Return to the Lost Library
Level by The Plumber
Walkthrough by DJ Full
PART I - READ BEFORE YOU START
If you played TR4, you remember most of things from this place very well.
However, this level can be finished many ways. I tried to describe them all and
that's why the whole game is divided in sections of an "IF you are here,
THEN go EITHER here, OR there" guide. So treat
the main chapters like an areas description in rather NO chronological order
(as this one is in separate section, just in the beginning). In the main
description, the only things in chronological order are that the prologue is in
the beginning and the wet part is described before the dry one (because the
main gameplay objective is to pass the underwater
rooms to get to the dry area).
Also, there are two endings of this level.
All the portals in the main hall are described with or without the word
"DRY". It means some of them are underwater, and some of them are
placed above the water line.
PART II - CHRONOLOGICAL ORDERS:
1. THE FASTEST WAY TO FINISH THIS LEVEL IS: PROLOGUE -> S passage -> 3rd
way out -> DRY AREA FINALE -> ENDING 2. I think you can complete the game
in 2 minutes following this way.
2. HOWEVER, THE FASTEST "ALL PICKUPS AND PUZZLES" WAY IS: PROLOGUE
-> S passage -> 3rd exit for the Pharos Pillar
-> LION CHAMBER -> DRY AREA FINALE -> S DRY passage -> backtrack
through the S DRY -> DRY AREA FINALE again -> NW DRY PASSAGE ->
backtrack thru the NW DRY PASSAGE -> the rest of the DRY AREA FINALE ->
ENDING 1
PART III - DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ALL AREAS
PROLOGUE
Swim through the corridor to enter the main hall of the lost library. Ignore
the W passage normally leading to the Temple of Poseidon, as there is nothing
to find. There are two floors to explore, and only swimming through the
underwater area can lead you to the upper dry one.
UNDERWATER AREA
THE FOLLOWING PASSAGES CONTAIN NOTHING IMPORTANT:
NW passage
leads to the place where two underwater horsemen roam. If you wanna see them, you can choose this corridor, but there's
nothing else you can find.
N passage
leads to the holes filled with rotating saws circling around poles. But you
can't descend through the first hole normal way, as
there's no portal to the lower rooms (which are dry). If you really want to
check this place, you need to dozy down there. Then you can climb the 2nd pole,
avoiding the next circular saw, but there's nothing you can find up there, as
the whole Golden Stars section has been removed.
NE passage,
if you go right on the junction, guides you into the sunken planetary. You can
swim across it to enter the new passage and return to the main hall through the
SE door.
SE passage
- reverse the path described above. Turning left on the junction just before exitting to the main hall is not recommended (you will
die).
THE PASSAGES BELOW CAN MOVE YOU TO THE DRY AREA
S passage
leads you downstairs. You can watch the fire wraiths' suicide in the following
chamber. Now, you have three options, and you get nothing by choosing the first
two:
1. Swim E and through the passage to reach the fountain room (you can't hop
into the fountain, and the scientists have found a similar place at the bottom
of some oceanic basin - a methane lake that creates a liquid surface deep below
the water line). Resurface in the hole by the E wall. Then, exit the fountain
room through the unexplored portal to get back to the wraith chamber.
2. Swim into the NW corridor and reverse the path described above.
3. Swim E and up into the hole to get to the Pharos
Pillar room (described some lines below, in the DRY AREA 1).
NE passage,
if you go ahead on the junction, leads you to the snake levers chamber. You
can't pull the levers, but you also don't need to raise the central blocks -
you can just swim up to the hole in the ceiling to get on the dry surface. If
you choose this way of getting to the upper floor, refer to the DRY AREA 2
chapter now.
SW passage
brings you to the Music Scroll chamber. Grab the item from the bottom and swim
up to the hole in the ceiling (keep away from the triangular parts to avoid
being stuck). Pull up into the DRY AREA 3.
DRY AREA
1
Pick up the Pharos Pillar. You can't use it in this
level, so treat it like a quest item. Now either exit
the room through the portal on the W to emerge in the SE DRY door (in this case
refer to the DRY AREA FINALE) or enter the S portal, hop into the hole and
refer to the LION CHAMBER.
2
Go upstairs to find the room full of scrolls and with a ladder. Climb it to
shatter the vase on the upper shelf. Descend back to the floor and enter the
right passage on the S. Destroy one more vase to find uzi
clips and pass another room full of scrolls. Go downstairs and through the next
corridor to emerge in the DRY NW portal in the main hall. Now refer to the DRY
AREA FINALE section.
3
Either choose the hole in the E wall to find out the DRY S portal is closed and
you can't exit, or go into the S passage to find a torch on your right (no need
to pick it up). Continue through the corridor to the junction. Now you can
either enter the left chamber to get the Pharos
Pillar and go back to the dry part of main hall through the DRY SE door (in
this case then refer to the DRY AREA FINALE), or hop into the hole on your
right. If you choose the latter option, fall down into the lion's mouth and
swim out to refer to the LION CHAMBER chapter.
LION CHAMBER
You are in the flooded dungeon. Watch out for the
horseman and the ball rolling down the slope. Find SECRET#1 on the W bank (a
large medi and 10 normal arrows). Pull up on the S
bank and enter the hole in the wall next to it. Climb the blocks and runjump on the lion's head to pick up the Music Scroll.
Swim through the E lion's mouth to find the pole. Climb up to the junction and
refer hop ahead into the Pharos Pillar chamber. If
you have already collected the item, just exit through the W passage to get
back to the main hall through the DRY SE door. Now refer to the DRY AREA
FINALE.
DRY AREA FINALE
The SE DRY, S DRY and NW DRY passages are already described. Through the SW DRY
one you can get in another pit and slide down to the lion chamber to collect
the 2nd scroll if you haven't collected the other one or if you want to grab
all the pickups. In this case, refer to the LION CHAMBER part. But if you are
ready to finish the level, go around the shelf and choose one of the 2 endings:
1. Choose the farthest door on the N to enter the music room, place one of the
scrolls on the pedestal and play the harp to reveal the secret passage leading
to the finish trigger.
2. Go to the very end of the shelf and hop over the balustrade to land on the
shelf with the chain. Pull the chain to see the door "open". Now you
can go through the passage behind the chain to end the level.