Keiichiro Toyama, One of the Silent Hill Creators, Comments Possible Silent Hill Remake
Silent Hill has been a game that’s been, well, asleep for a while. There’s a hunger for it for big fans of the franchise, and it’s likely only gotten bigger with the Resident Evil remakes and their successes in the past few years. The Silent Hill franchise is one of the big horror games and something any fan would love to play, with its haunting atmosphere, slow reveals, and dawning horror.
Keiichiro Toyama, one of the minds that were behind Silent Hill when it originally created, spoke about the possibility of a Silent Hill remake and how likely- or unlikely- it would be.
“It’s not an action game where you can just refine the action as in Biohazard. To bring Silent Hill up to current standards or to polish up the graphics, the fans wouldn’t be satisfied. That’s not what it was about – how beautiful it was. I think you’d have to rethink the concept to make it interesting to fans.”
Toyama makes a very good point. This popular horror game, despite what happened in the later releases, was never meant to be combat-focused. In fact, in some versions of the games, killing too many enemies would mean that you would get the bad end.
And too, in order to modernize a Silent Hill game, there are various considerations to take in. It’s not just the modern playstyle and what current players expect from the game. There’s also the blend of taking what made the game a hit in the past, and knowing what has and hasn’t aged well. Toyama, for one, is keenly aware of this formula for video games.
“Unlike movies, games are difficult to enjoy as in the original state,” Toyama said in an interview with VGC. “Obviously because of the platform, but as time goes by game mechanics, especially in usability, lack rationality and sophistication. Visually speaking it’s clearly not made for modern equipment, so I absolutely don’t have any objection to modifying an original essence to fit the modern era which we live in today.”
Visually, it’s possible to create a Silent Hill remake; whether it’s possible with Konami staff is unknown. Toyama is unlikely to be part of the project, as he is currently with his own studio, Bokeh.
For now, Silent Hill fans may have to cross their fingers and try to find another game to scratch that itch in the meantime.