Topic: Returnal

@Fill3rup_ Nice work. Getting through the final boss for the end of Act 3 is a real treat.
But yeah, @velio84 I stopped short of the platinum for fear of the game growing tiresome. I don’t have a ton of platinums as a result, but it’s a policy I usually follow with my games in that I try not to push beyond the point of tedium. It’s why there are some of my favorite games of all time for which I don’t have the platinum; I don’t want to spoil my enjoyment of the game. We were recently discussing this on another thread with regard to Shadow of the Colossus and it’s annoying platinum requirements, which I just left alone and kept the awe and wonder of the game intact in my memory. Another recent example for me was Death Stranding — a game I adore, but am just a handful of trophies shy of the platinum because I was feeling a grind toward the last few trophies would threaten to compromise my adulation of the game.

But props to those who can push through and still get though these platinums. Part of my issue is time limitation also, so there’s that challenge as well.

But like @render says, there’s always the possibility of going back later (although I usually don’t). I do like the tactic @CJD87 suggests where you just limit to a couple runs a day. That keeps your skills sharp at least, but might avoid the game becoming laborious.

@Th3solution I played solidly from release day for maybe 2 months,i got to a certian point, (biome 5 i think) where i just couldnt get through.so i left it and picked it up over Xmas.. this will be my first ever Platinum as i just never really bothered with them,i just played a game until it was not enjoyable anymore.. But i feel compelled to get this one.Its a stunning game

@Fill3rup_ Oh I agree — the game is phenomenal. Probably my favorite of the three PS5 exclusives (Rift Apart was great but not quite as addictive and unique, and I’m in the middle of Demon’s Souls and it’s fabulous too but still not quite up to Returnal as far as sheer spectacle yet, although it’s close)

It’s possible that having that little break in the middle has kept you fueled for the platinum run. I played it straight through with very little in between until I completed Act 3. I’m 5 trophies shy of the plat by just playing through naturally — 4 of the surveys (I somehow got B1 and B4 surveys just playing naturally) and the proficiency to 30 trophy. So by the time I beat the final boss I felt it was a good time to move on, but perhaps your break in the middle will end up being a good thing.

@Th3solution - I’d agree with that (Returnal being the pick of the three PS5 exclusives) which in hindsight makes sense, as it, at least imo, does take at least some of what makes both Ratchet (tight TPS gameplay, wide range of weaponry) and Demon’s Souls (punishing, yet rewarding difficulty, crazy boss fights) work and throws them together into a singular experience (with perhaps a sprinkling of Metroid Prime 2 and Furi added for good measure).
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So, an update: I’ve finished Biome 6, and am now in the final stretch in finishing the game overall. From what I understand, I just need to find a key in all six biomes to unlock the final ending, correct? Are these keys guaranteed to spawn, or is it a randomly triggered event I’ll just have to hope comes up before too long?
In any case, it seems all that’s left is clean-up, so I’ll probably be playing this less often going forward, just take my time finishing things off; judging from some other comments here, that seems the best course of action right now, and I’ve got a decent backlog I should probably get back into…

Oh yeah, and the sixth biome boss was also pretty easy (once I figured how to damage it); managed to beat him on my first try, thus making it 4/5 for this games bosses (Ixion being the exception, and only just) which just solidifies my experience that the enemies getting to the boss are much tougher than the boss itself (I’ve died 17 times overall so far, and only 2 were to bosses) which I guess makes sense, but is still a bit weird imo.

On a final note, has anyone tried the daily challenges? If so, what’s your highest ranking (that you remember)?

@FullMetalWesker I haven’t done many daily challenges. I tried a few at first but didn’t stay with them. Seems I was ranked in the top 100 for one temporarily but this was early days and I’m sure that changed throughout the day.

As far as the Act 3 road you have to take to get to the final ending — yes you’re correct. I’ll tag it just in case a passerby doesn’t want to see (no major spoilers, just answering your question) —
each Biome has one Sun fragment each. So you need to collect the 6 fragments and then beat the final boss for a last time. The fragments are actually in the biome every time, not randomly generated. Furthermore, they are in roughly the same place every time. Obviously the map is randomized with each visit so getting to the room or place the fragment lives is a slightly different path each time, but there will be a common set up for it to be, no matter the run. There’s a good chance that the fragment may even be in one of the early rooms or areas of a Biome, so you may find it in the first 5 minutes of being there and then you can just leave after you find it because they do carry over/save as permanent items.

