Aside from a few exceptions, the Silent Hill franchise has largely revolved around a town named Silent Hill somewhere in the US. Silent Hill f is just the latest game to break this trend. Writer Ryukishi07 has revealed that series producer Motoi Okamoto described “Silent Hill” as more of a phenomenon than a physical location. In an interview with Famitsu (via GamesRadar), the writer spoke about asking Okamoto about how Silent Hill f, despite being named after a town in the US, could be set in Japan.
“I discussed a lot of things with series producer Okamoto in a meeting after I received the request [to write Silent Hill f,]” said Ryukishi07. “Like ‘Why is it set in Japan?’ and ‘What exactly is Silent Hill?’ In the end, we came to the conclusion that Silent Hill is not just the name of a place, it is a phenomenon. Looking back I think I was able to create a pretty satisfying base for the story and world from this.”
It is worth noting that, while older Silent Hill games are largely supposed to be set in the same American town, there have been exceptions. Silent Hill 4: The Room, for instance, has players spend quite a bit of time in the titular room that isn’t in the town. Similarly, Silent Hill: Homecoming and Silent Hill: Downpour were both also set in separate locations that only had tenuous connections to the eponymous town.
Interestingly, among the more recent releases, Silent Hill: The Short Message is the first one to truly address the idea that, rather than the geographical location of the titular town, Silent Hill is instead more of a phenomenon. As you can check out in our review of the title, we discussed how it opens up the door to have games in the Silent Hill franchise that don’t really take place in the town, but instead focus more on the series’ overarching themes and style of horror.
The latest entry, Silent Hill f, takes place in the fictional Japanese town of Ebisugaoka, and revolves around the trials and tribulations of Shimizu Hinako. It is set in the 1960s, and explores themes related to the expectations surrounding women in the era, especially in regards to family members and friends.
Director Al Yang spoke about how the town was created thanks to discussions taking place between Konami and Ryukishi07, and how developer NeoBards Entertainment’s pitch to Konami included assurances that “the story would undoubtedly feel like a ‘Ryukishi07 work’”.
Lead level designer Kaiyu Chang also spoke about working on the script, and how the story resonated strongly with her thanks to its overarching themes. “I first read the initial draft of the script a few years ago,” she said. “At the time, I was pregnant, which made the story’s depiction of the expectations and constraints placed on women by traditional society resonate with me even more deeply. Many scenes struck a strong emotional chord.”
Silent Hill f is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for more details.
