Set in 1960s Japan

[leftshoe18]

My wild speculation is that the main character is actually an older woman, and this young girl is just a projection of her younger self. She fears growing old and rotting away, hence the fungi and flowers growing out of her body. She is actually in Silent Hill, but it manifests itself as a version of the rural Japanese town from her childhood.

I really, really like this idea.

[Alexius Corvinus]

As a related question, what locales do you think we might see, and how do you think Overworld will be handled?

I think someone from Japan will go to Silent Hill, Maine, and later somehow bring a piece of Silent Hill with them, including White Claudia/PTV. As for the town itself, it will likely represent a clash of old and new, East and west, rural and industrialized. They’ve already shown an industrialized area so far. Maybe parts of the town will change according to a pivotal character’s psyche, which might be where elements of the town of SH might be there. Later in the game, the locales look more chaotically placed and somewhat uncharacteristic for a 1960s Japanese town. This segue’s into Jonipoon’s idea they’re actually in Silent Hill. But if the character is actually an older woman in the modern day reliving a distorted version of her past, then maybe that’s how this game ties into Sakura with the SMS and the internet. I have a feeling there will be a hub analogous to the internet between Japan, Silent Hill proper, and perhaps the UK (where minger came from). The otherworld would be a nightmarish display of those flowers and spider lilies. As for the plot, I think it will involve sensitive topics like bullying, child abuse, death, along with decay, the supernatural, the occult, with floral monsters and demons. It’s just my dumb speculation. I also think the main protagonist will be a woman in her 20’s but she’s actually quite a bit older in modern times, and we learn this in the second half. The lead pipe alludes to combat in the game (melee, and most likely ranged too).

[LanceS133]

Wait, SH4 had a huge focus on Japanese horror? I think the only connection I made as being Japanese-themed was the style of Cynthia's ghost.

Hi Phantomess, can't forget about the album art for The Room's soundtrack too! Although, I am just an uncultured American so it may not even be Japanese so excuse my ignorance if it's not lol I always thought it looked like a tapestry.

[The Adversary]

>I am just an uncultured American so it may not even be Japanese so excuse my ignorance if it's not<
It's called Ukiyo-e style. So, yeah, Japanese.

[CaLviN_BR]

I have a somewhat wild theory about Silent Hill. If I remember correctly, there's an old interview with one of the developers of the earlier games (SH1, 2, 3, etc) where they said something like "Silent Hill is a metaphor", when asked where exactly Silent Hill is.

Since then, I started to theorize that maybe their idea for Silent Hill is not having its location set in stone, so it could be something like Hyrule to the Zelda franchise or Ivalice to FF. It is a town that serves its purpose for a particular game, and that's it. So far, all iterations of Silent Hill placed it in the US, but to be honest, it has never been actually replicated across different games (with the exception of SH3, which is a direct continuation of Sh1). Even SH2 map has some inconsistencies with 1 (even though it is technically set on a different part of town).

If we look at the games that came after, SH4 was barely in Silent Hill, but the parts that were looked very different than the previous games. The same happened with Homecoming, and even worst with Downpour (in this one, the city had a clear "European-look" in general). SIlent Hill Shattered Memories also features a completely different Silent Hill. Granted, those were not made by the original developers, and those changes were somewhat expected, but it might just be that they were granted these liberties exactly because this is what the original intent was.

So, my point is: it could just be that Silent Hill F is actually entirely set in Silent Hill, it just so happens that in this iteration Silent Hill is a small town in Japan, why not? It sounds like a big departure from what we're used to, but I feel it aligns with the original intention for the series.

[The Adversary]

>Even SH2 map has some inconsistencies with 1 (even though it is technically set on a different part of town).<
SILENT HILL and SILENT HILL 2 don't have any overlapping locations, so there aren't any inconsistencies.

And SILENT HILL 2 and SILENT HILL 3's destination is the same—they both take place in South Vale.

>SH4 was barely in Silent Hill, but the parts that were looked very different than the previous games.<
The locations in Silent Hill in SILENT HILL 4: THE ROOM are places we haven't seen before, so we can't really say it looks different from previous games. And SHATTERED MEMORIES is a "reimagining" of the first game's story—it, and its map, have no bearing on the rest of the series' canon. It simply doesn't exist within the context of the rest of the games. When talking about Harry Mason, we don't talk about SH:SM's Harry unless strictly in the confines of that game; whereas Harry from the first game is universal among the rest of the games.

In that regard, the Ivalice/Hyrule analogy doesn't really work because all the other games exist in the same universe and are affected by each other. It may always be the "same" Link, but it's not really the same Link, whereas in the Silent Hill series, Alessa Gillespie is universal throughout.

I just don't see the Silent Hill is in Japan too idea convincing. However, I do think—which maybe I mentioned in this thread—that there are other Silent Hill-like towns across the globe that have similar capabilities (the drawing people in, the guilt stuff, the Otherworld), and I think that has to do with the power of the Flauros and how it's traveled across the globe over the centuries.

[Droo]

So you think the F stands for Flauros?

