Silent Hill F

Bit of a strange year where I finished not just one big horror game, but two! After RE9 I decided to play Silent Hill F (recommended by the same friend) and overall I enjoyed the game, for very different reasons. Resident Evil 9 was a game where I really enjoyed the gameplay, but thought the writing was okay or even comical at times. Silent Hill F I thought on the other hand had quite good writing, but the gameplay really dragged on me by the end. Before I continue, I will say I’m not the biggest Silent Hill fan, I’ve played 1 to 3 and watched a friend play 4. I liked the first three a lot, though I’ll admit I was a scared coward through them. Also spoilers! I don’t think I can really talk about the game without spoiling aspects so that’s your fair warning.

To get my complaints out of the way first, I think the combat system is like a very weird attempt at an action game. The dodge is very… out of place in a horror game. At least to me. The emphasis on there even being a dodge plus the slowdown/counter system felt like it would be more suited in an actiony game, not a Silent Hill game. The durability system and the charm system also all felt like an attempt at making it an action game and unfortunately I felt it didn’t really do a good job at it. For reference I did play on hard so maybe that affected my perception of some enemies being too tanky, but some enemies were also incredibly annoying to fight. The lack of variance between loops/playthroughs made it tedious to go through certain sections and while I appreciate playing after the patch to make the last section skippable, it was still a chore to go through some earlier areas.

The loops also really took out a lot of the horror elements, and while I liked some additions on the second loop, the later loops not having much made me less interested in the environments and I basically just blasted through it. I honestly think I preferred the old Silent Hill gameplay, but that’s just my opinion at least. The durability system was understandable and honestly didn’t feel too too restrictive at least. Though the tanky enemies made it really feel like sometimes it took only two enemies to ruin a weapon which was annoying.

Also the optimization was not very good! I had jitters, frame drops, low framerates in certain areas, and it was honestly quite janky. Thankfully it wasn’t so bad it was unplayable, but it was a damper for sure.

Anyways, with that taken care of, what I really liked was pretty much everything else. I think the environments deserve a special call out, it felt like there was a lot of attention to detail in certain areas, and I especially liked some “scares”. There were a couple of enemies/monsters that appeared when you either entered an area, or looked a certain way, and disappeared otherwise. There were also cool subtle things like the doll being in the room of the looping bedrooms in the Shimizu residence.

And beyond the subtle things, I think there’s a lot of cool story telling done with the environments and monsters. For example, I liked how the looping bedrooms could be seen as the progression of time, starting with a single futon, then eventually a couple futon that looped infinitely. The disgusting enemy designs tying back to Hinako’s fears of certain things (giving birth, perverted men, the objectification of women as dolls, etc.), and I thought a really nice touch was having her father be one of the regular enemies you saw early on. It added to the fact that to Hinako, her father was essentially one of the monsters that all men become when they were married. In fact, her mom being the only unique enemy in that fight was a nice touch too.

Speaking of non subtle things, when I saw that Ryukishi07 was working on the game, I had my doubts. I have read both Higurashi and Umineko, and to me, they weren’t exactly subtle games. In fact I considered both to really be beating your head in with the themes of the game. I personally felt Higurashi (just the original vns) was a better story with better themes overall though. I won’t get into the details of my opinions of both, but a common (and very valid complaint in English at least) is that the writing is repetitive and the prose isn’t great. I’m actually quite resistant to that sort of thing for better or for worse so it didn’t bother me as much but I acknowledge it as a fault. Tying this back to Silent Hill F, I don’t think the main themes at least are subtle at all. It’s pretty much shoved in your face how Hinako feels about marriage, how she feels about being treated as an object, and how she even perceives the enemies as representations of her fear. I felt that last part was a biiit much, I liked having that being a bit more open to interpretation but I get it.

Throughout the entire game in fact, Hinako and her memories/flashbacks talk about how much she despises the concept of marriage and how it treats women. In fact the big “villain” in multiple endings is essentially Hinako when she’s married. There’s a lot of imagery and unsubtle messages of how 1960s Japan treated men and women back then, even mental health views in the case of Sakuko.

It’s very much not subtle and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Just a thing I find usually quite common with Ryukishi07 works.

Now, the part that while I wouldn’t say I dislike, I would say I disagree on is, some of the last loop relevations. Throughout the last loop, and this is also quite characteristic with his other works from what I recall at least, you see the “other” sides of these characters and realize that maybe they weren’t so bad all along. Rinko acknowledges that maybe if she was a better person and just confronted Hinako instead of bottling it up all the time they could’ve gotten along better and Rinko might’ve even been able to get advice on how to get with Shu. Sakuko acknowledges that people live life at their own pace, and it’s unfair of her to restrain Hinako the way she wanted to. I liked these aspects of their character and their character growth, even if it’s done through a one page diary entry essentially.

Where I do hold “some” issue is the stuff regarding Hinako’s parents. Hinako is undoubtedly abused by her father. Getting a knife thrown at her which absolutely traumatized her is to me a rather unforgiveable sin. There are a few scenes in the last loop that try to explain her father’s actions, about how he got in debt, about how he’s actually weak but tries to act strong since that’s what he was taught, the usual excuses from old Asian parents about why they act the way they did. There’s a scene too where Hinako and her mom have a rather heartfelt moment, but to me it felt… not entirely satisfying because in my opinion it still doesn’t excuse anything.

Here’s what I will say. If Hinako had just come outright and went “whelp, I guess I forgive mom and dad!” I would’ve actually really disliked this entirely. But, where I will give Ryukishi07 credit (assuming he was responsible for this) is that when Hinako talks to herself, she explains that at least now she understands her father’s position. Whether she chooses to forgive him or not is another matter, and I think that’s a very fair position to hold. Ultimately, I agree that forgiving someone is a decision that only the victim can make, and it ties nicely into Hinako’s overall character arc.

Personally speaking, I don’t agree about the familial tie part either though. There’s a part where Hinako explains to herself that because they’re blood they at least owe it to hear him out, and that “despite not being blood related, mom had the courage to forgive him”, and personally I think that’s bullshit. Blood or not, I respect people because they deserve to be respected, not just because they’re family. That’s my personal stance at least.

But again, the whole choice on whether to forgive him (and the fact we never get a definitive answer which I like), ties into how the whole game is about Hinako’s frustration that everyone has been deciding things for her. The last loop being about being able to make her own choice, not some choice ordained by someone else and even fighting against their own respective gods was really well done in my opinion. It was a cool sequence, even if the boss fights are a little comically actiony and not even that difficult.

One other interesting interpretation I had though of the last loop is that it being Silent Hill and all, a part of me always thought that maybe everything Hinako was experiencing was just how she wanted to see things. To that degree, the mom scene being something she wanted her mom to say, her dad apologizing being something she wanted her dad to do, gives it a bit of a sadder twist but something that makes sense to me. Hinako desiring her mom to be a stronger woman and not just a pushover, and also desiring her dad to have some reason to be the drunkard piece of shit he is, I think it would make a lot of sense for her.

Wow, that was a huge word dump! Again, I really did like the overall theming and messaging of the game. There’s a couple aspects of it that I appreciated the more open to interpretation aspects, while also having relatively well executed themes and characters. Especially a shoutout to all the artists and voice actors involved. Complete side note is that I’ve been trying to learn some animation in my spare time, and I can now really, really, really, respect the effort that goes into animating things.