There’s a lot of hype surrounding Silent Hill f, the next major installment in Konami’s iconic survival horror franchise — and the first to be set in Japan. With a fresh aesthetic and a greater emphasis on action gameplay, many fans have been quick to label it a soulslike, but producer Motoi Okamoto strongly disagrees.
🧠 Silent Hill f Is Not a Soulslike, Says Producer
The rise of the soulslike subgenre, popularized by FromSoftware’s Dark Souls and Elden Ring, has led many players to categorize almost any challenging third-person action game with stamina mechanics under that umbrella. Silent Hill f features stamina bars, strong and weak attacks, dodging, and parrying — but Okamoto believes the label doesn’t apply.
In a recent interview with IGN, he pushed back against the comparison:
“This is something we see a lot online — the term soulslike. And I think it’s a bit of a misleading label. Modern players will see, for example, a stamina gauge or a dodge mechanic and say, ‘okay, this is a soulslike.’ But honestly, we pulled many of these ideas from classic Silent Hill games.”
Okamoto pointed to Silent Hill 3, which included a stamina bar, and Silent Hill 2, which used a charge-up system for attacks. These mechanics, he says, have always existed in the franchise, and Silent Hill f is staying true to those roots rather than mimicking FromSoftware’s formula.
😤 Frustration Over Fan Expectations
IGN reports that Okamoto is frustrated by the growing narrative that Silent Hill f is trying to imitate soulslike design. While the game clearly blends horror and action, he stresses it’s not meant to rival Dark Souls or Elden Ring.
“These features aren’t new or exclusive to soulslikes. They’ve been a part of horror and action games for a long time. If you have them, people just assume it’s a soulslike. We want to make it clear: we’re an action-horror game, but we are not a soulslike.”
🎮 Why Silent Hill f Focuses More on Action
Beyond the mechanics, some longtime fans are uneasy about the game’s shift toward action. Earlier entries in the series featured combat, but encounters were often sparse and atmospheric. In Silent Hill f, action will be much more frequent, especially as protagonist Hinako Shimizu confronts a growing supernatural threat.
Okamoto explains this shift is intentional, aimed at bringing something new to the franchise:
“We didn’t want to remake Silent Hill 2 over and over. We knew there was no reason to make clones. So, to avoid repeating what previous great games already did, we decided to make the action more prominent.”
Are you excited for this bold new direction for the Silent Hill franchise? Or do you think the action focus takes away from what made the originals so iconic?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
