With the game now in players’ hands, it also feels like the right moment to take a trip down memory lane and reflect on how and why the Silent Hill franchise has long captivated players and how this latest entry both honors and redefines that legacy.

To that end, here are all of the mainline Silent Hill games ranked from worst to best. Know that we’re not counting the visual novels or mobile titles among them, although those are quite entertaining in their own right.

14. Silent Hill: Ascension

Konami’s combined effort with Genvid Entertainment to bring a creative new touch to the Silent Hill formula does deserve credit for adapting the franchise’s narrative for the Massive Interactive Live Event format. The story of two families on the cusp of discovering the very dark secrets that Silent Hill was hiding, with viewers deciding on the fate of its characters, was quite an innovative idea.

However, the execution of an ingenious idea failed the show/video game, leading to its failure to enthrall its audiences. While we do praise the effort, Ascension is certainly the weakest among its counterparts in the franchise and is thus at the bottom of our rankings.

13. Silent Hill: Book of Memories

Wayforward Technologies’ spin-off based on the franchise was quite good as a dungeon crawler, and the fact that there were multiple endings made it quite a good idea for the PlayStation Vita, considering its replay value. It also brought a very Death Note-like vibe to its story, mixing in psychological elements with the franchise’s more traditional horror trappings to create a compelling story and gameplay loop.

However, it did ultimately prove a little too basic for everyone’s tastes, and many found that it failed to capture the essence of a Silent Hill game sufficiently enough to be considered a title that merited a place of reverence among its ranks. For our part, we still say it’s quite fun to play, but it loses out on a better spot thanks to other games doing everything it does, and better.

12. Silent Hill: The Short Message

There were quite a few things going in favor of this one. For starters, it was free. It was also a departure of sorts from Silent Hill (the location that is). However, its narrative was certainly right up there with some of the franchise’s best instalments. Anita’s attempts to piece together the fate of her friend Maya were an insightful trek through the pitfalls of bullying among teenagers and the adverse effects it could have on their psyches. It was the kind of introspective horror that put the franchise on the map in the first place!

But without a combat system and a largely predictable ending, this one falls short of true greatness in our book. And that’s a pity considering how it sells its material. It is what it is, though.

11. Silent Hill: Homecoming

It’s kind of surprising that Silent Hill f is drawing flak for its combat mechanics when Homecoming’s protagonist was literally a well-trained special forces soldier who brought over a few moves from Origins in his effort to find out what happened to his brother and his hometown.

Shepherd’s Glen was a gloomy and terrifying place, which was standard fare for a Silent Hill instalment. However, the story that it offered was a bit of a letdown, with a fight that was such a clear callback to Smeagol from The Lord of the Rings, it was almost laughable. His story didn’t feel in line with the kind of unique horror that the Silent Hill franchise had a reputation for at the time. Nevertheless, it does have its merits and nails the horror part quite well.

10. Silent Hill: Origins

As a return to the franchise’s literal roots, Travis Grady’s adventure was quite compelling and does a great job of weaving in the original game’s beginning into one of its endings. It stayed true to all of the elements that made the Silent Hill franchise as popular as it was while also allowing its gameplay loop to look and feel quite immersive and terrifying in equal measures.

However, a clunky combat system and a lack of innovation held it back from ranking higher among its counterparts. And that’s not counting its PS2 port, which did not manage to recapture the game’s essence well enough for it to be worth the effort. It’s a title that you kind of have to play for its lore, but it isn’t one you’re likely to revisit once you roll the credits on Grady’s adventure, irrespective of whether you achieve the canon ending or see him set off looking for his lost truck in a UFO.

9. Silent Hill: Downpour

Downpour certainly had a lot of what Silent Hill was known and loved for, returning the franchise to its survival horror formula, while its story was an inspired take on the mind of a convict whose actions could make him an anti-hero of sorts. The examination of his thoughts, presented through the franchise’s framework of psychological horror, was quite entertaining and is certainly worth a try.

However, it failed to capitalize on its strengths, with its combat system leaving a lot to be desired and technical issues at launch, which proved to be quite divisive. Although it shines brightly in short bursts, those aren’t enough to earn it a higher spot on our rankings, considering the other titles that we’re yet to discuss.

8. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

As a sort of parallel universe version of the original game, Shattered Memories’ premise is definitely among the franchise’s more inspired ideas. Its visual, gameplay loop, enemy designs, and story were all solid, as was the voice acting on offer. So why doesn’t it rank higher on this list?

For starters, its short runtime meant that there simply wasn’t enough of it to go around. Secondly, it was let down by a few odd design choices that held it back from achieving the dizzying heights that the titles we’re yet to discuss managed to achieve. Once again, it was a very bold idea that could have been more, but sadly couldn’t live up to what it wanted to be.

7. Silent Hill 4: The Room

A protagonist trapped in his own apartment with an undead serial killer? Sign us up!

Pair that up with a companion who is susceptible to being possessed by the game’s threats, and you’ve got a very potent recipe for a strong Silent Hill game, albeit one that doesn’t take place in the titular town. It was a plot that drew a lot of praise from critics and gamers alike, although its gameplay did not receive the unanimous praise that Team Silent had hoped for.

Nevertheless, it deserves a place of honor among the franchise’s best titles, albeit one that’s not as high as the best of the best.

6. Silent Hill

The game that started it all is obviously going to be among the franchise’s best titles. Its story, setting, gameplay, and protagonist were all show-stoppers at the time of its release, as was its basis in psychological horror. It has certainly earned its place among modern gaming’s greatest hits, and with good reason.

While its voice acting could have been better, and a few annoyances with regard to controlling your character did mar its gameplay a little bit, it still deserves recognition as a game that we’d revisit the minute The Bloober Team’s remake of it hits the shelves.

5. Silent Hill 2 Remake

We’re not going to lie, we absolutely had a blast playing The Bloober Team’s remake of Silent Hill 2. It was a perfect recreation of the original title, with a healthy dose of current-gen goodness thrown in to make it a very appealing repackaging of a title that was already excellent to begin with.

As you may have guessed, we’re going to be talking about everything that was good about Silent Hill 2 in just a moment, but we’d be remiss not to give the Polish studio its due and comment on just how well it managed to modernize a title that remains among gaming’s greats.

4. P.T.

We’re still not over the cancellation of this one. Bringing Hideo Kojima into the Silent Hill fold should have been a shot in the arm for the franchise, a catapult to true greatness considering the legendary storyteller’s work with the Metal Gear franchise. Kojima’s penchant for introspective examinations of his thematic inspirations was the perfect vehicle for the franchise’s unique brand of horror.

However, it wasn’t meant to be, and the project was cancelled, and Norman Reedus’ take on a Silent Hill protagonist never saw the light of day. More’s the pity considering his work with Death Stranding.

3. Silent Hill 3

Atmospheric, suffocating, deliciously introspective, and absolutely terrifying, this was the Silent Hill franchise at its finest. Heather’s tryst with Silent Hill’s resident cult is a tale for the ages, bringing examinations of complex themes to a story that was riveting from start to finish.

It was sadly limited by a clunky control system but considering how well it presented everything that we know and love about Silent Hill games, this one deserves its place on our rankings.

2. SILENT HILL f

Silent Hill f marks the series’ first major entry in thirteen long years, and what an amazing return it is. Set in the remote Japanese town of Ebisugaoka during the 1960s, players step into the shoes of Hinako Shimizu, a high school student trapped amidst vicious monsters. With exceptional audio design, striking visuals powered by Unreal Engine 5, and engaging level design, Silent Hill f comes remarkably close to topping our list for this feature.

1. Silent Hill 2 (2001)

Silent Hill 2 is the undisputed champion of the franchise. There’s a reason that Konami and The Bloober Team selected it as the vehicle to bring the franchise into the current generation of gaming hardware and gamers, after all.

Its story and characters were unforgettable, and some of them haunt us even today. Its gameplay fired on all cylinders while exploring Silent Hill as James and searching for his lost wife was seriously unsettling. This was one of our favorite games on the PS2 and we would love to forget it just so we could experience it all over again for the first time, even without the modernized touches of the recent remake.

