Beebom Score
Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? It’s a state where a person is unable to move and is stuck between sleep and wakefulness. Now, imagine experiencing a nightmare at the same time, and seeing it mix with reality, while being unable to snap out of it. Sounds absolutely terrifying, doesn’t it? No jump scares, but a sense of constant dread that keeps on building until you finally awake. That’s exactly how Silent Hill f felt during my first playthrough.
Silent Hill f takes the iconic franchise to the east, plunging it into the ice-cold water of classic Japanese horror. For the past few days, I have been stuck inside this horror fantasy created by Ryukishi07 and Konami, trying to find answers and help Shimizu Hinako survive. Even though it cost me my sanity, I somehow managed to finish the game. Now the question remains — was it all worth it?
Reality Is Just Another Trick Here
Silent Hill f is a game, or maybe it’s a fantasy, maybe it’s both, that will suck you into deep, dark waters, making you believe it’s for your safety, while you struggle to breathe every moment. The game starts off with Hinako leaving his parents’ house after a confrontation with her father, a very common occurrence in her life. On the way, she meets her three friends — Iwai Shu, Nishida Rinko, and Igarashi Sakuko.
From the moment Hinako meets her friends, you start to realize that something is awfully weird about the entire interaction. Soon after, a deathly fog takes over her village, killing her friend Sakuko at the very beginning. Yes, things ramp up extremely fast!
After trying to run away from the horrors in the fog, Hinako finds herself alone in the midst of terrifying monsters. The story then follows Hinako’s journey of searching for her friends and finding answers about the fog…or does it?
Silent Hill f is not as simple as that. It is not about fighting off monsters and saving your friends. Every moment, interaction, dialogue, and cutscene becomes a big fat question mark. I constantly found myself asking what is real, who is the villain, and what is the fog, only to start questioning Hinako’s own existence a quarter way through the story.
Enter Ryukishi07’s World Where Dread Replaces Cheap Thrills
Silent Hill f has none of your typical Hollywood jump scares in the story. Western horror often banks on jump scares to make players, or viewers for that matter, uneasy. But that’s the opposite of the traditional Japanese approach. Instead of jump scares, Silent Hill f takes things slow, builds up this unbelievably creepy vibe throughout the story, and never lets it drop till the very end. Instead of leading to one big scare, the game puts players into permanent unease with its traditional slow burn horror.
Everywhere you go, you hear these munchings, footsteps, growls, always keeping you on your toes. Every cutscene is just another nail to your mental health. The story presents some alarming scenes with a truly terrifying nonchalance.
Seeing this type of constant pressure in a horror tale as twisted as this one is not surprising, seeing how Ryukishi07 is the brains behind it. Anyone who is a fan of the legendary storyteller will find his touch all over Silent Hill f’s story. Higurashi When They Cry is well known as one of the best horror anime/manga series out there, and you will experience a similar nonchalant but extremely disturbing atmosphere in Silent Hill f.
The Fear Works Because Hinako’s Sanity Doesn’t
Hinako is strong, courageous, but equally terrified. You feel her fear through every swing you make at a monster. Having a protagonist who is not nonchalant makes you feel the horror alongside the character. The game creates an incredibly eerie atmosphere, forcing Hinako to have starkly opposite interactions with her friends, past, and even herself, making you completely stumped at what or who to trust.
Eventually, you will find Hinako overcoming this fear, as she starts challenging the monsters with more strength and courage. This actually syncs from a gameplay point of view as well, because the slow change of Hinako goes parallel to your experience with the monsters. So, by the time Hinako starts charging at the monsters, you have also become comfortable enough to charge with her in the battle.
The game features two versions of Hinako, which becomes pretty evident from the very beginning. She clearly showcases a contrasting personality in the Waking and the Other World, which can be quite nerve-racking once you start picking up the signals.
Fear Spills from Both Worlds Like Ink from a Broken Vein
The main story cycles between two worlds — Hinako’s Village or the Waking World, and the ‘Other World’. Hinako’s Village is a big, open map, where the player is guided from one location to the next, targeting locations where Hinako is most familiar with, like from her school to each of her friends’ houses, eventually making a return to her own home.
The Other World is a more supernatural area, like we’ve seen before in Alan Wake 2 and Control, almost appearing as a dream world. Hinako only appears there once she falls asleep or goes unconscious in the waking world. Now, there’s a lot more to this, but it’s best if you unwrap it yourself rather than hearing it from me.. In the Other World, she meets the Fox Mask, a mystical white white-haired man wearing a, you guessed it right, a fox mask, who leads Hinako through multiple ‘religious’ trials.
Other than pure aesthetics, there are also other major differences between the worlds. The monsters can respawn in the Other World. Thankfully, Hinako also has a different set of weapons that are unbreakable in this world to counter the constant fights.
Oh…one more thing, Silent Hill f has weapon durability, which I despise from the bottom of my heart.
The Dread Slows as Combat Becomes a Mechanical Chore
The combat in Silent Hill f is the least fun element of the game. It feels very rigid and extremely repetitive. Although there are a bunch of different weapons with slightly different attack patterns, the combat boils down to timed counterattacks and running for your life after your weapon breaks. And your weapon will break pretty often, even at ‘Story’ difficulty.
It’s such a shame, because Silent Hill f actually has some really fun enemies. Although there is very little variety, which leads to the repetitive aspect, the enemies do look absolutely terrifying. Now, even though the combat is terrible, it does fuel the horror aspect of the game. I was horror-struck multiple times after breaking all my weapons during silly fights.
