Mini-Puzzles

This section covers all the briefer puzzles or mini-events that are more about understanding which items to use or performing some action rather than solving a riddle or uncovering a code.

Key Under Skid (Mall)

Location: Central Square, North End Storeroom 2F
Requires: Tongs: On the counter in Helen's Bakery near the 2F center of the mall.

Use the Tongs to reach and acquire the Key Taken with Tongs underneath the skid. Examine the tag to see it's for My Bestsellers bookstore in the central 2F hall.

Finding the Flashlight (Mall)

Location: Nightmare Mall, North Storeroom 1F

On the wall beside the light switch you'll find the following note:

Warning!
When leaving the room,
be sure to turn out the lights.
It will be obvious if they are
not switched off.

Follow instructions by using the switch and you'll see light still shining from between the boxes along the wall. Examine it to get the Flashlight. You will need this to pick up the next items and advance to the next floor.

Ladder and Hanger (Mall)

Location: Nightmare Mall, West Shop 2F
Requires:

• Flashlight: Between the boxes in the north storeroom beside the ladies' room on the first floor.
• Hanger: On a clothing rack in the women's clothing store in the 1F north center hall.

First get the Flashlight from the storeroom beside the ladies' room, then acquire the Hanger in the women's clothing store and use it while standing in front of the high-hanging ladder in the west end shop. The Flashlight must be on to do so. Then climb up to the second floor.

Moth Hallway (Mall)

Note: This mini-puzzle doesn't exist on Easy Riddle Level. Instead, this hallway will be clear and the following items cannot be found and aren't needed.

Location: Nightmare Mall, Southeast Hall 2F
Requires:

• Bleach: On the narrow shelf in the women's washroom on the first floor.
• Detergent: On the table in Helen's Bakery on 2F.

While trying to pass through the 2F southeast hallway, you'll come across a swarm of moths blocking the way. To pass by, you'll need to exterminate them. If you find and examine the above items, Heather realizes they can be mixed to create poisonous chlorine gas.

To do this, first turn off the fan in the previous hall since it connects to this hallway and we'll need the mix the linger. Then approach the bucket beside the door in the moth hallway and combine and use the Bleach and Detergent. Heather will mix them and run out of the room as the strong chemical reaction makes its way around the hall.

Back in the previous hall, turn the fan back on to clear up the chemicals and pass through to find the moths all dead. On Normal, Heather won't step back in the hall until you turn the fan on, while you can re-enter prematurely on Hard and potentially lose health. So be safe and remember the fan before advancing.

Walnut, Moonstone and Moon Door (Mall)

Location: Nightmare Mall, 3F Hall
Requires:

• Walnut: In the smashed display case in the 2F south shop near the southwest elevator.
• Moonstone: Inside the Walnut. Crack it open with the vise in the northwest shop in the east 2F hall.

Ahead of the escalators on the third floor you'll come across a door with the following written on it:

Piling up the 300th day and night
From beyond the door,
cries of pain are heard

And the final destination
has become real
Though not a blessed beginning

While this sounds like gibberish and isn't really a riddle that needs to be solved, it seems to allude to pregnancy. 300 days works out to 10 months, not far off the general 9 months a baby sits in its mother's womb. You will soon see how the theme of pregnancy (and perhaps "cries of pain") is important as you progress through the game.

As for what you need to do, first you require the Walnut found in the south shop at the west of 2F. Heather will explain there's something shaking inside it when you examine it but she cannot open it by hand. Therefore you'll need to find the northwest shop in the east 2F hall and crack it up with the vise there to acquire the Moonstone inside. Insert it into the 3F door to unlock it and pass through.

Back to the theme of pregnancy, perhaps the riddle is more relevant after all, with the Walnut pregnant with the Moonstone inside. And maybe the cries of pain beyond the door could also hint at a challenge that lies just ahead...

Platform 2 Locked Gate (Subway)

Location: Subway, B2 Southeast
Requires: Nutcracker: On a table down the stairs below north platform 2, initially accessed from the platform 1 stairs in the northeast of B2.

The southeast gate to south platform 2 is initially found locked by a nut, bolt and chain. You must find the Nutcracker above and use it to open the gate.

Catching The Train (Subway)

Location: Subway, East Platform 3

Upon arriving at the subway you can immediately proceed to platform 3, which is the platform Heather can reach home from as she explains if you examine any subway maps. However, you cannot reach the east end of it until you make your way under platform 2 with the Nutcracker.

