The fan interactive experience Silent Hill: Ascension launched its first episode last night on Halloween, and while events unfolded, fans have had a poor reception to the new format.
The lead-up to the Halloween Silent Hill: Ascension launch has seen wariness from longtime fans, and last night, it was finally released to the world. Since Genvid has continued to tease fans, including an October 6th release date reveal, considerable hype (and continued wariness from longtime fans) has been built for the new massively interactive live event-based (MILEs) series. It turns out that after the launch, fans really don’t like the new direction.
Silent Hill: Ascension takes place from two separate points of view, and the events precede the original title. In Pennsylvania, Rachel Hernandez, a cult member, is devising plans for expansion into the city. In Norway, Karl and his daughter Astrid have to contend with his ill mother, Ingrid. Genvid has said they will throw you directly into the center of the story without explanation, and they were telling the truth.
The overarching plot is Ascension, which takes place across numerous ‘episodes’ in what appears to be a SH version of 24, as the whole plot takes place over a shortened period of time, with each instalment covering a critical event that occurs between the main protagonists. Staple Silent Hill elements like transitions to the Other World happen, and things do get dark.
While it is a confusing ~45-minute beginning (spoilers averted), Genvid Entertainment has planned the series to run for around six months, and the protagonists will eventually “discover the horror that connects them.” While not much story advances in the first episode, and fans have already failed a QTE that determined a character’s fate, fans have already made their judgement: Silent Hill: Ascension is bad.
Jilted fans have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to blast the new game with their opinions. User Bryce690 said, “Silent Hill: Ascension is even worse than I could’ve imagined. Littered with predatory micro transactions, laughably bad puzzles, & an opening episode that feels absolutely soulless. I’d call this the worst game of the year but it’s not even a game” regarding the first episode. Another fan, JamesCMeetze said, “1st impressions. Story is lackluster. Dialogue is just plain. The animation looks worse then something like Until Dawn which released 8 years ago. On top of that they have built it around MTX and pay to win mechanics.”
Twitter isn’t the only forum expressing disdain for Silent Hill: Ascension, Reddit has a whole thread called “Ascension will go down in history as the most hated Silent Hill experience, after the HD collection, or Homecoming…” and fans have let go of their grief on that platform as well. User Dalkil said the microtransactions are actually part of the canonical horror: “It is a full Silent Hill experience in which you get to feel the psychological aspects of monetization abuse, which affects lifes of both the game’s characters and players. SH Ascension is truly a masterpiece in which you can feel how unfair life is and how that can lead to anger and frustration.”
The internet is flooded with like-minded opinions. Fans say the story structure is a mess and it’s hard to follow. Microtransactions and the overwhelmingly toxic chat ruin the entire experience, and animations “feel trapped in the 360 era”. While the first release of Silent Hill: Ascension was met with backlash, the next part drops tonight at 9 p.m. EST, and fans can visit the official website to follow along and see if Genvid can right the ship in Ascension.
