1-1: HEART OF THE SUNRISE (2024)

For more information about other missions, see Levels

Some enemies make idle sounds to make them easier to track.

- The Tip of the Day.

HEART OF THE SUNRISE is the first mission of the LIMBO layer, and the last mission available in the demo, not counting [ 1-S: THE WITLESS ]. A far cry from the grungy industrial aesthetic of Prelude, Limbo is a serene outdoor environment filled with vegetation.

However, not all is as it seems; even a cursory investigation will reveal that everything is false, from the sounds of wildlife to the water, to the very sky itself. This level introduces the Drone, the first Lesser Machine encountered, as well as the third unlockable, the Attractor Nailgun.

The challenge can be completed upon entering the secret level, spoiler below in the Secrets section.

This level, as well as the rest of the levels in LIMBO, LUST and GLUTTONY, are being reworked by Hakita^[1]

Major Areas[]

Fountain[]

The first room of the level, adorned with trees, a half-buried Malicious Face, 4 pillars, and a Cerberus fountain in the middle. The door on the right leads to the Red Skull and the blue pedestal, which blocks access to the Church until the Blue Skull is acquired. The door ahead leads to the red pedestal and forward progress through the level. Returning to the fountain after collecting the blue skull, 3 Strays will spawn on the pillars and 10 Filth on the ground at each corner of the room, and 4 more Strays appear in the corner hallway on the way to the Church.

Waterfall Arena[]

Where enemies first begin to appear, and the Drones are introduced. Initially, 2 Drones spawn in front of the door. Killing both Drones will summon 4 more, one in each corner of the arena. When returning to this area with the Blue Skull, 2 Drones will spawn at the room's entrance, where the first checkpoint was found.

Beyond this arena is another with a shallow river along its length and a small bridge near the far end. The river terminates at a stony facade with a staircase leading up to another door, seemingly representing the entrance to a castle. Approaching the stone bridge causes 3 Drones to spawn above it in a diagonal pattern. Reaching the bridge spawns 4 Schisms at the end of the river and 2 more Drones at the top of the stairs.

Castle Interior[]

The entrance hall contains a checkpoint, and emerges into an indoor garden, where the Attractor Nailgun is found beside a bed of flowers in the center of the room. When the Nailgun is picked up, a Malicious Face spawns, serving as the new weapon's first target. When approaching the exit, four Strays appear beside the staircase.

In the next hallway, the game will tutorialize creating traps with the Attractor Nailgun's nail magnets. When the second pair of columns is reached, 14 Filth will spawn at the end of the hallway, and when the third pair of columns is reached, 4 Strays and 4 Drones appear.

The next room holds the Blue Skull; picking it up opens a shortcut back to the Waterfall Arena.

Church[]

Placing the Blue Skull at the other blue pedestal opens up the remainder of the level. The first room spawns 8 Strays and 2 Drones along the sides of the hall.

The final room initially spawns 4 Strays and 2 Schisms; once this wave is wiped out, 6 Drones take their place. Completing this encounter opens the level exit.

Ranking Requirements[]

Secrets[]

Trivia[]

• This level's name is a reference to the Yes song of the same name.^[2]
• The main path of the level contains 83 enemies, 7 more than is required to S-rank kills. Along with making the level easier to earn a P rank for in general, it particularly allows the level to be P-ranked on weaponless runs, as the Malicious Face that spawns upon collecting the Nailgun can be skipped.
  • This is an artifact of early development versions where friendly fire kills did not count towards the player's own kill counter, and leniency needed to be afforded to make S-ranking kills feasible.^[3] This had been changed since it had already become near-impossible to personally kill every single enemy in a level by the time the Limbo layer was being developed, and arenas would only grow more even more chaotic as the game goes on.^[4]
• After defeating all enemies in the Waterfall Arena, resetting back to the last checkpoint will unload the next room without closing the door, revealing the black void out of bounds; the door will close as normal upon activating the arena.
• The enemy placement in the Nailgun hallway was altered in the Soul Survivor update to encourage experimentation with the Attractor Nailgun.
• The Prelude Demo version of this level features a third enemy wave in the final room with a single Malicious Face, so that the final playable encounter of the demo was something more climactic than a half dozen Drones. Similarly, a Hideous Mass encounter is teased after the final room in an arena similar to the one at the end of [ 1-3: HALLS OF SACRED REMAINS ]. This Mass is unable to be fought, as the level ends once it fully emerges from the ground, ending the demo on a cliffhanger. Neither encounter was ever intended to appear in the final game, existing specifically for the demo.^[5]
  • This version of the level is currently the only instance where a level end screen is displayed outside of an elevator shaft.
• The inactive Cerberus at the very beginning of the level was added to make the player cautious due to the previous level.^[6]

References[]