Last Updated on Oct 7, 2025 @ 12:32:38 PM.
The Silent Hill franchise has been doing incredibly well recently, following the release of the Silent Hill 2 Remake, which has garnered the attention of gamers. Still, now Silent Hill F has finally made its way into the hands of gamers, and it has taken the gaming world by storm.
When it comes to a Silent Hill game, gamers will always expect a dark and gritty story that is full of blood, guts, and gore that follows the main character like a shadow, and it is safe to say that Silent Hill F follows this trend, which, for me, is a big positive.
I recently got the opportunity to try Silent Hill F in all its glory, as I explored the beautiful and gloomy world and fought the gruesome and difficult enemies, and came to terms with the punishing combat, as well as witnessed the haunting story that touches on difficult themes while keeping the usual psychological tones that the Silent Hill franchise is known for.
Please be warned that, due to this being a review of a Silent Hill game, there will understandably be comments raised on difficult topics that many readers may be uncomfortable with.
The World of Silent Hill F is as Dark and Beautiful as Ever
Throughout the Silent Hill franchise, players usually explore the small town of Silent Hill as it is enveloped in a thick fog. However, this time around, players will be taken to a whole new location within Japan, as well as a new year, as the game is also set within the 1960s.
Due to the game taking place in Japan, the way the world is laid out is completely different and unique compared to other Silent Hill games, as rather than having large streets and numerous shops, buildings, and alleys to search, players are instead locked into very small maze-like paths with numerous alcoves for enemies to hide in and scare the player.
For a game like Silent Hill F, having these small pathways is quite an effective way of putting the player in a stressful situation as the game progresses, as the player will eventually come across quite a few enemies on their travels that will block them in one way or another. This means that for a player to progress, they will either have to fight said enemies or find a way to lure them out of the way and use the smallest of gaps possible.
I found this to be quite interesting within Silent Hill F, as it meant that every path, every corner, and every building had some build-up behind it, making me feel concerned about just running in guns blazing and making me think more methodically about what I was doing and where I was going. This was even more evident when I ran out of weapons, which wasn’t very often, and I had to find an alternate route past enemies, if one was present at all.
The best part about all of this was how the world of Silent Hill F was designed overall, as it may have looked relatively small and compact, but it felt large and expansive as I explored it. Throughout my time playing, I constantly found myself searching through the different alleyways in search of lore and loot to help me on my journey, while also just being mesmerized by the incredible detail that was on display in this small village.
Although there weren’t many buildings you could explore properly within Silent Hill F in comparison to other Silent Hill titles, the few buildings you could explore were each very interesting and unique, with plenty of detail that encouraged me to explore them to their fullest while also checking every building I went past to see if there were more houses to explore.
Even though I am the type of gamer who looks to explore each corner of a game to make sure I find all that I can, in some games, I do find myself getting bored by the end of the game and rushing past a lot of loot and secrets, as I want to finish the game. This wasn’t a problem within Silent Hill F, as the map didn’t often expand too far away from the main path, meaning that exploring wasn’t an annoying task I had to undertake, but was more just a small side adventure for loot and mysteries.
The Numerous Worries About Combat Were Entirely Unwarranted
Before Silent Hill F was released, the Silent Hill community was very divided on whether or not the combat system was going to be a slam dunk or a massive flop within Silent Hill F. This is down to the fact that Konami had moved towards a stamina and health bar-based combat system rather than just aimlessly swinging a weapon without getting tired or shooting a gun.
For a lot of gamers, the first thing they say when they see a stamina bar and a health bar is that they compare it to a Soulslike game, suggesting that this combat will feel more like Dark Souls than a Silent Hill game. I am here to say that after playing Silent Hill F that these worries are entirely unwarranted and that the combat feels incredibly similar to other Silent Hill games, but with a few tweaks to make it feel more stressful and difficult, adding to the game’s overall tone.
Throughout the game, the player will be able to find numerous weapons that they can use to fight the plethora of enemies that head their way. A majority of these weapons do have a durability bar that will cause the player to lose the weapon if they do not take care of it or avoid combat when they can. This ensures that the player doesn’t just go on a killing rampage like they would in other Silent Hill games, in which their melee weapon lasts forever.
This mechanic to me was very interesting, as throughout the game I constantly found myself checking on the durability of my weapon and panicking as to whether or not the weapon would survive the next encounter, or at least till I found a new weapon, and in some cases I did find myself running out of weapons with no way to gather new ones, and I will say this was very stressful, and I loved it.
However, not all the weapons in Silent Hill F have a durability bar, which was an interesting twist, as these weapons were only available through a certain sequence in the game that I will refrain from explaining due to spoilers but allowed me to take on enemies in different ways without worrying about durability, but for a short while worrying about the enemies coming back to life rather than staying dead.
For me, I found this to be an exciting balance between having a durability bar and not having one, as each version had its own worries attached to it. Whether it be worrying if you run out of weapons to fight the enemies as you have broken them all, or worrying about the enemies reviving and forcing you into another combat scenario you might not survive, there were plenty of stressful moments that made the combat feel just like a Silent Hill game, and this is the aim I feel the devs were looking for.
Finally, what I found best about the combat within Silent Hill F is that there is never a gun in sight. Due to this being set within a small village in Japan, guns aren’t widely available, meaning that there aren’t just characters running around shooting the enemies and taunting you with a gun you can’t have; there just isn’t one to be seen. In a lot of games, there are moments in which you see an NPC with a gun, and you are shouting at the screen for them to give it to you.
