There were actually 5 Silent Hill projects revealed, of the 5 of them; 1 is a new movie from a returning director, 1 is a potentially online survival game, these two won't be discussed because 3 other projects are games we've been hearing about from online leaks, have finally revealed themselves. And from the looks of it, Konami does seem like they want to come back to making actual video games.
Silent Hill f being the star of their livestream showcase is being developed alongside major creative talents, Silent Hill Townsfall has Annapurna involved, and finally Silent Hill 2 remake being made by a pretty familiar studio. That's a lot to unpack, all in one showcase, anything to tell us about new Castlevania? Metal Gear Solid? Suikodan? Maybe I am moving too fast on expecting anything from those, I should give them some time.
Also as well, the biggest question if anyone is that if Kojima returning, then the answer to that is a resounding no. But his P.T game did return for the PS5, further indicating that Konami might be changing their ways with how they treat game developers and the triple A market in general. So let's talk about these 3 games they've shown.
Return Of The Classic - Silent Hill 2 Remake
The hit sequel for Silent Hill 1 finally gets redone with monster designer Masahiro Ito, and composer Akira Yamaoka returning (I am surprised by the fact that the former is still sticking around in Konami). Old creative heads get their reunion to make sure the classic stays classic. Who else would be developing the entire game from the ground up?
It's Bloober, the people who've worked on The Medium, Layers of Fear, and Blair Witch Project games. They're the "easily consumable horror" game makers that have sort of put the genre to shame. Maybe with some creative control, being pointed in the right direction by the older team and Konami, this game could work. But the fear of misplacing my hopes in a game like this, being made by a team I can't have faith in, that's not really enticing me much.
I never played the original, and I was hoping that this game would get me invested in playing the story I missed out. The trailer has nothing to prove that it'll be a faithful and contemporary rework. What's even odd is that this'll be a PS5, and PC release. Indicating that Sony obviously had their hands in some of the development cost, enough to restrict release on the other platform. It's wait and see for me then. I don't like how this all looks.
Though, why not work on a remake of the original instead? Well that was done, it's called Shattered Memories, and it was released for the PSP, PS2 many years back. It doesn't hold up visually, but I can see why it'll be odd to remake that game instead of this one now. A better choice, supposedly.
Prequel Story Involved? - Silent Hill Townfall
Now this is a game that should be on anybody's radar, if you've watched the VHS movies, then you get the whole vibe of the game trailer, especially a better indication being the game's developer history. They've worked with Devolver Digital to make Stories Untold, an anthology series based on the world they've created. Annapurna Interactive is also involved, so this is going to serious indie creatives working on a major spin-off game.
Showcase with a small pocket TV playing random footage, it's obvious by now that there are going to be 80s horror film homages here and there. Other bits of the trailer showing ocean tides hitting the shore, then the screen turning blood-red with the footage of the shore still running.
My guess is that there will be multiple stories with multiple characters involved, and probably in a different Silent Hill town based in, of course, America. Well, why would I mention something that redundant? With this next segment, it won't really be that case anymore.
A Tragic Path To The Afterlife - Silent Hill f
A Silent Hill game based in Japan instead, wait, so Silent Hill is a universal void? So yeah, there was not much cleared about how this setting fits into it being a Silent Hill story. What is clear is that it takes place somewhere in 60s Japan. And stars a school girl who definitely doesn't like flowers and has trypophobia. I mean, who doesn't have trypophobia? But the visceral images shown stays true to the Eldritch and psychological horror elements the series is known for.
So, this feels like something straight out of a Junji Ito horror manga, it seems to have a deeper theme about death as shown from the Lycoris radiata blooming from human flesh. Just writing that alone is really unsettling. The game is being developed by Taiwanese studio, Neobards. The guys who worked on Resident Evil Re:Verse. Keep reading if that took you off, there's a big info drop coming.
The lead writer for the game is Ryukishi07, creator of the Higurashi When They Cry series. Remembered in Japan as one of the best-selling Japanese psychological horror series, published in manga and VN, before being adapted as a manga. Right after Tsukihime. With creature design coming from Kera, an up-and-coming artist from Japan as well.
Who's to say whether this will be a stand-alone product of the franchise or will set connections to the other Silent Hill games. I'll be honest, the trailer made it seem like a different game entirely. Just scratching my head as to how they'll add canon from this inline with the Silent Hill universe. But I have more hope for this than the SH2 remake. I am super curious is to where they'll take this, it certainly seems like a game that is meant to expand past what was already established in the prior games. Putting further vindication of that theory is that fact that Konami revived the P.T. demo for the PS5, which was Kojima's own original spin on expanding the Silent Hill universe.
Konami is putting big money into all these projects. Including having J.J. Abram's own game studio being involved in the multiplayer Ascension game (what is that, like a God of War:Ascension nod?). The movie is literally called Return to Silent Hill, with the same director who made the prior movies. If the Silent Hill name manages to reach audiences despite having mixed quality, then least in consolation, it'll make way for these 3 main projects.
Outside of Silent Hill 2 remake, it's not defined as to which platforms the other games are coming out at. I hope they go full multi-plat. Silent Hills has reach on Xbox. Come on, Konami, don't let Sony get too close in this full scale redemption tour you have going on.
