At the end of your Silent Hill f journey stands the Shiromuku – a towering foe who is behind the events that transpire in Ebisugaoka. As you can only get the “Coming Home to Roost” ending in your first playthrough, there is no avoiding the Shiromuku as the final boss in your last Dark Shrine visit.
This is a three-phase boss fight, with the second and third phases denoted by the boss falling to the ground. You will be momentarily stunned as she gears up for her next phase, but don’t worry as she will not have enough time for any follow-up attacks.
The Shiromuku’s second phase coats her attacks in blood and makes them more damaging, while her third phase adds extra attacks to her combos. Keep tabs on which phase she is currently in to avoid being surprised by her moves.
The Shiromuku has a variety of deadly swipe combos
In her first and second phases, the Shiromuku will often rely on her three-swipe combo. This attack is fairly easy to dodge, but if you’re feeling exceptionally brave, you can use a heavy weapon to stun the Shiromuku out of her attack animation, leaving her open to your next move. This attack deals more damage in her second phase and gets upgraded to a seven-swipe combo in her third phase.
Her deadliest swipe combo only happens in her third phase. After raising her new left fox arm, the Shiromuku will perform a multi-swipe combo that can stunlock you if you aren’t careful. You can counter her combo when she raises her arm, but should you get hit, make use of the succeeding invincibility frames to dodge out of the combo.
She also has a grab attack
After placing her left arm across her chest and presenting her right arm, the boss will do a series of teleports to your location and attempt to grab you. Thanks to the telltale hand gestures and unique sound effect, however, you can easily predict when the grab is coming and dodge out of the way.
Charging and jumping swipes are how the Shiromuku likes to close the distance
When at close to medium range, the Shiromuku may do a charging or jumping swipe. Both are easy to spot and come with extra follow-up swipes in her third phase.
The charging swipe (pictured above) sees the boss lifting her right arm to cover her face before doing a short turn and stepping toward you.
The jumping swipe has her spinning around to her left (your right) before jumping at you. Since these attacks usually come at you from a distance, it would be best to avoid any attempts at countering and dodge them altogether. Like the Shiromuku’s regular swipe combos, hitting the boss with a charged heavy attack can stun her out of these attack animations.
Watch out for the Shiromuku’s flower attacks
Capping off the Shiromuku’s moveset are her flower traps and flower explosion. When at a sufficient range, the Shiromuku will raise her right arm. This will cause a flower trap to spawn at your last known location, immobilizing and leaving you open to her attacks. Keep moving when you see her arm raise and be mindful of where the traps are (they remain on the floor for quite some time).
In the final phase, the Shiromuku can cross her arms before spreading them in front of her. This will cause several flower traps to spawn, making your life more difficult.
Her most damaging attack is her flower explosion. After crossing her arms, the Shiromuku will drop to the ground and blanket the entire arena in flowers. This is followed by a charge-up animation and an inescapable area of effect attack.
The first instance of this attack is a guaranteed kill and story-related. However, succeeding flower explosions will deal a lot of damage. To prevent these explosions from happening, immediately start attacking the boss once you see the charge-up animation. Provided you dealt enough damage, the attack will fail and the boss will be stunned.
Defeating the Shiromuku without ever dying will award you with “The Bird that Flies Highest” achievement. Regardless of whether you get the achievement, the end of the boss fight will trigger a cutscene followed by a linear walk that leads you toward the game’s conclusion. Congratulations on beating Silent Hill f for the first time!
Silent Hill f is available for the PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X|S.
Related articles: Silent Hill f: How to defeat the Mother and Father bosses
