This guide will tell you where to find files included with Returnal which can be removed or replaced, in order to save hard drive space. Categories are in descending order of space saved.

You may free up as much as 8GB, give or take a few hundred MB.

Update (03/09/23): These files are no longer installed by default, as of this morning.

Used for debugging in the Unreal Engine. They take up one tenth of the game's install size, and you likely have no use for them.

Location:
Delete these, and you've freed up 5.16GB of HDD space.

Returnal includes voiceover audio for thirteen languages (and a folder for Finnish, containing no voiceovers.) Chances are, you aren't using all of them.

Location: Each language is in its own subfolder.

The folders, their corresponding languages, and how much space they take up are listed below.


Despite containing no voiceover, the Finnish folder still manages to take up space.
Sorry, Finland. :(

Deleting all but one language nets you, at minimum, 1.26GB of HDD space.

If you aren't using a 2160p monitor, these are wasting hard drive space (and may be dropping frames when they play in-game.)

Location:
You can download transcodes in various resolutions from NexusMods.[www.nexusmods.com]

Depending on your resolution, you'll be saving between 600 and 900 MB.

Many of Returnal's tutorial videos have three versions: One with PlayStation button prompts, one with Xbox button prompts, and one with keyboard-and-mouse button prompts. So, if you use a DualSense or a DualShock, you can delete the Xbox and keyboard videos without missing out on anything.

Of course, you may also delete all of them - the Tutorials screen will have only the text and no video, but some may prefer the space saved.

Location:

The PlayStation videos take up 191MB, the keyboard videos take up 260MB, and the Xbox videos take up 266MB - not counting the videos shared across inputs, or the unused videos listed below.

There are also a number of (often duplicate) videos which do not play in-game. These can be safely deleted, regardless of which input you're using.

• GameHelp_Consumables_2.m4v
  
• GameHelp_Malfunctions_2.m4v
  
• GameHelp_WeaponSystems.m4v
  
• Game_Help_Consumables_pc.mp4

These only take up about 47MB, but that will not stop me from being grumpy about wasted space. My crusade is eternal. >:(

You can also get these files transcoded into lower resolutions, if you want to shave off even more space, from NexusMods.[www.nexusmods.com]

An installer for Epic's Overlay software is included with Returnal, and installation is attempted every time you launch the game. Bypassing the installation, and removing the installer, is covered in this guide: https://cs2bus.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2937442954

Removing the installer reclaims 109MB, and uninstalling the software (If it's already installed) gets you about 257MB.

Two logo videos are included with Returnal; a long "cinematic" style video for new saves, and a shorter one for returning players. Both videos have duplicates in two ultrawide resolutions, so there's six files in total.

Location:

• Logos_PC.mp4
  
• Logos_PC_UW21.mp4
  
• Logos_PC_UW32.mp4
  
• Logos_Short_PC.mp4
  
• Logos_Short_PC_UW21.mp4
  
• Logos_Short_PC_UW32.mp4

Altogether they only take up about 57MB, but the primary benefit in deleting them is time saved.