The Evil Within 2 took the psychological and body horror of the first game and then cranked it up to an 11. Setting the story in the semi-open world of Union, players take up the role of Sebastian Castellanos. He must unravel the mystery of this mental mindscape’s decay and rescue his daughter.

But the benefit of a more open-world style of gameplay means plenty of side missions were added, giving this warped landscape history and vibrancy. These quests can be interlinked to each other or separate, and each yields varying rewards. So, here are 10 of these missions and where to start them

Rogue Signals

This is the first major side mission given to Sebastian. Upon rescuing and speaking with O’Neal, the mission will begin. Now, alongside finding daughter Lily, Sebastian will have the option to track down specific residual memories of past Union personnel, to locate valuable resource caches, on top of revealing more information about the town’s crisis.

Now, residual memories are scattered commonly throughout the entire game and map, and not all are related to this mission – there are only four tied to it. And the first of these memories is located in the southwest part of Union, in the Krimson Supermarket. From there, it’s a matter of following signal locations and in-game clues.

Echoes Within STEM

Speaking of residual memories, though, there are 24 in total scattered throughout the entire game. While not every memory holds pertinence to the main story, they still offer a variety of valuable items, from weapons to upgrades and more. Completing Rogue Signals still covers four of these memories, but that still leaves twenty for players to find on their own. But to make things somewhat easier, here’s one memory location in the first area of Union, unrelated to Rogue Signals: find the derailed train in the southwest portion of the map.

Again, most other memories can be found by following signals and in-game clues. And it’s not like failing to find all memories will ruin the endgame. Finding them all is not even a formal side quest, but more a personal goal Rather, successfully encountering each one unlocks a trophy/achievement. Guess the name!

Unknown Origin

Poor Sebastian. He’s been through STEM’s nightmare once, and now he’s back in it again. Except this time, he has unresolved trauma from his first time in the mindscape. And as the side quest Unknown Origin shows, it’s beginning to manifest.

Much like the residual memories, this quest can be located via a signal. But at first glance, it’ll be clear this isn’t like any other signal on the map, neither memory nor Lily calling for help. It will lead to a small, residential house: 336 Cedar Avenue. And from there, Sebastian will have to finally confront his nightmarish trauma, manifested.

Out in the Open

This side mission holds an extremely valuable reward: an ally. It will begin in Chapter 7 of the game, near the southern part of the theater area and outside the second Safe House. Though an easy area and quest to miss, once it’s found, it’ll be hard not to notice.

After all, a MOBIUS member, Sykes, will be stranded outside, cornered on top of an upturned vehicle, and hollering for help. Should Sebastian choose to engage the Lost swarming him, the quest consists of whittling down enough enemies until it’s safe for him and Sykes to get into the house. Short, simple, and to the point…And it unlocks several more side quests.

Getting Back Online

Once Sykes is found and rescued, he’ll request Sebastian go on several personal missions. The first of these missions is to get a specific MOBIUS server back online (though for what purposes, he withholds until his next quest). This server, however, is located within a sub-region of the world, called the Marrow.

At this point in time, players will have already encountered and navigated a part of the Marrow. This mission will now unlock several more areas of the region, and with them, all their supply caches. However, Sykes’ Safe House will not have access to the Marrow, and so players will have to backtrack slightly to the Post Plus building, how they first got to this specific map section. Once in the Marrow, it’s only a matter of following the signals.

The Last Step

The Last Step is, aptly, the last mission given by Sykes. It is quite easy to miss, though, as the main story will have players in a completely different subsection of Union. They will have to backtrack through the Marrow to Sykes’ Safe House, and from there, he will offer direct access to the mission.

The mission? Restore power in an Experimental Wing of the Marrow, in an area called the “Test Lab.” Why does he want this? The lab offers a chance of escaping the STEM mindscape, one that’s separate from MOBIUS’s control. Restore the power, and Sykes will be on his way, leaving Sebastian and players behind to finish their own missions.

Locksmith

Returning from the first game is Sebastian’s personal mindscape or Room, complete with Nurse Tatiana, extensive upgrade functions, and, of course… lockers, containing loads of goodies for Sebastian to access. All of which are also, unfortunately, locked, with keys scattered about the winding landscapes of Union and the Marrow.

Much like the first game, these keys are hidden under miniature statues scattered about the world. There are 32 of these keys available, a perfect match to the 32 lockers. Getting half the keys and lockers unlocks a small achievement, as does getting all 32. To set players on the path for this ambitious trophy, they’ll need to start with that first key. Fortunately, it’ll be located on a bench just outside O’Neal’s Safe House.

Chatting with Kidman

Also scattered about the world are small projector slides. Once found, they can be used in an old-time projector inside Sebastian’s Room. Each holds a photo from Sebastian’s past, and combined with the ability to talk to Kidman during the slideshow, players can piece together both of their pasts and the intricacy of their partnership.

Fortunately, there aren’t as many slides to locate as there are locker keys. Indeed, there are only eleven slides in total, the first of which can be located immediately in Sebastian’s room, and the last of which is locked behind the requirement of finding all others. Of course, not every map and chapter holds a slide – only Chapters 3, 6, 7, 11, 12, and 13 have any. But it’s definitely worth hunting them down, as that eleventh slide comes with some crucial information.

All in the Family

Bethesda is the lovely studio players can thank for having this game. And as is common with any big brand company, this title is full of tiny Easter Eggs of their numerous other franchises. Indeed, from Fallout to the Elder Scrolls and more, there are tiny collectibles all around the map that Sebastian can find. There are eight object Easter eggs in total to discover.

Like the slides, not every chapter has these objects. There are three in Chapter 3 for Dishonored, Wolfenstein, and Quake. One in Chapter 6, for Fallout, and another in Chapter 7, for Doom. Two more are in chapters 12 and 13, for Prey and the Elder Scrolls, respectively. The last object can be found in the very last chapter. Good hunting.