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If Silent Hill f didn’t have ‘Silent Hill’ in the name, it could probably get away with not being a Silent Hill game at all. Silent Hill f’s immediately obvious distinction is its unique and unprecedented setting of the secluded town of Ebisugaoka in 1960s Japan, which seems like it couldn’t be taking place farther than Silent Hill’s titular, rural tourist town in Maine, the iconic American locale that is typically where the franchise resides. Moreover, Silent Hill f’s emphasis seems to be less on its chosen setting and more on its lead protagonist, not unlike Silent Hill 2, and f is arguably right to make such distinguishing strides.
Silent Hill f’s Novelty is a Blessing and a Curse
Silent Hill’s whole catalog is a series of hits and misses, with its biggest hits landing early in the franchise and its biggest misses ing them. Its enduring popularity as an IP is frankly bewildering when many other horror IPs have launched since and not met nearly the same highs, and, before Bloober’s Silent Hill 2 remake, it was unclear whether Silent Hill was going to be shelved indefinitely, let alone if Konami or any development studio should bother withdrawing it from the shelf at all.
That’s why, even if f could realistically be its own IP, it’s arguably largely in Silent Hill’s favor for f to afford it a new direction. Silent Hill f’s originality allows it to potentially dodge the need for lore tethers if it wishes to avoid them, for instance, and can be the first in a bold line of games that basically rewrite what is known about Silent Hill canon.
Of course, f drawing itself away from everything and anything ‘Silent Hill’ would also beg the question of what makes it inherently a Silent Hill game, then, or why it deserves to carry the legacy of one of the most influential psychological/survival horror progenitors of all time. Indeed, Silent Hill f may be a wonderful blank canvas at best and a jarring excuse for a lore rewrite or course correction at worst, but its lack of any tenable or identifiable connections to the series’ past may serve it best.
f Being ‘Silent Hill’ in Nothing But Name Can Be a Boon
To say that the Silent Hill franchise is maligned and divisive would be a gross understatement. That said, the series’ horizons have been far brighter since Bloober snuffed out any and all paranoia that it would fumble the Silent Hill 2 remake.
Early responses to Bloober remaking Silent Hill 2 were met with unease and skepticism for multiple reasons, least of all being that Silent Hill 2 is the most revered Silent Hill game to date. Silent Hill 2’s remake is not only a terrific survival horror game but one of the best Silent Hill games ever now, regardless of how low that bar is and was, and the recent announcement of Bloober remaking the original Silent Hill has consequently been met with a ton of excitement and good faith.
Likewise, Silent Hill f is alluring because of how alien it is with regard to the rest of the franchise. To be fair, Silent Hill f’s gameplay does already look strikingly similar to that of Silent Hill 2’s remake. This’ll be agreeable if combat is paced well alongside puzzles and exploration, but Silent Hill f’s greatest advantage is still the fact that it’ll present new lore and imagery in what will undoubtedly be the single most unique Silent Hill game, and Silent Hill: Townfall ing it will hopefully be representative of the series finding its legs in a modern horror era to swiftly and successfully expunge its past blemishes.
