The Medium

Some advice from my playthrough.
-Getting caught must not be the only thing that qualifies as "alerting it". My achievement did not pop and I got there without being in the board room.
-I think where I was went wrong was hiding in the hall, but not behind the chair (in the hall) enough, I was just along the edge of the wall on the right and the Maw passed by me.
-I got my achievement to pop by loading the the furthest save back that I could and running through the last couple run-ins with the Maw.
-Loading checkpoints is fine, since I had been caught and immediately reloaded a checkpoint at one or two spots.

I must have messed up somewhere else, I hid in the board room and didn’t alert him, no achievement, hid in a few different spots in the hallway without alerting him and still nothing.

I’m guessing either I finish the game out and collect all the achievements I can and reload to a checkpoint that lets me re run these encounters and see what happens or I finish it and this achievement remains locked for me.

I think this one is glitched in my case. I did everything right, the creature haven’t seen me or catch me, yet nothing popped. Quite infuriating, to go through the half of the game once again just to trigger one right sequence...

Something very weird happened for me.

Before I started The Medium i was aware that this achievement is missable and you can quit the game when you alert the creature.

So the first time I alerted him I quit the game and restarted, i alerted him again (don’t judge) and thought "well I don’t care I just keep going". I alerted him a few more times and after I picked up the Bold Cutter I got the achievement even though i didn’t meet the requirement.

Maybe the first time quitting out had something to do with it.

Do you have any achievement tracker for this? I don't get tracker progress for the 1st so not sure is there a glitch..

Does getting seem in the first part mean you get caught?

There is definitely more going on with this achievement. First time got caught in the first part and did not get the achievement. Second playthrough did not get caugh anywhere (I hide in the hall near the right wall) and also did not pop up. Reload my checkpoint, and third time I hide behind the chair in the hall on the left side and also did not pop. So, not sure what to do at this point.

This achievement is definitely bugged. I have done 4-5 flawless runs in multiple ways and it refuses to pop. Starting from the photo development, I don’t get grabbed or seen at any point. Annoying.

To all who says its bugged.. change your settings from toggle to hold. Thats what fixed mine. And if u get seen, just reload. Do not quit to main menu

Just adding my experience. In the first encounter, it definitely saw me and was coming toward me but I made it to the light before it caught up to me. In the Nicholas encounter, I hid in the boardroom, not the hallway. I got caught quite a few times, but every time, I paused during the death cutscene, and quit to main menu, loading back in with the "Continue" option, not having to completely close the game.

Achievement popped for me when I walked through the door after using the bolt cutters.

Same issue for me the achievement has to be bugged or something I don’t understand.

Repeated it twice, didn't get caught to my knowledge either time but still no achievement

I had a lot of problems with this. It finally popped after I uninstalled the game, deleted all my saves, reinstalled it and played it from scratch. That may have done the trick. But I really suspect it was because you can be too good or too stealthy. I did the sequence half a dozen times flawlessly never getting a red arrow. However, it was when I ensured that I got a red arrow during each of the sequences that I popped the achievement. Consequently, I believe you have to be a little sloppy for the achievement to pop. I have a detailed discussion on the subject here: Phantom achievement missable

Just got it to pop on my second try. I think the key is to not get caught obviously or reload checkpoints. I had to do mine all in one run stealth always on and cover breath as much as possible otherwise it’s a pretty buggy achievement. I hear quitting the game might help too over reloading don’t quote me on that.

I think I found out the issue, or at least mine. First play through my game skipped the Maw encounter right after finding out Nicholas' name where you have to hide in the hallway as he walks by. My only guess is that I never triggered the proper dialogue for finding his name. Second time through I did it properly, went to the echo, the note, chair to chair, back to the note triggering each dialogue sequence. Afterwards the Maw was in the hallway. My second attempt got me the achievement, obviously still not getting caught. My first run the game gave me his name after reading just the note and allowed me to progress the story. The Maw never triggered and wasn't in the Hallway on my return to the mirror. Hopefully this helps someone.

For people who have found this aggravating, as I did, I encourage them to read this discussion: Phantom achievement missable. People are reporting flawless runs not popping the achievement. There is evidence indicating that one of the conditions to trigger it is to almost be caught. Counter-intuitively, one can be too good.

The discussion in the above-mentioned thread is for people who have made flawless runs & failed to unlock the achievement. It is super-frustrating. I had to do a special playthrough just to unlock it.