And there you have it! That’s all of the mainline Silent Hill games ranked. Do you agree with us on their places among the franchise’s many installments? Was there one you think deserves more?

Asked by the Japanese publication about his 2024 ambitions (translation via DeepL), Okamoto said, “We will continue to build up the ‘Silent Hill‘ series, both in games and otherwise: we have been delivering the TV drama-style interactive streaming ‘Silent Hill: Ascension‘ since November 2023, and in 2024, we will finally be able to build up the series with games.”

Interestingly, he mentions delivering new details for players. “First, we would like to bring you a new follow-up report. Fans, please wait a little longer.” It could mean a new Silent Hill Transmission showcase, though Okamoto asking fans to wait could mean it airs sometime in the coming months.

While Bloober Team’s remake of Silent Hill 2 is “progressing smoothly” and per the developer’s schedule, we could see other titles like NoCode’s Silent Hill: Townfall arrive later this year. Perhaps new details on NeoBard Entertainment’s Silent Hill f will also be announced. Of course, with Konami recruiting developers last year for “large-scale” Silent Hill projects, it wouldn’t be strange to see some new titles announced. As always, stay tuned for more details and updates.

However, the Season Pass is available as part of the Founder’s Pack until November 14th for $19.99. You also get a Founder’s icon, Founder’s frame, emoji, sticker and themed frame for customizing your profile. The Season Pass will likely be available after the above date, but viewers may miss out on the exclusive cosmetics.

The Season Pass lasts for the entirety of a season or roughly six months. Silent Hill: Ascension is free to download and watch via the App Store and Google Play. It’s also viewable through the official website and the Sony Pictures Core app on PS4, PS5, Sony Bravia TVs and Xperia smartphones. Stay tuned for more updates in the meantime.

A cross between cinematic adventure game and Twitch Plays Pokemon, Silent Hill: Ascension will see the community collectively making decisions that will determine how the story progresses, which will be done through puzzles, QTEs, and more.

Viewers will, of course, be doing that during live premieres of new episodes (the first decision from the upcoming premiere is already live on the series’ app and website, in fact), though if you can’t catch an episode live, you’ll still be able to participate and influence decisions for 24 hours afterward. The first episode is set to go live later today at 6 PM PT.

Additionally, though Silent Hill: Ascension is free-to-experience, you can purchase a Season Pass that will come with 100 tiers of exclusive rewards, including cosmetics and Influence Points, which will give more weight to your actions in the decisions made by the community.

To learn more about Silent Hill: Ascension, you can read our interview with Genvid Entertainment CEO Jacob Navok.

Along with airing via desktop browsers, iOS and Android, it’s also viewable on PS4 and PS5 via the Sony Pictures Core app, Bravia TVs via the Bravia Core app and Xperia phones via the Bravia Core for Xperia app.

Regarding this partnership with Sony Picture Entertainment, Genvid interactive series creator and chief creative officer Stephan Bugaj said, “We’re excited to introduce the Johansen and Hernandez families into the Silent Hill universe. As they delve deeper into their own horrors, and their towns are simultaneously consumed by mass hysteria, these two families will uncover strange connections between them despite being a world apart.”

Genvid CEO Jacob Navok also said, “There has never been an experience like Silent Hill: Ascension before. It’s not a game, but an interactive streaming series that will change as the audience makes decisions together. While I’m executive producing the title, I don’t know how it will end. That is in your hands. And the content you make will be streamed worldwide on televisions and phones through our relationships with Sony Pictures, Google, Apple and others. Participating in Silent Hill: Ascension each day means you’ll be part of history that will never come again.”

Sony Pictures Entertainment New Media Distribution senior vice president Pete Wood added, “We are exploring all new territory with Silent Hill: Ascension. Through this unique venture with Genvid, we are excited to offer viewers on Sony devices a weekly catch-up on the action of Silent Hill: Ascension with full episodes of compiled scenes from this innovative, interactive series.”

Silent Hill: Ascension premieres on October 31st at 6 PM PT. After the regular season wraps up, mini-seasons where new decisions can be made to unlock different results will go live, though a release date has yet to be announced.

