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‘These Things Aren't New and Exclusive to Soulslike Games' — Silent Hill f Producer Wants to Set the Record Straight on Combat - IGN

Is Silent Hill f a soulslike? It’s a question the Silent Hill fandom has been debating for some time now. But in a recent interview with IGN, Konami insisted it's not, and expressed a degree of frustration with the ongoing debate.

www.ign.com

Is Silent Hill f a soulslike? It's a question the Silent Hill fandom has been debating for some time now. But in a recent interview with IGN, Konami insisted it's not, and expressed a degree of frustration with the ongoing debate.

But in an interview with IGN at gamescom 2025, Silent Hill producer Motoi Okamoto set the record straight. He insisted Silent Hill f is not a soulslike, despite the mechanics at play in its combat, and even said applying that label to the game is "disingenuous."

"This is one of the things that we see — the term soulslike — being thrown around on the internet quite a bit," he began. "And I think it's a label that's a little bit disingenuous. Modern players will see like, oh there's a stamina meter, there's a dodge, and they're like, 'Okay, it's a soulslike.'

"But to be very honest, a lot of these things we actually pulled from classic Silent Hill titles. Look at Silent Hill 4 — there's a charge meter for your attacks, kind of like our Focus meter. And even for Silent Hill 3 there's a stamina meter. You see it later on."

Okamoto went on to say Silent Hill f's combat mechanics aren't exclusive to the soulslike genre, expressing a degree of frustration with the online dialogue surrounding the game.

"These things aren't new and exclusive to soulslike games," he said. "They've been a part of action horror games for a very, very long time. If you have these things you're labeled a soulslike. And we'd like to reiterate we are an action horror game, but we are not a soulslike."

 

[nightfly]

Why does the comparison bother them?

 

[adamsapple]

Why does the comparison bother them?

I think cause rather than comparing with previous games in the same franchise, more folks are lumping it with an unrelated franchise.

 

[w00ze]

Why does the comparison bother them?

Maybe they want to set the right expectation and want to distinguish it from something it isn't and piss off two different fanbases before the product is even out there.

 

[Kacho]

Is Silent Hill f a soulslike? It's a question the Silent Hill fandom has been debating for some time now

Huh? Nothing I've seen looks like a Soulslike and I haven't seen any debate about it.

 

[archangelmorph]

Why does the comparison bother them?

Why would you want an action horror game in a heritage franchise lumped in with the most overloaded and overrepresented genre in modern gaming today?

Pretty sure they don't want casual fan sales impacted by people saying:

"So I hear that new SH game is a Soulslike…"

"What? Not more Souls-slop… I'll skip this one then…"

Genre fatigue can be a thing

 

[viveks86]

The interesting part for me is their recommendation to play in story mode for the "authentic silent hill experience"

 

[YeulEmeralda]

Why would you want an action horror game in a heritage franchise lumped in with the most overloaded and overrepresented genre in modern gaming today?

Pretty sure they don't want casual fan sales impacted by people saying:

"So I hear that new SH game is a Soulslike…"

"What? Not more Souls-slop… I'll skip this one then…"

Genre fatigue can be a thing

If they wanted to keep it a traditional adventure game they should not have changed the gameplay.

 

[The Cockatrice]

who the fuck called this game a souls-like??? where the fuck do these companies get their feedbacks???

 

[Ozriel]

If they wanted to keep it a traditional adventure game they should not have changed the gameplay.

…because they want to make an action/horror game without being compared to a series that their franchise predates?

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I think the fact that it's title screen has a start button highly relates it to Tetris.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Just because it has a stamina bar doesn't mean it's like Dark Souls, that's illogical.

It's like Kirby Raiders... Not Mario Kart.

 

[Luipadre]

Roll and stamina = soulslike

DONT TELL ME ITS NOT!!444 People are so dumb with the souls comparisons

 

[MayauMiao]

I never understood the "soulslike" argument. As long as the game plays well its good enough.

 

[Aion002]

Calling everything souslike is just lazy.

 

[Unknown?]

who the fuck called this game a souls-like??? where the fuck do these companies get their feedbacks???

Perhaps this is all marketing?

 

[Gonzito]

I dont care if the combat is Souls or not

All I know is that I am gonna be there on Day 1

 

[cash_longfellow]

Why would you want an action horror game in a heritage franchise lumped in with the most overloaded and overrepresented genre in modern gaming today?

Pretty sure they don't want casual fan sales impacted by people saying:

"So I hear that new SH game is a Soulslike…"

"What? Not more Souls-slop… I'll skip this one then…"

Genre fatigue can be a thing

This is 100% it. I personally dislike the Soulslike formula, and avoid most games in the genre. If I didn't know any better and I listened to random people to help me decide on my video game purchases, it absolutely would prevent me from buying this game.

 

[Braag]

Yeah dodge and parry mechanics don't instantly turn a game into a soulslike.

To me personally the game's structure is what makes me think if a game is inspired by souls games.
If the game has a fixed enemy locations and a checkpoint system where if you rest, all the enemies spawn back into their original locations, forcing the player to choose whether they want to keep going without resting or rest and get all your healing items back, but respawn all the enemies too. That is very clearly a game structured around From Software's formula, just like Sekiro which dropped the RPG mechanics, but still kept the same game structure.

