French Church
The French Church is the first location in the game, an abandoned church in Vouvant, France1 that Ryker and Leon take refuge in during a storm. This church is also the location of a dream near the end of the game.
Main Lobby
Ryker notes that the church doesn't feel empty. There are books and papers strewn on the floor, as well as boxes full of miscellaneous items. Vegetation has taken root in the church, and a small tree grows in the top right corner, indicating that the church has been abandoned for some time. There is some graffiti on the walls, as well as some defacing the Dante and Virgil statues2 in the shrine behind the Mother Mary Statue. A long carpet stretches from the front door to the shrine on the stage. Seven pews are set up on either side of the carpet. There is a confessional in the bottom right corner. Notable features include an oil drum that Leon starts a fire in, and a broken mirror with shards of glass surrounding it. There are two doors in this room, the front door, and a very heavy door in the top left that leads to the Stained Glass Hallway when playing as Ryker yet leads to the Long Hallway when playing as Leon. This room contains a Mary Doll.
Events
Entering the Church
The church is locked when Ryker and Leon encounter it, forcing them to break down the front door in order to take shelter inside. Leon starts a fire in a barrel for warmth, and Ryker says they want to look around the church a little.
Returning to the Lobby
Returning to the Main Lobby from the Long Hallway, the first thing that stands out is that the broken mirror has a blood trail underneath it. Ryker notes that it looks like the mirror itself is bleeding. On the carpet in the center of the room is Leon's body, shot in the face and terribly disfigured. Horrified at their discovery, Ryker covers Leon's face with a white cloth. The person that killed Leon is nowhere to be seen, and Ryker is panicking. Ryker, distressed, offers a prayer to the Mother Mary Statue, asking for guidance. An envelope floats down from the ceiling. Inside is the Rosso Cadere letter, reminding Ryker that Leon told them he had studied at a Basilica there years ago. Ryker rushes out of the church and begins running in a random direction, eventually reaching the Road Outside the Church.
Items
Stained Glass Hallway
When Ryker opens the top left door in the Main Lobby, they enter a small room with a staircase. There are a few paintings and inverted crosses on the wall, a bookshelf, and more trash on the floor. There are also some books on the floor, written in Spanish. Some of the books are about space.3 Taking the stairs brings them to a hallway lined with stained glass windows. The two windows to the far right and left are orange, and depict the central figure in a sea of fire, while the ones in-between are blue and have the same central figure in a regular sea. In the center of the hallway is a dresser with a small mirror. There is another set of stairs at the other end of the hallway, leading up to another, even smaller room. In it is a dead houseplant, more boxes and books on the floor, and a door leading to the Domed Ceiling Room
Domed Ceiling Room
The room with a domed ceiling has a raised platform in the middle of it. Surrounding the platform are more boxes, a stuffed animal sheep, as well as two real sheep. In front of the platform are two small desks, one with a framed mirror on it, the other with a framed image of Elo. On the platform is a bookshelf, grandfather clock, and a pile of books on priesthood ordination. This room contains a Mary Doll.
Events
Ryker first visit
The plot is progressed by interacting with the grandfather clock- triggering a letter to fall from the ceiling. This letter contains the "8" Paper, and draws Ryker's attention to the book underneath it, which is a book about dreams.4 Reading the book changes the player character from Ryker to Leon, back in the Main Lobby.
After Playing as Leon
After playing as Leon, and entering this room as him, player control returns to Ryker. They had dozed off while Leon was coming to find them, and was awoken by the grandfather clock chiming. Leon presents Ryker with a yogurt cake for their birthday, and as a celebration for their upcoming ordination. They eat the cake, and then Leon says they should meet back in the lobby.
Items
Long Hallway
This room is accessed either by going through the top left door of the Main Lobby while playing as Leon, or going through the bottom door of the Piano Room while playing as Ryker. It is an L-shaped corridor, with a red runner carpet in the center. In the right-hand area is a confessional. There is trash scattered on the floor. Continuing along the hallway, there are notices from the church hung on the wall. On the floor are more books and some crosses with triangles. Two sheep roam the hallway. There's a bookcase and a door that leads to the Piano Room past the bend in the hall, in the top right corner. When playing as Ryker, this room contains a Mary Doll.
Events
Leon
When playing as Leon, walking along the hallway will trigger a cutscene where the power goes out and Leon encounters a strange figure.5 The figure runs away laughing, leaving Leon to go find Ryker.
There is a random chance here for a slightly different image of the figure to appear.
