Returnal - Return All

Returnal charts at no 2 in the UK & while it was outsold by Pokémon Snap by 3:1, it's still a damn good start for a new IP, that's a rogue lite & has the full £70 price point.

I'm still really enjoying my runs, I got to Phrike yet again & after proclaiming I'd be successful this time, I wasn't. Time for another go.

I’ve made it twice - first time had him down to shreds on phase three. The second time... not as great!

Welp, this game patch is gonna auto-update and wipe out a lot of runs in rest mode, isn’t it? Turn off auto updates, folks!

Returnal Review: A gorgeous, incredible game you should not buy

100% what you expect the article to be. "Lack of a save means you have to devote too much time."

Why Returnal Is Already My Game Of The Year

And a counter point article

WizardM0de wrote:

Welp, this game patch is gonna auto-update and wipe out a lot of runs in rest mode, isn’t it? Turn off auto updates, folks!

I'm hoping this patch has some bug fixes because I had my first game crash last night Thankfully, I was only about 20 minutes into a run.

I played much longer than I was planning last night. Once you start to get a feel for the flow of this game, it's easy to blink and realize three hours have gone by

Spikeout wrote:

Returnal charts at no 2 in the UK & while it was outsold by Pokémon Snap by 3:1, it's still a damn good start for a new IP, that's a rogue lite & has the full £70 price point...

For those of us on the other side of the pond, that's over $97 at the current conversion rates. I'm already being even more picky about what's a release-window buy and what's something I definitely want to play but will wait for a sale, and at current prices if I lived outside the US I suspect just about everything would be wait-for-a-sale.

This game is absolutely haunting me. I keep thinking about it when I'm not playing it. The length of the runs and the rhythm feel so unique and compelling (though a save would DEFINITELY help on that front.)

I think this game has some resistance points (the save stuff being the main one) but I also think that some of the resistance is tied up in Returnal pushing against so many different genre norms and conventions. In the few days since recording the CC I find that I'm liking it more and more.

Some early helpful tips I'll spoiler for folks who want to go in without knowing anything but that I wish I would have known from the jump:

Spoiler:

-The stone cages can be opened by shooting a switch hidden nearby (I ignored them for like twelve runs because I thought I needed an upgrade lol.)
-Strafing is your friend.
-Daily challenges give you ether, and ether carries over between runs. YOU WANT ETHER. There's a specific expenditure of it that is absurdly helpful.
-Embrace any parasite that gives you a chance to keep you expendables.
-You don't have to fight everything, you can sprint past most rooms if need be, in fact for run 2, doing this might be helpful. There's a super useful item near the end of the first level that makes everything easier.

Spoiler regarding "starting over" every run:

Spoiler:

Apparently once you get through three biomes, you click over to starting in the fourth for subsequent runs.

I just finished the 3rd Biome in one sitting... Holy crap that was a long run and got extreme stressful towards the end. The patches has fixed my crashing issues.

FYI, if you downloaded today's update, you might want to wait to play until they issue a new one this evening. The new patch is corrupting save files for some users. Per this tweet:

Housemarque wrote:

Patch 1.3.3 has been pulled and we are reverting back to 1.3.1 until it's fixed.

We are fixing the issue now and a new patch will be published in a few hours

All users affected by the 1.3.3 need to re-download the game.

Our sincerest apologies.

Housemarque wrote:

Q: How do we know we are affected?
A: You'll get the CE-100028-1 error popup.

..Just wait for the next patch coming soon if you're not sure.

Housemarque wrote:

So to be safe, don't start the game before the upcoming patch is available and downloaded.

That's a pretty devastating issue. Hopefully they get it fixed quickly and no one here is affected by it.

New patch is up.

Last night (playing on 1.3.1) I encountered the door bug for the first time - at the very first door! Couldn't even abandon the Helios.

2 back-to-back runs where I took the 1st boss down to less than 1/2 of his last health bar and die... I'm terrible at avoiding that sweep attack he does. Is jumping better than dodging for that?

Also, I need to stop picking up the Blaster just because it has a bigger number than my carbine

Carlbear95 wrote:

2 back-to-back runs where I took the 1st boss down to less than 1/2 of his last health bar and die... I'm terrible at avoiding that sweep attack he does. Is jumping better than dodging for that?

