'Silent Hill: The Short Message' Review

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The Short Message is a story about emotional isolation in a climate of social media conflating personal value with on-screen hearts, depreciating one's own self-worth and identity when constantly comparing to others, and the important truth that leaving this world is never a remedy for past pain; there's always a way forward, and there's always someone there to support you. I know all that because the game told me so quite directly. Though the themes themselves are relevant, engaging, and resolved with proper delicate nature, the subtlety in exploring them is performed with a similar subtlety to an anvil exploring the pane of an antique window. Whether it's a lack of confidence in the writing team in being able to reach certain narrative conclusions without express reminders of what they might be or a lack of confidence in the audience to reach them is neither here nor there, as main character Anita breathlessly exits a horrifying encounter with a gasped articulation of what said horrifying encounter represents, and how exactly she feels about it. Coupled with the iffy facial animation and 'walking simulator' gameplay loop, The Short Message can feel more artificial than it deserves.

In terms of aesthetics and environment design, though, The Short Message is excellent. Walls of post-it notes telling a character how much they suck might be the most blunt Otherworld extension in the series, but the paper-and-petals style clashes beautifully with the harsh rust and metal more similar to older games' hellscapes, as the latter begins to manifest more prominently in the later chapters - there's one particular Otherworld moment near the end of the game which encapsulates with aplomb what one might hope for in a new-generation Silent Hill. Franchise icons Akira Yamaoka and Masahiro Ito flex their masterclass skills in sound design and monster design respectively - which both contribute to making the game's few chase sequences delightfully tense - and their appearances represent the generational blend for which The Short Message strives. Using plot beats, iconography, and gameplay design plucked from the franchise's best (P.T. included), The Short Message can feel familiar, but in that familiarity carves a unique narrative space among its kin. It's not very long or complicated, but as the game itself tells us, it doesn't have to be; sometimes a short message can make all the difference.