Silent Hill f

Silent Hill f presents a fresh new setting to explore and a fascinatingly dark story to unravel, but its melee-focussed combat takes a big swing that doesn’t quite land.

All the practicalities: the combat system, the enemies' actual attack patterns and manoeuvres, progression, and upgrades, and the game's item economy. All of this seems less polished, less precisely defined, and for that reason it is easy to recommend Silent Hill f as an experience, but somewhat more difficult as a gaming experience.

Silent Hill F takes the survival horror series in a new direction, which pays off for the most part. It’s quite different, and hardcore fans will have to accept that. Combat is a heavy focus, and the move to Japan means there’s a different kind of tone and atmosphere in the air. Technical problems aside, it marks a bold new chapter in the Silent Hill saga. Accept it for what it is, and you’ll find one of PS5’s most intense experiences.

Expectations were sky-high for Silent Hill f, a true new entry in a series that’s been dormant far too long. Konami trusted Taiwanese studio Neobards Entertainment, and the result is stunning visually and technically, with bold choices like 1960s Japan and more action. The writing is subtle and sharp, making the game feel unique and ambitious. But the gameplay lets it down. It’s clunky, slow, and frustrating, with too many tedious fights, a poorly designed stamina system, and puzzles that feel overcomplicated. The potential is huge, yet the execution keeps you from fully enjoying it. In the end, it’s a polarizing game: impressive and daring in style, but clumsy to play. One step forward, two steps back. Silent Hill deserves better than a beautiful shell hiding rusty mechanics.

Conceptually, Silent Hill f is every bit the fascinating, uncomfortable step forward the series has needed for a long time. Its deployment of iconography, theme, and tone is both in keeping with what makes the Silent Hill titles so endearing and radically subversive for the genre space (at least within games). To balk at its gendered tale is to balk at the idea of Silent Hill itself. But Silent Hill f needs to exist beyond its concept; its ideas and commentary too weighted to celebrate for simply being there, and its systemic failures too omnipresent to not feel all the while. Silent Hill f is the step forward Silent Hill needs; it’s a shame it was onto such unstable ground.

Silent Hill f is a brilliantly written and intensely moody horror adventure that struggles to redefine itself as a game. Everything about the mechanics is dated, and it constantly diminishes the story's numerous literary achievements.