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“Silent Hill f is a Soulslike.” I’m not going to say things like ‘take a drink every time you hear this’, because I don’t want to sound like I’m advocating for any particular lifestyle decision, but if you were to engage in such activities, I reckon you’d be right-properly sloshed if you hang around certain internet gaming communities.
Konami is as tired of everybody calling everything a soulslike as your humble author is, it seems, because Motoi Okamoto, a producer on Silent Hill f, provided some candid words of rebuttal on the issue in an interview so recent that I can practically still sense his frustrated aura emanating from the words.
The Dark Souls Of Tired Refrains
In an interview with IGN during Gamescom 2025, Okamoto let it all out, as well he should at this point:
“This is one of the things that we see — the term soulslike — being thrown around on the internet quite a bit. And I think it’s a label that’s a little bit disingenuous. Modern players will see like, oh there’s a stamina meter, there’s a dodge, and they’re like, ‘Okay, it’s a soulslike.’” -Motoi Okamoto
He goes on to cite specific similarities to Silent Hill f in the gameplay mechanics seen in past installments. “Look at Silent Hill 4 – there’s a charge meter for your attacks, kind of like our focus meter. And even for Silent Hill 3, there’s a stamina meter.” While I’m admittedly not sure these comparisons do full justice to the reasons that some fans have been so quick to cry Dark Souls at the sight of Shimizu Hinako’s pipe-wielding fast-dodges, I respect the point in full.
“Soulslike” elements have been staples of the action-horror genre of video games since long before Fromsoftware brought them into sharper pop-cultural focus, Okamoto explains. “If you have these things you’re labeled a soulslike. ANd we’d like to reiterate we are an action horror game, but we are not a soulslike.” The producer even references Silent Hill f’s focus meter as existing precisely because many players will not come to the game with a built-in expertise on the types of combat skills needed in that other genre.
“Unless you have trained your reflex skills by playing games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice you will likely have a hard time reacting,” he says, and the IGN interview’s broader text explains that the focus meter permits a wider window of opportunity for counterattacking, as well as a charged-up strike, in order to accommodate the many gamers among us – myself included – who have not spent countless hours perfect-parrying our way past diabolically difficult boss battles.
We’ll all see for ourselves when Silent Hill f launches on September 25 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Silent Hill f
- Released
- September 25, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity
- Developer(s)
- Neobards Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Konami
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
