GRIME II: Complete Walkthrough – Routes, Secrets & Lore Guide

Walkthrough Overview and Area Order

GRIME II hides its world behind Seals, shifting checkpoints, and nerve-tunnels instead of a simple minimap. This walkthrough focuses on a clean area order, how to unlock navigation tools early, and where to detour for secrets and lore without wasting hours wandering in circles.

Here’s the broad area order this guide follows:

• Birthplace (intro zone)
• Temple of Hands
• Bound Shell and surrounding tunnels
• Kankan (vertical city hub)
• Post-Kankan outer regions (later-game loop)

The route assumes a fairly blind first playthrough with occasional backtracking for secrets, but it prioritizes unlocking Seals, Surrogates, and Nervepasses so later exploration becomes much smoother.

Core Systems That Shape the Walkthrough

Before diving into each area, you need to understand three systems that completely change how you should think about routing: Seals, Surrogates, and Nervepasses. Once these clicked for me, the world stopped feeling like a maze and started feeling like an intentional web.

Seals – How You Actually Unlock the Map

Unlike traditional Metroidvanias, GRIME II doesn’t reveal the map as you walk. Areas only truly “exist” on your map once you find and activate Seals (roughly equivalent to Beacons from the first game).

• Seals are usually found at the edges of major zones, often after a mini-gauntlet or short puzzle.
• Follow white glowing trails and floating hand indicators in the environment – both tend to point toward nearby Seals or key progression paths.
• Activating your first Seal should be a top priority; it gives you basic regional map visibility.
• The second major Seal is a turning point: it enables fast travel between Surrogates and makes death less punishing by clarifying where everything is.

Don’t make my early mistake of treating Seals as optional “shrines” you’ll grab later. Routing to them early is what turns the game from disorienting to readable.

Surrogates – Your Real Safe Points

Surrogates are the shattered Levolam mounds scattered through each zone. They are your:

• Respawn points when you die
• Trait upgrade altars
• Main stat growth hubs

You need to imprint at them before they become your active checkpoint. I lost a lot of progress early because I pushed into new territory without activating a nearby Surrogate, only to get kicked back two zones after dying.

As you explore each area in this guide, treat every new Surrogate as a routing milestone. I’ll flag where the important ones are on the way to bosses and big secrets.

Nervepasses – Fast Travel Tunnels

Nervepasses are the bone-and-nerve tunnels that eventually link big chunks of the world together. They often start blocked by grotesque Root Puppets that you must destroy from the inside or via a weak spot.

• Expect at least one tough enemy or mini-boss guarding new Nervepasses.
• Once opened, they massively reduce backtracking, especially after you have multiple Seals active.
• Several secrets and lore bits hide just off the main Nervepass routes, so don’t sprint through them blindly.

My general rule: if you see a Nervepass entrance near a Surrogate or boss arena, get it open before committing to a big fight. It’s usually the intended shortcut for return trips and late-game cleanup.

Area 1 – Birthplace: Learning the Language of the World

Birthplace is your tutorial zone, but GRIME II doesn’t hold your hand. It frontloads the game’s visual language: destructible walls, white trails, and how routes fold back on themselves.

Critical Path Through Birthplace

From your first control, move forward and pay attention to anything that glows or vibrates:

• Follow the white glowing trail along the floor and walls – this gently funnels you to your first ability pickup and Surrogate.
• You’ll reach an early Surrogate mound. Imprint immediately and spend a moment in the menus to get familiar with Traits and stat growth.
• Progress upward using simple platforming until you hit your first major enemy encounter (effectively the tutorial boss).

This first boss is mostly about teaching parry timing and positioning. I found it much easier to stay closer than instinct says; backing off too far makes its tells harder to read.

Key Secrets and Lore in Birthplace

• Side chambers off the main trail: Early on, there are narrow passages branching from the white trail that loop back. Many hide your first lore fragments or textual hints about the world’s “birth” cycles.
• Breakable walls: Look for slightly cracked textures or faint pulsations on stone. One of the first leads to a small chamber with a consumable and a lore object that foreshadows the Temple of Hands.
• Falling path secret: In a tall vertical shaft after the first Surrogate, intentionally drop down the left side and hug the wall. There’s usually a short ledge leading to a hidden pickup that early players miss.

Take the time to read any lore objects you find. They hint at the roles of Surrogates and Seals in the world’s cycle. Understanding that made the later story beats around Kankan land much harder for me.

Boss Shortcut and Exit

After defeating the Birthplace boss and claiming your early ability (typically a movement or absorption enhancement), a door or organic gate opens on the far side of the arena.

• Before exiting, check the upper ledges of the arena. There’s often a reachable nook with a minor upgrade or lore bit.
• The exit route loops through a short corridor and drops you near another Surrogate and the path toward the Temple of Hands.

