Returnal - Return All

Yeah I got the complete for biome 1 already. Just trying to get the last 6 cubes I am missing as I go for fragments and other stuff.

A couple weeks ago I got 2 cubes in biome 6 and one fell off the ledge when I picked the other up. And in biome 1 that room where the floor splits open had a cube but I'd already got one from behind a hidden wall. Couldn't make the jump back to the split ledge after. So that's 2 more cubes I've had but couldn't turn in. Kind of annoyed and determined to finish them.

Stele wrote:

I had a start of a good run yesterday finally, got 215% health in biome 1 still. No cube so skipping Phrike and moving on to biome 3 again next time I play. Maybe this will be the one.

This f*cking game.

Trying to explore biome 3 and get the xenoglyphs while I'm here. So I found one... in a side room with a cutscene, and 3 freaking Severeds. Needless to say I got overwhelmed and killed. 270% health by that point and still useless.

I had a beautiful hollowseeker with serrated and retarget, but I tried leveling up some skills on a carbine instead. Should have kept the great gun just in case of emergency. Might have survived... but who knows?

At least I ran over and clicked on the xeno when the fight started, so should have got credit for it. While watching the cutscene, I figured my odds were not good.

This was my only Prime Day purchase. Looking forward to trying it out and hoping my PS5 Rest Mode isn't interrupted too terribly often!

At least your trophies should work.

Couple of mild spoilers ahead for those who haven't finished act 1 and 2...

So I didn't play for a week. Last night had a great run, got through biome 3 and beat Nemesis again, and finally got my Act 1 trophy this time. First time I had made that run since the patch. Feels like biome 1/3 were both harder since then. But anyway, that was the first time I lost to nemesis, with a hollowseeker. Luckily I had used a revive room. So I ran around and found a lobber instead. There seems to be no range penalty on that and the targeting is very very forgiving. It was my easiest defeat of that boss yet. Think the first few times had been carbine, but this was so much easier.

Then I finally found the room in biome 4 with the fragment I needed for epilogue. I didn't realize when I had 4 of them that I was missing the one from biome 4 and had already got biome 5. Also, I finally got the coilspine gun! I had used it in daily missions before but never got it in my game. Once I did, I remembered seeing that room several times in biome 4 but not being able to get to the top ledge. Now that I have that visor from biome 6, I was able to get there. I guess that weapon has always been in that room but I never could access it before. Side note, it seems to suck. Am I wrong?

Anyway, my run fell apart in biome 5, stupid frost severed. And then again tonight, I was having a promising run, and got derailed in a room with 2 severed and a bunch of those stupid flying missile jerks. I had a lobber, which had decimated a severed at the end of one path. But with multiple enemies buzzing around and no door to backtrack, I just got pounded. Very annoying.

So I still need one fragment and beating the final boss again. Maybe I should just jump straight to biome 6. But I like to pop in 5 and spend some obolites if I can. I had like 160% health, the melee upgrade, and a couple of decent parasites when I died tonight. But maybe I should just jump to biome 6 now since that's the only fragment I need. Think I'll try a speedy run like that tomorrow.

Sony has acquired Housemarque.

How many hours have you put in to Returnal now Stele? I'd likely be doing the same, levelling up the traits on every weapon, getting all the fragments etc if there was a save system. I play other games that regularly that I don't want to commit 3 hours to a run in Returnal which I'm screwed if I want to jump on Uncharted or Rocket League with friends. I hold out hope there's more substantial updates coming.

Stoked for the news that Sony have acquired Housemarque, one of the most underrated devs in videogames. It'll be nice to see them have the financial backing, more resources etc to go out there & create more high quality games in the AAA space. They always nail how a game feels/plays.

I happened to look yesterday and in game just passed 3 days on the counter. Although a lot of my first 8 hours or so was wasted on remote play haha.

And yeah a good run is usually 2 hours. They really need a suspend save that deletes when you load it, just for playing other games.

Still missing a few equipment in the database, maybe 3 or 4 scout logs, and 1 xeno tablet translation. I guess I need to make sure if that's in biome 5 or 6 before I commit to skipping to 6 every time.