Silent Hill: Ascension will premiere on October 31 at 9 PM ET / 6 PM PT, and will be available on iOS and Android, as well as on PC (via Ascension.com). Pre-registrations for the series’ official streaming app are now available on the App Store and the Google Play Store.

Ascension is billed as an interactive series where the viewers and the community will be able to influence the outcome of the story through their collective choices- sort of like a cross between Silent Hill, Until Dawn, and Twitch Plays Pokemon.

Genvid says more details on the series will be shared in the coming days in the lead-up to its launch.

You can learn more about Silent Hill: Ascension in our interview with Jacob Navok, CEO of developer Genvid Entertainment.

The Google Play Store listing for Silent Hill: Ascension was recently updated, and as per the page’s updated version, the horror series is set to launch later this month, on Halloween, October 31. As per the listing, the first episode will premiere at 9 PM ET / 6 PM PT.

If that is indeed accurate, then one would assume Konami will be making the official announcement soon, along with revealing finer details on its streaming schedule, among other things.

You can learn more about Silent Hill: Ascension, its community-driven storytelling structure, its streaming schedule, and more in our interview with Jacob Navok, CEO of developer Genvid Entertainment.

Combining elements from both kinds of experiences in what’s shaping up to be a unique take on Silent Hill, Ascension has looked promising in what’s been shown of it so far- though of course, there’s still plenty that we don’t know about it, from how its “gameplay” (so to speak) will function, what its focus on community-driven storytelling will look like, or even what its streaming schedule is going to be. To get the answers to all of this and more, we recently reached out to Genvid Entertainment with a few of our biggest questions about Silent Hill: Ascension. Below, you can read our interview with Genvid CEO Jacob Navok.

"We started by asking what story would we want to watch, and how would we want the audience to have agency in that story? What decisions could be meaningful for you as a viewer? How could we incorporate the concept of multiple endings similar to the games?"

The Silent Hill franchise has been dormant for a long time, and being part of the group that will well and truly revive such a beloved series is no easy task. What motivated the idea to develop Silent Hill: Ascension as something that’s so unique not only to the franchise, but really, to the medium as a whole, especially on this scale?

I started this company seven years ago to build massively interactive live events (MILEs), a format that enables millions of people to interact together. I was deeply inspired by Twitch Plays Pokemon, Reddit Place, and other concepts where communities came together for a purpose. The last few years we’ve produced several hit experiences like The Walking Dead: Last Mile and PAC-MAN Community, but I wanted to explore the horror genre.

There have been two ways to experience Silent Hill historically. The first and most common was as an individual playing a single player game. The second is the films, at home or in theaters with others as an audience. There’s a reason that horror is one of the few genres that still drives people to go to theaters – it is fun to be scared together when it comes to watching entertainment. I look to Jordan Peele’s successes here.

Thus, we started by asking what story would we want to watch, and how would we want the audience to have agency in that story? What decisions could be meaningful for you as a viewer? How could we incorporate the concept of multiple endings similar to the games?

Was there any pushback for the idea of delivering a story that, in spite of being so heavily community-driven, will be part of the official Silent Hill canon?

Konami Digital Entertainment loved and supported the idea because they wanted to explore bold, new ideas. The Silent Hill community loves dissecting lore, and revels in debates over the meaning of certain events from the games. Therefore, what’s better than to have this community come together and decide on a canon?

Community-driven storytelling is at the heart of the story in Silent Hill: Ascension, and you’ve spoken about a number of ways that will be possible, whether or not someone is watching live. Can you talk about how these key decision moments will be distributed in that sense? Will the majority of key decisions be reserved for live premieres in order to encourage live viewings?

Every decision will be available for a minimum of 24 hours, in some cases longer (if it’s an important one), prior to a live viewing. We know that people are busy, and many will not be able to make it to the live viewing. We want to give an easy window for people to come in, scan the decisions available, and participate, without being obligated to come to a specific time. Watching will be better live, it’s more fun live, and there are several things you can only do live. But you don’t have to be there live, and once the decision result airs, you can watch the VOD on your own like you would an episode of television.