Might help, might not but I followed the video guide exactly, did get a couple of red arrows (especially in that bit in the hall around 3:45). I also triggered a death scene once despite no warning but hit pause and main menu before it completed. Got to the first botl cutter door and it popped. Thanks IdanST. Good luck everyone.

First time I got caught on the first chase sequence and that was it. I guess I was too sneaky. Second time I was careless and got caught twice. Before the continue screen when the creature held me I quit to main menu and loaded up last save

Just wanted to comment that this tactic worked perfectly for me. I completed the game the first time and unfortunately had to come back for this one. I had to "resets" by pausing and going straight to the Main Menu and continuing. Made the process that much easier.

This took me 3 attempts. First time i didn't read any sort of guide and just clicked continue upon getting caught. 2nd time i quit out to main menu but stupidly clicked continue on main menu. 3rd time i quit out to main menu and then used the load screen to pick the most recent save and it popped on that attempt.

tip for anyone going through the game a 2nd time to get this. go to options and select toggle rather than hold for insight, crouch and holding breath. also select auto complete under gameplay to auto complete echo's etc

then hold B to skip cutscenes etc and you can get up to this achievement within an hour of starting the game

Same experience as Xynvincible above.

Took me 3 tries

First time, didn’t work.
Second time, only repeated the final section, didn’t work
Third time, I repeated the 3rd and 4th section, with this time, hiding behind the chairs in the hallway instead of the boardroom. Popped the achivement

I was also worried about having to replay the game over and over to get this but nope, first try. I wonder if issues with this have been addressed at some point, seeing as I even got caught once in the first section but managed to quit to menu in time. Phew, on the road to a completion now.

Did exactly what you did in your video, worked great. Thanks.

It took me two attempts to unlock this one. A few notes for anyone interested: I had the gameplay settings set to toggle wherever possible. I got caught twice but quickly opened the menu and loaded the most recent save. I did this in one continuous sitting and did not follow any particular paths.

I don't get the achievement to popp for me. I already play it fourth times and nothing. I never get caught by the monster at the last to playthroughs but no cheevo ;( I played on the PC. It takes one hour to play through. Any help would be appreciated here. Thanks.

Got it first try with your video guide. Quit to menue and load last save works for me too. +1

After several times reloading and trying again with no success, finally I got and this is what I did: (PC version)
Started a new game
Did all encounters in one sitting
Following the order: 3rd conference room and after the last part
In conference room, did the puzzle until the She finds the name Nicholas and I hide in the hallway.
Achievement Unlocked after broke the chain locking the first door

if he catch me in the Running area in the first encounter of the monster dose it count ?

I got caught once on the final sequence before getting the bolt cutters but i paused the game immediately and loaded my last save which was right before. I made it through on the retry and got the bolt cutters but it didn’t unlock and I can’t figure out how I messed up. Any ideas?

Same question as JQ8G

I've redone this part multiple times with no luck getting the achievement to pop. Idk if this achievement is glitched, or if I'm somehow alerting Maw without him giving any indicators I've done so, but I'm pretty much over restarting and restarting just to find out the achievement requirements were not met. Got every achievement besides this one without issue, which irks me, but at this point it's just tedious for absolutely no reason.

I also posted the following in the related thread:

Idk if the achievement is bugged or fixed but I got it first try today on my first play through. I always loaded a previous save when I was caught or about to be and NOT dead. I also reached red/danger indication on all four encounters. Achievement popped when I used the bolt cutters.

Do NOT run over the hall at the FIRST encounter in the real world. This is the reason why you are not getting this achivement. Just crouch all the time and hold you breath, that is it.

Great video guide. Along with the walkthrough for the game I managed to get it first try. I was only caught during the first chase once, before the stealth part. I reloaded when I thought I was going to get caught, just to be safe. Enabling insight helps.

I can confirm that it’s important not to run but to sneak in the part after squeezing through the lockers. Tried three times and it didn’t unlock. Came here to see what I did wrong. Did the same thing as I did the other three times except for sneaking on that part and it unlocked just fine.

Weirdly I still got this after being caught in the first section 4 times. I just did not know what to do. Even though I hid behind the box/trunk and held my breath, he would always come around it and catch me. So I quit in frustration, came here and read the guide/tips about NOT running and got it first try. Maybe I got it because I had restarted my game? I thought the game saved that you had been caught if you selected continue but it musn't do because I chose CONTINUE 4 times, BUT I did quit to the main menu afterwards (out of frustration :D ) and clicked continue from there after reading the relevant section of the walkthrough on here.

