The Silent Hill franchise has had a tough time with the cancellation of Hideo Kojima’s PT and the last main entry released thirteen years ago, with Silent Hill Downpour. However, in the past few years, we’ve seen a resurgence (other than Ascension), with The Short Message being a surprisingly solid entry in the franchise. Bloober Team is starting its redemption arc with the fantastic Silent Hill 2 Remake, which not only retells one of gaming’s most iconic stories, but also somehow manages to improve on it in many ways. Silent Hill f has a lot to live up to, being the first full original entry in a long time. 

Silent Hill f is an ambitious project that takes the game far away from the titular town to 1960s Rural Japan. Brings in a new development team that is best known for remasters and gives the story to a well-known horror manga writer, Ryukishi07. It’s a bold, significant leap for the franchise, one that takes a lot of chances and paves the way for the franchise, not relying heavily on its past. 

Story

Set in the remote village of Ebisugaoka, most of the village has mysteriously vanished in a thick mist that has enshrouded the entire village, and a red growth has started to infest the streets. Hinako, a schoolgirl, must find her way through the village with her friends if she has any hopes of surviving.

The stories in Silent Hill have always been the central focus, and that remains the same here. Thanks to a powerful central character whose journey allows her to overcome her fears and inner demons. Whilst the settings move away from the titular town, the fog remains ever-present and brings out the worst in people. To the point you don’t know who to trust. And of course, Silent Hill f does deal with some dark themes that make full use of the setting. 

Silent Hill f also relies heavily on obscuring the truth. Some things won’t be clear until you reach NG+ or even your third playthrough. This might seem like an artificial way to inflate playtime, but the method used is rather clever, with multiple endings unlocking and different story paths that bring more context to the story and world. Perhaps not as tidy as NieR: Automata‘s use of game routes, but it does a great job of delving deeper into the characters, while also adding some gameplay opportunities. Making repeated playthroughs more than worth it, and to save time, the game will let you know which cutscenes are new and mix things up in interesting ways as well. 

It’s arguably one of the most compelling stories in the franchise, with Hinako being one of my favourites up there with Heather Mason and James Sunderland. Hinako is a victim of abuse from her father frequently, and the way that manifests in-game is just what Silent Hill does best. And as the game goes on through your first and second playthroughs, you will really get to know her perspective and choices throughout. Even the notes are all worth going through! 

Gameplay

Much of Silent Hill f is spent exploring the fictional Japanese village of Ebisugaoka as it becomes enshrouded in the iconic mysterious fog, and a new red, flowery infection that grows throughout the journey. You will explore a variety of village streets, rice fields, and even some interiors, including various houses and a middle school. Providing a solid amount of variety to the in-game locations. Initially, it felt weird for Silent Hill f to step so far away from the titular town, but after a few minutes, I was hooked on the idea. 

The Otherworld manifests a little differently in this game, which I’ll refer to as The Shrine. Instead of the world peeling away and unleashing a terrifying new layer under our own, whenever Hinako enters The Shrine, she is teleported to another world. It’s another change to the formula, but one that helps Silent Hill f really stand on its own, providing a unique spin and integrating itself into the story. The Shrine is where Silent Hill f can really unleash its creative ambitions.

As you would expect with a Silent Hill game, within the village of Ebisugaoka and the Shrine, you will be dealing with a wide variety of puzzles. These are all incredibly well-designed, with some creative riddles and use of exploration in the environment. Everything is also tracked within Hinako’s journal, so you won’t need to backtrack either. 

When starting the game for the first time, you will have the option to choose between three different options. Easy, Hard, and Lost in the Fog make interesting changes to the puzzles, making those repeated playthroughs more varied. Exploration and puzzles are when Silent Hill games are truly at their best, leading to some of the most creative moments in the game. 

Combat

Whilst exploration and puzzles play a vital role, it wouldn’t be a Silent Hill game without combat, and Silent Hill f certainly has a lot of it. Hinoko can carry a small variety of melee weapons, with which she can perform light and heavy attacks. You will need to pay attention to not only your stamina during combat, but also your sanity, which adds a surprisingly unique layer to the combat.

Unlike other horror games, Sanity isn’t a mechanic that gets annoying. It’s actually a combat resource that Hinoko can focus on to target enemies. Increasing the amount of time that Hinoko can counterattack enemies and allowing her to reposition more safely if needed. Fully charging up your focus also allows Hinoko to perform more powerful attacks, but costs a lot more sanity in the process. If you do run out of Sanity, then Hinako will become more vulnerable to attacks. It’s a surprisingly compelling feature that adds another layer of strategy to the survival horror. Another resource to manage. In story mode, this can be regenerated at shrines, but on hard, you will need to use Faith, which is a currency used primarily for upgrading Hinako’s stats at various shrines scattered around the map.

For what I believe is the first time in the franchise, there are absolutely no ranged weapons. Instead, Hinako is forced into close-quarters combat to deal with enemies. However, you can always run away, and that’s something the game encourages. Especially on the games’ Hard difficulty, which makes enemy encounters more dangerous and something you don’t want to get involved with if you can help it. If you are playing on Hard (which I actually recommend for your second playthrough, despite liking a challenge), you will need to pay attention to your resources. 

