By 
Reviewed on: PC
Also Available On: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5
Developer: NeoBards Entertainment
Publisher: Konami
Release Date: September 25, 2025
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Silent Hill: f is a stand-alone psychological horror that very easily became my game of the year for 2025. You play as Hinako, a Japanese schoolgirl, who is venturing through her town trying to find her friends. Of course, her search must commence through a fog mixed with sprouting spider lilies spilling between the houses. With every step deeper into the story, the atmosphere changes in pace with the overall tone. There’s so much to praise and break down to understand the depth of this game. Let’s get into this glorious game that made me fall in love in the first hour.
This game is a visually stunning masterpiece. Every scene is crafted so well that living areas genuinely feel lived in. There are temples riddled with unwashed dishes and drawers halfway closed as if people were in a hurry. When you are in the woods, it is thick and has a fullness authentic to a real forest. Temples and shrines are creatively elegant, containing artifacts that still shine as if they have been well cared for. The audio hits every mark it needs to provide urgency, anticipation, fear, and even a few tender moments. The craftsmanship that went into sound design, pushing you into each emotion and scene, is borderline magical. Everybody did their job like the rent was due! Even the lighting delivers by making some locations darker and heavier so your attention is pulled into your screen. The game relies on the overall atmosphere to take your terror and not only root it, but to nurture it.
The gameplay mechanics are simple enough. You have your health and stamina bars. Your stamina does drain relatively fast, especially in boss battles. This element was a bit frustrating in a humbling way. It brought me into the reality of being a young girl trying to actively fight monsters. Hinako is not absurdly strong or quick. She doesn’t learn how to be a skilled fighter overnight, so I appreciated the grounding quality of the combat. This pushed me to become more efficient in my dodging, parries, and stamina management. You are only allotted melee weapons throughout the entire game. These are worn down over time and do degrade in damage as they dull and eventually break.
Some people may not care for this type of weaponry, but it added even more realism to the game. At one point, I was stuck in a heavy combat area with no weapon, and all I could do was run until I eventually came across a knife. The puzzles fit the game’s visual and mechanical style. None of them feels impossible and aligns with the setting of the game. You have to look around, take in what you see, evaluate where you are, and apply yourself. For example, there is a puzzle that is the actual entry to progress into a shrine. You have to line up the rings in the correct order to unlock the door. The rings have images that you have to figure out by looking all over at different boards containing different charms with similar images. Speaking of charms, you can collect some throughout the game to give you boosts. Smaller shrines offer a place to pray or leave behind gifts you collect to give you time boosts and to save your progress.
The story is the real shining star! As you progress, you find out who the real monsters are and how they became these demons. The game does not lean into jump scares, which I greatly appreciate. Instead, the story brings real-life issues and feeds them to you with each step you take. Hinako is trying to navigate a life she cannot even decide if she wants or not. The whole journey is you two trying to find your way through the literal and figurative fog. Without spoiling anything, you are introduced to characters that will have you wondering who is real and who isn’t, as well as who is an ally and who isn’t. I was constantly at war with who I thought I could trust and who was trying to have a hand in my downfall.
There are so many topics that apply to the culture and setting of the game, but are still applicable to today’s climate. Hinako is struggling to appease herself, her family, her friends, and her romantic interests. The writers made sure you drowned in your madness before you realized you needed to push to the surface for air. There is a solid mixture of enemies. Some are scarier due to their swiftness, while others are intimidating due to their sheer size or power. Each creature flows with the story and the pressing concerns for Hinako’s future. One of the ones that made me cringe the most was the creature that resembles being “pregnant”. The boss fights take on a whole new level of symbolism, and talking about them too much would be a spoiler to the storyline, but they are truly incredible. From their design to their storyline that goes with them.
For me, this game did everything and more. I never had a crash or a bug. There were zero technical issues during my playthrough. At no point was I ever bored or wanted to go play something else. The game consumed me; I was even sad when it was over. Luckily, you can play again since there are a total of 5 different endings! In some reviews, you will also have cons alongside the pros of a game. I could not find anything that was negative in my time with Silent Hill f. I would give a score of 10/10 with absolutely no notes. I sincerely hope they continue this route of stepping outside the box.
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