5 hours into Silent Hill f, I've picked out the 10 biggest details you need to know

It's been a seriously long time since the last game in the series, so getting the chance to play the opening five hours of Silent Hill f was something I was more than happy to do. Finally, Silent Hill f has helped me feel excited about the future of the series again. The 1960s smalltown Japan setting is definitely different from the American-set horror that's defined the series until now, but this change feels fresh and, after playing, still as Silent Hill as ever.

In fact, breaking with tradition and covering new ground makes it easier to get into Silent Hill f as a starting point than ever, which I've also covered in my beginner's guide to Silent Hill. Five hours with a survival horror game is a long time, and it's already got me feeling like this could be one of the best horror games out there if it can stick the landing. Considering there are some aspects I'm iffier on, like the intense combat, that's a real testament to just how fantastic I'm finding the storyline and characters so far. The vibes of classic Silent Hill are intact. Below, I've broken down all the biggest details I noticed across my time going hands-on with Silent Hill f – there's a lot to take in!

10. A good scrap

Silent Hill f stands out as the entry in the series with the most options in combat. After going hands-on with the game I'm a bit mixed on it in practice, but I can't deny a lot of thought has been put into crafting its combat system that's filled with options for how Hinako can fight back. Grasping melee weapons that degrade, she's able to perfect dodge, counterattack, and even charge up for special weapon-specific strikes. It means Hinako can be proficient, but she can still get mobbed by groups, and always takes a lot of damage. Silent Hill series producer Motoi Okamoto calls it "life or death combat" for good reason.

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9. Combat isn't always how to progress

Silent Hill f director Al Yang admits that "something like a perfect dodge might be more kind of an action game thing", but the actual scenarios Hinako must survive are often a bit more varied than simply needing to bash the ever-loving blossoms out of the red spider lily-covered monsters that prowl Ebisugaoka. Most major events allow you to balance combat and evasion, whether that's choosing to run away from a hulking beast as you scrabble for a key instead of putting it out of commission, or trying to avoid the sightlines of twitchier creatures as you comb the school grounds for a dropped key. Even perfect parrying reflexes will only get you so far.

8. You gotta have faith

I'm told that "some actions require faith" by the Silent Hill f developers – and I think that's something we could all internalize a bit more. After all, as Yoda says: "Do, or do not. There is no try". Still, for Hinako, Faith is a literal currency she builds up by praying at checkpoints and giving offerings – which are a combination of special collectibles and recovery items. These can be spent on major benefits as well, from omori that act like gear Hinako can equip for significant buffs, to upgrading her stats and carrying capacity. It seriously gives a risk-reward element to what items you keep hold of, especially given Hinako's pockets are limited in the first place.

7. A little sketchy

Even having played 5 hours of Silent Hill f, this horror still holds a lot of mysteries for me. But, so far, I love not only figuring out what Hinako's relationship is with each of her friends, but exploring her perspective on the town and events through her voice. Like previous protagonist James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2 remake, Hinako annotates the map herself, including drawing chibi portraits of her friends' last known locations. She also tracks information on key events, characters, and enemies in her notebook, reflecting on what's going on from a personal perspective, and doing lovely little sketches.

6. Small town vibes

So far, the 1960s small town of Ebisugaoka is a great setting, combining rural elements like fields with small shopping districts and the like. There's a nostalgic feel to the setting even though it's not one I've personally experienced, especially when Hinako comes upon things like an old fashioned sweetshop. It's the alleyways I love the most though, the type that the devs highlight as being known as "kinkotsu" in Japan, literally coming from the word for something like 'blood and sinew'. These small criss-crossing veiny paths connect the bigger streets, and are designed to be both "confusing" and "labyrinthine". Not to mention tighter routes mean monsters become all the more dangerous.

5. Blooming fear

While an encroaching fog that mucks everything up is a common thread throughout the series and still present in Silent Hill f, it brings with it a terrific new visual element: red spider lilies. They're gorgeous flowers, but if being poisonous to munch wasn't enough they have a strong association with death, the afterlife, and funerals in a lot of cultures – including Japan. The fog brings the flowers and other red growths to Ebisugaoka, overgrowing parts of the town. Monsters come along with it, also pulsing red and covered in deadly foliage. I'm really into the monster designs as a whole so far, and I've encountered quite a few unique types already. From hulking knife-wielding foes best avoided, to twitchy scarecrows that – sometimes – only move when you're not looking at them. After all, Ryukishi sums up the series as one that hides "its true colors beneath a layer of horror and fog" – what are these creatures really?

4. Paying respects

The fog and flowers might be slowly transforming Hinako's hometown into a nightmare, but there's somewhere she can end up that's somehow even more dreamlike: a massive shrine seemingly in the middle of nowhere that stretches far into the distance. But is this place a haven, or the other thing? Haunted by unique monsters of its own that seem extra deadly, Hinako must comb through each area, unravelling intriguing lore notes to find ways to open gates and progress even deeper in, at times having little choice but to break into a sprint for safety as enemies close in. To me, this strange space seems closest in purpose to the series' Otherworlds, but the shrine style is a far cry from the industrial rust in how it appears in America. I can't wait to explore more of this world.

3. What does it all mean?

With multiple endings, Silent Hill f promises plenty of ambiguity when it comes to which endings are the good ones, and which are the bad ones (and yes, there will be a UFO ending as well). There's already plenty of things characters have said, and notes I've read, across the opening five hours that have me questioning everything and theory crafting with whoever else attending the preview event that will listen. Some of Hinako's closest friends seem to be glad to see her one second, and then calling her a traitor the next. A strange guardian hints at the way forward through the shrine world. Messages scratched into surfaces warn Hinako to question who she trusts. Just what is going on? And, perhaps, the multiple routes could all be tied together into a grander, spiritual whole? After all, writer Ryukishi07 has written huge, interconnected, multiple path stories before across the likes of cult classics Higurashi and Umineko.

2. Boss battles are a little intense

While regular enemy encounters can get a little messy as you move between areas, and set pieces sometimes allow you to avoid enemies all together, the one major boss fight I got to play was strangely intense. Which isn't to say Silent Hill is a stranger to spectacle – but they're not always my favorite moments given how cursory combat can be in those older games (I remember trudging back and forth to aim a big gun at a huge moth over and over again). Hinako's expanded moveset made the boss I battled, a mutated shrine maiden on a big bridge, feel almost a little like a Dark Souls bout as I carefully dodge its telegraphed attacks and move in to dish out some poke damage. I'm not sure how I feel yet, but they're certainly shaping up to be pretty full-on

1. Puzzle design

"The puzzles that exist in the world of Silent Hill, they aren't just puzzles for the sake of puzzles, they need to reflect the psychology of the players and the setting," says Silent Hill f writer Ryukishi07, who's worked directly on the game's puzzles to ensure that they all connect to the narrative in one way or another. Playing the game myself, these really do feel like puzzles from the classic games, one standout being finding codes throughout a school to untangle what the children call "girl code" in order to open a series of lockers, with the notes also telling you plenty more about the connections and relationships between everyone at the now abandoned school. It's a statement of design intent that really makes each conundrum carry so much more weight.

Looking for more chills? Check out my best Japanese horror games list!