Silent Hill f is under "a lot of pressure" to hit SH2's "quality," Konami says

Every time so much as a light mist rolls in, the familiar quip is made: "it's like Silent Hill out here." The legendary horror franchise is wholly embedded into our cerebrum in some capacity, whether we've played it a dozen times, or only experienced its dreary atmosphere through osmosis. It's had its incredible highs; The Silent Hill 2 remake recently reminded us just how good it can be. It's also had its fair share of lows, including one movie I'd rather forget about, and more recently the so-so The Short Message and widely mocked Ascension. Speaking to Lauren at Gamescom, series producer Motoi Okamoto and game director Al-Yang acknowledge the recent critical bumpiness, but retain confidence that upcomer Silent Hill f will more than meet the bar set by Bloober Team.

Getting a Silent Hill 2 remake right is no small feat. Taking one of the best horror games ever and faithfully recreating its claustrophobic atmosphere is an unenviable task. While it arrived perhaps a smidge too clean in places (something Danielle notes in her Silent Hill 2 remake review), it's undeniable that Bloober Team has set a solid standard for the series moving forward.

Just six months before this, though, The Short Message launched to a mixed reaction across the board, while the choose-your-own-adventure Ascension is better left forgotten, leaving some fans worried about what was to come. While the former offered a promising glimpse of what a new, modern Silent Hill could be, its writing was a little too on the nose for my liking. Of course, this was just a short, three-hour slice of horror, and Konami now understands what's expected of it going into Silent Hill f and beyond.

"As part of the reboot of the Silent Hill series, we decided to create many various types of experiences," Okamoto and Yang say. "This is where The Short Message, 2, and, of course, f and the future Townfall come in. We do understand that [the response to] some of the story elements for The Short Message has been fairly critical. Our approach is that Silent Hill 2 is the benchmark for quality, and all future titles, including Silent Hill f, are made to meet that quality benchmark."

When asked if they and developer NeoBards are feeling the pressure to get Silent Hill f absolutely perfect, the pair acknowledge the weight of their task.

"While we do definitely feel a lot of pressure to follow in the footsteps of the quality of Silent Hill 2, we also feel that, in order to reinvigorate the series, we need to take some new steps - we need to try out some new challenges. This is where the setting, the gameplay, and combat come into play."

Silent Hill f certainly departs from Harry, Heather, and James' small-town harrowings in a big way, hauling the series east to Ebisugaoka, Japan, before sending it back in time several decades. Its protagonist, Hinako, is a teenage girl, who, despite her stature, has some pretty slick combat moves up her sleeve (though, for the love of god, don't call Silent Hill f a soulslike). Her challenges look to be even more tormenting than her forebearers', and the monsters just as horrifying despite Masahiro Ito's absence from the project.

Whether Konami and NeoBards can live up to Bloober's hit when the Silent Hill f release date arrives remains to be seen. From what I've perused so far, it's shaping up to be an absolute corker. While we (im)patiently await the latest entry, be sure to check out more of the best single-player games you can play right now.

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