This loop is your first example of how the game connects boss arenas back into the main world with shortcuts. Keep that mental model; later zones like Kankan lean heavily on it.

Area 2 – Temple of Hands: First Real Test

The Temple of Hands is where GRIME II starts being itself: multi-layered layouts, tougher enemies, and the first serious platforming. It also introduces hand imagery tied directly to the abilities and lore of your character.

Reaching the Temple of Hands

From the post-boss Surrogate in Birthplace:

• Head along the only forward path, following occasional floating hand indicators that gesture toward climbable or interactable surfaces.
• You’ll hit a Nervepass entrance that is initially blocked. Remember this location; we’ll come back after getting more tools.
• Continue upward and right until the architecture and enemies shift into clear temple-like structures – this marks the Temple of Hands proper.

Critical Path and Abilities

The Temple is loosely split into two wings with a central spine:

• Push along the central path first, activating any Surrogates you find.
• Soon you’ll face a mid-boss or heavy elite that gates an important new ability, often related to hand-tendril absorption or enhanced traversal.
• This ability lets you reach higher ledges or pull yourself across gaps, opening up both temple wings and new secrets back in Birthplace.

What finally worked for me here was slowing down and using the new ability in combat too. Several enemies are designed to be manipulated by it; trying to brute-force them with basic attacks made this area much harder than it had to be.

Secrets and Lore in the Temple of Hands

• Vertical side towers: Both the left and right sides of the temple have tall side towers you can climb using the new tendril ability. Each usually contains:
  • A stat upgrade or trait-material pickup
  • At least one lore collectible describing the function of the Temple and its connection to Surrogates
• Hidden under-bridges: In several long hallways, drop off the visible floor and check the underside of bridges. There are often narrow ledges with items or inscriptions.
• Backtrack secret: Once you have the new movement ability, return to the blocked Nervepass entrance you saw on the way here. A reachable high ledge or weak wall nearby usually conceals the route to open it.

This is also a good time to revisit early Birthplace nooks you couldn’t reach before. I uncovered a couple of lore fragments that explicitly reference the “Hands that cradle shell and nerve,” foreshadowing the Bound Shell area.

Temple Boss and Shortcut

The Temple of Hands culminates in a boss focused on pattern recognition and ability usage.

• Before attempting the boss, make sure the nearest Surrogate is imprinted and that you’ve opened any nearby Nervepass.
• The fight rewards careful observation; the boss telegraphs with exaggerated hand movements before major attacks.
• Using your new movement/absorption ability at specific moments can drastically shorten the fight or interrupt dangerous phases.

After the boss falls, a shortcut path opens that dumps you closer to the emerging hub regions and the Bound Shell. This is the point where the world starts branching more aggressively.

Area 3 – Bound Shell and Connecting Tunnels

Bound Shell acts as a transitional region between the introspective temples and the more sprawling city-like zones. It’s also where the game begins leaning harder on Nervepasses and cross-zone shortcuts.

Navigating Bound Shell

From the Temple exit:

• Follow the organic structures and shell-like architecture until you find a new Surrogate. Imprint, then explore horizontally before going too vertical.
• You’ll notice multiple branching tunnels – some lead to Nervepasses, others to dead-ends with secrets.
• Your goal here is to:
  • Open at least one new Nervepass that leads back toward earlier areas
  • Push forward to the routes that point toward the city of Kankan

Bound Shell is also a good place to test your comfort with combat. Enemies hit harder and appear in trickier configurations. If you’re constantly scraping by, spend some time farming nearby prey and upgrading at the local Surrogate.

Secrets and Lore in Bound Shell

• Shell cavities: Many rounded structures have small interior pockets you can access via hidden entrances or by breaking thin walls. These often contain:
  • Weapons or armor variants suited to your current build
  • Lore items detailing how shells, nerves, and Surrogates interact
• Below-path ravines: In a few areas, you can drop down what look like instant-death pits but actually land on lower paths with loot. Watch for faint platforms or ledges before committing.
• Nervepass guardians: Root Puppets here are usually tougher than earlier ones. One sits right before a key Nervepass that links back toward Birthplace/Temple territory, giving you an early fast-travel network once opened.

Pay close attention to any lore about “Kankan” and “breath & firstsmiths” in this area. They set up the significance of the next major zone and its NPCs.

Area 4 – Kankan: Vertical City Hub

Kankan is one of GRIME II’s standout zones: a dense, vertical city layered with walkways, interior rooms, and hidden platforms. It also holds key NPCs like the Breathsmith and Firstsmith, and the path to the Tankard Warden boss and Greatblade weapon.

Optimal Route Through Kankan

The biggest mistake I made here was trying to fully clear each vertical tier before moving on. Kankan is designed to be threaded through multiple times as you gain more abilities and open Nervepasses, not 100%-ed in one pass.

