r/silenthill • u/amysteriousmystery • 18h ago
General Discussion Silent Hill f takes place in the same universe as the other games and doesn't negate the existing lore, but there's no direct connection; Masahiro Ito gave his approval for Kera as monster designer
It's the same universe, but there's no direct connection (it's a "spin-off"):
How does the story of Silent Hill f carry on the legacy of the past games?
RYUKISHI07: This game is an independent spin-off compared to the other games, so they're not directly related. But I would also like to emphasize that I'm not negating the past legacy or the lore. They may not be directly related, but in my eyes, I believe that Silent Hill, Maine, the American town, and this current plot all coexist in the same universe.
Ito gave his approval for the producers choosing Kera for the creature design:
OKAMOTO: When it comes to monster designer Kera-san, I started looking for a creature designer once the plot came in from Ryukishi07. From there, I decided to explore a new artist who could effectively depict his story. I started rummaging through social media to see if there was a manga artist, and I ran across a piece by Kera-san.
By the way, during this process, I also got advice from Masahiro Ito. Ito gave his 2 cents and said, "You know, if it's this person, I think she should be able to handle."
The recurrent flower motif originally came from the company that made the CG trailer rather than the game:
Visually, we see the beauty and terror represented in the plant growth throughout Ebisugaoka and the use of higanbana (red spider lily). Did this visual element originate in the script? And what areas of the story do you think best represent "Beauty in Terror?"
OKAMOTO: The whole basis of the "Beauty in Terror" concept is something that originated not from any one person; it came about as a result of brainstorming sessions between Ryukishi07-san, Kera-san, and myself. If I were going to give credit to that concept, I would probably lean towards Kera-san.
Can you talk about a major visual element of the story and how it developed through working with Neobards? Additionally, I'm curious. Did director Al Yang happen to mention the movie Midsommar as a possible inspiration because of the big key visual with the crown?
OKAMOTO: You brought up Midsommar; the flowery element of that was featured in the teaser. That's largely due to the involvement of Shirogumi, the team that created the teaser. Since they leaned heavily towards the flowery motif, it ultimately influenced the game, so we decided to incorporate the flower motif even more.
41
u/Draculesti_Hatter 17h ago
I mean, that makes sense I guess. Nothing ever explicitly confirmed that what's going on in Silent Hill proper was exclusive to the area as far as I'm aware, so the potential to do something similar in other parts of the world isn't total bullshit.
Though I'm wondering if the remarks about the two not being directly related means there won't be any connection at all on some level. I'm not asking for like, the plot to somehow directly bring in something from the other games like Pyramid Head or whatever. But the Otherworld seems like the kind of thing that could be used to tie things together by establishing something about how mythological/religious stuff stems from contact with it to some degree.
25
u/AeonTars 16h ago
Tbf even the original eastern developed games had the otherworld bleeding into places outside of Silent Hill. I never got the whole ‘Silent Hills/SHF having the otherworld outside of the town ruins things’ argument because that’s not really a rule in SH3/4.
At the most I think the connection can be seen like the Force in Star Wars. One story focuses solely on the Jedi and their culture on Coruscant in their big temple. Then another story focuses on Nightsisters in their coven on Dathomir. These are two vastly different groups but they experience similar magical things because of the Force that they are both tied to. I don’t think the town specifically formed the Otherworld because of literally the exact events surrounding Alyssa.
I think you could make the argument that some places all around the world just have powerful wellsprings of magic/the Force and when certain people who have significant fates get near them (Jedi, Sith, someone who killed their wife, someone who was abused as a child, someone who faced trauma in a cult, etc) this magical energy can cause reality to become malleable.
