The creator of Silent Hill explains why he's leaving psychological horror behind in this new game, Slitterhead.
Keiichiro Toyama announced his solo debut game with Bokeh studio during The Game Awards last year. That trailer revealed that Slitterhead would differ from Toyama's previous games, Silent Hill and Siren Speaking to Edge Magazine, Toyama explains that "that stems partly from a desire to do something different when other creators have effectively taken up his mantle." One main reason behind the decision to move to "a horror-inflected third person action game" rather than a psychological horror title, is that “when I created Silent Hill, a large part of the motivation was to create something that had never been seen”.
Even though the trailer highlights the legacy of Silent Hill, fans will see very few similarities between Toyama's cult hit and his new game. One of these similarities, however is how the monsters remain somewhat human; Toyama insists on keeping a human facade on the morphing monsters; "the process of creating a truly frightening video game monster involves building 'something supernatural and intentionally transcendental' that’s designed to make players feel awe, and that creatures that can mimic humans, is a particularly strong starting point for this'".
Further in the article he also spoke about the practicality of this choice, "suggesting that the wider perception of the horror genre is that it belongs to 'a limited tier of enthusiasts'.”. He hopes to appeal to a wider audience by “combining [that perception] with more universal values”’. He wishes to target the new generation who have never even played his previous games, so he’s chosen a more popular style to entice them.
Here is everything we know about Silent Hill creator’s new horror game.
