Rosie Gao

• Enemies would need clearly defined weak points
• Ammunition would introduce an additional layer of resource economy and combat balancing
• From a narrative perspective, firearms did not fit either the story or Hinako’s character background

Core melee combat design philosophy for horror games in Silent Hill f

1. The key emotional target in horror is not “fear,” but tension

2. Tension and frustration are different, and the line is subjective

3. Tension managed through information control

• Visibility management through level design and shaders
  By controlling how many enemies the player can clearly see on screen at once, the game increases uncertainty.
• Ambiguity in attack landing prediction
  Hinako’s attack animations include motions such as raising both hands high before striking, which makes the final point of impact harder to read. This uncertainty, combined with enemies that move in strange rhythms and irregular paths, makes it harder for the player to judge whether an attack will connect.
• The loop of attack commitment and confirmation
  There is a tension cycle between the moment an attack begins and the moment the player learns whether it actually landed. The wait during commitment builds tension, and confirmation releases it.
• Parry mechanics that only become available during enemy windup
  This introduces uncertainty around whether the player’s attack or the enemy’s attack will resolve first.

Other combat design points discussed

• Sakiko boss
  This boss uses teleporting ranged attacks, creating a combat loop in which distance becomes increasingly dangerous for the melee player.
• Rinko boss
  This fight introduces phases with multiple summoned enemies, lava floor effects, and dense visual effects. The encounter overloads the player with movement constraints and competing points of attention, making them feel less in control both visually and mechanically.
• Charged attacks
  Heavy attacks deliver stronger impact when they land, creating a clear high risk, high reward dynamic.

4. Tension shaped through resource management

• When resources are plentiful, players may feel tension around waste, overcapacity, or the sense that a major encounter is coming
• When resources are scarce, tension comes from desperation and the fear of running out
• Combat itself becomes the mechanism that pushes the player back and forth between those states

• Enemies do not drop loot
  This means combat is not automatically rewarded. Players are encouraged to choose their fights selectively, and the design discourages fighting everything as the dominant strategy.
• Red Capsules are intentionally easy to acquire
  This helps keep player behavior aligned with character behavior and narrative plausibility.

• Active resource management: inventory items
• Passive resource management: stamina, health, durability

5. Time and tension

• Regulates pacing through action rate
• Drives all combat actions (active)
• Gated by time and amount

• Different weapons are like different instruments
• Different fights are like different songs
• Different encounters or combat sections are like movements in a larger composition

Other notes

Early concept framing: Hinako as “essentially two characters”

Environmental storytelling and narrative design notes

• Red Capsules appear in places marked by environmental abnormality
  Their placement often corresponds to moments where the environment signals something “wrong” or unreal, such as a blocked path that functions more like authored logic than realistic world simulation.
• Monster and boss selection began from concept + gameplay pairing
  Each enemy or boss represented both a specific thematic concept and a particular gameplay role. Smaller enemies and larger enemies were designed in relation to one another. Al described this as a kind of onion-like process, starting from the core and layering outward according to intended experience, pacing, and design intent.
• The team deliberately kept only bosses and characters strongly tied to Hinako’s point of view
  This was done to reinforce the game’s subjectivity and keep the experience anchored in her perspective.
• About 60% of Ryukishi07’s script made it into the final game
  The remaining 40% was discussed and revised. Some changes came from scope and production realities. Others came from a desire to leave more interpretive space and puzzle-solving room for players.
• The team accepted multiple internal interpretations during development
  Different designers had their own readings of the material. After the director made decisions, the goal was still to communicate the work in a way that preserved space for players to arrive at different but directionally aligned interpretations.

Additional remarks from Al Yang

• Al’s personal favorite is the first ending, though every ending was considered equally important. Their favorite boss was the birth-anxiety themed boss.
• Two bosses were cut during development
  One was based on the idea of “heard but never seen.”
• The use of scarecrows, mannequins, and dolls was intended to emphasize the themes of the almost-human yet inhuman, and the alienation and objectification of people under patriarchy
• The distinction between doll monsters and mannequin-like enemies is that the former are tied more directly to Hinako’s childhood memories.
• Higanbana symbolizes “the death of Hinako’s self”.
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