Silent Hill Goes East: New Game Set in Showa-Era Japan
The acclaimed Japanese horror franchise, Silent Hill, is shifting its focus with the upcoming game, Silent Hill f. Departing from its traditionally American settings, the new installment will be set in Showa-era Japan, offering a fresh perspective on the series' signature brand of psychological horror.
Revisiting the Roots of Horror
Keiichiro Toyama, the creator of Silent Hill, previously expressed a desire to return to the core of horror, distinguishing it from more action-oriented titles like Resident Evil 2. Toyama stated in 1999 that he wanted to create fear on an instinctive level.
“Resident Evil 2, in particular, put aside the horror a bit and went very ‘Hollywood,’” Keiichiro Toyama said in an interview in 1999. “It focused on the action, and felt more like an action movie than a horror game. We wanted to go back to the roots of what horror is supposed to be about. We wanted to make you scared on an instinctive level.”
Early Silent Hill games uniquely incorporated elements of J-horror within an American context. As noted by Clayton Purdom of EX Research, this created an unsettling atmosphere where familiar cultural references were twisted.
An "America Remembered"
Purdom described the earlier games' settings as "an America remembered through cultural signifiers." He noted the dreamlike quality of the towns and institutions, prone to decay and dissolution. Examples included the school locale in the first Silent Hill inspired by “Kindergarten Cop”, and a character in Silent Hill 2 influenced by Christina Aguilera.
“It was an America remembered through cultural signifiers,” Purdom said. “The town layouts and the institutions seemed elemental in their design but dreamlike and prone to dissolution and industrial decay.”
Silent Hill f: A New Direction
Silent Hill f represents a significant departure, transporting players to 1960s Japan. Writer Ryukishi07 described the Showa era as a time when "fantasy mythology seems to reside.” NeoBards Entertainment, the developers, are meticulously recreating the period setting.
Authenticity and Innovation
The developers are focusing on authentic period details in architecture and production design to create a realistic and immersive paranormal atmosphere. According to Okamoto, this deliberate choice was made to distinguish Silent Hill f from previous installments, allowing for exploration of new lore within the series' universe. “We believed that this would allow us to depart from the pre-established canon and discover more of the lore,” Okamoto said in a recent presentation on the game.