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Returnal |OT| Live. Die. Repeat.

DonJorginho

Banned
Am gonna take a mild break, keep getting all the way to the final combat arena prior to the final boss of biome 3 and the sheer amount of those huge ass automatons mixed with the constant lasers going off just lead me down a one way street called "about to die lane".

I am loving the game but I can't help but feel they didn't tune the difficulty curve of the opening biomes right, for me the first and second biomes are piss easy, and the third hits you like a train with how much the difficulty rises, to be fair I was getting further in each run, but I have done 3 lots of 1hr plus runs to just die at that last combat arena.

Just to stress this is likely a me problem, but it's moments like this where I would appreciate the option to save ONCE per run, it is definitely possible for the devs to implement and would make this not as frustrating.

Also the malignant aspect of the game doesn't work, very rare to have a parasite or item I will take the risk for, best ones are the Parasites who auto repair you when low on integrity, other than that I'm struggling to find pros for it, but maybe I just haven't seen enough to fully judge.
 
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Mr Hyde

Member
Headed for another great run. Getting decimated in biome 3 but hopefully I'll manage this time. Anybody got some tips or pointers for those goddamn kamikaze robots? When are you supposed to dodge? They are just crashing right into me and they do huge damage. Annoying AF.
 

DonJorginho

Banned
Headed for another great run. Getting decimated in biome 3 but hopefully I'll manage this time. Anybody got some tips or pointers for those goddamn kamikaze robots? When are you supposed to dodge? They are just crashing right into me and they do huge damage. Annoying AF.
If you can't take em out quickly enough then just run lmaoo
 

GymWolf

Gold Member
Pro tip, don't be scared to use the melee attack, it one shot small enemies and it has a bit of tracking if you are in the air.

It is also good for medium enemies like the fungus one, one air melee attack to his head to ko him and then 3 hit when he is down to kill him, easy peasy.

I'm onestly using melee 70% of the times during fights.

Also is it me or precision platforming is a bit iffy?!
 
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GymWolf

Gold Member
Think I got to the first boss but died and now I can't make it back to him lol. Those bat monsters that lunge at you are a pain in the ass.

Enjoying the game so far but don't think I'll make it to the end
When they are close, jump and melee their ass, you don't have to wait for their attack if you one shot them first.
 

Dynasty8

Member
Man I am really not enjoying this game at all, which is unfortunate. I am also no stranger to challenging games. I've platinumed games like Sekiro, BB, all Souls games and even have done no death speedruns on some of them. But there is something seriously wrong with impeding almost ALL progress whenever the PS5 decides to crash due to an "error" and close the app... 5+ hour run and my high weapon proficiency, good artifacts, etc all gone

I am also dumbfounded on the whole "just put it into rest mode" excuse too... Sorry to say, it doesn't work that way. What if I want to play another PS5 game when friends come online? I am forced to quit the Returnal app when launching another game. All progress... basically gone.

Another thing I also saw was a glitch when picking up an artifact, basically launched you all the way to the top of the map and through an invisible barrier/wall where you were forced to quit the game.

I wish they would allow us to keep some level ups/upgrades etc more permanently... Constantly having to re-grind to get to where I was is really not fun IMO. It just feels like an artificial way to "extend" the length of the game. Just my honest thoughts.
 
The inability to save has made me not buy this game. Crazy one single thing can cost a developer a sale. Idk how ya'll are doing it with all these posts about crashes. I would be RAGING if I put in 90 min, couldn't save, and a crash ruined it. I would never play the game again.
 

Cao Cao

Member
Maybe finish up your games first before releasing it developers!
Can't be that you pay 80€ and get a buggy game! Holy fuk what is wrong with game developing nowadays.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
It's strange to hear about the crashes. I haven't had a single one, only one instance of the controller not responding after a house scene, but even that was most likely linked to PS5 firmware bug.

Maybe it's related to using other suits after all? I was using the 'standard' one all the time.
 
