Why Silent Hill f's New Otherworld Might Be the Franchise's…

Summary

Silent Hill f is a bold new direction for the franchise, set in a 1960s Japanese town with a fresh take on the Otherworld.
By breaking away from the traditional, blood-and-rust-smeared Otherworld, Silent Hill f has the potential to evolve the series.
The game aims to blend traditional Japanese elements with its patented psychological horror, offering a new, vibrant but still unsettling, look to its Otherworld.

Silent Hill has been gaining momentum. While the franchise has long been credited with pioneering the psychological horror genre, and its earlier entries remain timeless classics, the series later had a few lesser-received titles that saw its popularity begin to wane. After this rockier period and some uncertainty about its future, though, last year's Silent Hill 2 Remake was impressively successful, garnering good sales numbers and being widely lauded by fans and critics, marking a turning point that has put the series back in the spotlight. Two other upcoming games were also known to be in the works alongside the remake, with one of them being Silent Hill f.

The most recent Silent Hill Transmission presentation gave fans a much deeper dive into Silent Hill f. In development by Neobards (whose previous works include the Devil May Cry HD Collection and the Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster), Silent Hill f will be forging a new path for the franchise in some major ways. Notably, it will be set in the 1960s in a new locale rather than the familiar town, focusing on the story of teenager Hinako Shimizu living a seemingly normal life in the sleepy fictional Japanese town of Ebisugaoka before being drawn into a world of horror. One of the items shown off was Silent Hill f's version of the Otherworld, and how it will channel traditional Japanese elements along with a specific theme to present players with a striking new look and feel for this iconic aspect.

Though less has been revealed about it, the second forthcoming game, Silent Hill: Townfall, is stated to still be on track.

Silent Hill f is a Bold Strategy that Needs to Pay Off After SH2 Remake

Konami's decision to follow up the critically-acclaimed Silent Hill 2 Remake with Silent Hill f is a bold release strategy that has to pay off.

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By Ediz Guner

Silent Hill f's Switch to a Japenese-Influenced Otherworld Could be the Biggest Breath of Fresh Air for the Franchise

Silent Hill's Otherworld Has Worn a Bit Thin Over the Years

Silent Hill set the tone for psychological survival horror, and one of the main ways it did so was through its use of the Otherworld–the dark and disturbing warped labyrinthine version of the titular town, reflecting each of Silent Hill's protagonists' fears and regrets that they inevitably find themselves lost in. This twisted version of reality is composed of creepy, claustrophobic, corroded corridors covered with rust and blood where unsettling creatures and memories lurk to plague the characters.

And while the mechanic and imagery are effective, having become indelibly etched into Silent Hill's identity, the Otherworld has remained visually largely the same across most of the entries so far. Longtime players have seen various iterations of the Otherworld throughout, none of which veered far from its original appearance. Team members acknowledged this, and revealed that Silent Hill f's interpretation of the Otherworld won't be "the exact same blood-smeared, rusting scenery." This bodes well for how it's willing to break from this tradition to keep the Otherworld terrifying while exploring new territory within it.

Silent Hill f's Otherworld May Be the Key to Evolving It for the Series

During the Transmission, producer Motoi Okamoto spoke more about Silent Hill f's vision, stating that "a noticeable feature of Japanese horror is the idea that beauty can be found within terror." Silent Hill f's latest trailer had some gorgeous glimpses of its Otherworld, which appeared to be more vibrant, with beautifully lit shrines and a landscape dotted with colorful cherry blossoms, while still giving off strong hints of the off-putting horror and confusion that it usually entails.

Taking place in 1960s Japan also seems to lend Silent Hill f the creative freedom to reinterpret the Otherworld to better align with its story and above theme. Legendary composer, Akira Yamaoka, is involved as well, and will be joined by Kensuke Inage, who was tasked with creating the music for Silent Hill f's Otherworld sections. Inage elaborated on his approach, describing the score as being, "unsettling yet beautiful, using imagery from shrines and blending ancient Japanese court music with ambient echoes."

Along with Silent Hill f's story, the vivid design and art direction of its Otherworld, evoking classic Japanese iconography that retains the series' trademark nightmarish aspects, holds great promise for advancing Silent Hill through this bold new concept and presentation.