Aphelion: Walkthrough for Chapter 1 & 2 – The Wreck and The Pulse

The first two chapters of Aphelion are less about combat or puzzle complexity and more about teaching the movement grammar the rest of the game will rely on. In Chapter 1, “The Wreck,” Ariane Montclair learns how to escape the Hope-01 crash site through ladders, ledges, crawl spaces, and early winch sections. In Chapter 2, “The Pulse,” the game extends those same rules into a longer route toward the EM Junction and a higher vantage point. If you are stuck, the short version is this: follow the pathfinder whenever the environment opens up, treat broken ladders and collapsed routes as deliberate redirects rather than dead ends, and use the winch for controlled momentum instead of trying to force long jumps from a standstill.

This walkthrough stays tightly scoped to the critical route through Chapters 1 and 2. Public text and video guides are highly consistent on the main sequence, so the core path is clear even where collectible counts are not.

What Chapter 1 and 2 are actually teaching you

Before going room by room, it helps to read these chapters correctly. Aphelion introduces traversal in layers. Ariane starts with basic climbing and squeezing through damaged wreckage, then the game adds environmental hazards, then momentum-based movement with the winch. If a section feels awkward, the usual cause is not hidden timing but using the wrong movement rule.

• Use Pathfinder when the route is visually noisy or the crash debris creates multiple apparent lanes.
• If a ladder breaks or a corridor closes off, the intended route is usually immediately below or to the side, not somewhere far back.
• In winch sections, movement matters before the jump. Build a clean left-right swing first, then release.
• When the game compresses the camera in crawl spaces or narrow wreck tunnels, keep moving forward. These are transitional spaces, not search zones.

Chapter 1 walkthrough: The Wreck

Chapter 1 begins with Ariane recovering from the Hope-01 crash on Persephone. The route is linear, but the wreckage layout can make it seem less direct than it is. The main objective here is simple: get out of the destroyed section, then push deeper through the wreck while learning the game’s basic traversal language.

Escape the first wreck section

From the opening area, move left first. This is the first place where the game expects you to stop thinking in terms of obvious forward progress. The initial escape route does not continue straight through the crash debris. Follow the ledges and ladders on the left side, then climb upward and work your way back to the right.

Once you are higher up, use the next climbable route and advance across the narrow passage. Shortly after that, you will reach an early winch section that pulls Ariane upward and forward. This is not yet a precision test. The important part is recognizing that the winch is an anchor-based traversal tool, not an emergency recovery mechanic. Commit to the movement instead of tapping at it in short, hesitant bursts.

The next notable trap is the broken ladder area. The route forward looks like it should continue upward, but when that path fails, you need to jump onto the nearby vehicle and use it as your platform. From there, drop left. This is one of the most common points where players lose time because the failure state looks accidental. It is not accidental. The game is redirecting you into the next intended lane.

After dropping left, continue into the winch-and-obstacle sequence. This section asks you to keep moving while avoiding debris. Do not rush the release timing. It is safer to establish a readable swing, watch the obstacle pattern, and then move through the opening. Overcommitting here usually sends Ariane into geometry or back into the same hazard cycle.

Clear that segment and the chapter transitions through a cutscene. If you reached the cutscene, your escape route was correct even if the last few jumps felt messy.

Explore deeper into the wreck

After the transition, Chapter 1 shifts from pure escape to guided wreck exploration. This is where the Pathfinder becomes more valuable. Use it when the environment widens or when multiple pieces of broken fuselage suggest different paths. The correct route remains linear, but the visual clutter increases.

Progress by squeezing through narrow gaps, climbing short ledges, and moving through crawl spaces inside damaged ship sections. Several jumps pass over fire pits. These are straightforward if you jump from stable footing. The avoidable mistake is jumping too early while Ariane is still climbing onto the platform. Let the climb animation settle, then take the jump.

Later in the chapter, the winch returns in a more deliberate form. You will need to swing left and right to create enough momentum to reach the next ledge. This is where the mechanic starts behaving like a proper grappling traversal system. If you keep missing the landing, the usual fix is not a later jump but a larger, cleaner arc. Build the swing first. Once Ariane reaches a full rhythm, release toward the ledge instead of upward.

Once you enter the wreck interior again, keep following the only viable platform chain. Public walkthroughs describe this portion as a sequence of broken platforms and narrow interior routes rather than a branching puzzle. In practice, that means you should keep checking left, straight ahead, and then right only as the room geometry forces the turn. If a path ends abruptly in debris, backtrack only a few steps. The intended continuation is usually a low crawl gap, a ledge above eye level, or a short platform drop.