I’m generally not a fan of weapon degradation; it usually limits gameplay opportunities and becomes a chore. Here, however, it plays a crucial role in the survival horror genre, and the game is better for it. With no ranged weapons, your melee weapons are your only form of defence. Without ammo to manage, your Sanity is your most powerful ability. Healing and support items as a whole are cleverly spread out, scattering the world; there’s plenty around that you won’t feel too restricted, but with limited slots, you will need to be careful. Thankfully, you can sweep a lot of items up and sell them at the shrine. 

It’s a serviceable combat system, but one that, for better or worse, is plagued with the jankiness that is pretty much a part of the franchise’s DNA. The camera doesn’t play nicely, especially in enclosed spaces, which happens quite often. At its best, the combat enhances the horror, but at its worst, it’s just a bit of a slog. This isn’t helped by lacklustre enemy variety; throughout most of the adventure, you will be dealing with the same three or four enemy types. Outside of something that happens about 2/3rds of the way through the campaign, the gameplay stays mostly the same. 

As a whole, the gameplay in Silent Hill f is mostly a step forward. The combat isn’t the most engaging, but it does the job well enough to keep you engaged for multiple playthroughs. Where it does shine is creating some of the most atmospherically engaging environments I’ve seen since… well, Silent Hill 2 Remake. If you are looking for a good, challenging survival horror experience, then the hard difficulty will definitely scratch that itch. My personal recommendation is to follow the game’s advice: complete a playthrough on Story and Hard mode (With a third unlocked after beating the game once). The differences can feel surprising, and it helps get the whole experience. Hard is not brutally challenging most of the time, but it will certainly test you at times, with some boss fights being absolute pains. Thankfully, checkpoints and save shrines are plentiful. 

Sound and Graphics 

Moving away from the town of Silent Hill has allowed for a more distinctive visual style in this instalment, and the streets of Ebisugaoka have provided a fantastic location, with cramped village alleys, schools, and streets making up the bulk of the environment. All of this is enshrouded in a thick mist that defines the franchise, but the 1960s Japanese aesthetic and culture adds a new layer to it. It’s a game constantly dripping in moody atmosphere, and the crimson red flowers show a growing infestation spreading across the town, which changes not only the look but also the feel of the village. 

Concept artist Kera was brought on to do the designs for a lot of the creatures in here. Remaining true to a lot of Silent Hill‘s past monsters, it’s easy to see the archetypes. Yet Kera managed to do something a little different here. These monsters are exceptionally well-designed, terrifying, and straight-up awesome. The scarecrow maze is seriously one of my favourite moments, thanks to the creature design and how they animate. Silent Hill f’s art team did one hell of a job. 

Running on Unreal Engine 5, I was pleasantly surprised by what’s on display. Yes, there are some rough edges, and there’s the occasional stutter, but for the most part, it has been a solid performer for me. For reference, I’m running an RTX 4070 at 3440×1440 and was hitting above 60fps at higher settings. For the most part, it looked excellent; however, at this resolution, cutscenes are rendered in 16:9 before transitioning to 21:9 for the gameplay. It’s not the smoothest transition, but it’s not a big deal either. I also encountered some artifacting with DLSS specifically. Forcing me to switch to FSR. 

As a whole, it’s a solid technical display, but not one without any issues. Within the disturbingly beautiful world, there are just some rough edges that hold it back. Character models aren’t quite up to par with other games this year (though comparing to Death Stranding 2 would be unfair), and there are some repetitive designs within the world; The Shrine World itself still has me a little conflicted, and I wish they did a little more with it. 

As for the soundtrack, long-time Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka returns once again to deliver another excellent soundtrack. Yamaoka manages to take a tense moment to the next level, but can also add a layer of terror on top of that. It’s an incredibly well-done and effective soundtrack that fits the themes and setting of the game. Bringing traditional instruments to the forefront, whilst also letting Yamaoka go wild. 

The voice cast also does a fantastic job. By default, the game’s language is set to Japanese, and I highly recommend keeping it that way. Hinako brings a layer of emotional vulnerability throughout the journey, starting somewhat reserved but eventually growing into an absolute badass later in the game. There’s not a lot in the way of other characters, but they also do a great job with the voices, especially Rinko, who is a character that you will absolutely love to hate. 

Verdict

To put it bluntly, Silent Hill f is one of my favourite entries in this once long-dormant survival horror franchise. Marking the first full brand-new entry in years. Moving away from the titular town to a remote Japanese village was a risky move and one that paid off incredibly well, thanks to a narrative that compels from the moment you boot the game up to the second or even third time you roll the credits. However, it’s not perfect, and some repetitive combat could do with some additional work, but the creative creature and environmental design more than make up for it. 

 

Graphics: 8.5 Some rough edges with the presentation, but exploring the town and encountering the creatures is just dripping in atmosphere.	Gameplay: 7.5 Constantly tense and terrifying, and whilst the core combat is satisfying, it can end up feeling repetitive.
Sound: 10 Excellent voice acting and a haunting soundtrack that is one of Silent Hills‘ best.	Fun Factor: 9.0 A bold step for the franchise with a fantastic story, world, and puzzle design.
Final Verdict: 8.5

Silent Hill f is available now on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. 

Reviewed on PC with an RTX 4070, Ryzen 7 7800X3D and 32GB RAM. 

A copy of Silent Hill f was provided by the publisher.