@MatthewJP Yeah, it's really late right now over here, I'm almost falling asleep, so I'll look into that later. For now, to bed and to dream of white shadows.
@Kidfried@MatthewJP Oh wow! Fantastic work, my friends! Kudos to both of you.
It’s such a rush to have a special run and beat the boss. So good.
The hard part is over now but you’re right, there’s some important game left over to at least see the end of Act 3. But by now, you know the tactics and have got gud with your skillz, so you can deftly mop up the final act hopefully.
Neither of you are close to my total, but you’re roughly on track. I think I was about 85 hours and around 90 deaths, if I recall. Somewhere in that ballpark. I think someone on here went over 120 hours. Maybe @johncalmc …. Seems he had a high playtime.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Kidfried That’s exactly what happened with me too! Biome 4 was the toughest one of that set and once that was down I also did 5 and 6 in the one run. I wonder if that’s common then!
I also struggled with B4 which seems weird in hindsight as it’s not the hardest biome. B3 and B6 I did first time.
Act 3 is fun as you’re pretty powerful now and have a good grasp on the game (hopefully!) but the RNG can make finding the fragments frustrating. The extra bit of story is cool though but don’t expect it to suddenly make sense of the story!
@Th3solution My finish time on Returnal was 124 hours and it wasn't a thing where I like went to the lakes for a weekend and left it running or anything - obviously there were times I went for a cuppa or whatever, but it was a mostly realistic time. I seem to recall it took me forty hours to get out of the first biome because I remember thinking that some people had finished the game in forty hours and I'd barely started it.
It's weird because while I wouldn't say I'm a great gamer or anything I'm not like a novice either. I've beaten some tough games, but this one really kicked my rump. I think part of the problem as well was how I approached runs sometimes. I was trying to clear out every room in every biome so I had the maximum EXP and money so I would be better equipped for future endeavours - this really hurt me in biome 3 where I spent the majority of my time. I kept getting to the final room and dying, but then someone - I think on here? - said to just run through the third biome as fast as possible and skip the final room because you don't need to fight everything in there, and when I did that I beat it on the second try.
Reading this thread has made me realise how much I miss playing this game...
You're in a great position now - if you are hungry for more game, then Act 3 definitely incentivises continuing to play. But equally, if you're now 'breathing a sigh of relief' regarding completing all Biomes, then it is not necessarily a bad time to stop/break.
This game really had a hold on me, and it breaks my heart that GOTY didn't show it more love.
My 2 cents - I'd certainly encourage you both to push through Act 3, @Thrillho points it out well in that the extra story unveil is cool.... but possibly even more confusing than end of Act 2 ha!
Well done again guys.... Returnal is truly a test of 'gittin gud', very little opportunity to level up and/or cheese means that skills have to be honed!
@Kidfried@MatthewJP Congrats for beating the game. That must feel like a massive victory for the both of you.
It's definitely worth going for Act 3 and by now you will be super good so you should just charge through it!
@CJD87 Really miss playing this game as well. I was actually tempted to fire it up the other day just so I could experience how good it is all over again but got lots of other games on the go so held off. I'm going to leave it a while to see if we ever do get any DLC and if not I might just go ahead and delete my save just to play it through again.
Yeah I'll definitely be continuing to play on.
I usually trade in games after finishing them, and only ever keep hold of real masterpieces. Returnal will be staying.
@MatthewJP@Kidfried Sorry for the late response, but congratulations! Act 3 is worth it, and very little grinding is needed, as what you are looking for is a guaranteed spawn in your run.
“I’m a really good lawyer.”
———
“One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them; In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.”
@MatthewJP Careful mate, the guys on here will soon convince you to join 'Club Platinum'...! But honestly, if you're still having fun (+ can stomach some tedious RNG/collectables) then its worth a shot.
Paid 70 £GBP for this at launch, and don't begrudge paying full price. I just wish patch 2.0 had existed earlier ha...
I have been glowing with pride since I got out of bed this morning, just thinking back to this achievement. That probably sounds stupid, but when you rise above yourself like that, it's truly a magnificent feeling and it's also why I love games as a medium so much.
... obviously Returnal is still one of my favorites for GOTY.
@Kidfried For sure. I definitely agree. Few things can give one a sense of immediate accomplishment like a well crafted gaming experience.
Out of curiosity, during your epic final run through Biomes 4, 5, and 6, did you do it all in one sitting or did you use the new suspend/save feature? Just curious if you had success by breaking it up. I’m of two mind on it. The few times I put the PS5 in rest mode during a run (prior to the current update with the save feature) I sometimes went back in and found I had lost my edge and was no longer ‘in the zone.’ But also there are times the sheer fatigue (mental and physical) of a long run was making me sloppy and I did better if I took a break.
How did it go for you? All at once, or broken up? How long (in-game time) was that final run?
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution I had a break in the middle actually, in which I used the new feature as well. I have a problem with my PS5 that sometimes the HDR will look ugly unless I reset after switching between game and dashboard, so it's great that I now had that as a back up.
I had a friend over for dinner, so I think she was here for an hour or two or three. But that was still really early on during my run, and I remember thinking that first 20 minutes that it wasn't a great run anyway.
What kind of saved my run was how during the end of Biome 4 came together out of nowhere: I got all kinds of boosts from successful reloading, I had an artifact that increased my life total for every parasite attached and detached, and from that moment one I just picked up every parasite in the game. I doubled my life total eventually, which is when I knew my run was pretty special.
So I did the part that mattered, which was about 2.5/3 hours, all in one sitting, but I took breaks often, so I was able to keep my concentration up.
Also I did it all with a level 25 gun with only level 1 perks. I just was way too afraid that switching gun type would ruin my flow.
@Kidfried I remember doing a few runs through B6 with a much lower proficiency weapon for the same reason. You get really attached to a gun if you are doing well and it almost matters more what the traits are than the level of them.
I also always kept away from things like the coilspine shredder or pyrocaster even if they were of a high level just because I was never accurate enough.
It does sound like the suspend a run feature has been a success though so that’s no bad thing. I am still glad I did it without in the sense that it added to the peril of the game but I wonder I do wonder if things would have played out any differently if it had been there when I was playing it.
The game awards nominees were unveiled some time ago, but only now did I see the nominees for music. Was really weird not seeing Returnal there either, but Deathloop took its spot again.
Don't know about you people, but I really loved the music.
(Also, Chicory had the best soundtrack of the year)
@Kidfried The music is amazing, and the whole soundscape of the game really. I'd also say it's the best use of 3D audio on any PS5 game so far. Out of all the biomes B4 seems to bring everything together the best there.
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