Silent Hill f

My first playthrough of Silent Hill f did not leave me entirely satisfied. It left me fairly confused, but hungry to comprehend more of it's themes, to be able to speculate from a more informed position.

I had not found it exceptionally scary, exactly. Intense, stressful, uncomfortable, yes.

But on subsequent playthroughs, I was actually more on edge, more nervous. Where I expected it to become rote, I actually found it more compelling than the initial playthrough.

Paranoia crept in, looking for changes where there were none. Had I forgotten or misremembered this area? How far could a small change ripple out?

The real magic was that, in practice, many areas were not very different. Much of the game was the same, and it would even signpost when a cutscene was unchanged. Many people have already pointed out how similar this is to the visual novel genre, but I'd say it's even more of a light touch than many VNs. But it didn't need to be.

I had a great time with it, and got all endings (with guides, after the first two). I'm interested in checking out other Silent Hills, but especially I'm intending to check out more of Ryukishi07's ouvre. Weaving such a compelling narrative within the constraints of AAA game production is incredibly impressive, and I really want to experience his work in the lower budget and less constrained medium of the visual novel.