There are multiple endings to the third person roguelike, Returnal. You can achieve one simply by completing the game in the usual way. However, the other is the secret ending, and for it, you will have to complete the game once. You can not go directly for the Secret Ending on your first playthrough. After completing the game, you will end back at Echoing Ruins. Here your journey for Secret Ending will begin. In this Returnal guide, we are going to walk you through how you can get the secret ending.
Getting the Secret Ending in Returnal
Use the time machine in the cargo hold, and you will return to Overgrown Ruins. Look for the house in Overgrown Ruins and activate the audio log that you can find inside. This will spawn a sunface fragment in every biome in Atropos. Collecting all six is required for the secret ending.
On each reset, the world will reset. However, the location of the fragments will remain the same. You will only need to find a particular room in the randomly generated biome. Do note that all of these items are permanent. So you do not have to worry about dying and losing them as they will remain in your inventory. Following are the location of each sunface fragment scattered throughout Atropos:
Overgrown Ruins
Navigate yourself to the room where there is a big gap between two plateaus. To cross the gap, you will need the Delphic Visor from the Abyssal Scar. With it, shoot the orb to make use of the platform. After getting to the other side, search the area and find your first surface fragment.
Crimson Wastes
You can find the second fragment on top of a tower in an open desert. Use Delphic Visor to see orbs near the tower. Shoot the orbs and use the platforms to reach the tower. From there, get to the top of the tower by using Icarian Grapnel.
Derelict Citadel
You can find the Derelict Citadel fragment inside a body of water near the bridge that leads to the boss of this biome, Nemesis. Go inside the water and look for the fragment on the floor.
These are all the fragments you can find in Act 1. You will have to use the Helios and go to Echoing Ruins in Act 2.
Echoing Ruins
Make your way to a room that is filled with red ooze to the teeth. Here you can see a byway with red ooze and no path to reach the other platform. Jump in and out and make use of your dashes to reach the fourth fragment.
Fractured Wastes
You can find the fragment in a large room with a giant turret in the middle of it. After dealing with the enemies, use your Delphic Visor to shoot orbs and make your way to the platform where you can find the fragment.
Abyssal Scar
The last fragment is in a room with four platforms. Make use of your Delphic Visor and shoot orbs to go from platform to platform until finally reaching the surface fragment.
After acquiring all of the fragments, go back to the house in Overgrown Ruins. Here you will receive keys to someone’s car. The next thing you have to do is to defeat Ophion. After defeating the boss, jump down into the hole in the area. Keep going left till you reach a car and interact with it. This will initiate the secret ending in the game.
This is how you can get the secret ending in Returnal. If you are interested in learning more about the game then you can check out our guide on how you can open the stone gates.
