Konami’s Silent Hill franchise has been dormant for a long time, leaving fans wondering if their beloved survival horror franchise will ever get a new entry. With the arrival of Silent Hill ƒ, the franchise gets some new life, and a bona fide classic since Silent Hill 2.
Silent Hill is currently in the throes of a renaissance, in a sense. Bloober Team took on the Herculean task of remaking Silent Hill 2, delivering a new definitive way to enjoy what many consider to be the best entry in the franchise.
But that could all change with the arrival of Silent Hill ƒ, the first new entry into the franchise since Hideo Kojima’s canceled Silent Hills, which many believe eventually became Death Stranding.
I, myself, can’t make that argument because Silent Hill terrified me, so I never played the games, but that all changed when I decided to walk through the fog in what is a psychologically terrifying, but at the same time beautiful experience in Silent Hill ƒ.
For this new entry, Konami gave NeoBards Entertainment the keys to the franchise, and they decided to take players out of the original setting of the town, Silent Hill, and transport them to 1960s Japan, which was honestly the best decision they could have ever made for this game.
You play as a repressed young girl named Shimizu Hinako, who, along with her friends will navigate her secluded town of Ebisugaoka that like the game’s original setting of Silent Hill, has been consumed by a mysterious fog, and later a disgusting but beautiful growth featuring flora and fleshy material, and as a bonus some creepy monsters roaming around the now empy town.
The Change of Location Was an Excellent Risk Worth Taking
After Shimizu hits the streets to link up with her “friends” following a brief argument with her parents, you quickly learn that the town, which we never see full of life, is now desolate and equally haunting as the previous game’s location.
When Silent Hill ƒ was first announced, there was immediate skepticism about the decision to shift the game’s story from the original town to the new fictional location in Japan.
After my first playthrough, I can unequivocally say that it was one of the best decisions producer Motoi Okamoto made with the game.
While the town of Silent Hill, consumed by the fog, will always be terrifying because you can’t see what’s in front of you, navigating the more compact streets of Ebisugaoka is even more stress-inducing because it confines you more, adding an instant sense of dread because you feel you can’t avoid any of the monsters you come across.
As you walk or run down each street, you also don’t know what’s lurking around each corner, and the excellent score from legendary composers Akira Yamaoka and Kensuke Inage only heightens the tension. Plus, the music changes when a monster is on the screen, adding to that dread as you wonder where the threat is.
Also, in the original Silent Hill games, the world changes to a hellish landscape when the siren rings; in Silent Hill ƒ, the worlds do change. However, the other world isn’t as terrifying, but it is still fear-inducing as you navigate the world and encounter enemies who don’t die. It constantly serves as an obstacle as you try to solve the puzzle in front of you.
Yes, There’s More Action, But Don’t Get It Twisted, It’s Still A Silent Hill Game At Its Core
Silent Hill ƒ also differs from its predecessors by leaning more into the action aspect. Another survival horror franchise, Resident Evil, successfully made the pivot to Resident Evil 4, which is now considered to be one of the best video games of all time, and the top 3 in entry into the RE franchise.
For Silent Hill ƒ, unlike there being an endless amount of ammo or, in this case, melee weapons for Shimizu to find, you do find yourself engaging with enemies more than the other installments, but do keep in mind there are moments where you should just run.
At the beginning of the game, I did find the game to be easy side while playing on the game’s recommended “Story Mode” difficulty, and taking out the limited number of enemies you encountered was a bit of a breeze. But I quickly realized the early time in the game is basically the developer’s way of getting you acclimated to Shimizu’s moveset, like her dodge and other attack techniques.
Shimizu has two attacks: a light attack and a more powerful attack that takes a lot of damage but also requires a longer time window to pull off. She is also limited by a stamina bar that is drained by running, dodging, or attacking during battles. It’s almost a soulslike experience, but not quite.
Then there is the sanity meter about your health and stamina bar that, when triggered, slows things down, and will also allow Shimizu to pull off devastating attacks. But you can abuse it; once the bar is depleted, you leave yourself open to enemies’ psychological attacks.
Weapons Will Break, & So Will Your Mind With Some of The Puzzles
Adding more tension is the fact that your weapons will break after periods of use, but they can be repaired by finding tool kits that are sparingly spread out throughout the town. I’m not a big fan of deterioration gameplay mechanics, but I saw Silent Hill ƒ‘s use of it very well implemented.
In the other world, the weapons you do acquire, a small blade and a spear, do not break, but that’s for a good reason, because the enemies you deal with do not die in the other world, except the bosses you encounter during those experiences.
The game’s puzzles are also well done, and make use of Silent Hill ƒ’s excellent diary mechanic. I loved seeing how Shimizu jots down notes from her encounters with the superb variety of brilliantly grotesque monsters, her friends, or the other people you bump into during your gameplay.
She will also take notes on the puzzles she encounters. Still, it’s equally important to find the notes scattered throughout the world that not only help add context to the game’s story but also give you clues to solve the puzzles, which I must admit are very challenging, as I found myself stuck on a few of them.
One puzzle involving Shimizu navigating a fog-filled rice pattie maze filled with scarecrows is one of the game’s many standout moments.
Final Verdict
Silent Hill ƒ is that redefining moment for Silent Hill, or put, the Resident Evil 4 of this franchise. Okamoto and his team brilliantly blend action, horror, and psychological twists into a beautiful yet twisted story that is a testament to Ryukishi07’s vision when he wrote the game’s story.
For long-time fans of Silent Hill, this is a new way to experience the game without sacrificing what made the franchise so iconic. For first-time players like myself, it’s a more welcoming game to ease you into Silent Hill.
Despite my nerves being wrecked, I still found myself eager to complete Shimizu’s journey because, like a good book, it was increasingly hard to put my PS Portal down as I encountered a new twist in the plot that drew me in even more.
Silent Hill ƒ also has multiple endings, giving the game high replayability. The game doesn’t reveal that until the end. You will experience what feels like the bleakest of endings, but it will present to you the choices you have to make to get the other endings.
Plus, when I mustered the courage to embark on the new game+, I was pleased to see there are new cutscenes and encounters, which make it feel like a whole new experience.
I haven’t experienced a survival horror game with such high replayability since the original Resident Evil 2, with the introduction of A and B playthroughs, giving you different perspectives of the game’s story.
Silent Hill ƒ is a fantastic game, a masterclass in horror storytelling, and a reminder of the greatness that the Silent Hill franchise was when it first arrived on the PS One, and who knows, it could be the shot in the arm the long-dormant franchise needs.
* PS5 provided by the game’s developer.*