Also, I need to stop picking up the Blaster just because it has a bigger number than my carbine

I jumped to avoid the laser sweep attack as it seemed to work better than dashing although it's probably just that I didn't get the timing down at all.

On that note I ended up beating Phrike the other day, estatic I was. It's tough enough in that last phase with everything just being faster. You've got the added ground purple orbs traveling along the ground, the dash into melee attack (which isn't too bad to read) & the one that got me quite a bit was Phrike dropping the two red beams, both of which expand out into a full circle covering the floor & making their way towards you. The dash melee attack straight after dropping them means when you dodge it's swipe you sometimes land on one of the expanding lasers or mistime your jump & get hit by the second one.

I ended up getting to a boss of sorts in the second biome, I'm not sure if it was the main boss but it was a decent bit in. The creature teleported & took up new positions behind or to the opposite side of you, its ranged attack is fairly fast & it eventually downed me.

I was so intent on trying to find the next major permanent upgrade item, the one that will make traversal hit new heights

Got to the actual boss at the end of Crimson Wastes, brilliantly designed battle. One of the best Housemarque have pulled off. Got to phase 3 & got overwhelmed by the the cream coloured ground orbs steadily coming your way, the blue sound wave looking attacks that are very frequent plus the rows of diagonal blue orbs that Ixiom releases. It's really hard to keep your bearings, dashing forward through these projectiles is a must. Back to the start I go.

The Crimson Wastes feels so different than Overgrown Ruins, not just in aesthetic but design. The enemies are a fair jump up in difficulty too, some are really intimidating.

First boss down! I spent a good 10 minutes running around the first area to make sure I was as optimized as possible for the battle. All that prep was unnecessary because I only got hit twice That felt pretty good.

I found a couple particularly useful artifacts that run, including one that cuts down the resin needed for an upgrade from 3 to 2. I'll be crossing my fingers for that one every time.

The second area is indeed a large departure from the first. I made it a bit beyond the miniboss Spikeout mentioned before quitting for the night.

My goodness Dyno, only hit twice by Phrike, that's some going. Good artifacts can really make a difference, the one I had in last night's run was something like 'for every 200 obolites gain 5% extra damage to your weapon' it was devastating as I had over 1000 obolites.

I think I'm gonna do an early morning run here. I activated the reconstructor in the overgrown ruins (the big alien shaped tomb that Selene steps into, if you have 6 ether) which I had no idea what it even meant. I played for a good bit more thinking something in the area would pop up or has changed but was left clueless after I progressed onto the crimson wastes.

It was frustrating not knowing what the hell the reconstructor had done so looked it up. I'm glad I did, for those who want to know it can come in really handy

Spoiler:

it's essentially a checkpoint that saves your progress once per biome so that when you die you go back to this room with all your collectibles & weapon intact, all the enemies apparently stay dead that you've killed too

The implementation of the haptics in the Dual Sense needs another mention again, they add an extra layer to an already superbly playable, atmospheric game. The feedback from weapon fire, jumping, scanning items, picking up stuff, dashing, swinging your blade & so much more is game changing. It's done so subtly for a lot of the environmental cues too that it's hard to imagine playing without the dual sense. It makes me so excited for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart next month & other first party titles down the line.

I've attempted Phrike three times now I think, maybe four and have yet to take it down. I've gotten darn close, one run in particular was extremely close but not quite. I'm concerned I may not be able to take it down at all and that getting stalled out for too long will make me lose interest, which would be a shame because overall I am absolutely loving this game.

It'd be nice to have a difficulty level, maybe easier disables trophies or something? I do think the game would benefit from a stronger rogue-lite element of preserving more per run or being able to slowly build towards upgrades between runs or something. At least then more of my grinding would be rewarded. There have been interesting story elements presented even within my continual runs of this first biome but I'm not sure how much longer that hook will keep me going.

The moment to moment is so much fun though maybe I won't care? Getting to the boss is pretty easy now, it's just a matter of if either I'm powered up enough and/or skilled enough to take it down.

The game certainly had its god runs. And/or I'm starting to figure out good strategies for what to pick up immediately, what to hold off on until later, good artifact combos, etc.

It took 5 tries and about 13 total deaths to get past Phrike. Then I died twice in biome 2. And now, I'm standing at boss 3 and I feel just about indestructible.

Dreaded Gazebo wrote:

The moment to moment is so much fun though maybe I won't care? Getting to the boss is pretty easy now, it's just a matter of if either I'm powered up enough and/or skilled enough to take it down.

