Silent Hill f Reviews
I concluded my adventure with Silent Hill f with a sense of satisfaction that I have experienced with very few stories and even fewer video games. But the most special feeling that the game leaves you with is during the experience itself rather than at the end. Discovering that a Konami product, in the triple-A sphere, is so inclined towards risk and uncompromising artistic expression, which is now only found in indie games, moved me. Starting a second run and being confused by the first dialogue, only to discover that I was a quarter of the way through the experience, prompted me to play with a consistency I haven't had since reading Umineko in high school. Searching for the pieces of the puzzle led me to be disappointed by some strangely unadventurous choices, only to be proven wrong shortly after by the constant reassurances that the team had a clear vision. Rarely does the writing of a video game allow itself to tell its story so courageously, except in the best indie games of recent years. For me, Silent Hill f does not clash with Silent Hill 2 Remake, nor does it clash with Resident Evil or the most important narrative games of recent years, it clashes with Mouthwashing and Fear and Hunger. It's not Silent Hill for everyone, but for me, Silent Hill has never been for everyone and never should be. In the very nature of psychological horror, there is a filter that makes it strange, sometimes disgusting, sometimes too heavy. Silent Hill fully embraces everything that makes Japanese psychological horror special, even at the cost of losing some long-time fans along the way.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Silent Hill f is not a flawless triumph, but it is a haunting, modern horror that pushes the franchise forward in interesting ways. If you are open to change, drawn to layered narratives, and don’t mind wrestling with combat mechanics, you should play this.
Silent Hill f takes risks, but that's a good thing. It leaves America behind to move the setting to the distant past and Japan. The result is a thoroughly authentic Japanese horror game. A horror whose themes may be more challenging for some players. And a horror that draws on Japanese myths, symbolism, and culture. However, it's also a horror that fans of the series, in particular, shouldn't overlook. It's an excellent action-adventure game that suffers from clunky combat mechanics, but this is compensated for by the overall atmosphere and storytelling.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Silent Hill f will definitely not be a positive experience for everyone, but it will be talked about for a long time. The more I think about this game, the more its qualities are highlighted and its flaws overshadowed in my mind. I got involved and even identified with specific aspects of the game. Silent Hill f is far from perfect, but for me, what it delivers is more valuable than a polished and perfect product.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Silent Hill f delivers compelling character-driven horror, mature storytelling, and stunning visuals and art direction in arguably one of the franchise's strongest, most confident games yet.
Silent Hill f is a beautiful horror tale. The story, from Ryukishi07, is told wonderfully and manages to convey its themes with the right amount of care, thanks to some great writing and the arc of its protagonist, Shimizu Hinako. Further, the combat-focused gameplay turned out to be surprisingly addictive, while still managing to be tense thanks to some great monster designs. While I had some problems with the monster variety and exploration gameplay, I can confidently say that the future of the Silent Hill franchise is in great hands.
Silent Hill F does almost everything correctly, and pushes the franchise full steam into the right direction. It’s an interesting take on a new fictional town that allows future iterations to develop the “silent hill effect” in new and interesting ways, without being tied down. More importantly, the writing and visual storytelling of Silent Hill F allow it to tell an effective emotional story, with extremely impactful moments that are symbolic of Japanese horror.
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.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
On the outside, Hinako is a physically healthy girl in good shape, but inside she wrestles with unresolved emotions and complex ideas about who she’s supposed to be. Similarly, Silent Hill f offers a beautifully dark story reminiscent of the series’ finest days, yet its foundation rests on gameplay that unnecessarily insists on constant flailing at enemies.
Review in Unknown | Read full review
SILENT HILL f is definitely not the best installment in the series, but of course it's not the worst either. The game has many good elements, such as the script, puzzles, and overall atmosphere, but the quality set by these elements is hampered by a weak combat system, terribly designed battles, and the loss of the initial atmosphere from the beginning of the story. It was nice to see something completely new in the SILENT HILL series, but I think sticking to the titular town made more sense.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Silent Hill f might feel more like a side project than a real development. Its best parts are the mood and the idea behind it, not how it's put together. Its readiness to take risks should not be brushed off, though. Even though it's not perfect, Silent Hill f is a good example of how horror thrives on making people feel bad, and how failure can sometimes leave a lasting impact.
