Silent Hill fis taking the franchise to a place it’s never been before, and in doing so, it might be trying to reach a brand-new audience. Instead of taking place in the foggy Maine town of Silent Hill with a cast of mostly older Western characters, the upcoming game will follow a young Japanese girl in 1960s Japan. It’s a bold new setting that won’t be popular with every fan of the long-time series, but I believe this to be a calculated move by Konami and the game’s developer, NeoBards.
Instead of being a homage to the classic series and the long-time dedicated fanbase that grew up with the games, like theSilent Hill 2remakewas,I believe thatSilent Hill fis aiming for a much younger audience.The game has everything it needs to succeed with teenage fans of horror, a fact that I realized when my own teenage daughter became interested in the game, despiteknowing very little about the seriesas a whole.
Silent Hill F Has Everything Teens Love In A Story
Creepy Monsters And Psychological Horror Have An Undeniable Pull
When it releases on September 25,Silent Hill fwilltell the story of the young Hinako Shimizu, a high school student living in the fictional town of Ebisugaoka in Japan. The latest trailer revealedHinako getting sucked into the mysterious fog enveloping the city, where she’ll have to face up against terrifying monsters and her inner demons.
Mere days after the newSilent Hill ftrailer was released, my kid was shown a YouTube Short about it. The short’s creator summarized the game’s premise, painting it as acreepy urban psychological horror story, and, to my surprise, my kid was hooked. According to her, she only had a vague idea of whatSilent Hillwas before the new game’s trailer was released, so seeing her show an interest in the upcoming game was unexpected.
Upon closer inspection, though,Silent Hill fhas all the elements that a game needs to grab the attention of a young audience. The game features a young, school-aged protagonist who’s struggling with some extremely difficult emotions, making her instantly relatable to teens and pre-teens.
The game alsoleans heavily on psychological horror, which is the element that my own kid found the most entrancing. The idea of being literallyhaunted by the manifestations of your guiltand emotions is a delightfully creepy one, as is the fact that you don’t know what’s real and what isn’t.
Silent Hill F Taps Into The Ageless Love For Horror
Predominantly Young Audiences Can Launch Horror Games Into Virality
Let me be very clear here:Silent Hill fis rated M for Mature, meaning it’snot intended for kids younger than 17 for “Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Partial Nudity.“This game and its themes are technically not suitable for kids or teens. That said, these are exactly the kinds of things that kids are interested in.
This isn’t a new phenomenon by any means: In the same way that Grimm’s fairy tales told young children of monsters and dark themes,modern-age Gen Z and Alpha are obsessed with creepy boogeymen that go bump in the night.Popular horror franchiseslikeFive Nights at Freddy’sandPoppy Playtimeare generally rated T for Teen, but their success with the 8-12 crowd is what launched them to the height of their popularity.
The fascination isn’t just about jump scares—it’s about processing emotions through fiction.
The themes explored bySilent Hill ffeed into concepts of horror that are enjoyed by kids and teens, either through playing video games or, increasingly, through watching popular YouTubers play video games. FromRobloxhorror games andMinecrafthorror mods to the creepy tales of Slenderman,The Mandela Catalogue, and theBackrooms,people of all ages just love to be scared.
With kids in particular, the fascination isn’t just about jump scares—it’s about processing emotions through fiction. At the end of the day, horror video games (as well as movies, books, and other media) all serve the same purpose: to explore our fears in a safe and controlled environment. The foggy streets of Ebisugaoka serve as a physical space for Hinako’s internal struggles, creatingthe perfect combination of horror and introspection that’s almost certainly going to draw new, young fans into the series.
Silent Hill F Will Continue The Legacy Of Silent Hill 3 And Higurashi
Both Would Have Done Well Today Thanks To YouTube And Twitch
This isn’t the first time that theSilent Hillseries has turned to a younger audience and protagonist. The games' third installment starred Heather, ateenage girl who’s thrown into the horrors of the foggy city when her father is murdered.Silent Hill 3came out in 2003, though—too early to cash in on the publicity of the age of YouTubers and Streamers.
The upcoming game’s writer, Ryukishi07, is no stranger to horror that stars young female characters. Ryukishi07 is known for theHigurashiakaWhen They Cryvisual novels (and subsequent anime), which are also all about terrible things happening to young girls.BothSilent Hill 3andHigurashiexplore difficult, complex themes, andSilent Hill flooks poised to continue in their stead, this time with the power of the internet at its service.
IfSilent Hill 3andHirugashicame out today, they might also have achieved the wide reach that modern games have access to. The current world of YouTube and TikTok makes these kinds of games accessible to younger audiences in a way that just wasn’t possible before. Andthe upcoming game has everything it needs to make it big with a wide audience of kidswho have never played aSilent Hillgame.
I’ll be honest, my kid won’t playSilent Hill f.But she will almost definitely watch hours of footage of other people playing and analyzing it. And I’m certain that she won’t be the only one in her age group to do so.Her generation will spread the reach of the upcoming gameand, as a result, boost its popularity with fans of all ages.
The newSilent Hill fmight not be as popular with existing fans, who want to go back to the characters and setting of the games they grew up with. But I predict that it will be popular with a new generation, who get to grow old with theSilent Hillfranchise all over again.
