Quick Links
The Hollow is the seventh chapter ofSplit Fiction,a co-op game about Mio and Zoe, two fiction authors unwittingly trapped in a simulation created by tech billionaire Rader.
With his assistants refusing to be complicit in his crimes anymore, Rader grows even more desperate. Unraveling into full-blown villain mode, Rader now pushes Mio and Zoe deeper into the subconscious.
8 Best Souls-Likes With Co-op
Discover the best Souls-like games with co-op, from brutal combat to deep RPG mechanics. Team up with friends and take on challenging enemies together
This time, we delve deep into Zoe’s subconscious: a dark, abandoned world inhabited only by gargantuan creatures and apparitions.
As part ofa larger collection ofSplit Fictionwalkthroughs,here is a comprehensive guide to The Hollow, the penultimate chapter.
Warning: Major story spoilers ahead!
Chapter Abilities
Befitting the spiritual themes of this chapter,Mio and Zoe’s abilities center around two spirit animals that have different powers to help them navigate the dark caverns of The Hollow.
Both can send their spirits to attach to certain objects, and recall them when needed.
Mio Abilities
Mio’s animal is a golden owl that cancreate solid light through golden armillary spheres.
These spheres can eitheremit discs of light that act as walkable surfaces, or shoot beams of light as poles and balancing beams.
Zoe Abilities
Zoe’s animal is an aquatic creature resembling a catfish,which can dive into flat surfaces and send out tendrils that pull objects closer.
The catfish can only dive into designated surfaces,but has a rather long detection range and can pull any object that has or is made of gold.
An Ominous Welcome
Mio and Zoe wake up in a dimly lit cavern, and are immediately unsettled by the off-putting aura of this unfamiliar world.
After this brief cutscene, listen to the dialogue andnavigate the walkways and platforms until you reach a crumbled pillar,where you’ll meet the catfish spirit, who bonds itself to Zoe.
You can now use Zoe’s unique ability.Throw the spirit onto the flat surface of the pillar and hold the designated button,which sends out tendrils to grab onto the golden hooks and pull the pillar close for you two to get on.
Send out the spirit again and pull the pillar back.Press on.
Send Zoe’s spirit to the ground in front of the gate andpull the golden gate open.Move forward, and you’ll meet Mio’s spirit animal.
Use Mio’s owl to illuminate the sphere, creating a floor made of solid light.Illuminate the next sphere and walk to the edge.
Deactivating the sphere will also make the floor disappear, allowing you to drop to the next area.
In the valley in the next area, there’s a chandelier that you can grapple to.Send Zoe’s catfish to the wall beside the chandelier to pull it close.
Releasing it there will give it the momentum to swing to the other side, where you may hop off and land on the ledge.
Continue down the path. Send Zoe’s catfish to the stone block andpull the golden sphere down,then throw Mio’s owl into the sphere to illuminate it.
Get on the light surface.Release the sphere so that it’ll float back up.Proceed.
Climb and jump between the dangling chains and drop to the other side.There’s a sphere to the left. Illuminate it and get on the surface.Then, send Zoe’s catfish to the block to the right and pull the sphere there.
The light surface cast will extend across the chasm,allowing you to walk to the next area.
You’ll be stopped by a stone gate.Unlock it by grabbing onto both chains to the side.
Mosaic Of Memories
In the following cutscene, Mio and Zoe will comment on the mosaic artwork of Zoe’s childhood, revealing more about her past. We’ll then see what seems to be Zoe’s old childhood house.
Walk past the statue and through the doorway.Pull the floating rubble towards you with Zoe’s catfish.Releasing it will return the block to its original position.
In the meantime,send Mio’s owl to the sphere inside the tower.Illuminate it and step inside.Pull the sphere up with Zoe’s catfish to turn it into an elevator.
At the top,the light emitted from the sphere will penetrate the windows, serving as platforms for you to jump on while outside the tower.
Get to the other side and proceed down the stairs and through the doorway.Navigate the area and climb up the chain with a brazier dangling at the bottom.
Continue through the corridors, and you’ll reach the outside of abuilding with a shifting wall and golden sphere.
Illuminate the sphere with Mio’s owl and pull it with Zoe’s catfish,which will form moving light platforms through the windows.
Jump across, andyou’ll find a stone bench for you to sit on.That’s the sixth and final bench. If you’ve found the five other benches,you’ll now earn the"A Tale of Two Besties" achievement/trophy.
Take this moment to appreciate the level design and art direction ofSplit Fiction, and when you’re ready, proceed onwards.
You’ll arrive at the interior of a tall building, with a column of two stone blocks, a wheel, and a golden sphere.Throw Zoe’s catfish onto the bottom block and pull the wheel,which brings down the golden sphere.
