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Returnal |OT| Live. Die. Repeat.

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Might start with Wreckfest, the game is fucking mental! Pure driving joy, with raw feel when turning stability and traction controls off and using manual, of course.
Have you finished Wreckfest as fast as you have finished Returnal?

Is it another one of Mr. Hazems "premature finishers"? :messenger_winking: :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Have you finished Wreckfest as fast as you have finished Returnal?

Is it another one of Mr. Hazems "premature finishers"? :messenger_winking: :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Nah, finished the Career mode, but need to buy all the cars. I always spend so much time with each game. Returnal happened to be short to my liking even with extensive exploration and admiring the sceneries. A speedrun might be around 5-3 hours (if successful).
 
Man, running out of puff trying to beat the first map. The boss licked me twice, and I’m not sure I have it in me to go again today. I did activate the big sarcophagus just now, wonder what that does.
That's basically a continue if you die in that biome. You'll respawn at that spot. Useful only if you're having a solid run and want to keep your current loadout.
Just get the astronaut toy instead if you can.
 
I feel like I've gotten everything from biome 1, but no trophy. So, now I'm worried and wondering if I should keep searching.

I know for sure I hit level 30 weapon proficiency, but it didn't unlock. I'm less worried about that since I can do that again.
 

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
I feel like I've gotten everything from biome 1, but no trophy. So, now I'm worried and wondering if I should keep searching.

I know for sure I hit level 30 weapon proficiency, but it didn't unlock. I'm less worried about that since I can do that again.
Have you checked the status in the menu? Bartski Bartski said something about it.
 

OrionNebula

Member
Bobby Krlic has said on interviews that the album version of the game music would be recomposed for release purposes, making the OST more player friendly and creating a narrative for the album. There are a lot of tracks missing from the iTunes album but it's intentional. You can't go more AAA than hiring this guy who has worked with Bjork and Atticus Ross as a producer and did the soundtrack for Midsommar.

Short bio:

Bobby Krlic (born 1985),[1] known by his stage name The Haxan Cloak, is a British composer, artist, music producer and musician. Over the past decade, Bobby Krlic has created music under The Haxan Cloak, releasing two full-length albums (2011’s The Haxan Cloak and 2013’s Excavation).[2][3] As a producer, Krlic has worked with artists including Björk,[4] Father John Misty,[5] Khalid,[6] Troye Sivan,[7] Goldfrapp,[8]serpentwithfeet,[9] The Body,[10] and noise-rock band HEALTH.[11] As a composer, Bobby’s credits include Midsommar[12] directed by Ari Aster, Michael Mann’s Blackhat (in collaboration with Oscar-winning composer Atticus Ross),[13] Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2 (in collaboration with Swans)[14] and major network television shows Snowpiercer, Angel of Darkness (TNT)[15] and Reprisal (Hulu).[16]

That’s all fine and everything, but I know plenty of indie games with soundtracks in the 50-70 songs. Great songs, too. Stardew Valley has 70 songs, most are really, really good, and the ost cost me like $4 is what I’m saying

So even if the best band in the world does a AAA ost, 9 songs is not nearly enough. To me
 

FrankWza

Member
Completionist tip of the day:

You might think survey trophies (toughest ones to get) for B4 and B5 are glitched running those biomes in Act 3, your PS5 activity card will show you missing scout logs while in the codex you'll see you have them all, no gaps in the list.
That is not the case - two more appear at the end of the list. They're also not random - last log of B5 always spawns in the "shop" after the final (6th) house sequence, the very last one next to Helios in B4 after the true ending.
This is what he wrote earlier. Captain Toad Captain Toad Con_Z_ǝdʇ Con_Z_ǝdʇ
 
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Bartski

Gold Member
I'm not sure exactly how to determine completion for each biome from there.
you can keep track of how many ciphers you have found in the codex under resources and the cipher entry. This is the most grindy collectible and be ready to get runs with zero new ones as they're tied to specific rooms rather than randomly spawning on a wall.

nUdtTZj.jpg


(also worth noting, I got the survey 100% for B2 after finding 19/20, no clue what happened there...)


