Silent Hill f walkthrough: All puzzle solutions
Silent Hill is officially back. After the brilliant remake of Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill f delivers a brand new and original experience, transporting players back to 1960s Japan. It’s there that they’ll unravel a dark and unnerving story centred around new protagonist Hinako Shimizu, who suddenly finds her town of Ebisugaoka consumed by a mysterious fog. And then there are the monsters…
Of course, this wouldn’t be a Silent Hill game with puzzles, and Silent Hill f has plenty of them. Many of them are quite tricky, too, especially if you play on the default ‘Hard’ puzzle difficulty. It’s for that reason we’ve put together this Silent Hill f puzzle guide/walkthrough, so if you’re making your way through the game and you find yourself stuck, hopefully we can help you out.
Below you’ll find solutions for all puzzles encountered during your first playthrough of Silent Hill f, based on the standard ‘Hard’ puzzle difficulty. If you’re playing on ‘Story’ or ‘Lost in the Fog’ puzzle difficulty, the answers may be different, but our solutions should at least perhaps point you in the right direction.
How to solve the altar puzzle in Silent Hill f
A little way into Silent Hill f you’ll encounter your first puzzle, which involves an altar. Basically, you need to place the five objects located in front of the altar on the correct pedestals. There’s a note you can read, but it’s not much help.
Key here are the drawings on each altar – they will help you match up the correct items. Pick up the items in front of the altar and examine them one by one – you’ll find marks and other clues to match them.
The answer is: fish at top left, gown at top right, fan at bottom left, jar in bottom middle, and dead rat in bottom right.
How to solve the Shrine Vault door puzzle in Silent Hill f
Progressing further into the Dark Shrine area in Silent Hill f, you’ll be tasked with opening the Shrine Vault door, but to do so you need the correct symbols and a missing piece of the lock.
After investigating the Shrine Vault door, return to the fox statue where you earlier picked up the dulled blade. When you’re near it, a scene will trigger focusing on a doll. Interact with the doll to read the note that’s with it: “Lightning cast down from the heavens split asunder the decayed tree. From the earth grows kudzu, the prophet of eternal prosperity”.
After reading the note, a new enemy will appear – either fight it or run away from it. What you need to do now is find numerous wooden plaques called ’ema’ in the area, depicting certain things from the note.
You’ll find the first batch of ema near the fox statue, and here you’ll find one which depicts lighting. Examine it and turn it around to reveal the first symbol you need.
Follow the path around to the right and you’ll soon find another batch of ema. This time, look for one that depicts a pinkish flower. Examine it and turn it around to reveal the missing part of the lock attached as well as the next symbol you need.
Carry on moving through the area to find the third batch of ema. Here you need to look for one which depicts a tree. Examine it and turn it around for the final symbol you need.
Now that you have all of the symbols, return to the Shrine Vault door, place the combination lock part in it, then enter the symbols as found in your journal to open it. You can then enter and grab the Stone Key which you need to further progress into the Dark Shrine.
How to solve the field scarecrow puzzle in Silent Hill f
Making your way across town, you’ll eventually find yourself lost in a field with seemingly no way out. Well, there is, but it involves solving a pesky puzzle involving batches of scarecrows. Upon happening upon each batch of scarecrows, you need to read the message on the one with its face covered at the front, then examine the correct scarecrow in the group and remove the strange object from it to make it point you in the correct direction. Get it wrong and the scarecrow will come to life, pretty much forcing you to fight it instead.
Here’s the order in which you need to interact with the scarecrows:
- In the first batch of scarecrows you need to one with the polite smile.
- In the second batch, you need the one that has a sword in its back.
- In the third batch, facing the scarecrow with its face covered with the message, it’s the girl at the back left; look at the scarecrows as pairs a–ll are looking at each other apart from two on the left.
- In the fourth batch, the scarecrow you need is on right with sad-ish face.
- When you reach the fifth and final batch of scarecrows, the one you need is looking at the floor with her arms out, almost in a T-pose.
Where to find the stairwell key in school in Silent Hill f
When you reach the school in Silent Hill f, you need to find a key to access the rooms on the second floor. A note found in an office in the central area reveals that one of the teachers has it, while another up the left hand stairs tells you that the teacher in question is a keen gardener. So, you need to find the school’s garden.