Send the catfish to the upper block and rotate the wheel the other way,pulling the sphere and both of you up.
Stand at the end of the wooden beam and pull the dissected stone head back together with Zoe’s catfish.Stay on the right side and release. Jump and climb up the chains.
With Mio’s owl illuminating the spinning sphere,run up when the edge of the light disc is almost touching the stone platform.
Once there, use Zoe’s catfish topull the golden gate open.Continue navigating the towers of this ghost town.
You’ll find a sphere that can shoot a beam of (harmless) light, which you can walk on.Pull down the sphere and get on. Release it to let it back up so that you can reach the next tower.
Once inside,illuminate the next sphere to cast a pole of light with Mio’s owl.Throw Zoe’s catfish to the right wall and climb the pole. Then,pull the sphere so that you’re able to get up the ledge.
Illuminate the next sphere, which will power the gear across you.Pull it aside with Zoe’s spirit,which will deactivate the gear and bring down an elevator for you to cross and get on.
Release the sphere and the beam will power the sphere,sending you up.Walk across the beams and enter the next tower with two mirrors.
Light the sphere and drag it to the left,which will reflect the light towards you.
Walk up the beam to where the sphere is, thenpull the sphere to the right to reflect it upwards.Climb the resulting pole of light.
Climb out of the tower andilluminate the next sphere, which creates a wall for you to run on. But first, pull it closer with Zoe’s spirit.
Now that you’ve made it across, there’s another sphere, but it’s moving with smaller spheres. Illuminating it casts a starry scene around you.
Hop up the balls of light to the top.Do the same with the next sphere, which will project a constellation.Follow the lines to the other side.
Jump down and cross the bridge, stopping at a stone gate. First,send Zoe’s catfish into the cavity and pull the golden wheel inside.Then,illuminate the wheel until the light fills up the gaps in the door.
Ghost Town
Descend the tower. You’ll then be attacked by a gargantuan creature trying to crush the tower.Keep running down the spiral stone stairs and land on a chandelier, sliding down a seemingly neverending slope.
Much like chapter five’s rowboat sequence,both of you control where the chandelier goes by shifting on either side.
We’re not sure how much of this sequence is scripted and what’s up to the player’s input, as we managed to clear this on the first try and with relative ease.
Keep sliding down the slope as the beast stalks you through the valley.Make microadjustments to avoid going out of control, and make hard turns to compensate for any mistakes.
The monster will try to eat you. Make a hard turn. You’ll fly off a cliff and the monster will try to eat you again, and you could potentially slide on its back.
Escape into the water,and you’re safe from the beast… for now.
You’ll enter the ruins of what seems to be a ghost town, populated by ghosts that will grab you and… we don’t know what happens yet, and we aren’t in a rush to find out.
When you see a ghost,throw Mio’s owl and illuminate them with sunlight,banishing them from this realm.
As you’re standing on the floating chandelier,use Zoe’s catfish to pull the chandelier across the water by throwing it onto the stone walls.
You don’t have to pull the chandelier all the way. you may just pull a little and let it drift.
You’ll reach a metal gate.Mio can climb the chain to the right and climb it.Pull the chandelier through with Zoe’s catfish,and Mio will meet you on the other side of the wall.
There’s a ghost waiting to ambush you behind a pillar, so Mio needs to be quick to come back down to banish it the moment it starts sucking Zoe’s soul like a Dementor.
Continue pulling the chandelier across the water via the stone walls.You’ll need to rotate three creepy statues by illuminating the spheres above them with Mio’s owl.
You’ll reach the massive stone wheel, with a hole that’s blocked by a wooden beam.Climb up the block into the building next to the wheel.
You’ll then find a sphere behind the wheel that you may illuminate and pull down(with the lowest block) to activate the mechanism to rotate the wheel.
Pull through and land at the dock at the end.Then, enter a building and climb up the ladders, and you’ll be treated to an eerie yet beautiful sight.
Jump across the houses and fire the ballista by button mashing. The arrow will cut two chandeliers for you to grapple to.
As you’re navigating the ghost town, be careful of the ghosts that patrol the area.
Eventually you’ll reach an island with a trebuchet and a sphere floating above.
Pull the trebuchet’s arm down and launch yourselves up,illuminating the sphere and land on the light disc when you’re at the top.
Cross the disc and walk along the roof of a church.
There’s a hidden area inside the church, but there’s no indication whether it’s just a small detail or if it serves any Easter egg-related secrets.
Proceed to the right and swing from the bell.Take care to avoid the circling ghosts while doing so.
Drag a submerged bell from the water with Zoe’s catfish,and grapple to the next area.
