Silent Hill f, the next mainline entry in the beloved horror series, seems to handle some incredibly heavy themes — so heavy, in fact, that the actor behind its main character apparently felt her sanity escaping at times.
If it wasn't already clear from the Silent Hill name alone that the next mainline title would be gruesome and terribly bleak, the game's ESRB rating was revealed in March and teased such atrocities as "Faces ripped apart," "a character burned alive inside a cage," and "entrails and sinew displayed on serving platters." Needless to say, Silent Hill f, as with any Silent Hill game, is probably not for the faint of heart.
Take it from Kato Konatsu, who portrays Silent Hill f lead protagonist Shimizu Hinako. Konatsu shared a message via the official Japanese Silent Hill Twitter account, translated by Automaton, and while my sympathies go out to the actor, I have to admit I'm even more excited for this nightmare of a game now.
"I've been living as Hinako in the world of Silent Hill for a long time now," said Konatsu. "On some days, I almost felt my own sanity slipping, but it was worth it to be able to contribute to this game."
A key staple of the Silent Hill series is its main characters losing their minds in the wake of unfathomable tragedies, but it's a little concerning to see that trend continue in real-life actors portraying those characters.
Konami shared the first Silent Hill f gameplay trailer at this week's PlayStation State of Play, and while the September release date was undoubtedly the biggest news out of the showcase, it was the absolutely deranged creature designs that have really stuck with me in the days since.
It's worth noting that developer NeoBards, which made Resident Evil Resistance and ReVerse, has yet to really prove itself with a mainline single-player game of this caliber, so I'm staying cautiously optimistic about Silent Hill f for now. But with this latest trailer keeping me up at night, and now with Konatsu's comments on acting for the game, I'm finding myself less and less cautious by the day.
Konami says Silent Hill f is "independent" from the rest of the series: "People who have never played the series before can enjoy it"
