direction, turning everything in a pinkish-red nightmare.
Silent Hill f is uniquely its own game. The town of Silent Hill is absent but its presence is still felt, you don’t need that specific quiet Midwest town to tell a tale of personal horror.
If you’re new to the series Silent Hill f might be a hard sell, after all it’s a horror game that strays into action more than any other genre. But if you’re a fan of disturbing media that challenges you then Silent Hill f is a must play.
Featured Image Credit: Konami
Fourth year Film and Journalism student
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