Last night was interesting, when I got to biome 5 there was a yellow door as I entered the level but I didn't have the melee boost yet. And then I took a one way teleport to the main part of the level so I couldn't go back to see what was in there when I got it. Probably something good, maybe a cube. I'll definitely have to pop in that biome when I have the melee upgrade just to keep checking that.

Stele wrote:

I happened to look yesterday and in game just passed 3 days on the counter. Although a lot of my first 8 hours or so was wasted on remote play haha.

And yeah a good run is usually 2 hours. They really need a suspend save that deletes when you load it, just for playing other games.

Still missing a few equipment in the database, maybe 3 or 4 scout logs, and 1 xeno tablet translation. I guess I need to make sure if that's in biome 5 or 6 before I commit to skipping to 6 every time.

Last night was interesting, when I got to biome 5 there was a yellow door as I entered the level but I didn't have the melee boost yet. And then I took a one way teleport to the main part of the level so I couldn't go back to see what was in there when I got it. Probably something good, maybe a cube. I'll definitely have to pop in that biome when I have the melee upgrade just to keep checking that.

I can promise you the yellow room at the beginning of 5 doesn't contain a datacube (I thought the same thing but was glad to find out that's not what it is).

I have put a bunch of hours into this, and like the feel of the game but don't think I am physically capable of playing this. The level of visual input is overwhelming. I may actually be getting too old for this sh*t.

Yeah it's brutal. I really want to go back for the last story epilogue but I think about playing again after a few weeks and it doesn't feel fun.

It's tough, and I may have fallen off the horse. I put this down to play R&C and now I'm not sure I can do it again. I only need to do one more boss fight and see the "secret" ending. But I'm not sure I can get myself back into fighting shape.

Any tips for getting out of the first biome? I made it to the boss once but I think that was luck. I’m not very good. I feel like with some of the tougher enemies, like the big things that shoot red balls at you, it’s impossible not to get hit. I don’t think I’ve gotten my adrenaline past 3 without a consumable. I’m enjoying the game, though

I think turning auto run on helped me, particularly with some bosses. You can move and shoot but then when you let go of the trigger you move a lot faster. Think that helped with getting a few shots off and then dodging just by running.

Think it helped overall not getting hit as much on regular enemies too

IUMogg wrote:

Any tips for getting out of the first biome? I made it to the boss once but I think that was luck. I’m not very good. I feel like with some of the tougher enemies, like the big things that shoot red balls at you, it’s impossible not to get hit. I don’t think I’ve gotten my adrenaline past 3 without a consumable. I’m enjoying the game, though

Don't fret on the lack of progress, you'll get there as you learn how enemies move and attack and start unlocking more helpful items.

Line of sight is powerful for nearly all projectile-shooting bad guys, use cover a lot and play super-cautious if you aren't confident about what an enemy is doing or have a lot of enemies on the screen.

If you can't use cover or you're out in the open, dodge your tail off, as you can dodge through projectiles and other bad stuff.

I just rolled credits yesterday for the first time, and I think the things that helped the most were (aside from the above):

1) Getting comfortable with always moving while - seriously, always - don't ever stop. Bob, weave, back and forth, jump up and down, whatever...keep moving as you shoot. Very few of the attacks are anticipatory, so movement and dodges are quite effective.

2) Taking my time to find the weapons that work well for me (mostly ones with passive damage abilities so I can keep moving).

3) Grinding obolites (as in, fully explore maps and when killing enemies dash in there and collect them if you can do so without getting hurt by something) to upgrade myself appropriately.

WizardM0de wrote:

3) Grinding obolites (as in, fully explore maps and when killing enemies dash in there and collect them if you can do so without getting hurt by something) to upgrade myself appropriately.

A few other tricks for collecting obolites:

1) Destroying scenery often drops obolites, including:
- statues with glowing yellow eyes
- the parasite chrysalises
- yellow glowing rocks
- the cabbage-looking pods
- the yellow-glowing cowardly squids

2) Landing the killing blow with the melee weapon auto-collects all their obolites
- This includes elites and other "mini-bosses" which typically scatter their obolites all over
- Dashing towards flying enemies and hitting melee will often boost you to their location, as well as collect all their obolites. Most are OHKOs with a standard melee attack.

