Well, one of my friends asked me to play this game. Well, I was not following lots of gaming news so this game fell off from my radar. However, this was one of the few games I thoroughly enjoyed. Why? It was written by Ryukishi07, writer of Umineko and Higurashi.
Umineko or Higurashi Readers?
If you’re already a visual novel reader and already knew about Umineko and Higurashi, just stop reading now and immediately play the game. It is such a breathe of fresh air to see Ryukishi07’s work in a AAA game environment. However, if you are unfamiliar with Ryukishi07, just read on.
This is actually my first time playing a Silent Hill game, so you’d get a fresh preview from someone new to the series. I will try to make this review as non-spoilery as possible.
Intro
So, this game follows our protagonist, Hinako. So it starts off like a typical teen drama. You know, talks with parents. Parents tell you to do stuff and need to grow up, Hinako goes on a tantrum and leaves the house. But then.. weird things start to happen. Suddenly fog starts filling in the village.. and stuffs start popping up from seemingly nowhere.
I don’t know if this is typical of Silent Hill games, but the intro starts slowly like a drama story and 5 minutes into the game, shit immediately hits the fan. Fast. You go from just walking around town and suddenly.. zombies (?? or monsters??) everywhere. Well, not every where, but you get what I mean.
Monsters (?)
Those things are actually really scary. It’s not scary like I guess zombie movies, where like a million of them comes running at you at the same time. Instead of throwing zombies around, this game use them sparingly. You don’t really see them. At least not as much. But the game is so good at just showing you enough. Bit by bit. Enough to make you scared, and yet just enough that your mind will fill in the difference and make it a lot more scary. Like, you know how something is a lot scarier when you do not see it? These guys are masters at this.
And when you meet one, they are very, very uncomfortable to be seen. They manage to make the worst version of monsters in japanese folklore and make them even worse and more terrifying.
Music
And the music’s definitely not helping.
Ah.. the music. The music is… awesome. And very, very immersive. And they are not something I want to hear when there’s a m****g scarecrow that keeps creeping towards me when I was not watching. Goddammit you scarecrow. The kind of music that makes you throwaway your headphones and destroy them, okay maybe not, but I definitely moved one of the sides out so that I only hear from one side. Come on, don’t judge me. I might have died of heart attack if I did not do that.
Japanese Culture
Most of the monsters are from Japanese folklores, so if Japan’s your thing, you get to see all of those monsters up close, when they f**king bite your head off from behind. Or from the front, if that’s your thing. But yeah, you actually get to learn a lot about Japanese culture by playing this game.
Battle
The battle system actually contributes to the scariness of the atmosphere. Of course, like Resident Evil (or I guess previous Silent Hill games?), your weapons are limited. And that’s not all. Even your melee weapons are limited. Each time it is used, the durability goes lower, until it finally breaks. You can’t even spam hitting the monsters at all. You gotta run, run and run, and only hit them when there’s no other choice.
But actually, it is tight. Unlike games in previous generations, there’s a counter and parry mechanic here as well. It’s not clunky like playing Dark Souls.Time it right, and you get to dodge or hit back at that damn monster that wants to eat your face. But of course, after finally getting away from a monster, another monster is waiting for you right there at the next corner.
The Story.. Or is it?
Now, what made me really enjoy Silent Hill f is the story. Now, it’s not the typical story, a hero’s journey story, or y’know, stories that set up twists and stuff. I could even go as far as saying that there’s no ‘plot twist’ moment. If you watched Higurashi or read Umineko, you understand what I mean, and if you’re looking to scratch that Umineko itch, you will not be disappointed in this one.
If you do not know about those works, it’s okay. For the uninitiated, the surface story itself is pretty easy to follow. But what makes it good is the deeper story ongoing while the surface story happens. It’s a typical Ryukishi07 fashion where there are like “Yeah this is what happens, but THIS is what’s happening” and like Umineko, no, the player gotta figure out the story themselves. But yeah, crumbs are littered when you replay again and that’s where the real story starts making sense. Oh yeah, it’s the kind of game where you have to replay a couple times to get the full story.
Characters
I don’t know if this counts as a negative, but the characters are actually.. not really likeable. At least for me. I guess this is due to the tone of the story, which is scary and mysterious, and the message that the game wants to give. Other people actually like it though, so this is probably simply due to my taste.
Go for it!
Silent Hill f gets my thumbs up. Go play it if you’re itching for a story and don’t mind enjoying thrillers.
