Silent Hill f – Beginner’s Perspective & Honest Thoughts

• DEVELOPER: NeoBards Entertainment Ltd.
• PUBLISHER: KONAMI
• PLATFORMS: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
• GENRE: Horror / Survival / Puzzle
• RELEASE DATE: September 25, 2025 
• STARTING PRICE: 79,99€ 
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

I have never played a Silent Hill game, and Silent Hill f felt like the perfect chance to finally dive into the franchise. This game is an ambitious new chapter, moving the series’ psychological terror to a unique 1960s Japanese setting, the fictional town of Ebisugaoka. It feels very modern, emotional, and atmospheric, and the protagonist Hinako is well-structured and well-rounded. But, Silent Hill f definitely has issues. Specifically, you’re being thrown into combat way too often which sometimes feels really unfair. I also experienced occasional FPS drops and technical issues during certain areas and cutscenes.

As a newcomer to the franchise, I found Silent Hill f to be a really good starting point. While I cannot compare it to previous Silent Hill games, several things make this title fantastic. Specifically, the story is great, the horrors and creatures are amazingly detailed, and the boss battles are interesting. Moreover, having multiple endings encourages you to replay everything with New Game+, keeping things different so you never get bored.

Souls-like Approach to Combat

To begin, the combat system has several important features. Among these, the main focus is on melee combat. Hinako fights grotesque creatures using light and heavy attacks, dodges, parries, and special moves. The system relies on precise timing for parries and dodges, along with careful management of attack combos. Furthermore, available weapons, from fast knives to slow axes, have different speeds, power, and reach. Weapons break easily, forcing you to constantly adapt your strategy and use a Toolkit for necessary repairs.

This challenge is upgraded by a stamina system that controls all strenuous actions. You must carefully manage this system to avoid becoming vulnerable. Furthermore, the parry and dodge mechanics are high-risk, high-reward; they demand skillful timing to counter the game’s diverse enemies. They also vary greatly: some are quick and aggressive, others are slow but punishing, and many use erratic movement or ranged attacks.

Obviously, not everyone will enjoy this Souls-like approach to combat, where every move and every point of stamina is crucial for survival. If you play on the hard difficulty, expect to die often. Fortunately, the game is quite forgiving with checkpoints and save spots, letting you get back into the action quickly. However, the more I played, the more meaningless the combat felt.

In fact, I often found myself just running away from enemies to reach the next location and leave their sight. This makes me wonder why the developers emphasized combat so much and put a fight on every corner, as dealing with multiple enemies at once is often annoying. Also, some battles are unavoidable, but the combat is very frustrating and unforgiving, with enemies dealing huge damage and most of the combat relies entirely on your perfect skill.

Instead of the current system, I believe the developers should have focused on more meaningful combat, not just throwing four creatures with knives together in the town. While this adds to the tension, the boss fights really manage to save the entire combat experience. In fact, boss encounters are particularly intense and narratively rich. For example, the battles often represent Hinako’s trauma, such as monstrous versions of her parents or the Ara-abare entity.

Stressful Management Meets Thematic Puzzles

Survival is also dependent on resource management and a limited pool of consumables. Healing items like Bandages and First Aid Kits are scarce, while Divine Water and Ramune are vital for maintaining sanity. Most consumables can be offered at Hokora Shrines for Faith points to upgrade Hinako’s stats, such as to have more health, sanity or stamina bars.

The Sanity System is a core mechanic as well, directly influencing combat effectiveness and perception. Sanity depletes under psychological stress but can be restored at Hokora Shrines or with specific consumables. It is also tied to the Focus mode, which allows you to slow time and reveal enemy patterns at the cost of continuous sanity drain. By holding the Focus button, you charge the Focus Gauge, which can be used for a powerful, stunning Focus Attack.

In general, the limited inventory space forces careful decision-making about which healing items, weapon repair kits, or stamina and sanity restoratives to carry, creating a stress-inducing but rewarding system. Although there is a limit in how much you can carry, by mid game you’re able to recognize which items you can offer for faith or which items are going to be useful to you.

Adding contrast to the action are the puzzles. These puzzles are deeply tied to the protagonist’s personal trauma and the game’s psychological themes, which makes each one feel meaningful instead of just a random obstacle. Furthermore, clues found in documents and the journal help solve the puzzles without giving away the answers. However, the initial puzzles sometimes lack clear guidance, which will definitely confuse you. Luckily, the puzzle difficulty can be adjusted separately from the combat difficulty.

Unpacking the Story’s Heavy Themes

The narrative is definitely a major strength of the game. It explores heavy themes such as gender roles, societal pressure, mental illness, parental abuse, and religious customs, all mixed with deep Japanese cultural elements. Ultimately, the story centers on Hinako’s personal anguish, which creates a thick atmosphere of psychological horror.

The game’s haunting and gorgeous visuals are immediately noticeable. Interestingly, Silent Hill f moves away from relying on conventional darkness. Instead, it uses a unique aesthetic defined by a foggy, floral Japanese town setting that is both atmospheric and visually stunning. The narrative depth is extended by multiple endings, including the iconic, non-canonical UFO Ending. Endings are determined by choices and actions across multiple playthroughs, which encourages you to uncover the full spectrum of the story and its psychological truths.

Although everything inside the game looks great, I still experienced FPS drops and technical glitches from time to time. It seems this issue gets worse based on the size of the area. For example, smaller, closed areas run smoothly, but the more open-ended locations definitely lagged. The game clearly needs better optimization.

Proper Horror Experience

Honestly, I had fun playing Silent Hill f. It has been a while since I played a proper horror game that actually scares you, makes you manage your inventory, and has a great flow. However, the combat is definitely my least favorite part. In my opinion, the game would be much better if the combat felt more meaningful. Other than the combat and a few technical issues, this game is great. Unlike the many poor AAA games released every year, this one is solid: it’s good, it looks great, and it plays well. I believe veterans of the series will enjoy it, but newcomers will like it even more.

In the end, the game avoids relying on overused jump scares. Instead, fear seeps in gradually, feeling much like sleep paralysis or nightmares blending into reality. For me, this approach makes the fear in Silent Hill f more immersive and long-lasting. This will especially be true for those who emotionally connect with the protagonist’s traumatic journey.

Review copy provided by the publisher

4