Light In The Dark
You’ll find a sphere that pulses a razor-sharp disc when illuminated, and a hammer that can be pulled back in three directions.
You’ll need tocut both chains that hold up the drawbridge.Pull back the hammer from either the left or right wall with Zoe’s catfish.
Release the hammer to punch the sphere forward, illuminating it to cut one of the chains with the disc.
Do the same with the other side,and you’ll lower the drawbridge.Cross the bridge and wall-run through a narrow gap to your left.
To proceed,Mio needs to illuminate the sphere on the left while staying near the metal gate to let Zoe wall run and land on a ledge.
Then,Mio can illuminate the sphere to the right,which emits a disc just wide enough for Zoe to run on.
Zoe can then grab onto the chain and pull it down,opening the gate for Mio to pass through. You’ll enter a new cave with an ominously red gateway in the distance.
Keep moving forward andilluminate a sphere which attracts a worm-like creature,which seems more interested in the light than eating you.
You can repel it by pressing the alternate trigger, butthe goal is to lure it long enough to walk on its back and reach the other side.
You’ll be using these worms as tools to navigate the rest of this subchapter.
Illuminate the next sphere, which will force a worm out of hiding. With Zoe’s catfish,drag the sphere to the right to guide the worm towards Mio,allowing her to walk on the worm’s back.
Then, recall your catfish and drag the sphere to the left, luring the worm towards the next platform.
Throw Mio’s owl from the other side of the chasm to a sphere on Zoe’s side,which will lure a worm that Zoe can grapple onto.
Then, quicklyilluminate the next sphere, attracting the next worm that Zoe can then grapple onto.
Do the same for the last sphere so that Zoe can land on the next platform.Use Zoe’s catfish to pull the pillar that Mio’s on towards you.
Travel together through the cave and you’ll arrive at a waterfall.Illuminate the sphere above the river to attract a worm,whose mouth you may grapple onto and leap to the other side.
Jump across the chasm and illuminate the next sphere, which will attract a worm that’s dangling from the ceiling.Grapple from its mouth and swing to the next platform when it slinks back to its hole.
Travel up the massive stone stairs and enter the red mist.You’ll need to illuminate the sphere in the stone door,which rotates the inner circle of the carving.Use Zoe’s catfish to pull the other rings until they lock into place.
Then,rotate the circles until they lock with the rest of the door,where spine-like legs pop out the serpentine body.
There’s a stone statue of a double-ended centipede.Use Zoe’s spirit to pull the golden sphere together, and illuminate it with Mio’s owl, awakening the statue.
Spiritual Guides
The centipede statue wakes up, and you’ll soon find out that they’re gentle spiritual guides who act oddly parental towards Zoe.They’ll offer to get Zoe back home, and you two will ride on their backs.
With a double-headed centipede as your creepy steed,you’ll need to ride them in tandem, as one head can’t move without the other.
This centipede can snap its mandibles to break objects, and crawl on most surfaces.
Crawl up the wall, and you’ll reach a stone block held by chains.Use the centipede’s mandibles to cut the chains and slide down the magma.
Next,open the gate by grabbing onto both hooks with the centipede’s mandibles at the same time and pulling them into the rings on the ground.You can hold onto objects by holding down the trigger buttons.
Crawl up the steep slope in a zigzag patternto avoid the flowing lava.
You’ll then need toswing along the wall by crawling along it and grabbing onto the wooden beams with your mandibles.
While one end is holding on,the other head can control how high they swing.Then, grab onto the next beam with the other head.
You’ll reach the other end and arrive at another swinging section. This time,some statues carry bowls that overflow with liquid fire.Time your swings so that you don’t get burned.
You’ll then fall off and land on two ends of a magma river.You’ll need to walk along the path without pulling the other too much.Along the way, you’ll find lava geysers that can damage you.
You’ll arrive at a pit that’s way too wide for either of you to walk across. Thankfully,there are swinging blocks that might help with your predicament.
The position may change depending on who lands on which side. On our run, Mio was on the left, and Zoe was on the right.
Essentially, you’ll be making an “S” shape with your movements.Mio will get on the bottom block and let it carry her to the right, while Zoe gets on the top block.
The two will then move to the left,and Mio can get off the block and walk up, letting Zoe get off afterward.
attempt to pull the gate open, and you’ll be ambushed by some magma worms. This is a game of whack-a-mole, except these moles spew burning hot magma at you.
Eliminate the worms by attacking them with the centipede’s mandibles.Their next position is hinted by the dusty rumbling in some of the nearby holes.
Once all the worms are defeated, pull the gate open and you’ll find a hose.Pull the cork open, and water will flow into one end of the centipede and out the other.
