What do you think of when you think of a woman in pain? There is no clear universalism here, but for many of us, even most of us, the pain is personal and domestic. You can imagine a mother bearing the burden alone while her husband is at work. The father is in the waiting room and the mother is screaming with strangers. A woman goes to the doctor about pain only to have him tell her to lose weight and deny that the problem even exists.
All these things are simple clichés, images stolen from life and television. When Silent Hill f conjures up a woman's personal pain, it does so with jarring specificity. In one of the worst moments of body horror in video games this year (or ever), protagonist Hinako is transformed into an emblem of her own sadness, her own compliance, her own screaming rage.
Spoilers follow.
Like its predecessors, Silent Hill f takes place both in the “real world”, shrouded in fog and overrun by distorted human forms, and in an “other world” that distorts reality. Unlike its predecessors, the gap between the real world and the other world is clearly delineated. Whenever Hinako faints, she wakes up in another world. At first glance, it may seem that her experience in her hometown is “real” and her time spent in another world marked by Shinto monuments and dream mansions suspended over the water is fake. However, the game's first ending calls this binary into question. The final moments of the episode reveal that Hinako is now much older than her appearance would suggest. The girl we've been playing all along is an almost psychic scream, the embodiment of the younger Hinako, whose dreams were betrayed by the older one.
What kind of betrayal was this? Nothing but the ritual promised to all women: marriage. Her parents promised Hinako to her fiance to pay off the family debt. The real world is how the arrangement gradually robs her of connections to friends, family and herself. The other world is behind the process of her courtship. The process of playing through Silent Hill f, at least at the beginning of the playthrough, is a process of tearing Hinako apart along these axes. She is both a victim and a thief. One version marries the creature that drains the lifeworld of the other.
In another world, a mysterious man named Fox Mask is courting Hinako. After several preliminary tests, including ritual killings of her close friends, Hinako descends the stairs to yet another ritual site. New torture awaits at each site. First, Hinako saws off her own hand, then the cultists brand her back, and finally cut off part of her face and replace it with their own fox mask. It's easy enough, albeit terrible, to write this. But the visual presentation is grueling.
Before each ritual, representatives of the fox cult display instruments of torture. Then they go about their work. The camerawork is relentless, but off-center. We see a medium shot of Hinako's face as she pulls a saw over her shoulder, or blood spilling between her legs as one of the cultists carves out her face with a knife. There is a feeling of being watched, of wanting to look away, but it is impossible to look away. As with all Silent Hill videos, there are no interactive elements. Here, this fact highlights how Hinako is treated as an object to be carved by Fox Mask and the cultists to their liking.
Apart from words of comfort and strength from Fox Mask, the cultists remain completely silent during the rituals. They communicate their intentions only through gestures and presentation. The effect is almost like pantomime. These rituals are familiar to everyone present except Hinako. The camera shows her alone, in normal school clothes, completely surrounded. She is ignorant; the cultists are her teachers. They carved their lessons into her body.
Hinako's brutal transformation is heard throughout the game. First, this is the deepest difference between the two Hinakos. While student Hinako wields baseball bats, pipes, and, if she's lucky, a kitchen knife in the real world, the other Hinako gains a magnificent, monstrous fox arm, a spiritual weapon that will never decay or break. The brand allows her to open new doors, and the mask allows her to see hidden paths. The more Hinako becomes a bride, the more power she gains.
However, this power makes her more vulnerable. With each power, Hinako's “mind” meter is depleted. Regardless of whether this localization is accurate or not, I believe that “common sense” does not accurately convey how the mechanics work. It can also be described as “will” or “resistance”. Hinako's fox powers drain her sanity, and regular city foods restore her sanity. This symbolizes Hinako's willingness to give up her role as a bride. The more Hinako hugs the fox, the more sanity she will waste. The difference in how this mechanic affects the two different Hinakos is the argument. Every time you use that hand or lament its absence, you can't help but think of Hinako's pain when she received it, the bloody tears rolling down her cheeks.
The terrifying power of ritual is something of a double-edged sword. In subsequent endings, the game becomes redemptive. Fox Mask, actually a boy named Tsuneki Kotoyuki, is kind-hearted and well-meaning. Hinako reconciles herself. There are definitely no thematic problems with this. The good intentions of Fox Mask are even a deep provocation. The system dehumanizes, no matter how good-hearted and well-intentioned its agents may be. However, the latest series of boss fights and reconciliations in Silent Hill f can't help but leave a feeling of emptiness in the face of the game's previous violence.
However, it's hard to keep up with the deflationary finale, which unlocks after at least three full playthroughs, which is too much for Silent Hill f. Few games can boast moments of such startling and unsettling power. There are even fewer who detail these moments with intelligence and complexity. Silent Hill f does both and more. What matters is how strongly the game makes you feel. Every time Hinako lowered her head to cause harm, I felt such horror, disgust and an aching, aching sadness. This feeling will stay with me long after the details of Silent Hill have faded from my memory.
