Silent Hill f review -- A stunning comeback for the horror series

Silent Hill f had a batch to prove.

After 15 years without a caller crippled successful the acclaimed fearfulness bid and conscionable a azygous remake successful that time, it felt similar the bid was dormant and buried. Silent Hill f not lone proves that wrong, it mightiness beryllium the champion crippled successful the bid to date.

Silent Hill f sees players stepping into the shoes of Hinako Shimizu, a precocious schoolhouse miss successful agrarian 1960s Japan who gets pulled into the thick, acquainted fog of Silent Hill. Hinako's begetter is abusive, her parent is excessively submissive and lets the maltreatment happen, and her sister Junko, the lone obstruction betwixt her and her parents, joined and moved away. Her overbearing parents power each facet of her life, and her lone flight is successful the comfortableness of her puerility friends.

When the fog rolls in, everyone but Hinako and her friends disappears, and successful their spot are grotesque, savage monsters hell-bent connected destroying Hinako should she get excessively close.

It's these monsters that supply overmuch of Silent Hill f's tension. Monsters are skilfully placed astir the representation successful cardinal locations, and the crippled revels successful putting them wherever you don't expect them to be. Any country turned could beryllium met with a monster, but it's erstwhile you crook a corner, spot nothing, and past crook astir to find a monster rushing from down you that you truly commencement to admit the fearfulness acquisition developer Neobards has crafted here.

It each takes spot successful a municipality custom-built to enactment you connected the borderline of your seat, too. A premix of dense residential streets and open, winding farmland makes for a labyrinth, and a heavy fog covering astir of the municipality means you tin seldom spot beyond a fewer feet up of you. While you bash person a representation to assistance you navigate, astir navigation comes down to trusting your gut and hoping it doesn't pb you into danger.

When you bash get into danger, you person 2 options: tally oregon fight. Combat is serviceable enough, with conscionable capable friction to support you connected your toes without getting excessively frustrating, but it's not ever the champion option. All of your weapons tin interruption aft continued use, and if you take to basal your crushed each clip you spot a monster, you'll tally retired of weapons agelong earlier you find replacements. Running means preserving erstwhile resources, but the monster volition inactive beryllium there, waiting erstwhile you walk backmost through.

Where Silent Hill f truly shines is successful its storytelling. The story, written by seasoned Japanese fearfulness writer Ryukishi07, is perfectly chilling, exploring themes of femininity, changing identity, and self-preservation successful the look of circumstances extracurricular of Hinako's control. It's acheronian and depressing, with moments of gory disgust and oppressive hopelessness scattered passim -- but Hinako isn't a pushover, and she fights backmost with everything she's got. It's expertly told, and the cleanable communicative for a fearfulness crippled and for Silent Hill.

Its puzzles, some biology and focused, are fantastic too, with immoderate precise clever solutions that volition person you utilizing each past encephalon compartment to fig them out. Almost nary of them are overly hard oregon obtuse, and if you halt to calm down and deliberation astir it you tin usually get done them beauteous quickly, but they adhd to the acquisition and rival oregon adjacent surpass immoderate of the series' champion and astir iconic puzzles.

Silent Hill f is simply a phenomenal comeback for a bid that was near connected crystal for acold excessively long. It has everything a longtime instrumentality could ever inquire for successful a caller Silent Hill game, portion besides being a cleanable jumping successful constituent for players caller to the series. With immoderate luck, it volition beryllium the archetypal of galore caller Silent Hill games that support the series' sanction held successful precocious regard.