Silent Hill f isn't what I expected. Honestly, after the Silent Hill 2 remake leaned so heavily into that "modern over-the-shoulder" combat feel, I figured Konami would play it safe. They didn't. Instead, we’ve got a game set in 1960s Japan that swaps rusted metal for blooming red spider lilies and trades handguns for broken pipes. It’s weird. It’s beautiful. And if you’re trying to figure out how Silent Hill f gameplay actually feels, you need to forget everything you know about ammo management.
There are no guns. None.
In every other mainline entry, the "fear" usually came from having three bullets left and four monsters in the room. Here, the tension is much more physical. You play as Hinako, a high schooler who is—quite frankly—in over her head. Because she doesn't have a shotgun tucked in her school bag, the game forces you to get uncomfortably close to things that look like they crawled out of a botanical nightmare.
The Brutality of Melee and "Adrenaline"
The core of Silent Hill f gameplay is built around a "tactile" combat system developed by NeoBards Entertainment. Since you’re stuck with melee weapons—think baseball bats, farm scythes, and those iconic steel pipes—every fight is a gamble.
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You’ve got a light and heavy attack, which sounds standard enough. But the nuance comes from the stagger system. Unlike the SH2 remake, where you could often stun-lock enemies with a few well-placed shots, Hinako has to time her heavy swings to specific visual cues. When an enemy pulses a certain color, that’s your window. Hit it right, and you trigger a counterattack that buys you breathing room.
It feels desperate. You’ll find yourself watching Hinako’s stamina bar more than the enemy’s health. If you swing wildly, you’ll gas out, and in the narrow streets of Ebisugaoka, that’s a death sentence.
The Sanity Meter vs. The Health Bar
One of the more polarizing additions is the Sanity Meter. It’s not just for flavor. As Hinako witnesses the "floral horror"—which is what the devs are calling this aesthetic—her mental state degrades.
- Focus Mode: If your sanity is high, you can slow down time slightly to land "Focus Attacks."
- The Panic State: If you let that meter bottom out, Hinako enters a panic. Your health starts draining automatically, and your vision blurs.
- Recovery: You aren't just looking for health drinks anymore. You're looking for items that keep her grounded.
It reminds me a bit of Amnesia or Eternal Darkness, but it’s tied much more directly to your ability to fight back. If you can't keep your cool, you can't land the counters. If you can't land the counters, you die. It's a brutal cycle that makes the "beauty" of the flowers feel genuinely threatening.
Exploration and the Shinto Shrines
The town of Ebisugaoka is based on the real-life Kanayama area in Gero. It’s a maze. The streets are tight, often vertical, and designed to make you feel trapped.
Instead of the "save points on a wall" we’re used to, Silent Hill f gameplay uses Hokora—small Shinto shrines. This is where the game gets a little "souls-lite" in its economy. You find offerings throughout the world, like food or charms. You have a choice: use that food now to heal, or offer it at a shrine to gain "Faith."
Faith points are basically your currency for upgrades. You use them to buy Omamori charms. These give you passive buffs like better dodge i-frames or increased weapon durability. Yeah, weapons break here. You have to find toolkits to keep your favorite scythe from snapping mid-boss fight. It adds a layer of "should I stay or should I go" that makes exploring the side alleys actually worth the risk.
Why Ryukishi07 Matters for the Puzzles
If you’ve ever played Higurashi When They Cry, you know Ryukishi07 doesn't do "simple." He’s the writer here, and he reportedly had a hand in the puzzle design too.
The puzzles in Silent Hill f gameplay aren't just "find the gold coin to open the silver door." They’re heavily tied to the 1960s setting and Hinako’s personal trauma. You'll be messing with radio frequencies, arranging traditional dolls, and decoding notes that reveal some pretty dark stuff about her family. They feel like a part of the story, not just a speed bump.
The New Game Plus Twist
Something that really caught the community by surprise is how New Game Plus (NG+) works. Usually, NG+ is just "keep your gear and kill things faster." In Silent Hill f, the second playthrough actually changes the narrative.
You’ll find different notes. Some cutscenes have subtle alterations. There are even rumors—which seem pretty substantiated at this point—that certain endgame bosses only appear on a second or third run. It’s a bold move that turns the "Silent Hill Phenomenon" into something that requires multiple perspectives to fully grasp.
Actionable Tips for Surviving Ebisugaoka
If you’re jumping into this for the first time, don't play it like Resident Evil. You will get wrecked.
- Prioritize Evasion: The dodge mechanic is your best friend. Learn the timing early, because some of those marionette-style enemies have reach that will catch you if you just try to backpedal.
- Don’t Hoard Offerings: It’s tempting to keep all your healing items, but sacrificing some for Faith early on to get a decent Omamori charm makes the mid-game much less of a slog.
- Watch the Flowers: The red spider lilies aren't just there to look pretty. They often mark areas where the "Otherworld" is bleeding through, or where traps are hidden.
- Manage Durability: Never walk into a major objective with a "red" durability icon on your primary weapon. There’s nothing worse than having your steel pipe shatter when a boss is at 10% health.
The shift to a Japanese setting and a melee-focused combat loop was a massive risk. But by making the Silent Hill f gameplay feel more personal and desperate, they’ve managed to capture that "helpless" feeling that the series has been missing for a long time. It’s not just a change of scenery; it’s a total reimagining of what survival horror can look like when you take away the safety net of a handgun.
Check your journal often. Hinako’s notes change based on how much "truth" you’ve uncovered in the environment, and sometimes the solution to a puzzle is hidden in her own shifting memories rather than a blood-stained memo on the floor.