What are the correct Ema on the Silent Hill f Shrine Path? On one of your many trips to the Otherworld, you're tasked with scouring walls of Ema to find a very specific combination. If finding the solution wasn't already hard enough, you're also interrupted by harrowing enemies, so you'd better have your wits about you and your inventory stocked.
To find the Shrine Vault combination, you must first solve a mysterious riddle, this is Silent Hill, after all. Guided by your childhood toy, you can find the answers you seek - or we can just tell you where to look in the horror game. We've got the solutions to the Silent Hill f Ema puzzle below, how to unlock the gates, and the best ways to defeat the monsters.
Find the correct Ema
When you walk towards the Inari shrine, your childhood toy is waiting for you, an Ema by her side. On it, a riddle hints at which Ema you should be looking for. Correct Ema have an icon on the back relating to the shrine vault lock.
There are three different areas, and one Ema can be found in each, as marked on the image above. Once you find one, you can no longer interact with the Ema in that location. Turning an Ema over reveals one of the three icons needed for the gate combination. If you don't want to, you don't need to memorize the images on the back of the Ema, as they can be found in your journal, in the correct order.
In your first playthrough, once you find all three Ema, interact with the last Ema wall once more to collect a valuable Silent Hill f Omamori - the Cat.
Hard mode riddle and solution
'Lightning cast down from the heavens split asunder the decayed tree. From the earth grows kudzu, the prophet of eternal prosperity.'
Look for the Ema depicting lightning, a tree, and a kudzu plant.
Lost in the Fog riddle and solution
'The Yokai of the Carriage had their heads removed.
The Yokai of the Umbrella, their arms.
And the Yokai of the Kettle, their legs.'
The correct Ema stand out as they're unique, and depict each of the Yokai listed in the riddle, with two in a carriage, one triangular umbrella Yokai, and one running Yokai with three legs.
Shrine Vault combination lock
In your first playthrough, once you find the third Ema, you're also given the part required for the combination lock on the Shrine Vault. With each of the three Ema found, head back to the Shrine Vault entrance and enter the combination now marked in your journal.
Luckily, the journal makes this all easier for you in story and hard mode. The Lost in the Fog solution is a little harder, and is shown in the image above. To find out how we got it, read below.
Lost in the Fog combination
Lost in the Fog mode is the only one that is a little harder, each Ema has four icons relating to it, and you still have to decipher which it is. The solution lies in the number of sacrifices made in each image.
There are two heads, four arms, and three legs. This means you're looking for the second icon for the Carriage Yokai, the fourth icon for the Umbrella Yokai, then the third icon for the Kettle Yokai.
Reaching the Inari statues
This part seems far more difficult than it is. As you're being chased by monsters, your sanity also decreases, so do not stop and fight. Instead, run, but be sure to dodge when the enemies get close behind you. If your sanity gets too low, pop an item like Divine Water or Kudzu Tea. You just need to get close enough to the Inari statues to trigger the next cut scene.
With the correct Ema found and the Vault Shrine opened, you can return to the normal world and continue exploring your hometown of Ebisugaoka. Several classic Silent Hill midgame bosses will stand in your way, so check out our guide to defeating the Rinko boss if you struggle, and read our Silent Hill f review for our thoughts overall.