Finish the remaining interior traversal and Chapter 1 closes with the game having taught you its essential rules: climb anything readable, trust scripted collapses as route design, and use the winch as a movement system rather than a panic button.

Chapter 2 walkthrough: The Pulse

Chapter 2, “The Pulse,” builds directly on the first chapter instead of changing genre or pacing. Ariane is still moving through wreckage and frozen terrain on Persephone, but the objective focus shifts toward tracking the signal, reaching the EM Junction, and eventually finding a vantage point. The route remains largely linear across currently available walkthrough coverage.

How to read the route in The Pulse

The practical rule in Chapter 2 is to stop over-searching open space. When the level expands, use the Pathfinder early. The game is not usually hiding a radically different route in these chapters. It is asking you to chain together the tools already introduced: climbing, short jumps, squeezes through tight spaces, and winch-assisted progression.

Advance toward the EM Junction by following the marked objective path through the environment. Expect alternating exterior and wreck-interior segments. Exterior stretches can make the destination look farther or more open than it really is, but the correct lane still resolves into a controlled platforming sequence rather than free exploration.

Where Chapter 1 used the winch as a tutorial, Chapter 2 uses it as a regular traversal requirement. Approach each anchor point with the same discipline: center Ariane before committing, generate momentum deliberately, and aim for the next safe landing zone rather than trying to maximize distance on every swing. A stable landing preserves rhythm. A desperate long release usually costs more time than it saves.

The other practical difference in Chapter 2 is pacing. The chapter expects you to combine multiple movement types without pausing to reinterpret each room from scratch. If the route seems unclear, check for these in order: a climbable edge, a squeeze gap, a crawl space, a drop that is obviously survivable, and then a winch anchor. That order matches how the game tends to present progression in these early chapters.

Continue following the signal path until you reach the EM Junction area and then move on toward the higher viewpoint. There are no widely reported route branches or chapter-specific detours in the available material, so if you keep moving with the pathfinder and use the taught traversal rules, you are on the correct line.

Collectibles, scanning, and what is still uncertain

Collectible-focused coverage for these chapters exists, but exact counts are not consistently documented in text sources. What is clear is that Chapter 1 in particular contains optional pickups such as scans or audio-log style items during traversal. If your goal is 100% cleanup rather than just story progression, slow down before one-way drops and before obvious transition squeezes through tight wreckage.

If your interface exposes an EM scanner or similar scan function during these early sections, use it whenever you enter a new room-sized space or complete a major traversal beat. That will not replace exploration, but it reduces the chance of walking past optional lore items embedded in the environment. Because exact collectible totals remain low-confidence without full video verification, it is better to do a cautious sweep of each stable area than assume a clean chapter run caught everything.

Common mistakes in The Wreck and The Pulse

• Treating the broken ladder as a failure state. In Chapter 1, that collapse is a route redirect. Use the nearby vehicle, then drop left.
• Using the winch without building momentum. Small corrective swings are usually not enough. Commit to a readable arc.
• Jumping out of climb animations too early. Fire pit and gap jumps are safer if you wait for full footing.
• Ignoring the pathfinder in open areas. The environment is busy by design. The objective tool prevents unnecessary wandering.
• Searching for branches that are not there. Current walkthrough consensus is that Chapters 1 and 2 are mostly linear. If stuck, look for the next traversal interaction close by instead of backtracking through the whole chapter.

If you are stuck at one specific spot

Use a narrow diagnosis rather than replaying the whole chapter mentally. If you are stuck during the opening escape, the issue is usually the leftward start or the broken ladder redirect. If you are stuck in later Chapter 1 wreck traversal, the issue is usually a missed squeeze gap or a winch release with poor momentum. If you are stuck in Chapter 2, the issue is usually route reading rather than execution, and the immediate fix is to trigger the pathfinder and re-check the nearest climbable surface or anchor point.

Ariane’s early movement kit is consistent. The game does not typically ask for obscure inputs in these chapters. It asks for correct interpretation of the environment. Once that clicks, both chapters become much more stable.

Practical takeaway

For Chapters 1 and 2, the reliable approach is simple: trust the linear route, use the pathfinder before over-searching, and treat winch sections as controlled momentum puzzles. Chapter 1 teaches those rules through the crash escape. Chapter 2 checks whether you can apply them without hesitation. If you clear these chapters cleanly, you are prepared for the platforming logic the rest of Aphelion builds on.