Enter the classroom just across from the locker room on the first floor and you’ll find that you can climb through its window. Ahead you’ll find the garden, but it’s occupied with a large knife-wielding enemy. Avoid it or fight it, then head to the far side of the garden to find some blue flowers. The key you need in on the floor near the front of them.
How to solve the puzzle box puzzle in Silent Hill f
Venturing up the second floor in the school, you’ll eventually find yourself trapped in a classrom. To get out, you’ll need to solve a puzzle involving a puzzle box.
Find the desk in the classroom with a note and a puzzle box on it, then read the note. It’s a clue to solving the box. The key words here are ‘sweet’ and ‘tart’ tastes. Now interact with the puzzle box – you’ll find that you can rotate it and slide pieces out to reveal pictures.
Going by the clue, you first need to reveal the items that provide a sweet or tart taste. So fruit, basically. Press square/X to rotate the box and triangle/Y to move the wooden pieces to reveal the food items. You want the apple, cherries, orange/lime, grapes, strawberry and pineapple visible.
Once done, press X/A to confirm and the top will slide out to reveal an unopened envelope. Read the note in the envelope and you’ll now need to solve the puzzle box again. This time you need to reveal all of the notepads/diaries.
Another note will be revealed. Read this one and you’ll be on the final phase of the puzzle – you need to reveal the sakura in bloom. There are two pictures of sakura flowers on one side, and a tree shedding sakura on other.
You’ll now get the second floor classroom generic key, allowing you to escape.
How to get solve locker puzzle in Silent Hill f
Before you can leave the school in Silent Hill f, you need to solve one more puzzle which involves a locker. Though while you’ll need to open one locker, there are more you can open for some nice rewards if you want to. First, though, you’ll want to grab the key to the second locker room from the central area of the second floor. You’ll find some clues as to how to solve the ‘Girls Code’ that has been sued to come up with the combinations on the lockers, too.
In the first locker room that’s open from the start, you’ll find Aoi’s locker. His code is made of numbers that look like the letters of his name, so it’s 401.
Inside you’ll find an origami, which provides a clue as to the code of Suga’s locker in the locker room next door, which you need to open with the locker room key. It’s a cry for help, so it’s SOS, or 505. Inside you’ll find a school bag that expands your inventory.
Also in the second locker room, you’ll find Tsuchiya’s locker, which is opened with the code 377, given to you via a note found in a classroom on the second floor. Inside you’ll find a wolf omamori.
The final locker you need to open is Asakura’s, and the code for it is BUS, as discovered in the clue in the second floor central area. That means the code is 865. Inside you’ll find the Key Cabinet Key, required to open he box in the office in near the central area. There you’ll find the key required to leave the school and progress.
How to solve the shrine light puzzle in Silent Hill f
Upon a later visit to the Dark Shrine, you’ll reach a room in which Sakuko is found in a cage. Pick up the note on the altar in front of the cage and you’ll start the shrine light puzzle. You’re given a clue but it’s pretty cryptic – something about seeing eye to eye and shade.
You’ll find two pedestals in the room with both a fox and a rabbit on each of them. If you rotate these, the boxes in the room with lights in them will move up and down. You need to get all of the boxes on the same level.
The solution is pretty simple: make the fox and the rabbit face away from each other at both sides. Once all of the boxes are at ground level, investigate the ones at the centre at both sides to grab a pair of lampshades. Place these lampshades at either side of shrine, then grab the key that is released to complete the puzzle.
How to solve the memories shrine puzzle in Silent Hill f
Here’s another puzzle found in the Dark Shrine. Check all of the pedestals in the room containing Shu’s treasured items – you’ll find that two are empty. You need to find them and then place them on the pedestals to proceed.
Go through the door on the left in the room and then down the corridor, heading right. Head down hallway to the right ahead to find a drawing of Hinako – that’s the first item you need.
Go back and pull the lever on the device in the big room to open the gate at the far end. Pass through the opened gate and head down the corridor. Go right at the end and follow the corridor around. Pull the lever when you come to it to open the gate that’s blocking your path. Head into the now open area for a boss fight of sorts.
