Hell Is Us expects you to find your way by listening, observing and reasoning—not by following a conventional chain of map markers. For a first playthrough, pay close attention to what characters say, study the places they describe, and use your melee weapons and drone deliberately in combat. “The Talju” is a region; the item beginners usually mean is its Map of Talju, which mechanic Boro Juven gives you after you reach the area.
What kind of game is Hell Is Us?
Hell Is Us is a third-person action-adventure with melee combat, exploration and a drone companion. The official descriptions present it as a semi-open-world game built around discovery rather than conventional navigation. Its combat weapons include swords, spears and axes, while the drone is described as useful both in combat and during exploration. The official game site and the PlayStation game page describe those central systems; PlayStation lists the game for PS5.
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Hell is Us – PlayStation 5 | $45.00 | Buy on Amazon |
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Maximum Entertainment 34 Sports Games - World Edition (PS5) | $26.97 | Buy on Amazon |
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Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration - PS5 | $59.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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SAROS PS5 | $69.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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The main adjustment for newcomers is to treat finding your next destination as part of play. Official descriptions say the game does not provide a conventional map, compass or quest markers to guide you. That does not mean you should ignore clues or wander without thinking: dialogue and the environment are intended to supply information you can use to make progress.
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That distinction matters. The absence of familiar navigation aids is not a missing feature to work around; it is part of the way the game asks you to engage with its world. You are not expected to follow a highlighted route from one objective to the next. Instead, you gather information, consider what it means, and investigate. The semi-open-world structure gives you room to explore, but the practical guidance comes from the people and places you encounter.
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- A HOSTILE WORLD: In addition to the civil war dividing the country, the region is suffering from a mysterious calamity, which has given rise to supernatural creatures that no modern weapon can defeat. Your drone and sword from a different age are your faithful allies as you cut a path through lands infested with terrifying chimeras and try to unravel the mystery of their appearance.
- A UNIQUE EXPLORATION SYSTEM: No map, no compass, no quest markers. Following your instincts is part of the adventure. Enjoy a unique experience that uses innovative writing and level design to let you make your own decisions and follow your instincts as you explore. Your discoveries are yours alone.
- COMBAT AGAINST ORIGINAL CREATURES: Swords, spears and axes. A wide range of weapons forged specially for fighting these supernatural creatures is available. You must learn how to fight these monsters and use your drone wisely to stay alive.
- 'The central theme of Hell is Us is that human violence is a perpetual cycle fueled by human emotions and passions.'' – Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, Creative Director
How to explore without map markers
Listen for directions, not just story
Talk to characters carefully and keep track of the practical details they give you: names, symbols, landmarks, places to visit and actions to take. Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, Rogue Factor’s Creative Director and Art Director, explained the role of dialogue in a September 24, 2024 PlayStation Blog post: “Correspondingly, paying attention to what the NPCs tell you is crucial; as what they tell you is actual organic information about what to do and how to do it.” The point is not simply to hear the conversation; it is to use it as guidance.
In practice, separate a character’s useful leads from the surrounding story without treating the two as unrelated. A named person, a symbol or a suggested destination may be the detail that helps you decide where to investigate next. If a conversation gives you several pieces of information, remember the relationships between them rather than expecting each one to produce an immediate objective prompt. The game’s intended guidance is organic: the player must connect what was said to what is visible in the world.
Turn clues into a plan
When someone mentions a place or a distinctive feature, look for it in the surroundings rather than waiting for an objective marker to appear. Inspect points of interest, compare what you see with what you have been told, and revisit the game’s recorded investigation information if you forget a clue. Treat an instruction as evidence for your next decision, not as a guarantee that the game will display a route to follow.
- Listen through the conversation. Note any location, symbol, person or task that could affect where you go next.
- Look for matching details. Pay attention to landmarks and environmental features that fit the description you heard.
- Recheck what you know. If you lose track of a clue, revisit the investigation information recorded by the game and connect it to the places and people you have encountered.
- Explore with a question in mind. If a clue points toward a person or location, investigate that lead before assuming you have missed a marker or route.
This approach is grounded in the game’s stated design, not a promise that every clue has one obvious answer. The Steam listing also describes the game’s navigation as player-led. Specific interface controls, notebook fields or platform-dependent navigation features are not established by the descriptions cited here, so do not assume a particular control or display will be identical across platforms or updates.
If you feel stuck, make the next step smaller. Revisit what you were told, identify the concrete names or visual details in the clue, and search for a match in the area you can currently explore. Then ask whether the information points to a person to speak with, a place to inspect or an action to take. This is more productive than searching for a nonexistent marker or assuming that exploration is supposed to be random. The game’s own design explanation describes NPC dialogue and the environment as sources of usable direction.
There is also a choice in how much help you want. On a first run, following clues yourself preserves the uncertainty and discovery that the navigation design is built around. If that stops being enjoyable, a walkthrough can provide a faster answer—but it also replaces some of the reasoning the game asks you to do. You do not need to choose one approach for the entire game: you can explore independently, then consult a route for a particular optional objective or point where you are stuck.
