Game of the Month: Silent Hill F (September 2025)

Well as I've only just started playing Silent Hill f, I've got to give it to Sonic Crossworlds for the time being. I think its a great racing game, with handling reminiscent of classic Sega arcade games and some really fun track design that makes good use of Sonic's history

EDIT: Having had more time with Silent Hill f, it is definitely my game of the month. I love the atmosphere, I'm enjoying the story, the puzzles are engaging and I don't mind the combat either

Dying Light The Beast for me.

I came in here ready to vote Silent Hill f...but then I saw Trails in the Sky.

Hell Is Us deserves it most.

Was between Cronos and Silent Hill f for me, but man SHf's story was absolutely god tier, so it gets my vote.

Sonic Racing, Thank you Sega for finally giving the PS5 a decent kart racer 👍

Oh boy this months a tough one, it's out of Borderlands 4, Trails in the Sky and Silent Hill F. I'm going to go with Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, such an amazing remake and one of the best JRPG's I've played on the PS5.

Normally I'd play and choose something like FF tactics but this time it was Sonic Racing Crossworlds. It's given me a new found appreciation for racing games and revitalized my love for the Sonic ip

Easily the best game I have played thus far this year is Cronos: The New Dawn*. My second place vote would go to Hell Is Us.

*Just to be clear, I have also played Expedition 33, and yet I think Cronos: The New Dawn was better than even that game...

Borderlands 4 has been so much fun! The shooting feels better, the open world is full of things to do and collect, the loot is more interesting with the combination of different weapon parts, and the vault hunters are the best ones yet. My game of the month (and possibly year)!

Only new game I played in September was Silent Hill f.

It has to be Silksong for me. I was absolutely floored by the game and I can’t wait for the probable and likely DLC.

Hell is us. Absolute gem

Dying Light it's the only one from the list I've played.

@Fiendish-Beaver As a fellow expeditioner, I must say those are some strong words but as I'm always open for new experiences, can you please explain why is Cronos the best game you've played this year? Is it the story, atmosphere, gameplay?

Definitely Silksong for me, it's the game I played like 99% of my September lol, but I did end the month with Silent Hill f.

But yeah, Silking my Song all the way.

Borderlands 4 and sonic racing.
Strange ones but enjoying.

Just need to get myself off Ghost Of Yōtei now. 🤣

Silksong and Sonic Crossworlds have both been a vibe and a half

No question. It's Silksong. It isn't my game of the month, it's my favorite game of the year, possibly the generation. Most games don't even come close.

Shoot me for speaking, but surely Silksong is just a platformer, with Soulslike precision needed?
Meh.
Edit, voted BL4.

Cronos for me such an awesome game. It is difficult and does not play around but progressing feels great. Also the music is on another level so perfect for the setting

CRONOS The New Dawn is not only the best game in September '25 for me but also GOTY thus far as well. It's just so good at everything it does and has such an incredible atmosphere.Everything about it is just amazing. Sure, it borrows heavily from Dead Space and Resident Evil and even a little bit from Silent Hill, but it really comes together as something all it's own. The graphics are incredible, the sound design & score is amazing, the mechanics are fun and it really nails the whole survival horror gameplay with thoughtful inventory management, fair but tough difficulty and an oppressive atmosphere. Highly recommended if you like survival horror.

My personal GOTY 2025 for PS5 is Fantasy Life i.
95 from 100 in my opinion.

It's a cute Action RPG game with fanciness of ACNH terraforming.

Wish I voted for Silent Hill F if it meant it beating out Silksong.

@DETfaninATL Hearing great things about that game, but its been a packed gaming month!

@UltimateOtaku91 😉

Everybody's golf would have my vote if 'clap your hands ' made it. But they didn't and Bando made a mess which is a shame.

Silent Hill f has been killing it for me, its story is so damn good and while frustrating, I've been very much enjoying the gameplay. Especially during a later section of the game.

@Anti-Matter not sure if it’s game of the year, but love it!

Way too many great games last month, but Silksong is above the rest. For now it's my GOTY2025 and I doubt it will be challenged.

@Czar_Khastik I can't speak for @Fiendish-Beaver but see my post above on a few thoughts on Cronos. If you like survival horror and / or Dead Space you will really enjoy CRONOS: The New Dawn. Absolutely amazing game for sure. Hope you're doing well m8!

@DETfaninATL I actually never played Dead Space (shame on me, I know) but since there is quite a lot of you praising Cronos, my interest peaked. I will look into it when I get a survival horror craving, so thanks for the clarification.

I'm a bit busy lately but I'm doing all right. Just started a playthrough of Yakuza: Like a dragon on PS5 so I'm just chillin' in Yokohama to release some stress from every day life. I hope you're doing good too in both real and virtual life!

Had to vote Silksong bc it’s been my main focus; phenomenal game though! Cronos has been my alternate, and is a lot of fun too, so honorable mention. Haven’t started Silent Hill f or Hell is Us yet, but can’t wait.
Crazy-good month!!

