Silent Hill f – Review

Comparison is the thief of joy. It isn’t fair to compare Silent Hill f to previous entries with it being so uniquely different from previous games. Older fans might have difficulties embracing the changes and new direction of this latest entry however others might embrace its unique identity that sets it apart from the rest.

Unlike the remake, Silent Hill f is developed by NeoBards. When I heard that Bloober Team wasn’t going to be in charge of the development of this entry, I was a bit disappointed after seeing what they could do. Hearing it was NeoBards, the same developers from RE Resistance and RE:Verse, who were making this game made me even more skeptical to see if they could actually pull it off.

It’s no surprise that consumers aren’t confident in Konami, especially with how they handled their IPs. The revival of Silent Hill, thanks to the remake, however, has bought them a second chance in the gaming community. But would Silent Hill f be the entry that revives the franchise for good? Or would it just be another foot in its grave?

With the game no longer set in the United States, Silent Hill f is not only different aesthetically but also adopts its own identity when it comes to gameplay. No longer do you have the staples that you’d normally associate with a Silent Hill game. Instead, you’re getting something different this time. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but there are some changes I liked and some changes I wasn’t too fond of.

Silent Hill f does a great job in setting up the atmosphere. The town of Ebisugaoka is the Japanese equivalent of the titular town, however, compared to the spacious American streets, this quiet rural mountainous region is cramped with tight streets and labyrinth-esque structure. It’s something new and refreshing. The eerie feel of the town perfectly capsulates with a Silent Hill should be.

The town is also easy to get lost in. With many blockages and detours, you’ll have to take to get to where you need to go. You can even explore around a bit to find items and weapons. The setting isn’t too ope,n but it does encourage you to take a look around.

I’ve mentioned some pretty big changes. For one thing, there isn’t a radio anymore. This is 1960’s Japan, the furthest we’ve ever gone back in the timeline and the furthest we’ve ever been from the titular town itself. It’s a bit of a shame that they couldn’t find some alternative to it, such as the lights flickering and wind howling harshly whenever there are enemies nearby. The portable radio was so iconic and induced a panic that its absence is very noticeable, though understandable, considering the time period and area the game takes place in. Though it’s a bit disappointing that they couldn’t find an alternative.

The Otherworld is also different now. While the Fog World remains as it should, this time the Otherworld is called Dark Shrine, and instead of the rotting, decaying, and hazardously rusty architecture, it is much cleaner and peaceful, albeit a darker interpretation. A lot of this version of the Otherworld is tied to Japanese mythology and folklore.

Silent Hill f is also a lot more action than horror. Even when compared to Downpour and Homecoming, f brings a lot more emphasis to fighting than previous entries. You have counters, perfect dodges, and focus attacks, which don’t sound like they belong in a survival-horror game, but they do make it work with some concessions.

One of those concessions is that fighting every enemy you see is a bad idea. Weapons degrade and break in Silent Hill f. You can only carry three at a time, and they are scarce in the world. Once all of your weapons break, you’re turned into a defenseless little girl who can only run from otherwise easily dispatched foes. Sometimes, running is the wisest option to save your weapons in the future.

Weapons can be repaired with Tool Kits, but like the weapons themselves, those are also rather rare. Items exist in the world, and there is more diversity than in the Silent Hill 2 Remake. For example, there are multiple types of healing items and even items that restore your Stamina, Focus, and Sanity. It was honestly hard to keep track of what restored what.

I really dislike the numerous types of items in Silent Hill f and wish they kept it to a minimum. These items aren’t instant use, and you have to map them out on your inventory slots to use in combat. Your inventory is also limited, so you’ll be forced to discard one item you don’t want to get the one you just picked up.

The reason why there are so many types of items is that they have dual uses. You can use them in combat to immediately restore health or offer them to a shrine to build up points and invest in your abilities. Yes, Silent Hill f also plays like an RPG where you can improve individual traits of Hinako’s such as her health, stamina, focus, and even carrying more accessories at a time. Don’t worry, you won’t be making your own builds like you would expect, as survival and horror still take precedence over the RPG elements.

When it comes to combat, I encountered some issues. Namely, with the camera. It isn’t a problem to fight enemies in a large open field, but the numerous tight corridors of Ebisugaoka made the camera fight against me, as I couldn’t tell what the enemies were doing when pressed into a corner. Maybe this was on purpose to simulate how claustrophobic combat would feel when there isn’t much room to move.

There is also no quick turn here. I feel a bit frustrated because there were times I just wanted to run from an encounter to save up on weapon durability and I have to turn the camera the whole way. This was especially notable when fighting in the tighter alleys and fighting indoors.

Hinako will find a variety of weapons. Each type of weapon has its own durability, unique attacks, and special focus attack. The most common type is the pipe, though Hinako will find other weapons like the fast knife and the slow sledgehammer. You most likely won’t bother mastering these weapons since they’re very rare.

The weapons become a lot more different in the Dark Shrine. In Silent Hill f‘s version of the Otherworld, Hinako will find weapons that are unbreakable when in this area. However, what weapons you get here, you can’t bring with you when you return to the town. Silent Hill f also has no ranged weapons so you’re strictly focusing on melee combat.

There are even accessories that Hinako can equip called Omamori which you can either find by exploring Ebisugaoka or trading Faith, which is the game’s currency, to get them at Shrines. I personally didn’t really find these too helpful on my playthrough, as I just equipped the one that charged my Focus attacks faster.

