Something I have personally been seeing ALL over social media lately is that the upcoming Silent Hill f looks like it will be a Souls-like title. First of all, what?! Why?! How?! Where?! And perhaps even when?! As in, when did these people learn about the series? Yesterday?!
The franchise has nearly always featured a slower moving, somewhat clunky melee combat system. Not only has it served as part of the charm, but it adds to the immersive nature of the horror as the protagonists have never been particularly powerful or combat ready, apart from some wild unlockables in the earlier games; here’s lookin’ at you Heather Beam!
Silent Hill series producer Motoi Okamoto has recently called the comparisons of the upcoming Silent Hill f to Souls-like games “disingenuous,” stating that “a lot of these things we actually pulled from classic Silent Hill titles.” For many longtime fans of the storied psychological horror franchise, this is all-too clear, but for newcomers to the fog-filled world of fear, it seems that they aren’t quite getting the vibe. With that said, even some series’ veterans are worried that the new game will lean too combat heavy.
These types of confused comments have been surfacing as more gameplay footage is steadily released to build hype for the launch day on September 25th, and while it is apparent that the combat will have a “heavier focus on melee and be more action-oriented compared the recent Silent Hill 2: Remake,” fans and newcomers alike seem to be misinterpreting the information as meaning the game will feature a heavy amount of combat and Souls-like boss encounters, rather than the frightening formula the fan-favorite franchise is known for.
For anyone that has played the previous titles, you’ll know that boss fights do play a pivotal role in the series, but they aren’t about rolling around, utilizing frame-perfect parries, striking at the precisely correct time, etc. They’ve always been akin to the classic Resident Evil style of boss fights where you just unload everything you’ve got until they either fall over dead, or you fall over first.
With a heavier melee focus (which makes sense for the setting of this particular entry) and degradable weapons, the strategy will be a bit more varied, similar to other recent monster fighting titles, but from everything they’ve shown, seems to still rely on that classic atmosphere over action approach from previous entries.
In a recent interview, Okamoto, who has become a much more prominent public figure in the gaming space due to his work on all of the Silent Hill titles since the series’ resurgence, is adamant in his proclamation that the things we are seeing in the gameplay reveals aren’t as people are making them out to be.
“This is one of the things that we see, the term Souls-like being thrown around on the internet quite a bit, and I think it’s a label that’s a little bit disingenuous,” Okamoto shared. “Modern players will see like, oh there’s a stamina meter, there’s a dodge, and they’re like, ‘Okay, it’s a Souls-like’, but to be very honest, a lot of these things we actually pulled from classic Silent Hill titles. Look at Silent Hill 4… there’s a charge meter for your attacks, kind of like our Focus meter, and even for Silent Hill 3 there’s a stamina meter. These things aren’t new and exclusive to Souls-like games,” Okamoto added. “They’ve been a part of action horror games for a very, very long time. If you have these things you’re labeled a Souls-like, and we’d like to reiterate we are an action horror game, but we are not a Souls-like.”
With the new mainline installment of the beloved franchise being release next month, now for the first time set in 1960’s Japan, it will be interesting to see how fans new and old take to the next entry. I for one am incredibly excited to get back into the foggy freak fest that I fell in love with decades ago, regardless of where or when it takes me. Until then, I’m hoping that this has helped clear up some confusion. If you ever want to get a feel for the series’ roots, pick up the old games and give them a shot. They’re just as fun now as they ever were way back then!