This means that the combat is all close combat, which for many players can be very stressful and will lead to a lot of mistakes that lead them to get damaged and even killed. In other Silent Hill games,, you often find yourself on the search for ammo for guns and sometimes even forget you have a melee weapon, something that never leaves your person, but in Silent Hill F, you have to rely on getting close to your enemies and even be afraid that you might end up defenseless with not even a knife to protect you.
Silent Hill Has Always Had Horrifying Stories, But This Takes it up a Notch
Now we get to the best part of a Silent Hill game, and that is its story. Please be warned that as we talk about the game’s story, we will try and avoid spoilers as best we can, but to fully talk about this topic, we will need to talk about some details of the game.
When people talk about a Silent Hill game, the first thing that comes to mind is the dark and haunting stories that these games are filled with that have the player on the edge of their seat waiting to see what will come of the main character that they are playing as, and Silent Hill F continues this tradition as it follows suit with a very dark and sometimes confusing story that will make players gasp and even be disgusted at some points.
Whether it be touching on sexual discrimination, self-harm, or even drug addiction, Silent Hill F tries its best to touch on these topics in a way that shows how dark and horrifying these topics can be, while also trying its best not to glorify these topics and make them feel as though it is something the player should appreciate rather than be horrified by.
Even for me, as someone who is a big fan of horror franchises, I found myself concerned and overly disgusted by some of the scenes that were taking place within Silent Hill F. That being said, as much as these situations resonated with me in a rather unsettling way, this to me shows how good a job Konami has done.
This isn’t the first time that a Silent Hill game has touched on some of these topics before, and has even done them in rather gruesome ways before. For me, with the way these actions took place as well as the incredible sound quality and visual aspects, these haunting situations just felt even more powerful and made me feel as unsure as the game is intending.
The only flaw I can give the story within Silent Hill F is how it assumes a lot from the player. Due to the game being set in Japan, a lot of the story obviously references Japanese culture, whether it be herbal medicine, specific rituals, or even the puzzles themselves. Each of these scenarios requires a bit of knowledge from the player regarding Japanese culture.
Due to this assumption on the player, I did find myself struggling to grasp the story during my first playthrough of the Silent Hill F story. After playing new game+, I did find that the story did expand upon itself, providing more information that was hidden from me in my first playthrough, which obviously encourages replayability. I found myself slightly disappointed that this story wasn’t very well explained to those unfamiliar with this culture.
I will admit after doing a second playthrough and revealing this information the overall story was very clear, and due to Konami being a Japanese developer, it makes sense that this issue may not have come up, but for people who aren’t familiar with these ceremonies, rituals, and so on, it did cause a bit of confusion after just one playthrough which for many gamers is something they would not enjoy.
Accessibility is Becoming More and More Accessible
Finally, I would just like to talk about one of the more impressive features I saw within Silent Hill F that I know a lot of players will enjoy, and that is the inclusion of a difficulty changer for puzzles. I know this doesn’t sound overly world-shattering in terms of accessibility, but for me, I found this to be an incredible inclusion on Konami’s part for Silent Hill F.
When I play video games, I do enjoy a good puzzle and love to try and find the answer to each puzzle blocking my way through a game, but for some, puzzles are the bane of their existence, and they do not want to spend their time searching for complicated answers. Thus, introducing the difficulty slider that Konami has used within Silent Hill F.
Right at the start of the game, the player is given the usual difficulty options for the overall difficulty of the game, but they are also given the choice on how difficult the game’s puzzles are. Now, from what I have seen, the main change with this system is that it changes the amount of information that is provided to the player to solve certain puzzles.
The biggest example of this change is how a puzzle may require the player to search through a note and pick out keywords that provide the answer to a puzzle. In the easier modes, these notes will have the keywords highlighted to make them stand out for those looking for a simple puzzle experience, but for those who are looking for a challenge, these keywords will not be bolded and will cause the player to need to figure out through context what the most important detail is.
For me I played on the hard difficulty for puzzles, and I found this quite fun, as this version did not have the bolded information, meaning I needed to search for the answers on my way. This, in my opinion, is a good inclusion from Konami and proves that accessibility is becoming more and more important to developers as they are adding mechanics like this, as well as Dyslexia fonts, more subtitle options, more colorblind modes, and so much more.
Silent Hill F
Summary
My overall opinion on Silent Hill F is that it lives up to the hype that the Silent Hill franchise has built up over the years in all aspects, whether it be combat, exploration, the world, or especially the story itself.
Although each of these aspects is clearly handled with care by Konami, there are a few flaws in certain aspects, like expecting the player to have knowledge of certain aspects of Japanese culture beforehand, and a few others.
HOURS PLAYED: 25
PLAYED ON: PS5
- The world is incredibly detailed with small compact spaces providing a sense of dread.
- The combat is a lot of fun with aspects that make it both challenging and stressful.
- The story is incredibly dark with moments that would haunt even the most veteran of horror players.
- The story expects the player to start the game with knowledge of Japanese culture rather than providing clear information.
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I am a long-time writer who enjoys talking about numerous different game genres as well as playing them. My main focuses are games like Helldivers 2, Warframe, and so much more.