Upon reaching east platform 3, to spawn the subway train you must jump on the tracks and try to open the door with the red light at the east end. Immediately upon doing so, multiple Double Heads will spawn and a train horn will sound. You now have limited time to run back and climb back up on the platform (do so a bit past the railing). Be sure to stay on the near side of the tracks the entire time since a train may ram you either way if you go too far.

Once back up, the train will stop in the cutscene. Now you can head west down the platform, pass through the gate after unlocking it, and move up and down the next stairs to reach the open door at the end of the subway train. Enter it to proceed.

Stuck Drawer and Elevator Shaft (Office)

Location: Hilltop Center, Third Floor
Requires:

• Screwdriver: On the boxes at the north end of the Gallery of Fine Arts corridor on 5F (only present and needed on Normal/Hard).
• Jack: On the back left shelf in the large west room of KMN Auto Parts on 5F.
• Rope: Inside the stuck drawer (open on Easy) in the Monica's Dance Studio office on 3F.

First head to 5F to pick up the Screwdriver (not found nor needed on Easy) and Jack. Then use the Screwdriver to open the stuck drawer and get the Rope in the office in Monica's Dance Studio on 3F, which is accessible from the start on Easy.

Now head to the west elevator on 3F and use the Jack to prop open the doors further, then use the Rope to create a passage to 2F. Descend down the rope to the second floor.

Flame Purifies All (Office)

Location: Nightmare Hilltop Center, Art Gallery 5F
Requires:

• Oxydol: In the cabinet in the middle room of Green Ridge Mental Health Clinic on 2F, after meeting Vincent.
• Pork Liver: In the mini-fridge of Last Drop Cafe on 1F.
• Matchbook: On the table in the southwest conference room of KMN Auto Parts on 5F.

In the main gallery of the Gallery of Fine Arts on 5F, you'll come across a large painting with the following caption:

Flame Purifies All

By these remains may a person
find the road to Paradise.

As it suggests, you must burn the painting to "find the road to Paradise." To do this you must first acquire the Oxydol, Pork Liver and Matchbook, while a junior high school chemistry book found near the Oxydol provides some advice on how to do this, although it is only found on Easy/Normal Riddle Level (the second page only appears on Easy).

When you pour diluted hydrogen
peroxide onto manganese dioxide,
oxygen is produced.
Although oxygen will not burn on
its own, it will help other things
to burn.

Oxygen is also formed when the
disinfectant oxydol is poured onto
grated vegetables or liver.

To clear up any confusion, the Oxydol you have is hydrogen peroxide. Oxydol is the term used for this chemical in Japan. According to the chemistry book, the solution itself will not be sufficient for a sustained fire, while pouring it onto liver will allow the oxygen to continuously burn it when lit.

With that, combine and use the Oxydol, Pork Liver and Matchbook while standing in front of the bucket by the painting. Heather will pour the Oxydol on the Pork Liver and burn it with the Matchbook, creating a large enough fire to burn the painting.

Pass through the small doors to continue your adventure towards Paradise.

Silver Coin and Vending Machine (Office)

Location: Nightmare Hilltop Center 4F
Requires: Silver Coin: On a table in the northwest room of Onestop Imports on 4F.

In the northwest room of Onestop Imports you'll find a vending machine with a message written on the wall beside it.

"Thus one's life turns to riches:

What was a bag of silver coins is
now the number in a book.

Yet fate hath no price...
Ah, but do people know this?"

Speaking of riches and silver coins, use the Silver Coin acquired from the desk in the same room and insert it into the vending machine to receive a can of pop, which has the Life Insurance Key inside it.

Monster Fairy Tale (Office)

Location: Nightmare Hilltop Center, 1F Hall
Requires: Life Insurance Key: In the pop can received from the vending machine after using the Silver Coin in the northwest room of Onestop Imports on 4F.

Upon proceeding to the first floor in Nightmare Hilltop Center, you'll find a large monster called the Glutton blocking the exit. This monster cannot be killed through combat but instead through finding the end of the fairy tale that sits on the floor in front of it, which is the first of three parts.

While part two is not necessary to expel it, you'll find it on the table on your way down from behind the 5F art gallery painting to 4F.

Part three is located in the open southern room of Elberton Life Insurance on the first floor. Once you read it, Heather will say the magic words, "TU FUI, EGO ERIS" that expel the beast for good, just as they did in the fairy tale.