I got this achievement after being caught 1 time in the first section but freeing myself with RT. I did not quit the game at any time after that. Very strange achievement's conditions.

I think this achievement is a bit buggy. I'm pretty sure that the creature did not see me to my playthrough, but i did not pop for me.

After reading all the comments I started a new game and got the achievement on my first attempt.

1) I stayed crouched the entire time during the encounter. On my two previous play through a (story, then all collectibles) I would run to the door and I missed it both times. Stay crouched from the start of the check point at the beginning of the encounter and don't stop being crouched until the check point after the encounter.

2) I got caught once during the encounter on the female's path. As soon as I got caught and quit to dashboard. The achievement still popped for me.

3) During the male's path I did not go back into the conference room. I stayed on the left side of the hall crouched and held my breath until the Maw walked into the conference room.

I think the big thing this achievement is looking for is that you are in sneak mode the whole time.

Cool, another achievement that doesn’t unlock 👌 is this the most bugged game for achievements ? 🤣

I got caught a few times, but instantly hit pause and loaded previous checkpoint. Got the achievement on my first run.

Anybody know how long it takes to get to the point where this achievement is? Missed it the first time curious how long it takes to reach this point within the game.

@MSF Cryst; I you're comfortable with the game, having completed it, you can speed through the game in about an hour to the point where you get the bolt cutters and the achievement pops.

I was caught several times and always just hit continue. I think it only counts if it notices and you escape. During the first sequence, you just have to watch his patterns and sneak by while he's not looking. During the real world sequences, you need to hold your breath when he is close and stay out of his way until he leaves the room or falls in to a pattern. I assume if he breaks pattern he has noticed you. The achivement pops when you first use the bolt cutters.

Slightly pedantic.... but it popped for me as I walked through the doors not as I used the bolt cutters. I was mid sulk deciding what I was going to do with the playthrough and as I walked through the doors it popped. If anything hopefully that saves someone a playthrough.

@CKnowles93 Hard same!! Hahaha!! Happened for me exactly how you said it, sulk and all! *whew* Now to make sure I don't slip up and miss a collectable like I did in Observer...

I did not run, I did not get seen or caught (not even once, no reloading checkpoint or dashboarding) and did not get this

@Bridge188 - You may want to refer to my 22 Oct 2021 comment above. I think you can be too good. I think the phantom has to know you are in the vicinity. If you are too sneaky, the phantom does not go on alert & the achievement does not unlock. Refer to my comment above & the thread it references for detailed info on how to remedy this.

Didn’t unlock for me…wasn’t caught and red indicator came up a few times….I think when I ran down the hall from the lockers it messed up the static route thus “alerting” him…

Did this on the Xbox. This popped for me even though I got caught several times. Each time I did I quickly went back to the dashboard and exited the game. Restarted and picked up where I left off.

TBH, I was REALLY surprised when it popped.

Note - I did not get caught in the first sequence.

And just to confirm...the running sequences do not count towards this??

@CorleoneGang, trying to figure that out myself. I'll reply if it pops.

@CorleoneGang, I just got through the bolt cutter part and it still didn't pop. Never got seen during the stealth parts, but did get caught during the first chase. Don't know if that is what flagged me for missing it. I'm about done with this game, I hate buggy achievements.

@Evil Dereck did you have the red indicator on all 4 sections? Is this your second playthrough? Did you delete your original save?

@Evil Dereck did you have the red indicator on all 4 sections? Is this your second playthrough? Did you delete your original save?

@Evil Dereck; The chase is not supposed to be part of The Phantom. I know of people who have been caught and still got the achievement. Nevertheless, this is buggy. I would recommend, if you get caught during the chase, to reload an earlier save and make it through unscathed.

When Phantom glitched for me multiple times even though all indicators pointed to my runs as being flawless, I uninstalled the game and completely deleted my save files from the console and the cloud. Then, I replayed it doing only what I needed for Phantom. The WT now includes a special page for a streamlined Phantom run as you probably know.

I can confirm that it has nothing to do with a bad save or bug. You just need to not be seen or smelt out. So just keep your mouth covered when it the prompts you for the first time and keep it so until The Maw leaves. Don't worry about the arrow turning red and all that jazz that doesn't affect the achievement. Just keep your mouth covered and wait for him to pass or in some cases sneak by him. If he goes into search mode and he'll purposely stop his route and look for you and thats when you know you've failed so just reload. Think of it like Metal Gear Solid normally soldiers are on patrol and you can basically guess their route and sneak by them, when they go into alert they change their route and get into search mode, its the search mode you want to avoid. Tested it out my my profile as well as my other profile.