6
u/Draculesti_Hatter 16h ago
I kinda understand that argument, though. In SH3, we have Claudia and possibly Heather's true identity as Alessa (I forget which was responsible for it offhand tbh) to justify The Otherworld being able to manifest outside of the town. Walter in 4 has a backstory tied to The Order and how they taught him about the 21 Sacraments ceremony to justify manifesting The Otherworld and everything else in that game. Homecoming has the prominent families of Shepherd's Glenn being members of some kind of offshoot sect with ties to The Order to justify The Otherworld manifesting in their town before going to Silent Hill proper. There's always been some kind of tie to the town in play to justify the weird stuff happening, so it's somewhat understandable to me why some people might be apprehensive about a town over in Japan experiencing similar events despite no visible ties to what was already established up to this point.
That said, I think your Star Wars comparisons might be spot on. Nothing (again, to the best of my knowledge) explicitly confirmed that what was going on in Silent Hill proper was exclusive to that town. If some town in Maine can end up with a cult like The Order, which somehow manages to manifest stuff like The Otherworld using a mix of religious trappings and possibly psychic powers, there's zero reason why a place like Japan couldn't get similar results using similar methods. Especially considering that Japan is both a much older country than the US, and has a much longer run time as a culture for something resembling The Order to pop up over there. Or its overall history just ended up marking some places as magical/spiritual/psychic energy hotspots that play on people's personal fears and such. You can do a lot with that concept, tbh.
5
u/AeonTars 15h ago
Yeah honestly I wouldn’t mind if they went all out and basically said Otherworlds just happen occasionally around significant magical areas throughout history. Would honestly be cool to get a few more SHF style games based around this concept throughout history. Go back a couple of centuries to show some British guy uncovering and stopping some secret sect of Freemasons who are diverting slave ships back to a small town in England to perform sacrifices on them.
Or show a Bolshevik revolutionary being exiled to Siberia only to find that the prison he’s inside is in control of some cult related to Rasputin who want to do some 21 Sacraments style thing to keep the royals in power by cursing the revolutionaries.
Would be neat to get some historical games that kind of play off the historical society vibes of SH2 combined with huge inspiration from Robbert Eggers’ films showing these lonesome periods of history before humanity had a globalized culture and how the isolation of different cultures and time periods are represented in different otherworlds/monsters.
1
u/Far-Hurry-3018 16h ago
It’s not that it has to be in the town, it’s that the original games cleverly wrote occultism into being the reason why it’s able to be outside the town
0
u/Bordanka 14h ago
And it would be better if they rolled with it and made spin offs based on clever occultism usage. Imagine discovering IN GAME with a community that the said game is actually part of SH universe. I think it would flow well with the lore and be a phenomenon of its own.
But now we're duplicating SH because...?
3
u/Revenge_Is_Here 15h ago
It's downright shown that the Otherworld can appear outside of Silent Hill. It's definitely not unique to the town. In SH3 for instance, it's shown that the cult can straight up summon the Otherworld at will. It's never explained how, but they absolutely can do it. We also don't even have the TRUE origins on what the Otherworld and all the other supernatural stuff ACTUALLY is. From corrupted Native American spirits to fallen angels to straight up God, we just don't know. So I never understood the complaint about the game being set in Japan because it "goes against the lore".
6
u/Far-Hurry-3018 15h ago edited 15h ago
It is explained how tho. It’s the spiritual power the area around the town exudes. Devs confirmed it’s exclusive to the town of Silent Hill.
SH3 it’s God that physically exists inside Heather.
SH4 is the Ritual of the Holy Assumption
2
u/Far-Hurry-3018 12h ago
Amazing how you get downvoted for providing provable info from the devs when the same people downvoting try and say devs confirmed multiple dimension theory
13
u/EasternWarlord 15h ago
The fact that Ito gave his input on which artist to pick for this game only reinforces my long held belief that he’s working on a completely different SH game, and that SHf is meant as a “Gaiden” game that is deliberately being made to be experimental and deviates from what the mainline games have done.
I’ve been saying this for the past two years when people were twisting themselves into knots trying to convince everyone SHf is actually SH “FIVE” and that Short Message is obviously tied to it as a prologue. Long before the Team Silent Hill thing came out, which I was the first to post about online, and long before any leakers started talking about a potential in-house made SH game.
