Summary

• Silent Hill: The Short Message explores difficult, real-world themes through a survival horror lens, capturing what made the original Silent Hill games successful.
• But in order to revitalize the franchise, The Short Message needs to avoid the mistakes of prior releases like Silent Hill: Ascension.
• Other Silent Hill projects like the Silent Hill 2 Remake and Silent Hill F have potential, but their success remains to be seen.

This article contains mention of suicide.

Even though the Silent Hill series is in dire straits, Silent Hill: The Short Message could be poised to save it. Once upon a time, Silent Hill was the first and last name in survival horror. It had a series of hits in its early years: the creepily atmospheric original Silent Hill in 1999, followed by the captivating emotional journey of Silent Hill 2. Gameplay wise, the series began to stagnate a bit beginning with Silent Hill 3, but remained pretty consistent in its innovative horror narratives for several years to come.

That all changed beginning in 2014. The teaser P.T. was met with universal delight and acclaim. Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima, director Guillermo del Toro, and actor Norman Reedus were attached to the reality-warping sequel Silent Hills, which sounded like the kick in the pants Silent Hill needed. But after conflicts arose, Kojima parted ways with Konami, and SIlent Hills was abruptly canceled. The franchise has languished in limbo ever since - until 2022, when a spate of Silent Hill: The Short Message could replace P.T., but does it really have what it takes?

The Short Message Sounds Like Classic Silent Hill

Despite lacking an official confirmation from Konami, plot details of Silent Hill: The Short Message have already been made publicly available in a filing by The Australian Classification Board, which was subsequently reported on by Video Games Chronicle. The filing appears to have since been removed from the ACB’s site, but is reproduced in full via VCG. It includes an in-depth description of the game’s plot, which suggests that The Short Message takes full advantage of what makes classic Silent Hill work.

Silent Hill: The Short Message centers on a woman named Anita, as she explores the apartment building in where her friend Maya previously took her own life. As she wanders through the halls, Anita discovers evidence that points to Maya's troubled past, and begins experiencing events in Maya's life as if they were happening to her. But, more importantly, the ACB reporter goes on to say that "depictions of suicide and self-harm within the game occur in the broader context of discourse exploring issues revolving around mental health which encourages players to seek help or offer to those in need."

In essence, Silent Hill: The Short Message will explore very real, serious issues through a survival horror lens. That's what Silent Hill has always done best: portray characters with real, relatable struggles that are elevated by the externalization of their internal conflicts. This not only makes them scarier and more suitable for inclusion in a survival horror game, but also demonstrates that these obstacles are surmountable, and these monsters can be defeated. As a result, players relate to and root for Silent Hill protagonists. Even as they undergo experiences that could never be replicated in the real world, they're anchored by the realism of their internal conflicts.

If these leaks are fully accurate, The Short Message doesn't sound like anything too revolutionary for the Silent Hill series. It could represent a long overdue return to form, which could reignite continued interest in further Silent Hill games to come. However, The Short Message will need to learn from the Silent Hill games before it in order to truly revive the franchise.

Silent Hill: The Short Message Can't Repeat Ascension's Mistake

The first new Silent Hill release in nearly a decade, the interactive series Silent Hill: Ascension, stumbled in a way that The Short Message will need to avoid if it's going to save the franchise. The ongoing series sparked interest when it was first revealed - it wasn't the most expected direction for Silent Hill to take, but it looked captivating enough to draw a little attention. Unfortunately, Silent Hill: Ascension's release was plagued by microtransactions.

Ascension is technically free to play, but players must spend Influence Points in order to vote on decisions in its interactive story. And while there are ways for players to earn Influence Points without spending money, the easiest and most lucrative way to do so is to sacrifice their credit card information for a few more votes. The story, presentation, and interface have their issues, but even if they were pixel-perfect, any hard-hitting themes introduced by the story are immediately cheapened by the inclusion of microtransactions.

Now microtransactions aren't usually associated with single-player, story-focused, non-live-service games like what Silent Hill: The Short Message appears to be, but there is a model for how they can work. Ubisoft showed it could be done with Assassin's Creed Odyssey, making microtransactions viable by turning the game into a grindy slog, then selling players power-ups to let them skip content or jump ahead in levels of progression.

It's easy to see how a similar method could be applied to the survival horror formula. In a game where every bullet counts, players may pay a for these items when they're cornered. It might make developers a nice chunk of change, but again, it deflates all narrative tension, and cheapens a game that attempts to take on serious themes.

Other Silent Hill Projects May Also Have A Chance At Revitalizing The Franchise

The Silent Hill 2 Remake, Silent Hill: Downfall, And Silent Hill F Are All Confirmed

But still, there are other Silent Hill projects already confirmed to be in development, and any one of these could beat the unannounced Silent Hill: The Short Message to the punch. However, based on what little is already known about them, not all of these have the same potential to be the long-awaited series reprisal. The Silent Hill 2 remake looks interesting enough, but a simple remake isn't enough to completely revive interest in a long-silent franchise. And with Bloober Team's mixed reputation and lack of experience in the survival horror genre, the Silent Hill 2 remake could be in trouble.

There's also Silent Hill: Townfall. That one's being developed by Annapurna Interactive, which has a good pedigree when it comes to story-heavy, interactive experiences. However, there's little to nothing to say about Townfall at this early stage in its development. The teaser was bare by design, showing just a little bit of creepy footage playing on a handheld portable TV. Silent Hill: Townfall could be the bold new direction the series needs - but at this point, it could also be absolutely anything else.

And finally, Silent Hill F is also in development. There's only a little more to say about it: Konami has already revealed that it's set in 1960s Japan, and has a flower motif similar to the one teased for Silent Hill: The Short Message. It's being written by Ryukishi07, the author of the seminal visual novel series When They Cry. Ryukishi07 has a long history of writing games where personal conflicts collide with supernatural forces, which is right down Silent Hill's alley, but again, there's nothing else to know about what this game will be.

While that's all there is to say about any of these projects at this point, it is worth noting that most of the planned future Silent Hill projects are set outside the titular town. That suggests that Konami is really trying to do something new with the future of Silent Hill, but whether it'll be enough remains to be seen.

Konami is making a real show of the Silent Hill revival. But at this point, it’s hard to tell where the franchise stands. Ascension had a severely flawed launch, and the only other planned release to have more than the tiniest crumbs of information unveiled is the Silent Hill 2 remake, which may not be enough to renew interest in the series. Some of the other projects seem promising, but their true potential will only become clear as more about these Silent Hill games is revealed, and once The Short Message is officially announced.

Source: Video Games Chronicle