REPLACED is generous with forward momentum until it suddenly is not. The usual blocker is a state change you passed without reading: a battery still inside the wrong machine, a panel that must be hacked before a platform moves, a dialogue branch that hands over a quest item, or a boss phase that will not advance until you attack the arena instead of the boss.
Route boundary: this walkthrough follows the current PC/Steam sequence as checked on July 20, 2026. It covers the prologue and all ten chapters, with full-story spoilers. Sad Cat Studios added scene-level chapter selection in the Community Feedback Update, fixed its later-chapter lockout in hotfix 1.1.0.1, and followed with additional progression fixes. The June 26 QoL update also adjusted the crane chase, Uncle Ben, combat, and ledge detection. Update first if an older video behaves differently.
Keep these four rules beside the chapter list
- Red means evade; yellow means answer. Red attacks cannot be countered. Yellow attacks can, and a successful answer is often the safest way to build energy for a Gun Blast or finisher.
- The pickaxe is also a traversal tool. Shabby walls, overhead pipes, armored enemies, and some destructible panels expect it. The current update lets either light or heavy attack activate the pickaxe while platforming.
- Portable power is positional. If an air-conditioning unit, lift, light, or door will not work, look for a battery that is still feeding another device. Moving the battery is normally the puzzle.
- Stop before every explicit departure. Entering a vehicle, using a “Proceed” prompt, or reporting ready can close the current hub. Main-story completion does not automatically sweep side rooms.
Prologue and Chapter 1: escape, then learn the combat language
In the collapsing laboratory, keep moving right through Central Core, the elevator, lounge, and balcony. The apparent exterior gate is not the exit. Continue to the balcony, survive the blast, drop through reception, and run across the police cars and down the hill. The drone sequence is a pace check: stay ahead of the moving searchlight and do not stop for scenery.
After waking in the sewers, take the coat at the shelter, follow the painted arrows, inspect the fallen trooper, and take Huxley. The gun begins in baton form, so do not wait for a ranged shot that the tutorial has not unlocked. Use the first Med-Stim, cross the narrow gaps, and climb out toward Phoenix-City.
Termite Dale’s group teaches the lasting rule set. Move out of red telegraphs, counter yellow ones, and use short strings rather than committing to a long combo while another enemy is winding up. Against the Tank in the library, create distance from both red swings; crouching is not a substitute for a dodge. Power the library generator, use the shifted bookcases, clear the upper route, and follow Tempest after the last fight.
Chapter 2: finish the station loop before you ride out
The Railway Station is a hub, not a straight corridor. From the starting platform, speak to David, descend to the street, and enter the station hall. The council is upstairs in the Fireball bar; Susan is in the arcade at the far left; the Doctor is in the hospital beyond the left side of the street; Yo-Yo is behind the green-lit doorway off the alley.
The critical path eventually sends you to Yo-Yo, where the flashback and weapon work unlock the energy-and-finisher combat loop. Melee hits fill energy; Gun Blasts spend it. Finish every yellow dialogue option before leaving the workshop, then visit Tempest and Veronica’s place. Tempest supplies the enhanced pickaxe in the garage and starts the trip into the Termite tunnels.
This is also the first chapter where optional dependency chains cross the entire station. If a quest marker remains yellow, do not enter Tempest’s car yet. The separate side-quest route is safer than trying to reconstruct those errands from a later story checkpoint.
Chapter 3: read the mine as three machines and one rescue
Follow Tempest until the broken rail crossing. The ladder on the graffitied wall begins the pickaxe route; swing across the shabby surfaces, lower the platform for Tempest, and enter the base. During the searchlight section, let Tempest draw attention, cross during the opening, and keep moving along the ceiling pipe and wall grips. Armored Termites lose plates to the pickaxe, so strip them before trying to finish them like normal enemies.
The Prospero Mine uses three different controls:
- Fuel: carry the fuel to the terminal tanks before asking the red platform to move.
- Freight lift: press the control on each floor, ride the dropped platform, then continue upward instead of searching for a single master switch.
- Water station: close the valves in vertical order, using the ladder and pole to change sides. The last valve is high on the left.
At the slave cages, move the radio lock below the terminal and enter the four symbols in this order: Chains, Knife, Eye, Cross. Keep a flare lit while escorting the freed group. Water extinguishes the protection, so wait for each flow to stop before crossing; the creatures remain passive while the light survives.
The emergency generator room has two layers. The first three marked switches use A, B, A. The adjacent console puzzle is about making all three indicators on the fourth console green; test the local A/B/C controls rather than copying a fixed screenshot, because a readable walkthrough warns that this layout may vary. When the lights return, take the Prospero Universal Keycard from the central table and reload gate control.
Uncle Ben without losing the rhythm
Phase one begins with two armor pieces. Fire when space is safe, dodge as soon as the targeting beam changes, and use the arena walls against the three mines: trigger the first behind cover, advance only after its blast, then repeat for the next two. In phase two he restores full armor and adds faster follow-ups. Dodge away from the enhanced claw instead of circling behind him, expect two charges rather than one, and delay your answer to the spin until the rotation is visible. The June 26 update adjusted this fight, so old frame-perfect advice is less reliable than the telegraphs.
When he falls, the base collapses. Run left through the corridor and jump into the water; this is not a cleanup window.
Chapter 4: the map copy is the story hinge
You wake in the station hospital. Leave into the familiar hub, meet Edward near the barber, then visit Tempest’s room and copy the wall map. On the way, Yo-Yo upgrades Huxley with the battery recovered from the mine. When you return from the map, inspect Edward outside the workshop, follow the paint clue to the mural left of the station entrance, and then attend the council meeting.
The chapter deliberately places optional jobs in the same loop: the Old Man begins in the hospital, Excalibur waits near Yo-Yo’s alley, and Susan has repaired another cabinet. Resolve those before following Tempest to the garage. The story departure is obvious, but it is still a departure.
Chapter 5: move the power source, then split the Commissioner cycle
The Wall opens with bullet deflection. Let the targeting line commit, then return the shot; firing early only spends your opening. Tempest powers the first air-conditioning unit. Reach the roof, cross the jump pads, press the switch to open the hatch, and retrieve the battery. Put it into the movable unit, roll that unit under the wall opening, and double-jump through.
Old Phoenix-City repeats the idea on a larger scale. Open the bus workshop valve, carry the power unit to the mobile fan, push it into position, and use the boosted jump to reach the roof. The billboard puzzle later expects the fan beneath the second O in PHOENIXPOLY; use it to reach the pole, release the upper box, then reposition for the right-hand roof.
In the office construction sequence, separate electricity from lift state. Turn off the first terminal, remove its battery, put that battery into the air-conditioning unit, then use the right terminal to drive the platform under the yellow crate. Pull the crate into line before restarting the fan below it. If the ballast is wrong, trace which terminal still owns the battery instead of repeating the jumps.
The crane chase is forward-only. The current QoL patch reduced its difficulty, but the solution is still to preserve momentum and use each visible landing rather than waiting for a perfect camera angle. After the stealth ruins, report ready at the checkpoint.
The Commissioner fight alternates between two targets. Fight him until one bar is removed, then hit the exposed generator while he is absent. Clear the officers, fight him again, and repeat until three generator bars are gone. His swipe-to-overhead sequence, electrified ground, bola, and shot are mostly red attacks; do not force counters. The failure state comes from letting Overdrive cook R.E.A.C.H. while focusing only on the boss.
Chapter 6: hack for a window, not a permanent shutdown
Cross the forest and industrial silos by pushing the fan between structures and using the bars in two tiers. On the highway, take the device from the fallen trooper and rotate each hacking piece until its gap matches the target shape. Turret hacks are temporary. Start moving as soon as the disable lands.
Inside the military base, Sector H is your landmark. Carry the metal-detector battery left, pause before the sweeping security light, hack it, then continue with the battery to the Sector H terminal. From the raised shelves, enter the ventilation route and flush the upper water to release the ladder.
Two cleaner-robot rooms use dust as bait. Open a vent to start a robot, stay inside its moving cover, then repeat at the next vent. Later, push the hospital bed beneath the roof-access ladder rather than trying to platform around the turret. In Warren’s office, the same dust-and-cleaner rule gets you past the guns.
At Central Core, complete the local hack, return upstairs, and activate the backup chair. After the reveal, take the elevator until it fails, climb the shaft, defeat the squad, and carry the rescued woman left. During the drone escape, drop dust from vents to pull the searchlight away while you keep moving with her.
Chapter 7: treat the quiet return as a departure checklist
Back at the station, speak with Veronica, inspect the hospital and council areas, and visit Tempest’s house. Sandra’s investigation, Tempest’s six-comic request, Susan’s third arcade game, and the last Railway Station cat all live in this chapter. The main route through Yo-Yo’s terminal and the upper platform can be completed much faster than the optional circuit, so the vehicle at the top is the point to stop.
For story progress, inspect the Trooper ID at Yo-Yo’s terminal, exhaust the relevant records, speak to Berty outside, and return to the hall. The yellow-pages interaction near the workshop provides Warren’s father’s address. Only after the station work is settled should you climb to the upper platform and leave.
Chapter 8: assemble four technicians, then open Marsh’s safe
In the Tower District, cross the first checkpoint by blending into the crowd. The Lead Technician needs four missing workers:
- The Melophile Technician is in Round Table Music. Speak to the cashier, identify the record as Rust, then return to the Classic section after the dialogue updates the shelf.
- The Thirsty Technician is in the donut shop. Hack the drink machine.
- The Troubled Technician waits at Phoenix Savings and Loan. Complete the bank-server route so his queue number advances.
- The Shady Technician is reached after the sewer, steam-pipe, and security-panel loop.
Once all four rejoin the lead, pass the checkpoint and climb toward Marsh’s apartment. The safe clues are words, not the printed years. The photograph gives Birthday, the record gives Substitute, and the spice jar gives Cayenne. Enter Birthday, Substitute, Cayenne to obtain A.R.G.O.
The station return ends in a clean Commissioner rematch. Deflect his gunshot, move away from the teleporting claw, and keep moving when the flash grenade signals falling explosives. There are three health phases, but no generator target this time. Afterward, use the operating table, clear the debris with the new arms, speak to the survivors, and take the group toward the final assault.
Chapters 9 and 10: climb the tower, then attack the system
After the crash into Central Tower, move right with Ironwood’s group and tear the wall panel free to create the opening short circuit. The vertical route alternates vents, planters, bars, and wall grips. At floors 116 to 118, watch falling debris in the elevator shaft and keep to the illuminated holds.
The Matriarch arena is a moving-current puzzle. Hack the upper terminal, climb away from the first electrical sweep, and wait on the bars until it passes. Drop, rip open the lower panel, solve that segment, then use the left wall to avoid the next sweep. When the right platform rises, break it and solve the central segment. Destroy the exposed central generator to open the route, then finish the confrontation.
Free Tempest in containment and send him on his task. At the server room, each enemy wave unlocks one side of the climb. Clear the room, climb the right racks and destroy the first panel; clear the next wave, climb the left racks for the second; after the third wave, take the right-side climb again for the final panel. Only then use the chair. The playable Warren flashback and closing scenes finish the game.
If a checkpoint still behaves like an old build
- Update before retrying the crane chase, Uncle Ben, or final-level cutscenes; all were changed in the June 26 Steam update.
- If chapter selection hides later scenes after replaying an early one, apply hotfix 1.1.0.1, select the latest available level, return to the menu, and reopen chapter select.
- If a pickup or platform state does not save, use the current build before repeating the route; the May bug-fix update addressed lore-save and platforming blockers.
- Use chapter selection for a completed scene, but do not assume it reconstructs an unfinished side-quest chain. Complete yellow-dialogue jobs inside their original station visit.
The official Steam listing identifies AppID 1663850, developer Sad Cat Studios, publisher Thunderful Publishing, the April 14, 2026 release, and 34 Steam achievements. Current-client changes come from the official Steam announcement feed. The route was reconciled across all ten readable Into Indie Games chapter pages and the readable TheReviewGeek hub; a long collectibles guide and a warning-banner Steam achievement guide were used only as limited cross-checks. The 28 supplied Neoseeker pages remained blocked behind verification and support no facts here.