However, the decisions are not a voting system. Voting systems are one person, one vote. Here, the more you participate, the more leverage you’ll have in decisions. There are puzzles to solve and quick time events to engage in. It’s this mix of interactions that together influence the story.

"Konami Digital Entertainment loved and supported the idea because they wanted to explore bold, new ideas. The Silent Hill community loves dissecting lore, and revels in debates over the meaning of certain events from the games. Therefore, what’s better than to have this community come together and decide on a canon?"

How significantly will the story be impacted by the community’s actions and decisions? You’ve said that even you don’t know how it’s going to end, but given the fact that you do know about the potential ways it could end, can you tell us what level of branching we can expect?

Each story branch has 2-3 choices, and the most important are decisions that are connected to a character’s fate: Redemption, Suffering and Damnation. Each fate will also have alive/dead states, and there are multiple main characters each of which can be in a different configuration (e.g. Redeemed but dead, Suffering but alive) by the end of the story. Because of the number of characters, the number of configurations, and the number of different ways that mix together, there are hundreds of potential ways that the series could end. There’s a small chance the audience can save all of the characters, but I think it is highly unlikely.

Many times people think all the characters will just die because the audience is going to troll, but we know from having run multiple products that this is not true. Audiences always try to get the best outcome for characters, and those audience members who want the best outcomes greatly outweigh the trolls. On one of our previous projects, The Walking Dead: Last Mile, the VP of Creative at Skybound, Shawn Kittelsen, stated that the project renewed his faith in humanity because the audience always chose to have characters live.

If you think about games, when you die, you get a game over and have to start again. To “win” the game is to live to the end. Most people think that the “best” ending is the one where all the characters survive, and I think the audiences are going to default to that direction. (Though to be clear, for us, all endings are equally good.)

It’s our job to make the experience fair, to ensure that the audience’s true intentions are shown, and also deal with the trolls. But our job is also to make it difficult to just have everyone survive. We are purposely designing the choices so the choice you want the character to make may not lead to the outcome you desire for them, and we will be exposing these systems so the audience can see that there is no black box.

You’ve talked in the past about how you’ve had to write Silent Hill: Ascension’s story around multiple central protagonists sharing equal importance, because you don’t know whether or not a character will survive the events of the story, given that it’s all player/viewer-driven. What has the writing process been like with that in mind? How challenging has it been to write a story that can account for this level of narrative branching while still feeling cohesive regardless of what path it takes?

We have a huge, talented team of writers, many of whom were ex-Telltale. Our Chief Creative Officer, Stephan Bugaj, was technical director at Pixar for 12 years. He worked on Wall-E, Incredibles, Ratatouille, Cars, etc. He was also Studio Creative Director at Telltale, and was Chief Creative Officer at DJ2, the studio that made the Sonic movies. He has been leading the charge here.

Our Creative Director on the project, Martin Montgomery, was also at Telltale, having worked on their Walking Dead series, Tales from the Borderlands, and more. He also ran creative for Runeterra at Riot. Our lead writer, Shanon Ingles, and our Director of Production, Shiaw-Ling Lai, are also ex-Telltale, as are several of the writers.

Finally, I should note that the creative consultant at Bad Robot Games who edited the story and co-wrote the trailer with Shanon was Antony Johnston, the writer for Resident Evil: Village and also worked on Dead Space. He is the only person in the world who has worked on those three franchises.

People who can do great interactive writing are rare. Writing a story and writing compelling story decisions are not the same so we have leaned on people with games experience.

It was also important to us to tell a story for a global audience. This show is going to be streaming on Ascension.com among other places. We are going to be at the forefront of bringing the franchise to new people, many of whom will have never played the games before. We hope, through Silent Hill: Ascension, that they will become fans.

Finally, we wanted to be very careful with our depictions of what happens in the story, and respectful of both the diversity we’re putting into the storyline and how we deal with some of the difficult subjects. We brought in experts from around the world to help us ensure the stories are authentic and scary, but don’t lean into problematic tropes. We have women in key positions of production and story writing to help as well.

