Silent Hill Creator Comments on Potential Remake

It's no secret that Konami's Silent Hill series has been long dormant. Rumors have been circulating for years that the franchise will be getting a reboot on next-gen consoles, but nothing has been confirmed, as of this writing. However, that hasn't stopped Keiichiro Toyama from commenting on the possibility of a remake. In an interview with Video Games Chronicle, the Silent Hill creator had some interesting things to say about the challenges that would be associated with such a project. Toyama compared it to Capcom's Resident Evil franchise, stating that Silent Hill would be more difficult to update.

"It's not an action game where you can just refine the action as in Biohazard. To bring Silent Hill up to current standards or to polish up the graphics, the fans wouldn't be satisfied. That's not what it was about – how beautiful it was. I think you'd have to rethink the concept to make it interesting to fans."

It can be tricky to strike the right balance when creating a remake of a beloved game. The developers need to preserve the elements that made it a success in the first place, while also accounting for modern sensibilities -- elements that worked in the past might not have aged as gracefully, and developers need to appeal to modern audiences. Toyama seems keenly aware of this fact.

"Unlike movies, games are difficult to enjoy as in the original state," Toyama told VGC. "Obviously because of the platform, but as time goes by game mechanics, especially in usability, lack rationality and sophistication. Visually speaking it's clearly not made for modern equipment, so I absolutely don't have any objection to modifying an original essence to fit the modern era which we live in today."

While Silent Hill might get a remake at some point, Toyama probably won't be involved. The creator worked at SIE Japan for more than 20 years, and his presence led to many rumors about a PS5 exclusive remake. These rumors ignored the fact that Toyama had not been involved with the series since the first game. Nevertheless, those rumors were put to rest last year, when Toyama left SIE Japan to help create Bokeh Game Studio. If a Silent Hill remake does indeed happen, hopefully the team will create a product that lives up to the original!

Would you like to see a Silent Hill remake? What would you want to see from the game? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!