Mortal Shell 2 Shell Memories: Seeking the Past

Seeking the Past requires you to watch every Shell Memory. Current launch guides count 40 Memories across the eight permanent Shells: five Memories for each Shell. You unlock them by spending Glimpses to raise each Shell’s Bond, then playing the newly revealed Memory. One normal run usually does not provide enough Glimpses for the full set, so plan to continue into NG+ and possibly part of a third cycle.

This is a resource and completion guide. It does not list individual Memory names because the current checked sources do not provide a complete, reliable list.

Follow this loop for each permanent Shell:

1. Find and unlock the Shell. Complete its first Memory sequence so the Shell is available permanently.
2. Open the Shell Bonding interaction in Marrow Keep. For the normal Shell routes, this is handled through Zhirelle, the Shellkeeper.
3. Spend Glimpses to raise that Shell’s Bond Tier.
4. Enter and watch each Memory that becomes available. Unlocking the tier is not the same as watching the Memory for the trophy.
5. Repeat until all five Memories for that Shell have been watched.

The Shell skills guide describes four Bond Tiers, I through IV. Each higher tier reveals more Memories and opens another band of abilities. The current trophy guide reports one Memory at each Bond level, with all five available once a Shell reaches level 4.

For Shell locations and the current eight-Shell roster, use the Shells Guide. Do not count Harros’s temporary prologue Shell as one of the eight permanent Shells used by the current all-Memories checklist.

Use an external checklist or your own notes while you work. The platform achievement lists only say “Watch all Shell Memories”; they do not expose a per-Shell progress counter in the wording of the achievement.

The table reflects the current launch-guide model: 8 × 5 = 40. The five-per-Shell count and the 40 total are secondary guide/checklist evidence rather than a number printed in the Steam achievement description itself.

Glimpses deepen the Bond of the selected Shell. They are separate from Gloom and Shell Points: Gloom handles Harbinger progression, while Shell Points buy abilities that the current Bond Tier has made available.

The Glimpse supply is limited in a single playthrough, and the checked skills guide says Glimpses cannot be refunded once spent. For that reason:

• choose a Shell you actually want to develop before spending heavily;
• watch each newly unlocked Memory before moving on;
• keep a written count of completed Memories and remaining Bond tiers;
• do not assume that freely resetting Shell Points also refunds Glimpses.

The developer’s Balance Patch 1 moved Shell-location reveals to Gloom and says Glimpses spent on Shell maps are refunded in the Shell Keeper’s alcove in Blackmarrow. If your build includes that patch, Shell discovery should not consume the Glimpses reserved for Memories. Check the refund in-game rather than applying the rule to an older save or platform without confirmation. The Glimpses Guide covers the broader currency split.

Do not look for Genessa’s Bond progression in the same place as the other seven permanent Shells. The current trophy guide directs you to the Stray Sester in the training arena for Genessa, while Zhirelle handles the other Shells.

Advance Genessa’s Bond and watch her available Memories before entering NG+. A current checklist reports that Genessa’s Bond interaction can remain stuck on its tutorial state in NG+. That is a version-sensitive community/checklist warning, not an officially confirmed universal bug, but it is a sensible first-run precaution. See the Sester Genessa guide for her unlock route.

Current guides report 27 Glimpses to reach maximum Bond for one Shell, or 216 across eight Shells. They also report that the fixed Glimpse supply of one playthrough is not enough to watch all 40 Memories.

The practical route is:

1. Unlock as many Shells as you can during the first run.
2. Spend the first-run Glimpses deliberately and watch every Memory you open.
3. Finish first-run optional content that you do not want to repeat.
4. Complete the campaign route and remain in free roam for cleanup.
5. Select Send Ova at the Gloom Siphon when you are ready to begin NG+.
6. Repeat the Glimpse-bearing activities in NG+, then continue Bonding the unfinished Shells.
7. If the remaining total is short, continue into a partial NG+2 cycle rather than assuming the trophy is bugged solely because it did not pop after NG+.

The exact run count is not universal. One current guide describes the earliest practical completion as NG++, while another estimates two complete runs and part of a third. Community players report different totals depending on exploration, Night Mode, patch state, and how widely they spent Glimpses. Treat “NG+ plus possibly part of NG+2” as the planning range, not a guaranteed fixed requirement.

The current NG+ guide reports that unlocked Shells, their Memories, and Glimpses carry over. It also reports that the world activities used to replenish the next supply—such as bosses, Gates, Beacons, and quests—reset. That is why NG+ helps: your existing Shell progress remains available while the world provides another set of activities and rewards.

For the full carry-over/reset boundary and Send Ova flow, use the New Game Plus Guide. Do not select Send Ova until you have finished the first-run cleanup you care about.

Some current PS5 community reports say that watched Shell Memories did not count toward Seeking the Past in NG+. Another player reported reaching NG++ with the same problem and moving to a new save slot. These reports are anecdotal and do not establish that every platform, save, or patched build is affected.

The developer’s Steam achievement thread confirms that launch achievement-tracking problems were being investigated, but it does not specifically confirm the Shell-Memory/NG+ report. There is no checked official source establishing a universal fix.

If the trophy does not appear, use this cautious check:

1. Reopen the Shell’s Bond menu and confirm that the Memory is selectable.
2. Play the Memory through to its completion instead of only opening the menu.
3. Compare your written Shell-by-Shell checklist against the 40-Memory target.
4. Check the current platform patch notes or support channel before repeating a whole cycle.
5. Keep a separate save or checkpoint before entering another NG+ cycle where your platform permits it.

Do not assume that replaying one Memory, reinstalling the game, or starting another NG+ automatically repairs the counter. Those workarounds are not confirmed by the checked sources.

• Spending Glimpses across every Shell without tracking which Memories were actually watched.
• Treating Shell Points as if they were Glimpses. Shell Points buy available abilities; Glimpses raise Bond and reveal Memories.
• Looking for Genessa’s Bond interaction at Zhirelle instead of the Stray Sester in the training arena.
• Entering NG+ before advancing Genessa’s Bond, despite the current checklist warning about a possible tutorial-state issue.
• Treating 216 Glimpses or three campaigns as a developer guarantee. Those are current guide/checklist estimates.
• Assuming the trophy is universally broken because it did not appear at the end of one cycle.

Once all 40 Memories have been watched, Seeking the Past should satisfy the platform objective in the current achievement lists. If you are completing the full game, compare the result with the Trophies & Achievements Guide and keep the broader New Game Plus Guide open for the world reset.

• Steam Global Achievements — Seeking the Past: “Watch all Shell Memories.”
• PlayStationTrophies — Mortal Shell II Trophies — platform trophy wording and the 53-trophy list.
• 100% Guides — Mortal Shell 2 Trophy Guide — current five-Memory, four-level Bond, Genessa exception, and NG+/NG+2 estimate.
• AllThingsHow — How to Unlock Shell Skills — Bond tiers, Glimpses, Memory visibility, and non-refundable spending.
• AllThingsHow — New Game Plus — reported carry-over, reset boundary, Send Ova, and run estimate.
• Cold Symmetry — Balance Patch 1 notes — Shell-map Glimpse refund and Gloom cost change.
• Cold Symmetry — Steam achievement bug thread — launch achievement-tracking investigation.
• Mortal Shell II Wiki — Achievement checklist — current Genessa NG+ warning and 40/216 planning figures; version-sensitive secondary evidence.