More than once, I had to run for my life with enemies chasing me. But it would have felt much better if the combat system were slightly more responsive and didn’t boil down to a counter-attacking mechanic for the most part, which itself is a bit wonky. You can only counterattack by timing a heavy attack on an enemy when a shade appears around it before attacks. In most fights, you will simply have to wait for this and use a counterattack to defeat them.
Why use it at all then, you ask? Because it is the fastest way to kill an enemy while also taking the least durability damage. Light attacks are the definitive way to break your weapons, and Heavy attacks leave you open to enemies. This is another reason why the combat feels terrible.
Puzzles Are the Lantern in This Beautifully Bleak Nightmare
Silent Hill games are known for puzzles, and their newest addition did not disappoint at all. The puzzles carry the game’s exploration. Every note, letter, or detail you gather through exploration becomes helpful in solving the puzzle of that area. Some of these puzzles are very thought-provoking, making players work for them.
After playing so many recent games that give puzzle answers on a silver platter, Silent Hill f’s approach is a real pleasure. Each puzzle made me want more, as I waited to see how far their creativity could go.
One of my favorite puzzles was in the fields, where I had to find the correct Scarecrow out of many based on the clue nearby. Picking the wrong one would turn it into an enemy, while choosing the correct one would show the path to the exit.
Now, some of these puzzles can be extremely challenging. But the game has a Hard and Story mode for puzzles as well, so those who dislike puzzles can lower the difficulty.
An Ending That Opens More Doors Than It Closes
Normally, I avoid talking about spoilers in reviews, but Silent Hill f makes it necessary. The first playthrough of your game won’t be the true ending and will leave you with more questions than answers. And that’s by choice.
Right after completing your first playthrough, Silent Hill f will unlock an Ending section on the menu, revealing requirements for the other endings. Now, after you enter a new game plus, you will realize that the game’s initial cutscene has been changed. This would continue throughout the new game plus, as new information and cutscenes will be revealed to give players more context of the story.
This is actually a great way to make them replayable for hours. I personally love games that make their new game plus relevant, while also keeping their first playthrough enjoyable. However, many of you may not share this sentiment with me, so this can act as a warning for you as well.
Gorgeous Enough to Haunt You Forever
The world of Silent Hill f is breathtakingly gorgeous. Every area in the game appears as a Japanese painting. There is no bad-looking section; each level has been masterfully crafted to look equally stunning and spooky. I remember walking through Hinako’s creepy school corridors, thinking to myself that this looks amazing, while being utterly horrified at the same time.
From gorgeous open areas to closed rooms, every single detail in Silent Hill f is truly mesmerizing. I remember visiting Hinako’s parents’ room. One side is visibly filthy, while the other is crystal clear. This contrast clearly shows the stark difference in personality between her parents.
Similarly, you will find such details throughout her friends’ houses. From small paintings to little tidbits in the corner. The game uses such intricate details to suck you into its haunting world, trap you into the story, and then spits you out, leaving you with a million questions. With that said, now let’s turn towards the game’s performance.
Silent Hill f ran flawlessly most of the time, but the framerate is mostly locked at 60 fps. I couldn’t cross 50 fps at the highest settings, and barely touched 70 fps at the lowest. However, even when the framerate dropped to 40 fps, it never really bothered me in the game. This may sound surprising, but Silent Hill f’s slow and deliberate movement might be the reason for it.
As you don’t need to take fast-paced actions, minor frame drops don’t really bother that much. One thing to note is that Silent Hill f doesn’t come with frame generation.
Note: CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900x
CPU Cooler: CORSAIR H150 RGB
Motherboard: GIGABYTE B650M Gaming X AX
GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB
RAM: 32GB (32GB x 1) ADATA XPG DDR5 5600FSB LANCER
SSD: 1TB AORUS Gen 4 5000E NVMe storage
Monitor: 1080p @165hz
Network: 100 Mbps
Now, this doesn’t mean that everything was perfect all the time. The game crashed twice for me, showing an Unreal Engine error both times. Other than that, I could spot the dark textures tearing up in some minor locations and cutscenes, but they weren’t too much of a bother. Overall, I felt the game ran well, but I would caution players with an older GPU.
Verdict: A Genre-Defining Masterpiece That Reinvents Silent Hill
Silent Hill f is a game that I will remember for a long time. The horror atmosphere is second to none, with one of the best storylines that keeps you guessing every second of the game. Every encounter leaves you with a million questions. Every twist leaves you grasping for answers. And by the end, the game makes you question your own reality and what was laid right in front of your eyes from the very beginning.
Without any prior experience with Japanese-centric horror games, Silent Hill f made me realize that horror doesn’t need cheap tricks to work. This game doesn’t need to remind you every so often that it is a horror game with jump scares; instead, it absorbs you into an unadulterated psychological persistent distress, making you live a nightmare alongside Hinako.
The game’s environment is breathtakingly horrifying, while the puzzles are perfect for working your brain muscles. The cast of Silent Hill f has also done a fantastic job in voicing the characters, mixing the Japanese nonchalance in equal parts with horrified screams.
However, the terrible combat system can become a deal breaker for some. Those who love a good combat will surely be disappointed and annoyed with Silent Hill f, but don’t let that stop you from experiencing this masterpiece of a story.
For me, Silent Hill f rekindled my hope for the horror genre. Newer additions to horror have lacked a distinct touch, failing to hit me with the thrill experienced in the old classics like the first Silent Hill games and Amnesia. If you have been suffering from the same, then Silent Hill f will easily become your new favorite destination.
So, how’s your experience been in Silent Hill f? Enjoying the new style of horror for the Silent Hill franchise? Let us know in the comments.
