The Silent Hill series has always been shrouded in mystery and intrigue, with Silent Hill 2 having an ending that is open to interpretation, as one example. What really happened to James Sunderland in that game can depend on the ending you get and the way you understand the wider narrative, and this kind of interpretation also spreads to the wider series and the very nature of Silent Hill.
What on earth are we talking about, right? It's pure nonsense, no? Perhaps, but at the same time Silent Hill is meant to be an American town, so how can Silent Hill f take the series to Japan? We now have an explanation that even helps explain some of the more unclear parts of the wider story.
Series writer Ryukishi07 recently sat down with Famitsu (as translated by GamesRadar+) to talk about the recent chapter of the series, wherein he noted that Silent Hill isn't a physical location.
"I discussed a lot of things with series producer Okamoto in a meeting after I received the request [to write Silent Hill f,]. Like 'Why is it set in Japan?' and 'What exactly is Silent Hill?' In the end, we came to the conclusion that Silent Hill is not just the name of a place, it is a phenomenon. Looking back I think I was able to create a pretty satisfying base for the story and world from this."
This thinking actually makes a lot of sense and also opens the door to much more varied Silent Hill adventures in the future, something that will be necessary if Konami wants to realise its goal of debuting a new Silent Hill game every single year.
What's your interpretation of Silent Hill?