Switch to defense when the warning appears
When Episode 1 warns that you are hallucinating, stop treating the scene as ordinary exploration. Watch approaching threats, respond with the camera flash when instructed, then scan across the scene again. Stay alert during THRESHOLD hallucinations even after you have handled the earlier route and shop tasks.
Do not flash every distant shape simply because it is unsettling. The defense includes misleading figures alongside threats. Watch the current approach and instruction instead of assuming one silhouette rule works for every figure.
Recognize the Story handoff
The low-sanity warning comes later in Episode 1, after the shop and supermarket sequence. Read it as a new task. Continuing to compare supermarket directions or looking for paper fragments keeps your attention on a scene that has already finished.
| What happens | Your next priority |
|---|---|
| Low-sanity or hallucination warning | Read the new defense instruction |
| An approaching threat needs a response | Aim and follow the flash task |
| A response finishes | Look across the scene again |
| A figure does not need the current response | Keep scanning rather than fixating on it |
| The defense phase ends | Follow the Story’s new objective |
This phase is separate from the opening face-photo objective. Follow the defense instruction rather than repeating the opening photograph.
Use a response loop without staring at one side
Look across the available scene, identify the current threatening approach and perform the flash response. Then move your attention away from the spot you just handled. Another side can need attention while you are watching the result of the previous action.
Practice scanning, responding and looking across the scene again. Keep the camera’s current status in view, but do not let a resource check replace watching the next approach.
If the scene becomes confusing, narrow the question: what is approaching now, and what does the current instruction ask me to do? That is more useful than panicking at every figure at once.
The camera guide explains the item contexts. This page focuses on maintaining attention through the defense sequence.
Learn the cues in your current attempt
The scene includes both threatening and misleading appearances. Watch how a current approach develops rather than assigning every figure a rule based on one player’s reaction. Do not assume similar-looking shapes are all real or all fake unless you can recognize the cue that distinguishes them.
On a retry, identify what drew your attention away from the real response. Did you watch the figure you had already handled, react to a distant distraction, or fail to reset after a flash? Correct that specific attention problem.
| Habit | Better decision |
|---|---|
| Keep watching the last target | Scan the rest of the scene after responding |
| Flash at every distant figure | Follow the current defense cue and approach |
| Assume one response ends the phase | Keep watching until the task changes |
| Copy a fixed phase duration | Use the current progression and completion cue |
| Apply the opening photo routine | Respond to the later defense instruction |
Do not plan around a universal one-minute timer or unlimited flashes. Read the status and progression your scene actually displays.
Prepare earlier, then respond now
The shop’s Energy drink task is a sanity recovery opportunity. Finish it when the game gives you that task, and check batteries before later dark sections. Once hallucination defense is underway, use the defense instruction instead of trying to repeat a shop interaction.
Prepare your resources earlier, then watch the approaches during defense. A better resource state does not remove the need to watch approaches, and completing a defense action does not tell you the rest of the episode is over.
Read the sanity guide for the earlier recovery checks. After the defense ends, use the final chase guide when the Story reaches its dark escape.
FAQ
What should I do when the game says I am hallucinating?
Read the defense instruction, watch approaching threats and use the camera flash as requested. Reset your scan after each response.
Is every figure a target?
The scene includes misleading figures. Follow the current approach and defense cues instead of flashing every distant shape.
Does one flash complete the defense?
Continue watching until the task changes. A successful response can be one part of the ongoing sequence.
Is there a fixed timer I should wait out?
Use the progression and completion cues in your current scene. Do not rely on a universal duration from one player’s commentary.