Silent Hill F review (Xbox, PC) — How Konami and NeoBards has successfully resurrected one of the industry’s most crucial franchises

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In my restless dreams, I see that town.

I’m seriously nostalgic for Silent Hill and Resident Evil – those games really shaped my childhood. I vividly remember getting Silent Hill 2 as a Christmas gift and immediately retreating to my room, closing the curtains, and basically having another Halloween day just playing it.

Silent Hill is a truly iconic video game series, whether you’re a horror fan or not. Its distinctive, unsettling atmosphere, strange creatures, and now its older graphics have recently become popular again, influencing a new wave of indie horror games and other creative projects.

I started playing Silent Hill F on Xbox Series X (and also on PC using Xbox Play Anywhere) because I’m a big fan of the older games and feel nostalgic for them. This is the first completely new Silent Hill game in a long time, especially considering the many disappointing spin-offs that came before it.

After Bloober Team successfully reimagined Silent Hill 2, it seemed like the series was poised for a major revival. Bloober is also working on a remake of the original Silent Hill, and it’s likely we’ll see remakes of Silent Hill 3 and even the divisive Silent Hill 4 in the future. However, remakes can only go so far. The Silent Hill franchise also needs fresh, new content, and that’s where NeoBard’s Silent Hill F comes in.

I, like many Silent Hill fans, wasn’t sure about this new game at first. I was worried about its emphasis on fighting and the fact that it takes place in a completely different location. But after playing for around twenty hours in the town of Ebisugaoka, I was left feeling genuinely disturbed – in a way that reminded me of the best Silent Hill games.

Silent Hill is back. F is an unmissable Xbox, PC, and PS5 game for horror fans everywhere.

Silent Hill F Review: Art and Performance

Silent Hill F continues the series’ tradition of taking place in a real-world location—this time, the Japanese mountain village of Ebisugaoka—that’s been warped by a disturbing, foggy darkness. You play as Hinako Shimizu, a teenage girl dealing with typical high school and family problems. But things quickly become much stranger and more terrifying, as you’ll discover in the game’s story.

Ebisugaoka is a beautiful place, but it’s been transformed into a terrifying setting for Silent Hill F. The town is shrouded in the series’ signature fog, and slowly decays as red spider lilies and disturbing gore spread everywhere. The game expertly uses light and shadow, contrasting the faded colors of the town’s wooden buildings with the bright, unsettling red of the spreading sickness, creating the feeling that Ebisugaoka is being pulled into a nightmarish realm.

A truly unsettling Silent Hill environment needs terrifying creatures, and this installment delivers on that front.

Like other games in the Silent Hill series, the monsters in this game reflect the main character’s deepest fears and past experiences. You’ll encounter disturbing creatures such as twisted, doll-like school children who attack you, and frightening representations of mother and father figures, all presented within a terrifying and surreal world.

Like past Silent Hill games, Silent Hill F’s battles feature music that intensifies when more enemies appear or your health gets low. Akira Yamaoka returns as the main composer, working with Kensuke Inage, Dai, and Koichi “Xaki” Sakita to create the game’s soundtrack. The team did an excellent job, cleverly incorporating references to the series’ famous wailing radio into the haunting, Japanese folk-inspired music.

The game ran well on both my Xbox Series X and my powerful PC (with an RTX 4080). On Xbox, the ‘quality’ graphics setting didn’t run as smoothly as I’d hoped – it felt a little choppy, so I switched to ‘performance’ mode to get a consistent 60 frames per second. Even then, there were occasional performance hiccups, but they weren’t frequent. My PC handled the game on high settings without any problems. I was also able to play comfortably on the Legion Go (Z1E), even on lower power settings. Using the 30W turbo mode provided a good experience, and even at 15W, I could adjust the settings to maintain a smooth 30 frames per second.

Silent Hill F Review: Gameplay

Silent Hill F is fundamentally a survival horror game set in a sprawling, maze-like town with diverse environments. Players will explore crowded city areas, eerie farmlands, rugged mountain paths, and intricate building interiors. The game also features Silent Hill’s trademark ‘otherworld,’ which, surprisingly, I found to be the least inspired part of the experience. Given the freedom from realism you’d expect in an ‘otherworld,’ these sections felt disappointingly unoriginal.

I really enjoyed the sections of the game set in the town – it felt vibrant and realistic. I wished there had been more of that, and less time spent in the repetitive and frustrating hallways of the other world. Hopefully, the next game will have more of the town!

I tried out Silent Hill F on the hard difficulty, even though the game says the ‘Story’ mode is meant to be the typical Silent Hill experience. I wanted to see how challenging the combat was, as some reports even compared it to ‘soulslike’ games. Having played a lot of games in that genre, I don’t think ‘soulslike’ really fits Silent Hill F, but the combat is definitely more complex than in previous games in the series.

