It’s official. Silent Hill is no longer the name of a franchise set in or dealing with the dark history of an eponymous fictional town in Maine, left forever tainted by the twisted machinations of a cult and where sinners and the damaged alike find themselves drawn to face judgement for their actions or potential healing for their deep-seated emotional wounds respectively. It's now a label Konami can throw on any horror project that deals with themes of trauma, grotesque monsters, and an otherworld concept for brand recognition. Gone is the connective tissue of location and lore that previously unified the games together. A similar visual style is really all that remains.
The Short Message isn't the outing that revealed this to me. It was a suspicion I had as soon as titles like “f” were announced, and had been already confirmed for me ahead of time with the launch of the shameful Ascension which I abandoned keeping up with near the start of 2024 as a form of mercy for myself. I'm not going to lie, that's been a tough pill to swallow as a longtime fan. Yet, I did my best to go into this with an open mind though, knowing full well from what little blurbs I had seen online (I've actually avoided reading a lot of your reviews beforehand to remain as blind and uninfluenced as possible) that this was going to most likely be an experience tailored towards attracting and pandering to a new, more modern audience. That's exactly what I got.
Naturally, as a result I hated this at first. The inexplicit symbolism that defined its predecessors has been stripped away entirely in favor of blunt, in-your-face storytelling perfectly suited for this artless influencer era where everyone gets their opinions from whatever rich internet personality is tactlessly screaming the loudest, and the dialogue is the exact type of obliviously pretentious drivel one would expect from your average wannabe intellectual teenager or college-aged Twitter (X?) addict. It's almost completely devoid of real depth and seems painfully unaware that nothing it's speaking on hasn't been covered elsewhere, and better there.
That's devastating. Genuinely hurts to witness. Miraculously a strange thing happens around its second of three chapters, however. The writers suddenly stop beating you over the head quite as hard with the subject matter (the amount of times the number for the suicide prevention hotline is thrown onscreen...) and begin letting each character's pain speak for itself. Meanwhile a big plot revelation divulges how the protagonist is as much of a perpetrator as she is a victim, in the same vein as the James Sunderlands and Murphy Pendletons prior. The tale shockingly finds its groove and gains a trace of that previously sorely missing complexity, even if only in part because its topics are sure to strike a chord with anyone ever negatively impacted by the rise of social media (so basically just about everyone) or wasn't the most popular in high school. There's even a nice, if ultimately highly flawed, stab taken at exploring the concept of generational curses. As someone who was afflicted by many of the same things as the leading lady for years, that ending certainly tugged on the heartstrings as well.
The gameplay side of the package also suffers from feeling a tad too overly simplistic due to the demographic being pursued here, albeit to a slightly higher degree. TSM's whole concept seems to be "what if P.T., but it's not a puzzle?" You progress through its looping scenario and setting in a very linear, directed manner with no room to mess up or ponder over what to do since whatever you need to collect or interact with next is always clearly defined with a visible icon on the screen. This would almost be a straight "walking simulator" were it not for the chase sequences, survival-horror's current favorite trend that it's been stuck on for a while now thanks to Amnesia. These moments can definitely be intense, but cause the package to run into the same problem as Shattered Memories where despite the fantastic atmosphere and occasional well done jump scare it's not long before any sense of fear quickly dissipates from most of the runtime because you become fully aware of when you're truly in danger or not. Still, I found myself fairly entertained regardless and genuinely think that last sprint through the larger maze area is pretty dang good at getting the heart racing.
And the end of the day, yes this is undeniably a dumbed-down version of the beloved property. If you don't like it, well that's probably because it's not meant for you. This is Silent Hill aimed at a new, younger generation. A crowd that, let's be honest, has been programmed to require all their information and successes be spoon-fed to them. That being said, maybe it's the fact that this is a totally free experience (that got a cool stealth release) or simply because I'm not that far removed from the market they were shooting for, but if this IS the future of the series then I'm onboard. Although somewhat begrudgingly. In spite of my initial misgivings, Short Message ultimately won me over by the strength of its affecting, if severely ham-fisted narrative and competent action/scares. I can't wait to find out if all that stuff with the cherry blossoms ties into “f” in an interesting way either. So in conclusion, against the odds this brief glimpse into what's next for my personal favorite staple in the genre has left me thinking the kids might be alright in the end.
7.5/10
The Short Message isn't the outing that revealed this to me. It was a suspicion I had as soon as titles like “f” were announced, and had been already confirmed for me ahead of time with the launch of the shameful Ascension which I abandoned keeping up with near the start of 2024 as a form of mercy for myself. I'm not going to lie, that's been a tough pill to swallow as a longtime fan. Yet, I did my best to go into this with an open mind though, knowing full well from what little blurbs I had seen online (I've actually avoided reading a lot of your reviews beforehand to remain as blind and uninfluenced as possible) that this was going to most likely be an experience tailored towards attracting and pandering to a new, more modern audience. That's exactly what I got.
