The Sinking City guide: Full game walkthrough and solutions for all main story cases

The Sinking City won't be officially released until June 27. However, players who pre-ordered have early access already. If you're planning on grabbing The Sinking City now, then be forewarned that you might encounter a few technical issues and maybe some disappointments along the way. You can read more about these in our official review and technical review. Still, if you'd like to dive into the mysteries of Oakmont, then we've got this main story guide for you. It's a walkthrough for the entire game and what you need to do to solve each case. Note: To understand the basics of The Sinking City's gameplay, you can also check out our combat guide as well as our investigations guide. Note 2: We've divided this guide based on the main cases or chapters in the game. There will be some very minor spoilers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?vPrWmTGQfWxM Case #1: Frosty Welcome Case #2: Lost at Sea Case #3: Quid Pro Quo Case #4: Fathers and Sons Case #5: Nosedive Case #6: Deal with the Devil Case #7: Self-Defense Case #8: Fleeing Phoenix Case #9: Into the Depths Case #1: Frosty Welcome The chapter acts pretty much like a tutorial giving you an explanation of The Sinking City's gameplay mechanics and features. You'll need to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of Robert Throgmorton's son. Check all items that can be examined in the ship's cabin. Make sure to rotate your gun until you spot the icon so you can pick it up. Head outside and follow the path to speak to Robert Throgmorton. Go to the western side of the docks to find a small boat. Check the helmet and suicide note. Speak to Throgmorton again and go inside the house right behind him and his cronies. Buildings that you can investigate (those that are part of a case) are marked with an "H." Examine the items in the house. Use your Mind's Eye on the medallion to get a glimpse of what had happened. Retrocognition: (1) "What's happening?" (2) "Take this, ape face." (3) "Yeah, run!" Use your Mind's Eye to follow "Omens". These are shadowy beings that'd lead you to the next clue. Examine the bullet and then the crates as you're following the shadows Head inside building marked with an "H" that the Omen is pointing at. Check the basement and kill your first Wylebeast. Take a look at the body and use your Mind Palace to piece together the clues. Head to the central area of those docks to find the "Under the Keel" Bar. Talk to the bartender to get the key to a room on the 2nd floor. Speak to Lewis, an Innsmouth refugee. He'll tell you about being under psychological influence or mind control. Use your Mind Palace to come up with a deduction. Head back to Robert Throgmorton and tell him what you think. You can choose to tell him about Lewis' actions or lie that Lewis is already dead. Go to the street in front of the bar so you can exit Grimhaven Bay. Case #2: Lost At Sea The second chapter will take you around a couple of districts. You'll also get a chance to go diving for the first time, checking out the depths of The Sinking City. This will also be the first time in The Sinking City's main quest that you get to use archives in public buildings. As mentioned in our investigations guide, make sure to have the evidence active on the left-hand side panel before looking for search results. Exit your room at the Devil's Reef Hotel and speak to the innkeeper. He'll give you a sidequest, but that's a story for another time. Head to northern Coverside (between Asher Rd. and Hubert Ave.) to find the Expedition Headquarters. Again, buildings that are required for cases are marked with an "H." Examine all the objects you can interact with. Use Mind's Eye to follow shadow crows and open up the wall leading down to the basement. Take out the hostile NPC here and pick up the note. Retrocognition: (1) "We don't have time to pick it." (2) "Grab the papers." (3) Occult prayer, (4) "Burn it all." Archives: Head to Oakmont Chronicle and use the archives. Select "Advertisements/Grimhaven Bay/After the Flood." Make sure the evidence is actively shown on the panel. The pier mentioned in the clue is actually near the same spot where we started the game. That's the spot where you were following shadow crows/Omens for the first time and climbing up the crates, if you recall. Make your way there by running or using boats since we don't have a fast travel point yet. Speak to the fisherman who'll tell you what happened. Kill the wylebeasts to clear the area. Examine all the corpses at the pier, make sure to watch as your sanity drops while looking at corpses. Retrocognition: (1) "No more drink." (2) "To the mair with you!" (3) "You can't take me!" Speak to the fisherman again. It looks like the man you're looking for, Captain Sanders, has a shoulder wound and is seeking medical attention. Archives: Travel to Coverside to the east and find the Hospital of St. Mary. Speak to the doctor then use the registry. Look for "Patients/Surgery/Grimhaven Bay." Talk to the wounded man on the 3rd floor who'll reveal himself to be