Silent Hill f

What an interesting take on Silent Hill. I played through the game once and a part of me kind of feels like I didn’t play a Silent Hill game. It feels more like a game influenced by Silent Hill than a new game in the series. But it is still a great game. I enjoyed the combat quite a bit and I enjoyed when the game had vibes closer to that of Silent Hill like when wandering through the town and playing in the school and the house.

But my favorite creepy moment was the scarecrow field. I’m so glad I played with headphones on as I would hear steps randomly and question if something was there only to find eventually that yes enemies were sneaking up on me. Definitely an interesting way on having sanity play into the psychological horror. Which I would say the way sanity was used in the game I felt was generally underwhelming or underutilized but this part felt like the character was going insane even though the actual mechanic wasn’t being used.

I like how weapons can be dynamic like how with the bat after using it so much part of it breaks exposing the end to become more sharp so Hinako then starts using it like a short spear to do sharp damage rather than the blunt damage.

This game uses charge attacks but feels better to play because it incorporates more in its combat like counters and dodging as well as perfect dodging that also triggers more times to counter. Learning enemies attacks were a lot more fun. Not just because the combat system had more to it but also because autosaving would generally have you saved right before an encounter in case you died there wasn’t much if any backtracking to do and that’s what hurt the most with some of the previous games I played where the extensive backtracking just felt more like a punishment for having to learn the game.

There was a part that happens in the middle that I will avoid detailing to avoid spoilers but it is very thought provoking. Just how painful and visceral the ritual was to watch but then experiencing the benefit of being able to deal with enemies more easily makes it feel worth it from a player perspective but for the character was it though. Is this what she really wants?

All in all I would say that this is definitely the most addictive game I’ve played so far this fall. From the new take on combat for a Silent Hill game to the creepy scares and how Akira Yamoka never fails with the music that’s different but has enough of the vibe to expect from the Silent Hill series. This feels like a different game or at best a spinoff from the series but is still a great experience that stacks up with some of the best Silent Hill games that I’d recommend to fans of the series and horror genre alike.