Silent Hill 2 has eight different endings, each based on your actions throughout the game – including some counterintuitive ones. Here’s how to get every Silent Hill 2 ending, including two new endings added exclusively for the remake. Beware of spoilers for the whole game.
Leave Ending
This is the “good” ending, and the one you’re likely to get on your first try. This ending sees James attain closure, receive forgiveness for his sins from a vision of Mary, and move on, potentially adopting Laura as he goes.
To get this ending, you’ll need to do your best to put your search for Mary above everything else. Examine her letter and photo in your inventory a few times throughout your playthrough, and do your best to ignore Maria wherever possible. Luckily, there are a few points where she’ll be in a separate room where you can visit her – just don’t visit that room. Finally, it’s worth keeping your health up wherever possible.
Maria
This ending is one of the “bad” ones, and sees James leaving Silent Hill with Maria… only for her to show signs of falling to the same illness Mary did. James coldly suggests that she should do something about her cough, hinting that he’s learned nothing from his experiences, and may be doomed to repeat them.
To get this ending, you should prioritize Maria over everything. Stay close to her when you’re travelling together, and visit her multiple times at the hospital or her cell in the labyrinth. You should also follow her avoid letting her take too much damage, and avoid examining Mary’s letter and photo. You’ll know that you’re on track for this ending if you face a manifestation of Mary, instead of Maria, as the final boss.
In Water
One of the darkest endings of them all, this ending sees James be completely unable to move on or find closure for killing Mary, and driving into Toluca Lake.
To get this ending, you’ll need to play recklessly. Namely, you should try and keep your health as low as possible. Try to use syringes only if you’re a moment away from death, and wait to take a health drink until you’ve already taken two or three hits, as this should still keep you injured.
You’ll also receive a knife from Angela during your exploration of Blue Creek Apartments. Angela asks you to take the knife, with the implication that she planned to use it to kill herself. Examine the knife a few times throughout your playthrough to increase your chances of getting this ending.
Rebirth
This ending is only available in New Game+ mode, and sees James row Mary’s body to a mysterious church in the centre of Toluca Lake, hoping to use a mysterious ritual to revive her. Whether he manages is up for debate, but given Silent Hill’s mysterious powers – as well as the fact that other characters have used the same ritual to revive themselves elsewhere in the series – it seems like a strong possibility.
To attain this ending, you’ll need to collect four items throughout the game.
- Book of Crimson Ceremony: You’ll find this book at a grave in the cemetery at the start of the game. Simply head to the shore and follow it to the right.
- White Chrism: The White Chrism is outside the Baldwin Mansion, which you’ll come across after leaving Rosewater Park.
- Obsidian Goblet: You’ll find the Obsidian Goblet in the Historical Society, next to the painting “Misty Day, Remains of Judgement”.
- Book of Lost Memories: You’ll find the final item in the Lost and Found on the first floor of the Lakeside Hotel.
Once you have all these items, all you have to do is complete the game as normal.
UFO
One of the two joke endings, this sees James summon aliens to Silent Hill, as well as a surprise visitor – James Sunderland from the original. He reveals that the James we’ve been playing throughout the game is a clone, and takes his place to continue the journey. To add to the comedy, the whole thing is presented as a handdrawn silent film.
You can only get this ending in New Game+. You’ll find a magazine hinting at the exact steps you need to take in Groovy Music. You’ll need to visit here early in the game, so it’s worth checking it out.
First, you’ll need to collect the Blue Gem. You can find this by breaking the window of Jewellery Store north of Big Jay’s.
Next, you’ll need to head to a few specific locations, all of which are story-mandated. With the gem in your inventory, you’ll hear strange, scientific noises in these areas.
- The roof of the Saul Street Apartments
- The pier at Rosewood Park
- Room 312 of the Lakeside Hotel
At each of these locations, you’ll need to investigate the blue gem in your inventory, and you’ll see it glow. After you do this in Room 312, you’ll earn the ending automatically.
Dog
The second of the two joke endings, this one sees James open a locked door at the hotel to confront the true mastermind behind the events of Silent Hill… Mira, an adorable shiba inu.
This ending is only available on New Game+. To earn it, you’ll need to construct the dog key. This key comes in two parts.
- In a dog carrier in the storage room of the pet store, north of Big Jay’s.
- In a dog house on Katz Street. Look for a gate with a painting of a bone on it near the Baldwin Mansion and head through it to find the dog house.
Combine the two parts to get the dog key, then play through the game until you reach the hotel. Use the dog key to unlock the Observation Room next to Room 312.
Stillness
This is one of two new endings created for the remake, and one that’s only available on New Game+.
On your way to Silent Hill, you’ll find a chainsaw near the ranch. This lets you break windows straight away, rather than having to wait until you get the wooden plank. Use it to break the windows of a green car just past the Auto Repair shop to find a new item, the Key of Sorrow.
You can use this key to open a safe in the Otherworld Hotel. There’s a little brute forcing necessary to get the code, but there’s a clue nearby that should get you started. Once you’ve opened the safe, completing the game will grant you the Stillness Ending. This acts as an expansion of the In Water ending, except this time a vision of Mary is in the car with James.
Bliss
The second new ending, and once again one that can only be found on New Game+.
To earn this ending, you’ll need to head to the end of Nathan Avenue, near the Historical Society. You’ll find a safe code that you can use to unlock the safe in Pete’s Bowl-o-Rama. This will give you a key, which you can use to unlock a newly-appeared box in the garden of Brookhaven Hospital to find a bottle of PTV, a drug derived from the local White Claudia flower. This potent hallucinogen is at the center of Silent Hill’s thriving drug trade, and White Claudia itself was once used in mystical ceremonies conducted by the Order, Silent Hill’s friendly neighborhood doomsday cult.
You’ll need to consume the bottle before examining the tape player in Room 312. If you do this, you’ll see an extended version of the tape, with no footage of Mary’s killing or hints at her sickness. Instead, James puts the camera down, promises to bring Mary back to Silent Hill, and the two keep packing. The camera returns to Room 312 in the present, but James is noticeably absent, leaving it up to interpretation of what happened. Was it a hallucination? Has James refused to accept what he did? Has he somehow entered the videotape to spend a blissful eternity in happier times? It’s up to you.
Looking for more Silent Hill? Check out what we thought of the game here.
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