Capt. Sanders. Check the surgery room in the basement and follow the Omens to find the Titania's log. Travel back to Grimhaven Bay and find the Diving Suit Factory mentioned in the address. Kill the wylebeasts in this building. Once you've obtained your diving suit, head back to the pier from earlier. There's a boat that'll take you to Devil's Teeth. Head to Devil's Teeth (which is a very small island), and use the diving suit to go below the depths. Traverse the seabed until you reach the cavern with a green glow. Beware of tentacles popping up, or looking at giant creatures that'd affect your sanity. Talk to the NPCs in the cavern. Piece together the clues and decide on what to do with them. Speak to Throgmorton about the results. Case #3: Quid Pro Quo The third case will be the first time in The Sinking City that you'd encounter the Esoteric Order of Dagon (EOD). The group is fairly well known in the Cthulhu Mythos and it's up to you to find out what they're doing in Oakmont. Head to the Fish Market in The Shells district and speak to Anna. Speak to Ebernote Blackwood to introduce yourself. Run to the Fish Storage and give the guard the password. Retrocognition: (1) NPC checking fish at the right side. (2) NPC checking fish at the left side. (3) The guard on the second floor. (4) The guard shooting the NPC with a harpoon by the staircase. Speak to the guard who begs you not to tell Anna about his failures. Speak to Anna at the Fish Market once more. You can rat out the guard or tell her that he fought bravely. Travel to Oakmont University. It's closed for maintenance but an NPC will tell you to check the Department of Medicine. Walk over there and the student assistant asks you to clear the basement of wylebeasts. There's a panel here with a red button. If you click it three times, you'll see an example of a nasty surprise in The Sinking City. Check the 2nd-floor offices for evidence. Use your Mind's Eye on an item behind Professor Cavendish' desk. You'll find that he's making a duplicate key. Cavendish lives somewhere in Advent but you don't know where that is. Archives: Go to Oakmont City Hall and use the registry. Select the following: "Residents/Records/Advent" to find Cavendish's address. Examine the evidence in Cavendish's flat to start the Retrocognition process. Retrocognition: (1) "I have something to tell you." (2) Arguing in the kitchen. (3) Arguing near the doorway/carriage. Speak to Cavendish. You'll now have enough clues in your Mind Palace to come to a conclusion. You'll have two choices here. In my playthrough, I sided with Cavendish. I went back to the Fish Storage to tell the guard to leave Oakmont. I poisoned the fish crates and I spoke to Cavendish once more. I was given a contact who could be found at the Fish Market's basement. The contact, Fred, wanted to be smuggled out of the city. Speak to Throgmorton when to finish the case. Case #4: Fathers And Sons The Sinking City's fourth case introduces one of the ancient families of Oakmont, the Carpenters. But, you won't ask yourself why do birds suddenly appear -- because there's only death... and a lot of weird stuff going on. Throgmorton will tell you where smugglers can be found so you can help Fred. Archives: Go to the Oakmont Chronicle and choose "Advertisements/Salvation Harbor/After the Flood" and you'll get an address. Head to the Seven Oaks Bar in Salvation Harbor to ask about Toothless Bob. The bartender tells you that he needs help finding a courier. He gives you an address. Find the house in Grimhaven Bay and check all the evidence. Check the burned corpse. Don't forget to use your Mind's Eye when you see ripples and clues. Retrocognition: (1) "Droch!" (2) "You're done, kid!" (3) "No mercy!" (4) "Get rid of him." You'll be given an address for a meeting place. Head there and you'll be escorted to meet Brutus Carpenter. Carpenter tells you that he was placed inside a crematorium's furnace and, when he escaped, he found out that someone was wearing his face. Okay, then. Travel to Carpenter Manor (just north of Throgmorton's mansion). Speak to the taskmaster who wants you to get a sack of potatoes from the basement. Use your Mind's Eye to follow the Omens/shadow crows to the nearby yard. Kill the monsters and speak to the thief. You can be nice or you can admonish him. Either way, grab the sack of potatoes. Speak to the taskmaster again and he'll allow you to go upstairs. Speak to Graham Carpenter (the son). Check his Bible using your Mind's Eye. The door to Brutus' room is locked. Use your Mind's Eye to follow the spectral tentacles and find the key. Open Brutus' room and speak to him. You'll have the address to the Oakmont Crematorium in southern Reed Heights. Check the desk at the morgue for a key to the crematorium itself. Check all the evidence in the crematorium and morgue, especially the putrid slime. Retrocognition: (1) "Another one for you, burn him!" (2) "What by the Aingeals is going on?" (3) Next to the furnace with a person getting knocked out, (4) "I need to get out of here." You're now looking for a certain James Warren who has a head injury. Archives: Go