Use that end as a hose to spray water onto the lava, instantly cooling it and forming a rocky surface.
attempt to stretch the centipede’s body as far as you can and cover as much space as you can to avoid being burned.
At the third and final hose, spray some water at the bottom of the screen to let the stone platforms flow, giving you time to get on and reach the end of the river of lava.
Time for more swinging.Hold onto the golden beams and swing along the wheels while avoiding the pouring lava.Coordination and trust in your partner are important in completing this challenge.
You’ll reach a large wheel with a thick block of magma between it.Avoid burning by grabbing onto two beams to stretch the centipede’s body taut.They’ll comment on how they feel like they’re getting cooked.
Swing to the next wheel, andgrab onto the beam in the middle of the wheel.When you’re on the right side of the wheel,make sure to release the moment you’re ready to swing,and grab onto the beam on the wall to your right.
Swing one last time and land on the broken bridge, andcrawl up the wall.You’ll reach a menacing-looking door, beginning a cutscene where the centipedes will tell you that this is where they’ll leave you.
You’ll find out that the centipedes were a representation of Zoe’s parents. As they fade into golden dust,they’ll give Mio and Zoe a parting gift: medallions with the letters “E” and “Z” engraved on them.
It’s the final home stretch. Mio and Zoe go through the door and find Zoe’s childhood home, and Zoe becomes overwhelmed with grief and survivor’s guilt about her late twin sister Ella.
The hydra ambushes them, beginning Zoe’s last stand against the pain of loss.Jump through the platforming section while avoiding the hydra’s explosive green projectiles.
Once you reach the end,Mio and Zoe will combine their medallions,transforming their spirits into large forms that they ride into battle, tethered by an ethereal bond.
While flying,pick any hydra head and wrap the tether around its neck by having the hydra between you two.Button mash to sever the head. Return to the beginning of the platforming section and repeat this process.
This time, the hydra will be more aggressive, as it’ll start eating platforms and blasting a vertical beam of energy while chasing you. Its artillery can also split into two on impact and damage you.
Sever another hydra head. This time, one of the other heads will knock Zoe off her spirit, making her lose her medallion. The situation seems more dire now.
Jump across some platforms and avoid the hydra’s beam attacks.Get to the circular platform at the end anduse the ballista to cut another hydra’s head off.
On the next phase,the hydra will splash massive waves, launching you high in the air.Use that as an opportunity to get more air time and cover more distance.
Illuminate a golden sphere and use the disc as a stepping stone to the next platform.Use the ballista again and cut yet another hydra head.
More platforms will appear, and the boss will start raining artillery on select surfaces.Reach the island with the trebuchet and pull it with Zoe’s catfish.Launch both of you forward and keep jumping. Don’t stop!
Once you reach the ballista, fire it and cut the last hydra head off. It’s finally over, is it? Maybe this hydra won’t regrow its heads.
Of course, it will. As you’re surrounded by more hydras,you’ll be thrown high into the air as its many heads try to swallow you whole.No matter how hard you try to avoid it, you’ll be swallowed by the hydra.
Slide down the hydra’s throat while jumping over its orange, cancerous growths.You’ll reach the stomach of the hydra, with a landscape that’s textbook body horror.
Step onto your old floating chandelier and pull it across the river of acid with Zoe’s catfish.
Be careful of your timing in this level, as the acid rises and falls occasionally.
Jump across the wooden planks. You’ll reach anacidfall that can be blocked by illuminating the sphere in that valve with Mio’s owl.Cross the bone bridge andkeep the acid flow blockedto prevent the acid from rising even more.
Keep going down and jump over pulses of dangerous energy traveling through the artery. Once you’re on the platform to Zoe’s medallion, a cutscene will play and you’ll be separated.
Zoe will be wounded, pelted by energy blasts while crawling in the darkness.As Mio, look for Zoe by walking down the path.
Once Mio and Zoe reunite,you’ll both need to keep running while staying close together,much like how it was in Chapter 4, where Mio and Zoe were tethered.
One cannot live without the other. If one dies, you’ll have to start over.
Jump across platforms and swing from your grapple hooks.As long as Zoe is inside the field of light, you’re both impervious to the magic missiles pelting you.
Pick up Zoe’s medallion and make your final stand. Follow the button prompts.
First, pull the statue together with Zoe’s spirit, and illuminate an arrow with Mio’s light.
Finally, pull the arrow with Zoe’s tendrils and release to let loose the arrow of light, restoring Zoe’s heart.The next cutscene is a tearjerker, so get some tissues ready.
With Mio and Zoe’s subconscious conquered, it’s time to take the fight to Rader inthe final chapter: Split.
