Silent Hill collection producer Motoi Okamoto says 'because the collection progressed, I felt that the essence of Japanese horror was misplaced'
Whereas the massive information out of Konami’s Press Begin occasion was the welcome announcement that Bloober Staff is remaking the unique Silent Hill, there was additionally a considerable behind-the-scenes phase on the upcoming Silent Hill F, which we’ll see loads earlier than a remake Konami did not even have footage of.
Silent Hill F is a prequel set in Showa-era Japan. Which is not the first time Silent Hill has left the city it is named after—the opening of Silent Hill 3, as an example—however is taking a a lot additional journey, all the way in which to a small city referred to as Ebisugaoka.
“Silent Hill was a collection that fused the essence of western horror and Japanese horror,” collection producer Motoi Okamoto mentioned, “however because the collection progressed, I felt that the essence of Japanese horror was misplaced. I started to really feel a need to create a Silent Hill with 100% essence of Japanese-style horror.”
A part of what makes Silent Hill distinctive is that it is impressed by a lot American horror—the books of Stephen King, motion pictures like Jacob’s Ladder—however seen by way of a Japanese lens. It has streets named after Dean Koontz, Robert Bloch, Richard Bachman, and Ira Levin, but additionally borrows from the books of Ryū Murakami and Kōbō Abe, and the monsters you encounter there and the otherworld you journey to have designs that really feel like a Japanese tackle Clive Barker through David Lynch.
“The hallmark of Japanese horror shouldn’t be merely grotesqueness however the coexistence of magnificence and the disturbing,” Okamoto went on to say. “We’re creating this title with the idea ‘discover the wonder in terror’.”
Al Yang, sport director at Silent Hill F improvement studio Neobards, elaborated on that. “As a key idea in Silent Hill F is the concept of magnificence in terror. We created our visible designs to have a definite uneasiness to them, but additionally have a horrific allure that will make it so that you simply could not cease staring.” These designs are primarily based on ideas by Japanese artist Kera, who has labored on Spirit Hunter: NG and Magic: The Gathering.
Given how poorly acquired a lot of the Silent Hill video games made by American studios have been—particularly Homecoming, with its ex-Particular Forces protagonist making a pointy distinction to the abnormal folks beforehand featured within the collection—having a sequel that is as Japanese as it may be is smart. Although I’d miss oddities like having a college stage primarily based on visible reference taken from Kindergarten Cop.