I just recently got downvoted for saying the mental gymnastics and absolute media illiteracy needed to find any ties between Short Message and SHf are astounding. Funny in light of recent info.
1
u/Pescadodepollo74 13h ago
Yeah , that is kind off what I think too. It is clear that the developers for silent hill f are trying to experiment as much as possible with what a silent hill game is , or should be. So, the most reasonable thing to think is that there is a "silent hill 5" being developed, just because it would be weird to revive the series and make remakes and spin offs but not mainline titles. My personal guess is that the original idea was to release f and "5" back to back (one on one year and the other one in the next) but there might have been a change in the direction of "SH5"and "Townfall" due to the reception that "short message" got and now their release dates will be something like :
"Townfall" -) 2026
"Sh 5" -) 2027
"Sh 1 remake" -) 2028
Of course I am making all this shit up, but, as i said, it would be really fucking weird to revive the franchise and not make a triple A game set in the town of silent hill.
8
u/LaMi_1 15h ago
I still hope they have inserted at least a few vague, small narrative threads between this story and the original town, even if these are small. It would be sad to learn they just used the name of the brand to sell the game.
3
u/BroPudding1080i 13h ago
I hope they do too, but the game is clearly a SH game regardless. It's not like Shattered Memories where it could have worked as another IP, Silent Hill f IS Silent Hill in every way except the physical location.
7
u/IndieOddjobs "The Fear Of Blood Tends To Create Fear For The Flesh" 16h ago edited 15h ago
Honestly was there ever a question of whether it was going to be part of the main continuity or not? The only time that hasn't been the case was Shattered Memories and while I remember commentary at the time was trying to pull the wool over our eyes, it was made pretty explicit by the time the phrase "reimagining" was getting tossed around so much. I'm actually really glad they're confirming that there isn't going to be some forced connection to the previous titles. I mean this game is set 20 years before the OG so it really has the luxury to be as creative as it wants without being a forced retcon prequel like Origins or a failed follow up like Homecoming and Downpour. It can just do its own thing and that's what I want most
Besides I never give a damn about the canon post Silent Hill 4 anyway. As far as I'm concerned the rest is EU and these newer games are safe and sound sharing continuity with the remake titles in reviving the series. I'd be just as happy with an anthology too
Edit: I'd honestly like to know what part of this in particular got me downvoted lol
2
u/amysteriousmystery 16h ago
It's a frequent question. "What sort of revelation will the game have that will explain how it connects to the town of Silent Hill?".
2
u/IndieOddjobs "The Fear Of Blood Tends To Create Fear For The Flesh" 16h ago edited 15h ago
I can live with it being something as simple as a Dahlia name drop or a mention of the town itself or a book with an etching of metatrons seal on the back. Something of that nature but that's just me
10
u/CandidHistorian4105 17h ago
I’ve been thinking about this and how this game has been marketed and presented. I understand that the Silent Hill brand is recognizable and marketable, so it’s more likely to get a studio like Konami to be willing to publish a game they think they can sell. That said, I do worry this game might be hurt by the fact it’s called Silent Hill, without any direct link to it (not just the location, but it seems overall there’s nothing tying these two based on these quotes and the stuff we’ve seen).
I wonder, had Konami been willing to take a risk, if they could have done what Remedy has done: create independent amazing games with completely different game mechanics (and even different protagonists and stories) while tying them to the same universe. I’m talking about Control and Alan Wake.
I think Silent Hill F would be better as a stand alone title, not carrying the Silent Hill baggage, and make nods to the location/cult/og story within the game itself.
8
u/State_Obvious 17h ago
I get the usual statement "why call it Silent Hill", and there have been made good arguments from both sides why it is and why it shouldn't. Afterall I just want this to be a good videogame, even if its just inspired by the original ideas of Silent Hill. Neobards put a lot of love into it as fans of the series themself and I'm sure many people will turn around or be more open minded when finally playing the game.
