Guides → Difficulty settings
All difficulty settings explained
Best first-run choice: start with Restless Slumber + Breezy for balanced combat and clear evidence matching. Choose Brainy instead if solving clue connections without highlights is part of the appeal.
Combat and Investigation modes
| Mode | Track | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet Dreams | Easy combat | Story-first play; includes optional invulnerability/immortality assists. |
| Restless Slumber | Normal combat | Balanced first run with standard survival-horror pressure. |
| Hard Night | Hard combat | Tougher fights and tighter resource pressure. |
| Sleep Demon | Very hard combat | Maximum enemy and supply pressure for an experienced run. |
| Breezy | Guided investigation | Highlights important information and gives related evidence matching symbols. |
| Brainy | Unassisted investigation | Removes key-information highlights and makes evidence icons look alike. |
What Investigation difficulty changes
Breezy and Brainy do not replace a puzzle with an easier or harder version. They change clue presentation: Breezy highlights important information and makes related evidence easier to pair, while Brainy removes those visual assists. Safe codes and physical puzzle answers remain the same.
Recommended combinations
- Story/accessibility: Sweet Dreams + Breezy.
- First survival-horror run: Restless Slumber + Breezy.
- Detective-focused: Restless Slumber + Brainy.
- Combat challenge without clue friction: Hard Night or Sleep Demon + Breezy.
No achievement or trophy requires a specific difficulty, so the setting is a play-style choice rather than a completion requirement.
100% review: difficulty and New Game+
Mode names and interface behavior checked August 20, 2026 against launch-build footage and independent launch reviews. The easiest mode's optional invulnerability/immortality assists are described by reviewers; availability can be changed by a later patch.