Silent Hill is one of the most acclaimed horror series in the gaming industry. After a long hiatus, the developer Konami decided to tap into this dormant IP and produce new games and remakes of the classics.
Among these is Silent Hill: Ascension, an interactive horror series made in partnership between Genvid Technologies and Behaviour Interactive, the latter being the renowned creator of Dead by Daylight Mobile.
But this Silent Hill is a bit different from the others. Titled as an interactive horror streaming series, many even wonder if it is a game or not. And yes, it has some game elements, but it’s majorly an interactive series.
We will explain it better in this Silent Hill – Ascension: Ultimate Gameplay Guide. You can download the game from Google Play or App Store.
Register an Account
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Before starting the game, we strongly recommend that you create an account in advance on the official website. This is because many players are reporting login issues.
Even if you are not one of those encountering a bug, creating the account in advance at least streamlines the process.
Also, if you finish the account in a browser, Silent Hill will start right there. You can return to your mobile device if you prefer.
Silent Hill – The Essentials
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Silent Hill: Ascension is categorized as a television interactive series throughout the media. It’s rare to find someone calling Silent Hill a game because that’s not the feeling you get when watching and interacting with it.
It’s mostly a television series with some gameplay elements, such as puzzles and quick time events.
That said, know you will spend much more time watching than interacting. The episodes vary, but some are around ten minutes, while others hover around two minutes. In its essence, Silent Hill: Ascension is a show, not a game.
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Therefore, be aware that each decision and outcome of the episodes are permanent. There are some ways to influence the Fate of the main characters of the Season, which can lead them to survive at the end of the journey or not.
Make a Decision
The most prominent feature of Silent Hill: Ascension is the decisions. Every day, you can choose a decision to determine the outcome of a scene. There are three in total. Decisions can have some tags like New, Gold, Platinum, and Fate.
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- New is self-explanatory. They are new decisions to the game. Some may last only a day, while others may extend for a week.
- Gold are decisions that have a modest effect on the story. It may not have much influence, but we don’t know in the long run.
- Platinum are decisions that will have a large impact on the story, so choose carefully the one that resonates with you the most.
- Fate tags indicate decisions that can change the entire plot of the character, not just the overall story. Fate decisions come in three categories: Redemption, Suffering, and Damnation. The more decisions of one type the character follows, the higher the chances of their Fate following that path.
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To choose a Decision, simply click on the bottom of the screen and then invest your Influence Points in the desired one.
The standard investment is usually 200 Influence Points, but you can fund as much as you want if you are very eager to see a decision coming to fruition.
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There are several in-game ways to acquire influence points, such as puzzles, daily and weekly goals, and, of course, financing real money. It’s suggested to save until you are packed with IPs to make a decision that really moved you.
A New Episode Every Day
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Many decisions will be resolved during or at the end of a livestream episode, which happens every day at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
If you have yet to vote on a decision, you will have another opportunity the following day. During the live stream, it’s also possible to execute quick time events, described below.
Those who follow the Silent Hill episodes live can contribute to the Fate of a character. But if you can’t, all the episodes will be available on demand so that you can catch up and update yourself on the events before making any decisions.
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For those with FOMO or upset that their decision wasn’t picked, worry not.
According to the developer, after the series finale, they will release a speedrun system, showcasing alternate story branches and deleted scenes in Silent Hill. The canonical ending of the series will not be impacted by this.
The Arcane Library
You can access the Arcane Library from the main screen. It will lead you to two types of puzzles: Arcane and Mindfulness.
Arcane Puzzles
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Puzzles can give you Influence Points and experience. There are various puzzles, such as Codebreaker, Hashi, Stones, and Lockbox.
Free players can only play one puzzle per day, alternating every new day, while those who purchase the Season Pass can play all at any time.
Codebreaker
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The codebreaker is a puzzle of deciphering symbols in a gameplay similar to Wordle. You select five symbols and then submit them. Correct symbols in the right positions turn green.
Correct symbols, but in the wrong position, turn yellow, while symbols that do not belong to the combination are red.
The rules are simple, and you’ll soon get the hang of this puzzle, but it gets harder every time. If you get it right in 3 tries, it’s 3 stars. In 4 or 5, it’s 2 stars. And if you get it on the sixth, the last try, you get 1 star.
Hashi
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In this puzzle, you need to drag lines from one coin to another to create a line. The line has to be vertical or horizontal and cannot cross over an existing one. Each coin has a number, which is the maximum number of lines it can compose.
A coin can be linked with multiple lines to count towards its total. The goal is to connect all the coins as soon as possible. The faster you do it, the more stars and rewards you earn in the end.
Lockbox
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The trickiest puzzle in Silent Hill: Ascension. The lockbox has two dials on either side and blades. Your goal is to retract all the blades. To do so, you turn the dials clockwise or counterclockwise.
However, there are five types of blades: normal, rusted, breakable, button, and lock. Rusted can only be turned by using a hey key on a dial.
Breakable need to hit each other to break. The button blade requires the blade to press the button on the other side, and if a Lock Blade hits the other side, it’s an instant failure.
If you solve this puzzle in fewer turns, you get more stars.
