Silent Hill f's punishing Souls-inspired combat is a beautiful metaphor, but this better not ignite a new survival horror trend

It takes me five attempts to defeat Silent Hill f's first big boss, and by the end of it, I am spitting with rage. Hinako's incredibly labored movements and slow reaction times are the bane of my existence. If watching her struggle beneath the awkward heft of a naginata twice her size wasn't sending my blood pressure sky high already, my plan of hoarding Faith to upgrade my Omamori slots has been left in tatters. I've been forced to beef up her health pool instead – it's the only way I can potentially tank my way through so many missed dodges – and the whole thing doesn't feel very "story mode" at all.

I totally get why. Silent Hill f's slow, rhythmic, sometimes over-conceptualized combat is metaphorical, mirroring the psychological and social pressures Hinako's struggles beneath in 1960s rural Japan. But there's no denying that the distinctly Dark Souls vibes – something our Games Editor picked up on in his initial Silent Hill f preview – are a risk in a series like this. I didn't realize how accurate he's been in calling Silent Hill f "Fog Souls" until I experienced it for myself.

Silent Hill f is a great game in spite of its combat – not because the combat is bad, but because it dominates every other aspect. It's a compelling experiment that, for Neobards' credit, really does fit Silent Hill f's standalone status as the first game in the franchise to venture away from the eponymous US town. But I really don't want other developers to get the wrong idea – that survival horror fans want or need the genre to comply with the expected "challenge for challenge's sake" structure that should really have stayed put in action-RPGs.

In bloom

The best survival horror games are stressful by definition. Resource management is always a factor, as is the near constant pressure to avoid dangers and press ahead while maintaining a cool enough head to parse the barrage of puzzles that stand in your way.

Silent Hill f possesses all these qualities and more, with weapon degradation a cleverly cruel workaround for the lack of firearms and ammo available to her. It's also got the tone, themes, and atmosphere us survival horror fans go wild for, and addresses them with delicious subtlety. So why, then, does it want to add more friction to an already multifaceted formula by way of dodge, counter, and stamina-heavy combat?

Look, don't get me wrong. If there was ever a Silent Hill game in which to test out something new, it had to be with an entirely fresh take – I shudder to think what the fan reaction might have been to Silent Hill 2 Remake, Bloodborne Edition. But the reality is that I don't think Silent Hill f needed to go this far to stand out. If anything, I feel it risks doing so for the wrong reasons.

Surrounded by sickeningly contorted puppet-like mannequins that stalk me through tight, foggy side streets, Silent Hill f feels more like Lies of P than anything else at times.

Not just because of the creepy mannequins and their uninterruptible attacks, but because the mental effort it takes to strategize in combat with these things makes me actively not scared anymore. In fact, each time I hear a musical sting alerting me to a nearby enemy, I find myself more annoyed than scared as I hunt them down to stop the racket instead of trying to creep away.

The same goes for watching a boss fight intro cinematic over and over until it becomes more annoying than scary. There's a reason Lies of P and Bloodborne are not considered survival horror games, despite being replete with horrific imagery and heavy, brooding vibes. I don't have time to be scared of a giant, grotesque monster; I need to learn its moveset, count under my breath, and learn when I can or cannot squeeze a hit in myself.

That experience is not something people flock to Silent Hill for, even if it does fit Silent Hill f's tone and style.

Death rattle

While I appreciate Neobards' ambition when it comes to sheer innovation, the fact of the matter is that there will be plenty of series die-hards who have never played a Soulslike, have never wanted to play one, and will be turned away from even trying to finish Silent Hill f once they find out they're playing one by accident.

We all have free will – yes, you can simply not play something you aren't enjoying – but I worry that Silent Hill f is narrowing its own catchment area and that fans will miss out on something incredible because of it.

Survival horror games, to me, are not meant to have a high barrier for entry in terms of skill. You fight like the characters you play would: with a sense of frenzied desperation. It's the very thing that makes me jump and misfire my last bullet in Resident Evil 2 (and curse the very day I was born as a result), or let my sanity drain away while hiding in Amnesia: The Dark Descent for fear of getting spotted. You're meant to be kind of bad at it sometimes, but there's always a way – usually by picking and choosing your battles.

It also helps that when most games have a story mode, enemies don't take eight or nine hits to go down – which is something I can't say for Silent Hill f.

There are no cheeky head-whacks with a wooden plank followed by a neat scamper down the hallway for Hinako. Instead, combat is such an integral, complex system that running away from foes feels somewhat discouraged. That's not a bad thing on its own, but calling Silent Hill f is a survival horror game can sometimes feel as much of a misnomer as its dubiously-titled "story mode" when it feels like something new entirely. Perhaps Fog Souls really is a thing, and Silent Hill f is charting its course.

There are many new and upcoming horror games on the horizon this spooky season, so get those wishlists well stocked!