Images Show Scrapped Monster Designs for Silent Hill: Ascension

While considered by many to be a misstep in the Silent Hill franchise, recently unearthed concept art of scrapped monster designs for the interactive experience Silent Hill: Ascension has stirred up conversations about what could have been with the peculiar offering. Silent Hill: Ascension was branded as an immersive video game experience, though its actual presentation and content were more akin to a television series with various outcomes determined by audience voting. The project was panned by critics and viewers for diverting too wildly from the iconic survival horror formula of the Silent Hill franchise, but recent creature artwork has reignited discussions on what could have been done differently with Silent Hill: Ascension.

One of the biggest controversies of Silent Hill: Ascension was its pricing model with microtransactions, coupled with the narrative branching structure only offering fixed outcomes because of the community voting system. While Silent Hill: Ascension advertised itself as a choice-based experience, the decisions of how the story progressed were decided by majority vote, leaving many viewers to lament the fact that the story paths they wanted to see would never be shown. As such, Ascension faced backlash and was met with poor ratings. However, Silent Hill fans have now shown an unexpected interest in previously unknown details about the project.

Why Silent Hill f Could Make or Break the Franchise

Silent Hill f looks promising, and one can only hope that it lives up to high expectations, for the sake of the franchise as a whole.

In a Reddit post by user Bi0_B1lly, various creature concept art for Silent Hill: Ascension showcases a variety of monster designs that never made the final cut into the interactive experience. The designs include grotesque mutated creatures with intestine-like tendrils, deformed organs, peeling skin, and vampiric wings. Community members voiced their enthusiasm for the delightfully horrific monsters, with many saddened to know that the beasts never got their time in the spotlight with Silent Hill: Ascension. Many pointed out similarities between the concept art and iconic Silent Hill creatures, and several comments agreed that Ascension may have been better received, to a degree, had these designs been in the final product.

Silent Hill f Could Take Inspiration from Silent Hill: Ascension’s Concept Art

One key point of discussion that arose in response to the uncovered Silent Hill: Ascension concept art was whether the upcoming Silent Hill f could perhaps include similar creature designs. The Silent Hill f release date trailer included snippets of protagonist Hinako facing off against mutated monsters with bloody deformities reminiscent of those in Ascension. There has been no official confirmation of any possible connection between the Ascension concept art and Silent Hill f‘s enemies, but some players are hopeful that the horrors awaiting in Silent Hill f will have the same disturbing appearance as the unused monsters of Silent Hill: Ascension.

Audience hype for Silent Hill f‘s story and setting continues to rise, prompting many players to look back at previous releases in the beloved survival horror series. In spite of Silent Hill: Ascension falling below fan expectations, the title’s concept art has found a following of its own and has surprisingly reminded fans why they fell in love with the Silent Hill franchise.