Chapter Order and Structure
Neoseeker’s complete walkthrough splits the game into nine main parts plus a New Game+ epilogue. The order is Library Annex (your apartment building and the Radio Store), The Annex, the Church, the Fire Station, the Printing House, the Hotel, the Hospital, the Fish Market, and finally the Badlands, with Ex Oblivione reserved for New Game+.
Guide sites name some areas differently: the Hotel chapter appears as Devil’s Reef Hotel in some guides and Siren’s Call in others. They are the same location, so match chapters by their story beat rather than the label when cross-referencing guides.
Chapters end with a point of no return, so finish side exploring before triggering each area’s finale. The map color-codes exploration completion per area, which makes it easy to see what you have missed before moving on.
The Story Setup
You play Calvin Rafferty, an occult adventurer whose dreaming ritual went wrong. His partner Faye lies in a coma with her soul trapped in the Dreamlands, and Calvin must retrieve the book Recitations of the Tenebrous Soul from the Miskatonic library annex and perform a ritual with a ritual dagger to bring her back.
The city around this rescue is an evacuated, flooded Arkham in 1929, overtaken by the Slither infection that reanimates the dead. Radio broadcasts order the last residents to evacuation zones while you push deeper against the flow.
How Each Chapter Works
Every main chapter follows one core problem: gather the clues, connect them in the Investigation tab, act on the solution, and survive the confrontation at the end. Correct clue connections also reward extra loot or Talent points, so it pays to open the Investigation tab before rushing ahead.
Optional side investigations use the same structure on a smaller scale. They never block the main story, but they hand out safer routes, supplies, and weapon upgrades that make later chapters easier.
Puzzle difficulty is adjustable from the options — reviewers describe the two ends as breezy and brainy. On the easier setting the game highlights the key clue information for you.
Collectibles and Completion
Two collectible types run through the whole game: Emergency Relief Crates, which need ERC keys and hide backpack and weapon upgrades, and Mushroom Jack radio broadcasts, which carry the lore. Documents are scattered alongside them.
New Game+ adds its own collectible set, the Oblivion Writings, and at least one collectible only exists in New Game+. Full completion therefore requires a second run — 100% reviewers finished everything in a little under 20 hours across both runs.
All 23 Steam achievements are tied to this same ecosystem of puzzles, collectibles, and investigations, per Neoseeker’s achievement coverage.
Saves, Inventory, and Combat Basics
Saving works two ways: manual saves at safe houses, marked by conch record players, plus checkpoint autosaves. Safe houses also hold your storage stash, so offload spare ammo and crafting parts there.
Inventory starts at six slots with a seven-slot stash and expands to eight and then ten slots through upgrades — another reason to hunt Emergency Relief Crates. Basic infected enemies take roughly three handgun shots, so headshots and the stomp finisher conserve ammo.
Core controls per Neoseeker: E to interact, Shift to sprint, Space to dodge, right mouse to aim, left mouse to shoot, R to reload, F for the flashlight, and Ctrl for the stomp. Learn the dodge early — retreating to return better prepared is a legitimate strategy in this game.
Codes You Will Want Early
Two codes unlock early progress: the Radio Store apartment safe takes 1908 — derived in game as the year the radio shop opened, 1929 minus 21 — and the Redemption Church water gate takes 1672, from the church’s founding year 1667 plus roughly five more years when its bell was hung.
The full verified code list, including the hotel, hospital, and fish market safes, lives on our safe codes page. Check it whenever a lock stops your progress instead of brute-forcing the dial.