To get the Grim Trials True Ending, the strongest currently documented route is to finish the Academy character side-quest and Affinity chains before defeating Superbia, then complete the final boss and watch through the credits for the additional scene. The game itself confirms that a distinct True Ending exists through the End of All Cycle achievement. The exact prerequisite formula is not published in an official developer walkthrough, so the all-side-quests route below is deliberately presented as a post-launch player-tested method rather than an official hidden-condition specification.
What are the Grim Trials True Ending requirements?
The one requirement that can be stated without qualification is the result: End of All Cycle unlocks when you reach the True Ending. Xbox and PlayStation achievement/trophy databases expose that description directly, while Steam lists the achievement as a hidden entry. The separate Deadly Enlightened achievement is awarded for reaching the regular Ending, proving that the game tracks two different ending outcomes.
The important question is what changes the outcome. The best current post-launch route comes from Gamerbase’s trophy walkthrough. Its author reports that players should complete all side missions for the Academy characters before defeating the final boss, Superbia. After doing so, defeating Superbia and continuing through the credits produces a short additional scene and the True Ending trophy. This matches the broader structure described by the official storefronts: the Academy is not merely a menu hub. Avelin can build relationships, take quests and unlock support while learning the stories of its dead residents.
Recommended spoiler-light True Ending route
1. Progress the main Trials normally. Continue Avelin’s Purification, improve permanent progression, craft stronger equipment and defeat the Sinful Soul bosses. There is no reliable evidence that you need to delay ordinary early bosses for the True Ending.
2. Revisit the Academy regularly. The official game description specifically tells players to seek mentors, take quests, build relationships and learn the stories of Academy residents. Do not treat NPC dialogue as disposable flavor if your goal is the complete ending route. Check characters after major story milestones because new interactions or quests may depend on earlier progression.
3. Push the documented Affinity chains. The achievement list gives unusually useful confirmation of which relationships have completion milestones. Friendly Fire tracks maximum Affinity with Pytra; Tailored Teaching with Milyun; The Witch’s Apprentice with Ivanya; Research Assistant with Iskra; From Foe To Fellow with Kai; and Furry Friends with Breone and Nameles. These achievements do not individually say “required for True Ending,” but they provide concrete checkpoints for the relationship content that the player-tested ending route recommends completing.
4. Clear character-linked side quests. Several achievements expose named quest milestones, including The Special Delivery, the Three Headed Snake quest, a spar with the Fellow Apprentice, a final toast involving Ivanya and Iskra, and crafting new gear for John with Milyun. Treat these as useful completion markers rather than assuming that only the six maximum-Affinity achievements matter. The current safest route is broad completion of Academy side content.
5. Make a final Academy sweep before Superbia. Talk to available characters, resolve open quest markers and check whether any relationship chain still has unfinished interactions. The player-tested guide specifically places the side-quest completion requirement before the final boss. This is therefore the point where completionists should be cautious.
6. Defeat Superbia and continue past the credits sequence. The seven boss achievements identify Superbia through Virtue of Humility. The trophy walkthrough identifies Superbia as the final boss for this ending route. With the character side content completed, it reports an extra scene after the credits and the End of All Cycle unlock.
Normal Ending vs True Ending
| Outcome | Achievement | Confirmed requirement | Route evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ending | Deadly Enlightened | Reach the Ending | Official/platform achievement data |
| True Ending | End of All Cycle | Reach the True Ending | Official/platform achievement data |
| Recommended True Ending setup | — | Finish character side content before Superbia | Post-launch player-tested trophy guide |
This distinction matters because an achievement description can prove that an ending exists without revealing its hidden logic. We therefore do not claim that every Affinity achievement is mathematically mandatory, that a specific dialogue choice controls the ending, or that a fixed number of quests is sufficient. Those stronger claims need either developer confirmation or repeatable current-version testing.
Do you need maximum Affinity with everyone?
For a risk-free completion attempt, treat maximum Affinity and completed character quest chains as your target. That recommendation is stronger than the official evidence alone but consistent with the post-launch trophy route. What remains unverified is whether the game internally checks every maximum-Affinity flag, every side quest, a subset of quest finales, or another aggregate relationship condition.
