Though the future of Silent Hill is a bit murky, it's clear that Konami is attempting to revive the influential survival-horror franchise in the wake of the genre's modern-day boom. Right now, the hottest upcoming Silent Hill project is the Silent Hill 2 remake, but the future of the franchise will be written by all-new releases like Silent Hill f and Townfall. These titles have the opportunity to define the identity of Silent Hill in the current generation, and looking at what the series has done well in the past could help them achieve creative success.

When discussing Silent Hill, the first three games are often looked to as the pinnacle of the series. While the stories of Harry, James, and Heather do represent some of Konami's best work, it's not like the rest of Silent Hill has been inconsequential. Rather, many post-SH3 games have strived toward meaningful innovation in gameplay and presentation, with 2009's Silent Hill: Shattered Memories being perhaps the best example of this commitment to creativity. As the series moves into the era of contemporary gaming, taking a few notes from this classic Wii game could stoke the creative flames of the franchise, once again establishing it as a thought-provoking industry leader.

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New Silent Hill Games Could Learn from Shattered Memories' Psychological Profiling

How Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Gets Into the Player's Head

There are loads of reasons why Shattered Memories is so unique. Originally released as a Nintendo Wii exclusive, the game leverages the console's unique hardware to increase immersion in unexpected ways, creatively utilizing features like motion controls and the controller-integrated speaker. But the most captivating and compelling Shattered Memories mechanic has nothing to do with hardware at all and could be easily replicated in a future title.

Silent Hill is scariest when honing in on psychological horror, with the series heavily implying that the titular town is more of a manifestation of a given individual's fears or grief than a hotbed of demonic activity. Shattered Memories doubles down on this interpretation, altering the environment, character designs, and narrative in accordance with certain playstyles. Sessions with Michael Kaufmann, the in-game therapist, play the most obvious role in the psychological profile that the game builds for each player, but he is only part of the puzzle.

The Nuance of Shattered Memories' Psych Profiles Is What Makes It Work

While Shattered Memories uses the Kaufmann sessions to telegraph its psychological profiling feature, there are several other systems at work behind the scenes. For instance, if the player adopts a nonchalant playstyle, taking their time during crucial moments or being overly concerned with trivialities, this will be registered by the game, leading to changes in enemy and NPC design, cutscenes, and even the ending of the game. In this way, Shattered Memories goes beyond Silent Hill's usual emphasis on choice, obfuscating which decisions will have an impact. This lends the game an unsettling sense of omniscience, as it molds itself around player choice without announcing it.

The subtlety of this psychological profiling system encourages dissection and repeat playthroughs, but it also supports the game's themes. The identity of the Silent Hill franchise is built around the idea that one's subconscious can shape their reality, so the games are a natural fit for mechanics built around player choice. But when the games are too obvious about what each decision means and how it will impact the narrative, it can undermine the sense of immersion and deep-seated terror. Shattered Memories shows how player agency can be effectively used in a horror game, and future Silent Hill games would be wise to adopt a similar design philosophy.

Silent Hill 2 Remake

Silent Hill 2 is a remake of the classic 2001 survival-horror game, developed by Bloober Team and published by Konami. It features an over-the-shoulder camera and gameplay changes inspired by other horror game remakes.

Franchise

Silent Hill

Platform(s)

PC , PS5

Developer(s)

Bloober Team

Publisher(s)

Konami

Genre(s)

Survival Horror