Naturally, as a result I hated this at first. The inexplicit symbolism that defined its predecessors has been stripped away entirely in favor of blunt, in-your-face storytelling perfectly suited for this artless influencer era where everyone gets their opinions from whatever rich internet personality is tactlessly screaming the loudest, and the dialogue is the exact type of obliviously pretentious drivel one would expect from your average wannabe intellectual teenager or college-aged Twitter (X?) addict. It's almost completely devoid of real depth and seems painfully unaware that nothing it's speaking on hasn't been covered elsewhere, and better there.
That's devastating. Genuinely hurts to witness. Miraculously a strange thing happens around its second of three chapters, however. The writers suddenly stop beating you over the head quite as hard with the subject matter (the amount of times the number for the suicide prevention hotline is thrown onscreen...) and begin letting each character's pain speak for itself. Meanwhile a big plot revelation divulges how the protagonist is as much of a perpetrator as she is a victim, in the same vein as the James Sunderlands and Murphy Pendletons prior. The tale shockingly finds its groove and gains a trace of that previously sorely missing complexity, even if only in part because its topics are sure to strike a chord with anyone ever negatively impacted by the rise of social media (so basically just about everyone) or wasn't the most popular in high school. There's even a nice, if ultimately highly flawed, stab taken at exploring the concept of generational curses. As someone who was afflicted by many of the same things as the leading lady for years, that ending certainly tugged on the heartstrings as well.
The gameplay side of the package also suffers from feeling a tad too overly simplistic due to the demographic being pursued here, albeit to a slightly higher degree. TSM's whole concept seems to be "what if P.T., but it's not a puzzle?" You progress through its looping scenario and setting in a very linear, directed manner with no room to mess up or ponder over what to do since whatever you need to collect or interact with next is always clearly defined with a visible icon on the screen. This would almost be a straight "walking simulator" were it not for the chase sequences, survival-horror's current favorite trend that it's been stuck on for a while now thanks to Amnesia. These moments can definitely be intense, but cause the package to run into the same problem as Shattered Memories where despite the fantastic atmosphere and occasional well done jump scare it's not long before any sense of fear quickly dissipates from most of the runtime because you become fully aware of when you're truly in danger or not. Still, I found myself fairly entertained regardless and genuinely think that last sprint through the larger maze area is pretty dang good at getting the heart racing.
And the end of the day, yes this is undeniably a dumbed-down version of the beloved property. If you don't like it, well that's probably because it's not meant for you. This is Silent Hill aimed at a new, younger generation. A crowd that, let's be honest, has been programmed to require all their information and successes be spoon-fed to them. That being said, maybe it's the fact that this is a totally free experience (that got a cool stealth release) or simply because I'm not that far removed from the market they were shooting for, but if this IS the future of the series then I'm onboard. Although somewhat begrudgingly. In spite of my initial misgivings, Short Message ultimately won me over by the strength of its affecting, if severely ham-fisted narrative and competent action/scares. I can't wait to find out if all that stuff with the cherry blossoms ties into “f” in an interesting way either. So in conclusion, against the odds this brief glimpse into what's next for my personal favorite staple in the genre has left me thinking the kids might be alright in the end.
7.5/10
6 Comments
@RedBackLoggd “Tbh, I'm surprised by the positive rating b/c I feel like 70% of this review was critiquing the project as a whole: the holier-than-thou first act, limited fear factor, and divorcing from Silent Hill's core roots. I'm guessing the personal chord links you talked about were the biggest contributing factor to the score?”
Yes and no. They certainly didn’t hurt. The overall thing I was going for with this review was making it clear that, yes, I am disappointed by what’s happening to the franchise here, but also rather begrudgingly acknowledging that just because it isn’t for me doesn’t mean it’s bad. Needed to get my annoyed old man rant out, but didn’t want to let my frustration cause me to pretend there’s no quality here at all like I feel most are doing.
“Also would've appreciated some mentions about the visuals and/or soundscape as those are obviously integral to a horror game's atmosphere.”
Fair enough. I basically skipped over all that because I don’t have too much interesting to say on those fronts. Guess I could touch on that in this comment a little bit. Visually it’s your fairly basic dark abandoned environment littered with junk everywhere. The otherworld segments are classic Silent Hill. I’ve seen all the praise for Masahiro Ito’s monster design, but I’m not quite that high on it. It’s decent, but around the caliber of a basic enemy type in any other SH game. Of course Akira Yamaoka came back to do the soundtrack. It’s solid, but far from his best work. “My Heroine” is good for example, but has nothing on the theatrical excellence of “Room of Angel” or the underrated power of Homecoming’s vocal tracks. I honestly got more aurally from the natural ambient sounds of something walking or banging around in the next room right up until I realized they were red herrings.
“That said, I didn't appreciate this line: "..." Too boomerish and stereotyping for my liking”
🤷 Could be argued the line you did like is guilty of that as well though.
Anyways, I really appreciate the comment and feedback. It’s nice to know somebody actually reads these things sometimes 😂 So thank you for that!
Yes and no. They certainly didn’t hurt. The overall thing I was going for with this review was making it clear that, yes, I am disappointed by what’s happening to the franchise here, but also rather begrudgingly acknowledging that just because it isn’t for me doesn’t mean it’s bad. Needed to get my annoyed old man rant out, but didn’t want to let my frustration cause me to pretend there’s no quality here at all like I feel most are doing.
