Silent Hill f embraces beauty, fear, and a whole new direction

Silent Hill f isn’t just a new chapter in the long-dormant franchise — it’s a complete genre remix wrapped in spores, superstition, and striking aesthetics. During Konami’s Press Start livestream, the developers behind the game walked fans through how and why Silent Hill f stands apart from its predecessors, and why that’s exactly the point.

The game moves the series out of foggy Maine and deep into the haunted heart of 1960s Japan. Our new protagonist, Hinako Shimizu, isn’t a weathered detective or traumatized writer. She’s a teenage girl. She doesn’t carry firearms or cast spells — she fights with a steel pipe. The game, according to the developers, leans into psychological horror not just visually but emotionally. It’s about fear that’s intimate, personal, and rooted in a culture where folklore blends with reality.

And if you’re thinking this sounds more like a visual novel than a traditional survival horror game, that’s by design.

“The hallmark of Japanese horror is not simply grotesqueness, but the coexistence of beauty and the disturbing.”

Series producer Motoi Okamoto repeated this line like a mantra during the stream, and it tells you everything about what Silent Hill f is trying to be. Konami isn’t interested in just doing a Japanese reskin of the classic formula. They’ve brought in Ryukishi07 — known for When They Cry — to handle the script. If you’ve played his work, you know what to expect: slow burns, psychological layering, characters unraveling across timelines. This is less about jump scares and more about rot — both literal and symbolic — creeping in slowly until everything collapses.

Hinako’s world isn’t Silent Hill, USA. It’s Ebisugaoka, a fictional town caught in a fog both figurative and literal. Custom, guilt, ritual, and decay sit beneath the surface. And with the game’s setting in the Showa Era, Silent Hill f is loaded with cultural flashpoints — a time close enough to feel familiar, but distant enough to feel mythic.

Hello newcomers!

Didn’t play the original titles? Despite its deep psychological themes and heavy atmosphere, Silent Hill f is being built with newcomers in mind, and I like it! It’s nice to dive into Japanese horror adventure without any necessary context from previous games.

Developers described Hinako as “an ordinary person,” and confirmed that combat will reflect that. You won’t be managing ammo or juggling complex weapon systems. Instead, the game’s design emphasizes simplicity and believability. This is a survival horror experience focused more on story and exploration than mastery of combat mechanics.

If you’ve never played a Silent Hill game before, this one won’t punish you for it. It’s made to be a soft entry point, without compromising the intensity.

Combat itself is grounded — Hinako’s main weapon is a steel pipe, and you’re not expected to tank through enemies. Encounters are designed to make you feel overpowered emotionally, not mechanically. You’ll see horrific things. But you’ll also have moments where they are presented with such striking elegance that you’ll hesitate, drawn in, disturbed, stuck in place. This tension between fear and beauty is the beating heart of the game.

As director Al Yang put it, “We created our visual designs to have a distinct uneasiness to them, but also have a horrific charm that would make it so you just couldn’t stop staring.”

And if the first few cutscenes and trailers are any indicator, they’ve nailed that vibe. Flowers blooming from corpses. Masks that grow into faces. A girl screaming into the void as the walls pulse like lungs. It’s not just scary. It’s sad. It’s gorgeous. It’s disgusting.

By the way, there's some good news for veterans, too. During a stream from Konami, it was briefly announced that a remake of the original Silent Hill is currently in the works, and unfortunately, that's all. They simply wrote it in the title after showing gameplay of Silent Hill f.

Why Japan, and why the '60s?

Ryukishi07 explained the time period wasn’t just chosen for aesthetic reasons. The Showa Era was a bridge between the modern and the ancient — a postwar time of massive change, but also a moment where old beliefs and customs still had power. That’s what Silent Hill f wants to capture. Superstition as psychological trauma. Tradition as horror. The player will move through a world shaped by expectations and haunted by what happens when you fail to meet them.

And while this is still Silent Hill in spirit, don’t expect callbacks or fan service. The narrative doesn’t revolve around the town. There are no Pyramid Heads lurking in the shadows. It’s a spiritual successor in mood, not in canon. The fear, the regret, the blurred line between real and unreal — that’s what’s being carried over. Everything else? Burned down and reborn.

Silent Hill f launches on September 25 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC. It’s up for pre-order now, with editions expected to be revealed closer to release. While Konami hasn’t said much about post-launch support, the sheer attention to narrative detail and tone suggests this is a full-package experience — not something built for DLC or expansions.

After years of spin-offs, remakes, and canceled projects, this might be the most exciting direction the franchise has taken in decades. It’s not just trying to bring back Silent Hill — it’s trying to reinvent it.

And if that sounds terrifying? Good.