Returnal - RLLMUK and BAFTA GOTY 2021 - Free Ascension DLC out now!

[GamesGamesGames]

And done, although I'll be back in to complete and just to enjoy for a long time to come. An all-time top 5 for me. Maybe top 3. As with the very best, it's a game the kid me was imagining when plonked in front of the Speccy.

[Keiths_Dad]

I was having a great run last night, got through biome 4 with loads of integrity upgrades, and ready to make a good run at 5 which I haven't beaten yet...

 

Come back today and quick resume has failed. This game is near perfect, but honestly, not being able to save is fucking stupid. So deflated right now.

[Gigawatt]

Fuck! I just got further than I had before, put the PS5 in rest mode and then it did a system software update on its own and lost all my progress. 

[SpagMasterSwift]

Guess what guys?!

 

Spoiler

Didn’t even need the spaceman in the end! Man, I fucking love this game!
 

[Gigawatt]

Ixion first time baby!

[Hylian]

Blasted through 1-3 last night with 300% integrity and a full set of artefacts. All bosses down and (Act 3 spoilers) 

Spoiler

All sun fragments now collected from 1-4

I had a ridiculous build with max integrity upgrades only needing 2 chunks and giving a bigger boost each time. First OP build without adrenaline leech for me. 

 

I'm going to finally be done with this soon and I will probably put it down until they release some proper NG+ content. I'm definitely not going for platinum in its current state - I still haven't got the Act 1 trophy despite doing it twice and getting the Act 2 trophy! 

 

I absolutely love the boss battles and elite arenas now. Would love some sort of endless mode where its just hard elite arenas interspersed with bosses and the odd shop. 

[Fretnoise]

This is quite an education...  I've never played a 'roguelike' before (at least, I don't think I have...) so I basically flip flop between thinking I know what's going on, then being thrown a new game mechanic and feeling completely lost again.  I'm still on the first biome, so hopefully no real spoilers, but just in case:

 

Spoiler

As an example, it took me bloody ages to realise / figure out / read that you could melee your way through the blocked doorways, after turning up at the Crimson Gateway without the key and thinking I'd glitched into a room with no way out...

 

And yes, I know now that it was telling me this the whole time in the top right corner of the screen... they should make more obvious when it changes!

 

And now on to my current point of confusion - spoilered again for B1 details:

 

Spoiler

I've met and been beaten down by Phrike once.  Is it now the case that getting to his lair is easier / closer to the start and it's up to me to go and get the goodies I think I'll need to beat him?  I got half way through his 2nd phase first time, but that was at the end of quite a successful run where I think I was pretty well tooled up - 3* weapon, and a consumable that got me back up to full adrenalin (which didn't do much good as once he started landing his hits in phase 2, he kept on landing his hits... what can I say. I'm slow to learn these things!)

 

What's a decent level of loadout to be looking for to make him beatable?  Is it just a case of learning his various attacks and how to avoid them?

 

Once I've beaten him ("optimism, I like it...") does the gate remain open, or do I have to go and fight him for the key every time?

 

And finally... I've read about people using rest mode to save progress for really long runs.  How long is a "long run"?  I can't have the PS5 tied up for this for days at a time - I've got GT Sport races to screw up!

 

[jonamok]

Once you’ve met him once, the boss room location is random. You can beat him with any weapon, and the game gives you a capable pistol just before you drop down. You just need to learn his attacks, especially his melee. I would recommend you tool up with a spare vial at least before taking him on. And try to go in with a WP of 3 or 4 as you’ll do more damage.

 

Once he’s dead you don’t need to fight him ever again, unless you want to. And you probably will.

[Hylian]

@fretnoise one minor point, adrenaline level is somewhat irrelevant against bosses. The advantages would be the wider overload window and the stronger melee, but once you get hit once it will reset anyway and there's no way to get it back. So I'd save that consumable in future. You just need to learn the boss attack patterns. I would clear out Biome 1 each time before the boss to give yourself the best chance. You might want to try the elite room also (yellow door with the star on map). 

[Hylian]

And yes, runs can take several hours. It sucks, but rest mode is currently the only way to save progress. Turn off your auto updates/installs too as that can end a run. 

[Hylian]

https://housemarque.com/news/2021/6/11/returnal-patch-140

 

Patch coming on Monday. No save feature yet I'm afraid. 

[Fretnoise]

It's annoying, but I think I get it - if you could save mid-cycle then the whole difficulty balance would change.  Even if you're limited to campfires / meditation points or something, I still could have saved before heading to the boss and then kept reloading the save until I lucked my way through.  It's a much tougher challenge knowing that I can't just jump back to the save to try again.

 

(I can't rely on resting to 'save' though - my PS5 is shared with the family so it's almost certain that by the time I come to play again, my game will have been ended so that someone could play Bugsnax or something...)

[Hylian]

11 minutes ago, fretnoise said:

It's annoying, but I think I get it - if you could save mid-cycle then the whole difficulty balance would change.  Even if you're limited to campfires / meditation points or something, I still could have saved before heading to the boss and then kept reloading the save until I lucked my way through.  It's a much tougher challenge knowing that I can't just jump back to the save to try again.

 

(I can't rely on resting to 'save' though - my PS5 is shared with the family so it's almost certain that by the time I come to play again, my game will have been ended so that someone could play Bugsnax or something...)

