Topic: Returnal

@MatthewJP I agree, that battle just looks awesome. The grand scale of it all, falling and falling through the sky, dodging projectiles by just barely hitting the grapple in time, and lastly being rescued, going through the cutscene, having Selene return, and realize that whatever brings her back isn’t solely on Atropos. ⬅️ Act 1 spoilers.

@MatthewJP Well done! It’s a great battle that one. HMQ created some incredible bosses and the locations are just perfect and really adds to the ambiance.

Well played @MatthewJP !
Truly phenomenal boss battle, probably my favorite in the entire game. Has Patch 2.0 made a significant change to your playstyle? I completed the game a couple of weeks ago, and there were so many occasions I would have loved the suspend function to have existed!

@render Did you say you Plat'd Returnal? I am almost/kind-of/ish on a Plat run.... treating myself to 1 run p/day whilst I'm still enjoying the game! Basically just need Survey trophies and that's it.

Completed all the Gold rooms (1-6) and now focussing on Biomes 1-3. B1 is 100%, and then B2 and B3 I only need a few ciphers. B2 though I seem to make v little process in finding new ciphers... last few runs I'm still at 17/20 (!). Whereas B3 I seem to find a new cipher most runs...

@CJD87 Yes I’ve platinumed Returnal. It did take a while to do but if I remember rightly the things that took the longest were the few ciphers I needed from B2 and one from B6. I really enjoyed doing the B2 runs though and at first found it hard not to clear everything out each time.

Eventually I only needed ones inside the mountain so that’s when I got into speed running it. I think it took me 18 of those runs to finish B2 and then a few to finish B6 off.

It felt worth it though 😁

I don't think I'd have finished act 1 were it not for the 2.0 update. It allowed me to fully do biome 1&2 over different days to have my integrity, consumables and artefacts at a level (for someone of my gaming ability) to compete with the automatons, malformed automaton and nemesis.
Maybe not what the game intended originally but its still technically a single run, just with a welcome break in between.

@MatthewJP
I know that the 2.0 update has been a bit contentious, but I’m well in support of it. If I’m interpreting your post correctly, It sounds like the update has encouraged you to return to the game? IMO this is exactly what Housemarque should be aiming for - making the game as accessible as possible for the widest demographic. This is my personal GOTY (so far!) and I’d love more people to experience it. Hopefully 2.0 knocks a few fence-sitters into playing

@render Massive respect for the platinum, patience is indeed a virtue!

Funnily enough it seems that the platinum ‘sweep up’ is actually quite low-skill… assuming that Act3 has already been completed of course. Suppose it all depends on the RNG gods!

Still having fun with it though, and will still do a daily run and push slowly towards platinum.

(Just started BOTW on Switch, which I’ll likely main for a few weeks whilst I side-dish Returnal)

@CJD87 it definitely is the easiest part of the game. You’ve done all the hard bits by that point and like you say it’s just a matter of being patient and hoping the RNG gods are on your side.

In regards to the 2.0 patch, I’m still glad that I played the game before it came out as for me a lot of the tension was caused by not taking a break and trying to make the most of a run. That way sometimes I’d push on quicker than I might have done making my runs shorter but also being more aggressive, which made it a lot more fun for me.

I can totally appreciate that for some people they want to make use of that feature though and it’s great that it’s bringing some people back and new people are playing the game. It’s a game that needs to be played to see how good it really is.

I’m still hoping that there will be a version 3.0 that will bring something new so that I’ve a reason to jump back in.

@render I feel slightly conflicted on 2.0.... it a lot of ways, I am 'prouder' for having finished Act3 without the utilisation of a suspend feature & am pleased to have lived the Returnal experience as the developers always intended.

But honestly... there were so many times during my playthrough that I would have sold a kidney to have such a functionality available!

I think the timing was good for me, in that I'm pleased of my accomplishment... and can now sitback and use the function to suspend whilst I semi-chase the Plat.

