This is a game based off of the Slender Man Mythos. Did you expect this to be a hilarious, bizarre Mind Screw?
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Chapter 1: Prologue
- The beginning of the game has no major scares, but it does have a good atmosphere. Kate's bedroom is practically wallpapered in scribbles of and eerie notes about the Slender Man. When you approach the broken window, you'll hear a long, blood-curdling scream in the distance. The scene makes it quietly but abundantly obvious that something has gone horribly wrong.
- Originally, the chapter ended as soon as you left Kate's house and immediately transitioned you into Chapter 2. Later updates expanded on Prologue and added another outdoors area for you to explore before getting to Oakside Park. While you are not in any danger just yet, if you pay close attention to the hills you can occasionally see Slender Man standing in the distance, watching you and disappearing if you get too close. He knows you are there and is barely even trying to hide his presence.
- Another later addition is a large house that has been completely burned to the ground. A nearby note shows this to be the old Matheson house, where Charles Matheson died after years of being haunted by visions of his lost son. Exploring the house is completely optional, but just entering it immediately shifts the atmosphere for the worse. You quickly figure out that you are not alone in here, as you can hear the echoes of someone crying somewhere deeper in the building. Venture further in and you eventually find those cries coming from what appears to be a walking corpse standing in a corner. Get too close and the creature will quickly turn around, scream at you and then disappear after some flashing images.
Chapter 2: The Eight Pages
- This is the point where the gloves come off. You are put into Oakside Park and given a very familiar objective: find all eight pages scattered throughout the park. While the area seems to be somewhat smaller than the forest from the first game, Slender Man himself becomes much more aggressive much quicker. The locations are also randomly generated, so planning a route is much more challenging. The fact that the playing field is no longer a flat surface and instead full of hills doesn't help with orientation.
Chapter 3: Into the Abyss
- Into the Abyss has you wandering through an abandoned mine, looking for generators in random locations. It's cramped, pitch black, and all-too-easy to get lost as you run from your pursuers. That's right, pursuers, plural; you're chased by both Slendy and a snarling, feral proxy in a mask that makes her look almost inhuman.
- Worse, the snarling, feral proxy is eventually revealed to be your missing friend Kate. It's unnerving to think about how she ended up in this state, and wonder if Lauren, the player character, will become the same way.
Chapter 5: Memories
- Interacting with a disheveled plush bear you can find in Chapter 4 puts you into a secret chapter from the perspective of a young Charles Matheson Jr. on the day he disappeared. Everything starts out normal, with Charlie playing with his toys on a beach while his parents were having a picnic close by. Then you start to wander the beach and find some of your toys in the sand, leading you away from your family. Eventually, they are completely out of sight as Charlie enters a forest, which is where the real Nightmare Fuel comes into play. While you hear Charlie's parents calling out for him, tentacles start appearing all over the place, chasing you into a corner and eventually grabbing you. As they cover the screen and Slender Man takes the child away, a shrill, distorted scream blasts out of the speakers.
- The entire sequence is pure parental worries at its finest. Imagine being Charlie's parents. You just saw your son safely at the beach, only for him to have suddenly disappeared as soon as you stop paying attention for just a moment. At first, their calls are fairly calm and almost playful, but once you enter the forest their voices become increasingly concerned and desperate. Eventually, Charlie Jr. will start screaming for them as well, but to no avail. His parents never saw him again.
Chapter 6: Escape
- One of the tapes in Chapter 4 shows a recording of what happened to Kate shortly before you arrived. She was sitting in her room upstairs, scribbling on a note when she hears something in the storm outside. Kate knew Slender Man had arrived at her doorstep and your task is to go through her home to close all the doors and windows before he enters.
- Regardless of whether or not you manage to close everything down, a few bits of wood and glass can't stop Slender Man from making his way into the house. Kate decides she has to hide somewhere and you need to get back to her room. As soon as you close the door, Slender Man appears right next to you inside the room. With her door blocked, Kate shatters and jumps out of the window, ending the sequence.
Chapter 7: Homestead
- Chapter 7 is CR's recording of himself exploring the old abandoned Matheson farm. There, we see him find multiple pictures and diary entries of how Slender Man has been haunting the Matheson family for what seems to be centuries, and took two of the Matheson children away, with only one little girl and the family's grandmother claiming to have seen him when everyone else thinks they're nuts. After CR finds the last few pieces of information, he's chased out of the ruins of the farmstead by a screaming, corpse-like monstrosity, and only saves himself by dropping the camera and driving off.
- When you go to investigate the cellar, the area is pitch black, requiring you to turn on the lights. Which, of course, go out frequently. On occasion you can see the human-like monster just standing there, only for the lights to go out, come back on and show him gone, as if he was never there.
- You'll also have to pass through a field of tall grass multiple times. The human-like monster will sometimes attack you as you go through. Don't dally!
- There are a bunch of different gravestones outside of the chapel, most of which are dedicated to deceased members of the Matheson family. However, a close look at the inscriptions on the graves shows that a disproportionate number of them died in 2005. A note from Frieda Matheson, which you can read in the chapel, shows that she blamed herself for bringing "the devil's wrath" down upon her family, that she decided his legend would die with them and that the fire will cleanse their souls and sins. Considering the burnt buildings, it is not hard to figure out what happened...
- When you enter the chapel, the doors close on their own. If you turn around, Slender Man is right behind you.
Chapter 8: The Arrival
- Slender: The Arrival closes with one scare after another. After everything you went through, you end up trapped in a room with a charred body and crazed writings on the wall. The door is locked behind you and your flashlight is completely drained. When you go closer to the body, you find a camcorder which plays audio of C.R. burning himself to death, with Kate refusing to and fleeing. C.R.'s screams of pain are horrifying.
- After the audio ends, the corpse-like proxy bashes the door down and charges you. Then you wake up in the house from the first level, with the aforementioned proxy watching you from the stairs. It's Charlie, the missing child. After you collect the two final notes, Charlie disappears and you wander the second floor of the house, eventually coming across the Chaser from the mines, who tackles you. The screen goes black for a second, then cuts back to show an unconscious form being dragged away. Roll credits.
- The section of the level leading up to the ending is pretty damn unnerving in its own right. Running for your life through a raging forest fire with Slendy at your heels? Sounds like fun!
Others
- A secret level in The Arrival is little else but this. You wander about the house, with the ground outside being invisible and the polygons making up the house walls acting sporadically. Slender Man wants to play hide and seek."I like you. I want to play a game."
- As you explore the house, you'll teleport around randomly. The Slender Man is just toying with you, and he somehow is able to teleport you within his grasp.
- It is impossible to win the secret level, you simply wander helplessly around- distortions getting stronger and stronger- until he finds you.
- Made even worse by the interface screw on the main menu. You're taken back to the main menu at some point during the secret level; none of the options except "play game" or "quit game" work and if you try to select a level, the levels are all replaced with images of the missing child poster that triggers the level. Slender Man is able to break the fourth wall in order to screw with you.
- To cap off the secret level's nightmare fuel: once Slender Man catches you, you are immobilized and set on fire. You cannot move; you can only frantically look around and see the Slender Man getting gradually closer. It even ends with a sentence flat-out saying "you are dead."
- There's a bonus level, a remake of the original Slender. When you collect all eight pages and Slender Man catches you, he says "I have plans for you, Kate".
- It's a subtle touch most players miss, but every once in a while, you'll hear footsteps that aren't your own.
