Silent Hill 5: Homecoming

General

• Puzzles in Homecoming are a joke compared to past entries in the series. Don't stress about them.

• Each weapon in Homecoming has an upgraded version. These are all straight upgrades and worth looking out for. Almost all melee ones are mandatory (since they let you clear obstacles and progress the story), and firearms are optional.If you find an area you can't access that isn't just a "the lock on this door is broken", take note of it- you will be able to backtrack to it, perhaps much later.

• The street areas of the game will often have enemies that respawn from the sewers on an extremely short timer. Do not try to clear out the area, and try to avoid wasting resources on them.

• There are two kinds of collectible- photos and drawings. Drawings only unlock an achievement; collecting all photos in one run unlocks a tiny secret scene at the end of the credits. This can also be unlocked by beating the game on Hard.

Bugs

• This game can bug out and soft-lock, especially under circumstances where you are escorting another character. Keep several backup save files at different points.

• A late game boss has a climactic QTE that can also bug out. You may need to actually press the button later or slower than usual.

Combat

• Health products are scarce in normal mode and even more so in hard mode. Use them only when in danger of dying.

• The combat system has a pretty tangible learning curve. You have to learn the attack patterns of each individual monster as well as which of your weapons is most effective to kill it through trial and error. Until you learn these things, you will take a LOT of damage in combat. Just be prepared to be frustrated, and know that it gets easier.

• Become good at dodging. Seriously. This game is much more combat based than previous games, and dodging blows will save you health and open up opportunities to strike at monsters/bosses.

• Resist the temptation to just wail away on enemies. The melee in this game is much more about controlled combos and reactions. Your goal with melee combat should be to identify a rhythm of hits that will let you most effectively stunlock your enemies as much as possible.

• The game will teach you to turn off your flashlight and sneak around enemies. This only actually applies to Nurses and a later enemy that uses the same root model and animations as the Nurse. If you see one of these enemies before it sees you, turn off your flashlight. Then sneak up on it and kill it.

• Some enemies, such as the Smog, are designed to be fought with firearms. While you can fight these enemies with guns, it is a colossal hassle.

• Wait til the Smog monster opens up its lungs, then shoot it 2-3 times. Otherwise you'll waste 8-9 bullets on it when its lungs aren't exposed.

• Siams are a giant late-game enemy that are a huge liability to fight in melee. Shotgun 'em 2-3 times, and if you're fast and good at dodging, aim for their back area, which is a weak point.

Endings

• All endings in this game are based on entirely on specific, clear decision points along the story route- although what ending you get doesn't make any sense plot-wise. Don't worry about your time spent, number of enemies killed, etc. The UFO ending will unlock a new weapon; all endings unlock costumes.