Silent Hill f was released this week by developer Neobards Entertainment and publisher Konami via the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X as the first non-remake, full-fledged, proper Silent Hill game in over a decade. In the process of bringing back the series, the former has made many changes and made many evolutions to the formula. While the Metacritic score of the new survival-horror game — 86 — suggests Neobards Entertainment has more than achieved its mission, some hardcore fans are not impressed with all the changes. To this end, this new release has caused a massive division among the fandom, as evident by activity on the series’ Reddit page.
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For those who haven’t played the new Silent Hill game yet, it’s a bit different than traditional, classic Silent Hill. And these changes are amplified by the fact that fans just got a faithful remake of Silent Hill 2 last year. If you are a fan hoping for more of this, more classic Silent Hill, Silent Hill F may at times leave you disappointed.
What’s Different
The most obvious change is the setting. Silent Hill f is not set in a small rural American town like previous games, but takes the series to Japan. This brings with it a different style and different themes, but more than this, it’s unfamiliar. Most of the series is set in or around the small American town of Silent Hill. For many, this is vital to the series. Heck, it is in the name. Without this setting, some question what makes Silent Hill f a Silent Hill game.
As a series, Silent Hill has always been more about atmosphere and the tension of psychological horror, and the stress of feeling vulnerable. Silent Hill f, by comparison, has lots of combat that disrupts the atmosphere. There isn’t just more combat, but there is a Souls-like element to this combat. At times, it feels more like an action game than a traditional survival-horror.
Lastly, fans aren’t very happy with the game’s narrative, which certainly takes some creative risks and has some major twists that, again, some fans did not feel were true to the series. Unfortunately, we can’t really go into detail on this final point without getting into spoilers for a game that just released, but this has been one of the majoir sticking points for some.
Reddit in Chaos
Whatever you think of Silent Hill f and all the changes it brings, what’s undeniable is it has divided the fanbase. The series’ Reddit page this week is aflame with fans saying it’s not a Silent Hill game, while others defend the new installment. It has been so relentless and testy that mods of the community had to make a post about it and take additional actions to crack down on the ‘toxicity.”
There are a million examples of this ongoing division, though much of it has been cleaned up. Still, posts like this one, which ask fans to let the series evolve, are met with both support and heated contention
“Please let the series evolve. Seriously, dudes and dudettes, Silent Hill was circling the drain. This is the revival,” reads the post. I’ve seen the spoilers. There are things that seem outlandish for Silent Hill. And that’s GOOD.”
As alluded to, there is plenty of support defending this stance and others like it, but many of the comments also take umbrage with it.
“So true, dudettes, just mindlessly consume products and don’t question it,” reads one of the comments. Another adds: “Sorry, bro, but this ain’t it. People here claim ‘people just want SH2 over and over’ when it’s literally the exact opposite. Now we’re getting Japanese Homecoming with werewolves and s***.”
We could include a metric ton of examples, but you get the point. Silent Hill f has really divided hardcore Silent Hill fans. While the game is seemingly a hit with more casual fans and newcomers alike, many hardcore fans are not enjoying it, which you wouldn’t know if you looked at its Metacritic score and success so far. For what it is worth, we enjoyed our time with the new survival-horror game.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think, or join the conversation over on the ComicBook Forum. What do you think of Silent Hill f?
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
