The recent reveal of Silent Hill f comes as a stark contrast to previous Silent Hill games in many ways, but chiefly its use of flowers as an eerie, predatory antagonist. The game is also breaking from tradition, with Silent Hill f's setting being far removed from contemporary America and instead focusing on Japan's Showa period. The use of flowers is a departure from the grime- and gore-filled Otherworld and its associated monsters. Ultimately, Silent Hill f has immediately established it will be a visually distinctive experience that stands out other Silent Hill games.
But beyond just its visual style, the use of flowers could introduce a new perspective on the psychological horror narratives that Silent Hill has typically explored. Between the cultural significance that flowers have within Japanese society and the implications this could have on the story the game tells, Silent Hill f could explore new depths of horror that Silent Hill has not yet tapped into. The series' most well-known games, from Silent Hill 2 and its announced upcoming remake to Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, usually explore ideas of sex and sexuality, and their monsters typically reflect this, but Silent Hill f could be breaking this mold.
Silent Hill's Approach to Creature Design
Many of Silent Hill's memorable creatures and monsters come from its earliest games, with Silent Hill 2 arguably being the most formative for the series. Introducing now-iconic enemies such as Pyramid Head and various iterations of the series' staple nurses, Silent Hill 2 set the tone that has dominated the majority of its other games. Pooling inspiration for Silent Hill's creature design from modern artists, ranging from Hieronymus Bosch to David Lynch, the series has consistently evoked these design choices with very little deviation.
Silent Hill f is a clear juxtaposition to this grisly surrealism and instead carries through Silent Hill's ethos of taking the familiar and safe and corrupting them into nightmarish reflections of reality. While previous Silent Hill games did this through settings of schools and hospitals, Silent Hill f appears to be taking flowers and transforming them into something beautifully grotesque. Since flowers have a ubiquitous association with beauty, love, and peace worldwide, not to mention a cultural history within Japan, Silent Hill f could be poised to exploit this in ways earlier Silent Hill games could not.
Silent Hill f and The Symbolism of Flowers
Given Japan's cultural association with flowers such as its recognizable Sakura cherry blossoms, it's easy to begin to make deductive guesses about how this might influence Silent Hill f and its narrative. Stemming from a far-reaching history and ties to religion, flowers have held a symbolic relationship in Japanese lives, and many of these meanings translate well to Silent Hill's horror ethos. For example, Sakura is believed to represent the fleeing nature of life and could be an allegory to humanity's impermanent struggle to survive, while the Japanese chrysanthemum seen in the teaser could tie to the game's Showa period with its imperialist associations.
The use of flowers has an added dimension, though, that Silent Hill f could be bringing to the series through its unique style. Thanks to the internet regularly sharing top ten lists of creepy things, many might already be familiar with plants that eerily resemble human body parts and gore. The Snapdragon's seed pod, Doll's Eyes, Dead Man's Fingers, Hooker's Lips, and Bleeding Tooth Fungus are all excellent candidates for Silent Hill f. Their uncanny likenesses fit perfectly with the series' motifs, with lips reflecting sexuality to the fungus in particular seeming like a direct inspiration for how flowers sprout from bodies in the teaser.
How Silent Hill f's Flowers Could Influence Its Enemies
Acknowledging that the plants and flowers set to appear in Silent Hill f will likely draw inspiration from real-world counterparts and their associated meanings, the creatures spawned from an Otherworld abloom could be unique for both visuals and gameplay. The flowers could be used to denote symbolism to creatures, such as the chrysanthemum connecting to Silent Hill f's WW2 proximity and history of Japanese imperialism, possibly appearing on enemies intended to parallel soldiers. Other flowers might include the Japanese camellia or lily, both of which have specific meanings tied to their various colors, with examples like the red spider lily symbolizing a final goodbye.
Alternatively, Silent Hill f might use flowers to inform enemy design, with examples such as Doll's Eyes watching the play and alerting nearby enemies or Dead Man's Fingers serving as an environmental trap of a hidden enemy's hand for unsuspecting players. In extension of this, the girl from the teaser overrun by flowers seems not too dissimilar from the Infected of The Last of Us canon, so Silent Hill f could introduce creatures that were also once human but have been taken over by flowers. But while the Infected behaved like little more than zombies, Silent Hill f's flower creatures could tie to the series' supernatural roots.
How Flowers and Flower-Based Creatures Could Influence Silent Hill f's Story
Silent Hill f's setting within the Showa period already gives fans a decent idea of what sort of story the game could explore. Narratives about imperialism, a loss of innocence, death and destruction, and the collapse of Japanese imperialism could all factor into Silent Hill f's story if it looks to the bigger picture of the setting's history. But the game could equally explore some of these aspects and others on a smaller scale, threading Silent Hill's exploration of trauma and sex, provided the teaser is hinting toward a female protagonist, by using concepts from geisha to comfort women.
The exaggeration of beauty through the flowers, despite the clear gruesome implication they bring, could speak to women's experiences during the war, and the enemies could be a reflection of those experiences. Silent Hill f's teaser, for example, shows both the girl and a geisha-like doll getting ensnared by creeping vines, something which could symbolize the pervasive intent of men through sexual abuse and might have flower-based creatures attempting to capture and corrupt the player. Since the teaser also shows how these flowers take over and sprout from bodies, it could also be that players in Silent Hill f will be fighting a losing battle against encroaching flora.
Silent Hill f is currently in development.