Topic: Returnal

@R1spam I really wouldn’t go after those suits to be honest.

Since they properly got implanted, I rarely touch them as the enemies it triggers are normally really difficult ones and the payoff isn’t particularly worth it.

My early game tip is to use melee a lot once you’ve unlocked it as it can one hit kill most small enemies in the first biome and either staggers or causes good damage to big enemies.

Good luck!

@R1spam My usual advice is to remember that not getting hit is more important than hitting things. And by that I mean focusing on avoiding damage might make you hit things a little less consistently but you'll still hit them - and the pay off for not getting hit is actually worth it.

@Render ha that's funny, I asked for kena for my Christmas as I thought it might be fun to play through with my daughter as something more chilled ahead of Elden ring, oops!! 😂@Thrillho @Voltan thanks for the tips folks! Played a couple more runs but have hit the suspend cycle for tonight

So this is my first forray into a rogue like game and I am impressed its bloody hard died a few times in the first hour or so (this is to be expected as im being overly aggressive with my gameplay)

I do like how the scenery changes on each death and some of the weapons are great fun

@Ypmud Sounds like your doing great! If I may, some runs call for aggression, while some might benefit from hiding and shooting. On the aggression runs, try not to aim down your sights and try going to the options and turning on auto run.

Just beat the first boss after getting the melee, ooft this game is not messing about!! It's one thing to stick a boss that hard after a bonfire in a souls game, its another to stick it at the end of a rogue-lite run with almost no increases in level/ability between run. I can't say it wasn't a tense, exhilarating affair though, it felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest! Shout out to my level 2 spitmaw with grenade launcher and increased effectiveness at distance. I can see why folks haven't finished this game and an interesting choice to make this a rogue-lite. Its one thing to replay a hard boss on something like metroid dread or bloodborne when you effectively can retry the boss almost immediately, its another to redo a whole level. Are folks just running through rooms that aren't on lockdown to get to the boss??

@velio84 is totally right here… I learned the hard way that rushing just won’t allow you to attain the needed level of preparations for a boss battle! @R1spam - Returnal is actually my personal GOTY and I felt very similarly to you in my early stages of playing. I’d urge you to persevere, and guarantee you will see quick progress once you get a better grip on the game mechanics etc

In fairness, I think the first boss is actually the steepest learning curve… and B1 is pretty rough whilst you’re still learning how the game wants to be played.

Give it a decent chance and don’t give up!

2021 Platinum games for my account: Ratchet & Klank, Resident Evil, Returnal, Deathloop, Ghosts of Tushima, and Hades.

None compare to Returnal! Scenery, gameplay, haptic feedback, score, story…it’s a game for the ages. I’ve been playing games since Coleco/Atari..this platinum was truly special for me!

@CJD87 it's compelling and it's a game I keep thinking about but I can see me bouncing off. I can see me becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of tangible progress between runs (unless I'm missing something about an upgrade system). In hades, your elixir led to big upgrades for you between runs, ether seems to be unlocking new items but other than melee, I've not found much that persistently unlocks. The action is thrilling!! It feels like I've got pretty far into the crimson waste twice and I love the hollowseeker. I'm going to stick with it for now, I mean it was like 20odd goes before I got my first clear in hades but this just feels so much harder 🤕

@R1spam At first, the weapon trait unlocks don’t seem like a very large persistent unlock, but over time you really grow to appreciate them. When you come across a weapon with a great trait that you’ve unlocked just when you need it, it’s a life saver.

The elixir is admittedly a fairly weak carry over, especially the further in you get where ether is more plentiful. But the melee sword is the first of several permanent equipment upgrades that make the latter runs so much better.

@R1spam I suppose the real 'milestone achievements' per run are beating the various Biome bosses. Once you beat a boss, you can then shortcut to/past the Biome you have just beaten.

I agree it is challenging to wrap your head around lack of tangible achievements p/run, and I agree that this is somethign Hades manages incredibly well (and Returnal less so). As @Th3solution proposes, you should do all you can to unlock particular weapon traits that suit your playstyle. For me, the Hollowseaker with Portal Beam trait was an absolute winner. (Also the Electro Pylon gun was my 'Plan B' weapon and got me through some of the later Biomes).

