In a conversation with PC Gamer at Gamescom 2025, Silent Hill series producer Motoi Okamoto discussed protagonist Hinako Shimizu from Silent Hill f and her traumas.
“The game follows the ordeals and tribulations of Hinako [Shimizu], a repressed young woman,” said Okamoto. “Hinako is someone who has endured much repression, so there are many things that weigh on her. This is the source of much of her inner conflict. The focus we’ve placed on the story is how Hinako summons the courage to combat this repression.”
It’s immediately clear that Hinako refuses to conform to society’s expectation of her as a subservient wife or daughter. Unlike her older sister, she shows little interest in marriage and no longer feels love for her abusive father, who seems to either ignore her or shout at her depending on his mood.
Hinako’s trauma-heavy backstory largely aligns with that of a typical Silent Hill protagonist. However, Silent Hill f shifts Hinako’s narrative further into the past. “We chose the 1960s because it represents an era of female repression in Japanese society,” Okamoto explains. “The 1960s saw such repression remain prevalent while simultaneously becoming a pivotal era for women’s rights movements in Japanese history.”
“We divided the tension and horror into two sections,” states Al-Yang, game director for Silent Hill at developer NeoBards. “One focuses on past events happening to her or people in her life—crucial elements without venturing into spoilers. The other involves things that might happen, essentially fears that impending events will manifest. These are our two main narrative directions, operating similarly to Heather’s journey in Silent Hill 3.”
But setting the game in the 1960s offers an additional advantage. “This era was also chosen because it’s just distant enough that people recall certain elements,” adds Al-Yang. “You’d recognize a telephone, but might never have used a rotary phone before. It straddles the line between history and mythology—that’s where reality begins to blur. You’ll encounter many familiar things in unfamiliar forms.”
Silent Hill f releases September 25th for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.
