Slitterhead

Slitterhead is an action horror game from Bokeh Game Studio, founded by Keiichiro Toyama, creator of the original Silent Hill and Gravity Rush, and the game is set in the fictional Asian metropolis of Kowlong, plagued by parasitic monsters hiding in human bodies. The player controls a bodiless entity capable of entering the bodies of random passersby, called Rasid, and using their unique abilities in combat against the monsters, and when the host is seriously injured, the entity can instantly jump into another nearby person, so the fight continues seamlessly in a new body without a single pause in the action, while the abandoned body collapses lifelessly to the ground.

Combat combines fast melee attacks with hemoprove, blood turned into a weapon, and tactical switching between several permanent playable characters with different abilities and personal stories, which makes it feel more like a B-movie action horror than a classic survival horror. On PlayStation 5, the game builds on a neon, rain-soaked metropolis inspired by Asian cities and dense, atmospheric music by Akira Yamaoka, known primarily for the sound of the Silent Hill series. The visual style combines a realistic environment with grotesquely transformed monsters emerging from human bodies, giving the game a distinctly visceral, organic character.

The game represents a return of key creators of Japanese survival horror to the genre they themselves helped shape years ago, this time with an emphasis on a more action-driven and rawer approach to combat. Reception was mixed to positive, with critics praising the originality of the body-possession concept and the music, while some pointed out the repetitive mission structure. Slitterhead is interesting above all as a new voice in the genre of Japanese horror from the people who stood at its birth, and as a demonstration of where the classic horror legacy can be taken when its own founders take it on.

Why play it: For fans of Japanese horror, it's an interesting, rawer action alternative from creators who helped shape the genre themselves, even if the missions get repetitive at times.