About a week ago from when I am writing this (September 25th), I decided to experience the Silent Hill franchise for the first time. Without even knowing about the new game release Silent Hill f, I watched the game play of the first Silent Hill, the original Silent Hill 2, then I skimmed and compared cut scenes to the remake. Each game length was about 8 hours long but I could not look away, and when I would take breaks I would think about watching it again.

What about the game was so entrancing? Is it the fog that hides monsters, the intricate story line that requires your full attention, or the confusing puzzles that require your maximum clue deciphering skills? Why are these monsters here, where is everybody and why do the few people here not question pretty much anything?

I think what draws me in, despite being a huge scaredy cat, is how layered each story is, and always wondering what will be next. With every cut scene, a piece of the puzzle is placed while presenting a new piece to solve. I was constantly thinking “Okay well that is starting to make sense, but now what does this other part mean…?”. Most of the important themes are up to the player to reason out, without the final boss going on with a speech about how wronged they were. The monster designs with each game become more meaningful to the struggles of the main character, and, my favorite part, there aren’t any extreme jump scares.

While I maybe should have watched the game play of Silent Hill 3, because it is a continuation of the first Silent Hill, I saw that a few people on YouTube were already playing the early release of Silent Hill f, and I could not wait. I finished watching the entire game the day that it officially released, I may have a problem.

Out of the three games I’ve seen out of the franchise, I don’t know if I can pick a favorite. I think the story that has stuck with me the most is the second game, while my favorite overall theme and message comes from the most recent release. I will now go into a short review of my thoughts of each game I’ve watched, so if you are like me and haven’t watched the over 20 year old games but want to, maybe skip this post.

In Silent Hill 1, I liked the exploration of the town and learning its history, however the occult theme was not in my interests. I thought it was clever how they created a character that pretended to aid the main character, Harry, but in truth was deceiving him so that she could capture her daughter and use her to be the womb of God. How strange is that? I think they kind of made Harry out to be a good guy, he did adopt his missing daughter and is willing to do anything to get her back, but the scene with poor Lisa was a twist for me. After all, he did say that he would help her, and when she realized that she was one of the monsters of the town and started her transformation, he ran out and slammed the door right in her face!

There is an underlying issue of the town that is hinted on in some of the notes which is a drug issue, but I think it was just to throw you off and is not part of the main story. One thing I really enjoyed about this first game was the endings. Especially the worst ending, which is a cut to Harry in his car with the flatline sound ringing in your ear.

Even though my boyfriend tried to convince me to watch the remake of Silent Hill 2, I knew there would be some differences between that and the original, and more than likely some Easter eggs of the original version sprinkled in. I also like the character art style of the first and second game so I didn’t mind watching the earlier graphics. The game takes place in a different section of Silent Hill with a letter from a dead wife and a dream. After meeting a few new characters, it seems that everyone is looking for something in this town, like something had drawn them there. From what I’ve read online, fans say that the other human characters each see their own versions of monsters based on what they are struggling with, and that does make sense.

The main character, James, is far from perfect. Honestly I am not sure why he even went to Silent Hill to begin with, since there was no way his wife was alive. It had to be the guilt and grief, needing to connect with her one last time and find closure so he could finally move on. Throughout the game the women he interacts with want James to take care of them in some way, which is important to the story reveal at the end. He definitely has a complicated relationship with women, which honestly did not make me like him very much. Still, the story is so memorable because of the depth of the characters, it is hard to move on too quickly because I struggle to decide if James is just a hurting man who granted his wife’s “wish” during a hard time in his life as well or if he is just a piece of crap! I have a lot more I can write about this game, especially because there are stories about each side character but I don’t want my game sections to be too disproportionate so we have to move on!

My favorite game message and theme has to be from the newest game, Silent Hill f. While we are not in Silent Hill anymore, it has a similar feeling and game style. It takes place in the town of Ebisugaoka, Japan in the 1960s, and we follow the teenage Hinoko. She has a troubled family life and values her friends as an escape, but as we continue on with the story, we learn her friends are not good to her. This game’s monsters follow the same rules as Silent Hill 2, being a reflection of Hinoko’s inner struggles. I will say, I was the most disturbed with this game. During the rituals, I was holding my stomach, it was hard to watch.

This game was honestly the biggest mystery out of all three games. For me, I still didn’t fully understand what actually happened, and I think that was by design so that the player would replay and unlock the other endings. We end up learning that Hinoko is battling herself, and whether she wants to grow up and be married and fulfill her role as what the other women in her life consider “happiness” or if she wants to maintain the simple life she has now with her best friend Shu and preserve her childhood. With the game so new, there is already a lot of criticism for the game.

On Reddit, many do not like that this game is not like the previous Silent Hill games in location, or think that it’s just a bad game. I don’t know if I have gotten used to games like this in a franchise since I was introduced to Final Fantasy, but I am not bothered by the setting changes. Each Final Fantasy game is a completely different world and story, but it is still Final Fantasy, so that is how I view Silent Hill f. There is still fog, puzzles, the monsters at every corner, notes, and health aids at random locations to be picked up.

One thing I like about the main characters of these games is that they are just normal people. In the first game, Harry would miss shots and didn’t always hit the monster, In the second game it was more up to the player’s skill in aiming, but maybe it was his flaws that made him human, and in the most recent game, Hinoko is still just a girl with a pipe, there are no guns so she just has to whack everything in sight and by the end of the game her outfit is torn and bloody.

Do you have fond memories of Silent Hill, or maybe being terrified? Is Silent Hill 3 worth watching? I still haven’t decided, I think I am a little burnt out after non-stop Silent Hill for a whole week. And lastly, if you have seen or played Silent Hill f, did you enjoy it? Let me know!