The story of Silent Hill f is interesting, albeit very confusing and cryptic at the beginning. Hinako and her friends get sucked into the fog town and immediately seek escape once they find out it’s infested with monsters. Along the way, there are twists and turns that have you questioning what’s really going on.

In terms of what’s happening thematically, it’s in line with what Silent Hill normally stands for. It just carries itself with a bit more on Japanese folklore and mythology. A lot of what Hinako struggles with comes from her ostracization for being different from her peers and not being the traditional Japanese lady.

At first, I didn’t really get what made this entry a Silent Hill game. The beginning felt a bit weak, and I wasn’t strongly attached to the characters. It felt more like a new IP than a return of a beloved classic. Though my opinion of this does change later on as the game introduces the Dark Shrine and we get to see more of Hinako’s past as she visits important locations in Ebisugaoka.

There were times when I started laughing. One section had me extensively search an entire spooky school for keys to a gate Hinako could’ve easily climbed over. I even found it funny that Hinako is always alone in gameplay when her friends are supposedly travelling with her. It was a bit disorienting when it comes to gameplay and story segregation, but it was fittingly eerie.

Scary? I don’t think I’ve talked yet about whether Silent Hill f is scary. While it’s not the scariest Silent Hill game I’ve ever played, it does do horror rather well with eerie and creepy enemy designs. How these enemies are used in the game is really well done.

There is an enemy type in the game that is used frequently. And they’re these life-sized dolls or mannequins of high school students that remain still until they attack. Some of them aren’t actually enemies, but there are those that will fake being harmless until you get close. One level had them only move closer when I wasn’t looking, which sufficiently crept me out.

Silent Hill f does a great job in making you feel unease. There’s a level where it felt like I was always being stalked, which gave me a pretty good idea of what Hinako feels when dealing with stalkers. The enemy behavior in Silent Hill f is used to full effect.

There are different types of enemies depending on whether you’re in Fog Town or Dark Shrine. In Fog Town, enemies that go down will stay down. However, in Dark Shrine, enemies will revive after a certain amount of time has passed unless you dispatch them in a certain way.

Unlike other Silent Hill entries, f locks you into one ending for your first playthrough. You’re encouraged for another playthrough of the game again to see the other endings the game has to offer.

Silent Hill f offers multiple difficulties. Like the classic Silent Hill games, f allows you to choose between different combat and puzzle difficulties. Konami told us to play it on Story mode for our first time playing. So I decided to stick with what the developers wanted me to experience.

Combat on Story mode is still challenging, though I only really died once. In Story difficulty, you don’t lose Max Sanity, which makes using Focus attacks easier and maintaining Sanity negligible. Dealing with one enemy isn’t really hard, but when facing more than two, fighting in the game starts to become a struggle.

Puzzles on Hard mode are punishingly difficult. While many puzzles are well thought out, some are so obscure that it might require you to look it up online. There was a puzzle in the game involving a box and symbols that took me two hours, of which I had to brute force the solution. Puzzles will be different depending on what difficulty you selected.

Silent Hill f‘s puzzles require interpretation of notes you find lying around. Some of these puzzles can be easy, like matching the designs of what you offer to the god’s altar. Many of these are very difficult, requiring a keen understanding of what’s being given to you as a clue. With some of these clues being so obscure, you might have to brute force a solution or look it up online.

There is also no way to change difficulties, so once you start the game, you’re stuck with those options.

Silent Hill f‘s performance is a bit all over the place. I played the game on a standard PS5 and the difference between Quality and Performance modes is like night and day. Performance mode runs on a steady 60 FPS, but the cutscenes themselves are oddly locked at 30 FPS. This makes gameplay and cutscene integration feel somewhat awkward and even disconnected.

I tried Quality mode, but the game feels like it runs lower than 30 frames. This was the default setting, and a part of me can’t help but feel maybe that’s how the developers wanted us to play this game. The low frame rate gives Ebisugaoka an older, retro feel and makes it a bit scarier. I did eventually switch back to Performance for smoother gameplay.

The game also comes with two languages: you can either play in Japanese, which is by default, or in English. I played through most of the game in Japanese to feel authentic, but I did try the English voices for a bit to see how different they were. While I can’t speak the former, the latter sounded vastly more emotional and vocal compared to the Japanese voices, which, to my ears, were more subtle and soft. I recommend playing it on the Japanese version for a more authentic experience.

Akira Yamaoka has once again returned to compose the music for this Silent Hill entry. Unlike the more western-style soft rock and pop songs, the music in Silent Hill f properly fits the setting and time period.

Silent Hill f is a good survival horror game, and I recommend it for fans and those just interested in survival horror in general. Granted, the combat is a bit of an acquired taste, and I originally disliked the direction of the game until I continued to play it. You’ll begin to appreciate this new and fresher take on the series.

This review is based on a PS5 review code provided by the developer/publisher.

Silent Hill f (PS5)

6 Justified

Silent Hill f is a good survival horror game, and I recommend it for fans and those just interested in survival horror in general. Granted, the combat is a bit of an acquired taste, and I originally disliked the direction of the game until I continued to play it. You'll begin to appreciate this new and fresher take on the series.

The Good

1. Enemy Designs Are Scary and Interesting
2. Difficult and Challenging Puzzles
3. Story Is Interesting And Leaves You Guessing
4. Music Composed by Akira Yamaoka
5. Beautiful Environmental Design

The Bad

1. Characters Felt a Bit Bland
2. Camera Can Work Against You
3. Characters Feel A Bit Bland
4. Lack of Radio