I don't think there is a way to track scout logs outside PS5 os activity cards, they started working correctly for me after 1.3.1. I think logs also appear in their own spawn rooms, but some only after a certain point in the story progress - some are not random, like there is always one on the floor next to B4 to B6 entrance and the last two.
 
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When you press the Home button while in-game it should provide percentages on the challenges/trophies you're currently doing.
I think it's an issue with PSN and the game. The activity cards don't come up for me. They did before and in other games. I'll try rebooting the game after I finish the run I have paused.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
Housemarque has really gone out of their way to design the game so it always feels fresh. The variety and replayability is way beyond what I've experienced so far in this genre. So many odd and strange things you encounter, so many new rooms and challenges. Add to that, the fantastic arcade shooter gameplay loop and I can see myself playing this for a long time. The game constantly keeps me on my toes.
 

Malachai

Member
Well the latest patch seems to have made the game harder. Basic enemies in biome 1 now fire fast moving red orbs as well as the usual blue ones. I got wrecked 4 rooms into my new run having to deal with turrets, chrysoids and the bog standard kerberons in the same room that wasn't locked down.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
Now the audio has completely disappeared. Fucking Housemarque, get your shit together. And I can't close the game and boot it up again because there's no fucking save option! And I'm having the greatest run. Biome 6. Soon to enter the boss. But no music or audio just completely destroys the mood. Fuck!
 

SLB1904

Banned
Now the audio has completely disappeared. Fucking Housemarque, get your shit together. And I can't close the game and boot it up again because there's no fucking save option! And I'm having the greatest run. Biome 6. Soon to enter the boss. But no music or audio just completely destroys the mood. Fuck!
it happened to me as well. when i unplugged the headphone the sound was coming out of the tv but not from the headphones anymore.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
it happened to me as well. when i unplugged the headphone the sound was coming out of the tv but not from the headphones anymore.

It doesn't come any audio from the headphones either. Killed the boss too. Without sound. Probably the most anticlimactic fight ever.
 

skit_data

Member
It doesn't come any audio from the headphones either. Killed the boss too. Without sound. Probably the most anticlimactic fight ever.
Did the sound disappear suddenly? The console mutes all audio coming out of rest mode, or at least sometimes it does (i find this somewhat inconsistent) and one has to tap the mute button on the controller to unmute
 
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SLB1904

Banned
Did the sound disappear suddenly? The console mutes all audio coming out of rest mode, or at least sometimes it does (i find this somewhat inconsistent) and one has to tap the mute button on the controller to unmute
the sound just dies as soon you reach the boss room and the music leading up to that fight is so good
 

Mr Hyde

Member
Rebooted the game. Shit like this makes me not wanna play it. But the story is so good. And I want to know what's waiting for me at the depths. Goddamn. Must go out there and squeeze the trigger. Hopefully I can fight the boss again so I can experience it for real this time.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Looks like another patch is out V1.3.6.


RETURNAL PATCH 1.3.6

MAY 8, 2021

Patch 1.3.6 will be live today at 11AM GMT.

Patch Notes:

  • Multiple stability fixes addressing rare crashes/hangs.
  • Fixed issue with pre-order suits occasionally blocking item collection and door opening.
  • Fixed incorrect healing behavior when resting in Helios.
  • Fixed issues with certain custom controller mappings.
  • Numerous minor fixes and improvements.
 
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5609481

Member
So, according to my screen shots it took me 15 hours and 26 deaths to kill the first boss.

At that point I was down to a sliver of health and had a parasite that hurt me when I picked up items.

So I peeking into biome 2 and then tried to go back to my ship to heal (thought I heard you could do that) but I was locked out due to the terrain.

