Silent Hill f just received a major update that directly addresses one of players’ biggest complaints since the game launched in September 2025. Version 1.10 adds a brand new Casual difficulty mode, makes the game easier across the board, and lets players skip certain sections during New Game+ runs. For a horror game that got dinged in reviews for having too much combat and awkward difficulty options, these changes represent Konami and developer NeoBards Entertainment admitting they got the balance wrong.
The Difficulty Problem
When Silent Hill f launched, it only offered two difficulty options for combat: Story and Hard. No Normal mode. No middle ground. This forced players into an uncomfortable choice between a mode that felt way too easy or a mode that turned the game into a brutal slog. Reviews consistently pointed out this weird design decision, with many saying the absence of a traditional Normal difficulty made it impossible to experience the game as the developers intended.
Story mode made protagonist Hinako Shimizu feel unstoppable, removing most of the tension that should define a survival horror experience. Hard mode went in the opposite direction, throwing so many enemies at you with such punishing mechanics that fights became more annoying than scary. The highest difficulty, Lost in the Fog, was even worse, with players reporting rooms containing eight enemies simultaneously that would stunlock you to death the moment you walked through the door.
The New Casual Mode
Version 1.10 adds Casual difficulty, which sits below Story mode as an even easier option. You can select it when starting a new game from the main menu or when beginning a New Game+ playthrough. For players already on Story difficulty or higher who keep hitting game over screens, the game will now offer Casual as an option after multiple deaths, essentially functioning as an accessibility feature for people who just want to experience the story without combat frustration.
The update also makes systemic changes that affect all difficulty levels. Hinako’s stamina now replenishes slightly faster, giving you more room to dodge and attack without getting caught in vulnerable recovery animations. Unskippable combat encounters have been reduced across multiple sections, and fewer enemies spawn throughout the game. Even Hard mode got tweaked, with Hinako taking slightly less damage from attacks.
Why Combat Was The Problem
Silent Hill f set itself in 1960s rural Japan and leaned hard into Japanese horror aesthetics, featuring grotesque monsters inspired by folklore and psychological themes. Writer Ryukishi07, known for visual novel Higurashi When They Cry, crafted a story about high school student Hinako navigating the fog-consumed town of Ebisugaoka while solving puzzles and fighting monsters. The horror atmosphere and narrative received widespread praise from reviewers.
The combat system, however, got hammered in almost every review. NeoBards built a melee-focused system where Hinako uses weapons that break after extended use. She can perform light and heavy attacks, charge up focus to deplete sanity for stronger strikes, perfect dodge to restore stamina, and rush enemies when they flash with a chromatic aura to stun them. On paper, it sounds like a deep action game combat system with multiple mechanics to master.
In practice, reviewers found it overengineered and counterintuitive to creating horror atmosphere. When Hinako perfectly executes all her moves, she feels comically unstoppable, which kills tension. When the clunky mechanics fail and multiple enemies descend on you, it becomes irritating rather than terrifying. Grab attacks constantly wrestle control away from the player, locking Hinako into long recovery animations. Counterattack windows are inconsistent, and mistiming them locks you into animations that leave you open to getting pummeled.
Too Much Fighting
Beyond the mechanics being rough, Silent Hill f simply has too much combat for a horror game. Players on forums and Steam reviews complained that constant fighting pulled them out of the immersive atmosphere and story. Every time they started feeling scared or invested in the narrative, another battle would force them to focus intensely on dodge timing and stamina management, completely breaking the horror mood.
Classic survival horror games let you avoid most enemies if you played smart. Silent Hill f throws unavoidable combat gauntlets at you, especially in the closing hours. Enemies are massive damage sponges requiring repeated hits to kill. Many are extremely fast with attacks that cover more distance than you expect. Getting them off your back becomes a chore rather than a tense escape sequence. Boss fights, while thematically interesting and narratively important, often devolved into grueling wars of attrition.
The New Game Plus Skip
Silent Hill f features five different endings based on player choices throughout the game. Getting all endings requires multiple playthroughs, which meant suffering through the same combat encounters over and over. Version 1.10 addresses this with an optional skip feature for select sections of New Game+.
After completing the objective to go through the Dark Shrine and unlock New Game+, you can skip certain parts of the game on subsequent runs. The skip feature specifically targets sections that don’t impact the branching paths or endings, letting you rush toward the decision points that actually matter. Three achievements cannot be unlocked if you use the skip feature, but for players who just want to see all the endings without replaying 10 hours of content five times, this is a huge quality of life improvement.
Bug Fixes Galore
The update also squashes a ton of bugs that were breaking the game for players. Fixed issues include enemies stopping movement and halting progress during specific objectives, Hinako becoming unresponsive after dodging, enemies remaining outside combat areas where you couldn’t defeat them, and a nasty bug where Hinako would die upon loading an autosave if she had died during that autosave.
One particularly annoying bug prevented the View Endings option from displaying on the title screen after finishing the first playthrough, which is exactly when you need that feature to track which endings you’ve seen. The PC version got a specific fix for indirect lighting and reflections reverting to On during cutscenes even when set to Off in the graphics menu. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions received a new motion blur toggle option.
What This Means
This update represents Konami and NeoBards responding directly to player and critic feedback within two months of launch. The fact that they added an even easier difficulty mode and systemic changes to reduce combat difficulty suggests the internal data showed players were struggling or bouncing off the game. The New Game+ skip feature acknowledges that forcing players through the same combat five times to see all endings was bad design.
It’s refreshing to see a publisher actually listen and make meaningful changes rather than stubbornly defending design decisions. Silent Hill f has excellent atmosphere, strong writing from Ryukishi07, genuinely disturbing monster designs, and smart use of Japanese horror aesthetics. The combat system was dragging down what could have been a standout entry in the franchise. These changes won’t fix the fundamental issue that the combat is overdesigned for a horror game, but they at least make it less punishing for people who want to experience the story.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the Silent Hill f version 1.10 update add?
The update added a new Casual difficulty mode that’s easier than Story mode, an optional skip feature for certain New Game+ sections, faster stamina replenishment, reduced enemy counts, fewer unskippable combat encounters, and numerous bug fixes across all platforms.
Why did Silent Hill f need a difficulty update?
The game launched with only Story and Hard difficulties, with no middle ground. Reviews and players complained that Story was too easy, Hard was too punishing, and the combat-heavy gameplay detracted from the horror atmosphere. The update addresses these complaints.
Can I skip combat encounters in Silent Hill f now?
Not exactly. The update reduces the number of unskippable combat encounters and spawns fewer enemies overall, but you can’t skip combat entirely. The skip feature only works for certain sections during New Game+ runs and doesn’t eliminate combat.
What is Silent Hill f about?
Silent Hill f is set in 1960s rural Japan in the fictional town of Ebisugaoka. You play as high school student Hinako Shimizu navigating the town after it’s consumed by fog and overrun with grotesque monsters. The game emphasizes Japanese horror aesthetics and has five different endings.
How does the New Game+ skip work?
After completing your first playthrough and unlocking New Game+, you can skip certain sections that don’t affect branching paths or endings. However, using the skip feature prevents you from unlocking three specific achievements.
Who developed Silent Hill f?
Silent Hill f was developed by NeoBards Entertainment and published by Konami. Writer Ryukishi07, known for Higurashi When They Cry, wrote the story. The game launched in September 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Is Silent Hill f worth playing now?
If the punishing combat and lack of difficulty options kept you away, version 1.10 makes the experience more accessible. The story, atmosphere, and monster designs received praise from critics. The combat is still considered the weakest part, but it’s less frustrating now.
Conclusion
Version 1.10 is exactly the kind of post-launch support that can save a flawed but promising game. Silent Hill f has the bones of an excellent horror experience buried under combat mechanics that don’t serve the genre. By adding Casual difficulty, reducing enemy encounters, making stamina less punishing, and letting players skip repeated content in New Game+, Konami and NeoBards have removed many of the friction points that prevented players from enjoying the strongest parts of the game. It’s not a complete overhaul of the combat system, but it shows the developers heard the feedback and care enough to make meaningful changes. If you bounced off Silent Hill f at launch because the combat was killing your enjoyment, this update is worth giving the game another shot.