FOLKLORIST DIARY – GOLD EDITION

Level series by Leoc1995

Walkthrough by Treeble

LEVEL 1: VACANT DREAM

>> The level author has posted a video walkthrough for this level on his YouTube channel.

You start this level with nothing but the stopwatch in your inventory. Expect some serious combat encounters, so be mindful of your ammo and health supplies. Save often, and don't hesitate in reloading to try a certain encounter again if you feel you can do better.

As soon as the level begins, you are flashed with a giant message on the wall. Immediately press the Look button to break the camera hint and find yourself sliding down towards a dragon statue lying beyond a gap at the end of the slide. A second camera hint will pop up near the edge, break it again with the Look button and time your jump to get across and claim the SILVER DRAGON (SECRET #1) and a more precious small medipack.

Now that's out of the way, let's catch up on the camera clues we skipped. The writing on the wall tells your goal to finish this level ("Find the 4 golden switches to open 4 golden doors."), and the second camera hint showed that the swimming pool area is filled with bad guys. As we don't have any weapons, that's a no no for now, so drop into the water deep below and swim through a narrow opening.

Grab the shells and medipack at the end and swim through the open door to end up inside the freezer, where you will find the SHOTGUN at your feet. As you pick it up, the camera will show that enemies are making the way from the swimming pool, so expect some company very soon.

The freezer door opens upon approach. Quickly unload three rounds on the uzi guy and loot his body for more ammo. An undead guy with a baton will arrive shortly, so kill him with another two rounds and finally the ever-dangerous flamethrower with another two rounds. You need to get up and close, so use the walls to your advantage and jump over the flamethrower before he aims at you. Loot their bodies for ammo (your current count should be at 3, but don't despair just yet) and a small medipack.

Run out of the kitchen and loop around into the gym. Retrieve two more rounds of shotgun shells from the training course and then activate the golden lever behind exercise #2. One lever down, three to go. Get ready as a flamethrower guy is coming your way, loot his body for another small medipack.

From exercise #4, shimmy sideways and pull up through the opening in the ceiling to reach the library. You should have just enough ammo to defeat the uzi mercenary and the undead with the baton. You get two more rounds from the merc. Throw the lever on the backside of the bookcase sticking out of the wall and climb up through the fireplace and into the attic.

The blue wooden crate in the middle of the room has to be pushed into either side. As soon as you do, a jade spear warrior (because why not) comes to life. You don't have ammo to deal with him and you don't have to: quickly run one step down into the next room and he won't bother you. However, we need to dance around him if we want all secrets.

If you turn around and look to your left, you can spot an alcove above the blue crates. Wait for the warrior to briefly move away and hop in there and pull out another blue crate once. Save your game. We now want to go back the way we came and jump into the very spot this crate was to find the JADE DRAGON (SECRET #2) and a precious box of shotgun shells. Heal if needed and do your best to avoid the spear swirling warrior again.

Head down the steps and collect a bundle of two shotgun shells (your ammo counter should be at 8 right now). The door ahead opens upon approach and an undead guy rushes toward you. Two shots to put him down. Quickly hide against the wall near the door and wait for the right time to ambush and kill the flamethrower guy with another two shots. Retrieve the ammo on his body and your counter will be back at 8.

You've reached Lara's bedroom. From the top of her bed, get the AUTOMATIC PISTOLS plus some clips (save around 80 bullets for the final boss, to be safe) and a small medipack. Save your game and jump over the shattered glass towards the door. It opens and a flamethrower dude rushes in. You should have just enough time to blast him once, jump over and finish him off from his back. Loot his body for ammo and save your game, again.

As you step into the doorway, you will summon not one, but two flamethrower guys. Hop back into the bedroom and stick near the wall to try and ambush them. More often than not the second guy will outsmart you, so keep trying until you manage to down both of them before either has a chance to set Lara on fire. An uzi wielding mercenary will arrive shortly after. When it's all said and done, your counter will be exactly at 1. Loot the bodies for clips and the LIBRARY KEY.

Use it on the lock near the door on the opposite side of the hall to open the library. An uzi merc rushes out, you'll definitely need to use the automatic pistols but I softened him up with the last shotgun shell I had first. He leaves a bundle of two shotgun shells behind, pushing our desperation counter to 4. Save your game.

As you cross the doorway into the music room, you'll hear the rumbling soldier of yet another spear warrior coming to life. This one is not afraid of steps, so we need to get rid of him as quickly as possible. All shotgun shells and about 7 rounds of automatic pistols should do the trick... Find the opening near the piano for the second gold lever and a box of shotgun shells. Watch out for the double set of sliding doors on your way back to the main hall.

Jump over the balustrade to your left and use a nearly invisible crack on the wall to shimmy towards the central window. Use the hanging chandelier to jump to an alcove and then to the shotgun shells behind the opposite balustrade. There is another bundle of shotgun shells near the disco player, and the SWIMMING POOL KEY rests atop some rusty crates.

