How to complete the Once Here quest in Once Human

Most of the quests in Once Human are not particularly challenging if you do them at the recommended level. So it will be an unexpected surprise when, during the main story quest “Once Here,” you fail over and over. What exactly are you supposed to do, and how do you escape those creepy Deviants?

“He Was Here” or “Once Here”?

This Once Human quest used to have a different name and the mission objective was worded differently. For some people, it was called “He Was Here,” with the objective to “Find the lost Dennis.” For me, it was “Once Here” and had the objective to “Find the missing Dennis.” This is likely due to an update not mentioned in the patch notes, but at one point, players could have either “He Was Here” or “Once Here” in their task list.

Complete the “Once Here” quest in Once Human

If you’ve ever played an indie horror game with mannequins that only move when your back is turned, you’ll understand the gimmick for “Once Here.” The invincible Deviants, called Fools, are stunned for a couple of seconds when you look at them, giving you a little time to get some distance.

The frustration is that these Once Human Deviants can grab and kill you even when it seems you were looking at them or they were too far away. The best bet is to memorize the path and move as quickly as possible so that they never get close. And if you’re familiar with the route, it helps to run towards the camera with it pointed behind you to keep the Fools at bay.

Getting the access card

Run past the first monster, following the corridor until you reach an area with two doors, one closed and one open. Go through the open door on the right. You’ll reach an area blocked by some organic goo. Shoot it, and you’ll find the Rosetta V1 Access Card in the room behind it. Even if you already have a card in your inventory, you must loot this one.

Upon exiting the room, there will be a second Fool in the hallway, so you’ll need to maneuver around both. There is also a third on the way. Hurry back to where the path split and one door was closed. It will now be open, and that’s your next destination.

The trick is to quickly shoot the goop, grab the access card, and reach the newly opened door before the third monster even gets close.

Reaching Dennis

Through the once-closed door, sprint past a fourth Fool and high-tail it until you reach one final room. There will be a fifth Deviant guarding some double doors, where you of course need to go. You may be able to run up, hit the button prompt, and go through the doors with no problem.

However, if you’re close enough to open the door, that also means the Deviant can grab you. To play it safe, move to the left side of the room to cover the door you came through, with four Fools heading for you, and the double doors. Lure Fool 5 into coming after you just enough to move it a safe distance from the door.

Bust through the double doors and breathe a sigh of relief as you watch the cutscene. The hard work is done. Now that you’ve encountered the Fools, you’ll begin to see them in Once Human’s open world. Luckily, you’ll be able to kill those ones…with vengeance.