As a Housemarque game, Returnal is expected to offer some difficult-but-fair combat. While the various trailers for Returnal seemingly confirm that this is true, it looks as if the trophy list will not match this level of difficulty.
Fans of Housemarque’s past work, such as Resogun and Nex Machina, were treated to some brutal trophy objectives. While getting 100% and the coveted Platinum trophy in Housemarque titles was doable, it required complete mastery of each game’s mechanics and a huge level of skill. However, much like the developer has moved on to AAA games, it seems like overly difficult trophy lists are a thing of the past. By simply progressing through Returnal’s story and seeing all there is to see in the game, the platinum will be within reach, as there are no difficulty-related goals seen among the 31 trophies.
Platinum
- Helios: Collect all trophies
Gold
- Past the Ruins: Finish Overgrown Ruins Survey
- Ascending the Mountain: Finish Crimson Wastes Survey
- Through the Forgotten City: Finish Derelict Citadel Survey
- Echoes of the Past: Finish Echoing Ruins Survey
- Frozen in Time: Finish Fractured Wastes Survey
- Submerged in Memories: Finish Abyssal Scar Survey
- White Shadow: Finish Act 3
Silver
- Failed Escape: Finish Act 1
- Last Drive: Finish Act 2
- Adapting to Circumstance: Achieve Weapon Proficiency level 30
- Sins of the Mother: Complete all House sequences
- Visions of the Past: Complete a Xeno-archive set
Bronze
- Atropian Survival: Learn the basics of survival on Atropos
- A Shadow in the Fog: Defeat Phrike
- Ascension: Defeat Ixion
- Trial by Judgement: Defeat Nemesis
- Silence the Song: Defeat Hyperion
- Inner Darkness: Defeat Ophion
- Second Chance: Returned by an artifact
- Cryptic Messages: Scan a Xenoglyph
- Cryptic Translations: Unlock all translation tiers of a Xenoglyph
- Surgical Precision: Perform 5 successful Overloads in a row
- In-Field Training: Complete a daily challenge in Simulation Mode
- Hardened Shell: Achieve 200% Max Integrity
- Risk Assessment: Finish Calculated Risk
- Adrenaline Spike: Achieve maximum Adrenaline Level
- Irreversibly Contaminated: Have 5 Parasites simultaneously
- Eternal Return: Die for the first time
- Alternate Fates: Retrieve 10 Scout Logs
- Welcome Home: Complete the first House sequence
As shown by the above trophy list, there are several trophies tied to beating bosses in Returnal and progressing through the story acts. There are also trophies for completing basic actions such as dying once, something that should happen several times as players journey throughout Atropos. “Risk Assessment” seems to suggest a side questline, as the description follows the same format as the trophies for finishing each act. It could be a reward for a standout main story mission as well, though.
Players should be happy to see the way that Returnal is handling collectables, as only 10 scout logs need to be collected to unlock the trophy “Alternate Fates.” For “Visions of the Past,” only one Xeno-artifact needs to be complete. These trophies should come naturally for those that are thorough and explore the map, and gamers that dislike collectibles should be pleased that they only need to dabble with the systems that are in place. Aside from this, players will need to complete a “survey” in all of Returnal’s distinct biomes, which some believe to be done by scanning all items in an area.
Another task will see players learning Selene’s backstory through finishing all of Returnal’s house sequences, while some kind of mechanic tied to parasites is mentioned in “irreversibly contaminated.” Lastly, “In-Field Training” confirms that there will be some depth to the game’s Simulation mode, as fans can complete daily challenges as they battle against specific enemies from Atropos.
With Returnal going gold back in March and just over a week away from release, those interested in the game will be unlocking these trophies very soon. Fortunately, it seems like the journey to the platinum is less intimidating than expected.
Returnal releases for PS5 on April 30, 2021.