As somebody who beloved Bloober Workforce’s 2024 remake of Silent Hill 2, I’m joyful to report that whereas being made by a completely completely different developer, Silent Hill f boasts that very same stage of high quality and polish. From story to worldbuilding, from graphics to fight and exploration, Taiwan-based developer Neobards has crafted an expertise that meets the excessive bar set by the Polish developer, albeit in a drastically completely different setting.
As I began strolling the dense but abandoned streets of Ebisugaoka, it was instantly obvious simply how detailed and well-realized this fictional distant city within the mountains of rural Japan within the Sixties is. With an immersive over-the-shoulder view and no UI on display throughout exploration, Silent Hill f is a sport that tells a convincing story by its visuals.
Admittedly, I used to be initially skeptical of Konami’s choice to entrust a non-Japanese developer to create a sport set in Japan, however 5 hours of truly taking part in Silent Hill f shattered such prejudices. Ebisugaoka is undoubtedly probably the most spectacular modern Japanese townscapes I’ve ever seen in a online game, and that comes from somebody who has lived in Japan for almost all of his life and loves video games like Shenmue, Persona, and Ghostwire: Tokyo.
Exploring a Japanese mountain village
One of many few minor points I had with the Silent Hill 2 remake was that almost all of its playtime is spent inside buildings and services. Whereas these functioned as well-designed dungeons full of horrifying enemies to combat and complex puzzles to unravel, the rise in quantity in comparison with the 2001 unique made it really feel like exploration of the particular city of Silent Hill was restricted.
Subsequently, I used to be pleasantly stunned that the overwhelming majority of my playtime with Silent Hill f was spent exploring Ebisugaoka. Previous wood homes with tin roofs line the slender alleys, scattered with bicycles, flower pots, and mailboxes. Small streams and footpaths between rice fields gently cleared the path to the village. Fences alongside the river and concrete stairways following the slopes create a townscape that oozes with environment. Information and different paperwork scattered all through the city add context to Ebisugaoka, which flourished as a mining city throughout its heyday. Now, it has develop into a largely forgotten village and its persons are caught in outdated methods, similar to favoring conventional healthcare strategies over trendy medical science and being overly religious to the Shinto deity Inari. The context of Ebisugaoka and its individuals instantly really feel like they’re an integral a part of Silent Hill f’s cohesive story, which made me wanting to go off the overwhelmed path and procure each hidden file.
The story begins after protagonist Hinako – a feminine highschool scholar – runs away from house after being scolded by her drunk father. Strolling the empty streets of Ebisugaoka and heading to the native sweet retailer to fulfill up with Hinako’s fellow highschool mates seems like an authored strolling simulator paying homage to video games like Everyone’s Gone to the Rapture and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.
In fact, it doesn’t take lengthy till Hinako and her mates uncover one thing is mistaken on the town, and earlier than you already know it Hinako is holding an iron pipe in her fingers, an iconic weapon of the collection. Ebisugaoka then step by step proves to not simply be fitted to a charming strolling simulator expertise, but in addition the proper setting for a horror sport, as its slender alleys and staircases are splendid to cover enemies behind corners whereas additionally functioning as a maze for the participant to get misplaced in.
In some situations, doorways left ajar and open home windows invite Hinako inside conventional tatami-floored homes, the place she should remedy some easy puzzles so as to make her approach by to the following space. These puzzles play out in an unconventional approach. One puzzle, for instance, had me get hold of keys to a locked door, however there was nothing noteworthy inside. Then, as I went again to the hall one other door out of the blue swung open, which gave me the chills.
One thing feels off
Silent Hill f’s state of affairs author Ryukishi07 sees Japanese horror as a sub-genre that doesn’t a lot depend on threats to the protagonist’s life, however slightly makes you are feeling uncomfortable by creating conditions that really feel off.
When you consider it, Silent Hill is a collection recognized for simply that. Whereas there isn’t a scarcity of life-threatening encounters, among the collection’ most uncomfortable moments are in conversations with its outright bizarre characters.
In Silent Hill f, Hinako and her mates are looking for a solution to escape the haunted city of Ebisugaoka. Interactions with these mates appear regular at first, however then out of the blue they are saying or do one thing that catches you off guard.
Additionally, in typical Silent Hill vogue, puzzles usually reveal one thing about Hinako or the world she inhabits. A puzzle on a misty rice area has you look at scarecrows so as to be taught the course you ought to be heading, which is related to a childhood trauma of Hinako getting misplaced and being afraid of the scarecrows.
