Is Silent Hill creator’s upcoming Slitterhead horror? Action? Developers discuss genre and what awaits players 

Slitterhead, the upcoming title from Bokeh Studio, has a development team that should make fans of Japanese games excited. The game is directed by studio founder Keiichiro Toyama, the creator of Silent Hill, Siren and Gravity Rush. Working alongside him is composer Akira Yamaoka, known for his haunting and atmospheric Silent Hill soundtracks, and Devil May Cry and Breath of Fire character designer Tatsuya Yoshikawa. The three men recently revealed more to Automaton about what we can expect from Slitterhead’s atmosphere. This article touches on some of their answers from our Japanese sister site’s mini interview with them.

Slitterhead is a 3D action game in which you play as Hyoki, an entity who can possess humans and other creatures in order to fight brain-destroying parasites called Slitterheads. The game is set to combine stylish action in its gritty, neon-lit city setting with its Possession system, a modern take on Siren’s sightjacking gameplay.  

Slitterhead’s setting is based on Kowloon Walled City, the real-life densely populated area that used to exist in Hong Kong. Just as Siren called back to Japan’s Showa era with its abandoned village, Slitterhead focuses on a dark, maze-like ungoverned area that no longer exists. “Nostalgia and longing for things that are being lost is a major theme within me.” Toyama explains. “The motivation to hold on to what is disappearing is a shared theme (between Slitterhead and Siren).” The devs note that the game is not aiming for a faithful recreation of Kowloon City, rather they want to capture the sense of the place’s strong, chaotic personality. 

Given Slitterhead’s title and premise, not to mention the director’s prior work on the franchises Silent Hill and Siren, many would assume that Slitterhead is first and foremost a horror game. However, one of our Japanese reporters felt, upon playing it, that the game has a strong emphasis on action elements. When asked to describe Slitterhead’s genre, the developers couldn’t quite agree on how to define it either. Yamaoka mused “What is it, an action game…?” before adding, “If I were to put it in extreme terms, it might just not have any horror elements.” Yoshikawa, on the other hand, posited it as horror action.  

Director Keiichi Toyama gave the opinion that, “if someone were to ask if it’s a horror game, I would say, yes it is.” However, it seems he would prefer it if the game’s genre wasn’t defined so sharply.  

Although Silent Hill and Siren tend to be talked about nowadays in terms of horror, Toyama explains that when they were released, people weren’t pointing out that they were horror games. Rather, he had a lot of people simply asking him “What the hell is this?” 

Interestingly, Toyama comments that he feels strange about Silent Hill being referred to as a standard of the survival horror/psychological horror genres, because he originally set out to make “something that didn’t exist” with Silent Hill. 

With Slitterhead, it seems that the team is trying to bring us another experience unlike what we have previously encountered. “This game may be completely different from the stereotypical horror genre-defining elements of being surprised and scared.” Toyama explains. His approach to horror in Slitterhead is to have players experience chilling situations, and to give them conflicting decisions about whether they should live or die.“ The game does have strong action elements, but these are the points in it that I consider horror.” Toyama adds. 

Given the backgrounds of the developers involved, it’s possible that Slitterhead will bring us a unique unnerving experience wrapped inside its action gameplay.  

Slitterhead is scheduled to be released on November 8 for the PC (Steam/Epic Games Store), PS5/PS4 and Xbox Series X|S.