It’s outdated information by this level that Silent Hill f is treading new floor. That horse bolted a couple of weeks again and managed to spook each OG Silent Hill fan and lover of convoluted controls within the neighborhood.
Word on the road was that Silent Hill f could be sacrificing its story-focused psychological horror for one thing with a bit extra motion. Players took this to imply that the sport would go for a soulslike strategy with a lot more durable fights and large boss battles. Series producer Motoi Okamoto has since shot this down, however there are nonetheless some modifications within the type of a brand new location and some extra fights.
But I’m right here to let you know that it’s nowhere close to as dangerous as some folks could have led themselves to consider. Silent Hill sequence producer Motoi Okamoto and NeoBards sport director Al Yang each defined how f is not really a large departure and the way its story mode is designed to appease traditional Silent Hill followers.
So in the spirit of continuity, I decided to play through the first three and a half hours of Silent Hill f in story mode, and to absolutely no one’s surprise, it felt almost identical to what I’ve come to expect from Silent Hill games, from the environment, vibes, and how the characters are written.
But the feeling that I was playing a Silent Hill game wasn’t enough for me at the beginning. I probably spent the first 45 minutes walking around the eerie town of Ebisugaoka, analysing and comparing every single thing I came across to my memories of playing Silent Hill 1 and 2.
In doing so, I managed to drain every single morsel of fun and enjoyment out of the game; there wasn’t any tension as I was playing Silent Hill f like it was some kind of exercise in critical analysis. Luckily, I managed to catch myself doing this pretty early on, and after some reflection and the sudden realisation that I should just try to enjoy the game in front of me, I decided to put James Sunderland to one side and live in the Silent Hill f moment.
This is once I began to actually admire the whole lot that Silent Hill f manages to realize with out having to trip the coattails of a traditional Silent Hill sport. First off, the setting is superb. It’s a uncommon pleasure to have a location in a horror sport that’s each terrifying to discover but so intricate and delightful that you just simply can not help however go searching each nook.
Ebisugaoka is the proper setting for this psychological horror sport; it is remoted, considerably decaying, and appears stubbornly caught up to now. A indisputable fact that appears to plague the protagonist, Hinako Shimizu, as she’s pressured to reckon together with her previous trauma together with her abusive father and now-absent older sister.
Hinako is simply attempting to do her greatest with no matter lead pipe or ceremonial Naginata she comes throughout.
It looks like there’s quite a bit to Hinako’s story, greater than I used to be capable of see throughout my preview. Her beloved older sister was married away someday in the past, however regardless of by no means really seeing her face, she’s clearly essential to Hinako’s story and the occasions of Silent Hill f.
Hinako is extra multifaceted than merely being a Silent Hill protagonist who’s afraid of what dastardly deeds they’ve dedicated up to now. Sure, the sport picks on previous traumas that she’s skilled, however the true concern that Silent Hill f appears to be feeding off of is what’s to return.
Amidst all of the creepy, rotten mannequins often called Kashimashi and the Ayakakashi scarecrow youngsters, Hinako is simply attempting to do her greatest with no matter lead pipe or ceremonial Naginata she comes throughout. She will not be the very best fighter round, however taking up monsters remains to be doable every so often.
It’s not just like the creatures that you just discover in Silent Hill f are notably laborious, you simply have to know when you need to keep and battle and when you need to flip tail and run. This is a ability in and of its personal in the case of horror video games, however particularly right here, as weapons can break when you do not restore them with toolkits, and Hinako’s dodging and well being can solely go to this point when in occasions of bother.
I did not get stumped on any of the fights, even one of many so-called boss fights in opposition to Priestess Sakuko was straightforward to beat; there actually is not something to fret about when you’re on story mode. Funnily sufficient, it was the puzzles that offered extra of a problem to me. But wanting again on it, that is most likely extra attributed to the truth that I acquired 4 hours of sleep the night time earlier than, versus the puzzles being ridiculously tough.
I’m not the largest fan of change, however from what I performed of Silent Hill f at Gamescom, I’m not simply pleased with the modifications of location and characters which have been made, however I’m extremely excited to see the place all of this results in. The considered hiding out within the Konami sales space and enjoying Silent Hill f for so long as attainable at Gamescom positively crossed my thoughts. But alas, I’m not that good at hiding. Luckily, it is a horror sport that I’ll fortunately wait any period of time to play, as my pleasure is not going wherever.
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