This distinction is useful for SEO guides because a neat but unsupported checklist can easily become misinformation. If later testing demonstrates that only certain NPC finales are required, this page should be narrowed. Until then, completing the available relationship content is the safer instruction for a player who does not want to repeat the finale.
Why Superbia is the important checkpoint
The released achievement set confirms Superbia as one of the seven named Sinful Soul bosses and awards Virtue of Humility for defeating Superbia. A current trophy guide goes further and identifies that encounter as the final boss in its ending walkthrough. That second statement is third-party evidence, so this guide keeps the distinction explicit.
If you have not finished the Academy relationship content, use the period before Superbia as your practical point of no return for completion planning. The goal is not to claim the game permanently locks every quest afterward; public evidence is not strong enough for that. The goal is to avoid entering the ending sequence before satisfying the route that has already produced the True Ending for players.
Is the True Ending missable?
The achievement exists separately from the regular ending, so it is possible to reach an ending without satisfying the True Ending outcome. Public sources do not currently establish whether a completed save can always return and repair missing requirements after seeing the normal ending. Because of that uncertainty, players seeking End of All Cycle should complete side content first rather than rely on post-ending cleanup.
If you have already earned Deadly Enlightened but not End of All Cycle, compare your save against the Affinity and quest achievements. Missing relationship achievements are a useful signal that your Academy content is incomplete. Avoid deleting or restarting a save solely because a third-party checklist says so; first check what content remains available in the Academy.
Useful achievements to check before the finale
The six maximum-Affinity achievements are the clearest relationship checklist: Pytra, Milyun, Ivanya, Iskra, Kai, and Breone with Nameles. Quest-specific achievements also help reveal unfinished Academy stories. You do not need to assume that unrelated completion challenges such as no-damage Trial Ground runs, every Blessing, every weapon, every gear item, all Skill Tree nodes, Grim Reaper Chests or the Secret Chamber are True Ending prerequisites. Their achievement descriptions track separate completion goals, and no current ending source says they are required.
True Ending video status
No focused current-version True Ending video with sufficiently clear prerequisite documentation was strong enough to embed during this verification pass. Rather than use a generic release trailer or a spoiler-heavy ending upload as filler, this page relies on the released achievement data and a written post-launch completion route. A focused walkthrough can be added later when it clearly demonstrates the prerequisite state before Superbia.
True Ending FAQ
What achievement do you get for the Grim Trials True Ending?
End of All Cycle. Its public Xbox and PlayStation description is “Reach the True Ending.”
What is the normal ending achievement?
Deadly Enlightened, whose requirement is “Reach the Ending.”
Do I need to complete all side quests before Superbia?
That is the safest currently documented player-tested route. A post-launch trophy guide reports completing all character side missions before Superbia, then defeating the boss and seeing an extra post-credits scene. The developers have not published a narrower official checklist.
Do I need every achievement for the True Ending?
No source currently supports that claim. Challenges involving all weapons, all gear, every Blessing, Trial Ground no-hit completion, all Skill Tree nodes and hidden exploration achievements should be treated as separate completion goals unless future evidence proves otherwise.
Should I finish Affinity before the final boss?
Yes if you want the safest True Ending attempt. The achievement list provides maximum-Affinity milestones for Pytra, Milyun, Ivanya, Iskra, Kai, and Breone and Nameles.
Related Grim Trials guides
Sources & verification
- Grim Trials on Steam — official story, Academy relationships, quests, progression and seven-boss framework.
- Nintendo official store — publisher-provided description of Avelin, the Academy, relationships and her goal.
- XboxAchievements: End of All Cycle — True Ending achievement requirement.
- XboxAchievements: Deadly Enlightened — regular ending achievement requirement.
- TrueTrophies — cross-check for ending, boss and Affinity trophy descriptions.
- Gamerbase trophy guide — post-launch player-tested all-side-quests-before-Superbia True Ending route; treated as third-party evidence.
