One of the most interesting things about Silent Hill f is how unmistakably “Silent Hill” it feels while still being totally distinct, more so than many other entries in the series. Much of this distinctiveness can be attributed to its setting—Silent Hill f takes place in Japan, thousands of miles away from the actual town of Silent Hill, Maine.
Spoilers ahead for Silent Hill f.
This new setting communicates changes that are far more than skin-deep: Silent Hill f is a fundamentally Japanese game, rooted in that country’s history and customs. Naturally, this gives the game a sense of authenticity that previous, US-based entries may have lacked, but it also leads to fascinating, unique narrative angles. One of the ways that Silent Hill f‘s Japanese roots express themselves is through the Dark Shrine, a realm on the line of unreality and reality, of life and death, that reflects traditional Japanese folklore, spiritual practices, art, and architecture. The Dark Shrine may or may not be a result of the same metaphysical phenomena as the Otherworld, the astral plane featured in other Silent Hill games, but they have a lot in common regardless. The Dark Shrine isn’t the Otherworld—not quite—and it’s all the better for it.
Silent Hill f is exceptionally cryptic, and a lot of its lore is open to further exploration and reinterpretation. In other words, take the following analysis with a grain of salt.
Silent Hill f, Dark Shrine, and the Otherworld
Like the Otherworld, the Dark Shrine Is a Limbo World On the Verge of Reality
The Dark Shrine and the Otherworld are both real, tangible places that exist in different planes of existence. They aren’t dreams or hallucinations (though they can be summoned through hallucinogenics), nor do they adhere to the same laws of physics or time as the real world or Fog World. For example, Silent Hill f‘s other characters don’t experience the passage of time as Hinako does when she is in the Dark Shrine. She could be there for hours, but only minutes will have passed in the real world.
When in the Dark Shrine, Hinako is beset by all manner of spirits, none of them friendly. Even the Fox Mask, an ostensibly benevolent force, is clearly taking advantage of Hinako or hypnotizing her in some way, demonstrating his power as an interloper. Though his methods are fundamentally different, this puts him in a similar category as a character like Pyramid Head: Fox Mask plays on Hinako’s cultural expectations and pressures, appearing as a force for good, in an attempt to manipulate her toward his goal of human-god congress.
The Dark Shrine Is the Best Approach Silent Hill f Could Have Taken
The Dark Shrine is a successor to the Otherworld, even if only in a spiritual sense. With Silent Hill f being a bold new direction for the horror franchise, it needed to feel distinct while still connected to the series’ identity. The Dark Shrine is a perfect example of how it succeeds in this regard: it serves the same narrative purpose as the Otherworld, but it’s also notably, meaningfully different, in a way that’s appropriate for the project at hand.
There are no rusted walls or fleshy contraptions in the Dark Shrine; it lacks the visual identifiers of the Otherworld. Perhaps the industrial aesthetic of the Otherworld can be attributed to its American location: it reflects the practices, lifestyles, conventions, and traumas of post-industrialization North America. By that same token, the Dark Shrine reflects the social and religious customs of rural Japan, tethering itself to powerful real-world beliefs and emotions and adapting to its real-world environment.