Silent Hill f Crimson Water puzzle solution

The Crimson Water puzzle in Silent Hill f is an optional puzzle that is only available on New Game Plus. It’s tied to some of Silent Hill f’s alternate endings, however, so you’ll definitely want to spend some time completing it if you wish to witness all endings.

Fortunately, this puzzle only needs completing once and remains completed on subsequent runs, so it’s well worth setting some time aside for. To help you figure this one out, here’s our Silent Hill f Crimson Water solution guide.

Silent Hill f Crimson Water puzzle solution

First, a little bit of housekeeping. The Crimson Water puzzle is only available in Silent Hill f’s New Game Plus mode.

This is because this puzzle is not only tied to a specific ending only available in NG+, but one of the areas we need to access to complete this puzzle is only accessible using the Brooch. The Brooch is an item Hinako receives towards the end of your first Silent Hill f playthrough that allows her to access previously-innaccessible hidden passages and entryways.

On top of that, the Crimson Water puzzle must be completed before reaching the Shimizu Residence in the latter half of the game. For what it’s worth, all ending-influencing actions are to be done (or not done) before this point. Things are pretty much set in stone for you after reaching the Residence.

Acquire the Agura no Hotei-sama

To kick off the Crimson Water puzzle, you first ought to have completed the Sacred Sword puzzle depending on which ending you're aiming for. This can be done in Ebisugaoka before reaching the Shimizu Residence.

After that, you then need to reach the Main Hall area of the game, which sees Hinako – in the Shrine World – using her fox abilities to navigate a huge open hall while chasing after Fox Mask. You'll arrive at this area after making your way to Shu's house in Ebisugaoka.

In the Main Hall, you want to go to the attic, which is accessible via the eastern section of the hall. Make sure to go up both staircases pictured below, rather than just the one, or else you'll wind up in the Main Hall again.

There’ll be enemies in the attic that you’ll need to clear out first, but once that’s done, you should see a bloody seal on the western wall; focus on it to reveal a new passage that is exclusive to New Game Plus (pictured below).

In the following room, exit into the garden and go into the office up ahead. Here, you’ll find the Hotei-sama Sitting Cross-Legged item; this is the container for Agura no Hotei-sama which we need to complete this puzzle.

Solve the bell puzzle

Return to the garden next and head northwest, where you’ll find a stone pillar (this pillar is also illustrated on your map) that you can interact with. It reads:

‘He who seeks the crimson water which banishes evil… When the shishi-odoshi strikes once, let the bell chime. Thrice shall the bells ring to speak the legends of this land. Trapped under a great stone in the lake’s abyss lies a slumbering water dragon, born during the age of gods and sealed away by our ancestors. Deprived of the water dragon’s spirit, the once lush great tree has met a withering fate.’

This particular riddle is referring to the bells found around the garden, all of which have their own unique symbols inscribed in them. The goal of this puzzle is to hit three bells in a specific order, depending on how their symbols match up with the riddle; this puzzle also has the same solution on all selected puzzle difficulties.

The three bells – which are attached to lanterns dangling from nearby trees – and their symbols that are mentioned in the riddle are as follows: water, wood, and stone (stone is represented by a mountain symbol in this instance).

In the riddle, these symbols are then referred to in the following order – stone, water, wood – so you therefore want to ring these three bells in that order, ignoring the other two bells in this area.

This completes the puzzle, but as you’ll soon learn, nothing happens aside from a loud 'whoosh' noise from the fountain. This acts as your sign that the puzzle is complete.

Take the Sacred Sword to Sugisato Shrine

Next, wrap things up in the Main Hall and when you're back in Ebisugaoka, head to the shrine in northern Sugisato. You will soon find that the water here will have turned red.

You can then use the water here to purify the Sacred Sword, provided you already have it, and this allows you to attain the Fox’s Wedding and Ebisugaoka in Silence ending on New Game Plus. You can also choose to not purify the sword, allowing you to still reach the Fox’s Wedding ending, as well as the Fox Wets Its Tail ending, depending on your actions so far.

Good luck solving the Crimson Water puzzle in Silent Hill f! And good news, once you solve this puzzle once, you’ll never need to do it again; the shrine’s water remains red on future playthroughs.