[CaLviN_BR]

Well, what we know so far is that it is definitively set in 60s Japan. If it will be connected to a Silent Hill town in the US or entirely based in Japan remains to be seen.

I'm not 100% sure I really like this theory of mine, but it does give them some more creative freedom.

[The Adversary]

>So you think the F stands for Flauros?<
That was my first thought when it was announced, essentially. I guess the ƒ officially stands for "floral" or "flower," though.

My first thought was that SILENT HILL: ƒ will introduce anti-Blue Zones around the world, where Silent Hill-like things can happen in certain parts of the world. And I like to attribute that to the Flauros.

> I'm not 100% sure I really like this theory of mine, but it does give them some more creative freedom.<
Hey, I'm happy with any discussion. It bumps my post-count, regardless.

[jdnation]

The game seems confirmed to take place in the 1960's, but there are locations in the trailer that look pre-1960's. My guess is that the Otherworld itself may reference older time periods bleeding in. Not that out of place considering that the Otherworld of Silent Hill's locations can shift to resembling different periods, for example James' seeing the Lakeview hotel standing as it was when he and Mary were there, but in reality it was burnt down and deteriorated long after.
viewtopic.php?p=698361#p698361

[The Adversary]

I'm curious how SILENT HILL: ƒ will use language, seeing as it's set in Japan. Like, if the dialogue will be recorded in Japanese and be given subtitles or just continue with all English performances, or even a combination of both.

[jdnation]

Most likely it is being developed with Japanese as the base language of the original and for cutscenes etc. then it'll be dubbed for overseas releases. At best you'll get a Japanese language option with subtitles if Konami cares. I believe Japanese VAs get paid more if their VA is used in overseas releases or something, especially if they are celebrity ones with a strict management agency.

Also, we don't yet know who the main character for the game is. The teaser trailer shows lots of girls, but they could also be an enemy type. It wouldn't surprise me if the actual main character turns out to be a male protagonist.

[Jonipoon]

Maybe there is no dialogue in the game, meaning that the girl is a silent protagonist (no pun intended), and the story is told through visuals alone.

^Did the teaser really show lots of girls? I only remember seeing one.

[The Adversary]

>Did the teaser really show lots of girls? I only remember seeing one.<
There are two, not counting the one at the end whose face melts off, since we don't know if it's the same as either of the two shown.

Granted, they could all be the same, but the two walking the streets are wearing different clothes so I suspect they're separate people.

[jdnation]

There is also the scarecrow at the start wearing a girl's uniform.

That implies to me alongside the other imagery of girls being trapped by blood vein-y vines, and also being transformed into some kind of flowery geisha-hairstyled monstrosity that they could be variations of an enemy type, kind of like the nurses.

So we probably have to fight them. We don't see their faces, except for the peeling off one at the end, which could be how they look once they've been fully... transformed. The doll images also suggest they are being taken over and controlled.

There was also the Masahiro Ito Artwork of the Sakura-girl, which may or may not be related, though he is not credited in the staff known so far for F, and we already know that Kera is the creature designer. Though if the Sakura-girl was made for a Playable Teaser or The Short Note that has not been revealed yet, it could hint at what F might be up to with their creatures.

[NanayaShiki]

I did not interpret them as different characters, just different outfits.

[Droo]

So....what if the "f" stands for the word "foreign?"

We know the game takes place in Japan. Far removed from Silent Hill, Maine, USA.

Maybe the title reveals how this game will explore that whatever "powers" the small town in Maine have reach far beyond Portland, Ashfield, and Brahms, and actually extends internationally? And what implications flow ("flow?") from that to the original games and the series overall?

[jdnation]

That's the question. How will the setting in Japan tie into a small American town?

It's also possible that a location in Japan has a similar name in proper Japanese.

It's not impossible that there are others similar to Alessa or whatever makes the town tick elsewhere in the world.

[Droo]

It's also possible that a location in Japan has a similar name in proper Japanese.

Shizukesa Oka?

(I used an online translation I don't speak Japanese haha)

[Jonipoon]

There is definitely only 1 girl throughout the entire teaser. I have examined their hairstyle and outfits up close. They are the same.

First off, there is no reason to believe these two walking girls are not the same. Everything matches up precisely with only a tiny variation in how the bangs of her hair falls down, but it's ridiculously miniscule.



Then, the girl in the flowery alley is still the same girl. As you can see by these stills, she has simply lost her shoes and socks, but her skirt has visible shreds including her shirt's right sleeve (the left sleeve is still intact, which means that it's the same outfit as in the beginning and not a shirt with shorter sleeves).



Lastly, during the floating island scene, we see that the outfit matches with the previously shredded outfit in the flowery alley, with a shredded right sleeve but an intact left sleeve. Then, the final outfit shows an even more shredded outfit, with both sleeves shredded and now exposing her back. Now you may think, this HAS to be another girl. But the collars in Japanese sailor fukus can actually be separate pieces and are not stitched together with the shirt piece. The conclusion is simply that the flowers and fungi have ripped her outfit apart even more.