back to St. Mary's Hospital in Coverside and use the following entries - "Patients/After the Flood/Surgery." You'll find Warren upstairs. Speak to Warren and he'll tell you about an old church used for pagan worship. The deity is the Lord of the Woods. Archives: Visit Oakmont's University Library and select "History/17th-19th Century/Local." You'll get the address to the old church. The Redemption Church can be found in Salvation Harbor so travel there. Use your Mind's Eye on all the statues to reveal their true nature. Kill all the monsters here. Go to the basement and get the key from the corpse. Check out the diving suit as well. Retrocognition: (1) "The stars are aligned." (2) "Make sure you get every scrap." (3) "Take them to the crematorium." (4) "Don't wait, I'll catch up." Make sure you're stocked up and good to go because you're in for a fight. Use the diving suit. Use your Mind's Eye to reveal the passage behind the writing on the wall. Follow the pillars with the inscription of eyes. This'll be the first time you'll encounter the devilfish enemy so make sure you continuously shoot at it until you reach the cavern with the green glow. Boss Fight: Fecund Mother This is the first boss fight in The Sinking City. The mouth of the monster in the central area will spit weird blobs at you and these do a lot of damage. There are also hostile NPCs that'll try to melee you. Make sure to run around the monster, throwing grenades or blasting it with your shotgun. You can safely ignore the NPCs as they might end up dying from your grenades or the boss' blob spits anyway. Pick up evidence and notes and piece together the case via the Mind Palace. Return to Graham in Carpenter Manor. Head to Brutus' hideout (you'll be given an address) and decide the family's fate. Go back to Fish Market basement and tell Fred that you've secured his passage out of Oakmont. Case #5: Nosedive The Sinking City's fifth main case involves the creepy Ebernote Blackwood. Oh, it also features an appearance by the KKK. Meet with Ebernote Blackwood at the Reed Heights office using the address provided. It's the only building in the area that allows you to dock your boat. Kill the hooded combatants. Examine the corpses and evidence to find out what happened to Blackwood. Retrocognition: (1) "We're under attack!" (2) "I surrender." (3) "The Imperial Wizard's gonna deal with you!" (4) "The Order ain't welcome!" Archives: Visit the Oakmont Police Department and search for "Violent Crimes/Victims/Criminal Pattern." You'll discover that the killers have ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Travel to the Orion Club in Advent district. There are lots of wylebeasts and even KKK members here. Take them all out. You'll discover Blackwood's hideout in Grimhaven Bay. Once you're at Blackwood's hideout, interact with all the evidence. Use your Mind's Eye to discover the hidden room in the basement. Retrocognition: (1) "Finish off the interlopers!" (2) "Into the sea..." (3) "Time to strike back at the Order!" Use your Mind Palace to piece together the clues. You'll find out that Ebernote headed to the western edge of Salvation Harbor past Pembroke Lane. Use the diving suit here and traverse the seabed until you reach the cavern. Speak to Ebernote and follow the pathway. There will be several walls here with fiendish illustrations. Use your Mind's Eye to open a path. Decide on what to do with the individual that you meet at the ritual room. Examine the altar. Case #6: Deal With The Devil The sixth case in The Sinking City deals with the aftermath of your encounter in the caverns. Now you know there's an entranceway to the depths of Oakmont and whatever otherworldy horrors await. What are you gonna do about it? You wake up at St. Mary's Hospital. After speaking to your handler, you're told that you were rescued by a certain Billy Drunnon. He's an alcoholic who needs therapy. Archives: Use the archives at St. Mary's Hospital to look for "Patients/After the Flood/ Therapy." Head to the Seven Oaks Bar once more to talk to Billy Drunnon. He'll tell you about the Calm Shore area and he'll mark it on your map. Go to Calm Shore and kill the mobs. Check out the evidence. Retrocognition: (1) "Saving the drowned..." (2) "When the Yellow Kings are finished with you." (3) "Fools! Put him down!" Return to the Seven Oaks Bar and ask about Drunnon. Travel to Blackwood Manor at Grimhaven Bay. Examine all the creepy things here and take out half a dozen wylebeasts. Use your Mind's Eye in the basement to reveal hidden rooms. Retrocognition: (1) "The cure for your illness awaits." (2) "Blasted thing!" (3) "So many attempts..." Use the manor key to open the room on the 1st floor, the one with Dagon's Eye. Go back to the basement and use the Mind's Eye near the altar. Follow the shadow crow Omens to find Blackwood's diary. Archives: Make your way to Oakmont City Hall. Select "Enterprises/Legal Documents/19th Century" to find the address to Blackwood Cannery. Use the key to open the basement door and examine the altar. Check your Mind Palace to come to a conclusion. Go back upstairs and make your