I'm thrilled though that 2.0 will likely open the door for so many more players, as this game really does need to be played!

What's on the rota for you at the moment? Are you main-ing 1 game or juggling?

@CJD87 If the save feature had been there from the beginning then I guess we all would have used it and been none the wiser. In the long run I suppose it might have made a difference in how the game was perceived in terms of difficulty, but for most people it still would be a challenge. We’ve mostly all enjoyed it though so it’s all good

I’ve mainly been playing one game still really as I kind of like to get totally immersed in something if I can. Just finished the main story on Alan Wake which I’ve enjoyed but it’s showing its age even with the remaster, and isn’t that much fun gameplay wise. There’s a few bits of DLC which I might take a look at and some other games to go back to such as my NG+ on DeS but I’m also looking to get stuck into something new. What’s your plan after Returnal?

@render How is AW? Was thinking about getting it but it has been pushed back by Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s a really good game, shame it came out after Avengers or I feel it would have sold much better. The humor is on point, and the gameplay is probably the worst part (some enemies feel like bullet sponges), but it even then it’s only around a 7. Don’t Fear the Reaper is in it too, but only “just” a song (no alternate meaning) ⬅️ Sort-of Returnal spoilers if you care about the music?

@Just2Milky Glad to hear that GotG is good as I’d quite like to pick that up at some point. I love the humour in the films and it’s great that applies to the game as well.

I’d definitely say that the gameplay is also the worst part of AW as well. The story has been brilliant and if you’re into Control then it’s got that same quirky style to it but with a slightly more sinister edge. The combat though is just plain frustrating and stays the same throughout the entire game. There’s only really a handful of enemy types and as the general environment doesn’t change then it gets old real quick. Couple that with having to use pretty much the same kit and not being able to upgrade anything, I just found I was getting bored of that aspect of the game so quite often I’d take a break when I wouldn’t do if I was playing something else.

Saying all that though I’m still glad I bought it just to experience it, and to piece together the bits I knew about the game from playing the AWE DLC in Control.

@render I think the 2.0 update might help it secure GOTY... what is your prediction? Part of me thinks that Returnal might just be slightly too 'niche', but perhaps there's hope when you consider Sekiro was a previous winner?

My backlog has been subject to some rearranging now that Elden Ring is delayed! I am travelling a bit with a work in next few months, so actually booted up BOTW on the Switch. (Shamefully never played!) An absolute gem of a game, and the plan is for BOTW to be a long-standing 'side dish' on the Switch to accompany whatever I'm doing on PS5.

Still getting mileage out of Returnal... but I picked up REVillage from my local supermarket for £20(!) yesterday so might play that before Kena. Have you done Village yet? And how is NG+ on DeS?

@CJD87 I definitely think that Returnal deserves plenty of GoTYs and it would be a total shame if it doesn’t at least pick up a few more. I do think it’s quite niche so stands less of a chance of getting anything from the bigger awards but never say never.

Haven’t played Village yet but heard good things about it. It’s been a while since I’ve played a ResEvil game so I’d probably enjoy it. That’s a bargain you got there.

I was expecting DeS NG+ to be loads harder that my first play through but so far it’s but not been too bad. I’m about half way through so it could get a lot harder yet. Before I played DeS I wasn’t so interested in Elden Ring but now I’m very interested. Don’t know if I’ll get it day 1 but will see what I’m playing when it’s released.

Hyperion down!
Another great boss fight, loved that haunting melody. No suspend 2.0 update needed!

@CJD87 £20 for RE8?! What a steal.
I'm pretty frugal with my money so only play one game at a time and then trade it in. Completing RE8 led me to trading it in for returnal. Plan was a quick blast through this and trade it in for ratchet. Many weeks later....

@MatthewJP Exellent! Hyperion is definitely my favorite! The lead up to it is phenomenal. The music building up over time in the biome, and finally hitting its peak as you look over him is just 👌

@MatthewJP - Hyperion is an awesome fight, and the melody build up (as mentioned by @Just2Milky) is genuinely haunting and pretty atmospheric.

