A Push Square writer describes finishing Returnal, Housemarque's roguelike shooter, with a full platinum trophy, praising the game as a rewarding challenge built on excellent shooting mechanics, atmosphere and storytelling. The piece highlights how the game's toughest trophy requirement, completing each biome's survey by collecting all items in its randomly generated levels, forced extended replaying, yet the writer found the grind enjoyable rather than tedious.

The article notes the writer earned the platinum on 27th September 2021, having also reviewed the game before launch. Because Returnal generates its levels and item placement procedurally, there is no guaranteed way to find every collectable needed for the biome surveys, meaning players must repeat runs until the required items, including Xenoglyph Ciphers, appear by chance. Despite acknowledging this RNG-based design may not suit everyone, the writer credits the strength of Returnal's core gameplay for making the repeated runs worthwhile.