Have you ever wondered what those floating books are about? They’re ‘Environmental Logs’, and finding one is the first step in how to get them unlocked in Risk of Rain Returns.
Environmental Logs are hidden or hard-to-reach items in Risk of Rain Returns that allow you to get a closer look at a stage map. Finding one out in the wild is exciting, but getting to it may be a mystery to you at first blush. But fear not: Getting the log generally only needs a bit of extra thought.
Ways to get those Environmental Logs in Risk of Rain Returns
Most Environmental Logs I’ve discovered can be acquired by smacking your face into a wall — sometimes at different angles. The rooms the logs are floating in sometimes can usually be accessed by a secret, hidden path or climbable vine. It’s not clear where the path or vine are located, so it usually takes some experimentation.
You can see the Environmental Log below in the Desolate Forest (#2) stage. Moving past the geyser and jumping reveals the hidden path:
Another example is the Sunken Tombs (#3) stage. You need to jump off the vine and hold left to find the hidden path. If you have an item like the Hopoo Feather or a Jetpack, those can also work. But the vine is easier:
Here’s one that’s a bit trickier. The Environmental Log at Sky Meadow (#3) is in a cavern below the ground. Holding ‘down’ in front of the tree allows you to climb the vine hanging from the cavern’s ceiling:
A few logs may be hard to access without the correct items. Some have hidden paths that require you to have a way to go high up in the air. Just keep in mind that the logs are never inaccessible, they just may require a little bit of trial, error, and the correct set of items.
Environmental Logs are more than mere collectibles; they can help you find secrets. To access them, click on ‘Logs and Unlockables’ in the main menu. Navigate to the fourth icon on top which looks like a mountain with a flag. Click on the environment you want to see and hit ‘Expand’. You can look around every stage and stage variant you’ve unlocked so far. You may even find some hidden goodies, like this intriguing cavern in the fourth variant of Desolate Forest:
