View Full-size

Stumbling Into the Past¶

You’ll first take control of a six year old Aloy immediately after she suffers a fall that would have killed any normal child. Indulge the game by looking around with the [Right Analog] stick, then use the [Left Analog] stick to move forward, out of the watery, rat-infested chamber into which you fell and into one of two tunnels branching out of this chamber. The passage you take doesn’t matter, you’ll be spooked by bats and end up at the same place, either way. When prompted, press [Square] to toggle crouch, pass under some stalactites, and enter another chamber - this one being littered with old world artifacts.

Focus¶

View Full-size

Your Focus is invaluable and will be used for almost everything in the game.

Follow the linear path ahead, passing through a lab, multiple open doors and climbing some stairs until eventually you’ll reach a chamber with a corpse in it. Drop off a ledge, move over to the corpse and press [Triangle] to “Inspect the strange device”, in which Aloy - after a moment of technophobia - takes great delight. You will, too, as this handy little technological artifact bestows upon Aloy many useful abilities.

As far as user interface is concerned, it’s through this device that you’ll access your menu (by pressing the [Touch Pad] button). Right now you can access the “Map” menu, which is self-explanatory, as well as the “Inventory”, “Quests” and “Notebook” menus, which are currently not very interesting. A more practical, immediately-useful use of the device, however, is its Focus ability, which can be toggled on and off by pressing the [R3] button. Focus makes you move slower, but provides useful information about the world around you, not the least of which is the useful compass that’s now displayed at the top of the screen.

Look to the east and hover your aiming reticle over the purple glowing object at the top of some stairs. This should cause a circle to fill up, which, when full, will identify the object you just scanned as a “Bunker Door”. Not too exciting, but it’s a useful lesson - observe objects in Focus mode to scan them and learn more about them. Walk up the stairs to the door and Aloy will mention the barrier, which you’ll have to find a way to bypass if you’re going to escape this place. Make your way southwest to find an open doorway, enter the room beyond, then turn east, northeast to reach another room. Scan the “Code Nexus” to the east and note the blue circle with the purple wedge on it, then turn north to find a “Holo Lock”: your goal here is to turn the “Holo Lock” so the wedge (currently at the 12 o’clock position) is at the 6 o’clock position, same as seen on the “Code Nexus”. So… it doesn’t matter which way you turn it, just turn it the same direction twice to open the door you scanned earlier.

Return to the previously-locked door and press [Triangle] to open it, then continue through it, turn south and descend two flights of stairs. Proceed until you reach a room where Aloy notices another corpse, which is wearing a device similar to the one that now adorns her head. Activate your Focus and scan the device to trigger the Hologram Datapoint “Happy Birthday Isaac!” . Even this superficial form of human interaction is obviously a delight to the shunned outcast girl.

View Full-size

Use your Focus to find the Code Nexus (left) which shows the shape you need for the Hololock (right).

Glimpses of the Past¶

Continue north and go through another door, which is open just enough to allow your passage - but you won’t be going back the way you came. The quest marker directs you to go north, but instead first turn east and enter a small chamber where you can scan the object on the desk to record the Audio Datapoint “Log: Connor Chasson (Recorded January 1st, 2066)” . Continue northeast to find a corpse you can scan to get the “Full Stop” Audio Datapoint .

Backtrack west and take the previously-neglected stairs to the north, which leads to a large room with numerous corpses in it. Immediately turn east and scan a corpse to record the Audio Datapoint “Log: Connor Chasson” , then scan a corpse to the west for the “Log: Skylar Rivera” Audio Datapoint . Continue norht up some stairs and turn east to obtain the “Log: Mia Sayied” Audio Datapoint , then turn southwest to find a corpse bearing the “Log: Ella Pontes” Audio Datapoint . Turn west and go through a doorway to find… another doorway! Before you continue west, however, turn south and scan one final corpse to file the “Log: Jackson Frye” Audio Datapoint . You should now have seven Audio Datapoints and one Hologram Datapoint.

When you’re done enjoying these glimpses of the past, continue down some stairs to the west and through the door beyond. Aloy’s grave-robbing and reliance on taboo technology has paid off, as she can hear Rost calling her. Just turn north and head through one more door, then turn west and climb back into sunlight to be reunited with Rost.