Silent Hill f The First In Konami’s Horror Series to Get an 18+ Rating In Japan

Silent Hill f is the first Silent Hill game to get an 18+ rating certification in Japan.

As displayed at the beginning of the Japanese-language reveal trailer, which debuted last night, Silent Hill f is rated Mature in the U.S., PEGI 18 in Europe, and CERO:Z in Japan.

As the game is still in active development, certification is subject to change, but as spotted by Automaton, Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill: The Room all secured CERO:C — that’s for people aged 15 and older — while the other games in the series developed outside of Japan were typically rated CERO:C or CERO:D (ages 17+).

Even Silent Hill 2 Remake — Bloober Team’s rework of the 2001 classic — was CERO:C in Japan, despite getting a mature (17+) rating in most Western countries.

Last night, Konami finally updated us with a new Silent Hill Transmission, the publisher’s Silent Hill-themed online presentation. This time, it was focused purely on Silent Hill f, the upcoming mainline entry in the celebrated horror franchise — the first for 13 years.

First announced in 2022, Silent Hill f takes us to 1960s Japan, where we’ll follow Shimizu Hinako, a teenager struggling under the pressure of expectations from her friends, family, and society. The story was written by Ryukishi07, creator of the When They Cry visual novel series.

The reveal trailer shows Hinako in varying degrees of distress, covered in blood, wounds, and with her Japanese school uniform ripped and torn. While most of the action was contained to cutscenes rather than gameplay, we had an extended peek at Silent Hill f’s setting and monster designs, as well as what may be an Otherworld populated not by rust and fans this time, but by blood-red flowers.

As yet, there’s no release date for Silent Hill f, and there was no further information at all about No Code’s Silent Hill game, Townfall.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.