If you’re concerned Silent Hill F seems to focus too much on combat, there’s a good narrative explanation for why the character is surprisingly skilled with weapons like a baseball bat – you’ll discover it as you play. Personally, I’m not thrilled with the game’s stamina, health, and sanity bars – they make it feel a little too much like an arcade game, though that’s just my opinion. More concerning, however, is how combat doesn’t always fit well with the way encounters are designed.

Successfully blocking an enemy attack feels great, and usually leaves the monster stunned or off-balance, allowing for a strong counterattack. You can make these blocking windows even longer by using your sanity meter, which briefly slows down time. You can also use sanity to prepare powerful attacks at any time, but this permanently reduces your maximum sanity. Thankfully, you can restore your sanity by finding items throughout the game, just like in classic survival horror titles.

The combat feels weakest near the game’s finale, as it throws a lot of difficult encounters at you quickly. Hinako is vulnerable to being knocked down, and getting surrounded by enemies can lead to frustrating situations where you’re repeatedly stunned.

I mostly played the game on hard mode, but near the end, it became frustrating. The game would often throw multiple monsters at me—sometimes up to four at once—who constantly stunned, slowed, and drained my stamina. It felt like the combat wasn’t really built for those kinds of overwhelming situations. The main character, Hinako, isn’t very fast or nimble, and while you can find some items to slightly improve her fighting ability, they didn’t do enough to counteract the constant interruptions and attacks.

Surprisingly, the biggest issue with the “Story” difficulty is that it’s too easy. The game gives you so many health items that your inventory stays full, and battles become so simple you don’t really need to strategize or pay attention.

While the core combat in Silent Hill F is enjoyable – it’s really satisfying to take down enemies, and managing weapon durability adds tension – some of the later forced combat encounters feel a bit off. With a little more refinement, particularly in balancing the difficulty levels, the game could feel much smoother. Hard mode can be overly frustrating, while Story mode feels too easy.

Luckily, the story is so, so good that any combat foibles I had were quite easily washed away.

Silent Hill F Review: Story (No Spoilers)

Hinako is the central character in the game, and the story follows her as she deals with strange events in her town. She teams up with the few friends she has left, who appear to be the only other people who have survived.

The game begins with Hinako leaving home after a disagreement with her parents, determined to find her friends in town. It’s set in 1960s Japan and explores the pressures of society at that time, which have created conflict in Hinako’s relationships with her family and friends.

I’ve been noticing that Hinako and her friends are at that tricky age – somewhere between being kids and starting to grow up. They’re definitely starting to feel the pressure to act more mature, but you can tell they still miss the carefree days of playing make-believe, like pretending to fight aliens with Shu, her best friend. But that’s really just the beginning of what’s going on with Hinako, it seems like there’s a lot more beneath the surface.

As you progress in the game, you’ll uncover the deeply troubled and unsettling details of Hinako’s life, revealing the source of the terrifying events happening in Ebisugaoka.

Silent Hill F takes you through places that Hinako remembers from her childhood, and she often reflects on past events as she explores. While the game builds on familiar elements from other Silent Hill titles, it also features some genuinely shocking surprises.

Silent Hill F tackles difficult and complex themes with nuance and maturity, avoiding sensationalism or easy answers. The story encourages players to draw their own conclusions, using subtle visual cues, symbolism, and metaphors that connect to both the main character, Hinako, and the larger Silent Hill universe.

It’s hard to talk about the story of Silent Hill F without giving away key details. However, the acting is fantastic throughout, and it kept me invested despite some challenging combat. I was completely drawn in, carefully reading every note and listening to every line, looking for clues like you always do in a Silent Hill game. The game uses the dark and difficult experiences of the character Hinako to create a unique atmosphere, blending family drama with Japanese folklore.

Similar to Hinako, playing Silent Hill F brought back a lot of childhood memories for me, but experienced safely through the game. I was completely captivated, fascinated, and even a little scared – and I loved it! I was really invested in Hinako’s story and hope to see her character again in a future game.

Silent Hill F Review: Final thoughts

I’m incredibly thankful for my experience with Silent Hill F. It’s clear that NeoBard and the entire team poured their hearts into this game, and they were dedicated to respectfully expanding the story of the iconic Silent Hill series.

I’ve been following the Silent Hill series for years, and it’s become something really special to fans like me. We’ve been eagerly waiting for another game because the unsettling, psychological horror it delivers is just unlike anything else out there. It’s more than just a game series at this point; it’s developed a life of its own, and we’re all hoping to experience that unique dread again.

Considering I didn’t expect much, Silent Hill F has completely exceeded my hopes. It’s easily one of the best games in the Silent Hill series and is a must-play for fans.

Silent Hill F explores mature themes with a strong artistic vision, features inventive combat, and doesn’t shy away from intense violence. It’s a deeply impactful game that stays with you long after the credits roll, and offers even more story content if you start a New Game+.

Silent Hill F is a standout game of 2025, offering a compelling experience for both horror enthusiasts and those who appreciate a richly developed narrative. It’s a title you won’t want to skip.

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2025-10-09 20:12