3) If you don't have any super-useful parasites, just collect as many as you can and recycle them for 50 obolites each.

4) Don't forget to check every drop-room - they often have rooms full of obolites or chances to find them. Learn their hiding spots - they're always the same place in the rooms. Sometimes they're really well hidden, so maybe look up a guide for help if you're having trouble finding them. At some points, listen for a musical queue when you enter a room for an indication there's one to be found.

Spoiler:

For example, the room in biomes 1/4 with a teleport point up to a high point and another warp point back down, with a pit in the middle. Take a dive down the middle and see what's there!

Alz wrote:
WizardM0de wrote:

3) Grinding obolites (as in, fully explore maps and when killing enemies dash in there and collect them if you can do so without getting hurt by something) to upgrade myself appropriately.

A few other tricks for collecting obolites:

1) Destroying scenery often drops obolites, including:
- statues with glowing yellow eyes
- the parasite chrysalises
- yellow glowing rocks
- the cabbage-looking pods
- the yellow-glowing cowardly squids

2) Landing the killing blow with the melee weapon auto-collects all their obolites
- This includes elites and other "mini-bosses" which typically scatter their obolites all over
- Dashing towards flying enemies and hitting melee will often boost you to their location, as well as collect all their obolites. Most are OHKOs with a standard melee attack.

3) If you don't have any super-useful parasites, just collect as many as you can and recycle them for 50 obolites each.

4) Don't forget to check every drop-room - they often have rooms full of obolites or chances to find them. Learn their hiding spots - they're always the same place in the rooms. Sometimes they're really well hidden, so maybe look up a guide for help if you're having trouble finding them. At some points, listen for a musical queue when you enter a room for an indication there's one to be found.

Spoiler:

For example, the room in biomes 1/4 with a teleport point up to a high point and another warp point back down, with a pit in the middle. Take a dive down the middle and see what's there!

I didn't know much of that - thanks!

I reached Phrike in my sixth ever run and got to phase 3 (thank you level 5 slug shot shotgun!). But then had a long drought of 10+ runs with no boss. Had probably my best run ever so far last night. Got enhancements for extra damage to enemies at low health and 5% damage per adrenaline. Combined with a nice level 5 assault rifle I was absolutely melting through enemies. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any super helpful consumeables which is what doomed me in the boss battle. Got through 1.5 phases without being hit but then losing my adrenaline just tanked my damage output and I mistakenly chose to try and shoot Phrike down while he was low on health versus spend a bit more time dodging. It was a sad run end but also really satisfying because I finally felt I was gelling with the combat in a way I haven’t before. Maintaining 5x adrenaline just makes EVERYTHING in a run easier and I was able to do it from start to finish of the run. Hopefully I’ll be able to turn this mini breakthrough into a biome 1 victory in the coming days!

That sounds like progress!

I did it! Phrike down and made it to the boss in Biome 2 on that same run (somehow)

What I really really like about this game so far is it all feels very fair. I never feel like the game is doing something strange or a death/hit isn't directly my fault and something I can learn from. The gameplay loop of learning, experimenting, dying, etc. is actually very rewarding. I've had a lot of "eh let's just do this run and try out a shotgun for a while" or "let's try and unlock weapon trait X this run". It also does a great job of making you feel like you're on the cusp of a breakthrough and knowing exactly when you're skilled enough to take on and beat a boss. I knew early in the week that I was getting close to beating Phrike because I was consistently reaching the boss room with a full kit of artifacts, a good gun, and fairly easily making it to third phase. Then it was just a matter of making sure I had the right attributes on my "winning" run (grabbed the astronaut, a bunch of minor protection buffs, and was able to make it with 140% extra health which combined with the damage reduction (I think I was at 20% protection), and having a health vial consumable to boost my health back up after a few knocks) it was SUPER satisfying to not even take a single tick of damage in Phrike phase 3.

