Aphelion is a beautiful space adventure set on the planet Persephone, and the game really delivers with its visuals. The studio Don’t Nod really delivered with the visual style and sound design to give you that solitary feeling on a distant alien planet. For more information, check out the game’s official Steam page here.
This walkthrough covers the third and fourth chapters of the main story in Aphelion, which are The Escape Pod and The Onyx Forest. You’ll get to play as Thomas first, and then Ariane later on.
You can find more walkthroughs for other chapters of Aphelion here.
Table of contents
Chapter 3: The Escape Pod
As soon as the cutscene ends, you’ll take control of Thomas. Start by moving inside the cave right in front of you and continue taking this path until you see some ledges. Thomas cannot climb in his current state, so you’ll have to take the right route here.
Keep following the straight path ahead and slide through the narrow gap in your way. You’ll come across a waterfall soon enough. As soon as you spot the waterfall, turn left and follow the single linear road ahead with a little bit of climbing.
Finding The Robotic Noise
Once this new objective appears on your screen, make a U-turn and take the path on your right. Make another right at the end to come across a small ditch through which Thomas can crawl.
On the other side of the ditch, keep moving straight ahead, and you’ll arrive near the robot, which is present close to the river. Interact with the robot, the mountain, and the river here to progress.
The Mysterious Structure
After you’re done with the small interacting session, Thomas gets back up. Use the road on your left and keep following it. Stick to the left side of this path as you continue to move on.
You will eventually spot a ladder attached to a structure on your left. Use your winch to pull on the ladder and create a path over the gap. Pull on the ladder to trigger a cutscene. Once the cutscene ends, you’ll see that the mysterious structure is actually an abandoned station.
Use your pathfinder to find your objective marker and start moving towards it. You’ll have to remove your oxygen cable to go ahead, and this puts you on a time limit, so be quick.
Firstly, make your way to the left side once you get close to the river. Attach your suit to the oxygen tank here and replenish.
Then use the right side of the path to find a winch point on the vertical platform. Pull on this platform to create a bridge and use the bridge to get across the river.
Reaching The Abandoned Station
Once you get across the river, use the oxygen tank on the other side as well. Keep heading straight to come across another winch point on a platform. Pull the platform to create a path ahead.
Follow this new path till the end to find a winch point on your left. Pull on this winch point to remove the debris blocking your way. Track your footsteps back to this debris and go through it to progress. Make sure to replenish oxygen again before moving ahead.
Next, use the rocky platforms on the left side of the oxygen tank to ascend. Keep following the straight path ahead after ascending, and make a left at the end to reach the next oxygen tank. From the oxygen tank, take the road on the left and keep going.
You’ll come across one more bridge that you need to pull down. Slide through the narrow gap next to start a cutscene in the main story, which also marks the end of The Escape Pod in Aphelion.
Chapter 4: The Onyx Forest
You’ll be back to playing as Ariane in this region, and your objective will be to get out of the ice. Continue forward and use your winch at the end to reach the rocky ledges. Climb the ledges and jump across the gaps in your way.
It is a long climbing section, and you’ll need to use the ledges to descend as well. Slide your way through the narrow passages, too.
You’ll come across more ledges near the huge ditch at the end. Ignore the ledges on your right and just jump across the ditch. Use the ledges on your left now to go up. Keep following the straight road ahead after your ascent.
You will come across a crystal on your right at the end. Use your winch on it to get higher and then build momentum to reach the ledges on your right side as well. Use these ledges to get inside an icy cave.
Escaping The Icy Region
Once you enter the cave, go straight and take a right at the end to slide through a narrow section.
After you get out of this narrow section, take a left and keep heading straight to reach some ledges that you can use to climb.
A cutscene plays at the top, which ends with the introduction of an enemy in this game. This creature can hear you but not see you, so you’ll need to move stealthily. You’ll need to walk slowly when it is around.
Head straight and take a left at the end to find some ledges that you can climb to get higher.
You can then jump on the platforms in front of you to reach the objective marker and slide through the gap at the end to trigger a cutscene.
Once the cutscene ends, keep heading straight ahead and use the winch to get to the other side. Follow the linear path ahead of you to reach an anomaly where you’ll need to use your EM scanner and match the frequency to break it.
Once it breaks, the winch point is unlocked, and you can use this to climb up. Another cutscene plays at the top, which ends with a new objective in the game.
Finding The Escape Pod
Use your pathfinder to find your next objective marker and start moving towards it. The road is linear with more jumps and squeezing through narrow areas in between.
You’ll arrive at another anomaly at the end of this path. Match the frequency of your EM scanner with the anomaly to see black magnetic lines.
Follow these lines back to their origin, and you’ll come across the root of the anomaly. Fix the root and go back to the anomaly to break it using your EM scanner.
As you go ahead, the icy bridge under you will break. Get ready to jump at the end as you slide down and climb the ledges to climb back to the top. You will need to use ledges to descend as well, and depend on your winch in between. Keep following the straight path ahead for more climbing.
You’ll find a winch point in between your climb, which you can use to get to the other side of the mountain. Continue following the straight path ahead and get back to more climbing.
Once you reach the top, a cutscene plays that ends with Ariane spotting some tracks in the snow. Follow the tracks that will lead you inside another cave.
The Mysterious Creature Strikes
The all-hearing but no-seeing enemy strikes back inside the cave. You’ll need to start walking slowly again in this encounter. There’s an opening on the left side of the creature that leads to the exit. Circle around the right and use that opening to progress.
Continue following the road ahead, make slow jumps when needed, and remember to move slowly. Once you go down, stick to the wall on your left to reach rocky ledges. Use the ledges to climb back up. Follow the path ahead and climb more ledges stealthily to get out of the cave and escape this encounter.
Reaching The Outpost
Once you get out of the cave, take the road on your right and follow the objective marker of the pathfinder. There are some geysers in your way, so wait for them to stop spewing out water before you cross.
There is another small climbing section in your way, which involves ledges and winch points. Just make sure to stay clear of geysers when you’re climbing, too. As you reach the top, go inside the outpost to complete The Onyx Forest in Aphelion.
This concludes our walkthrough of The Escape Pod and The Onyx Forest in Aphelion, which are the third and fourth chapters of the main story.
You can also read walkthroughs for other recent video game releases below:
- Into Indie Games Homepage
- MOUSE: P.I. For Hire – Walkthrough Hub
- The Occultist – Complete Walkthrough Hub
- Grime II – Walkthrough Hub