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After about 8 hours of play, I have some thoughts:

The Great:

- Audio, some of the best audio I’ve experienced in a game
- DualSense, probably best DualSense support since Astro’s Playroom
- Narrative/story-telling, I am fully immersed in Selene's journey. I love the story, the atmosphere, the voice acting. Superb

The Good:

- Visuals, I think it looks really good. Whatever the did with the resolution upsampling works very well IMO

The Meh:

I think this is a good third person arcade shooter. I don’t think think this is a good roguelike.

As a roguelike, I don’t feel the “ONE MORE RUN, ONE MORE RUN” hook that Dead Cells and Hades delivered. A big part of this is lack of fleshed out permanent progression.

So many runs end with nothing to show other than a couple ether. They need to expand this. Especially with runs being so long. Instead of chomping at the bit to start a new run with a new upgrade, even if it’s just a small permanent stat boost, I find myself staring at the screen after a death thinking “not sure I feel like doing it all over again right now, maybe later.” Hades is a shining example of how to do this right. With Returnal you could implement upgrading starting weapon proficiency, starting integrity, resistance, sprint speed, cool downs, etc. If runs were shorter it wouldn’t be as big of an issue.

As a third person arcade shooter, it’s fun as hell. The combat and exploration are fun and compelling.
 
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After about 8 hours of play, I have some thoughts:

The Great:

- Audio, some of the best audio I’ve experienced in a game
- DualSense, probably best DualSense support since Astro’s Playroom

The Good:

- Visuals, I think it looks really good. Whatever the did with the resolution upsampling works very well IMO

The Meh:

I think this is a good third person arcade shooter. I don’t think think this is a good roguelike.

As a roguelike, I don’t feel the “ONE MORE RUN, ONE MORE RUN” hook that Dead Cells and Hades delivered. A big part of this is lack of fleshed out permanent progression.

So many runs end with nothing to show other than a couple ether. They need to expand this. Especially with runs being so long. Instead of chomping at the bit to start a new run with a new upgrade, even if it’s just a small permanent stat boost, I find myself staring at the screen after a death thinking “not sure I feel like doing it all over again right now, maybe later.” Hades is a shining example of how to do this right. With Returnal you could implement upgrading starting weapon proficiency, starting integrity, etc. If runs were shorter it wouldn’t be as big of an issue.

As a third person arcade shooter, it’s fun as hell. The combat and exploration are fun and compelling.

yep

I would be super satisfied with the difficulty ramped up a bit but more meaningful progression after each run.
 

NewChoppa

Banned
Goddamn, wasn't expecting the difficulty to ramp up so quick in Biome 3. Managed to get through the first and second with not too many issues, but this one is really testing my skills.

Man, I love this game
 

DonJorginho

Banned
Goddamn, wasn't expecting the difficulty to ramp up so quick in Biome 3. Managed to get through the first and second with not too many issues, but this one is really testing my skills.

Man, I love this game
EXACTLY MY STORY WITH THIS GAME.


first two were piss easy aside from dying to both bosses once, but the third biome is INSANE, I got all the way to the final combat arena before the final boss of biome 3 but died as they have like 2/3 of those massive automaton robots aswell as multiple shielded robots and constant lasers going off, I quit the game and haven't touched for a few hours, might hop back in later.
 

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
The Hyperion fight looks so good!

Parks And Recreation Reaction GIF
 

dcmk7

Banned
Have managed to play about 3 hours and this game, is tough, it is kicking my arse.. but still loving it, havent even seen the first boss yet, still figuring it out.
 

FrankWza

Member
Have managed to play about 3 hours and this game, is tough, it is kicking my arse.. but still loving it, havent even seen the first boss yet, still figuring it out.
Bo_Hazem Bo_Hazem has some good tips with getting spoilery. But to me the toughest part is figuring out the different systems in the game and what to use resources on. I have to reread everything
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
EXACTLY MY STORY WITH THIS GAME.


first two were piss easy aside from dying to both bosses once, but the third biome is INSANE, I got all the way to the final combat arena before the final boss of biome 3 but died as they have like 2/3 of those massive automaton robots aswell as multiple shielded robots and constant lasers going off, I quit the game and haven't touched for a few hours, might hop back in later.

3rd biome is the hardest one by the way. You need to be very nimble and fast and time your dodges precisely. Died at the boss once though and survived most of it via running away and using gates exploit.
 
