It’s mid-September and still pretty warm here in the Midwest, but you know what? It’s Spooky Season in my heart. And at the Spirit Halloween store near me that’s been open for over a month. I am (and will) be on the road for almost half this year’s Halloween season, so I got a head start on my usual dive into horror games and movies (and am trying to get ahead of the deluge of games coming soon) by playing the haunting Silent Hill f and the unsettling Directive 8020. So, let’s talk terror. [SPOILERS ahead]
Directive 8020
Is “terror” the right word to describe how I felt playing Directive 8020? There was some tension, some otherworldly horror, but maybe not terror. There’s a slight distinction there for me, where terror neighbors madness and is reserved for things that evoke an inescapably strong reaction from me. I don’t feel terror very often. Horror, though? Horror is more familiar to me. Sometimes even the tamest of scares instills a kind of shivery horror in me. It’s why I love the genre, regardless of medium. If something –a painting, a question, a film scene – inspires a “what if” kind of question in my mind (what if someone sent me a haunted clown doll? What if a dream demon hunted me in my sleep? What if the world doesn’t wake up and do something to stop our recent slide into authoritarian fascism? *shudder*), I find it horrifying. Sometimes in a pleasant “ooh, how spooky” kind of way, sometimes in a gaze-into-the-middle-distance-and-despair kind of way. But I still love it.
Whoops, I went and got all reflective in my intro instead of my typical present-context-to-frame-my-experience thing. Let’s go back. Directive 8020 is the latest game in the Dark Pictures Anthology series of games, or… it might be? Kind of? It doesn’t carry the branding or title, but there is a menu option that prompts you to explore the other Dark Pictures games, so… it kind of is? Maybe? Regardless, I have been a fan of the Supermassive formula since Until Dawn, which was my very first platinum trophy on PlayStation 4. I’ve played all the Dark Pictures games (I didn’t LOVE all of them, but really enjoyed most!), The Quarry, and the PlayStation VR game, Rush of Blood. I will likely continue buying and playing Supermassive Games titles as long as they make them.
With all that said, I found Directive 8020 to be somewhere in the middle of the pack, in terms of how much I enjoyed this specific exploration of choice and QTE-based horror game. Like the other Supermassive games, it looks great. The photorealistic characters and environments still make me feel just about as close to playing a movie as I can get, and I enjoyed seeing their design choices and attention to detail with this futuristic spaceship and all of the technology within. The story is fine. A bit predictable and well-tread, if I’m being honest, but I was interested enough in the characters and their stories to look past it. There was a bit of prerequisite jank, which I’ve come to expect. One scene shuddered along not only in framerate but in sound and music as well. And there were a couple of story beats that didn’t make sense given the choices I made, but eh. It’s not a perfect game, and it’s far from my favorite Supermassive game, but if they keep churning these things out, exploring horror in different genres and settings as they have been, I will be happy enough.
Silent Hill f
Speaking of formulaic, Silent Hill f felt immediately familiar to me because it follows the Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2 formula so closely. A person experiences a traumatic incident, a town they’re familiar with becomes consumed by fog and twisted monsters, they navigate its streets carefully in search of some vague connection to a loved one, and madness, melee weapons, and grotesque monsters ensue. My history with Silent Hill games is patchwork, at best. I bounced off the first one because I found the fog to be an annoying gimmick (I know, I know, I should revisit it as an adult and will probably appreciate it more), I fell in love with Silent Hill 2 when it came out (I even have a tattoo of Angela’s knife!), bounced off Silent 3 and 4 early because I wasn’t ready for a stressful game at those points in my life, have yet to play any of the side games, really liked the first movie, hated the second, and really enjoyed my time with the Silent Hill 2 remake. Phew.
I told myself if I bounced off Silent Hill f for some reason I would legitimately go back and play the earlier entries I missed to increase my Silent Hill knowledge and maybe better appreciate the latest game (plus Townfall, when that comes out next week). I didn’t have to (not that I don’t want to at some point!). Silent Hill f felt like coming home. A… homecoming, if you will. Get it? Because there was that one game, Silent Hill: Homecoming? Get it? Well, Hinako gets it, because a homecoming is exactly what she’s seeking once a mysterious fog and plant substance drags her town down into what some may call a townfall. Get it? Because OKAY THAT ONE WAS A STRETCH, I KNOW.
Moving on. Silent Hill f felt so comfortable that I would almost call it a cozy horror game. Look, I know it’s not exactly cute and whimsical and there are creaky doll-like ladies and horrific scarecrows and putrid preggo monsters, but it felt safe in a way that Silent Hill 2 didn’t to me. Maybe it’s because the town (and associated “hell” dimension/side) is much cleaner and more natural than the rusted, peeling, ever-burning elements of Silent Hill, or maybe it’s because many of the puzzles feel more self-contained, where the clues and components are in isolated areas that are easy to navigate and explore. Plus, despite the weapon degradation system stressing me out at first, I quickly realized I could steadily find new weapons, plus I didn’t have to worry about finding ammo for firearms. With all this, I found myself actually enjoying my time in Hinako’s hometown, not frazzled with tension and dread like I expected to be.
It’s also just a very pretty game. I’m going to Japan for the first time next month, so it was kind of exciting to be able to explore an authentic Japanese village, even if it was mostly tangled with crimson weeds and violent monsters. The specific setting being post-war, mid-modernization was very interesting, though I’ll have to explore those themes more to really draw any worthwhile conclusions. The drama between Hinako, Rinko, and Shu was the real meat for me, though. Given how “Silent Hill” (or whatever we’re calling the entity that seems to twist minds/towns in sin) distorts reality, I’m still not exactly sure what was truly happening (or happened) with these characters by the end of the game. The standard ending is, by design, a bit mysterious, so perhaps I’ll need to play through more endings to get a clearer picture, but I really enjoyed the twists and turns with jealousy, spite, yearning, and more.
More confusing was Fox Mask and his legion of animal spirits. I can come up with a sloppily completed web of plot bits to build a story that makes sense with the real-world stuff, but the symbolism of Fox Mask and the Fox Arm and the face stripping and all that will need more processing time for me. But I will say I did love replacing my regular weapons with a big muscular arm that made me feel drastically more powerful and capable of bitch smacking (fox smacking?) even the toughest of enemies without hesitation. Also, the score to the game is incredible, as is the Japanese voice acting. Combined with the superb atmosphere, compelling writing, and haunting landscapes, I loved my time with Silent Hill f. Spooky season has successfully been kicked off.
A New Game Plus 