Silent Hill f isn’t playing around when it comes to psychological horror. The developers have already confirmed that Silent Hill f will feature multiple endings, with five in total for players to unlock. Fans expected multiple endings like in past games, but Konami has added a chilling twist: your very first playthrough only has one ending, and there’s no way around it.
Longtime Silent Hill fans already know the drill: new entries usually come with multiple endings that change depending on your choices. That tradition continues in Silent Hill f, although this time there’s a twist most players won’t expect. Some fans online have even joked that the mysterious “f” in Silent Hill f might stand for “five endings.” While the real meaning behind the title is still up for debate, it’s not unusual for a Silent Hill game to hide deeper symbolism in its name. (If you’re curious, we explored the most popular theories about what Silent Hill f really means in detail.)
You’re locked to one ending on your first playthrough.
One Ending On Your First Run
In older entries like Silent Hill, The Room, or Shattered Memories, your choices shaped the outcome. Silent Hill f doesn’t give you that freedom at first. No matter what you do, protagonist Hinako Shimizu’s fate is sealed in your first run.
This means that no matter what you do during your first playthrough you will experience the same ending as everyone else.
According to the developers from a press event in Tokyo, this was because they want you to experience a linear story first before viewing it from different perspectives. While devs haven’t explicitly confirmed that your first playthrough is always linear, many clues and interviews suggest that New Game+ will be where branching endings happen.
You can probably expect bittersweet tears where there’s no ending in which everyone lives happily ever after. Since you’re locked to one ending on your first run of the game, then it’s more likely it’s the “worst” ending of the five. This will incentivize you to immediately start a New Game+ to find the least saddest of the bunch.
New Game Plus Brings Multiple Endings
Once you beat the game, New Game+ introduces branching paths. This time your decisions matter, letting you reach one of the five possible endings.
Lead writer Ryukishi07 says these aren’t simple “good” or “bad” endings. Instead, they’re layered, bittersweet, and sometimes painful. Longtime fans can probably expect the return of the infamous UFO ending, though it’s unclear if we’ll also get a modern twist on the classic dog ending.
Of course, don’t expect your new playthrough to be redundant. According to Konami and NeoBards Entertainment, New Game+ offers more of the map to explore than previously, new boss battles, and different story developments explore through new cutscenes not available in your original playthrough. So even after you’ve already beaten the game once, it isn’t quite done with you.
You may be locked to one purposefully crafted ending on your first playthrough but it may not be a bad thing. This means you can relax and do anything to your heart’s content without having to worry about whether picking up an item or looking at it for too long will get you the bad ending.
More Than Just Extra Endings
New Game+ isn’t just about alternate finales. Konami and developer NeoBards Entertainment confirmed that it will also include:
- New areas on the map to explore
- Additional boss battles
- Exclusive cutscenes and story developments
That means your second playthrough won’t feel like a repeat. Instead, it builds on what you’ve already experienced and rewards you for diving deeper.
A Very Different Silent Hill
Silent Hill f also stands apart because of its setting. For the first time, the series leaves the United States and takes place in 1960s Japan. That shift in location and era makes this entry unlike anything Silent Hill fans have seen before.
The change could also tie its multiple endings back to the broader Silent Hill timeline in unexpected ways. Don’t be surprised if some of them connect to the main story in North America.
Silent Hill f launches on September 5, 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Your first ending is already written, but what happens next is up to you.
