If You’ve Beaten Silent Hill f, No You Haven’t

There’s plenty that can be said about Silent Hill f, but the greatest compliment I can pay the recent horror game is this: it bares the heart and soul of what makes the Silent Hill franchise special. Indeed, despite being set decades before the first entry in the series, and not even in the town of Silent Hill itself, Silent Hill f feels like a true return to form, offering psychological scares, metaphor-laden storytelling, and captivating survival horror gameplay.

The game’s been out for nearly a week now, so it’s natural that a lot of players are just starting to wrap up their initial playthroughs. As is customary for survival horror games, Silent Hill f’s end credits conclude with a message prompting players to start a NG+ file and tear through the campaign once more with better stats, gear, and personal experience. Make no mistake: this is not merely an instance of dutifully following convention. Silent Hill f’s New Game Plus is arguably essential for understanding the full scope of its narrative, as well as the more granular, particular elements of its gameplay loop. In other words, one playthrough isn’t enough to get the full experience. The real Silent Hill f begins after the credits roll.

Why You Need To Play Silent Hill f’s New Game Plus

Silent Hill f NG+ Offers a Bevy of Fresh Narrative Content

I’m not ashamed to admit that I was quite confused after my first Silent Hill f run. I understood some broad-strokes aspects of the story—there’s a cult not dissimilar to the one found in Silent Hill, Maine, and it’s looking to marry Hinako to their “god.” This cursory understanding of the plot is certainly enough to stay engaged, but it’s not even close to the narrative’s full measure. For better or worse, Silent Hill f hides much of its narrative meat behind New Game Plus.

Without getting into heavy spoilers, it’s safe to say that Silent Hill f’s storytelling mosaic, comprised of the myriad notes and other clues scattered about the game world, is completely rearranged and expanded in NG+. Just about every note you’ll find on a second run is unique, shedding light on other important plot beats, characters, conflicts, and lore elements. Some of this information is merely supplementary, fleshing out previously introduced ideas, but much of it is more substantial, introducing brand-new characters and side plots never mentioned in the first playthrough.

Aside from the new notes and other environmental clues, Silent Hill f’s NG+ features a number of changes to cutscenes and dialog exchanges. Some of these changes are tantamount to Easter eggs—cheeky nods to players who have already braved the nightmare once—but others are more informative, once again broadening the view of the game’s narrative and worldbuilding. And of course, as is series’ custom, there are several distinct endings to unlock, most of which are locked behind a NG+ save file.

Story Isn’t the Only Reason to Replay Silent Hill f

Silent Hill f’s narrative is its strong suit, to be sure, but its gameplay is quite compelling as well, and it continues to blossom in NG+. For instance, it’s quite difficult, potentially even impossible, to get all the Omamori slot upgrades during a first playthrough; unlocking more slots in NG+ means opening the doors to new mechanical synergies and combat tactics that were previously unavailable. Additionally, there are side quests like the Sacred Sword puzzle chain that are made available in NG+ exclusively, which help to further grow the player’s arsenal while presenting novel challenges in the process.