Topic: Returnal

@Fill3rup_ Massive congratulations! I got the platinum also, but didn't find it too grindy as it was honestly a great excuse to keep playing (Returnal was my personal GOTY 2021, and one of my top 5 games ever)

My last cypher was coincidently also in a weird room in B2 I had never seen before, and took about a week's worth of RNG to generate! Well done and enjoy the tower, really great DLC and fair play to Housemarque for giving away free also

Subscribed to Ps+Extra for a month to get Stray and checked out co-op. It really gives the game a 2nd wind, and I like going in and helping people beat the first act. I keep forgetting I can’t go underwater and keep losing health!

@CJD87 Ah well done! Its a big one for me as im not arsed with Trophies at all,but felt compelled to do this one.. The tower is really enjoyable too.. so that will be a reason to return(al) to the game on a daily basis for a run..
It could end up being my game of 21 and 22

Hello everyone! I just finished the game (Act 3 too) a week ago ago an I'm on the way for platinum. And here comes the difficulties. I'm hunting the chipers high and low but some of them just don't want to appear. Particularly I'm struggling to find 2 chipers in Biome 2 and one underwater chiper in Biome 3. And of course I have some scout logs to go as well. Is there any secret or tips you guys can share to make it easier or it is really depend on luck? I'm still enjoying the game but it seems a bit harsh to play through Biome 2,3 for 50 times in a row and still not having those missing collectibles...

@Tatarimokke Start each run offline,and also,do the Boss fights for each area on each run.. may take a ffew but certainly wont be 50 (unless you are very unlucky)

@Tatarimokke Hi mate, I got the plat on Returnal last year, and here are some tips that helped:
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1) Each time you enter a new room, scan the area than open your menu map to see if there are any triangle icons on the map - these should be the first places you look upon entering a room, to see if it's an item or a cipher. Move faster through, or skip rooms entirely that have no triangle icons in them (make sure to look carefully at the map though!).

2) Once you've familiarized yourself with many of the room layouts, and are down to only a handful of ciphers left for a biome, check the Youtube guides to get an idea of which ones you are possibly missing.

3) The only locked room that has a cipher is in Biome 5 in the hub area, so feel free to skip any locked rooms throughout the biomes.

This was advice from a Reddit post, and my own personal input would be this -

• Limit yourself to 1-2 runs per day, MAX. If you aim for any more then you will quickly get burnt out and give up on the platinum... which would be a massive shame considering how close you are!
• Skip the boss fights always. For B2 ciphers, just take the shortcut as soon as it is available, and then take your time in B2 increasing health etc and searching thoroughly. Once you've fully cleared B2, skip boss and move to B3. You should be sufficiently geared up for a good search there also.

@Fill3rup_ @CJD87 thanks for the tips! I didn't know the room scan shows you the chipers too, I'll definitely give it a go.
I had tried these 2 biomes god knows how many time but there is 2 rooms in Biome 2 I haven't seen so far (checked videos on youtube). One is the big open lava room with 4 consumables at the end ( the smaller lava room spawns every time but not this one), the other is a main rare room in mountain level, a narrow room with small platform and a white orb at the top to reach the chiper. These two rooms never spawn.
The one in Biome 3 is in a main room with a pool in the middle and you need to go underwater to get it. I haven't seen this room either
Well I'll make a few runs today with more luck hopefully.
Thank you guys again

@Tatarimokke Honestly it’s just down to RNG patience now mate.

I must have ran B2 around 50ish times before my last cipher spawned, and apparently that particular one is commonly perceived as a rare-spawn.

Just blitz straight through B1 - -> use the shortcut to B2 and then take your time really thoroughly in clearing B2. By design, this process will then level you up sufficiently to survive long enough in B3 to cipher hunt.

You’re massively further ahead than I was though, as you seem to have a clear example of EXACTLY what rooms you are looking for… which will be hugely advantageous.
(I got to a point where I’d picked up most ciphers just playing the main game organically, and couldn’t recall which I had and which were missing lol)

It’s well worth pushing for the plat IMO, as you’ve come this far! So few people even make it through the main game, it’s an awesome achievement to get the platinum + an excuse to keep playing a quality game

Side note - I hope Returnal’s inclusion within PS+ Extra gets it some more exposure and recognition. I know that the GOTY awards are hugely subjective, but it felt like a bit of a snub for Returnal to not even get a nomination for the main award

@CJD87 Hi mate thanks for the advice! A miracle had happened yesterday at last in Biome 2 I had a single run and both rare room appeared at once so I could complete Biome 2 survey finally! Today I'm heading for B3's last chiper. It will be my most hardly earned platinum for sure even harder than Dark Souls or Bloodborne. If I get it one day, that is. I have a few missing scout logs as well in Biome 5,6 and the trophy for reaching level 30 weapon proficiency which seems hard enough too. I've never reached level 30, any tips for that?

@Tatarimokke Haha congrats...it was always a matter of "when" and not "if"

OK well the remaining trophies actually work hand-in-hand, regarding 1) Obtaining scout logs in B5/6 and 2) Gaining weapon proficiency 30

To gain weapon proficiency 30, best tip I can give you is to start in B4 and work very slowly at clearing all the rooms (excluding bosses, you can leave those). If you can also avoid being hit as much as possible, this will keep your adrenaline up and give an additional boost to proficiency. Then move through B5/B6 and do the same, taking each room very very slowly and avoid being hit wherever possible. Make sure to grab all the blue proficiency upgrades also, which you'll do anyway if your fully clearing each biome. You should then hit lv30 during early/mid B6. If your also hunting for scout logs, makes sense you do this method to fully clear B4/5/6, and you'll likely find the logs whilst you do this.
Good luck!
NB coincidentally I started Bloodborne last night, really enjoying it (I have the platinum for DeS and ER, and have beaten Sekiro + Dark Souls 1, but no plat on those)

@CJD87 Hah it seems you are my lucky talisman! Yesterday I got the missing chiper in B3! Three biomes finished, three more to go!
I had run for the weapon proficiency trophy as well but i just died in B5. I need to be better.
Just wondering if every biome gives +5 proficiency at start so you start 15 than 20 and 25, what is the point to go through every biome for the trophy apart from getting stronger? I observed that I reached level 20 in B4 and then picked up the modulator at the start of B5 and I was still at level 20. Maybe boosted a little but not much

Good luck for Bloodborne and congrats for completing Sekiro! I still need to complete that one!