So I put the game down for the night. That was two nights ago. Went to play again and saw my run was closed due to another update...

I don't care about not being able to save during a run, but if I can't even trust it when I suspend the game... yeah I know I should've turned off auto update.

So I'm done for now. Too much frustration and I have to face the fact that a game like this plus mild fomo isn't really good for me. Full price was a bit much this time.
 
So, according to my screen shots it took me 15 hours and 26 deaths to kill the first boss.

At that point I was down to a sliver of health and had a parasite that hurt me when I picked up items.

So I peeking into biome 2 and then tried to go back to my ship to heal (thought I heard you could do that) but I was locked out due to the terrain.

So I put the game down for the night. That was two nights ago. Went to play again and saw my run was closed due to another update...

I don't care about not being able to save during a run, but if I can't even trust it when I suspend the game... yeah I know I should've turned off auto update.

So I'm done for now. Too much frustration and I have to face the fact that a game like this plus mild fomo isn't really good for me. Full price was a bit much this time.
Give it some time. Come back later and you might experience it differently. I know this has happened with me and new styles of difficult games, such as Souls.

This game was stressful for me at first too. But after I leveled up my weapons and just got the feel of the game, it became incredibly rewarding and addictive.

By the way, there is no returning to your ship on any stages except the first one in both Act 1 and Act 2. It sounds like even that has been basically patched out.
 

5609481

Member
Give it some time. Come back later and you might experience it differently. I know this has happened with me and new styles of difficult games, such as Souls.

This game was stressful for me at first too. But after I leveled up my weapons and just got the feel of the game, it became incredibly rewarding and addictive.

By the way, there is no returning to your ship on any stages except the first one in both Act 1 and Act 2. It sounds like even that has been basically patched out.
Oh I will come back to it! Didn't mean to come across as such a downer. I like the game a lot - I just found making real progress to be rather tough, at least early on.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
I've now had two extremely good builds ruined by glitches. Several hours just wasted. I love this game but Housemarque has fucked up by not including a quicksave. This has really soured the experience, especially considering the length it can take building up your character. Probably gonna leave this alone until Housemarque addresses these issues. Real bummer, because the game is so much fun.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Been playing it for a week and still haven't got any "Avenge Scout".

Is there an option to turn it on anywhere?

Beaten the game and the only scout dead to avenge was my friend, which was about killing my run and respawning to avenge him. It's extremely stupid and you can accidently do it and lose your progress.
 

skit_data

Member
Oh I will come back to it! Didn't mean to come across as such a downer. I like the game a lot - I just found making real progress to be rather tough, at least early on.
Not to discourage you but making progress won’t get easier. But! You will become better and as you learn the rooms, the weapons and enemy behaviour the game will feel easier. I was stuck on Biome 1 for 8 hours and Biome 2 at least 12 hours. Now I’m at the end of Biome 3 and Biome 1 feels like coming home and you feel confident moving through it.
 

dcmk7

Banned
So, according to my screen shots it took me 15 hours and 26 deaths to kill the first boss.

At that point I was down to a sliver of health and had a parasite that hurt me when I picked up items.

So I peeking into biome 2 and then tried to go back to my ship to heal (thought I heard you could do that) but I was locked out due to the terrain.

So I put the game down for the night. That was two nights ago. Went to play again and saw my run was closed due to another update...

I don't care about not being able to save during a run, but if I can't even trust it when I suspend the game... yeah I know I should've turned off auto update.

So I'm done for now. Too much frustration and I have to face the fact that a game like this plus mild fomo isn't really good for me. Full price was a bit much this time.

I think Bo_Hazem Bo_Hazem might have said that.

sacrifice GIF
 
I've now had two extremely good builds ruined by glitches. Several hours just wasted. I love this game but Housemarque has fucked up by not including a quicksave. This has really soured the experience, especially considering the length it can take building up your character. Probably gonna leave this alone until Housemarque addresses these issues. Real bummer, because the game is so much fun.
I must be insanely lucky. I've put so many hours into this game and have not seen a single glitch. I keep hearing online how it's broken.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
I must be insanely lucky. I've put so many hours into this game and have not seen a single glitch. I keep hearing online how it's broken.