Silent Hill offers a fantastic horror adventure that moves away from the original franchise. The game features outstanding graphics and sound, along with action-focused gameplay.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Silent Hill f’s transit to a fictional 1960s Japan changes the tone of the series you’d come to expect, but delivers by pushing boundaries in the themes it tackles. The game leaves nostalgia at the door, bringing with it a high-tension and emotional experience with ambition. Silent Hill f does more than just scare; it lingers.
While Silent Hill f has an interesting premise and some fun puzzles, the combat and design decisions make actually seeing the story to completion more work than it needs to be.
Silent Hill f took us on a brutal, wonderful, and brilliant journey, thanks to its superb artistic direction and a change of course that was as daring as it was effective. As players of early survival horror games such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill, Silent Hill f is exactly what we expected from a modern horror game. It offers both accessible and challenging puzzles, gruesome monsters (although we would have liked even more variety) and enormous replayability thanks to multiple endings, all enhanced by high-quality graphics, excellent performance—with very slight and sporadic frame rate drops (at least on standard PS5)—and smart features that help in terms of quality of life and bring it up to today's standards. Silent Hill f is a masterful horror game that is on par with other “masterpieces” of the survival horror genre, and we highly recommend giving it a try.
Review in Italian | Read full review
To put it bluntly, Silent Hill f is one of my favourite entries in this once long-dormant survival horror franchise. Marking the first full brand-new entry in years. Moving away from the titular town to a remote Japanese village was a risky move and one that paid off incredibly well, thanks to a narrative that compels from the moment you boot the game up to the second or even third time you roll the credits. However, it’s not perfect, and some repetitive combat could do with some additional work, but the creative creature and environmental design more than make up for it.
Silent Hill f is a true Silent Hill. It's true that its setting and combat system—which is clumsy and boring—are very different to what we know on the series, but if we look beyond the superficial, we discover that it's an evolution of the themes and horror stories that the cursed town franchise has always handled. If we add to that an impressive Asian horror atmosphere, terrifying enemy designs, and an excellent and tragic story about the chains that a patriarchal society places on women, we have a true gem.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Silent Hill f is vastly different from most of its games in the series, but it's one of my favourites because it's so different. It steps away from the status quo and delivers a unique story in a unique time period. You'll never feel at ease exploring the village, and around every corner lurk some of the most twisted enemies that will stop at nothing to get to you.
Silent Hill f is a truly beautiful horror and will have me contemplating its subliminal meanings for many moons to come.
It's super tricky to rate Silent Hill f because its strengths and weaknesses are so far apart. If we only had to rate the atmosphere, it would definitely be at the top of our list because what this horror game does with its graphics and, above all, its sound effects is pretty awesome. The intense mood that greets us as we search the abandoned environment, but especially in the presence of the monsters, which we try to avoid if possible, is brilliantly implemented. If we are discovered, the mood escalates immeasurably, in a good way. It makes us break out in a sweat when we explore the upper floor of a house while one of the bizarre creatures is up to mischief on the ground floor. The game also plays nicely with our expectations, as we are virtually on constant alert, bracing ourselves for a jump scare, which, however, is quite rare and occurs in far more unexpected places. Nevertheless, we are constantly on edge, which is perfect for a game of this kind. The visual implementation of the atmospheric locations, the bizarre monsters, and the haunting parallel world is also excellently done. The characters and their emotions are also well captured, but the story itself never really appealed to me, as its strong focus on Japanese folklore is a little too far removed from my personal experience. I could live with that, though, because the Silent Hill feeling is definitely there. The combat system is where things get difficult for me. Instead of a similar beat-'em-up gameplay as in the remake of part 2, the developers opted for a completely undynamic, clunky, and imprecise Souls-like offshoot, which I found frustrating throughout. In addition to the strange, exaggerated animations, it was mainly the constantly empty stamina and imprecise controls that drove me to the brink of madness time and time again. Even for someone like me, who has no interest in Souls-like games, the story mode was too tough in the fights. The puzzles, another typical Silent Hill element, weren't exactly groundbreaking, but they were well implemented overall and a fitting addition to the rest of the game. All in all, Silent Hill hits the nail on the head in terms of atmosphere, but the combat system, which takes some getting used to, spoils the fun for me in many places. In the end, this leaves us with a mid-range rating for a game that definitely had more potential.
Review in German | Read full review