By Khloe Wilkerson

Nearly 20 percent of high school students report serious thoughts regarding suicide. Silent Hill: The Short Message, Konami’s and Hexadrive’s survival horror freebie for PS5, is based on this fact. The Short Message starts with the main protagonist Anita, a teenager, who says, “The strongest animals don’t form groups; they act alone, and need only themselves to survive.” However, as you progress through the game, you’ll see that Anita doesn’t really want to be alone at all. If anything, she wants to be seen by others, particularly Maya, a brilliant graffiti artist and school acquaintance also known as C.B., which stands for “Cherry Blossom.”

Right from the start, you step into Anita’s shoes. She wakes up in an apartment block called “The Villa,” desperately searching for her deceased friend, Maya. The catch? Anita has no memory of anything. As if that isn’t enough, she gets creepy text messages from Maya, armed only with a phone flashlight that will eventually die out. But that’s not all. Anita is also stalked by this creepy monster covered in cherry blossoms and insulting notes. The worst part? Anita can’t escape until she uncovers the meaning behind what Maya calls “it.” The objective is to explore the decaying room, relive memories, find clues, solve puzzles, and ultimately escape the relentless pursuit.

As most people know, Silent Hill has a scary and petrifying reputation to uphold. The first Silent Hill game released in 1999, definitely set the bar high in terms of horror games. The Short Message takes you on a first-person journey through the protagonist’s struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts. It delves into the depths of mental health, exploring themes of trauma, depression, and the haunting specter of suicide. It’s a game that tackles these heavier subjects with a raw and introspective perspective. It fits well into the Silent Hill series, however short it may be.

As the game progresses, we soon find out that Maya took her life by suicide. The Villa is a popular and local suicide spot, where we even see Anita think about taking her life in some parts of the story. The mysterious “it” that Maya mentions is a letter she wrote to Amelie, which Anita hid out of jealousy. Anita placed Maya on a pedestal, despite her own experiences with bullying, constantly comparing herself to Maya’s talent and success. This self-comparison harms Anita’s well-being, and we can see this occurring all the time in real life due to social media activity. Seeing carefully filtered posts on social media can leave one with low self-esteem. People constantly compare themselves to others and feel pressured to live up to unrealistic standards.  By withholding the letter from Amelie, Anita believes that Maya’s struggles went unnoticed, leading to her final decision – suicide. 

A significant portion of the game’s plot is presented via live-action scenes as Anita fights with her memories. It’s all set against the backdrop of a metropolis suffering industrial decline after reconstruction attempts have failed because of the COVID-19 epidemic. Because of COVID, most activities have moved online, which has its fair share of negative effects on teenagers seeking acceptance online.

Haruka Sakaguchi, who portrays Maya in the live-action sequences, delivers an exceptional performance with a mysterious and inner sorrow. Debora Uehara, who portrays Amelie, also offers up a commendable performance as a supportive friend, grappling with her struggles and simply trying to navigate each day. The voice acting and animations work seamlessly together to craft a compelling narrative.

Along the course of the game, players will return to the same rooms, but with new details or items as they progress through the chapters before the finale. For example, every time Anita attempts suicide, the game returns to the beginning with small alterations, allowing the plot to continue. She doesn’t end up dying because there is more to her life story than she realizes. After all, she has been so consumed with the negatives regarding her mental health, that she isn’t able to smell the roses around her. She still likes life.

Despite the cramped space in the apartment complex, the visual design is absolutely on point! They nailed every little detail, like the reflections on her phone from the sunlight streaming through the window, the water dripping from the dilapidated structure, and even the flies and roaches crawling around the piled-up garbage. It’s all about those sharp textures, atmospheric lighting, spray paint accents and shadows that make everything feel so natural and real. This game takes you deep into the mind of someone who’s psychologically unstable, illustrating how they experience intense stress and anxiety, complete with blurred vision. It’s like their uncertainty and apprehension about the future start blurring the lines between what’s real and what’s just an illusion. 

However, the narrative aspect of the game is the major focal point that ties everything together. The way the Silent Hill atmosphere seamlessly transitions from a rundown apartment building to a creepy high school hallway or a once well-kept home that’s fallen into neglect, is intriguing. The music in those intense and scary scenes amps up the adrenaline and makes the gameplay experience so much more effective. It was like I could feel my heart racing through my chest, especially when being chased by a monster and trying my best to make it out alive. 

One of my favorite parts is solving puzzles, trying to find my way through crazy mazes, and even unlocking school lockers with hidden numbers on the school ceiling. You can also interact with objects like graffiti and art when a little white eyeball is present by pressing it to get more info. 

On the other hand, I didn’t find the game to be completely scary in an all-encompassing way. Besides a few jump scares, it wasn’t bad at all. This game will challenge you because you aren’t armed with anything: no guns, no knives, nothing. You just need your own two feet to run like hell when you need to. If you die during the chases, you’ll respawn right back where you started, so no need to restart the game all over. 

I feel like Silent Hill: The Short Message could have approached counteracting the influence of suicide, depression, and self-harm in the game a little differently. It would have been lovely to see Anita able to cope with her challenges. For example, in the last moments, Amelie invites Anita to accompany her on a shopping excursion to clear her mind. It was nice to see Anita enjoying herself for once. An estimated five million teenagers aged 12 to 17 years old in the United States have experienced at least one severe depressive episode. So it would have been good to have some sunshine to counter the thunderstorms in this game. This would allow those who are struggling to recognize that there is hope at some point.

Ultimately, Silent Hill: The Short Message is a horror game that highlights typical life difficulties that individuals endure daily, such as anxiety, depression, and abuse, particularly among teens. It is critical to take the appropriate actions to help yourself or those around you. And remember there’s nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it.

Bronx native Khloe Wilkerson is our youngest intern. She recently won a college scholarship and completed our journalism and writing class at Mott Hall III twice in a row. If you’re having suicidal thoughts, dial 988, which provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources. 

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