The Devil In Me, the latest entry in Supermassive Games' Dark Pictures Anthology, is a narrative-driven horror game that is dictated by player choice. Players take a backseat as the game delivers its story through cutscenes, and will frequently be prompted to engage in quicktime events, dialogue choices, and life-or-death decisions that will shape how the story unfolds.
There are typically two ways players will make their way through a Dark Pictures game: try to keep the protagonists alive, or try to get them all killed. The thing is, the choices that lead to either of those outcomes aren't always clear, and the game will only grant a few seconds in which to make a decision. Here are the choices players should avoid making if they want to save this crew of amateur documentary filmmakers in The Devil In Me.
10 Attacking The Killer (Blackout)
In Chapter 10 "Noises," players will take control of Erin, whose unique ability is using a directional microphone to track noises throughout "Murder Castle." She also has asthma, which is important to remember. Unsurprisingly, players will spend this chapter tracking unsettling noises through a number of shifting corridors. Eventually, Erin will enter the room where the noises are coming from, at which point she will get jump-scared by an H. H. Holmes mannequin, and the lights will cut out.
The game will move away from Erin for a bit, but when the focus returns to her in Chapter 12 "Blackout," Erin will be trapped in the dark room and struggling to breathe. As she calls out for help, an ominous figure will enter the room through a secret door. The figure will offer Erin an inhaler, and she can either take it or choose to attack. Players should take the inhaler. Attacking will cause Erin to have an asthma attack and die right there, but she will also need the inhaler at several other points throughout the story.
9 Ignoring Jamie (Silver Ash)
In Chapter 16 "Silver Ash," Erin is in her room going over her audio recording of the events in the Blackout room when a secret door in the wall opens, leading to a dusty stairwell. Erin will begin wheezing almost as soon as she enters the stairwell, but players should not use the inhaler here. Just push on and Erin will exit the stairwell shortly afterward, and enter the Silver Ash Institute.
She will immediately notice a pair of mutilated corpses, one of which has a speaker grafted to its mouth. After exploring the room and finding lore about the "Murder Castle," Jamie's voice will come out of that speaker, warning Erin that she needs to hide from the killer in a nearby cupboard. Players should listen to Jamie because not doing so will get Erin killed.
8 Forcing The Door (Incinerator)
In Chapter 18 "Incinerator," Charlie will be exploring the "Murder Castle" basement and accompanying dungeon when, predictably, the lights will go out. As he pushes forward, Charlie eventually spots a single room with a light on, and massive piles of ash lining the walls. Shortly after entering the room, the door slams shut, gas sprays out of the walls, and a mannequin rises up through a grate with a lighter in its hand.
When the room inevitably ignites, Charlie will have the option to force the door open or lift one of the metal grates in the floor. Players should go for the grate. It'll take two tries to fully remove the grate, so stick with it. The Chapter will end with Charlie crawling under the grate and screaming from the heat, and it won't immediately reveal if he survives, but he will return later.
7 Killing Erin (Breathless)
In Chapter 21 "Breathless," Erin escapes from her pursuer after exiting the cupboard by fleeing into a brightly lit testing chamber, and the door seals behind her. Spotting her friend through a window, Kate runs into an adjacent chamber, with the door sealing behind her as well. Shortly afterward, the air starts getting sucked out of both rooms.
Playing as Jamie, players will have to choose whether to kill Erin or Kate by refilling the air in one of the rooms. Players should choose to save Erin and kill Kate because, despite Kate's room also running out of air, she will survive the ordeal. Erin will not.
6 Bluffing The Killer (Director's Suite)
Much later, in Chapter 27 "Director's Suite," Jamie and Kate will be exploring the same room where Erin hid in a cupboard from the masked killer, and guess what? The killer is still there. When given the option, Jamie should choose to run from the killer instead of trying to bluff him. She and Kate will flee to opposite sides of another testing chamber, with a large glass wall separating them.
Earlier in the Chapter, players will choose whether Jamie or Kate should carry a screwdriver they find. When the large glass wall in this chamber starts moving, Jamie will spot a button that lets her reverse the wall's direction. The wall is going to crush whoever gets trapped behind it, but players should send the wall toward whichever character has the screwdriver. The game once again cuts to black but quickly reveals how that character cleverly used the screwdriver to shatter the glass.
5 Leaving Jamie (Chase)
In the very next Chapter, titled "Chase," Kate and Jamie will escape from the glass room and flee from the masked killer. They will (of course) get separated, and players will have to guide Kate through several minigames for her to hide effectively.
Eventually, the killer will track down and grab Jamie instead. Players can choose to have Kate save Jamie or run and save herself. They should choose to save Jamie, because mere moments later, Jamie will turn around and save Kate, and the two will escape into the nearby maze together.
4 Climbing To The Rafters (Maze)
After exploring the maze and solving a puzzle, Jamie and Kate will escape into a garden where the masked killer will once again appear on their tail. They will run into a barn, and the killer will pick up an axe left outside. When given the option, players should barricade the door instead of immediately running away.
Directly afterward, Jamie will say they should run, however, Kate will also have the option to climb into the rafters. Now is the time to run. Jamie and Kate will escape out the other side of the barn, and while the killer will eventually run them off a ledge, they will survive.
3 Demanding Help (Homestead)
In Chapter 34 "Homestead," after recovering from their fall, Jamie and Kate will find their way to a nearby farmhouse. Inside, they will meet the very good dog, Connie. Once again, the masked killer is hot on their trail. When prompted, players should choose the anxious response from Jamie, telling Kate to hide.
Jamie and Connie will hide in a nearby room, while Kate hides behind a couch. Players will have the option to kill Connie to silence him before the killer finds them, but ​​​don't kill the dog! Connie's barks will eventually alert the killer, however, just as he is about to swing his axe Kate will emerge from her hiding place and knock him down, ensuring both Jamie and Connie survive.
2 Restraining Charlie (Lighthouse)
When Erin links up with Mark and Charlie in Chapter 35 "Lighthouse" she will have been tricked into thinking Charlie is the killer by a set of doctored recordings of Charlie's voice. She will plead with Mark to restrain him.
The solution here is simple, don't restrain Charlie. He isn't the killer, and restraining him will only result in getting him killed. Erin will eventually reach the conclusion on her own that the audio was edited and will forgive Charlie.
1 Leaving The Gun (Lake)
After the group is reunited in Chapter 37 "Lake," a cop will arrive on a boat via the lake. He'll be understandably jumpy, and will pull his gun on the heroes. However, the killer is way ahead of him. First, he blows up the cop's boat, then he cuts off the cop's hand with the gun still in it.
While the killer is dealing with the cop, Kate will spot the gun laying within Mark's reach. Charlie will want to run, but Kate should tell Mark to grab the gun. He'll end up missing it, but he'll grab a can of mace instead. Now players just need to complete the final quicktime events, and the game's heroes will survive the "Murder Castle" and escape into the morning light.
The Devil In Me was released on November 18th, 2022, and is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.