How to approach combat as a beginner
The official descriptions identify swords, spears and axes as melee weapon types, and describe the drone as an ally in combat. They do not establish one weapon as best for every player or encounter. Start by learning the weapon and defensive timing that suit your play, and use the drone as part of the combat system rather than treating it as decoration.
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For a new player, it helps to think of combat as a few decisions rather than a hunt for a secret universal build: which enemy to focus on, whether to attack or defend, and whether you need to adjust the challenge while learning. The available sources confirm the weapon categories and the drone’s role, but do not provide reliable damage comparisons or a ranking. Try the options you have and judge them by how well you can follow the encounter and control your actions.
Focus on one target while learning
Game8’s beginner tips recommend using lock-on to focus attacks, glyphs and drone commands on a target. This is a guide recommendation, not a universal requirement: focusing can help when you want your actions directed at one enemy, while the choice of target and moment remains situational. The available sources do not establish button prompts, exact timing windows, stamina values or damage figures, so learn the controls and timing shown in your own game rather than relying on unverified numbers.
Lock-on is most relevant when you want your actions concentrated on a particular opponent rather than spread across the encounter. Game8 specifically connects it with attacks, glyphs and drone commands, making it a practical option to try when you are learning how to direct those actions. It is still a tool, not a rule: if focusing on one target does not suit the situation, use your judgment. The cited guidance does not establish which enemy should always be targeted first or when a lock-on is required.
Practice defense at a difficulty that lets you learn
The same Game8 guide recommends lowering the difficulty while practicing parry and dodge timing. That can be a useful way to reduce pressure while learning how those defenses feel, but the right setting depends on your comfort. If you are struggling to read attacks, lower the difficulty and concentrate on recognizing opportunities to defend; if the current challenge feels manageable, there is no need to change it just because a guide suggests doing so. The cited sources provide no frame windows or specific timing rules to memorize.
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- Use the weapon you can read comfortably. Swords, spears and axes are confirmed options, but the available official descriptions do not rank them.
- Try lock-on when you need to keep actions centered on one target. This is Game8’s recommendation for focusing attacks, glyphs and drone commands.
- Use difficulty as a practice aid if needed. Game8 suggests lowering it to practice parry and dodge timing; choose based on your own comfort.
- Do not mistake an unverified tip for a game rule. Advice about a compass conflicts with the official descriptions, which say conventional compass guidance is absent.
The official descriptions say the drone is useful in both combat and exploration, so do not mentally file it away as a combat-only gadget or as a purely exploratory companion. Game8’s lock-on recommendation also gives one way to think about using drone commands in a fight: if you want them directed at a target, consider focusing on that opponent. The sources do not specify a best command sequence or a single correct way to use the drone, so treat it as part of your available toolkit and learn its role through play.
How to reach Talju and get its map
Talju is a region, and the relevant item is the Map of Talju. According to Game8’s Talju walkthrough, the route begins after you insert the Keystone of Grief. Ask Tania about the Symbol of the Screaming Face, then use the Navigation Computer to travel to Talju. Once there, find the garage and speak with mechanic Boro Juven, identified in the walkthrough as the Sheltered Mechanic. He gives you the Map of Talju.
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- Insert the Keystone of Grief.
- Ask Tania about the Symbol of the Screaming Face.
- Use the Navigation Computer to travel to Talju.
- Find the garage and speak with Boro Juven, the Sheltered Mechanic. The walkthrough identifies him as the person who gives you the Map of Talju.
This order is useful if you are looking for the item and are not sure whether “the Talju” refers to a device or a place. Talju is the destination; the map is an item you receive from Boro Juven after traveling there. The sequence also makes clear that the Map of Talju is not something the guide says you must already have in order to reach the region: first follow the Keystone, Tania and Navigation Computer steps, then speak with the mechanic at the garage.
How to use the Map of Talju
Use the Map of Talju as an aid for orienting yourself within the region, then combine it with what characters tell you and what you can see around you. Its presence does not change the game’s broader design into a conventional objective-marker route: official descriptions say that the game omits the usual map, compass and quest-marker guidance, while Game8’s walkthrough specifically identifies a map item obtained in Talju.
The walkthrough confirms where the item comes from, but the cited material does not specify every interface control, what each map symbol means, or whether its behavior differs by platform or patch. For that reason, this guide does not invent button instructions or promise that the item will mark an objective. Use the map to help understand the local layout, and keep relying on dialogue, environmental clues and your investigation information to decide what to do next.
A useful way to think about the item is as local context, not a substitute for observation. If an NPC gives you a lead, use what you know about the region to help make sense of where to investigate, then look for the relevant people, landmarks or other environmental details. If you cannot tell what to do from the map alone, that is consistent with the game’s larger navigation approach: the intended direction can come from combining sources of information, not from expecting an objective marker to explain every step.