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter remake. Easy.

baby steps was my pick, dud of the month is everybody’s golf

I'll BEE voting for Hollow Knight: Silksong. Get it? Like there are bugs in the game!?! HAHAHHAHAHAHA

Borderlands 4.

I'm torn between Hell Is Us, Silent Hill f and Cronos but would go with Cronos as despite the initial difficulty curve it was pretty much perfect. Whereas Hell Is Us totally lost it's way half way through and Silent Hill f had way too much repetition and combat as dull as dishwater.

I've never known a game that got easier bosses the further you progressed although granted perhaps that was clever uses of the Omamori and maxing out stamina. I don't even think I died once during the last several bosses crazy.

@DETfaninATL has basically covered all the areas very well, @Czar_Khastik. I would say that I enjoyed the game so much that I went through the game on the hardest difficulty on New Game Plus and earned every achievement (yes, I played it first on the Xbox!). However, because I enjoyed the game so much, and because I want the game to be successful, and because I want to support the developers, I then bought the game on the PlayStation too. Honestly, it is that good...

@Czar_Khastik Get the Dead Space remake, as much as I dig Cronos and am warming to Silent Hill f Dead Space trumps them all and it's dirt cheap at the mo.

I'm happy I stop letting new releases dictate my playing habits cuz it'd be a shame to drop Rogue Prince of Persia amongst all of these amazing looking releases.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter for sure. And it isn't even close!

The only new game I bought in September was Baby Steps, but my vote goes to RE2 Remake 😂

completed Lego Voyagers last night with my daughter. we had a blast. they could have definitely taken the concept further and sometimes the controls are a little fiddly but it looks gorgeous, has some really creative ideas - especially in the 2nd half - and never overstays its welcome.

@MARl0

Silent Hill F is trash. I re-downloaded SH3 and I started playing that again.

Damn Silksong and SHf are surprisingly neck and neck, very unexpected as I was expecting Silksong to win by a mile.

Personally I'd say cronos is my GOTY

I am shocked! I thought for certain it would be Silksong. Can’t wait to play this (after I finish Silksong…)

I’m enjoying Silent Hill F but Cronos is the better game IMO. One of my favorite survivor horror games ever.

Honestly I dont have the time or money to play a fraction of the games that came out september, and so many ***** has come out its honestly impressive.

Definitely my game of the month, while sometimes frustrating I enjoyed the combat, puzzles, and Hinako's story. Very much excited to do NG+ on Lost in the Fog difficulty.

That feeling you get when your game wins game of the month:

I only bought Silent Hill F and FF Tactics last month and my personal choice goes to Silent Hill F (Tactics is also an amazing game tho.)

Voted for Trails in the Sky, but im happy Silent Hill F won it over Silksong 😜.

"We wouldn't say Silent Hill F received rave reviews. Critics were largely positive on the title, but it wasn't met with particularly eye-watering scores."

... What? It's sitting at an 86 on MetaCritic. That is "rave" alright.

My game of the month for September was Cronos: The New Dawn. At times, this game is punishing but I periodically like that when I’m gaming 😆.

I disliked Silent Hill f. Its combat is clunky and janky. Beyond irritating. It’s not for me but I’m glad that other people enjoyed it

Really not expecting this to have beat out Silksong, but I’m glad it did. Silksong is great, but not enough to it to keep me engaged for long. SH:F has more going for it to keep my interest.

So glad SHf gets the love it deserves and even beats out silksong. Silksongs great and all, but I got so tired of the relentless hype around it asking about it. Just way out of proportion for a good Metroidvania.

sadly shf don't fit for me, combat just so simple, just sell it.

@Gaia093 - I don’t know about that: 86 for a game is good, but I think it needs to be at least a 90 to have “critical acclaim”, or “rave reviews”, to use the articles words.
———
Honestly surprised it beat out Silksong, considering the latter not only is (I assume) more widely known, but also got better reviews, but going by the recent comments, maybe Silent Hill had more resonance here specifically?
In any case, nice to see a decent game win; interesting to see what the remainder of the year gives us.

Glad to see my favourite, Trails make it to P3, a respectable podium finish!

I'm glad silent hill f won over the overrated silksong , not bought silent hill f yet, but I will ive just got too many games to play, I played silksong for a couple of hours , it was just how I thought it would be , 2hrs was more than enough for me.

We complain about review scores, but apparently we are worse at ranking games.

Im enjoying Silent Hill F but for me it's nowhere near the same level as TitS 1st Chapter....

@lazarus11 Silent Hill f wasn't that good unfortunately. Held back by its ham fisted writing, absolutely terrible endings (the default one being insultingly predictable and obvious from the heavy hints the game keeps throwing at you), the poor combat and the extreme reuse of enemies.

Going by discussions online, it's as divisive as Silksong. I give it 6/10 if I'm being generous.