Also, something I didnt figure out until I hit Biome3.... when you are collecting integrity/health, it is always more advantageous to pick it up when you are at full health. When you collect at full health, the green integrity vials actually increase your max HP (vs collecting them once damaged, usually just means they replenish lost HP)

But yes mate the action is thrilling, and I cannt recall any other gaming experience when my heart has been in my mouth during boss fights!! (Knowing one wrong move can undo an hour of solid progress ha!!)

It's a wild, beautiful and frustrating gem of a game. But trust me - your skills will far exceed mine, and if I can beat this thing then anyone can.

@CJD87 yeah, I've grizzled a fair bit about the game but also, I literally can't stop thinking about it. Made it to the second boss and got to the final phase on my first go! Very exhilarating though I'm not sure how I feel about the run to get back there. I think I need to just forget about making progress and enjoy the moment to moment gameplay, which is something else! Thanks for your tips, I went into that boss fight with some extra health which really helped, not sure about my gaming skills though! @Th3solution, I have unlocked a couple of hollowseeker skills without even noticing and will keep an eye out for those when looking at weapons.

@R1spam It may not apply as much now with the update and save function, but when I played it I often would grind for weapon trait unlock when I just had a limited time to do a couple quick runs and new I didn’t have a full 3 hours for a boss run. Or if I knew pretty quickly my run was going south and was going to end up a garbage run eventually, then I’d focus on just picking up weapons that had traits to unlock, even if I didn’t like that particular weapon. I figured at least I was making some carry over progress if I could do that.
Then when you’re ready for a “serious” boss run then you hopefully have unlocked a good weapon trait that you can use.

@R1spam Yes mate and I felt exactly the same... I had days where this game was on my mind constantly, and I couldn't wait to pick it up again after having to take breaks!

Have you unlocked the 'Astronaut' figurine/item? (This essentially brings you back to life in the same spot if you die)

Another piece of advice I'd give, which I learned the hard way (!), is to always enter a boss fight with as much health as possible + astronaut figurine + large health pack (+ your chosen weapon, as opposed to a 'consolation prize' weapon)

Once I'd beaten B1, I fell into a trap of basically travelling straight to B2 via shortcut.... but honestly it is well worth spending 30-40 mins just grinding B1 first to max out integrity and pick up any good parasites that support the build.

Honestly stick with it... such a rewarding experience when you finally beat it, which I promise you will! I was so addicted to the gameplay that the guys on this site easily bullied me to go for the plat lol

Returnal is a prison. You're stuck on Antropos until you beat the game. You can give up and play other games or even stop gaming altogether, but everytime you'll read the word Returnal, you'll be reminded you're still stuck there. @CJD87

@Kidfried Your right, I’m still there even months after platinuming the game 😆

@Kidfried Ha! For sure.... can you imagine if a surprise DLC drops? Day #1 purchase for me without a doubt.

@render Platinum achievement was a cocktail of emotions... on one hand I was so relieved that the RNG Gods finally presented me with the last cypher, but on the other hand I was gutted that I no longer had an 'excuse' to play!

@CJD87 Agreed. It would be great if they just knocked up some new challenge modes along with some extra trophies even. I be back trying to end the cycle in an instant.

@CJD87 @render I would 100% pay for dlc. Even just a new biome or a boss rush mode. Maybe a few new weapons if HM really wants to drag me back into the loop.

On a different note, just upgraded to a 4K tv and it is insane how much better Returnal looks, even without sacrificing 60fps.

@Just2Milky @CJD87 Boss rush would be interesting and perhaps also a hoard mode of some kind. The daily challenge was quite a good idea but didn’t offer enough replay-ability once you’d finished the game. The best thing about it was being able to use weapons you didn’t have and that it threw some random elements at you. I’d be happy to have more of that with some additional weapons especially if you could unlock more traits or other bits of lore.