I think like any "hard" game, when you get frustrated just put it down for a day or two and come back to it. That was definitely my mindset in Sekiro. Sometimes I did well only to die late in a level, other times I would get crushed by the first "regular" enemy I ran into I had just beaten. Of course in that game it was the Final Boss or some of the other mid game bosses.. not the FIRST boss, but I agree the moment to moment is great. I've failed more times than I care to admit, but just yesterday I found a room layout in Biome 1 that I had never seen before which kinda surprised me.

I can consistently get Phrike to stage 3, but I just can't consistently avoid those darn sweep attacks.

What are people's takes on parasites and malignancy? Obviously some are worse than others, but early on are you rolling the dice on malignancy or avoid? On parasites for sure I'll avoid the "delay on dodge/melee extended" I don't care what the benefit is.

Carlbear95 wrote:

What are people's takes on parasites and malignancy? Obviously some are worse than others, but early on are you rolling the dice on malignancy or avoid? On parasites for sure I'll avoid the "delay on dodge/melee extended" I don't care what the benefit is.

Malignancy and malfunctions are really not very bad. In general, the reward you get far outweighs the temporary inconvenience of a malfunction. Most malfunctions are kill enemies, or do melee, or something you'll do anyway. I really hate the map malfunction though....

Parasites, it totally depends. Some are very powerful, particularly the ones that give you bonus weapon proficiency, or pump up repair efficiency, because they make the game a lot easier in the long run. Getting weapon proficiency high early really make a huge difference.

Orphu wrote:

The game certainly had its god runs. And/or I'm starting to figure out good strategies for what to pick up immediately, what to hold off on until later, good artifact combos, etc.

It took 5 tries and about 13 total deaths to get past Phrike. Then I died twice in biome 2. And now, I'm standing at boss 3 and I feel just about indestructible.

So yeah, I totally walked through boss three on my first encounter. I just had a crazy lucky build and ended up with some stacked damage syphon abilities. I basically could not die as long as I kept shooting.

Ixiom has been defeated at the second time of asking, you do really need to keep your concentration as there's a fair bit of bullet hell in certain attacks. Jump is definitely your friend here. I was elated in victory, in this aspect it really does mirror the Soulsbourne sense of gratification & relief. It's not quite as hard as those games but it's a tough cookie & you dread getting so far to start back over again.

I agree with dreaded gazebo about the game could do with a bit more rogue lite elements, it's definitely more rogue like in that the carry over from run to run is only your equipment (blade etc), weapon traits (slug, piercing etc) & the ether you collect. It would be nice to feel more powerful like Hades.

Oh yeah any blueprints you've unlocked of weapons, artifacts etc have a chance to show up in future runs which I recognized from Dead Cells.

I'm so damn chuffed to have gotten the

Spoiler:

grappling hook

which feels super satisfying. The first biome will be a joy to go through now.

The game is great yet still growing on me. The runs can be long but the gameplay is so slick & enjoyable.

Finally took down Phrike tonight, that felt incredibly satisfying. Had a couple of really useful powerups that helped me out and I was much more selective in the things I picked up this time around. It was still really close and I'm pretty terrible at dodging the melee attacks but managed to pull it off.

Was really nice to dig into the second biome a bit. Some tough enemies in there but looking forward to getting the hang of it.

Continue to be impressed at how satisfying this game is to play. It's funny because a lot of the combat encounters I end up cheesing it a bit, ducking behind cover, etc. yet the combat is a ton of fun. I actually chalk a lot of that up to the DualSense and even more the audio design. It's amazing the sheer amount of information the game is able to communicate to you through audio and haptics, and this really allows you to focus on the action which is something I'm not sure I've ever felt to this degree in an action game before.

I got to the second boss - just an incredible fight. As is my way, I ate it when he had just sliversnof health left on his final phase. Some really pretty barrages of death in this fight, can’t wait to try again!

Carlbear95 wrote:

What are people's takes on parasites and malignancy? Obviously some are worse than others, but early on are you rolling the dice on malignancy or avoid? On parasites for sure I'll avoid the "delay on dodge/melee extended" I don't care what the benefit is.

