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Silent Hill f had done something that the franchise hadn’t seen since the first Silent Hill game (and, by extension, Shattered Memories): have a level in a school. Instead of the iconic Midwich Elementary, however, Hinako finds herself back at Ebisugaoka Middle School, which she hasn’t been to since graduation.
Right off the bat, every door is locked, except for the main office and a single classroom. Side note, as a teacher full-time, this actually made me really happy — it never made sense when games would have doors unlocked and open after hours! Especially since many admin are actually pretty strict about keeping doors closed and locked, even during the school day.
One of these areas that’s strictly locked off is the Stairwell, as the Vice Principal is really particular about where the key goes. However, to the dismay of teachers (and you), that key isn’t where it’s supposed to be, leaving you to find it.
Thankfully, this is the easiest puzzle in the entire school, and it just involves a little bit of walking and looking around. Still, if you want help, here’s how to solve the Stairwell puzzle in Silent Hill f.
Story Difficulty
Cute Little Hairpin to the Rescue!
On Story difficulty, the Stairwell puzzle is pretty straightforward — if anything, it feels more like a fetch quest rather than a puzzle because of how simplistic it is.
When you first enter the office, you’ll see a desk with a steel pipe resting up against it. If you’re short on weapons (which is very likely, considering the tumultuous path to get here in the first place), take it with you. However, you’ll also notice that the desk drawer itself is locked, with a letter from another teacher.
The letter asks the Vice Principal to please stop locking the Stairwell key in the desk drawer, as it’s impossible to open when he’s not around. Since the VP (or anyone else for that matter) isn’t present, you have to figure out another way to unlock the desk drawer.
From there, go to the only open classroom and hop out the window, leading you outside and to the school gardens. Tucked away in the right corner of the courtyard, there’s a rabbit sanctuary, which Sakuko was known to frequent.
Once you enter, there’s a basket on your immediate right. Inside is a cute hair pin, implied to also be Sakuko’s. However, once you grab it, everything that was once dormant in the courtyard will wake up and immediately pursue you, so unless you want to run around and loot whatever you can, it’s best to just run back to the window and get back into the school.
The hair pin is not only a cutesy accessory, it’s also used to lockpick simple locks, such as a desk drawer. With this, just go back to the office and unlock the drawer, where you’ll find the Stairwell key sitting inside.
Hard Difficulty
In a Bed of Flowers
Finding the Stairwell key on Hard difficulty involves a little bit of exploration in order to get the full picture of the riddle describing where it could be. The first part of the riddle is found in the office, on a shelf — it’s a letter of a teacher venting about the Vice Principal, who, despite paranoia about losing his keys, lost the Stairwell key anyway.
Wandering around the middle school will reveal more information. By taking the stairs closest to the save point, you’ll find a newspaper clipping hanging on the wall, describing how the Vice Principal did such a good job with his chrysanthemum garden that he was given the Governor’s Prize for it. The very same clipping encourages students to check out the gardens if they haven’t already.
If it wasn’t clear from this, that means that the key is going to be found among flowers. Specifically, it’s in front of a bed of chrysanthemums on the completely far end of the right side, resting on the ground.
Once you find the key, you’re ready to head up into the stairwell. Just keep in mind that enemies will be chasing you as soon as you pick that key up, so remember where you entered from, as that will be your only exit.
Lost in the Fog Difficulty
Left with Supplies
On Lost in the Fog difficulty, players will have to do a good amount of exploration around the school in order to get enough information on where the key could be. It’s significantly better than just trying to jump outside and look around in the same flower beds — speaking from experience, save your health.
Eventually, you’re able to find a letter that describes how the Vice Principal misplaced his key while he was working on the gardens, specifically implying that he left them with his tools.
Out in the courtyard, this is easy to miss as it’s not at ground-level. In fact, you’ll have to snake around to the right side and go back upstairs, following the pathway down until you find a small section where gardening tools and unplanted flowers are hiding. Be quick though, you’re being pursued, and the last thing you want is to get stuck on these stairs.
Either way, the key is found resting here:
Since it’s the actual stairwell key, there’s nothing else that players need to do once they have it, other than to get back into the school without being assaulted by every monster in the garden, of course.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
