Silent Hill f has been one of the best games I’ve played this year, which should say a lot given how many bangers we’ve had so far.

After playing it at Gamescom I left my hands-on demo eager to play more, and after rolling credits and diving straight into NG+ I couldn’t be happier with what developer NeoBards Entertainment has cooked for us.

Silent Hill f follows a new protagonist Hinako Shimizu, a mild-mannered and troubled girl exposed to horrors beyond human comprehension. While Silent Hill games have championed psychological horror for many years Silent Hill f gives us, in my opinion, one of the best stories we’ve seen so far, even on par with that of Silent Hill 2. It’s a story about the psyche, love, transformation, and how much we as humans can endure before we break. Poor Hinako gets put through her paces almost immediately, and just when you thought you’d seen the worst the game has to offer, something even more traumatic is waiting around the corner.

Speaking of the worst the game has to offer, let’s talk about the combat. While I loved Silent Hill f from start to finish I never loved its combat and likely never will. I’ve seen countless accounts of the game refer to it as a soulslike and I thoroughly disagree, as only the final boss in my opinion had any similarities to that genre, and even then they were slim. The main drawbacks of the combat are how sluggish it feels compared to how swift the dodging felt. On the one hand Hinako’s clumsy swings felt natural to her character, as Silent Hill protagonists are hardly ever fighters. That said, watching her duck and weave at almost supersonic speeds killed the immersion for me, even more so with the well-timed counter moves you could initiate when an enemy was about to attack.

Fortunately you can ignore most enemies if you don’t want to fight them, and more often than not that was the optimal strategy. For those that do want to get their hands dirty though you’ll need to not only find weapons but also keep an eye on their durability, though damaged weapons can be repaired with toolkits. Shrines (the game’s save points) can also be used to pray to the gods. By making offerings you can earn points to be spent on charms and permanent upgrades, making life a little easier as you strengthen Hinako.

The combat was something I just had to deal with, and it was only around the final act when it actually felt worth engaging with, though to be fair the game sort of forces you to partake in it in order to progress.

Combat aside though the rest of the game is near-perfection. The tone and atmosphere stay consistently eerie for the entire duration of the game, and like most Silent Hill games there’s a mystery to solve that’ll keep you guessing up to the end credits. While the cutscenes and acting performances tell the story well you’d be remiss to not read every note you find, as they’ll provide crucial insight into what’s happening and what it could all be leading up to.

Silent Hill f- Credit: Konami

When exploring you’ll always be unaware of what could be lurking just up ahead, and I’d urge you to play with headphones as the sound design is your best chance of surviving the horrors you’ll encounter. It’s hard to get specific without spoiling things, but there were so many times where I’d be caught unawares if not for faint but unmistakable footsteps rapidly approaching me. Like Silent Hill 2 there was very rarely a time where I felt like I was actually safe, so I was glad to see save points were so plentiful.

Puzzles are back to peck your brain and come in a variety of shapes and sizes, often giving you more insight into the game’s story and its characters too. While they’re not overly difficult they can be misleading and will try to trick you if you’re not paying close enough attention, but any clues or riddles will be jotted down in the in-game notebook to be referred back to while you’re solving them.

Silent Hill f also allows you to select a difficulty for both combat and puzzles separately, and include Story, Hard and an intense difficulty called Lost In The Fog. I’d recommend playing the game on Story mode for combat, as it’s the weakest part of the game anyway, and Hard for the puzzles.

An aspect of the game I really want to highlight is the mythology and spirituality. Silent Hill f weaves so much Japanese culture into the game’s narrative and to great effect. In true Silent Hill fashion you’re left second-guessing what’s real and it constantly leaves you wanting more.

Finally, let’s talk about NG+. Silent Hill f features multiple endings but your first playthrough will steer you towards one ending in particular before it tells you what’s needed to unlock the others. This of course requires additional playthroughs of the game but it’s much less bloated than Silent Hill 2. For reference a playthrough of Silent Hill 2 takes around 16 hours, though you could whittle that down by a few hours if you know what you’re doing or if you use a guide. Silent Hill f took me around eight hours on my first playthrough, which feels much more manageable on a replay. That said I wouldn’t recommend rushing through for the other endings… You’ll find there’s suddenly things to see that weren’t there on your first playthrough, and even some of the cutscenes change to reflect what you now know about the story and characters. This in my opinion makes NG+ essential, making that initially short playthrough time much more understandable.

Overall I think Silent Hill f is remarkable. As the first original Silent Hill game since Silent Hill: Downpour in 2012, and combined with Silent Hill 2 (2024) it’s safe to say the franchise is back, and in peak condition no less.

Despite being dragged down by the combat I was thoroughly invested and on the edge of my seat for the majority of the game, and despite the horrors I witnessed it hasn’t swayed me from seeing every available ending, for the full and complete story.

Pros: Gripping narrative, perfect tone and atmosphere, engaging puzzles, varied difficulty options

Cons: Combat isn’t fun

For fans of: Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Dead Space

9/10: Exceptional

Silent Hill f launches on PC, PS5 (version tested), and Xbox Series X/S on 25 September. A review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.

Silent Hill 3 gets Unreal Engine 5 makeover

Silent Hill 3 gets Unreal Engine 5 makeover

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