The Nightmare is the chapter of Slay the Princess as surreal as the name implies, with more lore to the game included than you might expect.
Locking the Princess away turns her into a sleep paralysis demon whose very presence makes your organs shut down. How can you possibly wake up from this nightmare?
Slay the Princess The Nightmare full guide: Chapter one
To get the Nightmare route, you have to run upstairs and lock the Princess down there. This can happen in a few ways: during a fight, right before a fight starts after walking upstairs to get the knife, or by talking to her only to tell her you’ll lock her away. Any of these will lead to her escaping, you dying, and start chapter two off with the Nightmare.
Related: Slay the Princess: Spectre walkthrough
Chapter two: The Nightmare walkthrough
The cabin is now a hellish black void with eyes staring at you from everywhere. You can pick the Explore options when you meet the Nightmare without fear of a time limit. For this chapter, the outcomes are as follows:
- Slay the Princess: You have two opportunities, as long as you took the knife. You can kill her downstairs, or kill her after agreeing to ascend the stairs with her. The latter gives you a special achievement. Either one leads to The Wraith.
- Try to run away, or tell her you’re remaining down here with her: She takes off her mask, leading to The Moment of Clarity.
- Agree to free her: You’ll embark on a hellish adventure up the stairs. Stick to your guns and you’ll eventually exit the cabin with her.
Chapter three: The Wraith or The Moment of Clarity
If you get the Wraith, she breaks your ankle and tries to possess you. You have two dialogue options before she does so, or you can struggle. As long as you don’t let her take you over, you have the option to throw yourself into the void instead of letting her win, or you can give up and let her escape.
If you instead get The Moment of Clarity, you don’t get a choice. She forces you to set her free, and then the Shifting Mound takes her.
In total, there are three possible Princess vessels to deliver from the Nightmare route, as The Moment of Clarity counts as a separate vessel. You’ll get out of the nightmare one way or another, but whether you can resist her to the end depends on your choices.
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