In this article we will dig into what I consider to be my favorite franchise in all of gaming; the psychologically terror-inducing Silent Hill. Its a mysterious and demonic town where tortured souls unwillingly come to face and accept their darkest secrets. Aside from two games, no entry is connected to another, leaving the mythos and history of the town itself the recurrring main attraction along with the personal past of each protagonist. Admittedly, the franchise isnt heralded for its gameplay, which still to this day clunkily forces the player to fight the controls just as much as the enemies. Instead, articles like this are compiled to express the varying opinions from story to story. It could be the downright freaky enemy designs that often symbolize something relevant to the protagonists disturbing past, Akira Yamoakas hallucinogenic and dreamlike musical compositions (sometimes coupled with vocals from the amazing Mary Elizabeth McGlynn), or the thematically driven narrative itself that creates these divergent opinions among the fanbase. The current fanbase is unfortunately in a state of shambles, constantly bickering with one another about the turn the series has taken. Its no secret that ever since Team Silent disbanded the quality of the franchise has diminished, with mainstream appeal nearly dead. Also, while the latest installment was definitely a return to form in terms of narrative, the gameplay still hasnt evolved. Another new studio tasked with whipping up another story closed earlier this year, and with that I fear came the silent death of the once acclaimed series that spanned three console generations. As someone whos played them all without bias towards even the American developed games who some still refuse to touch I feel now is an appropriate time to crank out what is a personal passion project; a complete ranking of Silent Hill. This does include handheld games but not arcade/phone related content, just the main canon entries. There are also no story spoilers.