decision. Watch the cutscene. Once finished, you're given an address to the Crown Theater in western Advent. Make your way there. Case #7: Self-Defense The seventh case in The Sinking City deals with Reed's attempts to exonerate himself for a crime he did not commit. There are multiple ways you can go about this as well. The chapter features an appearance by the Yellow Kings gang. The group is named after the entity Hastur. Examine the evidence on the first and second floors. Use Mind's Eye on seance board and the hat. Retrocognition: (1) "Step right in my friend." (2) "Can't you see we're having a séance?" (3) "Police! Someone has been shot!" (4) The killer running away. Exit the Crown Theater. Speak to the cops and the taskmaster. Archives: At the Oakmont Chronicle, choose "Officials/Articles & Interviews/Reed Heights." Find the apartment with the given address. Examine all the evidence. Looks like you're dealing with a corrupt politician. Retrocognition: (1) "The blood was spurting out of him." (2) Drinking next to the dining room table. (3) "Get these out of my sight!" (4) "Where's my tie?" Go back to Oakmont City Hall and you'll meet this corrupt politician. Find the house mentioned in the address and choose whether to go through with the act or not. If you choose to do so, head to the basement to pick up a bottle of Chianti from the cellar. If you don't want to go through with this crime, just tell the truth via dialogue. I chose to tell the truth and so the next step was to find the real killer. Archives: In Oakmont City Hall (again), select "Newcomers/After the Flood/Legal Documents." You'll find the killer's house. Once inside the apartment, examine the evidence and speak to the killer. Retrocognition: (1) "Open this door!" (2) The woman getting beaten. (3) "Don't you dare touch my mom!" (4) "Catch up to us when you're done." Speak to the killer to obtain a key to the basement. Examine the body to find a sketch. Head to that location in Salvation Harbor to discover the gang's hideout. Speak to the gang members and their boss, a familiar face. You can walk away peacefully or kill them all. You can also save the two characters who were kidnapped. Check all the notes and evidence that you can find. Return to the killer to tell him what transpired. Open your Mind Palace and make some deductions. You can choose to have the actual killer pay for his crimes, or you can plant the evidence at the corrupt politician's house. Whatever the outcome, you'll have a surprising and unexpected visit. Travel to the Devil's Reef Hotel. Case #8: Fleeing Phoenix The penultimate case in The Sinking City has you meeting an archaeologist as you search for the entrance to Cthygonnaar. Oh, and in an odd turn of events, you'll also have to deal with an undead Mayan priestess. Yikes! Visit the archaeologist Joseph Hill using the address given to you. Kill all the wylebeasts in the building. You'll also encounter an undead Mayan priestess named Usha. Usha strikes fast and can teleport so, yes, you'll be quite surprised given all the sluggish enemies you've encountered so far. Usha will escape and Hill will ask for your help in tracking her, telling you about rumors of a " vampire" in Salvation Harbor. Archives: At the Oakmont Police Station, search for "Violent Crimes/Criminal Pattern/Salvation Harbor." It looks like this vampire preyed on people in an alleyway. Head to the alleyway from the address. Retrocognition: (1) "Great fisk!"(2) "Take this, you damned corpse!" (3) A Mayan ritual. (4) "Order me, priestess." Head back to the Devil's Reef Hotel and speak to the innkeeper. Check the room next to yours for evidence. You'll need to head to a flooded lab in Salvation Harbor at Moorland Road between C. Smith Ave. and Powderhouse Street. Kill the monsters in the Hidden Lab and examine various evidence. Retrocognition: (1) "You promised we'd be rich." (2) "She broke the seals!" (3) "Help me, you bastard!" Use your Mind Palace to decide on your course of action. There are three possible outcomes. Return to Joseph Hill's house and make your choice. Find Usha's tomb in the cemetery. Remember the crematorium from earlier, the one in southern Reed Heights? That's where we need to go. Usha's tomb is the one at the cemetery that's surrounded by tall rock formations that look like fingers. Enter it and dive. Make your way through the underwater passage until you reach the cavern. Speak to Usha and make your decision. Boss Fight: Usha It's possible not to fight Usha at all. Assuming you decided to do so, well, she's not that challenging. Remember, she does move and strike fast, quite unlike the wylebeasts in The Sinking City. She teleports using a puff of smoke, and then she reappears next to you. She follows up with a couple of stabs that do tremendous damage. Keep moving sideways to avoid her attacks. When she misses her lunge, start peppering her with shots. It's best to use your shotgun or submachine gun as well. Usha may try to drink the blood of a captive but that also leaves her defenses open. You can also chuck some grenades while she's stuck in her animation. Case #9: Into The