"Silent Hill" creator Keiichiro Toyama has claimed that he'd like to make another game like his spooky classic in the future.
According to IGN, Toyama has mentioned his desire to revisit the kind of game "Silent Hill" was-psychological horror-in a recent Q&A session talking about his new game studio. But wanting to go back to those kinds of horror games will likely be a different thing this time around.
This is made apparent in his new game, "Slitterhead," which is headlined by his newly established Bokeh Game Studio. In the aforementioned Q&A, Toyama talked about how the development for "Slitterhead" has allowed him to make a more "action-packed" game compared to his old projects.
Aside from that, he also mentioned that a potential return to making psychological horror games would have to be done under specific circumstances.
Here is his statement in full:
"I want someday to do something with some classic psychological horror themes like I did with Silent Hill. However, I'd rather do that when working with really limited resources, such as budget or having to focus on one individual. Right now, we have staff with the ability to work on action. I want to leverage their skills to go in another direction."
There hasn't been a new mainline "Silent Hill" game since 2012, when "Silent Hill: Downpour" was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (via TheGamer). That marks a decade since players had the last glimpse of Toyama's brand of horror games, and basically horror games as a whole. This is a genre that has been mostly defunct these days in favor of massively multiplayer shooters and open-world exploration-based titles.
But with "Slitterhead," it seems like the "Silent Hill" creator is back and ready to scare your pants off. Announced in 2021, the game was the respected game developer's first major project after leaving SCE Japan Studio in 2020, as reported by Eurogamer. There's no immediate release date for it yet.
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Why A Return To 'Silent Hill' Style Horror Games Could Be Great
There's a good reason why the "Silent Hill" franchise is considered an iconic one and home of what could be some of the scariest video games ever made.
GameRant explains what made these games absolutely terrifying: it takes away the power from you. Whereas the likes of "Resident Evil" games have you playing characters who are relatively well-armed and prepared for battle, the "Silent Hill" games make you feel as powerless and defenseless as possible while also putting in front of you a massive fear of the unknown.
Aside from a few things like a crowbar that you can use to defend yourself, there's not much you can do when encountering enemies in "Silent Hill" games. For one, the games only warned you of the presence of nearby monsters using static from a broken radio, which serves as some early warning system.
Mix this feeling of helplessness with its advancements in sound design, truly terrifying creature designs, and the possibility of alternate endings (one of the first to do so, according to ScreenRant), and the "Silent Hill" franchise has earned a rightful reputation that no other horror games can ever match.
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Story posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce