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Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99Subscribe now PC Gaming Show Tokyo Essential Hardware Battlefield 6 Don't miss these Silent Hill F would be better if the combat was less enjoyable, or if there was just less combat The flood of Silent Hill F previews highlight an emphasis on combat that seems like a bit much Silent Hill f is actually really fun when there's not a little worm in your ear telling you to compare every scene against Silent Hill 2 Silent Hill f review: We're so back PSA: Don't turn off motion blur in Silent Hill F unless you want some weird visual glitches If you're having trouble with Silksong's difficulty, keep going—Act 2 is worth the pain, and it does get 'easier' ‘A succulent Silent Hill meal’: Silent Hill f devs admit ‘we’re going a little different’ but assure longtime fans that it stays true to the series they know and love Survival & Crafting 7 Grounded 2 tips to survive Brookhollow Park Every ending in Silent Hill f and how to get them Silent Hill f's director insists that its dodge and counterattack systems don't make it a soulslike: 'I think it's a label that's a little bit disingenuous' Silksong players are wrestling with the game's 'stabs you and kicks you for crying about it' difficulty I just beat Silksong's Act 3, and I'm not just thrilled the game was hard—I'm glad it was mean to me, too Survival & Crafting Don't repeat my mistakes in Grounded 2's Networking mission, or you'll face an arduous slog back to collect your lost loot You can make Silksong's terrible Bilewater boss 100 times easier by simply surrendering yourself to the maggot bath Hinako Shimizu's arc in Silent Hill f is shaped by the Japanese women's rights movement of the 1960s and depicts 'how she musters the courage to combat' repression she encounters Silent Hill f Silent Hill f's finicky combat doesn't actually have to be an issue if you follow these cardinal rules Elie Gould 26 September 2025 For your sanity. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Konami) If you've been following the lead-up to Silent Hill f's release, then you've probably heard some not-so-great things about its combat. I'll concede that the first few enemy encounters can feel bad, rusty-old-knife-getting-sunk-into-your-shoulder bad. But it does get better, especially once you realise that you can just ignore most of the monsters you come across. I'm something of a magpie and a hoarder in survival horror games, which means that I collect every single item I come across and then never want to use them. So my solution to this has always been to rely on being as sneaky as possible and perfecting the art of the dodge. And just like most survival games, it works a charm: I found every single note, letter, item, and omamori in Silent Hill f, and I hardly killed a thing. (Image credit: Konami) One of the benefits of Silent Hill f being a third-person horror game is that you can play corners; I used this to check corners and alleyways before I walked around or past them. Not only did this save me from getting jumped by knife-wielding mannequins, but it also meant I could see when an enemy was approaching and then wait until it went past to make a move to the next location. Related Articles Silent Hill F would be better if the combat was less enjoyable, or if there was just less combat The flood of Silent Hill F previews highlight an emphasis on combat that seems like a bit much Silent Hill f is actually really fun when there's not a little worm in your ear telling you to compare every scene against Silent Hill 2 The monsters in Silent Hill f really aren't that smart, and they have pretty short lines of sight when it comes to pursuing you. If you decide to equip the Clam omamori, which will be the first charm you buy from the Shrine shop, then their line of sight will get even shorter, meaning turning a corner will be enough to permanently get them off your tail. There were even moments when I passed a bunch of enemies and then ran a few paces down the street, only to look back and realise that they had all lost interest in me. You can outpace most of the monsters, so my advice is to go on the run. The only enemies that are worth fighting are the Glowing Monsters in Ebisugaoka and the faceless Shackled Monster in the Dark Shrine, as both of these can catch up to you. (Image credit: Konami) There will be areas in which you have to fight a bunch of monsters to unlock the next part, but these aren't massively common, and the game will give you plenty of items before and after these sections to help you. Instead of focusing on fighting, scan the map for helpful information and items that will make you stronger. You can sell items in every Shrine for faith, which is the currency in Silent Hill f that can allow you to buy omamori from the shop or upgrade your health, sanity, stamina, and carry number for omamori, although you'll need an ema for upgrades as well. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Getting more omamori is a must. Here are some of the best ones to help you survive the latter stages of the game: Clam - Decreases enemy line of sight. Whale - You can't be interrupted by a hit while healing. Crow - Slightly restores health after each enemy defeated. Spider - Greatly decreases weapon durability consumption for light attacks. Suzuran - Perfect dodges become easier to perform. Goat - Take less damage when facing multiple enemies. Dolphin - Increase max sanity after a perfect dodge. Owl - decreases sanity consumption while using Focus. Sakura - Boosts health-restoring items and omamori. Tanuki - Turns physical damage into sanity damage. After the first couple of runs, I had maxed out my sanity, health, and stamina and also had upgraded to five omamori slots. I focused on making my weapons stronger with the Spider omamori and using less sanity consumption when using the focus ability with the Owl omamori. This meant that I ended up finishing the next three endings with the same starting knife each time, and I had so much stamina that dodging and fighting enemies became ridiculously easy. But even after I was finished with my upgrades, I still didn't seek out fights because that's just not how you're meant to explore Silent Hill f. If I decided to fight every single enemy I saw, I would still be on my second playthrough. So my advice for anyone entering Ebisugaoka for the first time would be to keep your head down, move methodically through each area, and use save points and line of sight to your advantage; you'll have far fewer issues playing like this. Silent Hill F review: Our full review Silent Hill F scarecrow puzzle: Find your way through the field puzzle Silent Hill F school puzzle: School walkthrough and locker codes Silent Hill F shrine vault: Find the right ema on all difficulties Silent Hill F endings: Find all five conclusions News Writer Elie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased. When they're not screaming or hiding, there's a good chance you'll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection. Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros. or any indie game that crossed their path. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Silent Hill F would be better if the combat was less enjoyable, or if there was just less combat The flood of Silent Hill F previews highlight an emphasis on combat that seems like a bit much Silent Hill f is actually really fun when there's not a little worm in your ear telling you to compare every scene against Silent Hill 2 Silent Hill f review: We're so back PSA: Don't turn off motion blur in Silent Hill F unless you want some weird visual glitches If you're having trouble with Silksong's difficulty, keep going—Act 2 is worth the pain, and it does get 'easier' Latest in Horror Every ending in Silent Hill f and how to get them How to solve all the School puzzles in Silent Hill f How to solve the Shrine Vault puzzle in Silent Hill f How to solve the scarecrow Field puzzle in Silent Hill f PSA: Don't turn off motion blur in Silent Hill F unless you want some weird visual glitches A modder has already removed all the fog from Silent Hill f and it makes Ebisugaoka look like quite the vacation spot Latest in Features The more book tracking apps I try, the more I think we as gamers don't realize just how good we've got it with Steam Silent Hill f's finicky combat doesn't actually have to be an issue if you follow these cardinal rules Tiny Metal 2 is the third game in the turn-based strategy series, and it just so happens to be taking after my favorite Advance Wars Baby Steps is funny, but it's also a depressing, confrontational horror game about thwarted modern masculinity An obscure RPG's moral dilemma about the 'ethical' human meat alternative propping up a zombie society is one of the best side quests I've ever played, and Steam achievements show only 13% of its players have even seen it So far, the Battlefield 6 campaign is satisfied being a Call of Duty cover band HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've had my hands on the best laptops for gaming of this generation and these are the ones I recommend Best SSD for gaming in 2025: the fastest and the best value solid state drives to perk up your PC Best Hall effect keyboards in 2025: the fastest, most customizable keyboards for competitive gaming Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards Corsair Sabre V2 Pro Ultralight Wireless gaming mouse review Glorious Model O3 Wireless review Hades 2 review Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles review Baby Steps review PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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