Please be aware that this article contains significant spoilers for Silent Hill F. Proceed with caution if you haven’t finished the game.
Set in the eerie 1960s Japanese village of Ebisugaoka, Silent Hill F centers on Hinako, a high school student navigating the tumultuous transition from girlhood to womanhood. She confronts societal gender roles and resists an arranged marriage, all while the game subtly and overtly reveals the psychological and physical abuse she endures within a patriarchal society.
Early in the game, Hinako’s journal entry details her father’s abusive behavior, describing how “he yells at Mom, throws things around, and even hits us.” Within the initial minutes of gameplay, players encounter content, such as a magazine, that promotes female submission to men. While those familiar with Japanese culture and language will find deeper layers, as an English-speaking woman in 2025, I deeply connected with Hinako’s struggles and Silent Hill F’s powerful exploration of sexism and abuse.
At its core, Silent Hill F is a poignant reflection of the horrors women face simply by existing in a patriarchal society. Alarmingly, these in-game themes are mirrored in many real-world reactions to the game’s release.
Despite its profound narrative, this new Silent Hill installment has faced significant backlash from predominantly male content creators, who have dismissed it as “woke feminist slop” or “feminist propaganda.” While disheartening, this reaction is not entirely unexpected, as a segment of the gaming community often struggles to accept protagonists who are not white, heterosexual men. Exceptions are sometimes made for female characters whose designs feature overt sexualization or adhere to unrealistic beauty standards.
In a telling incident from 2024, an “anti-woke” gaming list circulating online categorized over 1,400 video games, advising players whether to embrace or avoid them. While Silent Hill F hasn’t yet appeared on this list, it’s notable that Silent Hill 2 is marked “Not Recommended” due to its “overtly anti-family, overtly anti-male, overtly anti-patriarchy, overtly pro-DEI, and subtly pro-LGBTQ+ messaging.”
Beyond general misogyny, a troubling trend emerged immediately upon Silent Hill F’s release: players began creating and sharing mods that sexualized a teenage Hinako. While modding is a foundational aspect of PC gaming—with examples like a “no fog” mod that creates a tranquil Ebisugaoka, or various performance optimization mods—the nature of these specific Hinako mods is deeply problematic.
Disturbingly, among the most popular mods for Silent Hill F, boasting thousands of downloads, are those designed to make Hinako appear “more kawaii” with childlike features, or to portray her with a younger, “girl next door” aesthetic. Despite game endings implying Hinako’s actual age is in her twenties, the core narrative consistently depicts her as a high school-aged character.
In a Steam community discussion, where a user voiced frustration about “upskirt censorship,” another commenter declared, “put me on a list because I got so pissed I installed a straight nude mod.” Even more concerning, a “gooner” mod that strips Hinako until she is nude has garnered over 3,200 downloads.
It’s important to differentiate this behavior from genuine threats of online censorship, such as the Kids Online Safety Act in the U.S., which could impose “duty of care” rules on gaming platforms, potentially leading to widespread content removal. Similarly, anti-porn groups like Collective Shout have successfully pressured platforms like Steam to ban “not safe for work” content, often targeting games with LGBTQ+ characters that lack any sexual component, under the guise of protecting children and women. However, game developers’ decision to omit upskirt shots of a minor female protagonist is a responsible design choice, not censorship.
Hinako isn’t the only character subject to disturbing player reactions. A puzzle in Fog Town’s rice fields requires players to interact with scarecrows, most of which are grotesque figures resembling girls in torn school uniforms. Their contorted bodies and pained expressions hint at a deeper, disturbing meaning. While this sexualization might be a deliberate developer choice to represent misogyny and the male gaze, player reactions often reveal a profound misunderstanding. Some content creators have made crude jokes about having wives while positioning themselves behind these schoolgirl mannequins, or implying that Konami intentionally designed them to bend in ways that expose their “doll-like” connections.
Another Steam community discussion saw a user requesting nude mods of Hinako, which was met by a commenter sarcastically praising a fellow user for “being a warrior of justice for the fictional characters” after they asked for the original poster’s IP address. This exchange highlights the unsettling nature of some online interactions.
Dismissing Hinako’s hypersexualization as inconsequential simply because she is a fictional character betrays a fundamental lack of media literacy. My own diligent exploration of Ebisugaoka revealed numerous documents and journal entries detailing the lived experiences of women and girls, often highlighting the pervasive patriarchal oppression within Silent Hill F. Even a quick playthrough, focusing on combat, makes the game’s core theme of violence against women starkly apparent through its compelling dialogue and cutscenes.
It’s crucial to understand that this discussion isn’t a broad condemnation of all female character modding or a moral judgment. Numerous “not safe for work” mods exist that aren’t inherently problematic—for instance, last summer saw an abundance of clothing and non-clothing customization options for Eve, the adult protagonist of Stellar Blade. Instead, the concern here lies specifically with the context of Silent Hill F’s mods. Many directly contradict the game’s central themes, inadvertently reinforcing the very hypersexualization it critiques.
While it’s easy to simply label these pervasive sexist reactions and Hinako mods as “creepy”—which they undoubtedly are—a deeper reflection reveals a profoundly disturbing poignancy in the objectification of Hinako and other characters in Silent Hill F. This hypersexualization is, in essence, a betrayal of the entire Silent Hill franchise and its long-standing tradition of exploring the horrors of violence against women.
Just as Hinako experienced isolation while playing ‘Space Wars,’ I felt profoundly detached while playing Silent Hill F and simultaneously witnessing streamer reactions and viral clips of the game. A pivotal cutscene depicts Hinako confronting her father for his abuse and her mother for enabling it, leading to his transformation into a grotesque monster. Hinako’s journal reveals this monstrous form as her father’s “true form,” embodying his uncontrolled anger. Entering this boss fight against a figure who should have offered unconditional love and support, I felt a deep sadness at the thought of Hinako being exposed and sexualized during such a devastating, vulnerable moment.
A similar feeling of distress washed over me during the gruesome marriage-like ritual in the spirit realm with Fox Mask, particularly when Hinako’s face is horrifically severed and replaced with a mask. This scene powerfully symbolizes how Hinako is systematically stripped of her autonomy and identity within the narrative, a parallel disturbingly echoed by players who physically ‘strip down’ her character in-game.
Playing as Hinako, I experienced a palpable sense of vulnerability—one I believe many women can relate to—as she battles monsters that represent the harsh treatment she endures from men in her village. A prime example is the “chummy” Fog Town monster, which disgustingly interacts with Hinako while ignoring male characters. Unlike other Silent Hill F creatures that physically harm Hinako with beatings or stabs during grab animations, this particular monster drains her sanity and health by licking her face.
Every woman can recognize and has likely encountered real-world counterparts to these metaphorical monsters: from the street cat-caller to the “nice guy” who turns violent upon romantic rejection, or the anonymous gamer spewing misogynistic insults and threats of sexual assault over the mic during a multiplayer game. Tragically, global statistics reveal that one in three women experience gender-based violence, with a quarter of girls aged 15-19 reporting intimate partner violence.
Ultimately, the fictional world of Silent Hill F resonates with stark reality, and the reactions to the game only further highlight the profound relatability of Hinako’s story, irrespective of the horrifying monsters she confronts. This narrative goes far deeper than a simple game.