Digital Foundry has shared early impressions of Silent Hill f, comparing its performance across PC and PlayStation 5 following a lengthy hands-on demo at Gamescom. According to their analysis, the upcoming horror title from NeoBards Entertainment is shaping up impressively well, especially considering its use of Unreal Engine 5.
John Linneman described the demo as one of the most unusual appointments he had attended at the event. Rather than a quick session, the developer offered up to three hours of playtime in a private booth, giving him the chance to fully explore the demo on PC while also observing the PlayStation 5 build. He confirmed that the PS5 version maintained a smooth 60 frames per second during gameplay, with cutscenes locked at 30 fps on both PC and console. The consistency of the frame rate, paired with carefully tuned motion blur, left a positive impression.
On PC, initial performance was less stable until he enabled DLSS in quality mode, which restored the game to a steady 60 fps at 4K resolution. Linneman noted that this was likely a result of the demo setup being pushed to overly demanding settings. Once adjusted, the PC version delivered sharp image quality and stable performance.
Both platforms showcased what Digital Foundry considered unusually clean Unreal Engine 5 visuals. Alex Battaglia observed that the title avoided the temporal noise and softness that often affect UE5 games. Instead, Silent Hill f made effective use of software-based Lumen lighting, alongside screen space reflections, creating an atmosphere enhanced by subtle lighting, fog, and environmental detail.
Set in 1960s Japan, Silent Hill f represents a deliberate shift away from the American settings of earlier entries in the franchise. Konami has brought on Ryukishi07 to pen the narrative and Akira Yamaoka to compose the score, reinforcing its Japanese identity while preserving the series’ unsettling tone.
Scheduled to release on September 25, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, the game already appears to be shaping up as a technically polished survival horror experience, with Digital Foundry noting that its visuals and performance are stronger than expected at this stage.
