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Silent Hill has come back bigger and badder than ever. We got the phenomenal Silent Hill 2 remake, Silent Hill f, and the much anticipated Silent Hill: Townfall. Silent Hill f did what many were afraid to do and somehow managed to pull off, do something different. Silent Hill f showed we have to be able to take risks and try new things. Silent Hill: Townfall is taking things even further in a new direction and I am all for it. Let’s dive into why this is exactly what the series needs to stay relevant.
New Location, New Blood
This is gold for a Silent Hill set piece
As I said previously in my article why Resident Evil always seemed to have the upper hand, Silent Hill always had one glaring issue holding it back, its biggest strength was also its biggest weakness. The setting itself. We love the dreary fog-filled town, but sadly even the most beloved setting can become stale over time. Silent Hill f decided to take the series out of the fog-filled town in Maine and bring us to 1960s Japan. Great step in the right direction. Townfall is following suit, having it take place in a gloomy abandoned Scottish village. If there is one place where cool scary stuff can happen, it’s in Europe. If any series can work as an anthology, it’s this one.
Silent Hill Can Expand Its Lore Infinitely
This would make an awesome boss fight !
Silent Hill can be seen as more of an intangible idea that can take place anywhere, the possibilities are endless. With new locations comes new characters, new lore, and much more room for creativity. Scotland is packed to the brim with folklore that is prime Silent Hill material. The Baobahn Sith, a terrifying vampire woman, or Cu-Sith, a ferocious, bloodthirsty man-eating hound, and an abundance of other ghosts and ghouls. I know it sounds silly, but if done right, have the Loch Ness Monster be a boss fight. Freaking do it!
First Person terror
Be much easier to aim !
Silent Hill: Townfall is also going the Resident Evil 7: Biohazard route, the first mainline entry to be first person. Evolution of gameplay (within reason) is a must for any long-running game franchise. Silent Hill: Homecoming, while pretty meh, deserves some credit for trying to switch up the gameplay. The original quadrilogy and Origins are absolute classics, that’s not even debatable. But let’s be real, like Resident Evil, its gameplay was becoming staler than 5-week-old bread. The fixed camera angles and combat were emphatically not sustainable across a series running this long. It would only become a matter of time before it would start to become extremely copy-paste. Taking the franchise in a first person perspective fits the series like a glove. Having enclosed, claustrophobic environments filled with monsters, right up in your face? Yes please!
Not Every Protagonist Has To Be James!
We don’t need every guy who goes to Silent Hill to be a broken, sad man who needs to reflect on everything.
The narrative details at the time of this article are loose and sparse. However, one thing the Silent Hill franchise seemed to never shake off was the legacy of Silent Hill 2. Like the setting, the most popular installment would become one of the biggest chips on its shoulder. After Origins, the series just thought recycling the synopsis of Silent Hill 2 was the key to success. The plot would be as follows: characters are drawn to Silent Hill, they face monsters, remember a terrible thing they did, come to terms, see what ending you got. Homecoming and Downpour definitely missed the mark when it came to storytelling, and that’s why the series died such an unflattering death. From this point on, please, just have a regular character in extraordinary circumstances, we don’t need every single freaking protagonist to go on a journey of redemption.
Only More To Come
Its been awhile Harry!
Silent Hill: Townfall looks to be a sharp and fresh take on the series. We need to keep taking the series in a bold new direction and let the series evolve. Any good developer learns from its success as well as its mistakes. Konami seems to finally be listening and giving the fans what they want. After Silent Hill:Townfall, we are actually getting a remake of the first game. I know it sounds a bit contradictory, but I think that remaking the first four games is the logical next step. All of the originals are due for a fresh coat of paint and quality-of-life improvements (especially Silent Hill 4: The Room). These would all be great holdovers while developers are given more time and room to contemplate all new future installments with even more fresh and bold ideas. Silent Hill is back and its future is looking bright, and it’s a great time to be a fan of the franchise. Keep your radio handy and stay tuned for what monstrosity walks out of the fog next.