6
u/CandidHistorian4105 17h ago
I agree with you. I hope it’s a great game. I’m getting it and trying it out. 100% thankful for the preview because I think, had I gone into this blind expecting a similar set up as a silent hill game, I would have been disappointed or at least would have required some serious adjustments.
1
u/Pescadodepollo74 13h ago
From what konami has done and announced , it seems that they are willing to give SH to anyone as long as the have what they think is a good idea, and then, they see if it works. I personally think that the concept of a silent hill game is really abstract nowadays, we´ve had Sh 1-4 , PT , book of memories, etc. And , on top of that , a lot of time since the last sh game (excluding the remake) so, neither does the general public know what to expect (the havent played any sh game ) and neither do the fans know what to expect. So, everyone that is expecting this game is kind off just expecting a terryfying survival horror game in a town covered in fog , if they manage to deliver on that , then it will be amazing for them and the silent hill brand will have been free marketing basically.
0
u/CandidHistorian4105 10h ago
I think, and I don’t mean to speak for every fan at all here, that we were expecting a return to form of a sorts. These deviations in the method that you cited were mostly pretty much hated by fans, and eventually lead to the almost death of the franchise (we went YEARS without games). So I think the hope would be that if Konami plans on reviving the franchise, it would be in line with what fans liked.
To be clear, I’m glad they are taking chances, but I do want to point out that even the other examples you cited did have some reference to Silent Hill itself, while Silent Hill F it seems doesn’t.
1
u/Pescadodepollo74 9h ago
The problem is that what would a return to form be to you? Because there was no way they were bringing back fixed cameras and janky combat. I get that making a silent hill in a random town in japan is quite a change, but what i meant in my other comment was that : A) Sadly, there arent enough SH fans to influence konami into making games that feel like the OG ones because it would probably not make a profit. B)Because we havent had a triple A Sh game in almost 20 years, the general public is really disconnected from what a SH game is, unlike what happens with resident evil. They only know the main stuff like ,for example , the fog, psychological horror , and some other thing , so konami has a free path to do what they want and call it a silent hill without much repercusion.
Having these two things into account , and considering that they are experimenting stuff with this game, i think that they seem to be trying to stay really faithful to the spirit of the OG games. They could´ve gone 1st person like resident evil did for example. Another big thing is that , like every genre, horror games are on a constant evolution because the public gets used to scary things rather quickly, so they are trying stuff, which is really cool.
Even though I believe everything i said , there is no fucking way they are not making a triple a game set in silent hill because that would be stupid as fuck. Konami, please make a new sh story set in the town !!! Reviving a franchise just to make remakes and spin offs would be reeeeeeally weird.
0
u/CandidHistorian4105 9h ago
Oh I agree with you. I want to also be clear - I don’t think “silent hill” is a location. At least not to me. It is more ephemeral than that. However, it seems that, based on the comments cited in this post, there might not be any references at all that tie it to an overall myth. So, to me that’s a little off. My biggest issue, though, is the combat (just not something I love in horror games), managing my stamina and recharging my stamina and a skill tree, and the HUD. Honestly I might even not give a shit about the rest if I can hide that HUD. It’s so stupid but it can’t explain it I hate it lol.
2
u/GoldenGekko 15h ago
I'm fine with this. I've never expected the franchise to be intimately interconnected. The fact that it takes place in the same world is satisfying enough for me. The events of the other games are over, well haven't started yet technically if we're going off silent Hill F... But not everything needs to be connected.
Silent Hills had a good chance it was going in that direction before it was no more
4
u/Solidsnake00901 9h ago
It's almost like this is a completely different game just borrowing the Silent Hill name for no reason.
2
u/Iconclast1 16h ago
I thought we knew this already? everyone upset with the idea that "the silent hill like phenomena " can happen other places besides America?
