Silent Hill F’s Reception Proves Why Its Feminist Messages Are So Important

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Silent Hill f spoilers to follow–read at your own discretion.

Silent Hill f takes place in 1960s Japan, in the made-up village of Ebisugaoka. The story centers on Hinako, a teenage girl coming of age and challenging traditional expectations for women, including resisting a pre-arranged marriage. The game explores how Hinako deals with these internal conflicts, gradually revealing the psychological and physical abuse she’s suffered within a male-dominated society.

Hinako’s initial journal entry reveals her father’s abusive behavior, describing how he shouts, throws objects, and physically harms her and her mother. Early in the game, players quickly find a magazine that promotes the idea that women are most fulfilled by being submissive to men. While there are many additional clues for those who understand Japanese language and culture, I, as an English-speaking woman in 2025, still strongly connected with Hinako’s story and the game’s exploration of sexism and abuse in all its forms.

At its core, Silent Hill f explores the frightening experiences of a woman navigating a society dominated by men. Sadly, the game’s themes are resonating with troubling reactions in the real world.

The latest Silent Hill game has received a lot of negative feedback, particularly from male content creators who have dismissed it as overly focused on feminist ideas. While disheartening, this reaction isn’t unexpected. It appears some gamers struggle with playing a character who isn’t a traditional white, straight male. Interestingly, those same people often have no problem with female characters if those characters are designed to be overly sexualized or conform to unrealistic beauty standards.

So, I stumbled across this pretty wild list someone made on Twitter for 2024. It’s basically a guide of over 1,400 games, labeling them as either worth playing or ones to skip, and the reasons behind it are… intense. They haven’t added the new Silent Hill yet, but I noticed Silent Hill 2 is on there with a “Not Recommended” label. Apparently, they think it’s too critical of traditional family structures, negative towards men, challenges the old power dynamics, pushes for diversity and inclusion, and has some subtle LGBTQ+ themes. It’s a strong opinion, to say the least!

Putting aside general negativity towards women, players quickly started creating modifications for the game Silent Hill f that inappropriately sexualized the teenage character Hinako. Modifying games is a common practice on PCs and a big part of the gaming experience. For example, players recently released a mod in September that removes the fog, turning the town of Ebisugaoka into a peaceful, healthy place. Other mods have also been created to improve how well the game runs.

Popular modifications for the game Silent Hill often focus on altering Hinako’s appearance to seem more childlike or ‘cute,’ even giving her a design that makes her look like a teenager. This is despite the game’s endings revealing she’s actually in her twenties. Throughout the story itself, however, Hinako is consistently presented as a high school student.

A discussion on Steam about censorship of suggestive content in a game led one user to admit they installed a mod that removes all clothing. This mod, created for a character named Hinako and described as being for those interested in explicit content, has already been downloaded over 3,200 times.

Gamers in the U.S. are facing genuine risks of online censorship, particularly with proposed laws like the Kids Online Safety Act. This law could force gaming platforms to heavily monitor content to supposedly “protect” children, potentially leading to the removal of a lot of games and other material. Groups focused on censorship and fighting pornography, such as Collective Shout, have also pressured platforms like Steam to remove or ban content they deem inappropriate, again claiming to protect children and women. Recently, payment processors even temporarily stopped handling purchases for some adult-themed games due to pressure from Collective Shout. It’s important to note that many games targeted by these campaigns actually feature LGBTQ+ characters and don’t contain any explicit sexual content. A game developer’s decision to avoid exploitative content, like upskirt shots of a minor, is not censorship.

Hinako isn’t the only character in Silent Hill f generating online discussion through streams and modifications. A puzzle in the game, set in the rice fields of Fog Town, involves removing pins from scarecrows. Most of these scarecrows are disturbing figures resembling girls in torn school uniforms, posed in unnatural and painful-looking ways. While the developers may have intentionally designed these figures to represent themes of misogyny and the objectification of women, some players have responded inappropriately. Some content creators have jokingly referred to the scarecrows as ‘wives’ and made light of the way the figures are posed, noting the suggestive way their limbs connect, suggesting the developers knowingly included these details.

In a Steam discussion about nude modifications for the character Hinako, someone praised another user for defending the original poster when asked for their IP address, calling them a ‘warrior of justice’.

Dismissing Hinako’s sexualization as simply a product of her being a fictional character demonstrates a limited understanding of media. A careful exploration of the game’s environment reveals numerous documents and journal entries detailing the harsh realities faced by women and girls in Ebisugaoka. Even with limited exploration, players will find collectibles that highlight the patriarchal oppression of women, a theme introduced in Silent Hill f, including stories from unnamed characters. For instance, a detailed letter details the physical abuse suffered by a woman at the hands of her alcoholic husband. Even a quick playthrough, focusing on action, reveals through dialogue and cutscenes that violence against women is a central theme in Silent Hill f.

This isn’t a criticism of modding in general, or a judgment of adult content. There are many mature mods that aren’t harmful. For example, this past summer, popular games saw a surge in clothing options for adult characters. However, these mods are concerning specifically for Silent Hill f. They clash with the game’s central themes and actually worsen the problematic hypersexualization already present in the story.

It’s understandable to find the widespread sexist reactions and modifications surrounding Hinako disturbing. But looking deeper, there’s a sad irony to the way she and other characters in Silent Hill f are being objectified. This hypersexualization actually goes against the core of the Silent Hill series, which has always used horror to explore the issue of violence against women.

Like the character Hinako, who felt alone while playing Space Wars, I felt strangely disconnected while playing Silent Hill f, especially while also watching others stream and share clips of the game. A key scene involves Hinako confronting her father about his abusive behavior and her mother for allowing it, which then leads to his horrifying transformation. Hinako’s journal reveals that this monster is simply her father’s true self, acting as he always did when consumed by anger. Facing this boss battle – against the man who should have been a source of love and support – filled me with sadness, imagining Hinako being vulnerable and exploited during such a painful moment.

Watching the disturbing ceremonial scenes with Fox Mask felt similar, particularly when Hinako’s face was replaced with a mask. Throughout the story, Hinako gradually loses control of herself and her sense of identity, and some players also subject her to physical degradation.

Playing Hinako felt vulnerable, and I think many women would relate. The monsters she fights often felt like representations of the way men treated her in her village. For instance, the monster in Fog Town acted overly friendly towards Hinako, but completely ignored men. While most monsters in Silent Hill f physically attacked her – hitting, stabbing, or burning – this one drained her sanity and health by licking her face, which felt particularly unsettling.

Most women are familiar with different forms of harassment and violence. This can range from street harassment and unwanted advances to more serious threats, including those made online. Sadly, statistics show that a significant number of women experience gender-based violence – around one in three – and many young women, roughly a quarter of those aged 15 to 19, have experienced abuse from a partner.

Silent Hill f feels surprisingly real, and the strong reaction to the game shows how many people connect with Hinako’s story, even though she’s facing terrifying, made-up monsters. It really resonates with players on a profound level.

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2025-10-23 22:11