The next biome is so different and the enemies are familiar but also wildly different. I'm excited to now play with the strategy of how much do I grind biome 1 to get to biome 2 versus just going and experimenting in that zone.

I did have two questions through. Spoilered for mechanics etc.

Why does my controller vibrate when....

Spoiler:

I'm in a map? I've generally found it's when there's a secret room near by but not sure if I'm missing something because often I'll feel I've completely explored an area and yet my controller vibrates a bunch?

Why do the other explorer suits sometimes...

Spoiler:

come back as malignant infected enemies? (I assume the specific reason is story related) but how the heck do I beat those guys? I've stopped picking up suits because those malignant suits are SO NASTY. Also why do some of the elites that spawn have crazy difficulty spikes? The one that freezes the ground and spams purple laser things is just oppressive. I've pretty much stopped picking up suits unless I think I need one because 7/10 times the just end my run because the enemy that spawns is so overpowered.

Yeah forget about those other suits. Reward not worth it. Most times it just ends your run.

Stele wrote:

Yeah forget about those other suits. Reward not worth it. Most times it just ends your run.

Agreed, and this is just such a huge bummer. Really wish they'd get it back to the lab and see how to make the juice worth the squeeze, because it's fun to come across in the game and other games have done this so much better.

My favorite has been Diablo 3, where you're adventuring along and notice a subtle change in sound/music that quickly becomes not-so-subtle when the elite enemy that took out someone on your friends list bursts into your game. If you make the decision to avenge, you get loot in addition to random loot gift to send the friend you avenged in the mail.

Now that I've rolled credits, iff I'm rocking a really strong build and I had the opportunity to instantly improve someone else's current or future run, I'd likely go for it every time.

If I had a weapon with a damage over time effect, I would often take those dudes on. Especially if I was using a rotgland lobber with caustic or whatever the trait was that made it leave pools on the ground. I'd just light up the area around it, activate it, and then run and hide. Pop out every once in a while to re-cover the ground or try and hit it, etc.

Of course, by the time these things were actually doing what they were placed for, I'd managed to get most of the traversal upgrades, so I had a LOT more movement options. Early on, they'd have kicked my ass.

Yeah maybe it's a timing thing. If you haven't been the first boss yet, definitely don't ever touch those other signals. But maybe after a 2nd or 3rd boss? I don't know. I just got burned on them early and even when I did successfully do some later, I either burned a lot of items or ended up in bad health shape after. Usually would put an end to my run soon. So I gave up on them entirely.

That reminds me, one of the differences between good runs and great runs is staying full health. Because then almost every one of the green health items becomes a resin, and 3 extend your health bar. Or sometimes 2 if you find the right items. So just rolling through a few rooms without damage and before you know it you're at 150% or 200% health. Snowball effect.

Any news regarding that patch that was supposed to add in-run saves? The game is not as shaky as it was when it launched, but even after a few stability patches, I just lost a run where I almost beat the fourth biome.

It killed my drive to play this game for a long time. It's a gut wrencher.

Vrikk wrote:

Any news regarding that patch that was supposed to add in-run saves?

None yet, sadly. That makes me think that adding a save system is not a simple task because I'm sure they're tired of hearing people ask for it.

I've played for less than an hour but so far it seems really cool! Keen to play some more.

Dyni wrote:
Vrikk wrote:

Any news regarding that patch that was supposed to add in-run saves?

None yet, sadly. That makes me think that adding a save system is not a simple task because I'm sure they're tired of hearing people ask for it.

If this has in run saves I'd still be playing it. I bounce between far too many games to dedicate 2-3 hours to Returnal (even though I've already completed it). I'm really surprised we haven't heard about DLC or a big patch dropping with the in-run save feature.

Finally! Suspend game feature has been added! plus photo mode.

Returnal 2.0 Update

I may pick it up again to hunt the secret ending and mop up achievements with the suspend game feature finally being added. There have been a few times this year when I keep thinking back on this game, and it really did have some spectacular moments I would like to revisit (but preferably not for quite as long each session).