Silent Hill: The Short Message, despite the title, doesn’t send you to the town of Silent Hill. That might leave you wondering how Silent Hill: The Short Message connects to other Silent Hill games.
How Silent Hill: The Short Message Connects to Other Silent Hill Games
Silent Hill: The Short Message takes place in a small German town, one that’s on the decline. Kettenstadt isn’t abandoned, but the “villa” you explore absolutely is. So, for most of The Short Message, you’re roaming a deserted apartment complex. Well, it’s not entirely deserted – there’s a monster that stalks you at several points.
Sound familiar? It should. In terms of themes, general settings, and events, Silent Hill: The Short Message has a lot in common with other Silent Hill games, most notably Silent Hill 2.
Your protagonist, Anita, receives a message that draws her to the apartment complex. There, she’s forced to confront her own feelings of guilt. And that monster that pursues her? It’s either manifested or molded by that guilt. There’s also the game’s use of the Otherworld, and the gray circles you spot on some walls could be a nod to the series’ Halo of the Sun symbol or Silent Hill 4: The Room‘s hole in the wall. Speaking of Silent Hill 4, the chained door you encounter in The Short Message‘s final chapter will be very familiar to anyone who’s played that game.
Another connection is that at least two people who worked on the first three Silent Hill games were also involved in this title. Series composer Akira Yamaoka worked on the music for it, and the Maya monster and Otherworld was created by Masahiro Ito, art director on Silent Hill 1–3.
However, title aside, there’s only one specific, in-world connection to the Silent Hill games, which I’ll get to in a minute. The Short Message doesn’t name-check any previous Silent Hill characters, nor is there any mention of the Order, the cult that operated in Silent Hill. So, if you’re looking for The Short Message to nudge you in the ribs, mumbling about James Sunderland, it’s not going to happen.
Related: Is Silent Hill: The Short Message on Xbox or PC?
How Silent Hill: The Short Message Sets Up Future Silent Hill Games
So, what is that specific connection, and how does it set up future Silent Hill games? Well, there’s a note you’ll stumble across that talks about the “Silent Hill Phenomenon,” a condition that’s been springing up around the world.
According to the note, “Those affected suddenly claim to see fog, even on fair weather days, and lose consciousness shortly after.” It’s named after the town where it was first reported, though Silent Hill: Homecoming already saw it reaching beyond that town.
There were a lot of raised eyebrows when Konami announced the various in-the-works Silent Hill games. They couldn’t all take place in the town of Silent Hill, surely? Turns out they don’t. For example, Silent Hill f is set in 1960s Japan, and The Short Message is in modern-day Germany.
So, by creating the “Silent Hill Phenomenon,” Konami doesn’t have to explain how each game is specifically connected to Silent Hill. There’s no need to link future protagonists to the town, the cult, or anything else, the Silent Hill Phenomenon just “is.” It’s a smart move in the short term, but if not carefully curated by Konami, it risks stripping the series of its character.
So, if you were wondering how Silent Hill: The Short Message connects to other Silent Hill games, the answer is that while it shares themes, the only in-universe connection is the mention (and creation) of Silent Hill as a recurring global phenomenon.
Silent Hill: The Short Message is free to play on PlayStation 5.