Note that the leftmost crate is slightly different: push it all the way in for more shotgun shells (ammo: 10), then push the block to your right all the way in. There's a third block nearby, pull it back once so your path to the third golden lever is revealed. Save your game, as two uzi mercs are trotting about. Three shots against each, then loot the bodies for one box (ammo: 6). Jump over the balustrade and drop down to ground floor.

Cross the gym and use the key to enter the pool. Enjoy the brief moment of peace. Behind the second fireplace on the right side (the only one that's not burning right now) is a button. Push it to put off all the fires and investigate the far right alcove, near the podium, to locate the GOLD DRAGON (SECRET #3) and a small medipack.

With the fires out, climb the wall behind the first fireplace on the left side for the final golden lever and a small medipack. Heal up and save your game. Stay as close as possible to either side wall before you climb down, so that you can quickly run past the fireplace once you are ambushed by two uzi guys. All six shots will be necessary to down them, but at least we get a little something back from them.

Locate the closed door near the main hall stairs and open it with the button. Walk inside as Lara's 2013 theme plays out and you'll find all four golden doors are open. Behind the even numbered doors you get some extra shotgun shells if you're inclined to pick them up. Regardless, throw all four levers and you'll summon a Fiamma Near warlord.

Draw your automatic pistols, jump over him and do your best to keep shooting him from his backside so he doesn't have a chance to hurt you. When your pistols ammo count drops by nearly half, the baddie should go down and drop a PORTAL KEY on the ground. Use it on the nearby lock and you're taken to the next level.

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LEVEL 2: HANGING PRISON

>> The level author has posted a video walkthrough for this level on his YouTube channel.

You start this level with nothing but the stopwatch in your inventory. Unlike the first level, combat plays a minimal role but medipacks are still very scarce so be careful and save often.

Turn around and throw the lever hidden behind the jade statue on the right side. If you look just outside the cage, you'll spot the silver dragon, we'll get back to it much later. For now, jump out the cage across the floating platforms to the ladder in the back. Wait to jump at the latest moment possible and bounce off steering left so you land on a flat piece of rock.

Jump to the low platform hanging off the great structure, climb up the pillar and jump to the ladders on the wall, shimmying all the way to the opposite end to drop and slide. Climb up the tall ladder and slide down into a small room with a large medipack and a jade statue. Pull up onto the wall and down on the other side, where a monk may as well have used his own blood to leave a warning on the walls. "Run!", he says.

Gather the uzi clips and walk through the shattered glass towards the lever. Save your game. As you pull it, one of the statues come to life, so you must run through the glass (it'll hurt you less than the jade warrior) and get back on the wall, where a door is now open. Carefully make your way through past the multiple traps, you'll no doubt end up using your medipack just to survive this gauntlet, but it's ok. At the end of the hallway, push a lever.

Don't go back, instead, notice that the two blocks on your immediate left can be pushed around. Push the leftmost one in, then push the other one into an alcove near the lever. Stand in front of the revealed bookcase and push the first block behind the railings, then pull out the other block from the alcove and place it in front of the lever to reveal what was hidden behind it: the JADE DRAGON (SECRET #4).

Save your game and approach the hole protected by two blades, then drop in, making sure you slide down facing forward. As soon as you reach the next room, immediately run and jump around the perimeter as two flamethrower dudes are shooting at you from a safe space. Well, not so safe: once you reach the other end, throw the lever to drop both of them to their doom. Loop back around the perimeter and flick a switch to open a gate near the lever, then go back and up the ladder.

Throw the lever to lower a trapdoor near the beginning of the level. Fall into the water, loot the bodies for some supplies and swim through the passage and you're back to the floating islands. Climb up the tall pillar and jump towards the one between the starting cage and the structure you just came out of.

Turn around and you will notice there's a button hidden behind the jade statue in the niche. You need to take a running jump with a slight adjustment in mid air to grab the flat ledge beneath it. This button opens up a gate in the cage, so jump back to the pillar and into the cage, head to the other end and drop to the platform to collect the SILVER DRAGON (SECRET #5).

We still need a weapon to shoot that bell, so go back to the trapdoors hanging from the cage and jump towards the rightmost opening on the main structure. Bounce off the slope into the doorway past the two jade statues, then throw the lever at the top to open the side passage. Just beneath the entrance is another hidden pushblock, maneuver it around the raised floors to reach the crack near the bookshelves, then shimmy left and pull up into the opening.

Turn around and pull up onto the rooftops. Bounce back and forth from the slopes to gain height and clear the other slope, then loop around the back. You will notice a flat spot on the rooftop, jump there to find the GOLD DRAGON (SECRET #6), then climb up the wall on the right and repeat the bouncing routine.

Take note of a lever surrounded by two jade soldiers in the distance, but before heading there go to the other end of the nearby structure, leaping over the gap and then again bouncing back and forth on slopes to land near a lonesome jade statue. Just below it is a lever that operates a trapdoor for later. Use the statue platform to hop back over the slope and leap across the floating platforms to the two jade soldiers.

The lever raises a trapdoor near the shotgun. Turn left and slide down, backwards, to land on the other trapdoor we'd just activated, then jump across and claim the SHOTGUN. Jump around the cage to get back inside. Take notice how you only have two bullets, so we'll be doing a lot of battle fleeing from this moment.

Inside the cage, save your game and shoot the bell. The statues come to life, so immediately head down the newly opened path and jump to safety on the other side. As you run past the next jade statue, it comes to life and the door ahead lets out two baddies. Run past everyone and into the open door, up the slope and down on the other end. As you are approaching the lever in the distance, it might be a good idea to save again as a hidden trapdoor will drop you in a room with four spiked walls. Quickly navigate through the safe spots and flick the switch to open the double doors and exit the level.

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LEVEL 3: THE UNLEASHING

>> The level author has posted a video walkthrough for this level on his YouTube channel.

Reclaim the SHOTGUN and some flares and head up the slope. Yup, that boulder will roll down as you run up, just after the slightly accented piece of the slope. Simply get out of the way and proceed to activate a second boulder, retreat slightly to get out of the way.

Go through the open gates and find the PISTOLS in a cage that lifts upon approach. As you pick them up, one of the two jade sword statues comes to life, so use your trusty weapons to dispatch them (save shotgun and uzi ammo for later encounters). We need a mask, so let's go after it.

Run down the open gate and do a running jump from the edge of the platform to reach the bouncing pad dead ahead and you should land right on the next platform. Due to the low ceiling, do a running jump to the next slope and bounce to some shotgun ammo, then negotiate the following jumps and head down into a dark room.

Gun down the two sasquatches before they get to you, then retrieve the shotgun ammo in an alcove in the back corner. Throw the three levers spread across the rooms, two are pretty obvious and should be just a flare away from being visible, but the third is hidden in an alcove in a corner opposite to the one where you found the shotgun ammo. They raise the cage in the center, and you'd be wise to collect the medipack and ammo (and saving your game!) before picking up the FOLKLORIST MASK as three sasquatches will ambush you the second you do.

Once you're in the clear, climb back the ladder to the previous room and do a running jump from the highest corner to grab the platform to your right. Grab the crack on the central structure, shimmy sideways to climb up and throw a lever to open the exit gate. Land a running jump onto the slope and bounce to the exit.

As you enter the next room, a camera shows you a lever up high. Activate it to see a hint for the following puzzle: "RISE OF THE _ _ _ _ RAIDER". That's so meta! Not that you didn't know, but it's a nod to the 2015 installment in our beloved franchise. Look to the blocks down below and notice how four blocks are slightly brighter. Move these around to spell TOMB and the exit door opens, as well as two sasquatches and a tiger lusting for blood show up. Gather the medipack and the clips in the corners and hop through the exit door.

The UZIS are yours. Head down the corridor and up the stairway to throw a lever at the top. The door doesn't open just yet, but you'll also have noticed a bell hidden behind the wall in which the lever is placed. Go down a few steps and turn Lara slightly so that you can jump upwards while shooting your pistols to hit it. This raises the gates at the top, head down to ground level and use the bouncing pad to leap into the next area.

Save your game. This area a bit complicated to describe as it combines a number of different traps at once. The solid gold textures on the ceiling indicate places you can step on, stepping anywhere else will burn Lara to death. In addition to that, each of the tiles you can land on will make at least one boulder roll towards you. And, beyond that, a couple of stalactites will prove to be lethal should you land on the wrong spot below them.

So, climb to the gold structure from the very middle, take one step forward. Save. Jump forward once and immediately turn 45 degrees to the left and jump forward again. Rotate Lara (don't roll) so that you can jump back to the tile you were before. Save. Again, turn 45 degrees left and jump. Line up with the wall in the back and jump forward once. Keep your mind at peace as the two boulders come forward and jump again, slightly steering left so you land right in the middle of the two stalactites. Save.

For the final stretch, simply roll forward and back to disarm the last set of boulders. But you're not home free yet: equip the shotgun and approach the slope in the back to trigger four sasquatches. You should have enough ammo to down three, quickly revert to the pistols to dispatch the last one being careful not to fall down the side or land on any burning tiles.

Throw the lever at the end and the door in the previous room opens. Before going back, turn right and locate a safe spot in the burning pit. Walk into the hidden alcove behind the lever to collect the GOLD DRAGON (SECRET #7), along with shotgun shells and a small medipack. To return, you can either shimmy along the edge all the way to the beginning of the gold platform (the first row is safe) or hop across the safe tiles again.

Head through the door, collect the clips and the medipack and the gate opens, leading you back to the room with the mask receptacle. The remaining sword warrior comes to life, so unload your shotgun to soften him up and use the pistols to finish him off. Place the mask in the receptacle and climb up the ladder, then pull up onto the next room and locate a small hole in the back end with a lever. Save your game.

When you throw the lever, the trapdoor drops you into a very deadly arena with a Talion guardian. Pull out your Uzis and do your best to avoid the spikes all around the place while you fill the creature with lead. Keep in mind that his attacks are strong and he can easily push you into the spikes as well. About 200 uzi shots later, the beast goes down and the adventure comes to an end. Well done!