Konami’s Silent Hill series is seeing something of a renaissance, with a successful remake, a new movie, and the first truly new entry in the series since Book of Memories. People tend to think Silent Hill 2 is the best version of the franchise’s horror storytelling – that deep exploration of a single person’s psyche with a dark psychological tale that keeps its explanations till the end.
Silent Hill f is developed by Neo Bards Entertainment and penned by Ryukishi07, known for his work on Higurashi and other visual novels. As such, it is a twist on Silent Hill that brings its own unique flavour while ditching the series’ American setting. There will doubtless be arguments for years about whether a Silent Hill game can truly be part of the series without having the titular town in it, but in this review the truth may become unobscured. It is time to jump into the fog in Silent Hill f.
Step into the shoes of Hinako, a young woman who has recently graduated high school and is in the midst of a fight with her parents as the game opens, resulting in her leaving the house. Here players take her on a jaunt to town to meet up with her friends at the local sweet shop (a recurring location in the narrative), and already things are not quite right. The town of Ebisugaoka is eerily quiet except for occasional hushed voices. When she meets her friends, Sakuko, Shu and Rinko, things go off the rails quickly as a weird pink rot flows, consuming Sakuko, and is accompanied by a monster in the fog, causing them to split up as they run. Queue lots of trying to find Shu.
As the story progresses it becomes clear Hinako’s relationships with these friends are strained at times and that each of them has issues with one thing or another. This is where Silent Hill f really comes into its own as it explores Hinako’s battles with expectation and society in Japan, with many of the issues covered still being just as relevant in 2025 as they are in 1960. It’s this explorative narration on societal pressure and what it does to people that makes this game’s story so special, and definitely plants it as a fantastic entry into the Silent Hill series.
There are also a multitude of Japanese folklore elements that form the basis of this game’s “otherworld” and tie heavily into the story themes and outcomes. For players that have some knowledge of traditions in Japan or are versed in the country’s folklore, there are loads of context clues that hint at the game’s true story. That said, those who pay special attention and read all of the notes may also be able to decipher what’s happening if they are really, really smart. There are multiple endings, but on a first playthrough players will always see the same one – a satisfying, if a little underexplained, ending that helps the point of the story hit home.
In gameplay terms, Silent Hill f is also a heavy hitter. It takes some adjusting to, though. Combat is a major feature, but a lot of enemies can be run past, with a few exceptions. Luckily fighting is satisfying, if a little tonally odd given that Hinako is just a young adult without combat experience. Players are expected to find weapons throughout the adventure, as each one has durability, with neglected weapons breaking permanently. There are no ranged weapons, either; this is entirely melee based. The otherworld weapons are unlimited, however, so the majority of the tough combat is simply a skill challenge and not a resource management one.
Without spoiling things, there are truly empowering moments that take the combat from simply being a mechanic and instead pull it to the centre for huge boss fights that are epic, but not tonally dissonant. It is very cool how the developers managed to balance this aspect of the game. The learning curve isn’t too steep, and if players can master the timing and weapon management, they can get through with very few deaths. Weapons are all over the place on the normal difficulties (play in the extra unlockable difficulties to reduce this further), but maintaining the best weapons is worth it for easier battles.
Puzzle solving is fun, as well, with a lot of proper Silent Hill-style riddles. Many of these require the usual key to open the door to get an item, but others go about this through different methods. Some puzzles play out in the environment and others through letters or other collectables, with many of them using the game’s mechanics in interesting ways. Some of the best are in the school area; it is brain twisting enough on the hard difficulty. For those with an iron will, they can play on “Lost in the Fog” difficulty, where the puzzles are even harder to solve.
It is great to see the return of puzzle and combat difficulties being separate as it allows for a much more tailored and accessible gameplay setup. On its hardest difficulties (combat for Lost in the Fog is a post-game unlock) Silent Hill f is super challenging and the systems it has shine through, whereas on easier difficulties, sometimes the puzzles are too simplified. The overall puzzle difficulty doesn’t really curve; instead it is pretty solid throughout, based on what the player chooses, which is great. Combat, however, has a curve that is mostly enforced with new enemy types and larger numbers of foes to fight.
There is a lot to manage, and one new feature is a light RPG element that has players levelling up certain power levels, like health or stamina, as they progress. This is then further supplemented by the charm system, where Hinako can equip a limited number of charms that modify the game in certain ways, such as increasing damage when weapon durability or health are low. This is actually a very fun system and it fits in rather naturally despite not being technically realistic in any way, and perhaps is a little too hopeful for a Silent Hill setting. It is a pretty addictive little setup that helps add more player agency to the difficulty of the title.
The entire game is absolutely stunning to look at. Making good use of Unreal Engine 5’s visual features, it manages to stay competitive with its contemporaries while retaining a certain unique charm at the same time. Silent Hill f is relatively scalable across hardware, but something more modern is definitely a bonus as it utilises lots of modern tech.
Let’s get the bad out of the way. Silent Hill f suffers from stutters and other visual issues at times. This reviewer’s older PC wasn’t a fan of having more than one enemy on screen, which was unfortunate in the mid to late game. On a more modern PC it just has the UE5 jitters, but they can be mitigated with a few settings tweaks and hopefully some not-too-distant updates. The other bits are just elements that are quite static, where it would be cool to see interaction or animation, such as materials hanging from clothes lines, which are a bit too still to be realistic.
Artistically there is really striking stuff on show. The contrast of the red rot and plants that take over the town looks great and adds this off feeling to each area it appears. It can be beautiful to see in terms of the flowers, but these are contrasted with pulsating fleshy growths and other unusual elements. The way the otherworld looks is odd, ethereal and often liminal, so it has this feeling of unrealness to it. It is a feeling that, due to the fog, can also be felt in the “normal” world.
Hinako and the other characters look great, with loads of details and a slightly stylised realism for extra expression. Clothing is also great and tends to swish about satisfyingly with movement, as does hair. In fact, a lot of it feels like a progression of something like Project Zero, especially with the Japanese buildings and iconography all over, but presented with a very Silent Hill approach to how everything acts. Hinako’s physical form has interesting progression over the story, too, with very well implemented damage and transformation aspects.
This polish and style is also a standout in the music. The main theme by Akira Yamaoka is very creepy, with children singing a droning, almost marching song that, if you know Japanese, highlights important story elements. The rest is a joyous mix of horror ambience and battle themes. The main battle tune can get a little long in the tooth in the later game, but the moments of silence punctuated by little haunting ditties makes it worth the tradeoff.
The English voiceover is produced well, but the Japanese dub is the way to go. It fits much better with the setting and the voice actors have truly amazing moments. Hinako, at least when she isn’t shouting for “Shu”, is excellent, with really great, emotional readings and truly horrible sound effects. The rest of the audio design is decent, with a good amount of environmental sound that permeates every scene, as well as deliciously gruesome monster gurgles, children’s laughter, and a whole bunch more discomfort-inducing sounds.
