Konami’s first proper new Silent Hill in an age is a welcome change of scene after the Silent Hill 2 remake

Konami have given us our first proper look at Silent Hill f, a new incarnation of the survival horror series from Hong Kong-based Neobards Entertainment, which takes place in 1960s Japan. You are Shimizu Hinako, a schoolgirl equipped with the trademark Silent Hill combo of a broken-off pipe and a cartload of psychological baggage, whose hometown Ebisugaoka is engulfed by a monstrous fog.

The choice of a non-US setting has ruffled the plumage of players who cherish Silent Hill’s association with Twin Peaks and New England. Personally, I welcome the departure after the heady retro fidelity of the Silent Hill 2 Remake, and besides, the overall ambience doesn’t seem that far removed from the elder Hills. Look, they’ve even got Akira Yamaoka contributing to the soundtrack.

It looks like Silent Hill’s trademark dimension shifts are back as well, but the new game’s realm shifts appear to be more bio-horror-ish, with crimson roots and lambent, trumpet-shaped blossoms consuming the geometry rather than Silent Hill’s usual flavour of blood, rust and toilet bowl detritus. It’s almost pretty, as you might expect from a game that challenges you to “embrace the beauty hidden within terror, or succumb to the madness that lies ahead”. Perhaps the “f” in the title stands for “flower”. Or perhaps it stands for “face peeling off”. Or perhaps it stands for “flipping get a move on and embed the trailer”.

I’ve never heard of Neobards before, and naturally, I’m wondering whether they have the chops to pull a Silent Hill game off. Founded in 2017, they’ve worked in a support capacity on games like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Marvel’s Avengers and several Resident Evil projects. They appear to have one first-party release to their name, the mobile game Dynasty Warriors M. I don’t know what to make of them, but I will give them kudos for having a poem on their portfolio page that (accidentally?) references the Three Musketeers.

Silent Hill f also features writing from Ryukishi07, author of the When They Cry visual novel series. The plot certainly seems to be in keeping with his taste for the macabre: according to the Steam page, the game “contains depictions of gender discrimination, child abuse, bullying, drug-induced hallucinations, torture, and graphic violence”. The developers say that some of this difficult material reflects “the customs and culture” of the day. They’re probably not talking about the dislocated dolls on stabby stick legs, which strike me as horrifying regardless of era.

If you’re genuinely floored and flummoxed by this being set in Japan, you might prefer to see it as a spiritual successor to Forbidden Siren, the PS2 survival horror game Keiichiro Toyama directed and co-wrote after co-writing and directing the original Silent Hill. I remember having a ripe old time in Siren lurking behind barrels “sight-jacking” manky Shibito. If it had ever made it to PC, I’d have volunteered it for our list of the best horror games.