'Nobody Knows What a Soulslike Is' — Silent Hill f Sparks Heated Debate Within the Fandom

As Silent Hill f fans pore implicit the slew of previews that went unrecorded precocious (you tin work ours close here), 2 questions are consistently popping up connected societal media and instrumentality communities: is the latest mainline Silent Hill really a 'Soulslike' game? And if it is, what does the word 'Soulslike' adjacent mean anyway?

As we described successful IGN's Silent Hill f hands-on preview, combat itself has a akin consciousness to Silent Hill 2 Remake’s close-range combat. You tin dodge force attacks with the DualSense’s ellipse fastener and activate a airy and dense onslaught with R1 and R2, respectively. Your constricted scope and lengthy onslaught motions springiness a realistic, weighty consciousness to combat. Heavy attacks, especially, consciousness dilatory and request to beryllium timed well, "contributing to the feeling that Hinako is conscionable a teen with constricted strength."

On apical of that, however, Silent Hill f’s combat besides features timed dodges and counterattacks, with the second peculiarly important successful combat sequences. Enemies concisely amusement a motion erstwhile a counterattack tin beryllium utilized, but we suggested that "unless you person trained your reflex skills by playing games similar of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, you volition apt person a hard clip reacting." That’s wherever the Focus mode comes in, which tin beryllium triggered by holding L2. It allows counterattacks to past longer, portion besides charging up a powerfulness onslaught that staggers an enemy.

While bid shaper Motoi Okamoto hasn't specifically mentioned the Soulslike genre, and by our estimation, Silent Hill f is "by nary means a Soulslike," speech of parries and counterattacks travel arsenic rather the astonishment to Silent Hill fans. The franchise has ne'er been celebrated for its clunky combat — communicative and ambiance person astir ever travel archetypal — but Okatomo's proposition that f's combat sequences had been ratcheted up due to the fact that "challenging enactment games are gaining popularity among younger players nowadays" has beauteous overmuch divided the fandom.

The bequest of FromSoftware’s Souls bid isn’t conscionable defined by the astonishing games successful its back-catalog, but besides the subgenre that’s been fixed beingness acknowledgment to its precise existence: The Soulslike. While defining 1 is kinda tricky, determination are halfway elements that thin to use to Souls games, specified arsenic punishing consequences for death, Souls — oregon a akin currency — gained by defeating enemies that is integral to quality progression and tin beryllium mislaid upon death, methodical combat, typically tied to a stamina meter, and checkpoints that reset the world.

For some, however, Soulslike tin simply mean pugnacious melee combat that involves learning to foretell an enemy's onslaught pattern.

In a thread entitled, "Silent Hill f is not 'souls-like' and nary 1 present seems to cognize what that means," a Redditor said: "Genuinely baffling. This is nexus [sic] 2nd graders being told to sanction an entity and telephone a toaster a blender. Like, I don't deliberation you adjacent cognize what a Soulslike is.

"Having a dodge rotation and hard bosses applies to similar 90% of third-person games that beryllium lol. Like you radical cannot beryllium serious. Souls games person dense and airy attack, tight-nit dodge intensive combat. You person frame-perfect dodges [...] immense accent connected stamina management, with shields, interruption meters, and absorption connected sidesplitting enemies to get c[urrency].

"Silent elevation f has similar 1.5 of those. This blatant prevarication needs to stop. Anyone with eyes who isn't afloat of sh*t tin spot this is thing similar a Soulslike."

It's the broader disorder betwixt what and what is not indicative of a "Soulslike" crippled that's frustrating players, though.

"To beryllium fair, cipher knows what a Soulslike is," admitted a respondent. "This is intelligibly demonstrated connected the Soulslike sub by regular arguments astir whether oregon not a crippled is simply a Soulslike."

"I've sunk hundreds of hours into FromSoftware's games and Soulslikes similar Nioh," said idiosyncratic else. "Nothing astir Silent Hill f looks similar a Soulslike different than there's a people lock-on strategy and a stamina meter. Which is in, you know: a cardinal different games that are not goddamn Soulslikes."

Confusingly, others who person besides played Souls-inspired games don't concur, however, starring to sizeable disagreement to what does, and does not, marque a Soulslike game. Is it the melee combat? The request to parry? Or does immoderate crippled that requires players to larn an enemy's onslaught signifier count?

"I’m inactive excited for the game, but the comparisons to Souls combat are truly wide guys, similar travel on…" posited one. "Invincible dodge, fastener connected system, airy and dense attacks, aggregate effort brag fights investigating your combat prowess… Even the combat UI is intelligibly inspired by enactment games."

"People kick astir the combat becoming melee-focused similar they don't retrieve Silent Hill 4. Breakable weapons are indispensable without the firearms if we inactive privation the crippled to enactment a endurance horror," explained different fan. "This full concern feels similar Silent Hill 2 Remake each implicit again with astir the aforesaid talking points."

Okamoto said that tougher combat, with the visuals and music's "juxtaposition betwixt quality and terror," on with the "terrible quality of the game’s monster design," makes for a terrifying adventure. Even the puzzles are seemingly "grounded successful intelligence anguish and suffering." Quite however players respond to each that erstwhile Silent Hill f yet releases adjacent month, of course, remains to beryllium seen.

Silent Hill f takes america to 1960s Japan, wherever we'll travel Hinako Shimizu, a teen struggling nether the unit of expectations from her friends, family, and society. As displayed astatine the opening of the Japanese-language uncover trailer backmost successful March, it is the archetypal Silent Hill crippled to get an 18+ standing certification successful Japan. It's retired for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series connected September 25.

In lawsuit you're wondering, no, Silent Hill f is not a sequel to immoderate of the existing Silent Hill games, truthful you tin play it adjacent if you've ne'er jumped into a Silent Hill crippled before. Instead, it volition connection a standalone communicative "independent from the series." That came from steadfast Konami itself, which yet confirmed connected X/Twitter that the latest instalment of the fearfulness bid — which is usually, if not always, acceptable successful a sleepy edifice municipality connected east-coast America — volition beryllium "a wholly caller title" that "people who person ne'er played the Silent Hill bid tin enjoy."

Vikki Blake is simply a newsman for IGN, arsenic good arsenic a critic, columnist, and advisor with 15+ years acquisition moving with immoderate of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's besides a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her astatine BlueSky.