The town is a crucial aspect of any Silent Hill game, including the series' latest installment Silent Hill f, which ditches Americana to instead cattle prod its tortured protagonists in the fictional Ebisugaoka. But developer NeoBards tells me the haunted mountaintop – based on a real Japanese location – barely existed when it first started working on the horror game. "I first read the initial draft of the script a few years ago," reflects lead level designer Kaiyu Chang. "At the time, I was pregnant, which made the story's depiction of the expectations and constraints placed on women by traditional society resonate with me even more deeply. Many scenes struck a strong emotional chord." Silent Hill f knows you don't want to see "happily ever after," and its horrific portrayal of womanhood makes it my GOTY Silent Hill f: Everything you need to know about the survival horror game Silent Hill f builds on the worst game in the series to make a far bigger statement, and I'm begging fellow Short Message haters to give it a chance So while "the core essence of the story never changed," Chang continues, "we made a number of adjustments to its presentation." In fact, "many of the locations in Silent Hill f did not exist initially and were carefully selected to enhance not only the script, but also the atmosphere and world of the game," Yang adds. "An example of this is the school, which was initially proposed by the team at NeoBards, and then discussed carefully with Konami and Ryukishi07." And Protagonist Hinako's house – one of the most substantial puzzle sections in the game, where family secrets are revealed – "was originally conceived simply as a labyrinth with an otherworldly atmosphere," says Chang. "Later, we introduced the element of 'memory,' added multiple timelines, and allowed the space to shift depending on the route and ending," she continues. "Throughout this process, Ryukishi07 continuously wrote new text and lore to support gameplay needs. After countless rounds of discussion and refinement, the in-game version you see today finally took shape." Then the team ended up with another one of Silent Hill series' characteristic towns swaddled in fog – where horror is unavoidable, but hope still lives. Silent Hill f writer knows you don't really want to see "a happily ever after," and the game's horrific portrayal of young womanhood makes it my GOTY.