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TIGERCOOL

Member
Kinda confused as to how they thought the parasites/malignancies were balanced at all. All the interesting gameplay mods are trapped behind horrible build tradeoffs. Hoping things open up a bit in this regard but so far at the third biome I havent found a great synergy or anything useful beyond free revives/tougher/more damage. Shame as the game is truly unique and the feels great to play for the most part.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
And again I die in biome 3. You come to an area with tens of these robots just crashing in to you. You got zero chance. I keep leveling up with loads of augments and health and then I reach this fucking place and it's instant death. Starting to get on my nerves. I can't take the short cut directly either because with no upgrades I die even faster. So I have to keep grinding in the two first biomes. Ugh.
 
I don't have Returnal, but this is due to not having a ps5, still hard to find here in France.

I just want to say hats off to Housemarque to ship this game. Coincidentally, I just shipped this week a 30 m€ IT project after 3 hardworking years as program director and I'm totally exhausted and the team too.

Shipping a game looks to be so hard, much harder than typical IT stuff, I'm in awe when Devs manage to pull it.

We should all on this forum recognize the talent it takes to ship a game, whether we like the end result or not. And be respectful for the Devs and artists that put their souls in games for us.

Congrats to Housemarque for this acheivement ! And it looks that the game is stellar from the videos I saw.

I loved dead cells, my first and only rogue like, but Returnal is maybe too taxing for me. Maybe by the time I can get a ps5, some easier difficulty level or easening options will make it more accessible to me.
 

Entroyp

Member
I mean seriously, what's the point with all this health, and augments and artifacts, giving you shield increase and weapon damage when you die in two hits anyway? Feels very unbalanced sometimes. Starting to piss me off. Yet, I can't stop playing. Fucking hell.

I’m there with you. Biome 3 is kicking me hard.
 

Dynasty8

Member
After about 8 hours of play, I have some thoughts:

The Great:

- Audio, some of the best audio I’ve experienced in a game
- DualSense, probably best DualSense support since Astro’s Playroom
- Narrative/story-telling, I am fully immersed in Selene's journey. I love the story, the atmosphere, the voice acting. Superb

The Good:

- Visuals, I think it looks really good. Whatever the did with the resolution upsampling works very well IMO

The Meh:

I think this is a good third person arcade shooter. I don’t think think this is a good roguelike.

As a roguelike, I don’t feel the “ONE MORE RUN, ONE MORE RUN” hook that Dead Cells and Hades delivered. A big part of this is lack of fleshed out permanent progression.

So many runs end with nothing to show other than a couple ether. They need to expand this. Especially with runs being so long. Instead of chomping at the bit to start a new run with a new upgrade, even if it’s just a small permanent stat boost, I find myself staring at the screen after a death thinking “not sure I feel like doing it all over again right now, maybe later.” Hades is a shining example of how to do this right. With Returnal you could implement upgrading starting weapon proficiency, starting integrity, etc. If runs were shorter it wouldn’t be as big of an issue.

As a third person arcade shooter, it’s fun as hell. The combat and exploration are fun and compelling.
I agree with this 100%. I also find myself staring at my screen after a 5+ hour run thinking to myself I even feel like going over it all again.

Just out of curiosity, how does Hades do it in comparison to Returnal? That's been on my list of games to play, but I really hope it's not as tedious.
 

saintjules

Gold Member
Died at the 2nd boss fight. Awesome experience though. Hand kept quivering. Never experienced anything like that before.
 

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Derelict Citadel was really awesome. Seemed to get darker and darker the further you progressed.

51150446866_4ed9af48e0_h.jpg
 
I agree with this 100%. I also find myself staring at my screen after a 5+ hour run thinking to myself I even feel like going over it all again.

Just out of curiosity, how does Hades do it in comparison to Returnal? That's been on my list of games to play, but I really hope it's not as tedious.

The progression is much, much better and much, much deeper in Hades.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
And again I die in biome 3. You come to an area with tens of these robots just crashing in to you. You got zero chance. I keep leveling up with loads of augments and health and then I reach this fucking place and it's instant death. Starting to get on my nerves. I can't take the short cut directly either because with no upgrades I die even faster. So I have to keep grinding in the two first biomes. Ugh.
My tip would be to try long distance fighting with the rifle or the rocket launcher. You also have the grapnel, it's a great tool for escaping quickly, it's much faster than just running.