I can confirm, that it is ok to get catched during the chase. I actually got catched during both chases once and reloaded the save. I also messed up during the 3rd sneaking section and also was able to reload the save.

Very important tip: toggle insight and breath and always stay crouched! Never stand up or run and also try to activate the toggle for breath in most sections.

@Shishou Ling I think there is a lot to this response and people arent talking about it. If his static route/movement changes at all then I think that counts for him being "alerted." After I went into the locker and ran behind the box, he followed me right there instead of going to the door and kicking it down. The achievement didn't pop for me. Going to try again soon with a fresh install and deleting my save just to be safe.

Following the Welsh Hunters 100% Guide EXACTLY on youtube I unlocked this first try; THANK GOD because this looked like a buggy achievement for a lot of people.

Just unlocked it on my 2nd playthrough and if Maw’s static route path changes at all then he’s been “alerted” and the achievement won’t unlock….I watched the Welsh Hunter video as well and focused on how the Maw was reacting/path/route. If he reacted different to me than what was in the video, then I reloaded save immediately.

@CorleoneGang yup it’s all about knowing it’s route and avoiding it going into it’s alert phase. The description doesn’t say not to get caught, it says escape the creature without alerting it.

I almost had a heart attack! The achievement came only after I opened the first gate with the tool. Thanks for the visual guide and tips!

In my case I got caught 3 times due to keyboard not being the best thing to play this game during the first chase scene, went Alt+ F4 to reset the game and went back one save time.

Ended up getting caught twice in two different stealth scenes, did the same but went back two save files just in case. Achivement still popped. I assume just going one save should be fine but I decided to go for the safe route.

ty for the video, very helpful.

The Achievement won't unlock for me even though I didn't get caught.

Same. Not caught and no achievement.

2nd playthought and nothing. So annoying. Leaves Gampass today and I cant be bothered now.

It's not about being caught....its about alerting him...if his static route/path changes at all then you've alerted him...reload save immediately...

thank god i made it on my third run.
I did 2 things differently in the process. no idea if they were the decisive point.
on the one hand at the point with the woman's mask. in the first section i waited next to the passage. crouched and held my breath. I only climbed through when the maw passed me and was far enough away.
I had the feeling during the runs before that he turned to me.

in the area after finding out the man's name, i only walked to the side of the hallway when the maw came. before that i crept up to the chair.
when he walked past me, i crept towards the exit.

no idea if this matters. just how i finish it.

2 strikes and you're out.
Not wasting my time trying for a third time.
Bought a 1-way ticket for this chevo to..... Ph(f)uket, Thailand.

I recently unlocked it, maw looks at you when you alert it. In a quick game I unlocked it in an hour. It's not that he catches you, it's that you should watch that he does the round without interruption, if you alert him he will turn to look at you. By pressing R3 at an inopportune moment you can alert him

Lo dejo en español a quien le sirva.

quick tip: if you are running just for this achievement and in the middle of the field you feel like you were seen or caught on the way, just go back 1 load earlier and continue the game, this will avoid a new run or loss of progress

None of that works or matters. I had my settings on hold from the start. The achievement is bugged and unlocks when it wants to. I did at least 7 flawless runs from the beginning of the game before it finally unlocked. Before that, I also reloaded previous checkpoints and ran sections of the game over and over. During all of my attempts, I never got grabbed or seen. I tried hiding in the conference room, out in the hall, holding my breath, etc. I did every magic workaround the internet offered. I even completely deleted my save on the console and in the cloud, starting fresh. Here’s how to unlock this achievement: do it over and over not getting grabbed or seen until the bug works in your favor. Eventually you’ll get lucky enough that it will pop once you open the door with the bolt cutters. That’s it. That’s how to unlock this stupid achievement.

Do not sprint at all during any of the stealth phases and to make it easier for some people go into the hall after getting the guys name go back in the room after hearing the maw hide in the back hell eventually De spawn and you can then walk into the hallway safety to the mirror I got it first try

I spent way too much time worrying about getting this achievement. When I went into the board room I didn’t know what I was supposed to do (and still don’t). When I exited the board room there was no Maw to sneak past, so I just carried on. Thankfully the achievement unlocked, not on using the bolt cutters for the first time, but for going through the doorway into the stairwell.

@TheCRod666 - It sounds like you have made flawless runs & failed to unlock the achievement. I had the same experience. It is super-frustrating. I had to do a special playthrough just to unlock it.

