Silent Hill is one of the seminal horror franchises in video games, and it returned in a pretty big way last year with the remake of Silent Hill 2. Now, Konami has brought the first big new game in the franchise in over a decade with Silent Hill f. This time, the developers at Neobards Entertainment decided to take the franchise in a different direction in a new setting, and, despite a few hiccups, it still works surprisingly well. Thus, let’s dive to the franchise’s return to form.
Silent Hill f foregoes the the usual setting of the titular town of Silent Hill, and instead the story takes places in early 1960s Japan. The story follows teenage protagonist Hinako Shimizu and her friends as fog and the horrors within envelope her small town of Ebisugaoka, and now Hinako must find a way to escape the town all while dealing with the monsters blocking their path. The fog shrouding Ebisugaoka isn’t the only thing Hinako has to deal with as she is transported to the mysterious Dark Shrine where she deals with some dark moments compared to what she has to contend with in the fog.
As you can expect from the Silent Hill franchise, the story of Silent Hill f takes many twists and turns as you progress through the game. By the time you finish the game, the story still doesn’t give you all the answers which encourages you to immediately dive back into the game to discover the full truth of Hinako’s story and the multiple other endings the game offers. Luckily, once you beat the game the first time, the game does give you hints at how to acquire the other endings in the game.
The story and setting isn’t the only change to the usual Silent Hill formula that Silent Hill f brings to the franchise. This game focuses far more on combat than previous entries as you are engaging with enemies almost constantly as you explore. The game is also a fully melee combat game, and Hinako can carry up to three weapons at a time. There are no guns or anything, so you are always right in the enemy’s face as you fight them. Thus, you must take your time mastering when to attack as you have to be aware of your stamina as you fight. Hinako can dodge incoming attack at the cost of stamina or if she performs a perfect dodge she’ll regain all of her lost stamina at once. She can also perform a counter attack while executing a heavy attack when enemies glow red which can leave them stunned for to to land a few extra hits on them.
While Silent Hill f has a major focus on combat, don’t go in expecting the strongest melee combat out there. Hinako isn’t Kratos so it takes effort to defeat the multitude of enemies you will encounter throughout the game even on the lower difficulty. It is also extremely easy to get overwhelmed by enemies when you are dealing with more than one. This is exacerbated by the weapons having a durability meter meaning when your weapon’s durability hits zero it breaks. This can leave you in a bad spot with no weapon and loads of enemies to still engage with. There are items you can find while exploring which can repair a weapon’s durability to make it last and keep you in the fight longer.
Hinako has a sanity meter that can be drained when an enemy grabs you or by certain attacks, and once this meter is depleted your health is constantly draining until you are able to restore some of the sanity meter. While an interesting mechanic for a horror game, this meter is nary a worry when you are on the regular difficulty as the sanity meter only drains to certain attacks instead of grabs which are far more common. There also isn’t a wide variety of enemies that you’ll encounter with one specific type being the most common one you fight throughout, so combat does feel a bit repetitive as you progress.
Where Silent Hill f shines is in its puzzles and exploration. One thing I love about this franchise is that the puzzles, while remaining the same, have different solutions depending on what difficulty you play on, and you are able to change puzzle difficulty independently of combat difficulty. This game has some unique puzzles that require some thought to make sure they are solved right. Then, there’s the exploration. The town of Ebisugaoka is eerie even before being overtaken by fog, and the developers build tension perfectly as you explore and not know what’s coming around the next corner. There are plenty of items to find from healing items to items that increase your inventory to charms that give you extra buffs such as increased health or better dodge timing.
Overall, Silent Hill f is a great horror experience with a story that will keep you engaged and wanting to pursue it deeper with multiple playthroughs. While combat isn’t the deepest or strongest melee combat out there, it is still adequate and despite its flaws, and it brought up by the how good puzzles and exploration of the town is. With the remake last year and now this, Silent Hill is looking to be at its highest point in over two decades, and it will be great to see where the franchise goes next with such solid new foundation.
Score: 8 out of 10
Reviewed on PlayStation 5