 

[viveks86]

who the fuck called this game a souls-like??? where the fuck do these companies get their feedbacks???

"Journalists"

 

[adamsapple]

Huh? Nothing I've seen looks like a Soulslike and I haven't seen any debate about it.

There were a few people here on GAF comparing it to Souls in the Preview topic a few days back.

Some press outlets also compare with souls

 

[Rush2112]

I think its really dumb to emphasize combat in a horror game.

 

[IAmRei]

horror + combat ain't the same with souls
hard game =/= souls game as well

people often generalizing thing but they seems don't understand comparison themselves

same with metroidvania, any 2d with some degree of non linear platformer game, and people said metroidvania

 

[Sticks]

I think its really dumb to emphasize combat in a horror game.

Combat always sucked in SH. They seem to get it right now even tho SH2 Remake was a bit too much.

 

[bender]

Silent Hill f is my most anticipated Souls-Like.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Why does the comparison bother them?

Maybe because some gamers will only read the headlines and skip the purchase if they don't like soulslikes? I think it's good he clarified that similar mechanics existed in the series before souls games became a thing and that they aren't exclusive to soulslikes.

 

[semiconscious]

Is Silent Hill f a soulslike? It's a question the Silent Hill fandom has been debating for some time now. But in a recent interview with IGN, Konami insisted it's not, and expressed a degree of frustration with the ongoing debate.

i love how an ign article about a 'phenomenon' links to what? another ign article about the 'phenomenon'. now, as far as the 'silent hill soulslike' 'phenomenon' itself? I was completely unaware of its existence. so thanks so much, ign, for making me aware of a 'phenomenon' you yourself basically created...

 

[Gaiff]

Just because it has a stamina bar doesn't mean it's like Dark Souls, that's illogical.

It's like Kirby Raiders... Not Mario Kart.

Roll and stamina = soulslike

DONT TELL ME ITS NOT!!444 People are so dumb with the souls comparisons

Yeah dodge and parry mechanics don't instantly turn a game into a soulslike.

Wait, am I crazy or are you guys implying there is stamina bar, dodge/parry, and a roll mechanic in Silent Hill F?

 

[Luipadre]

Wait, am I crazy or are you guys implying there is stamina bar, dodge/parry, and a roll mechanic in Silent Hill F?

there is stamina and dodge

 

[Gaiff]

there is stamina and dodge

Was this always a thing in Silent Hill games?

 

[Luipadre]

Was this always a thing in Silent Hill games?

No but this SH game is melee only

 

[Hayabusabruh]

This is neogaf. You can't have a 3rd game with a melee weapon and it not be considered souls. lol

 

[Gaiff]

No but this SH game is melee only

Huh? Strange. If there is a game where guns would be useful, it's the one where you play as a 90-pound Japanese schoolgirl lol. Not sure how she's supposed to hurt monsters.

 

[Punished Miku]

There were a few people here on GAF comparing it to Souls in the Preview topic a few days back.

Some press outlets also compare with souls

Looks pretty good. I'm finally getting interested.

 

[abstract alien]

Wait...
Someone saw gameplay for this and their first thought was it's a souls-like? How could that even happen?

 

[Punished Miku]

Wait...
Someone saw gameplay for this and their first thought was it's a souls-like? How could that even happen?

Z-targeting lock on. Horror themed combat with large gruesome bosses. Red health and green stamina bars in the bottom left of the screen.

 

[Techno_Inked]

He ain't wrong. The term soulslike is being thrown around too easily. Most people don't even know what it really entails.
There are even some users on here stupid enough to call a game a soulslike even when the devs clearly stated the game isn't one.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

The media are so fucking dumb.

Anyway, I keep my final judgment till Alannah casts some light on the matter.

 

[Krathoon]

I like how they are using a Japanese setting now. I assume this ties to Silent Hill in some way.

 

[Krathoon]

Were they worshiping a demon or false God in the first game?

 

[John Bilbo]

Souls got so massively popular everything resembling character action is now a souls like.

One day Ninja Gaiden will be souls like.

 

[K' Dash]

its been years since comparing everything to Souls games got nuseating.

 

[Danjin44]

Donkey Kong Bananza has parry…….I guess that game "souls-like" as well.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Wait, am I crazy or are you guys implying there is stamina bar, dodge/parry, and a roll mechanic in Silent Hill F?

But many games have that feature... I'll have Silent Hill F, but I don't understand why they bought it with Dark Souls, just to have stamina.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Why does the comparison bother them?

Because it's like Kirby air Raiders... They're going to think it's a Mario Kart, when it's not... And people are going to be disappointed.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

That's fucking dumb.

It's clearly a Bornekiro-like.

 

[March Climber]

There are even some users on here stupid enough to call a game a soulslike even when the devs clearly stated the game isn't one.

You're probably talking about Phantom Blade Zero.

That's the one where the devs directly stated that they're making a Revengeance/Ninja Gaiden-style of game with no stamina bar, and people keep thinking it's a soulslike due to a lock-on button.

 

[rkofan87]

a souls like to me means it's hard even on the easiest difficulty like Stellar blade.

 

[SHAKEZ]

Any action game is a soulslike if it has any kind of combat now.

 

[March Climber]

a souls like to me means it's hard even on the easiest difficulty like Stellar blade.

So then what's this game?