Some intrepid Silent Hill 2 players have recently discovered a hidden mini map in the game alongside a much-needed “save anywhere” feature.
Twitter user punk7890 posted about the discovery on July 13, linking to a page on The Cutting Room Floor where the conditions to be met and the button presses necessary are laid out for players who want to get in on the action. Specifically, these options are unique to the PS2 version of the game.
Both of these hidden features are accessed after clearing the non-canonical “Dog Ending” of the game, meaning that the likelihood that a random person might discover them is exceedingly small. The possibility of a mini map in the game has been known for at least three years; a thread on Silent Hill Community in 2015 showed that a mini map could be enabled by manually manipulating toggles in the game’s code with a memory editor.
I’m not sure how many people in 2018 are really looking for hidden options to make their lives easier after they get the joke ending of Silent Hill 2, but it’s a fascinating discovery for those of us who have been casually following the game since its release in 2001. Maybe this is the kick in the pants that I have needed to really commit to this game.