I'm really interested to see how you find B5... which was probably my largest wall in the entire game. A lot of people on this board seemed to blitz it without too much trouble, but B5 was culprit to my biggest rage-quits in the whole experience ha!

Really glad you're back into the game - testament to its addictive nature. Be careful though, as some of the guys here have actually swayed me into pushing for the Platinum...!

Not started Village yet, but agreed - £20 was too good to pass on. Love the franchise, ultimate guilty pleasure... batsh*t crazy and so much fun

I think I will finally dive into this game in the near future now that it's been revealed that you can save scum the game. According to members here though in the comments section, that's blasphemy, even though everybody should be able to experience the game however they want if given extra options.

I guess it's not really a Game of the Year candidate if it's not good enough to experience it just for the story, graphics, combat, and DualSense features?

@KilloWertz Honestly it really bugs me how 'elitist' and precious some gamers can be concerning how other people want/choose to play a video game! If save-scumming gets you playing Returnal, then absolutely do it.

@render Reaching out here mate, as I need some Plat tips from a fellow masochist...! I'm now so deep into the trophy game that I don't think I could stop even if I tried ha.

Quick rundown-

• Yesterday I got the trophy for achieving proficiency level 30, which was my final 'non-survey' trophy.
• Yesterday I also found the final 2 x ciphers in Biome2... both spawned in same run, turns out I was just v v unlucky in the 2 associated rooms having never spawned for me.
• Only 2 x survey trophies left:
• Bimoe 3: need 1 or 2 ciphers
• Biome 6: need 1 or 2 ciphers

I'm pretty clued in on the RNG 'laws' regarding ciphers (eg they dont spawn behind locked doors, or in challenge rooms), but where I'm really struggling is the balance between quick runs that are also build-worthy enough to allow me time to get far enough into the Biomes.

For example, while farming B6 I will basically run through everything in B4 and jump straight into the water to phase to B6. So I arrive at B6 with no additional health or decent weapon... and then tend to get wiped out about 4-5 rooms into the run! But equally, I don't want to spend excessive time in getting OP before B6 - only then to find that my ciphers/rooms havent phased in.

How did you play this out of interest?

@CJD87 You've done well if you've managed to clear out the B2 ciphers. Those were the hardest for me as some of those rooms had the lowest spawn rate across the entire game. Several times I honestly thought my game was bugged and that I'd never find them but sure enough they eventually came along.

Out of the few that you've got left the B3 one(s) are likely to be the most annoying as you will need to tool up a little to find those. I tried a few runs where I went to B3 as soon as I could and it usually ended with me getting completely destroyed. The lucky run I had where I found the very last cipher there I needed I was pretty much at deaths door when I fell into a pool of water (I guess it might be a spoiler knowing you can go into water) and it was right there in front of me. Bagged it and then duly got killed 😆.

So for B3 I'd definitely be recommending clearing as much of B1 as you can and perhaps even some of the early sections of B2 before you get to the mountain. Then take the shortcut to the top and through to B3. There was another cipher in B3 which was in a room with 3 - 4 severed which I'd not gotten as I think I'd seen what was going down and hightailed it out of there when I'd first seen the room so that might be one you're missing.

For B6 after I got all the ciphers I needed from B5 I actually found it easier to just do the run through B4 up until I'd found the room with an elite hostile in it (it's got four columns and a grapple point in the middle), and at that point I'd turn around to go through the gate straight to B6. I never felt underpowered in B6 as usually I'd managed to have found at least one weapon with good traits on it and then could easily swap it for another if I needed to. B6 was one place where there always seemed to be plenty of weapons to choose from.

There were definitely a few harder to spot ciphers in B6 though. There were a few up on ledges that I hadn't seen until later on in the game and there's also one in one of those timed rooms where you have to make a choice of which route to go quickly. The one in B6 is the last path on the left hand side that also contains a data cube so you might have already done that.

Hope that helps and good luck!!