How to get the Crow Country bronze key
Solve the pump mechanism puzzle to get the bronze key in Crow Country
The Crow Country bronze key is the first key you can get and will open a range of doors as you explore. But, you'll be finding the doors long before the key, and the path to actually getting it gives you no clue what you're going to get. So, while it's something you clearly need, the path to reaching it is basically hidden. If you've found doors that need a bronze key in Crow Country, here's what you need to do to get it.
Where to find the bronze key in Crow Country
To reach the bronze key in Crow Country you'll first need to find the Crow Country fairy tree lady code and phrase. So if you haven't done that yet, use my guide to quickly get past her. Once you've moved her out of the way you can pass through and find the Fairy Pond.
Inside the Fairy pond you'll find a pump mechanism behind a curtain you can pull back:
On the wall alongside the pump you'll also find a valve and a control box. There's also a message you can read that tells you the water filter runs through the ventilation system:
If you turn the valve you can see the needle on the pump mechanism goes up. The trick to solving the water pump puzzle is that that you need to activate the pump mechanism when the needle is in the white, central part of the dial, so 'not too high or too low'. The trick to doing that is to turn the valve so that the pump needle is a little bit over the white part and then use that time to get to the pump control - when the needle hits the white, activate it. If you mess up the timing, you'll need to run to the valve to reset everything.
Get it right and a target will appear beneath the tree:
Shoot the target and the fairy tree lady will rise from the water and present you with a bronze key. You'll now be able to open any of the doors you found that needed it. That includes the way to the Haunted Hilltop area where you'll find everything you need to finally solve the Crow Country Swan ride puzzle.
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I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides, which means I run GamesRadar's guides and tips content. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website.