Silent Hill: The Short Message

Silent Hill: The Short Message
Development Team
Director:	Motoi Okamoto
Producer:	Motoi Okamoto
Writer:	Kiichi Kanoh Motoi Okamoto
Composer:	Akira Yamaoka
Production Information
Other Names:	Masahiro Ito (creature and Otherworld design)
Developer:	Konami HexaDrive
Publisher:	Konami
Platforms:	PlayStation 5
Genre:	Survival horror
Release Date(s):	January 31, 2024
Ratings
ESRB:	M (Mature)
PEGI:	18
CERO:	C
ACB:	15

Silent Hill: The Short Message is a psychological horror game, released on January 31, 2024, and published by Konami.

Masahiro Ito returns to the series, having previously worked on the first three installments as a core developer, as well as longtime series composer and sound designer Akira Yamaoka.

Plot

In the economically depressed town of Kettenstadt, Germany, 18-year old Anita Planert is invited by her friend and Internet-famous graffiti artist Maya Hindenburg (also known by her online alias "C.B.", standing for "Cherry Blossom") to the Villa in order to show her "something". Suddenly, Anita awakens inside the apartment complex and explores the rundown building in search of Maya. On the way, she comes across various works by Maya and recalls back on her artistic process of wanting to portray "girls' hidden sides and their struggles", and how cherry blossoms can convey her message and her desire to leave Kettenstadt. Anita recognises Maya's natural artistic talent and laments on her own personal skill. Along the way, Anita is regularly contacted by her friend Amelie, who is also close to Maya, through text messages. Sometime after, Anita finds herself chased by a creature covered in blooming cherry blossoms throughout the building. After Anita loses the creature, Maya texts of her current location being the studio. Despite attempting to contact Maya for her safety and reassurance, Anita receives no other responses.

Arriving at the studio, Anita searches for Maya but can only find trails of her graffiti artwork. She starts to recall the amount of online harassment she faced while trying to be as popular as Maya. Soon after, Anita receives a call from Amelie who inadvertently tells her that Maya had committed suicide by jumping off from the Villa's rooftop six months ago. Anita is shocked that she would forget something so important and wonders who has been texting her using Maya's name. Now, Maya texts Anita and asks her to "find it" though she herself does not know what is needed to be found. Chased by Sakura Head again, Anita winds up at the Villa's rooftop and discovers Maya's final art piece. Envious by the amount of attention and followers Maya gained, Anita succumbs to the fear that no one will recognize her nor her art skills and jumps from the apartment's rooftop.

However, instead of dying, Anita finds herself back inside the Villa. She receives more texts from Maya, telling her that neither of them can leave until Anita finds "it". She is forced to explore the complex again, which is now in a dilapidated state with Maya's artwork vandalized. Anita looks at Maya's art posts and sees some malicious comments left behind and suspects them to be the culprits. Once again, Anita is contacted by Amelie through similar messages as before, and she decides to question Amelie on the topic of Maya's suicide; Amelie reveals that Maya displayed no odd behaviour before her suicide and feels guilty in not preventing her death. Anita questions if Maya hadn't really said anything and recalls moments of Maya's suicidal ideation and her being bullied at school. Throughout her exploration, Anita comes upon Amelie's room, where Amelie expresses desire of going to Deutschland Medical University (DMU). However, due to her family's financial situation, Amelie is despaired at not being able to attend the university and is fret at the possibility of being left with her brother, who she's scared of and despises due to his suggestive way of looking at her. Later, it is apparently reported that she had committed suicide due to her not being able to attend university.

Continuing on, Anita finds herself at the town's local high school, where she is tormented by visions of Maya relentlessly bullied by her peers. Back at the Villa, Anita is chased by Sakura Head once more and winds up at Maya's studio, where she encounters an artwork of Maya's she had never seen before, one depicting Amelie. She recalls how Maya had a closer relationship to Amelie than her and felt ignored by Maya. Moving forward, Anita finds herself in the school's library, where she learns that Kettenstadt enjoyed a period of economic prosperity due to a Japanese witch's clairvoyance in the 1930s. However, in 1947, a fire spread throughout the industrial parks and the witch was hospitalized only for her to jump off the hospital's rooftop. Some civilians claimed that a witch hunt was to blame, since the witch's rise to prominence had angered the mayor's party, and they had used the chaos from the fire as a cover for her murder. Following her death, Kettenstadt is supposedly cursed by the witch, and this caused an economic spiral and an increase in miscarriages for the following years. In addition, Anita recalls a book that was borrowed from her by Maya, and it contains a secret letter by the graffiti artist, and Anita seeks to find it. Finding the letter in her own locker, Anita discovers it was addressed to Amelie, begging her for help. Anita recalls that she had purposefully withheld the letter from Amelie due to her jealousy over Maya's close friendship with her and believes her actions led to Maya's suicide. Relentlessly chased by Sakura Head again, Anita's journey ends back at the Villa's rooftop where she calls Amelie to confess her actions and guilt in pushing Maya to her fate. Anita jumps off the roof for a second time.

Once again, Anita finds herself back in the Villa, which is further deteriorated. She ends up in her old family home where she and her brother were raised by single mother, Krysta Planert. Initially, Krysta is loving towards her children and tried to rebuild their family by introducing a man as their new step-father. However, the increasing rejection from the children led to Krysta becoming progressively more resentful towards her son and daughter. The man eventually distanced himself from the family and Child Welfare Center was forced to intervene to take custody of the children due to the increasing punishment and deplorable environment. Following this, Krysta locks both her children in the closet for over half a day, and this culminated in her brother dying and Krysta hiding the body in the fridge. Eventually, Anita escaped from the abusive environment and reported her mother for negligence from a nearby neighbor's phone. Krysta was arrested for her crimes, and Anita ended up in their custody. This abuse gives birth to Anita's self-loathing tendency.