When you’re done, go up the stairs and head right. Grab the comic, the second item you need, then pull the lever nearby. Head back around this top level to the other side to return to the room with Shu’s treasured items and place them. The door will open.
How to solve Hinako’s Room puzzle in Silent Hill f
Eventually you’ll return to the Shimizu household in Silent Hill f, but it’s not quite how you remember it. It’s also home to what is essentially three puzzles in one. Investigate the door to Hinako’s room ahead – you’ll find that it’s locked, with you needing to solve a puzzle involving four plates to open it. Three of these are missing.
Go down the corridor on the right hand side of the Shimizu house to find a calendar, outside the room with the door with a red glow. In the southern area, you’ll find a room which has some dolls and a set of scales in it. This is another puzzle you need to solve.
How to solve the scales puzzle in Silent Hill f
To solve the scales puzzle, you need to put the right dolls on each side of the set of scales so that they balance. Thankfully the solution is easy: place the doll with no head on the left side of the scales, and all the rest on the right. A drawer will open revealing a Scales Plate for you to pick up.
Go back to Hinako’s room door and place the calendar on the wall to the left hand side. The room to the left nearby will light up, and now you’ll be able to open the door to it. Only, it doesn’t lead to another room, it actually leads to another version of the Shimizu house.
In this new version of the house, head down the corridor on the right just ahead and enter the room on the left at the end. Inside you’ll find a Picture Frame. Now head to the room at the centre of the house. Inside you’ll find another calendar.
Like in the first version of the house, place this calendar on the wall at the side of Hinako’s room – the room to the left will light up. Go through the door and you’ll find yourself in a third version of the house.
Head forward and enter Hinako’s room, which is open in this version. Interact with the shelf in the corner and examine the middle of the bottom row to find her diary with an item encased in wax in it. Now make your way around the house in a counter-clockwise motion and grab the propane tube from the room at the south.
Go through the door next to Hinako’s room to return to the first Shimizu house. Use the propane tube with the stove in the bloody room in the southern area, then place the block of wax in it to get the Fletching Key.
Go back to the third version of Shimizu house and use Fletching Key to open door to the central room with the bird on it. Pick up the Black Bird and Sword Plate from table inside. Head back to first version of Shimizu house. Go to the room in the central area with numerous pictures hanging on its walls and place the Picture Frame on the blank wall in the corner. You can now solve the Ominous Photo puzzle.
How to solve the Ominous Photo puzzle in Silent Hill f
You can start this puzzle earlier, but you can’t solve it until all pictures are in place, which they now should be. There are five pictures in this room, and four of them you can rotate. The one you can’t rotate shows the Shimizu family (and friends) with Hinako’s face scribbled out. That’s the clue.
Rotate the picture of Hinako that you just placed on the wall so that it’s upside down, and then rotate the rest so that they’re the right way up. The family picture will fall off the wall, revealing the White Bird and Fox Plate.
Now that you have all three missing plates, return to Hinako’s door in the original version of the Shimizu house. You need to make sure the panels are in the right places: the scroll on the wall to the right has a clue.
You need the sword on the left, the fox on the right, and the heavens at the top. The scales need to go at the bottom, but turn the plate around so that it’s blank. Hinako’s room door will now open. Grab the Pine Tree Emblem inside, which will allow you to open the red door in the area and proceed.
How to solve the mural puzzle in Silent Hill f
As you’re coming to the end of Silent Hill f, you’ll eventually find your progress blocked by a puzzle involving a mural. You need to find three crests in the area to insert into it. Head through the door in the room with the candles lit either side of it, and then make your way through the area beyond to find the first crest – the Black Sparrow Crest – in a box. Eventually you’ll end up back in the mural room.
Repeat the process two more times, heading through the doors in the mural room that are surrounded by lit candles, then making your way through the areas beyond to find the remaining crests you need: the White Sparrow Crest and the Fox Mask Crest.
Once you have all three you need to put them in the mural, which is the tricky bit. Clues are at either side of the mural. The Fox Mask Crest goes in the fan of the fox on the far left. Near the middle of the mural you’ll find two foxes that look like they’re in conflict – place the White Sparrow Crest in the lantern of the one on the left, and the Black Sparrow Crest in the back of the one on the right. The mural will then disappear to reveal a door.
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