Do not assume that the Talju map behaves like a universal navigation screen or that it includes a route to every goal. The walkthrough establishes that Boro Juven gives it to you; it does not document controls, symbols, route plotting or platform-specific behavior. If you need an exact control instruction, check the version of the game you are playing rather than relying on a description that does not confirm it. For ordinary exploration, pair the item with the guidance you get from NPCs and the information you have already recorded.
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Blind exploration or a completionist route?
A first playthrough can be approached in two reasonable ways. Exploring without a step-by-step walkthrough leaves more room to interpret clues yourself, which matches the game’s player-led design. Following a route can be useful if your priority is finding optional content that can be missed. Neither approach is the only correct one; choose according to whether discovery or thorough collection matters more to you.
| Approach | Best fit | What to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Explore on your own | Players who want to follow dialogue and environmental clues without a prescribed route. | Take note of leads and revisit recorded investigation information when you need to reconnect a clue to a location. |
| Use a walkthrough selectively | Players who want help locating optional or missable content. | PowerPyx flags a Talju Good Deed that can be missed after defeating a particular enemy, but the cited excerpt does not name the exact deed or enemy trigger. Check a current Talju route before progressing through major encounters if you are pursuing completion. |
The key trade-off is control over how much guidance you receive. You can keep your main exploration self-directed and consult a route only when an optional objective or missable encounter matters to you. A warning that content is missable is not enough to safely identify the trigger: without the specific deed and enemy confirmed, guessing could send you in the wrong direction.
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If you are aiming for completion, decide how much risk of missing optional content you are willing to accept before advancing through major encounters in Talju. PowerPyx’s Act II collectible walkthrough warns that a Talju Good Deed can be missed after defeating a particular enemy. It does not identify the exact deed or enemy trigger in the information available here, so there is no safe trigger to give you in this guide. Consult a current, detailed Talju route before progressing if that optional content matters to you. If you would rather preserve discovery, continue without a walkthrough knowing that the warning exists, but do not treat it as a precise instruction about which enemy or action to avoid.
Beginner mistakes to avoid
- Waiting for conventional navigation prompts. The official descriptions say map, compass and quest-marker guidance is deliberately absent. Treat people and places as your sources of direction.
- Listening only for plot information. Dialogue can also contain actionable guidance, as the creative director’s explanation makes clear.
- Assuming the Talju map works like an objective tracker. The walkthrough confirms how to obtain it, not that it provides conventional markers or route instructions.
- Copying a compass tip without checking the game’s design. Game8’s beginner page includes compass advice, but it conflicts with the official descriptions; it is not a sound basis for assuming a compass is available.
- Guessing at a missable-content trigger. A Talju Good Deed is flagged as missable, but the available warning does not identify its exact trigger. Use a current route if you need precise completion instructions.
- Expecting a universal combat recipe. The sources support weapon variety, drone use, lock-on as a guide recommendation and difficulty adjustment for practice—not a best weapon, fixed timing formula or guaranteed strategy.
One especially easy misunderstanding is to conflate the game’s general lack of a conventional map with the named Map of Talju. The game’s official descriptions explain the navigation style; Game8’s route identifies a specific item earned in a specific region. You can use that regional map without expecting it to turn every later decision into a marked destination. Another is to treat every guide suggestion as a verified rule. The lock-on and difficulty tips are recommendations, while the official description is the stronger basis for understanding the absence of conventional compass guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I use the Talju map?
The Map of Talju is an item you receive from Boro Juven, the Sheltered Mechanic, at the garage in Talju. Use it as an aid to understanding the local layout, but combine it with NPC clues, environmental observation and your recorded investigation information. The walkthrough confirms how to obtain the item, not every interface control or whether it marks objectives.
How do I get to Talju and obtain the Map of Talju?
Game8’s route says to insert the Keystone of Grief, ask Tania about the Symbol of the Screaming Face, and use the Navigation Computer to travel to Talju. Once there, find the garage and speak to mechanic Boro Juven, who gives you the map.
Does Hell Is Us have a map, compass or quest markers?
Official descriptions say conventional map, compass and quest-marker guidance is absent. The game expects players to use dialogue, environmental clues, observation and reasoning. The Map of Talju is a specific regional item identified by a walkthrough, not evidence of a conventional marker-based navigation system.
What should beginners know about combat in Hell Is Us?
Official descriptions identify swords, spears and axes, and say the drone can help in combat and exploration. Game8 recommends lock-on when you want attacks, glyphs and drone commands focused on one target, and suggests lowering difficulty to practice parry and dodge timing. The cited sources do not establish a best weapon or exact timing values.
Can you miss optional content in Talju?
PowerPyx flags a Talju Good Deed that can be missed after defeating a particular enemy. The warning available here does not identify the exact deed or enemy trigger. If you are pursuing completion, consult a current detailed Talju route before progressing through major encounters rather than guessing.
The Bottom Line
For a first run, treat conversations and environmental details as your navigation tools, and use combat recommendations as options to test rather than fixed rules. Reach Talju by following the Keystone of Grief and Tania’s clue, then speak with Boro Juven at the garage for the Map of Talju. Use that map alongside the region’s clues, and consult a current route before major encounters if you want to protect missable optional content.
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