Silent Hill f: How a Fogless Japanese Town Became the Series' Fastest Seller
No American town, no guns and a story by the writer of Higurashi. Konami's bold 2025 reinvention sold a million copies in a day, won Famitsu's Game of the Year and divided critics over its combat. Here is why it worked.
For a quarter of a century, Silent Hill meant one place: a fog-choked American lakeside town where the past comes back as monsters. The first game arrived on the original PlayStation in 1999, and its sequel, Silent Hill 2, is still taught as a masterclass in psychological horror.
Silent Hill f left all of that behind. Released on September 25, 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, it is set in Ebisugaoka, a fictional rural town in 1960s Japan, and written by Ryukishi07, the creator of the cult visual novel Higurashi When They Cry. It sold more than 1 million copies on its first day, the fastest-selling entry in the series, and passed 2 million by April 2026.
A new town, a new kind of fear
You play Shimizu Hinako, a high-school student whose quiet hometown is suddenly swallowed by a strange fog and something far worse. Instead of an American lakeside town, Ebisugaoka is narrow alleys, rice fields and shrines, beautiful and suffocating at once.
The game was developed by NeoBards Entertainment, a Taiwan-based studio, and published by Konami. Its themes, a young woman trapped by family expectations and an arranged future, are as much social drama as horror, which is exactly what fans of Ryukishi07 expected.
No guns, breakable weapons
Silent Hill f is a melee-only game. There are no firearms; Hinako fights with improvised weapons that break with use, and relies on dodging and parrying. She does not even get a flashlight or the series' traditional warning radio.
That decision divided critics. Many praised the tension it creates: every fight costs you something, and avoiding enemies is often wiser. Others, including IGN, which gave it 7/10, found the combat repetitive over a full playthrough. Overall, reviews were strong: 86 on Metacritic for PS5, 85 for PC and 82 for Xbox, with 88% of critics recommending it on OpenCritic.
Five endings, and why you should play twice
Silent Hill f has five endings, and three of them are only available on New Game Plus, where Hinako carries over her Faith and protective omamori charms. The first playthrough tells you what happened; the second and third tell you what it meant. Ryukishi07's previous work is famous for stories that only make sense after several "loops," and this game follows that tradition.
Awards and an afterlife in manga
Silent Hill f won Outstanding Visual Style at The Steam Awards 2025, and in March 2026 it was named Game of the Year at Japan's Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards, where Hinako's Japanese voice actress Konatsu Kato also won Best Performance. It was nominated in several categories at The Game Awards 2025 and the Golden Joystick Awards.
The story is not over, either. Konami announced a manga adaptation with a new ending written by Ryukishi07 and Norimitsu Kaihō, serialised in Kadokawa's Young Ace Up from April 23, 2026.
Who should play it
If you love psychological horror, Japanese folklore or stories that reveal themselves slowly, Silent Hill f is, in our view, one of the best horror games of the decade so far, and a brave proof that the series can survive leaving its famous town. If you want precise, satisfying combat, go in knowing that fighting is the weakest part.
For another 2025 game that bet on a classic series in a new setting, see our Mafia: The Old Country story.