Silent Hill f's lead actor streamed the game and had a language-transcending horror experience that's gotten over 1.6 million views

As reported by Automaton, actor and model Konatsu Kato, who provided the likeness and Japanese voice of Silent Hill f protagonist Shimizu Hinako, has begun streaming her first playthrough of the game, fulfilling a promise she made earlier this month on X (formerly Twitter).

Kato has so far streamed once on YouTube, playing through the early portions of Silent Hill f and leaving a nearly two-hour VOD that's racked up over 1.6 million views at the time of writing. Kato and her commenters speak Japanese, and I didn't feel like I'd get anything worthwhile out of YouTube's auto-translation feature (which presumably draws from already-garbled auto-generated captions), but there's a universal language of horror at work here that makes the stream very easy to follow regardless.

Whether Kato's pulling away from the screen in a tense moment, mimicking her character's actions in real life, or struggling to line up a fiddly action button prompt during a chase sequence, we've all been there playing a horror game. One great moment I particularly empathized with was when Kato relaxed during a long cutscene, only to have to scramble to attention when it surprise transitioned back to gameplay. Celebrities: They're just like us!

I'm struck once again by how horror is just one of the most streamable game genres: It can draw a kind of naturally engaging performance out of the player (less danger of dead-eyed webcam stare) and can also better draw in the viewer with a shared experience of fright. If you want to keep up with Kato's continued adventures in Ebisugaoka, you can subscribe to her new channel on YouTube.