• From the entrance, prioritize finding the nearest Surrogate. Kankan has several; the first one you hit becomes your central hub for a while.
• Push generally upwards, checking each side alley and balcony you can easily reach, but don’t risk complicated platforming over bottomless pits yet.
• Look for the white glowing trails and subtle environmental arrows that nudge you toward major landmarks (smiths, boss paths, and Seals).

Once you reach the city’s middle tiers, you should come across paths branching toward the Breathsmith and Firstsmith.

Finding Breathsmith and Firstsmith

These two NPCs are crucial for weapon and build progression.

• Breathsmith: Typically found off a side path near the mid-tier of the city. Look for an interior room accessible via a slightly hidden doorway or a drop from an upper balcony. Here you can:
  • Upgrade certain breath-related gear
  • Possibly unlock modifiers that synergize with your absorption abilities
• Firstsmith: Usually tucked deeper in, sometimes below the main path. Reaching them might require a bit of backtracking and dropping through intentionally placed gaps in the flooring. They handle:
  • Core weapon upgrades
  • Potentially transforming or refining key weapons like the Greatblade

Once both smiths are found, Kankan truly becomes a functional hub instead of just a gauntlet. Make a mental note of their nearest Surrogates for future fast travel.

Tankard Warden Boss Path and Greatblade

The Tankard Warden is a major Kankan boss, and their arena is tucked off one of the city’s higher routes.

• From the mid-city Surrogate, keep climbing while hugging one side (left or right depending on your initial entrance), checking for large, open plazas or wider platforms.
• Environmental cues toward the Warden include more aggressive enemy placements and architecture that looks like a grand hall or tavern space.
• Before entering the boss, ensure you’ve:
  • Unlocked at least one nearby Nervepass
  • Upgraded your primary weapon with either Breathsmith or Firstsmith
  • Activated the closest Surrogate so death doesn’t send you back halfway down the city

Beating the Tankard Warden rewards you with access to the Greatblade path and deeper sections of Kankan.

• The Greatblade is usually obtained via a short detour off the main post-boss route – often down a side staircase, behind a destructible wall, or out on a precarious balcony.
• If you’re running a strength-leaning build, this weapon is absolutely worth grabbing immediately; it changed how I approached several later encounters.

Secrets and Lore in Kankan

• Hidden ledges and balconies: Many buildings have upper edges you can just barely reach with careful jumps or by chaining abilities. These often hide:
  • High-value consumables
  • Armor sets that reference the city’s factions
  • Lore items explaining Kankan’s role in maintaining or disrupting the world’s cycles
• Interior back rooms: If a room has furniture or props, circle its edges. Some walls fade or break, leading to cramped spaces with collectibles.
• Vertical drop puzzles: A few shafts force you to drop while landing on side ledges. These are easy to miss and frequently end with a lore collectible at the very bottom.

Expect to revisit Kankan multiple times as you unlock more Nervepasses and late-game powers. Don’t worry if you can see unreachable items on distant balconies during your first visit – they’re deliberate teases for later.

Later Regions and Cleanup Routing

After Kankan, GRIME II branches into multiple outer regions connected by a network of direct paths, secret passages, Nervepasses, and destructible walls and floors. The exact order becomes more flexible, but the principles from earlier zones still apply.

General Late-Game Route Principles

• Whenever you enter a new region, hunt the Seal first. Follow white trails, purple sparks, and floating hands to pin down its location.
• Activate every Surrogate you see before engaging anything that looks like a boss or mini-boss.
• Open Nervepasses as soon as you can, especially those that visibly connect back to hubs like Kankan or major earlier zones.
• If you’re chasing 100% secrets and lore, plan loops that start and end at Surrogates near Nervepasses; this keeps death from costing huge chunks of progress.

Hunting Secrets and Lore Collectibles Efficiently

• Listen and look: Many secrets are hinted at by subtle sound cues or visual distortions in the environment. If something feels “off” in a room, assume there’s more to it.
• Revisit earlier zones after big ability unlocks: New movement or absorption powers frequently open up vents, ceilings, and distant platforms you could see but not reach before.
• Check around Surrogates and Seals: Designers love stashing lore within a few steps of these big landmarks. Circle the area before moving on.
• Don’t trust apparent dead-ends: Hit walls, test drops, and try alternative angles. Some of my favorite lore pieces were tucked in spots that looked like pure geometry at first glance.

As of early updates, community maps and video walkthroughs are still evolving, and no single resource feels totally definitive for every secret. If you’re aiming for absolute completion, treat this route as your backbone and cross-check specific late-game pickups with the latest dedicated maps when you need them.

Once you’re comfortable with how Seals reveal the map, how Surrogates anchor your progress, and how Nervepasses tie the world together, GRIME II stops being confusing and starts feeling like a tightly woven labyrinth. Use this walkthrough as a framework, but don’t be afraid to follow your curiosity down side paths – that’s where many of the best lore collectibles and secrets hide.