Following this, Anita is transported to the Otherworld, where she is being aggressively hunted down by Sakura Head. Afterwards, Anita arrives back at Maya's studio, where she discovers that Maya was planning to make an artwork depicting her as well, realizing that Maya had not been ignoring her. For the final scene, Anita is back on the roof and calls Amelie to apologize to her for not realizing how much both she and Maya valued their friendship with her and plans to atone for her sins by jumping off the roof. Just before she commits, Amelie invites her to a shopping spree where she plans for both of them to talk about their issues. This gesture stops Anita at the last second, which dispels the fog surrounding the Villa, returning her back to reality. Sometime later, a social media post by Amelie indicates that both of them have left Kettenstadt for college to start their new lives.

Development

Leak

Promotional banner.

In 2022, screenshots from a playable teaser leaked under the title Sakura. It was reportedly scheduled for release in October 2021, but pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Silent Hill: The Short Message was officially rated in South Korea in September 2022. In October 2022, Konami began hiring for upcoming Silent Hill projects, including an unannounced in-house game. In December 2022, The Short Message was rated in Taiwan, with an official synopsis that read:

Anita came to an abandoned apartment in order to meet her friend Maya, and somehow woke up to find herself trapped in it. She must escape her own fears and the monsters lurking in the corridors, discover the truth behind the events she's trapped in, and try to escape before her own trauma consumes her will to survive.

On August 2022, the Games Management Committee in Korea registered various statuses and classifications of Silent Hill: The Short Message.

On November 6th, 2023, the Australian Classification Board (ACB) posted the game's full plot in its annual report. According to the ACB, Silent Hill: The Short Message is “an exploration‑based psychological horror game in which players control characters in an apartment building called The Villa in modern‑day Germany.”

Release

“

"It deals with serious modern-day issues such as social media, bullying, and suicide, and concentrates the essence of the series - the feeling of being psychologically hemmed in and cornered into a short window. We hope that a new generation of players who are new to Silent Hill, and of course, our long-time fans of the series as well, will all take the opportunity to experience this game." — Silent Hill (series) Producer Motoi Okamoto

”

The game was a surprise announcement during Sony's State of Play on January 31, 2024, which is the 25th anniversary of the first Silent Hill game's release. It released the same day on the Playstation Store, immediately after the live broadcast.

On February 6th, 2024, Silent Hill: The Short Message was confirmed to have gained over one million downloads on PlayStation 5. On February 12th, 2024, it had a total of two million downloads on PS5. On May 30, 2024, it was confirmed a total of two and a half million downloads on PS5. On July 30, 2024, it was confirmed over three million downloads on PS5.

Silent Hill: The Short Message to over one million downloads.

Silent Hill: The Short Message to over two million downloads.

Silent Hill: The Short Message to over three million downloads.

Soundtrack

Silent Hill: The Short Message Original Soundtrack

Main article: Silent Hill: The Short Message Original Soundtrack

The Short Message is the soundtrack album to the eponymous game, composed by Akira Yamaoka and distributed by Konami. It released in Japan on May 11th, 2024.

Gallery

Trailers and marketing

SILENT HILL- The Short Message - Launch Trailer (4K-EN-ESRB) - KONAMI

SILENT HILL- The Short Message - Commentary 01- 制作チームインタビュー (JP) ※一部ネタバレあり - KONAMI

SILENT HILL- The Short Message - Commentary 01- Production Team Interview (EN) (Spoiler Warning)

SILENT HILL- The Short Message - Commentary 02- 演出家・キャストインタビュー (JP) ※一部ネタバレあり - KONAMI

SILENT HILL- The Short Message - Commentary 02- Actor-Director Interview (EN) (Spoiler Warning)

SILENT HILL- The Short Message - Commentary 03- サウンドチームインタビュー (JP) ※一部ネタバレあり - KONAMI

SILENT HILL- The Short Message - Commentary 03- Sound Team Interview (EN) (Spoiler Warning) - KONAMI

SILENT HILL- The Short Message - Commentary 04- 開発スタッフインタビュー (JP) ※一部ネタバレあり - KONAMI

SILENT HILL- The Short Message - Commentary 04- Developer Interview (EN) (Spoiler Warning) - KONAMI

SILENT HILL- The Short Message - Commentary 05- キャストインタビュー (JP) ※一部ネタバレあり - KONAMI

SILENT HILL- The Short Message - Commentary 05- Cast Interview (EN) (Spoiler Warning) - KONAMI

Promotional statements

Motoi Okamoto

Akira Yamaoka

Masahiro Ito

Kiichi Kanoh

Art

Official logo.

Official background.

Concept art by Masahiro Ito.

Key art.

Main visual.

Leak photos

Revelation that would be a playable demo on PlayStation 5 in 2021.

Anita's 3D model revealed in a The Short Message leak.

Anita's face with paper notes.

Sakura Head leak.

Promotional screenshots

Screenshots

Title screen.

Maya and Amelie.

Fog World in the Villa apartment building.

Otherworld.

End screen.

External Links

• Silent Hill: The Short Message official site
• Silent Hill Portal site

References

v · e · d Silent Hill: The Short Message
Characters
Major Characters
Anita Planert - Maya Hindenburg
Other Characters
Amelie - Krysta Planert
Monsters
Sakura Head
Locations
The Villa - Kettenstadt
Terms
Flashlight - Radio - Real World - Fog World - The Silent Hill Phenomenon - The Witch of the Far East - Otherworld - Monster - Robbie the Rabbit
Archives
Memos - Puzzles - Soundtrack