Stones
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This one is a simple match tiles puzzle. The left shows how many stones you must match to complete the level. If you match four or more, you’ll build up a gauge that, once it is complete, will eliminate several tiles all around.
The faster you remove the tiles, the better the rewards. It’s everyone’s favorite puzzle game.
Mindfulness Puzzles
Within the puzzle section, there is also a Mindfulness screen. This is where we complete puzzles to restore the characters’ Hope and prevent them from falling into despair, influencing the story.
The puzzles vary according to the character, so there is no daily standard.
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There are various puzzles in Silent Hill, such as Guitar, which requires you to tap on the suggested notes that appear on the strings to accumulate points. The more you get right, the more stars, experience, Influence points, and the chance to increase Rachel’s Hope.
Or Tiles, which ask you to assemble an image by pushing tile pieces in the correct order. There is a blank space on the board, and every time you click on an adjacent tile, it moves to that space.
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The player’s task is to place all the tiles in the exact position so that the image is formed. It is one of the trickiest puzzles in Silent Hill: Ascension that rewards players with more stars the faster they solve it.
Quick Time Events
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If you are following a live stream, sometimes there will be a sequence of events with a main character where inputs will appear on the screen, such as tapping or swiping, to help the character in a dangerous situation.
There is a community meter that indicates how many failed or passed the quick time event. Failing can result in severe consequences for the character and reduce their Hope while being successful keeps them safe.
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This is an opportunity to earn a lot of Influence Points, so even if you don’t like a character or, for some reason, don’t want them to survive, it’s worth putting effort into the quick time events to earn the most Influence Points and have more sway in the decisions.
Also, even if the community fails, Silent Hill: Ascension considers your effort and shows whether you succeeded or not, then tallies your Influence Points at the end.
Watching and interacting with the scenes makes them more risky or suffocating, intensifying the engagement.
Participate Directly in the Show
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Each day, you and other audience members can enter a cameo contest to include your custom character in the show and immortalize it.
You need to have tickets to get into contests, and these are purchased with Influence Points. Then, you create a character, pick a name, and it has a chance to become a permanent personality in the series.
It is a unique way to directly involve the community in a television series, but probably only those who invest heavily in the purchase of Influence Points will own this opportunity.
Claim Rewards
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In the upper right corner, next to your name and Influence Points, there is a gift icon. Every time you invest Influence Points in decisions, it accumulates in the gift box. When you reach a threshold, you can claim a reward in Silent Hill.
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This reward is cosmetic, such as emotes, stickers, or gear. It’s relatively easy to acquire rewards and is a way to benefit even free-to-play players.
In the lower right corner, there is a chat where you can interact with other players. However, during a live stream, these messages are called blasts, requiring Influence Points to send them.
Collect Moments
Each decision connects to a Moment in the series in Silent Hill. Players collect moments by participating in all the decisions or the live stream. This turns into achievements, fattening up your profile.
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Those who are really invested in the game can even earn some unique worldwide achievements, such as being the Top Influencer, the one who had the most impact in a chosen decision.
Silent Hill – The Season Pass
Silent Hill: Ascension’s Season Pass unlocks every puzzle, and more character customization options, such as emotes, stickers, and a heap of Influence Points.
If we’re being honest, and it is also our duty as we are making a gameplay guide, we feel that only users who purchase the Season Pass will thoroughly enjoy Silent Hill: Ascension.0
Free-to-play players have limited puzzles, which affects the acquisition of Influence Points. In addition, the acquisition of IP through the season pass is much higher than usual, making the decision-making power of the players who bought it much weightier than those who didn’t.
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Even the contests that aim to insert your character in the series end up benefiting buyers of the Season Pass. Buying tickets cost Influence Points, so those with more have a greater chance of being featured.
All in all, it’s one of the most predatory Season Passes in the industry. Although you can enjoy and watch the entire Season of this Silent Hill horror television series, that’s the most you can do: watch.
The more noteworthy interactions will be reserved for those who open their wallets.
Daily and Weekly Goals
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There are some tasks to be done daily and weekly that confer experience points and Influence Points as a reward. Tasks such as a login streak, watching a daily catch-up video, or contributing IP to a decision are daily tasks.
In the weekly ones, they take longer, such as collecting 4 moments, earning 10 rewards, or accumulating 5000 Influence Points. The rewards somewhat feed back into each other, as it is necessary to spend Influence Points to win them back.
Conclusion
This Silent Hill gameplay guide was a little different from the others. Silent Hill: Ascension is not set up as a game per se but instead as a horror television series.
You will fundamentally watch more than interact with it, having only a few simple puzzles sprinkled within.
As interesting as the desire and attempt to participate in the decisions may be, the game’s monetization is being harshly rebuked, as it overly benefits paying players compared to free-to-players.
It is not our role to criticize, but as a guide, we must point out all the context so that your Influence Points are invested with caution.
However, the design of Silent Hill: Ascension is quite interesting. Who knows, maybe it will inspire other franchises to do the same, and more interactive series will emerge worldwide. Tell us, are you following the series in Silent Hill: Ascension? Comment for us!