Ryker
Playing as Ryker, coming from the Piano Room, the first obvious difference is that one of the sheep has been shot. Approaching the confessional, Ryker sees Leon with his back to them. Turning around, it is clear Leon has been stabbed. There are noises from the other room, and Leon insists Ryker hide inside the confessional, as the man who attacked him does not know Ryker is there. Leon gives his Bible to Ryker, warning them not to read it until he tells them it is okay to. Ryker hides in the confessional, and Leon turns to escape when the figure Leon encountered before interrupts him, pulling his shotgun on Leon and shooting him.6 He then drags Leon off, toward the Main Lobby. There are noises of shattering glass and gunshots from offscreen. Ryker waits, and after things have been silent for a while, they go to check the Main Lobby.
Items
Piano Room
The red carpet from the Long Hallway continues here, up to the stairs. There is a raised platform at the end of the room, with a piano on it. There is also a table with a Bible on it, though the pages have been defaced. There are also many moths on the shelves. To the right of the piano is another door that leads to the Staircase Room.
Events
Playing as Ryker, they enter this room after leaving the Painting Room. They run into Leon, standing in front of the piano and absorbed in a book on alternate realities. Leon says he subscribes to the idea, while Ryker expresses doubt. The two make their way towards the door, when Leon stops and expresses that the church does not feel right to him, surreal in a way other abandoned places they've taken shelter in. He writes it off as the storm getting to him, and exits. Ryker goes out the door, going to the Long Hallway.
Staircase
This room contains two staircases, leading up. On the first landing is a door locked by a pinpad, which leads to the Painting Room. Many graffitied arrows point towards this door. Also on the landing is a dresser with a small mirror. Up the next flight of stairs is a larger mirror. The door out is across from the mirror. Entering that door as Leon brings the player to the Stained Glass Hallway.
Events
Leon
Interacting with the large mirror while playing as Leon triggers a small scene where he is startled by something in the mirror moving, and checks inside his Bible. After that, Leon covers the mirror with a tarp.
Ryker
When playing as Ryker, after leaving the Domed Ceiling Room, they encounter Leon standing in front of the covered mirror. They approach Leon, startling him. He tells them he was only covering the face of the mirror, and walks away. The game will not allow the player to leave this room until they enter the pinpad door, the code to which is found on the "8" Paper. Punching in the correct numbers allows Ryker to enter the Painting Room.
Painting Room
This room is filled with paintings of all sorts, many hanging on the walls, some leaning against the walls, and some lying on the floor. There are also some papers scattered on the floor, as well as large barrels of red paint spilled on the floor. A large stag beetle crawls on the wall. Next to the beetle is a framed photo of Mother Mary, defaced by graffiti. Leaving this room brings Ryker back to the Staircase Room.
Items
Road Outside the Church
The road is fairly nondescript, lined with trees and grass on one side, and a river on the other. It is night, raining, and a car is parked on the side of the road.
Events
Phone Call
After Ryker exits the church, a cutscene plays. An unidentified man is on the phone, speaking to Leon's murderer. It appears that the man had been following Leon, and reporting on his location to the killer, though he seemingly missed that Ryker was with him. He tells the killer that he is blocking the entrance to the church, and the killer promises to pay him for the information. The phone call ends and the perspective shifts back to Ryker.
Ryker
Ryker spots a light off in the distance, and a person, and runs over to ask for help. It is still raining, so the man and his speech is obscured by the rain. They yell that their friend was just murdered, and beg for help, but end up tripping and drop the Bible. The man picks up the book and opens it. Instantly, things change as an disembodied choir begins singing and everything moves out of focus. The Bible emits a golden light, and the blood on Ryker's hands turns to gold and begins to writhe like worms. The man who opened the book is reading intently, completely focused until his head explodes and he drops the Bible. Ryker, stunned, picks the book back up and runs.
Footnotes
- 1 Vouvant is a real place in France.
- 2 Ryker is unable to identify the statues, but Leon can identify them as Dante and Vergil.
- 3 When playing as Leon, he takes note of the book, and remembers taking Ryker to a planetarium for their 25th birthday.
- 4 Interestingly, this book implies that color television was invented 12 years ago, and has quickly fallen out of favor (no information is given on when the book was written in relation to the present year, or if color television is still out of fashion).
- 5 Leon does not appear to recognize Dante, only recognizing him as an angel.
- 6 This conversation is the first instance of the ◻ (box) text obfuscation being used.