"Because of the number of characters, the number of configurations, and the number of different ways that mix together, there are hundreds of potential ways that the series could end. There’s a small chance the audience can save all of the characters, but I think it is highly unlikely."

What is the actual streaming schedule for Silent Hill: Ascension going to be? What cadence of new episode releases can we expect? And do you have plans for reruns after the first run where players/viewers could try and go through different choices to see how they would have played out?

There will be new content every day, new streams every day. Each should add up to an episode of content a week. If you join on Week 5, you can lean back and watch the previous week’s content like you would a TV show. But we will also have daily recaps that let you jump in and participate without that. After the canonical run ends, we’ll offer the alternative decision branches as a “What if?”. This will let the community work together to unlock what could have been, but the first run is canon.

Some players have wondered how Silent Hill: Ascension is going to be monetized, especially given the fact that it’s following a model that isn’t exactly common in the industry, and it’s not a paid or subscription-based release. Is that something you can give any details on?

We’ll share more on monetization at a later date, but it’s not subscription and it’s not fixed price. What I can add is that our #1 goal is accessibility – making sure as many people as possible can participate over trying to put a barrier to entry.

Silent Hill: Ascension is the product of a collaboration between several companies, including Genvid, Konami, and Behaviour, to name a few. What has that collaboration been like, and how have you shaped the development of the project around it?

Konami Digital Entertainment, as the franchise holder, has a distinct vision for how they want their IP to evolve. At the beginning of development, we were given a series of stipulations for what we could and could not do. We set about developing an initial vision for what we could do that would be unlike anything seen in horror entertainment, but we wanted access to the best talent to create the best show we could make. As a result, we brought in Bad Robot Games and Behaviour Interactive to help us realize that vision. Bad Robot Games is responsible for the stellar art and sound direction you have seen so far. They take their work on the project very seriously, setting the bar for what these creatures should look and sound like. Behaviour has designed the interactive components and sets. They have very distinct areas of responsibility and work together to deliver on the vision, and it’s been quite successful as a result.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention our collaboration with cEvin Key for the music. We were very excited when he agreed to come onboard and compose an entirely new, full soundtrack for the series.

Recently at San Diego Comic-Con, Konami and Genvid Entertainment offered a sneak peak at the series, showcasing its opening scene, and though the scene hasn’t yet been officially released for all to see, off-screen capture footage of it has leaked online. You can check it out through here, courtesy of @ResiEvilCentral on Twitter, but keep in mind that the image quality is quite poor, to say the very least. The scene showcases two characters participating in a ritual that goes horribly wrong.

Silent Hill: Ascension is set to premiere sometime later this year. Genvid Entertainment recently revealed new details on the series in a behind-the-scenes video- check it out through here.

It also explores a character’s trauma and how that may affect others around them. “We’re going to more global locations and looking deeper at how those relationships may be impacted by this trauma.

“So if I have unresolved trauma, how does that impact not only me but the people around me? How does it affect the community? And if it stays unresolved, how might it affect my descendants if I never actually face it?”

Creative director Martin Montgomery also said this Silent Hill is about “the idea of collective delusion. So this is not just localized to one person. An entire town is experiencing this shared delusion, so these things could be real. Things could be a figment of their imagination. They don’t know. And we’re playing with that idea within the narrative.”

Essentially, Genvid wants to look at how the various issues of characters in the games would manifest as “very real threats” and bring that into Ascension’s story. It wants the characters to be relatable so that “the audience cares about them and wants to see them redeemed,” says lead writer Shanon Ingles.

“When we’re doing character development… these are flawed, broken people. These are people who’ve been through trauma. These are people who’ve traumatized others, and they’re working through that. Audience members get a chance to help arc these characters.

“They have a chance to help redeem these characters or push them deeper into their trauma. And there’s something really powerful about that. To do that, we have to make the audience understand why they did the things they did.”

Silent Hill: Ascension airs later this year. For more details on the schedule and quick time events, head here. Interestingly, there will be mini-seasons afterwards exploring “What if” scenarios, where the audience can make new decisions and unlock different results.