Silent Hill f loves combat so much, it feels like it's fighting itself

A concerning fewer hours with Konami’s parry-happy fearfulness story

Prior to getting a big, fat, four-hour demo with it astatine Gamescom, I was disquieted that banging connected astir Silent Hill f’s newfound enthusiasm for monster warring – with each its parries, zippy dodges, and slow-mo absorption meters – would beryllium doing a disservice to its bolder, much 'interesting' bid departures, similar the caller 1960s mounting oregon its heavy clasp of homegrown Japanese civilization and myths. A definite missing of the point, similar mounting retired for a beauteous thrust done the Scottish highlands past stopping to gawp astatine a lightly crashed Peugeot connected the hard shoulder.

But no. Combat is arsenic profoundly ingrained wrong Silent Hill f arsenic blameworthy moping was to Silent Hill 2, and from what I’ve played, doesn’t enactment astir arsenic well.

To beryllium clear, I don’t judge that thonking wretches with metallic pipes is antithetical to bully endurance horror. Almost each mainline Silent Hill (save 2024’s experimental The Short Message) has had its stock of warring back, and it’s not similar SHf’s starring subsister Hinako is busting retired the backflipping limb arts. Her violative moves are inactive mostly sluggish, unskilled swings oregon slashes, and adjacent the much precocious techniques (parrying included) are presented done competent animation enactment arsenic the desperate, often fortunate hits of a struggling teenager.

There are problems, though. The biggest lies successful Hinako’s much antiaircraft skillset, which includes a dodge-dash that already seems weirdly generous adjacent earlier it adds successful a whooshing dilatory question effect connected peculiarly well-timed evasions. This is nary modest, SH2 Remake-style sidestep – the miss damn adjacent flies disconnected the screen, easy swooping retired of astir monsters’ onslaught ranges unless you wholly bung the timing.

Image credit: Konami

The effect connected the fearfulness facet is... unfortunate. When everything abbreviated of a scripted brag tin beryllium sprinted past oregon danced around, the information that your isolated hometown is infested with murderbeasts abruptly becomes a batch little intimidating. And the dodge undermines immoderate of the heavier-handed moments of tension, too. Late successful the demo, I was forced to fly a spooky Shinto shrine arsenic a lethal reddish mist nibbled distant astatine my wellness and sanity bars. Enemies spawned connected constrictive walkways to artifact the path, and sporadic bursts of symptom constricted my quality to sprint – but my dodging prowess was near wholly unaffected, allowing maine to casually breeze past dangers and scope the exit with plentifulness of beingness to spare.

Trading scares for conflict play isn’t needfully a atrocious deal, and I personally don’t caput an actionised sequel arsenic agelong arsenic the enactment is done well. Unfortunately, Silent Hill f’s assertive play besides needs important tightening-up. Even the simplest melee swings are frustratingly inconsistent: sometimes it’s similar Hinato lunges halfway crossed the prefecture to onshore a strike, different times she’ll swipe astatine a baddie that’s close up successful her look and deed air. I’m not adjacent definite it’s a deed detection problem, arsenic determination were galore occasions wherever I’d fastener connected to a foe, determination into eyelash-tickling range, and could lone ticker arsenic Hinako slashed 2 feet to the abomination’s side. But I was locked on! Locked! And erstwhile a stroke does connect, it mightiness nutrient a bizarre non-response. Too galore times, my enemy-stunning dense attacks were met by delayed stun animations, arsenic if the force momentarily forgot the "fall down" signifier direction.

Image credit: Konami

The content I’m getting truthful far, then, is of an action-horror crippled wherever the enactment isn’t precise compelling and the fearfulness isn’t precise scary. Uh and, indeed, oh. Though that inactive wouldn’t beryllium truthful bad, if determination weren’t besides heaps of genuine qualities to Silent Hill f that I different truly liked. Loved, even.

Take the replacement for Silent Hill itself, the rural, past-its-prime municipality of Ebisugaoka. No acre-wide roads oregon towering flat blocks here: it’s each constrictive alleyways and creaking wood, a spot of unthinkable density that’s someway go a shade town, and frankincense the cleanable acceptable for chases and ambushes. I’ve lone fought (or dodged) a fistful of carnal types but these are powerfully designed, too, particularly the twitchy, double-jointed flesh/doll hybrids and a decaying, uncomfortably lanky shrine maiden who serves arsenic the archetypal large boss.

Silent Hill f isn’t anyplace adjacent the archetypal fearfulness crippled to bash so, but it does excavation heavy into Japanese folklore and custom. Shortly aft duelling the supra huffy miko, there’s adjacent a lovingly rendered country of 1 quality performing the afloat Temizuya ritual. Again, it’s not peculiar for covering this stuff, but it does screen an atrocious lot, and works the civilization into characters, scenery, puzzles, and mechanics extensively.

Image credit: Konami

Even if the demo was seldom susceptible of scariness, it was precise susceptible of eeriness – a feeling that, successful immoderate ways, takes greater artistry to propulsion off. No communicative spoilers, but I stay intrigued by the mysteries that the crippled spins astir Hinako and her progressively weird friends, and for what it’s worth, determination are times erstwhile the combat backs disconnected and lets you research oregon enactment connected puzzles. The precocious constituent of my 4 hours was a trek done a supernaturally vast, fog-smothered workplace field, your lone institution being clusters of school-uniformed scarecrows. This conception tin really impact rather a batch of warring if you don’t grasp its puzzle hints, arsenic the mannequins volition outpouring to beingness with murderous intent upon you interacting with the incorrect ones, yet the operation of unusual backdrop, sparse dependable design, and lingering consciousness of an imminent menace makes it a memorable set-piece adjacent if you ne'er get the tube retired astatine all.

I worry, though, whether moments similar this volition beryllium worthy slogging done a afloat game’s worthy of iffy brawls, assuming they’re not each instantly compromised by that superhuman dodge. As it stands, Silent Hill f’s opening hours suggest a conflict to equilibrium its enactment and fearfulness halves, and portion it could theoretically polish its warring truthful that it astatine slightest doesn’t consciousness truthful wonky, a September 25th motorboat means it has little than a period to bash so. That’s a large inquire – possibly excessively big, astatine this stage.

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