I've seen a lot of people complaining about them being too punishing and saying they just ignore them entirely. So far, I feel like they've been reasonable, with maybe a few of them bordering on the too punishing end. The few times I've picked up malfunctions for '2.5 seconds increased cooldown on dash' or 'take damage every time you overload' were when I felt that the risk far outweighed any potential reward.

Otherwise, I think the ability to cleanse malfunctions through objectives makes them worth the risk from time to time. This is especially true if you come across parasites or consumables to cleanse malfunctions. That allows you to actively seek out two malfunctioning rewards before getting the guaranteed cleanse. I'm still just in the second biome, so perhaps my feelings on this will change as I get further in. For now, I'll definitely be risking malfunctions at least some of the time.

Sadly, I was about an hour deep into a run when I closed down last night. I fired it up this afternoon to discover that an early morning update wiped that progress. My copy of RE8 just arrived, so I think I'll shelve Returnal at least until I finish that in hopes that they'll be able to patch in some way to save progress soon.

Look, I know it was an absolute gimme, but Thank You for the name of this thread

An epic encounter with Nemesis - the boss of biome 3 - which brilliantly utilizes one of the major themes of the Derelict Citadel as a whole, had me just scrape past on first attempt. Like Ixiom before it was an epic encounter that really showcases the flair & confidence of Housemarque designing these boss battles. Phase two is fantastic & although overall not as hard as I was expecting it's still hugely enjoyable.

I got my weapon proficiency level upto 15, which it maxed out at. I had 'Golden Coil' which is the artifact I was talking about that adda 5% weapon damage for every 200 obilites carried, upto a maximum of 20%. Once I passed Nemesis, there was a fair chunk of story, which I'm still wrapping my head around.

I don't know if many of you are onto biome 4, the Echoing Ruins but structurally this is a spoiler so don't look if you haven't got to this point

Spoiler:

I didn't die on Biome 3 so didn't get put back to the Overgrown Ruins. Now that I'm at the Echoing Ruins it seems that this is the first & maybe only major checkpoint of the game, so basically I died in one of the early areas & just got sent back to the start of Echoing Ruins. You start at level 15 weapon proficiency too. Now I'm happy about this in the sense of progression but it also means I can't go back to use my grappling hook on all those areas I couldn't get to before in the Overgrown Ruins. I wonder if there's something that will open up a portal or some other other way to travel back to it? Maybe you don't need to but I was lusting to get to those high areas all the times I seen the grappling points.

Story wise I should write stuff down or at least post straight after I've finished a story section, be it a cutscene or entering the house again. I'm probably forgetting important details but anyways. The last time

Spoiler:

in the Echoing Ruins, I found the book that seems to be a fictional story that is mirroring Selene's. This Astronaut character (who might be Selene's mum) showed up on the TV in the living room, that showed they were out in the very same hallway you just entered in from. You had the news report on the TV which basically reported on Selene being missing in space & this girl (who's name is escaping me) that died in a car crash, intermittently switching between the two, almost as if it was the same story. I'm not sure if Selene is this girl, or their related, it was a brilliant little segment

The games story just ratcheted up my interest levels a hell of a lot with that visit to the house.

Returnal is easily riding high at the top of my GOTY list so far in 2021.

Am I the only Day 1 returnal player who hasn't beaten the first boss

Carlbear95 wrote:

Am I the only Day 1 returnal player who hasn't beaten the first boss

You'll likely find it easier as you unlock more traits for the weapons as well as ingraining it's attack patterns in your head. Remember to jump with the laser swipe attack, your also invulnerable when you dash so don't be afraid to dash through orbs or any projectile for that matter. It telegraphs the charging melee attack so just look out for the visual cue & be ready to dash to the side or backwards. You'll get there Carlbear

I just downed the second boss (also Day one - and about 60 runs deep, at least.)

One thing I’ve noticed that the game doesn’t communicate well is that as you use a weapon you get permanent upgrades for that weapon, unlocking newer aspects of it that persist between runs. Things WILL get easier, it’s just the progression is sometimes invisible.

Also... not for nothing... but that adrenaline level x5 heal percentage artifact is pretty much the main determination of whether or not I have a good run! So snap it up if you see it in the replicator room!

Carlbear95 wrote:

Am I the only Day 1 returnal player who hasn't beaten the first boss

And no more crying from me.. finally got a pretty good combination of gear, and I didn't even need to use my astronaut figurine.

Amazing how different the 2nd biome is compared to the first.