A girl with a high school dress that advances cautiously in a typical alley, while the strange roots gradually grab the floor on their steps and the fog rises. Silent hill It is back, but there is a new beginning.
Because more than 12 years have passed that an unprecedented episode had not emerged. The remake of Silent Hill 2 Last year he had put the saga on the video game card with a very high flight version. This year, Konami hopes to restore chills from players with Silent hill fAvailable from September 25 on PS5, Xbox and PC series. And to give the media, the famous psychological frankness of horror reviews its codes.
First, by trusting his new work to the Neobards studio, supported by Ryukishi07, author of the visual novel Japanese acknowledged. The result is a new orientation taken by the franchise that was installed in Japan in the 1960s. A completely unprecedented theater for a Japanese game that went to Western players until then with US references very often.
“Japan, the biggest turn”
“This game takes place in Japan, is probably the greatest ‘turn’ we have“, Motoi Okamoto, producer of the series Silent hill In Konami, with Tech & Co. “”Silent hill It has always been the marriage of Western and Japanese horror, but the Japanese essence was lost over time. We wanted to remedy it completely instilling it. “
So here we are in the steps of Shimizu Hinako, a teenager crushed by social expectations, who faces disturbing metamorphosis in his town of Ebisugaka. When suddenly, a disturbing fog swallowed the facilities. No more city called Silent Hill. Now it becomes a concept for Konami that ensures that the game, despite these changes, is faithful to its principles.
“The DNA of Silent hill It resides in its psychological horror. The most crucial aspect is the trip through which we train players: explore the human psyche, immerse in their deepest fears and trauma, and to face their interior demons, “recalls Motoi Okamoto.
However, Silent Hill F wants to mark a remarkable turning point in the evolution of the franchise, for its backed narrative approach, its artistic choices and its mechanics, while they remain faithful to the essence of the silent hill. But with now a game that “dares to try to create 100% of the Japanese horror” and notably implies a more marked aesthetic, oscillating between the darkness of the Japanese city and the red of this threat to the city.
A beauty that also goes through the discomfort you can create for non -Japanese players, not necessarily aware of Japanese habits and customs. “There is an additional layer with the lack of familiarity for players,” he adds. “Everyone knows what a school is, but not necessarily a Japanese school, even less in the 1960s. This adds layers of unknown to recreate the feeling Silent hill original “.
A fog always present and disturbing
Even if Neobard’s game wants to create new codes, it is still faithful to some principles. Starting with the presence of the fog, an emblematic character of the series that we mistakenly believed that Konami could happen. “We have tried to create images that seem natural, but where something is subtly: the thickness, the movement … enough to make it uncomfortable,” he emphasizes the Yang, director of the Neobard game.
And it is true that this fog that sneaks through the streets without giving the impression of moving as a normal fog, takes possession of the facilities, seems more embodied and strange than ever, more floral, less industrial. “In Silent Hill 2The dense fog reflected the mental state of James. In F, Hinako’s fog is closer to nature, more Japanese and linked to his age, “adds Motoi Okamoto.” It represents his anxiety, which linked to his age, that of a teenager. “This fog as a common thread from one game to another, ultimately, the recurring character and permanent threat floating the heroes, transporting his fear and strangeness pushed to his paroxysm.
“We are going far in the concept of a disturbing strangeness, not only in the way people are moving things, but also in graphics and sound,” Al Yang told. “For example, the water that flows … the speed at which water movements could rise or be slower than it sees. This is not an important thing that destabilizes you, but small small things.”
Create a fear for a small touch, install a terrifying environment, bring stress for the slightest sound, a palpable tension of the hand. It is also in Silent hill f He wants to show his maturity and modernity, his ability to evolve with his time. The creators of the game indicate that they have focused more on tension and discomfort instead of the ‘classic jump scares.
Tension fear, no horror
Silent hill f Fact, stress, anxiety with its strange dismantled and unpredictable creatures to fight. But never with scandalous horror. One way to adopt the new Japanese horror game codes. “We try to recreate this oppressive tension,” he explains to Yang. “It is not a matter of being permanently afraid, but of maintaining a tension in which you never know when something will happen.”
Because, according to him, players say they want to be afraid permanently. “Actually, they want to feel tension and we will build them slowly,” promises the game director. AND Silent hill f Absorb it perfectly, playing in the stress of the corner of the street, this moment you have to move forward, but when we fear something happens, or mays nothing. A tension that creates fear.
Silent hill f He wants to break his traditions to pay a singularity and immersion welcome. Starting with the end of the tradition of serial numbers (even if the F could simply mean four – 4 in English), but Motoi Okamoto ensures that there are “several layers of meaning to discover” behind “F ‘”. “It depends on the players to discover them,” he slides mysteriously. And to Yang to have fun: “We could also say that F means ‘fans speculation’.”
What happens if this just meant fear (fear in English)? This fear as terrifying and pleasant that has been successful for the series for more than 25 years. And its creators assure it, it is not about to stop. If the franchise Silent hill The video game will not be abandoned soon. Konami even hopes to maintain a rate of at least “one game every two years so that players are not boring.” Fear has not finished shaking the controllers.
Source: BFM TV