Throughout my playthrough, puzzles by no means felt too tough. Hints offered by information you get hold of by no means make the answer too apparent, whereas nonetheless giving the participant an concept of what they should do. On a associated word, Silent Hill f has issue settings for each its fight and puzzles, and whereas Konami suggested me to play on Story mode for each, I stubbornly selected Regular mode as I wished to tackle a problem. Whereas the problem of the puzzles by no means overwhelmed me, fight proved to be a bit extra demanding.
Weapon sturdiness at its greatest
Silent Hill f’s fight depends totally on melee assaults. Hinako can get hold of all types of weapons starting from iron pipes to kitchen knives and baseball bats, however no weapons come into play. With some exceptions, these weapons should not obtained by story beats, however are scattered all through Silent Hill f’s world like different sources, and Hinako can carry as much as three weapons at a time.
As you wield iron pipes and stab at enemies with knives, you’ll discover that the sport has weapon sturdiness. It’s a good contact that weapons which are about to interrupt really change in look, so anticipate to be holding a bent pipe or a damaged bat. This additionally capabilities as a touch to the participant, which Hinako will acknowledge by mentioning that she ought to repair it. Weapons could be fastened by utilizing a restore package, however these are so scarce that on many events you’ll have to say goodbye to your new favourite weapon.
Whereas weapon sturdiness is usually thought to be a burden in video games, it really works right here as discovering a brand new weapon and restore kits shortly turns into an integral a part of the useful resource administration that the survival horror style is understood for, particularly because you received’t be having to search for ammo this time round.
A intelligent system means that you can flip in your sources for an in-game forex at save factors, which can be utilized to extend your stats or get hold of new amulets that may be geared up to present you sure buffs. That signifies that in case you are cautious and don’t waste your sources, leftovers could be was one thing helpful, which seems like an ideal reward to a well-planned expedition. Hinako can solely carry a restricted quantity of things, which additionally appears to stimulate energetic use of this new buying and selling system.
Within the Silent Hill 2 remake, sources have been so considerable that expert gamers didn’t actually have to fret about useful resource administration, to the extent that they’d have a big inventory of unused ammo and objects by the tip of the sport. Silent Hill f solves this drawback by making sources tradable.
Silent Souls?
Fight itself has an identical really feel to Silent Hill 2’s close-range fight. You possibly can dodge enemy assaults with the DualSense’s circle button, whilst you can activate a light-weight and heavy assault with R1 and R2, respectively. Your restricted attain and prolonged assault motions give a practical, weighty really feel to fight. Heavy assaults particularly are sluggish and have to be timed properly, contributing to the sensation that Hinako is simply a young person with restricted power.
In the meantime, every weapon kind has a unique set of motions and attain. Swinging a newly obtained baseball bat at an enemy or charging at them with a knife you discovered within the kitchen of an area residence at all times creates new and thrilling conditions.
What units Silent Hill f’s fight aside from Silent Hill 2’s extra restricted melee fight is the implementation of timed dodges and counterattacks. The latter specifically offers plenty of harm and is vital in battle. Enemies briefly present an indication when a counterattack could be utilized, however except you’ve gotten skilled your reflex abilities by taking part in video games like of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, you’ll probably have a tough time reacting. That’s the place the Focus mode is available in, which could be triggered by holding L2. When in Focus mode, enemy indicators for counterattacks seem for longer, whereas additionally charging up an influence assault that staggers an enemy. Which means you would possibly head into Focus Mode with the intention of going for a counterattack, however end up switching to an influence assault when it fees earlier than the enemy reveals a gap.
Focus Mode is tied to Hinako’s psychological power gauge, which exists individually from her stamina and well being bar. Curiously, the higher restrict of her psychological power decreases when enemies do one thing that scares her or when she is frightened by a sure occasion, connecting the gameplay to the story and Hinako’s psychological state.
Fortunately, there are objects that may get well the higher restrict of your psychological power gauge, however Hinako’s stamina is proscribed too. When she runs out of stamina and psychological power, she will develop into so frightened and drained that she received’t even be capable of transfer for some time. Managing her power sources, due to this fact, is vital to survival.
Combating one common enemy is pretty manageable, however when confronted by a number of enemies, working away usually felt like the most suitable choice, particularly since enemies don’t give expertise factors or drop sources. Fight was enjoyable sufficient that I discovered myself actively participating in fights even when there wasn’t an actual profit to it past with the ability to discover the surroundings extra freely.
Whereas holding fight participating and complicated, Silent Hill f does an ideal job in making the participant really feel weak. The design cleverly incorporates this by having what appears to be a boss battle at first really play out as a sequence during which the participant has to search out an escape route.
