Vikki Blake
Guest
Our most recent sighting of Silent Hill f came during Sony's State of Play June 2025 showcase, and with it came our first look at Hinako in action. Literally.
For some, the emphasis on combat encounters may be surprising, as Silent Hill is a series that has tended to focus on environmental storytelling and psychological horror over combat. However, this latest trailer — the first we've seen to offer a meaningful glimpse at gameplay and combat — coupled with a new interview with producer Motoi Okamoto, suggest that our protagonist may have to endure a more physical experience.
"The game features unique combat," Okamoto said in a post on PlayStation Blog. "The encounters are as challenging as the obstacles that Hinako must overcome in life. The combat will have a heavier focus on melee and be more action-oriented compared to last year’s Silent Hill 2."
That last sentence surprises me, as Silent Hill 2 Remake itself involved significantly more combat that the original game — or, indeed, any other game in the series bar perhaps Silent Hill Homecoming.
Okamoto said that tougher combat, with the visuals and music's "juxtaposition between beauty and terror," along with the "terrible beauty of the game’s monster design," makes for a terrifying adventure. Even the puzzles are apparently "grounded in psychological anguish and suffering." Yikes.
Silent Hill f is not a sequel to any of the existing Silent Hill games. Instead it will offer a standalone story "independent from the series." That came from publisher Konami itself, which finally confirmed on X/Twitter that the latest instalment of the horror series — which is usually, if not always, based in a sleepy resort town on east-coast America — will be "a completely new title" that "people who have never played the Silent Hill series can enjoy."
Silent Hill f takes us to 1960s Japan, where we'll follow Hinako Shimizu, a teenager struggling under the pressure of expectations from her friends, family, and society. The story was written by Ryukishi07, creator of the When They Cry visual novel series. As displayed at the beginning of the Japanese-language reveal trailer back in March, it is the first Silent Hill game to get an 18+ rating certification in Japan.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.