‘These Things Aren't New and Exclusive to Soulslike Games' — Silent Hill f Producer Wants to Set the Record Straight on Combat

Is Silent Hill f a soulslike? It’s a question the Silent Hill fandom has been debating for immoderate clip now. But successful a caller interrogation with IGN, Konami insisted it's not, and expressed a grade of vexation with the ongoing debate.

Silent Hill f takes america to 1960s Japan, wherever we travel Hinako Shimizu, a teen struggling nether the unit of expectations from her friends, family, and society. As IGN reported successful our Silent Hill f hands-on preview, its combat 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, 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.

Talk of parries and counterattacks has travel arsenic a astonishment to immoderate Silent Hill fans, and Konami’s proposition that Silent Hill f's combat sequences were ratcheted up due to the fact that "challenging enactment games are gaining popularity among younger players nowadays" has divided the fandom.

But successful an interrogation with IGN astatine gamescom 2025, Silent Hill shaper Motoi Okamoto acceptable the grounds straight. He insisted Silent Hill f is not a soulslike, contempt the mechanics astatine play successful its combat, and adjacent said applying that statement to the crippled is "disingenuous."

“This is 1 of the things that we spot — the word soulslike — being thrown astir connected the net rather a bit,” helium began. “And I deliberation it’s a statement that’s a small spot disingenuous. Modern players volition spot like, ohio there’s a stamina meter, there’s a dodge, and they're like, ‘Okay, it’s a soulslike.’

“But to beryllium precise honest, a batch of these things we really pulled from classical Silent Hill titles. Look astatine Silent Hill 4 — there’s a complaint metre for your attacks, benignant of similar our Focus meter. And adjacent for Silent Hill 3 there's a stamina meter. You spot it aboriginal on.”

Okamoto went connected to accidental Silent Hill f’s combat mechanics aren’t exclusive to the soulslike genre, expressing a grade of vexation with the online dialog surrounding the game.

“These things aren’t caller and exclusive to soulslike games,” helium said. “They’ve been a portion of enactment fearfulness games for a very, precise agelong time. If you person these things you’re labeled a soulslike. And we’d similar to reiterate we are an enactment fearfulness game, but we are not a soulslike.”

Silent Hill f comes retired connected PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S connected September 25.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].