Silent Hill f Writer Explains Horror Like Salad Dressing

Silent Hill f is getting closer, and one of the most important voices behind the game has finally spoken. Ryukishi07, known for his horror work on Higurashi and When They Cry, shared new insights at Anime Expo 2025 in Los Angeles, where he appeared with producer Motoi Okamoto and legendary composer Akira Yamaoka. In a panel that touched on how the story is being told, Ryukishi07 made a bold comparison — he said the horror of Silent Hill f is like salad dressing.

That’s not just a weird metaphor for the sake of it. Ryukishi07 was talking about the game’s blend of supernatural and psychological horror. At first, players might not be able to tell which is which. Everything will feel mixed together, like oil and vinegar freshly shaken in a bottle. But as the story progresses, the different elements begin to separate, and players will be able to see what’s real, what’s imagined, and what’s something much stranger in between.

“It will be like a salad dressing.”

That was his exact phrasing. Supernatural horror on one side. Psychological torment, on the other hand. Together, they coat every part of the experience without losing their own flavor.

This strange-sounding but effective analogy sums up what Silent Hill has always done at its best: mix real human emotions and traumas with ghostly threats and otherworldly monsters. Silent Hill f continues that tradition, but shifts it somewhere Silent Hill has never gone before.

The game is set in 1960s Japan, in a rural town named Ebisugaoka. The main character is Hinako Shimizu, a teenage girl weighed down by pressure from every direction — her family, her friends, and her community. While most Silent Hill games take place in the eerie fog of small-town America, Silent Hill f heads in the opposite direction with a distinctly Japanese setting. It’s the first time the mainline series has gone that far back in time and that far from its usual map.

Hinako’s story is all about fear, pressure, and being trapped — emotionally, mentally, and physically. But according to Ryukishi07, this game won’t just be about suffering. He said that themes like love and sadness will also play a big part. That balance between pain and beauty is something that producer Motoi Okamoto and composer Akira Yamaoka both emphasized as well.

Okamoto said the combat will be tougher than what fans might expect, and the visuals will sit somewhere between beautiful and terrifying. The monsters are built around that idea — twisted, grotesque things, but designed with elegance and surreal touches. Even the puzzles won’t offer much comfort. They’re meant to reflect psychological suffering, not just give players something to unlock between fights.

The tone of the game is clear even from the trailers. The reveal video showed Hinako in distress, with blood, injuries, and a tattered school uniform. The setting, full of red flowers and soft sunlight, contrasts sharply with her pain. That “juxtaposition between beauty and terror” is a core part of what the team is aiming for.

This is also the first Silent Hill game to receive a CERO:Z rating in Japan — the highest age rating the country gives, marking it as intended strictly for players 18 and older. That’s a step beyond earlier titles like Silent Hill 2 or The Room, which were all rated for ages 15 and up. It also carries a Mature rating in the U.S. and PEGI 18 in Europe.

Despite the heavy tone and history behind the franchise, Silent Hill f is not a sequel. Konami has made it clear that this is a standalone game, not connected to the main timeline. You don’t need to play any of the older titles to understand it. The publisher said it is “a completely new title” and one that “ people who have never played the Silent Hill series can enjoy.”

This approach isn’t new for the franchise. Games like Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 4: The Room also told their own stories with only loose ties to the original town. But Silent Hill f takes that one step further — new country, new decade, new cast, new mythos. It’s still Silent Hill, but from a different angle.

And the creators aren’t hiding from how weird that might feel. They’re leaning into it. A writer comparing his horror structure to salad dressing isn’t something you’d usually hear in a AAA horror panel. But Ryukishi07 is used to blending the strange with the disturbing. His past games deal with time loops, unreliable narration, emotional trauma, and psychological breaks. In many ways, Silent Hill f is a perfect next step for him.

There’s still a lot we don’t know. The game has no hands-on gameplay footage yet, and most of what we’ve seen comes from cinematic trailers. But the ideas are already in place. A story where the layers of fear are built up like ingredients in a bottle. A setting that mixes elegance with decay. A main character trapped by the world around her, just like so many others who wandered into Silent Hill before.

Silent Hill f launches on September 25 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series. It’s the first new mainline Silent Hill in over a decade, and the first one ever set in Japan. The monsters may be new, the timeline might be different, and the story might be told like salad dressing — but the fear is still familiar.