To obtain the Life Insurance Key above to access that hallway and room, you must first solve the above mini-puzzle with the Flame Purifies All painting and then use the Silver Coin in the vending machine room at the northwest of 4F.

Key Glued to Wall (Hospital)

Location: Brookhaven Hospital, Room C4 1F
Requires: Nail Polish Remover: In the open locker of the Women's Locker Room on 2F.

On the wall of room C4 near Stanley's memo are various items glued to the wall, including a key that looks useful. Stanley's diary addresses it:

How about if I stick this
to the wall?
That would be worthless.
You can peel it off,
can't you, with that junk those
nasty wenches won't stop using?

That "junk those nasty wenches won't stop using" is the Nail Polish Remover. Use it to peel off the Stairwell Key.

Basement Shelf and 3F Keypad (Hospital)

Location: Brookhaven Hospital, Basement
Requires: Instant Camera: Inside the locked dead man's briefcase in room M4 on 2F.

The double doors to the 3F patient wing are found locked with no clue in the immediate surrounding. However just inside the nearby Storeroom you may find one of Stanley's diaries that fills you in:

The key is behind the shelves in
the underground garage.
Why there? Ask that idiot doctor.

While this may be a translation error or perhaps simply the words of a crazed lunatic, the "underground garage" he refers to is the basement Storeroom where you will find a blood smear near a shelf. Heather cannot quite see behind it as is and cannot move the thing either, so you'll need to get creative here.

Use the Instant Camera to take a photo of what's behind the shelf, revealing a four-digit code in polaroid form, which is the key to the 3F patient wing keypad. It shouldn't be nearly as hard to read as the bloody wall code from Silent Hill 2, but may sometimes take a careful look.

Blood Ritual (Hospital)

Location: Nightmare Hospital, Room C4 1F
Requires:

• Plastic Bag: In the garbage bin in the Women's Locker Room on 2F.
• Plastic Bag (With Blood): Fill the Plastic Bag with the blood bucket inside Examining Room 4 on 3F.

In room C4 you'll come across a stretcher that looks like a makeshift altar. On the other nearby stretcher you'll find the familiar "Lost Memories" book with a new excerpt that guides you in the right direction:

One characteristic, mentioned only
in rare documents and dying out in
the modern age, is that of the ritual
sacrifice.

'Offering prayers, pierce a man's
chest with a copper stake. Drench
the altar in the blood which spouts
red from the heart, to praise and to
show loyalty unto God.'

Sound like something familiar? There is a body hanging in Examining Room 4 that's dripping blood into a fully-filled bucket. First you must acquire the Plastic Bag, then use it here to acquire the Plastic Bag (With Blood). Following the "Lost Memories" instructions, pour the Plastic Bag (With Blood) on the altar.

This will reveal a bloody trail and a ladder that leads down to Leonard. Behave yourself.

Mountain Coaster (Amusement Park)

Requires: Roller Coaster Key: Found in a tin box that falls after moving to the back left of the souvenir shop and then away from the area.

Normally if you progress to Mountain Coaster and run the tracks, you'll get killed by the oncoming roller coaster since it's running, just like your nightmare. So you'll have to find a way to stop it.

What you must do is enter the souvenir shop in the previous circular path. Move to the back left of the room, then to the right side or somewhere else and you'll hear a crash. Move back to find fallen boxes everywhere and the Roller Coaster Key in one of them.

Now head up to the platform and use the Roller Coaster Key to enter the small control room beside the tracks. Examine the panel near the door and turn it off. Now you can proceed.

While on the tracks this time, the ride manages to turn itself on anyway, but the extra time it was off provided Heather with just enough time to look for a place to safely drop and survive.

Borley Haunted Mansion (Amusement Park)

Spiky Roof Hallway

Normally this is just another hallway with a dropping spiky roof gag of no real consequence, but on Hard Action Level it will kill Heather if she proceeds through the hallway normally. Instead, you must hold R2 (with or without a weapon) to slightly lower Heather's stance in caution mode, providing just enough of a buffer to avoid the spikes.

Red Glow Hallway

Additionally you'll have to escape deadly red glow in the following hallways. Use the following map to help you anticipate corners ahead of time, and be sure to press or release Square to induce a brief walk to avoid bumping into any walls while running on Hard. Both hallways move the same way, while the first door near the end of the first hall does not open and should be ignored.

Swing Rocket Gate (Amusement Park)

Requires: Chain: On the right side bleachers in the small amphitheatre near the Swing Rocket ride.