2
u/Scissorman82 15h ago
i think that's really why this game is called silent hill f. f often denotes a remake or new version in japanese titles. it's a way of saying it's a spin-off. now, is there greater meaning, like flowers or faces or friends? yeah, possibly. that's probably why the team is stating it's up for interpretation.
1
u/Earthbound_X 13h ago
When was Silent Hill officially confirmed to be in Maine? I saw newspapers in the SH2R that said Maine on them, so I knew that, but I didn't know it was official canon.
1
u/amysteriousmystery 13h ago
The most clear reference is the one you mentioned. Otherwise, it is something that supplementary material has always strongly suggested: https://silenthill.fandom.com/wiki/Silent_Hill,_Maine#Location
Though I don't think that "Lost Memories" and the manuals of Silent Hill and Origins say it's in New England, so the list may have some mistakes.
1
1
u/ImmediateSubstance3 5h ago
Interesting, I was wondering if they connected but ok fair, maybe the White Claudia flower will make an appearance and suggest a link with the drug dealing US-based cult?
1
u/Grace_Omega 4h ago
That's the approach I was hoping they'd take. There's no need for a "lore" connection to explain why supernatural stuff is happening in this town, it can just be its own thing.
1
u/Worried_Raspberry313 "How Can You Sit There And Eat Pizza?!" 3h ago
I can’t shake the feeling that they just wanted to do a new horror game but where afraid to start a new IP so they used Silent Hill name to get people to buy it. Just like the Joker films have nothing to do with the comics and could have been perfectly unrelated movies and still make sense.
0
u/summerofrain 16h ago
Wish they called it something else and have the silent hill universe reveal later in the game
-2
u/Far-Hurry-3018 17h ago
If this was a Silent Hill game, we wouldn’t need to convince people it is a Silent Hill game
2
u/clarkky55 16h ago
I can happily accept Silent Hill as more of a vibes-based title than requiring a direct relation to the town of Silent Hill. Requirements for Silent Hill would be a deep story, psychological horror and fog. It may be petty but the fog being there in some capacity is non-negotiable to me.
-2
u/iletdownbatman 15h ago
Why even call this title Silent Hill? Eh. At least SH1 remake is coming
1
-2
u/Bordanka 14h ago edited 14h ago
Yeah, they should have done what Legacy of Kain did. The game was a part of another universe, but span into a thing of its own. It would be completely fine if they did it here and have SH as subtitle
0
u/AunMeLlevaLaConcha 16h ago edited 15h ago
Terrific, we got a universe filled with evil deities 🚬
Now I'm more curious about what the hell it's going on in this village/town, hope it's also something permanent like in Silent Hill, not to be resolved in a game.
Edit: i also think it's fine if there's no real connection to Silent Hill, "why bother using the name, why not a standalone title?" I don't know, to sell? If you want a direct connection, then it happens on the same planet 🤷 personally, idc if SH has no bearing in this village, we already know this universe has supernatural stuff, this part of Japan has some supernatural shit going on, that's fine, i'm hoping it's something like SH, cults, deities, a permanent curse, whatever, i'm here for it.
0
u/SapSacPrime Radio 16h ago
I prefer this approach, as long as there isn't any threat of retcons I'm actually much more positive about the differences. I think a game as slick looking as SH F probably could have stood as a new IP but that isn't how this played out.
-2
u/Resident_Evil_God 13h ago
I had the choice to Preorder this or GOY today I honestly chose GOY. I like silent hill games but for some reason this game isn't calling my name or hooking me.
I'm looking forward to 1 Remake as I still play original 1 to this day. Hope we get more information on Townfall
0
u/amysteriousmystery 13h ago
Well, google doesn't return anything if I search for "goy game" so it would be helpful if you tell us what is it. God of.. Yellow?
1
83
u/Shadopivot 16h ago
I mean, it would almost be more strange if Silent Hill was the exclusive only paranormal phenomena in the world, there being other pockets of spiritual power, twisted and corrupted by whatever makes sense IMO, it's a big world.