One other iconic aspect to the collection is the existence of an alternate world, which is current in Silent Hill f as properly. Hinako is often transported to a special dimension that reveals a extra conventional Japan, the place a mysterious masked determine guides her by the grounds of assorted shrines. Right here, Hinako obtains conventional Japanese weapons such because the Naginata, a pole weapon with a curved blade on the tip, much like a glaive or halberd that’s recognized to be largely utilized by girls. Weapons that Hinako finds on this alternate world don’t break, however Hinako received’t be capable of carry them over to Ebisugaoka.
It was on this realm that I encountered the primary boss of my playtime, which proved rather more tough than I had anticipated. Even with my full understanding of the fight mechanics and techniques, its lengthy attain, hard-to-predict assault patterns, and a number of levels required important trial and error. The boss took me practically an hour to beat, however step by step studying tips on how to tackle the boss was a welcome problem that by no means felt unfair. For reference, my colleague was taking part in on Story Mode and defeated the boss on his second strive, however an acquaintance from one other media outlet who was additionally taking part in on Story Mode didn’t handle to defeat the boss and ran out of time.
Whereas he didn’t particularly point out the Soulslike style, collection producer Motoi Okamoto says that Silent Hill f’s fight was impressed by the present recognition of harder motion video games. With a number of issue settings, Silent Hill f is under no circumstances a Soulslike, however its boss design shares an identical studying curve that in the end leads to an ideal feeling of satisfaction while you lastly beat it. Silent Hill f is a story-driven expertise above the rest, but it surely simply occurs to have actually strong fight mechanics and techniques on the identical time.
One distinctive part of Silent Hill f’s storytelling is the pocket book Hinako carries. Right here you may examine characters, areas, and occasions that seem within the story, all written from Hinako’s perspective. At first, it appears to be a fairly simple archive, however occasions within the story can set off further textual content for beforehand unlocked entries. As an alternative of merely repeating what occasions within the story already advised you, these further texts go a lot deeper into the lore and background. Generally, they will barely contradict or change your view on characters and occasions, indicating that issues are by no means what they appear to be on the floor. It’s not arduous to think about that for a deeper understanding of Silent Hill f’s story and characters, analyzing these texts can be important.
Again to high school
The final a part of my demo occurred inside a faculty, which was primarily a dungeon much like Silent Hill 2’s aforementioned condominium buildings, hospitals, museums and resorts. Upon getting into the varsity, Hinako obtains a map of the constructing which the participant should use to navigate their approach by. Fortunately, Hinako is simply as diligent a note-taking fanatic as Silent Hill 2’s James, so everytime you be taught {that a} door is locked or that there’s a passage someplace, will probably be famous on the map. Inside the varsity, I needed to remedy a large number of puzzles so as to discover keys to succeed in completely different lecture rooms and flooring whereas combating and working away from enemies alongside the way in which. Similar to the city itself, the outdated wood college constructing oozes with environment and feels vigorous regardless that none of its college students or lecturers are there, and Hinako’s comment to herself, “I have not been right here since commencement,” subtly added to the environment.
Whereas in current video video games, the abundance of self-talk by the protagonist can generally really feel a bit an excessive amount of, Hinako’s occasional monologue succeeds in subtly contributing to the state of affairs with out ever coming over as an exposition dump.
In keeping with Okamoto, the typical playtime for Silent Hill f can be about 12 or 13 hours, which ought to point out that I’ve performed by roughly one third of the sport. Whereas I don’t understand how issues will go from right here, to date the sport’s steadiness between city exploration and inside services seems like an enchancment over the Silent Hill 2 remake.
Additionally, whereas the primary 5 hours of the sport felt like they have been structured linearly, Silent Hill f has a number of endings like many different video games within the collection, together with the well-known UFO ending.
My time with Silent Hill f was promising to say the least. Its worldbuilding and story had me so intrigued that I nonetheless suppose again on my temporary go to to Ebisugaoka virtually per week later. The deep fog that envelops the city someway feels extra pure than within the city of Silent Hill, maybe attributable to the truth that Ebisugaoka is a mountain village. Ebisugaoka simply seems like the proper match for a psychological horror narrative, and all of Silent Hill f’s techniques and mechanics complement the setting. Sequence composer Akira Yamaoka’s soundtrack additionally does a stellar job in making the participant really feel uncomfortable all through.
Thus far, Silent Hill f appears to be a horror sport that will get every part proper. If, like me, the Silent Hill 2 remake was one in every of your favourite video games of 2024, Silent Hill f has the potential to develop into a severe sport of the 12 months contender when it releases for PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X|S, and PC on September 25.
Silent Hill 2 f ©Konami Digital Leisure
*In-development footage and screenshots are proven.