Also you don't have to fight everyone when you're climbing to the top to fight the boss. "Only" some of the lasers are mandatory obstacles.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Just to stress this is likely a me problem, but it's moments like this where I would appreciate the option to save ONCE per run, it is definitely possible for the devs to implement and would make this not as frustrating.
reconstruction terminal requires 6 ether and works as a save point. though the boss does get all his health back.

Interesting.

Is it a one-time use and are there multiple figures throughout the game? Kinda curious how many there are
one time use, but there is another item there that can also bring you back. i dont remember what it was but it helped me defeat the first boss after i had used the astronaut figurine and died again.

there is a third thing that can bring you back. its what i mentioned above. you find it in the rooms where you can upgrade your health and buy some items. you need 6 ethers to activate it. so save all your ethers for it.
 

decisions

Member
I think it's tied to the alternative suits, avoid them for now. I didn't use them because I don't like tinted helmet that hides all the beauty of this hag.

Maybe that increases the chances of this happening too, but, I don't have alternate suits, it seems like those are tied to the crashes. My game didn't crash, there was just no way to stop reading the book except closing the app (the "O" prompt was on screen but did not do anything).
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Maybe that increases the chances of this happening too, but, I don't have alternate suits, it seems like those are tied to the crashes. My game didn't crash, there was just no way to stop reading the book except closing the app (the "O" prompt was on screen but did not do anything).

I was just lucky, I think. nearly 12 hours witn zero crashes/glitches. I read the books as well.
 

iorek21

Member
Played 3h of it just now, very fun game with great visuals and DualSense features. I even tried putting my headphones on to check out the 3D audio, it's mindblowing as fuck.

Only one issue, though: it randomly turned my PS5 off for some reason.
 
I wish I had back button attachment for this game

I keep hoping that back paddles/buttons become standard on controllers moving forward. They would be very helpful for this game in particular.

Mapping jump/dodge to L1 and R1 is something I’m gonna try tonight tho.

I also feel like a moron because I was grinding weapon proficiency in the first biome each run not knowing that if I head straight for the other biomes there is a minimum boost to match each biome right away. I’ve wasted a few hours
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Man that second boss is insane. the final phase especially. i really dont know when to attack and when to defend.

I wasted two 1.5 hour runs in biome 2. had the reconstruction thing built out but the boss also regained his health after i respawned at the checkpoint. Lame.

One thing I dont like is how my run just didnt matter. there is zero cross progression. you dont really feel like you are getting powerful. you do learn the game, but i really wished the artifacts stayed with you across different runs. I was fighting the boss with a level 8 weapon, and because i got hit, i had no adrenaline. and no real way to bring it back up. that pretty much made it a shit weapon and instead of trading blows, it turned into this long and tedious fight where i could only do tiny damage.

they can easily fix a lot of this by just removing all the negative status effects. they are diluting the loot pool, and are simply not rewarding exploration.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I must be doing something wrong. I have died like 12 times and haven’t beaten first boss haha. I feel like I’m not getting any stronger
nah, you arent doing anything wrong. the game is not well designed in that aspect. a failed run is a wasteful one. which isnt typically the case with other rougelikes.

every run is its own mini game, and you pretty much have to start from scratch and build up your weapons and health. let weapons take care of themselves, and focus on health.

save up 350 oblites so when you get to the room with the stores, you have enough to increase your health by 25%. only pick up health items when your health is full. collecting three when your health is full will increase your health bar.
 

skit_data

Member
I had just had a good run, prepared for Phrike by leveling up weapon proficency, buying an astronaut and crafting a large health pack. Just when I was about to head to Phrike the game crashed out of nowhere.

Seriously thinking about waiting to play the game anymore until these crashes gets sorted out, extremely demoralizing.

Its a shame cause I really love the gameplay and everything. I have no problems with the rogulike aspects but having a random crash wipe a so far promising run is really, really bad.
 
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