In this fifth installment of our Silent Hill 2 walkthrough, covering the entire game on PS5 including all collectibles, we’ll focus on Silent Hill 2 Historical Society. After navigating the Otherworld version of South Vale in pursuit of Laura, James will arrive at the Historical Society.
This guide is based on a playthrough with both the Combat Challenge and Puzzle Challenge set to Standard. For details on these difficulty settings, check the relevant links. This walkthrough covers the journey through the Historical Society, starting from your entrance until you descend into Toluca Prison.
Silent Hill 2: Historical Society Walkthrough - Strange Photos and Collectibles
In this fifth installment of our Silent Hill 2 walkthrough, covering the entire game on PS5 including all collectibles, we’ll focus on Silent Hill 2 Historical Society building. After navigating the Otherworld version of South Vale in pursuit of Laura, James will arrive at the Historical Society.
This guide is based on a playthrough with both the Combat Challenge and Puzzle Challenge set to Standard. For details on these difficulty settings, check the relevant links. This walkthrough covers the journey through the Historical Society, starting from your entrance until you descend into Toluca Prison.
Strange Photos and Collectibles
Upon leaving the dark, Otherworld version of West South Vale and entering the Historical Society, make sure to save your progress on the wall to your left. Head to the room across from the locked stairwell, where you’ll find a piano and several display cabinets. There’s a locked door here, but inside a glass cabinet nearby is the first Strange Photo. Smash the glass and take it.
Strange Photo #1: The New Clock
On the first floor of the Historical Society, in the room opposite the locked stairwell, follow the path to a locked door. Look inside the display cabinet to your left to find the Strange Photo. Smash the glass and take it.
Now, return to the corridor and continue down past a picture of Pyramid Head. You’ll encounter a long staircase leading down into what appears to be the beginning of a prison. At the bottom of the stairs, you’ll find a Syringe on a desk to your immediate right. Continue down the next corridor until you reach a room with a hole in the floor. Jump down when prompted.
At the bottom, turn around and break the wall behind you. Continue down the hallway until you find a rusty brown door on your right. Inside, on the floor, is the Spiral-writing Key. Picking it up will trigger a lock, trapping you inside the room with a swarm of bugs. Your objective is to solve the keypad puzzle to escape.
Take a close look at the keypad; you’ll notice three numbers are brighter than the rest. This indicates they’ve been pressed recently, wiping away the dirt. The numbers may be randomized for each player, but in our case, 2, 3, and 9 were the brightest.
You’ll need to use trial and error to solve the keypad puzzle, trying different combinations of the highlighted numbers until the door unlocks. If you’re working with the same numbers we had, the code we used was 293. As you work through the puzzle, bugs will keep spawning, so you may need to pause periodically to kill a few.
After escaping, use the Spiral-writing Key on the giant grate in the floor and accept the prompt to jump down once more. At the bottom, you’ll officially enter Toluca Prison, where our Silent Hill 2 walkthrough continues.
