Silent Hill f spoilers to follow–read at your own discretion.
Set in the fictional village of Ebisugaoka in 1960s Japan, Silent Hill f follows Hinako, a high school-aged girl who is navigating her transition from girlhood to womanhood, defying gender roles and resisting an arranged marriage. As she grapples subconsciously with these struggles, it is revealed in both subtle and overt ways how Hinako has endured psychological and physical abuse in a patriarchal society.
Hinako’s first journal entry discloses her father’s abuse, as she writes “he yells at Mom, throws things around, and even hits us.” On the first run of the game, it takes under five minutes to discover a magazine suggesting women are happiest when submitting to men. For Japanese-speaking people and players familiar with Japanese culture and folklore, there are considerably more clues that enrich the story. As an English-speaking woman living in 2025, I still found myself wholly resonating with Hinako’s experiences and Silent Hill f’s themes of exploring the various manifestations of sexism and abuse.