Silent Hill f goes back in time and back to basics

Silent Hill f starts off with a grounded (but still heavy) setup, establishing a miserable family dynamic for protagonist Hinako. With an alcoholic, abusive father, a submissive mother and an absent sister, who’s shown in flashbacks with that classic horror trope, face unseen. Something horrible is about to unfold in the sleepy, remote village of Ebisugaoka, sometime in the early 1960s.

The latest entry in the Silent Hill series still has jumpscares, like you’d expect from the horror series, but both the setting and game systems are more focused on tension, putting both Hinako and the player under constant duress. A typical health meter is joined by a sanity gauge and even your weapons have limited durability, so you’re forced to pick your fights.

During a two-hour demo, I had to do exactly ...