The first Silent Hill f review is in, and Konami's redemption arc continues

There is a cult around Silent Hill that's almost as spooky as the series itself. Most of the classics and spinoffs get horror fans frothy at the mouth, as other players (and I'm not too proud to count myself in this number) cower behind the sofa at the mere mention of Pyramid Head. As such, many are eager to find out what critics think of the latest mainline entry, Silent Hill f, which follows a Japanese schoolgirl in the 1960s. The first review has now landed, and storied Japanese magazine Famitsu has some high praise indeed.

Famitsu is well known for its unusual scoring criteria. It sets four reviewers the task of playing the game, each of whom scores it out of ten. This score is then added together to create a final score out of 40. Just 30 games have ever achieved a perfect score, the first of which was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 1998.

Silent Hill f scored a 9 from each reviewer, landing it an impressive score of 36/40 and putting it among some of the best horror games of all time. Bloober's Silent Hill 2 remake, by comparison, scored 8/9/9/9 for a grand total of 35/40.

However, their comments on SHf are even more interesting than the scores. According to the website Ryokutya2089 (spotted by Gematsu), Famitsu says the rural Japanese setting brought the horror and loneliness of the series closer to home, and the visual beauty is particularly noteworthy. The mysterious story makes it hard to put down, and the multiple endings add to the intrigue. One reviewer says they were "completely discouraged" halfway through, but wants to complete all the endings, so this could be an issue with the machine translation of the webpage.

In classic survival horror fashion, Famitsu notes that the confusing controls and getting caught on terrain add to the experience. The reviewers also note that combat is "surprisingly exhilarating."

With "horrifying and grotesque yet breathtaking graphics," it seems that Famitsu thinks Silent Hill f is a worthy successor, which is great to hear after so many middling entries. It'll apparently take around 12-13 hours to complete, which is in line with earlier SH games.

Silent Hill f releases on Steam on Thursday, September 25. You can wishlist it here.

If you can't wait for the Silent Hill f release date, why not browse our list of upcoming PC games to see if anything takes your fancy? You can always spend that time ensuring your PC meets the Silent Hill f system requirements, too, so you're ready to go next week.

Will you be playing Silent Hill f? Let us know in our community Discord server, where readers and staff discuss all the latest gaming news. Don't worry, we've got sofas to hide behind, too.