Returnal is the first really big PS5 exclusive. The game is set on an alien world that is extremely hostile. Every time you die, it resets and brings you crashing back down to the surface. You’ll repeat this loop until you find the source of a mysterious signal. What awaits at that source isn’t known though. Along the way, you’ll collect trophies for all the achievements you complete in the game. With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of all the Returnal trophies you can earn.
We won’t be organising the trophies into any sort of order since we have these before the game comes out. A trophy guide will probably be produced once the game is in player’s hands and they can start piecing them together. For now though, this is just a simple list of trophies you can earn.
Bronze Returnal Trophies
Ignore the platinum, we all know how to pick that one up. What we’re looking at here are the Bronze trophies. They’re not the most interesting ones in the game, but they can tell us something about it. For example, there are a few for defeating names enemies. We reckon these are bosses that you’ll have to face over and over again. Knowing this, we can say that they’re trophies that you’re guaranteed to pick up. However, if you don’t get them from killing bosses, then they may be secret hidden enemies.
Some of these trophies are ones that you’ll get automatically. For example, you’ll die at least once, so you’ll pick up that trophy. You’ll also learn the basics of survival through the story we imagine, so don’t chase that one. The trophies to chase are those for things like maximum adrenaline and having five parasites at once. These seem like hard achievements to complete, so the trophies will be hard to get as well.
We think there are a lot of things in here that you’ll get just from playing the game. You don’t need to optimize your playthrough in any particular way. However, there are still trophies that you should gear your playthrough towards in order to pick them up the first time through. One that comes to mind is the one for a daily challenge or simulation mode. These seem like optional game modes that can really change up how you tackle the game. Taking these on early will also open up an opportunity to work towards the other trophies. Maybe you won’t advance the story, but you could get five parasites all at once.
Finally, we think it’s worth touching on the hard-to-get collectibles. These include Scout Logs, which sound as if they’ll be a pain to find. If there are only ten in the entire game, then this is going to be something that’s incredibly hard to do. Add in the fact that they could change their location within each loop, and you’ve got a pretty impossible challenge to overcome.
- Platinum: Helios – Collect all of the trophies.
- Bronze: Atropian Survival – Learn the basics of survival on Atropos.
- Bronze: A Shadow in the Fog – Defeat Phrike.
- Bronze: Ascension – Defeat Ixion.
- Bronze: Trial by Judgement – Defeat Nemesis.
- Bronze: Silence the Song – Defeat Hyperion.
- Bronze: Inner Darkness – Defeat Ophion.
- Bronze: Second Chance – Returned by an artifact.
- Bronze: Cryptic Messages – Scan a Xenoglyph.
- Bronze: Cryptic Translations – Unlock all translation tiers of a Xenoglyph.
- Bronze: Surgical Precision – Perform 5 successful Overloads in a row.
- Bronze: In-Field Training – Complete a daily challenge in Simulation Mode.
- Bronze: Hardened Shell – Achieve 200% Max Integrity.
- Bronze: Risk Assessment – Finish Calculated Risk.
- Bronze: Adrenaline Spike – Achieve maximum Adrenaline Level.
- Bronze: Irreversibly Contaminated – Have 5 Parasites simultaneously.
- Bronze: Eternal Return – Die for the first time.
- Bronze: Alternate Fates – Retrieve 10 Scout Logs.
- Bronze: Welcome Home – Complete the first House sequence.
Silver Returnal Trophies
Here we have two major story trophies. These are for completing the first two acts in the game. Most games have trophies like this, so it’s not a surprise to see them. There are some interesting ones here though. The first is the one for hitting level 30 in weapon proficiency. That seems like a long ladder to climb. (https://editorialrm.com) With this trophy in mind, playing the game with an eye to push your weapon proficiency is a wise move. The next two interesting trophies are for completing what look to be collectibles. We’re not sure how the story works, but some parts seem to be optional. That, or you’ll have to explore further to find them. Exploration is clearly rewarded here, so it’s worth doing, even if these collectibles aren’t your main goal.
- Silver: Failed Escape – Finish Act 1.
- Silver: Last Drive – Finish Act 2.
- Silver: Adapting to Circumstance – Achieve Weapon Proficiency level 30.
- Silver: Sins of the Mother – Complete all House sequences.
- Silver: Visions of the Past – Complete a Xeno-archive set.
Gold Returnal Trophies
With these trophies, we have some very interesting entries. The first is the end of acts in this game. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t more story past Act 3, it just means that the trophies are probably given for other things. They could even be linked with bosses. At least some of these trophies seem to be linked with completing specific areas. It’s likely that you can explore an area long after you’ve advanced the story beyond it. Spending more time there will help you get the trophy, but you might not want it if you’re trying for a speedrun.
- Gold: Past the Ruins – Finish Overgrown Ruins Survey.
- Gold: Ascending the Mountain – Finish Crimson Wastes Survey.
- Gold: Through the Forgotten City – Finish Derelict Citadel Survey.
- Gold: Echoes of the Past – Finish Echoing Ruins Survey.
- Gold: Frozen in Time – Finish Fractured Wastes Survey.
- Gold: Submerged in Memories – Finish Abyssal Scar Survey.
- Gold: White Shadow – Finish Act 3.
Those are all the trophies in the game and what you could expect from them. We’ll produce a proper guide when the game is out and everyone has had a chance to play it a bit first. There’s no sense in optimizing a game guide if no one can play the game right now.