Same here, not a single glitch but didn't put that much hours as well. One and done, lol. Uploading some Wreckfest gameplay videos and might make biome 1 gameplay later and upload it.
 

Raonak

Banned
Don't feel bad if you're stuck in the first biome. Imo the game gets easier there more you play because you unlock more weapons, items, and you get way better at the game the more you play.

So it took me about
13 hrs for biome 1.
5 hrs for biome 2.
3 hrs for biome 3.
1 hour for biome 4.

Now onto biome 5.

My favourite weapons are slugshot version of spitmaw shotgun. Absolutely tears through everything.

And the rotglad lobber. It basically Poisons the enemy. So one shot from it will kill most basic enemies over a few seconds. It's very useful to just shoot all enemies atleast once and they'll just die from the poison.

I also love the red electric tether gun. Very fun to use and feels like a ratchet and clank weapon.

Not a big fan of the standard guns like the hollowseeker or the carbine. They just feel kinda boring to use. Through hollowseeker with waves is great.

Also, something that made me way better was ignoring the alt-fire except against bigger enemies. It forced me to get better at the general gunplay. I feel like I could beat the first boss with a pistol now.
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
After beating it, here are my main tips:

1. Always be moving. Always.
2. Always be shooting. Always.
3. Take advantage of the risk the games wants you to take --- i.e., malignancies. Most of them are only mildly annoying (and can be cleared), and their rewards pay off over time (extra obelites, health, better weapons/artifacts, etc). This goes against some people's advice here, but I strongly disagree in general. The game puts them in for a reason.
4. Pay close attention to the weapon perks you pick up (leach rounds, etc are highly valuable).
5. Focus on protection more than any other stat. Don't worry about proficiency at all.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
I must be insanely lucky. I've put so many hours into this game and have not seen a single glitch. I keep hearing online how it's broken.

I've played 35 hours and had two incidents where I lost my builds. One crash to menu and audio disappearing. Returnal is far from broken, it's in fact quite polished, but the nature of the game being a roguelike, and your progression is wiped upon death, any game breaking bug obviously feels a lot harder, than if you could save your progress.

Anyway, I'm just pissed now, I only have to take a break a few days and then come back, going for a new run and trying again. I've had quite some progress today, so it's not all in vain. Unlocked lots of new items, story sequences and biome 6.

It's just frustrating when you have a good build and suddenly shit hits the fan. I believe Housemarque will fix it due time, but it stings a little bit being a day 1 buyer having these glitches ruin the fun. On the other hand, it's probably a nightmare to create a game today in Covid-times so Housemarque is probably doing their best they can. Just they that were able to ship such a great game in these trying times deserves credit.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
After beating it, here are my main tips:

1. Always be moving. Always.
2. Always be shooting. Always.
3. Take advantage of the risk the games wants you to take --- i.e., malignancies. Most of them are only mildly annoying (and can be cleared), and their rewards pay off over time (extra obelites, health, better weapons/artifacts, etc). This goes against some people's advice here, but I strongly disagree in general. The game puts them in for a reason.
4. Pay close attention to the weapon perks you pick up (leach rounds, etc are highly valuable).
5. Focus on protection more than any other stat. Don't worry about proficiency at all.

Agree with you but if you got some parasites those could make your malfunctions extremely bad and extremely hard to fix. Also after packing 2 malfunctions you can't pick anything more, any malignant stuff you pick will be automatically destroyed.

I'm honestly happy to have different experiences around here, including favorite weapons. This describes play styles as well.
 
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The game got patched again while my PS5 was on rest mode even though auto-update is turned off.

I also noticed that I can use the bed only once after the latest update.
 
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