After exiting the haunted mansion, you'll soon come across the Swing Rocket ride and a nearby gate door that's rusted shut and cannot be opened through normal means, but Heather thinks there may be another way.

Heather notices the Chain acquired nearby has hooks at both ends. What you need to do is use it to attach one end to the gate, and then run up the ride and use it again to attach the other side around the center column of the ride, specifically from the metal bar sticking out.

Now enter the nearby control room right by the small stairs and turn on the ride, breaking the door open in the process.

Life-Sized Dolls (Amusement Park)

Location: Marchen Travel, Lakeside Amusement Park
Requires:

• Red Shoe: On the center of the amphitheatre stage near the Swing Rocket ride.
• Doll Head: On the table in the Fortune House in the next pathway after meeting with Douglas.

Upon entering Marchen Travel beside the Fortune House, you'll come across two life-sized dolls of Snow White and Cinderella. Just past them are two photos hinting at what to do here while the left end door cannot be opened for the time being.

One photo shows a shadow of one of the life-sized dolls with the shadow of a shoe beside her (Cinderella). The other reveals the shadow of the other doll with something in her hand (Snow White).

The shoe shadow should make things very easy here, so find the matching plate near the Cinderella doll on the right side and place the Red Shoe there. Then put the Doll Head in Snow White's hand on the left and the left end door past the statues will unlock, allowing you to advance.

Happy Carousel Riddle (Amusement Park)

Once aboard the carousel it'll start to spin and play music as the horsies move up and down. Find the beaten up one on the inside that isn't moving to read a riddle pinned on it:

When 13 turns count 4,
you will die from their curse.

If you wish to escape,
there is but one way out.

To kill before you are killed:
you will be saved by the 12th death.

What this means is that when the carousel spins 52 times (13x4), you will die. But there is a way out... "you will be saved by the 12th death." But 12th death of what? Take a look around – can you find 12 of anything here? What about the horses...

There are exactly 12 of them and one appears to already be dead with the memo pinned to it. So what you need to do is kill the remaining 11 horses and you will solve the mini-puzzle and survive.

Pull out your Katana (or the Steel Pipe if you missed it) and start swinging away at the horses, using the overhead downward swing (hold X) for quickest results. You can use firearms but it's a complete waste of ammo. You'll hear horse noises after every hit and then a very distinct death sound, upon which the horse will shortly stop moving. Move onto the next one.

Also note that each horse spits out a type of gas from its mouth that will hurt you if you're not careful. To best deal with this, kill the horses in a clockwise fashion so you approach from the reach and are never exposed to the gasses.

Once all 12 horses are "dead", some time will pass and they'll all begin moving again but you've solved the riddle. Soon you will be greeted by your next enemy.

Crying Girl Footstep Hallways (Church)

Fairly early on in the Church you'll come across a hallway where you'll hear a young girl crying accompanied by footsteps, matched with bloody footprints on the floor that one-by-one approach the nearby painting. Once the footsteps reach the painting, examine it and Heather will get the idea to move it. Push it aside to reveal the next door.

Later on in the south end of the lower level you'll hear and see the same bloody footprints accompanied by the same girl's cries. Watch them this time approach the wall. Examine the wall once they reach it to reveal a hidden door to another room.

Aglaophotis Abortion (Church)

Location: Church, Beyond Tarot Door
Requires: Pendant: Carried by Heather from the beginning of the game.

After progressing past the tarot card door and the following hallway, you'll come across Claudia and Vincent in a cutscene. Claudia senses the birth of the God via Heather's body is very close before you briefly regain control. It's now up to you to stop it.

The Talisman doesn't work and is quite useless as Claudia explains, but what else do you have? Remember reading that book about Aglaophotis in Alessa's hospital room in the Church? Here's what it says:

Aglaophotis

Red liquid or crystals resembling
blood. According to the Kabbalah,
the name is taken from an herb with
the power to dispel evil spirits. It is
said to grow in Arabian deserts.

It may be vaporized or applied as
a poultice to guard against demons.
It is powerful, but as it is rare, it is
extremely difficult to obtain.

Guards against demons, eh? Do you also remember what that liquid did in the first game? Inside your Pendant is a red tablet that Harry gave to Heather to wear at all times... could it be? Use it to stop this madness once and for all.

Note that if you take too long or attack Claudia, Heather will begin birthing the God and it'll be Game Over.