@Tatarimokke Well done mate! I told you, this is just a case of "when"... not "if"

RE. Proficiency, generally it is best to try and clear B4, then clear B5 and then reach B6 fully upgraded.... and then hopefully early-mid B6 you should hit the trophy. By rushing through B4-5, you may then find yourself a bit weak for B6.... + also you might not have enough items/enemies left to farm for the trophy. So general consensus seems to be just really carefully do all of B4 and B5. Ignore bosses, but definitely do the 'challenge rooms'!

You'll get there mate, feels amazing when the plat pops

Good luck man, such a killer game - you'll miss it when its gone!

@CJD87 Hello mate I just got the proficiency trophy yesterday exactly how you predicted at the start of B6! Now just 1 scout log to be found in B5 and 3 chipers and 2 scout logs left in B6. It might take some time but I'm getting closer and closer to the Plat. Can scout logs appear in locked rooms as well?

@Tatarimokke So close you can smell it now mate!

OK so personally then I would skip B4 as fast as possible and shortcut to B5. Work through B5 a bit, whilst searching for the log, and invest some time in building up health/proficiency etc (You'll need this for the longer search in B6)

All Scout Logs and Ciphers (with exception of 1 cipher in B5, that you already have) will not be behind any locked doors or yellow challenge rooms - so I suggest you ignore those!

Limit yourself to 1-2 runs per day to avoid burnout, but you could have this nailed now by next week

Savour it, you'll miss it when its gone...!

This... A game i would love to start again for the first time...

@CJD87 Hi mate , I hope you're all right. I'm so close but yet I feel far. I had around 10 runs in the last couple of days but the last scout log in B5 and the last chiper in B6 just didn't show up. I tried to go offline it didn't help either. Oh man it's so hard. Does it help with chiper and scout log if I scan the rooms? Does the triangle icon on the map show chipers and scout logs as well or just the consumables, parasites?

@Tatarimokke I got to this point also mate, and was then limiting myself to sometimes just 1 run a day (or 2 max!)
If it helps, the mini-map shows scout logs as little 'broadcast symbols' so they are easily identifiable. The chiphers, as you probably know, are denoted as green triangles... which isn't great as I believe that green triangles cover a multitude of items (inc chiphers!)
So sadly you just need to exhaust/check all green triangles, but at least the scout logs can be easily discerned.
It will happen eventually, and I'd urge you not to give up!
"Main" a different/new game, but just keep coming back to Returnal once a day if possible. When the platinum pops it is beyond satisfying.

So few people even get through Biome 1! You've done amazing to come this far man.... you can do this!

@CJD87 Hello mate , I just got the platinum few days ago! That's an achievement, isn't that?! So happy and so relieved I was at that moment... and a little sad at the same time. I'm going to miss this game really, it's one of a kind. I enjoyed it every time I had played even when I was grinding for the collectibles after finishing the main story.
Funny enough the scout log in B5 was just in front of the yellow door all the time! I was idiot enough to ignore that section because I had already completed the challenge room. I I had been running around few dozen times through the full biome without checking that door again... The B6 chiper just appeared on the same run, the game showed mercy on me:)

Thank you for all your help it couldn't be done without you!
How are you getting on with Bloodborne? Do you enjoy it?

@Tatarimokke Haha yessss!

I told you mate, was only a matter of time - and a massive congrats on getting the platinum!

Honestly I know there are many moments of frustration in getting this trophy, but looking back I still think it was 100% worth it. IMO, Returnal still remains the ultimate 'showcase' game regarding what the PS5 is capable of.... and it an absolute feather in the cap of Housemarque (no wonder Sony decided to buy them).

Loving Bloodborne, and it is fighting against Elden Ring for the #2 spot on my FromSoft rankings. (Sekiro is #1). The whole vibe and atmosphere is next-level, and I enjoy the combat a lot for being a bit quicker and more aggressive than 'traditional souls'. Some parts of it remind me a lot of Resident Evil 4, especially the jump scares. Also I like how the RPG/build elements are still prevalent, but with less emphasis on min/max.... My first playthrough of Dark Souls I actually had to restart about 5 hrs in, because my build was a disaster lol

Well done again man!

Started Returnal yesterday. I've faced the first boss 4 times now and every time I've got him to phase 3 and down to about 3 qauters health, on my last try I swear he was about 3 hits away from death and I didn't have an astronaut so when he got me I was gutted lol the game is punishing but it's weirdly addictive, I have lost my patience once or twice but I just turn the game off and come back a few hours later and seem to do fine again, I don't know If it's me or the game but the longer I play the worse I seem to do, like it seems to punish you for how well you did on your last run, the further you get and the better equipment/upgrades you get on a run the next run will have more enemies, tougher enemies and seems like less heals or takes ages to find better weapons, I know the game is supposed to be random and like I said it's probably just me burning out or something.

Anyways starting to get my head around things, not using a guide as of yet (seems abit pointless anyway seen as each run is different) so hopefully I can get that first boss defeated! I've spent 6 hours on it so far and probably plenty more to go.