Silent Hill f – PS5 Version, Reviewed on PS5 Pro – Horror, Psychological, Survival
Silent Hill games have always been creative and at times even been successful at blending into new settings and building additional lore. What began on PS1 has evolved into a successful series of games and the property branching off into the world of movies, comics and more.
Silent Hill f brings a new take on the franchise, placing a spooky and metaphorical tale in a Japanese backdrop. Come stay alive, if you can…
Story:
Shifting continents, Silent Hill f beings in rural Japan during the 1960s, and focuses on school girl Hinako Shimizu. She lives in a small town called Ebisugaoka and struggles with typical stresses of parents, schoolwork, friends, bullying, and general teenage angst. While this might all seem fairly normal, there is also a darkness bubbling up under her life.
Her father is quick to anger, her mother doesn’t back her up, and her sister Junko is long gone from the residence, having found her solace in marriage. Regardless, Hinako tries to maintain focus on her schoolwork and friends, and maybe a crush or two on local boys.
As she meets up with her pals Rinko Nishida, Shu Iwai and Sakuko Igarashi on a foggy morning while walking to school, she gets a headache after bickering with her parents that morning. Not only that, but her friends bicker and chide her at every opportunity. There is clearly some drama as Rinko has a crush on Shu, which has always been a close friend of Hinako’s since they were kids.
A somewhat routine day shifts fairly quickly for the kids however… Hinako and her friends suddenly become surrounding by a strange growth of sinister red lilies and a matching moss-like fungal spread. As this blood-colored plant begins to overtake streets, buildings and even people, dark and sinister creatures appear in the town, out to harm anyone in their path.
Silent Hill f brings another haunting and psychological journey for the franchise, and it leans into some of the usual themes and gameplay mechanics to make it familiar to players despite the brand-new setting and focal point. Even with some new ideas and a distinct location, the game brings some similar vibes and a pretty good story with some horrific surprises.
Gameplay:
As typical with Silent Hill games, the style is survival horror, but ‘f’ contains a few more action and combat mechanics to mix it up slightly. Let’s check it all out.
Movement and exploration are very recognizable, including collection of maps and marking off viable or blocked paths. Hinako journeys through her small Japanese town, looking for answers as to what is happening all around her, while trying to stay alive. There are typical health items, as well as all sorts of pickups which can be used for combat bonuses, OR traded in for what amounts to level up points which give you permanent bonuses. You can’t buy every level up however, as they get more and more expensive, and there are only so many points to collect, or items to sell.
This balance of inventory management, keeping or selling items, and finding the best level up makes for a nice aspect during your playthrough. There is also a slot that you can use to give yourself a bonus, which is also based on items you have found, and at the start is only one, however additional slots can be unlocked via level up points later if chosen.
This all creates a bit of customization for your gameplay style and your character, even if it is somewhat limited. You can lean into your play style this way, but for the most part Hinako doesn’t shift all that much, and you must learn the core gameplay mechanics to survive.
Okay, so you’re balancing your health items, your level up points, and you are in a deadly world of monsters and red lily plague. Clearly you need to defend yourself! Good thing there are a lot of blunt and/or sharp weapons out there to collect.
Problem is… all of these weapons degrade with usage, so choose carefully how to implement attacks. You get both quick attacks and heavy attacks, with the latter doing much more damage but taking time to wind up. Timing is everything, as missing your attack leaves you open to the surrounding monsters getting you back.
Good thing you have a few extra tools in this game via a nice ‘counter’ and evade system. Hinako does get a dodge, but also can time a ‘counter’ with a visual hint from the game that an attack is coming. A quick flicker of light surrounds the monster before a counter-able attack, giving you a window to press a button, dodge their swing and get an opening for a nasty large attack of your own.
Not every attack is counter-able though, but learning the timing on this and being able to do free damage is key to making it in this world. Patience is key when it comes to combat, as Hinako only has so much health, and the bad guys do big damage, especially the larger ones. So, block, counter and dodge gets you going pretty far, however there is also yet another aspect to all of this combat.
A psychological focus/madness gauge reflects your ability to do some super attacks, OR your ability to maintain your sanity. You spend too much of this crucial focus bar and Hinako begins to struggle with combat in serious ways, but if you use this extra talent well you can do power up attacks or slow down time a bit for a perfect counter opportunity. Additionally, it can be refilled via items, but it also runs down quickly when used so you can’t abuse it in every encounter.
I would say combat is the biggest change in this version compared to earlier Silent Hill games. The countering and powered up swings make for a different dynamic than plenty of past games. Hinako can be a wrecking machine if you learn her, and her enemies. Bosses are still pretty tough though, or at least the first actual boss gave me some grief.
The world to explore has plenty of cultural impact from its setting, but traditional Silent Hill type puzzles and psychological metaphorical elements remain. As with all of the Silent Hill games, we are there to explore, stay alive and learn the stories of the characters included. Hinako’s plot is psychologically dark and malevolent. There is only one ending that the player can get on their first play through, and it’s pretty bonkers. After you beat the game, you can focus on triggering the many other resolutions, resulting in different outcomes.
While combat setting has several difficulty levels which can get quite challenging, so does the puzzle setting, which results in differing clues/resolutions.
Graphics:
I thought the world presented was gorgeous, eerie, haunting and realistic all at once. The backgrounds and character models are all highly detailed and present a unified setting. I played it before some of the PS5 Pro PSSR enhancements rolled out also, so the game likely looks even sharper now.
The moody fog and red flowery growth help craft a creepy and unsettling Japanese town to explore. Monsters, bosses and psychological visions are all creative and elaborate. Despite its particular backdrop, there is no denying the Silent Hill feeling infused into the crawling fog and jarring mutated creatures out to get you.
Fun-level:
Despite the departure from some Silent Hill gameplay mechanics, this game still felt like a decent addition to the franchise based on its story and what it does differently in combat. There was enough familiarity to enjoy its ties to the rest of the installments, however it does stand out as its own distinct journey as well with the setting and story presented.
I really had a good time with it, but it does have a few spikes in difficulty based on bosses. If you haven’t been managing your supplies and items well enough, you could get turned back by a tough spot and have a hard time proceeding. In general, I definitely recommend this game, especially for those that don’t need everything to be ‘pure sequel’ in their Silent Hill experience as this one does do a few things uniquely.
Downloadable Content (DLC) Review:
N/A – none at this moment.
Final Score: 7.5
DLC Score: N/A