Depths The final case in The Sinking City's main story will have you finding the pieces of the Seal of Cthygonnaar, known as Kayfingers. You'll obtain them from the monoliths around the city. In turn, you'll gain access to the depths of Oakmont, deciding on what to do with this ungodly flood. Go back to the Devil's Reef Hotel for a quick cutscene. Enter your room in the hotel for another surprise. Examine all the notes in your room. Anyway, it's time to find the monoliths. Monolith #1 / Central Monolith: Go to St. Michael's Chapel in central Advent. Examine all the evidence and speak to the NPC on the second floor. Obtain the basement key from the pulpit and fight the monsters that spawn. Use the Mind's Eye to investigate the monolith's niche opening and obtain the first Kayfinger. Use the Mind's Eye again to follow the silhouette of crows to find the next clue. You're given a couple of riddles to solve, one for each remaining monolith. Monolith #2 / Coastal Monolith: This monolith's clue talks about "transforming man from ordinary to renowned, drawing crowds, transcribing words and sharing his face on paper." It's talking about a celebrity who became famous when the supernatural floods happened. Archives: Head to Oakmont Chronicle and use these entries: "After the Flood/Celebrities/Articles & Interviews." This will give you the clue for that monolith. Head to the celebrity's address at the easternmost edge of Grimhaven Bay. Examine the coastal monolith. Go inside the house of the celebrity who's apparently a local fisherman. You'll be given some crosses to place on the drowned corpses of his relatives. You can use the key for the room with the diving suit. Swim down the depths and place those crosses. The drowned relatives are in the wide area past the sunken ship. Make your way to the green light and use your Mind's Eye to access the monolith's niche. Grab the second Kayfinger. Monolith #3 / Railway Monolith This monolith's clue talks about "the youngest citizens of Oakmont after the waters rise, all looking the same as the other." It speaks of triplets born on the day the floods began. Archives: Head to Oakmont City Hall, choose: "After the Flood/Citizens/Citizen Records." You'll find out that two children had died, but the last one's records are still intact. The child was born in the railway station. At the abandoned railway station, kill the monsters and loot all the stuff you can find. You can save and reload if you need to stock up on items. The monolith is at the nearby yard. Examine the loose pieces of stone since they're evidence. Retrocognition: (1) "We must have a piece of the stone." (2) "Hurry!" (3) "The wylebeasts smell us!" You'll find out that a piece of the monolith was placed on a wagon. The tracks lead back inside the railway station and you'll see the broken wagon. Investigate the corpse and items surrounding the broken wagon. You'll find a note with an address. The Stone Worshippers' headquarters is close by so no worries. Make your way there and examine the crazy stuff going on. Retrocognition: (1) "Put it right there." (2) "We'll be the first to ascend." (3) "I'll lock you up." Grab the key from one of the books on the shelf and check out the room on the second floor. Use your Mind's Eye to open the niche of the monolith to pick up the final Kayfinger. Use your Mind's Eye on the wall with blood spatters to reveal a hidden room. Go near the stairway and use your Mind's Eye to see something creepy. You'll have a surprise once you're done. Watch out for your sanity. Cthygonnaar Now that you have all three pieces of the Kayfinger plus the Seal of Cthygonnaar, it's time to make your way into the depths of Oakmont. Make sure to have lots of antipsychotic drugs since you're going to see some nasty things that will drain your sanity quickly. Go back to the monolith at central Advent, the one inside St. Michael's Church. Kill the wylebeasts and place the Seal of Chtygonnaar on the altar. Use your Mind's Eye to reveal what's behind it. Follow the pathway and watch the visions that unfold. Make sure to use antipsychotic drugs so you don't lose your sanity. When you reach the chamber at the end, there's one final decision to make. This vast chamber will give you the options on which ending you want to see. One ending is right in front of you if you enter the Retrocognition portal. The other two are to the left and right-hand side chambers. Retrocognition: Make your choice and you'll see game's ending cinematics. There you have it. You're all done with The Sinking City's main quest and you've completed the story. There's no New Game+ mode, but don't worry. You can load your autosave from the final chamber to see the other endings. Likewise, if you have older manual saves from other chapters, you can pick a different path to see the short-term outcomes. We hope this full game walkthrough has helped you out. For more features and guides about The Sinking City, feel free to visit our hub right over here.

The Sinking City guide: Full game walkthrough and solutions for all main story cases

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