An oppressive fog descends over a mountain village, unsettlingly framed by a torii gate. A haunting melody — like something sung at a local matsuri ( festival) — plays in the background, and I feel like I’m being pulled into another world at once familiar and foreign.

For any horror game connoisseur, the name “Silent Hill” will instantly conjure up memories of foggy streets and twisted nightmares, all with a pervasive American ambience.

But Silent Hill f, the latest entry in Japan’s most prolific psychological horror franchise, released Sept. 25, has a distinctively Japanese aura.