A little more advice, not really too spoilery but —
if you watch the map there will be a little triangle denoting the fragment. I forget what color it is, but if you want to further simplify your search then you can utilize the map and if the room you’re in doesn’t have any icons then just move along. Biome 6 was the trickiest one for me to find and I had a hard time getting that one as if you miss it and go past the mid level point of no return then you’ll have to start over

And you need to make sure you’ve experienced all the house sequences of both Biome 1 and Biome 4 first or the fragments won’t spawn. I wasted a lot of time until I realized I hadn’t done the last house sequence of Biome 4. So be sure the house is “dark” in those two places before you waste too much time

You’ll probably get through it pretty quick actually.

this game is a trip so far. only played maybe like 2 hrs total. dying of course but its all good. good fun

@velio84 Unless they've changed things radically I didn't find B6 too bad after the end game, but still needed to have a good weapon with some good traits. B3 though was never not tricky and even when I thought "I've got this" with the drones I'd all of a sudden get obliterated. I was perhaps lucky to have only the ones left in B2 as even though the spawn rates were so stupidly low at least I didn't have to build up too much before I went there.

Good thing that you are still enjoying it though and hopefully they will turn up sooner rather than later 😀

@velio84 Great work, it's got to feel good getting it down to just 2 left. The very last one I had was in B6 which felt quite fitting really. Hopefully you can grab both of those in one run

@velio84 I have 1 cipher left in B2, 3 left in B3 and 1 in B6, then beat the boss and see the ending for the plat..am away on holidays for a week so will have to wait.. Ive Hades on my switch to tide me over though, brilliant game

@render that's the way I'm going for it, clear 2 and 3 and then 4 to build up health and hopefully get my hands on the hollow seeker with lvl 3 portal beam..

@Fill3rup_ I second @velio84’s advice, my last cipher was in b3 and I never realized they could spawn in the portal rooms. I don’t know how many times I missed it before going into the portal room for parasites

Hope those last cipher rooms spawn for you quickly!

@velio84 oh for sure, I had 5 to get last week, 2 of em in portal rooms.. We'll get there in the end.

Just on this, how far is everyone from 100%,looking at my current scenario I reckon I'll go for it after the plat,coz I don't really want to stop playing. The tough bit will be fully upgrading weapons I don't like

@Just2Milky Cheers!

@SmackMyBishop glad your enjoying it. It only gets better and better. Except biome 3 most likely will take a bit to get that good run to get through.

I can see how the Lobber ranks so high, but it just isn’t for me. I can’t overload it, either I go to soon or too late. It feels like a hard weapon to master. I’ll stick to my carbines for now on!

@Just2Milky It took me a while to get used to it but when you do get that timing right it absolutely destroys things. The carbine is a good weapon too so you can’t go wrong with that.

@Just2Milky - To be fair, the lobber isn’t something you really need to worry about getting the overload right for; all it does is increase the fire rate, but as long as you’re reasonably accurate, it’s not terribly necessary.
@velio84 - Yeah, some traits can really transform some weapons into deadly killing machines. I’ve just unlocked pylon web(?) for the pylon driver, and it pretty much makes a mockery of anything in the game. Even the shotgun can be drastically improved with traits like Slug shot that allow it to perform at farther ranges than just point blank.
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So, apologies for the belated reply, but I’ve finished Act 3, and as of now, have finished the first Biome survey. Overall, the game’s been pretty fun, and I’m liking the weapons more and more as I unlock more traits, though if there’s one thing I’m not too impressed with, it’s the story. I won’t go into details, but essentially, I kinda felt like, after the first act, the whole thing got a bit anti-climactic, and I’m not entirely sure what the point was (besides justifying the gameplay).
Thankfully, the gameplay loop easily makes up for it, and I’m getting to the point where I’m able to achieve some pretty crazy stuff (well, relatively speaking anyway). Turns out the sword is also a pretty great weapon when used right, and I’ve been having fun using it as a finisher or stun weapon, such as when a Severed attempts to teleport near me, or when those bat things start swarming me. And as mentioned before, the weapons are really showing their true potential with some really nice traits, like the aforementioned slug shot for the shotgun and pylon web for the driver. It’s making the hunt for the remaining glyphs less tedious than it might be otherwise, which is something.

Oh, and on a related note, quick question; regarding the glyphs, do they spawn in random rooms, or are they fixed? Might help on my hunt to know the difference.

@FullMetalWesker the xenoglyph ciphers are in specific spots in specific rooms. Of course, most of these rooms are not guaranteed to be in your map.

@velio84 Pretty sure the only bugged ones were in Crimson Wastes