The more attempts you do, the better you become. However, I believe you can get too good. I saw a video of someone unlocking the achievement. At one point the author comments that he almost got caught. This got me to thinking that maybe he unlocked the achievement not in spite of almost being caught but because of it. Immediately after, I tried a playthrough making sure that each time I turned the proximity indicator arrow red without, of course, getting caught. The achievement popped.

If, as I suspect, you are playing too good, try not to play flawlessly. I've elaborated on my thoughts in a series of posts beginning here: Phantom achievement missable

Got it on my 3rd new game start, tried a couple times with saves on the second playthrough with no luck. Every time I thought I met the requirements, but as I read other player experiences online, I found someone else saying what denisyfrolov (commenter above) says. In this video at the 2:22 mark, where you squeeze through the lockers, the Maw will begin chase. You can make it a little over halfway to the hiding spot while running, but as soon as the Maw enters the room, crouch and hold your breath while you move towards the box at the end of the room to hide. It's not noticeable, but I believe the Maw will see you if you are still running when it enters. I also had been having trouble with the Maw not spawning when I was finding Nicholas' name in the conference room. If you have had that problem, make sure you solve the puzzle as the character, not yourself. Meaning, press X so she reads the attendance list, then find the echo, then go back to attendance list and press X, then find Boris' chair, then the chair opposite Boris', then back to attendance list and press X a final time. This will exhaust the dialogue and make it so when you run in the hallway afterwards, the Maw will spawn. If you enter the hallway crouching and it doesn't spawn, run in a circle quickly to spawn it, then crouch and hide in the doorway across from the conference room as shown in this video.

Oh and on my successful run, I was spotted once in the first encounter. I quit the game entirely, then restarted and loaded the most recent save.

Good luck everyone and don't give up, it is achievable.

As I said to CorleoneGang in a private message, I followed the game walkthrough and whenever the Maw would move away from where I was taking cover I would follow him (be pretty much on his tail) while holding my breath. The indicator would be red pretty much the whole time I was near him but he never noticed me.

@Sicho 666 - I definitely believe that’s the best technique to use. Also, it appears that if you’re right on the Maw’s tail, he doesn’t turn around. So, it’s safer than hanging back where he will stop & turn around. This goes to show that the game takes note of how close the Medium is to the Maw & supports the hypothesis that proximity factors into unlocking the achievement.

I believe the game’s programmers over-complicated the unlock conditions for the achievement. That’s why it’s so inconsistent for people who abide by the stated description.

I got this achievement on the 4th playthrough attempt.

1st: Got caught twice in the chase scene, and had to reload checkpoint once after alerting the Maw. Pressed Start, then Load - selected save. No Achievement.

2nd: Pressed New Game after first playthrough (didnt delete any save data). No reload checkpoints used. Did not pay attention to red arrow indicator. No Achievement.

3rd: Deleted all save data and uninstalled/ reinstalled the game. Did not pay attention to the red arrow indicator. Reloaded save one time where the Maw took a path I hadn't seen before so thought it must have been searching for me. No Achievement.

4th: Deleted all save data and uninstalled the game. This run was done on Xbox Cloud gaming on the Xbox Series S. Played through in one sitting, no reloads. Made sure the arrow indicator turned red for all 4 interactions. Achievement unlocked after using bolt cutters for the first time and walking through the door.

So it seems for my experience the acheivement unlocked only when I didnt use any Reload saves and made sure the red arrow indicator went red in all interactions. Also deleting the save data seemed to help.

I triggered him in that hallway as well, I hid behind the chair on the right. I snuck past him on 3 different playthroughs from the beginning and I'm still having issues. I never got caught, never alerted him...nothing! With that said, it's clear that this achievement is bugged and it should be marked as so until it's fixed. Anyway, I hope someone from TrueAchievements can contact the Devs about this, it seems since they updated the game after launch this has been an ongoing issue.

UPDATE: 4/2/21 6:30PM
I got the achievement to finally pop. What I did was, I completely uninstalled the game, deleted save data from everywhere and then started a fresh game from scratch. I also had both, Insight Mode and Hold Breath Mode set to Toggle so it wasn't the case. With that said, I'm not entirely sure what is goin on with this achievement, however, uninstalling/reinstalling the game plus completely deleting my save data from everywhere seemed to do the trick. Also, this was the only achievement I had left to get so deleting my data wasn't a big issue. Anyway, I hope those who are still having issues unlocking this annoying achievement, eventually unlocks it because I understand how frustrating it can be when achievements are bugged.