Silent Hill f separates difficulty into two tracks you set independently: Action for combat and resource pressure, and Puzzles for riddle complexity and clue density. From the start, you can choose Story or Hard for Action, and Story, Hard (treated as the default), or Lost in the Fog for Puzzles. An additional Action setting, Lost in the Fog, unlocks after you complete the game once.

All difficulty options at a glance

Track Setting Availability What meaningfully changes
Action Story Available at start Free Health/Sanity recovery at Hokora; no max Sanity loss from Focus hits or grabs; overall more forgiving.
Action Hard Available at start Faith/consumables needed for shrine recovery; max Sanity can drop from Focus hits and grabs; Sanity drains faster, exposing Health.
Action Lost in the Fog Unlocks after one completion Hard’s rules with heightened overall pressure and stricter margins.
Puzzles Story Available at start Clearer, more explicit clues; fewer steps to resolve.
Puzzles Hard (default feel) Available at start Subtler hints; moderate reasoning burden without being opaque.
Puzzles Lost in the Fog Available at start More complex, multi-step logic; heavier reliance on Journal notes.

What Story and Hard change in combat

Action difficulty primarily reshapes how punishing the Sanity system and recovery are:

  • Story (Action): Healing is more accessible. You can restore both Health and Sanity at Hokora shrines without spending Faith. Using Focus to power up attacks won’t reduce your maximum Sanity if you’re hit during the wind-up, and enemy grabs won’t cut into your max Sanity either.
  • Hard (Action): Resource pressure is back on. Restoring Health and Sanity at Hokora costs Faith or consumables, you’ll lose max Sanity if struck while channeling Focus, and grabs will reduce max Sanity. With Sanity depleted, incoming damage starts hitting Health directly.
  • Lost in the Fog (Action): Unlocks after finishing the game and increases the overall combat strain further, building on Hard’s Sanity and recovery penalties.

In practice, Story largely cushions Sanity loss and smooths recovery, while Hard makes Sanity management central to survival. When Sanity empties, the margin for error shrinks fast.

Puzzle difficulty differences

Puzzle settings change how much the game tells you and how many steps you’ll need to solve. Hard is positioned as the “default” experience; Lost in the Fog is the most demanding.

  • Story (Puzzles): Direct and readable clues; solutions tend to require fewer steps.
  • Hard (Puzzles): Hints are subtler; you’ll do more of the reasoning yourself.
  • Lost in the Fog (Puzzles): Additional layers or steps are common, with heavier reliance on the in-game Journal to piece things together.

Expect clue formats to evolve with difficulty — easier settings surface clearer patterns, while higher settings hide logic inside wordplay, numerics, or layered symbolism.

  • First playthrough: Action on Story, Puzzles on Hard. You get the intended riddle challenge without Sanity spiraling while you learn combat rhythms.
  • Combat-forward players: Action on Hard, Puzzles on Hard. Emphasizes Sanity management and resource economy while keeping clue work grounded.
  • Puzzle specialists: Puzzles on Lost in the Fog with Action on Story. Lets you focus on layered riddles while minimizing combat friction.
  • NG+ challenge: Action on Lost in the Fog (unlocked after finishing) and Puzzles on Lost in the Fog if you want both systems pushing back.

Note: Difficulty does not lock you out of endings. It mainly affects challenge and, if you care, achievement/trophy tracking.

Can you change difficulty after you start?

You can lower the Action difficulty from Hard to Story during a run, but you can’t raise it back on that save. Treat a move down as a one-way adjustment for that playthrough. Puzzle changes are set independently at the start; the game’s menuing makes the “default” presentation a bit murky, but the behavior above holds once you’re in.

Why the difficulty knobs fit the story

Silent Hill f follows Shimizu Hinako in the 1960s mountain town of Ebisugaoka, with much of the narrative exploring her internal conflicts and social pressures. Enemies and setpieces lean into motifs of dolls, womanhood, and marriage, and the Dark Shrine sequences externalize that symbolism. The split between Action and Puzzles isn’t just a convenience — it mirrors how the game balances physical threat (Sanity, Focus, and melee survival) with interpretive tension (journals, riddles, and cultural cues). Picking a mix that fits your strengths lets the themes do the work without the mechanics getting in the way.

Key takeaways

  • Action and Puzzle difficulties are independent; Puzzles offer three tiers from the start, while Action’s toughest tier unlocks after finishing the game.
  • Story (Action) protects your Sanity and enables free shrine recovery; Hard removes those safeguards.
  • Puzzles scale from straightforward (Story) to layered and Journal-driven (Lost in the Fog).
  • A balanced first run is Action on Story and Puzzles on Hard; you won’t miss endings by choosing easier settings.
  • You can drop Action from Hard to Story mid-run, but you can’t raise it again on that save.