“Also would've appreciated some mentions about the visuals and/or soundscape as those are obviously integral to a horror game's atmosphere.”
Fair enough. I basically skipped over all that because I don’t have too much interesting to say on those fronts. Guess I could touch on that in this comment a little bit. Visually it’s your fairly basic dark abandoned environment littered with junk everywhere. The otherworld segments are classic Silent Hill. I’ve seen all the praise for Masahiro Ito’s monster design, but I’m not quite that high on it. It’s decent, but around the caliber of a basic enemy type in any other SH game. Of course Akira Yamaoka came back to do the soundtrack. It’s solid, but far from his best work. “My Heroine” is good for example, but has nothing on the theatrical excellence of “Room of Angel” or the underrated power of Homecoming’s vocal tracks. I honestly got more aurally from the natural ambient sounds of something walking or banging around in the next room right up until I realized they were red herrings.
“That said, I didn't appreciate this line: "..." Too boomerish and stereotyping for my liking”
🤷 Could be argued the line you did like is guilty of that as well though.
Anyways, I really appreciate the comment and feedback. It’s nice to know somebody actually reads these things sometimes 😂 So thank you for that!
1) I definitely respect that. It can be hard, especially as a longtime fan of a property, to put aside your love and biases to critique a project fairly, but you did a phenomenal job on that front. It's just the review reads more like a 3/5 haha.
2) Thanks man for fleshing that part out. Disappointed to hear that the monster designs and score didn't live up to the past, but at least the auralness sounds dope. Even knowing something isn't gonna kill can't stop good old-fashioned physiological reactions haha.
3) That's true, but I think the difference (from my perception) is that the first line came across as a zinger first, commentary second; whereas the last one was more commentary first, zinger second if that makes sense?
4) Bro, everyone I follow I read their works because they always provide something insightful. You're a talented writer and I appreciate this write-up regardless of my disagreements.
2) Thanks man for fleshing that part out. Disappointed to hear that the monster designs and score didn't live up to the past, but at least the auralness sounds dope. Even knowing something isn't gonna kill can't stop good old-fashioned physiological reactions haha.
3) That's true, but I think the difference (from my perception) is that the first line came across as a zinger first, commentary second; whereas the last one was more commentary first, zinger second if that makes sense?
4) Bro, everyone I follow I read their works because they always provide something insightful. You're a talented writer and I appreciate this write-up regardless of my disagreements.
@TheQuietGamer Really great review! You touched on the same subject we talked about in your Shattered Memories review: Silent Hill doesn't have to be directly related to the cult, the town, Alessa or any other of the most overt pieces of lore to be Silent Hill. This really seems to be the direction they're taking with these new projects and I don't think this is inherently a bad thing. Sure, it could result in disappointing games regardless, but at least it gives the developers the opportunity to create something more unique instead of a game that is too derivative of the ones that came before in the series.
I felt more or less the same way about the game as you did, with the exception of actually really disliking that final chase sequence. I just thought that the extremelly disorienting design of the level and the complete lack of checkpoints made the whole thing frustrating and not scary at all. It ended up leaving a bad taste at the end, you know? Still, I really thought this was a valiant attempt that clearly has merits and it's actually trying to say something, despite what some of the very extreme reviews are saying.
I felt more or less the same way about the game as you did, with the exception of actually really disliking that final chase sequence. I just thought that the extremelly disorienting design of the level and the complete lack of checkpoints made the whole thing frustrating and not scary at all. It ended up leaving a bad taste at the end, you know? Still, I really thought this was a valiant attempt that clearly has merits and it's actually trying to say something, despite what some of the very extreme reviews are saying.
@Victormdesa Honestly, I’ve thought about that a lot. I feel like that conversation is what allowed me to go into this with an open mind and accept it for what it is. So thank you for that!
I can understand your disappointment with the final chase. I think what made me like it was just that the encounters with the monster felt a bit more dynamic. The lack of checkpoints was tedious for me as well though.
I can understand your disappointment with the final chase. I think what made me like it was just that the encounters with the monster felt a bit more dynamic. The lack of checkpoints was tedious for me as well though.
@TheQuietGamer I'm really glad our conversation helped in giving you this perspective! Here's hoping Konami actually takes advantage of this new direction to create games that stand on their own and offer something interesting.
RedBackLoggd
1 month ago
Ngl, this line made me burst out laughing. You really nailed it haha.
That said, I didn't appreciate this line: "This is Silent Hill aimed at a new, younger generation. A crowd that, let's be honest, has been programmed to require all their information and successes be spoon-fed to them." Too boomerish and stereotyping for my liking.
Overall great review. Tbh, I'm surprised by the positive rating b/c I feel like 70% of this review was critiquing the project as a whole: the holier-than-thou first act, limited fear factor, and divorcing from Silent Hill's core roots. I'm guessing the personal chord links you talked about were the biggest contributing factor to the score?
Also would've appreciated some mentions about the visuals and/or soundscape as those are obviously integral to a horror game's atmosphere.