That is the difficulty for them. But they need a "save and quit" option, where it wipes your save when you load again. That way you can't just reload a save (sure, you could use a backup, but just let people do that if they really want to). 

[Junker]

6 hours ago, fretnoise said:

It's annoying, but I think I get it - if you could save mid-cycle then the whole difficulty balance would change.  Even if you're limited to campfires / meditation points or something, I still could have saved before heading to the boss and then kept reloading the save until I lucked my way through.  It's a much tougher challenge knowing that I can't just jump back to the save to try again.

 

(I can't rely on resting to 'save' though - my PS5 is shared with the family so it's almost certain that by the time I come to play again, my game will have been ended so that someone could play Bugsnax or something...)

Fancy meeting you in here! I’m pretty awful at shooters but after much worrying about If I would ever beat Phrike I got him on the 5th attempt. When people say just keep playing and dying it sounds a bit glib but honestly it’s the truth. Took me about 12 hours to get past  B1, and so I’m the worst. 
 Best things I did was put sprint on all the time,  just hip fire and make the aiming reticule nice and big and bold.

[SpagMasterSwift]

I went in last night with the aim of getting straight back to B2, but ended up completely rinsing B1 again and smashing the boss just because. B2 seems like it should be ok, but I’m enjoying soaking up the new weirdness for now. Not sure if it was just this run, but looks like there’s a lot more locked rooms in B2 so will try and save a load of keys in B1 next time. Loving the new weapon traits, like water in the desert!

 

I still don’t understand how the Datacubes work. 

Spoiler

I got one after beating the first boss and stuck it in the processor. I now have a filled square on the data screen but no info as to what benefit the cube gave me. I thought they gave you permanent perks?

 

[Marlew]

15 hours ago, Hylian said:

That is the difficulty for them. But they need a "save and quit" option, where it wipes your save when you load again. That way you can't just reload a save (sure, you could use a backup, but just let people do that if they really want to). 

 

You'd hope it wouldn't be that hard, Demon's Souls did this twelve years ago. Isaac did it a decade ago. 

 

The technical knowhow exists so you have to wonder if they're not being a little precious. 

[Hylian]

@SpagMasterSwiftdata cubes give you a new item (I think can be artefact or equipment). You either picked it up and didn't realise or you missed it

[SpagMasterSwift]

So it doesn’t carry over to the next cycle?

[Yuujiin]

My first data cube unlocked the ability to carry two consumables. I presume others unlock similar traits. They are permanent unlocks.

 

Still not got the second boss down so don't know much more.

[Timmo]

Just now, Yuujiin said:

My first data cube unlocked the ability to carry two consumables. I presume others unlock similar traits. They are permanent unlocks.

 

Still not got the second boss down so don't know much more.

They aren't similar - they just unlock more stuff for the world pool.

[Yuujiin]

They are permanent unlocks ??

 

As we all know this game tells you nothing.

[Hylian]

Yes they add things to the pool of items/artefacts permanently. But you also get that item for your current run. 

[p1nseeker]

18 hours ago, Hylian said:

https://housemarque.com/news/2021/6/11/returnal-patch-140

 

Patch coming on Monday. No save feature yet I'm afraid. 

 

Quote

UI: HUD labels for items are now hidden when Selene is firing a weapon

 

Thank god

[SpagMasterSwift]

1 hour ago, Hylian said:

Yes they add things to the pool of items/artefacts permanently. But you also get that item for your current run. 

So the same as that thing you feed Ether into by your ship?

[Yuujiin]

33 minutes ago, SpagMasterSwift said:

So the same as that thing you feed Ether into by your ship?

Has that thing not got a proper name??

Playing this makes me hope that a remaster of Alien Isolation with all fancy RT and 3D sound is in the works. 

[Yuujiin]

On 09/06/2021 at 14:23, jonamok said:

Yep, if you find a tachyomatic carbine with Leech Rounds and Rising Pitch, you never swap that bad boy. Only exception would be a Hollowseeker with Waves, Serrated Edges and Portal Gun, then nothing will hurt you - even bowtie fighters.

Can I ask if you have worked out how the upgrades work for your gun ?

Have gathered that you have to use whatever gun to unlock the padlocked trait.

So do more unlocks appear the higher the level of proficiency. I think I have only reached 8 so far.

[SpagMasterSwift]

34 minutes ago, Yuujiin said:

Has that thing not got a proper name??

 

Yes, but you have to kill three bosses before it tells you.

[Timmo]

Patch is live and reports appear to suggest that the dreaded drones are now less dangerous!

 

Also ether appears as purple on the map, and health items you've left throughout the biome can be seen on the map, which is great.

 

I started the game to see if the trophies it missed might pop, but nothing. I would be tempted to get the Platinum on this but it looks like it'll be impossible.

[V3zna]

There’s definitely something to be said for improving at the game. All those attempts at Phrike with a carbine, astronaut and large vial came to nothing. Went in only with a sidearm, a bit more integrity than usual and a 10% boost to damage. Crushed him while taking a lot less damage than usual. It was one of those zen moments that made no sense in hindsight. 

[Alan Stock]

Read the new patch notes, shame they haven't addressed the save feature. But the biggest things I saw on the notes were A: rebalancing of difficulty, which will be interesting, B: added more haptic feedback for some cutscenes, and C : some rebalancing of the audio. I have some free time coming up so looking forward to smashing onwards into Biome 3 properly.