Silent Hill has always been more than “monsters in the fog.” At its best, the series has dug into deeply personal and cultural traumas, weaving psychological horror into supernatural nightmares. With Silent Hill f, the franchise takes its boldest departure yet, leaving the misty American town behind for 1960s Japan.
What could have been a risky reinvention instead feels like a strikingly confident new branch of the series that balances the unsettling atmosphere the franchise is known for, with a narrative rooted in Japanese folklore, cultural history, and the painful struggles of family and societal expectations.
A Story of Trauma and Expectation
At the heart of Silent Hill f is Hinako, a teenage girl caught in the suffocating expectations of her family and community. Her story tackles themes rarely explored so directly in big-budget horror games. The narrative makes no effort to hide its sharp critique of arranged marriages, showing how Hinako’s fate is dictated not by her own desires, but by traditions and her parents’ ambitions.
In many Asian cultures, these expectations have carried tremendous weight, and Silent Hill f forces us to sit with the fear and isolation that come with being treated as an object to be given away. Here I should mention that as an Asian woman myself, the underlying narrative struck hard, making me empathize deeply with Hinako’s plight. And while not all of the Asian diaspora can connect to the narrative, I can speak for myself when I say this is a story that I can understand completely.
The story of the game explores domestic and child abuse, most disturbingly in the relationships between Hinako, her father, and her parents as a whole. These are not caricatures of cruelty but frighteningly believable portrayals of how abuse festers in families that care more about appearances than compassion.
It’s a mature, often difficult story to watch unfold, but it also makes the game’s supernatural horrors feel more earned, as the monsters feel like manifestations of a very real, human terror.
The Fox and Inari: Folklore as Horror
One of the standout elements of Silent Hill f is how it integrates Japanese folklore into its world. The fox appears throughout the game, tied to the Shinto deity Inari, often associated with rice, prosperity, and protection. But in the twisted, fungal world of Silent Hill f, the fox takes on a dual role, at times appearing as a guide, at others an omen of destruction.
This symbolic tension between salvation and corruption is just perfect for Silent Hill. The fox embodies the game’s constant ambiguity — is Hinako being guided toward freedom, or deeper into losing it altogether? The use of Inari also roots the horror in a uniquely Japanese cultural context while still echoing the universal Silent Hill themes of guilt, repression, and fear.
Atmosphere, Score, UI, and Visuals
Graphically, Silent Hill f is stunning. The environments are drenched in unsettling beauty, for example, rotting countryside towns overtaken by crimson fungal blooms, school corridors that warp into suffocating tunnels of roots and petals, and shrines (including your save points) that pulse with both spiritual reverence and dread, all in an off-putting interplay of chiaroscuro.
The visual design is consistently striking, giving us some of the most memorable environments in the franchise’s history. One of my favorite elements was the journal feature, allowing us to dive into Hinako’s thoughts in the form of written word. The sketches of different monsters, characters, and locations cemented the care and effort the development team put into the game’s user interface.
Akira Yamaoka’s music for the Fog World is another triumph. His music remains the beating heart of Silent Hill, and here it seamlessly weaves traditional Japanese instruments with the industrial, haunting soundscapes fans expect.
Kensuke Inage’s composition for the Otherworld is an additional triumph, along with Dai and Xaki, composers who previously collaborated with the game’s writer, Ryukishi07. The music can shift from mournful to suffocating in an instant, mirroring Hinako’s descent into a world where even moments of quiet are uneasy.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Silent Hill f is both a highlight and, at times, a frustration. Early sections emphasize exploration, puzzle-solving, and stealth, which feel true to the series’ roots. Hinako (in the beginning) is not a gun-toting soldier, she’s a vulnerable, abused girl, so her ability to fight is limited. The game cleverly uses this to build tension. Puzzles are also clever, and playing on the recommended settings of Story (for fights) and Hard (for puzzles) yielded a memorable experience during my first playthrough.
Unfortunately, the final fourth of the game loses some of this balance. Monster encounters become constant, often in cramped spaces with little room to maneuver. Instead of relying on atmosphere and dread, these segments lean into combat gauntlets that feel at odds with the slower, more deliberate pacing earlier on. Healing item drops also become frustratingly rare, making sections feel less like tense survival and more like trial-and-error attrition.
Boss battles have already drawn comparisons to Soulslike games, and it’s clear the developers may have borrowed from that design ethos. I understand why, as the deliberate dodging, punishing attacks, and reading of patterns make for cinematic, challenging encounters. But make no mistake: this isn’t Soulslike. The bosses are tough but far more forgiving, designed to create spectacle and tension rather than demand hundreds of retries.
Personally, I appreciated the challenge, particularly when it came to the second boss battle with the Rinko-like entity. It gave the fights a weighty feel without dragging the pacing down. And if anything, just fighting the typical Kashimashi through Ebisugaoka gave me more annoyance than the bosses themselves.
Technical Performance and Replayability
On a technical level, Silent Hill f runs well most of the time but isn’t without issues. Framerate drops and stuttering appear intermittently on PlayStation 5 (base model), especially in larger environments overrun with fungal growths. They don’t break the game, but they are immersion-breaking, particularly when the world’s atmosphere is otherwise so carefully constructed. A few patches could likely smooth these problems out, but they’re worth noting for anyone expecting a flawless experience at launch.
One of the strongest aspects of Silent Hill f is its replayability. The game features five different endings, each reflecting different choices and interpretations of Hinako’s journey. They don’t just add superficial variety as they meaningfully reframe the narrative, leaving players with a strong incentive to revisit the story multiple times. Silent Hill has always thrived on ambiguity, and f leans into this tradition by giving players multiple lenses through which to interpret Hinako’s fate.
Why It’s Not a Numbered Title
Some fans may wonder why Silent Hill f isn’t Silent Hill 5. The answer becomes clear after finishing the game: while it shares the DNA of the franchise, such as trauma, supernatural horror, and psychological symbolism, it’s also very much its own beast. Set in Japan, focused on folklore as much as psychology, f feels like a side branch of the Silent Hill mythos rather than a continuation of the mainline story. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it allows the game to carve out its own identity while paying homage to what came before.
Final Thoughts
Hinako is a startling revelation. In a genre often defined by silent avatars or grizzled survivors, she is a deeply human, vulnerable, yet ultimately resilient protagonist. Her struggles with abuse, with family, and with identity ground the supernatural horror in painful reality. By the end of the game, for me, she rightfully earned her place alongside horror’s most memorable protagonists.
Silent Hill f is not a perfect game, but it is a worthy addition to one of gaming’s most storied horror franchises. With its haunting narrative penned by Ryukishi07, stunning visuals, Yamaoka’s unforgettable score, and powerful themes, it lingers long after the credits roll. Despite its flaws, such as performance issues and an overly combat-heavy final act, it’s a bold, beautiful step forward for Silent Hill. I certainly found the “beauty in terror” playing this meaningful piece of art.
(9 / 10)
Amazing
(9 / 10)
