Topic: Returnal

I finally beat the first boss, Phrike - took me 9 attempts! Somehow that feels like more of an achievement than completing most full games!

It's not the sort of game I usually play, but it really is excellent so far.

@JigsawPieces Congrats, it's all uphill from there lol
Just kidding, I'm sure you can get all the others too

I expect nothing less

I don't mind, I've had a blast playing so far - though it's a huge relief to have beat Phrike. It makes it feel like I'll be able to do others ... if I work at it

@JigsawPieces Hey well done 👍 you’ve leapfrogged me now but I’m just happy for anyone making progress on this. Looking forward to hearing how you get on next. I’m going to have another crack in a bit after some 🍰.

It would be nice if there was a difficulty setting. I'm more of a "casual gamer that's primarily interested in seeing the story play out with some light tests of skill" guy than a "please thrash me repeatedly and make it impossible to complete the first level despite playing this game for longer than any other game I've played on the PS5 thus far".

Yeah this is my favourite so far for sure. Not made it to fifth boss yet but if it’s half as epic as the third or as cool as the fourth then I’ll be stoked.

@velio84 hey congrats that’s a good run of form. You’ll get past the next one on your next one for sure 👍

I feel really beaten up tonight. Did three runs on the forth biome. The first I had some really good stuff and then gambled on going into another room before going back to the boss only to get ambushed by one of those big gorilla type things with the tentacles. The second run I was a little peed of so went straight into the very first room and got taken down by a bunch of shielded turrets. And finally the third one unfolded exactly the same as the first. Why I didn’t just hightail it out of there I don’t know. I think I thought I’d learnt a lesson from the first time 😂

@render Thanks! It'll be your turn next, I'm sure.

I saw a really good video on Youtube that gave a clear look at Phrike's attacks - it helped to have a look at what was going on while not under all that pressure

@render You need to learn to time your dodges against those guys. If there are other enemies in the room, keep your distance from the big guy and get them first. Then, still try not to get too close if you can. It has that fast dash punch attack but it telegraphs it very clearly with glowing tentacles right before he does it. You get like a 2 second warning.

I feel like I finally get Returnal now. It's take nearly thirty hours. I enjoyed it from the get go even though I wasn't very good at it. For some reason I just kept wanting another go. I soured a bit once I got to the second biome because a death meant having to redo bits of the first one again and I found myself getting into a loop of trying to rush it and dying and then being annoyed and then trying to rush it etc.

I put it down for a couple of days and then went back to it and I really found a rhythm of just taking it slow, clearing out every area to maximise my integrity and artefacts to prepare for the second biome, and then I just walked it. Killed the boss of the second biome on my second go. I would have killed him first time if I'd had a health pack with me but I didn't know I was about to fight a boss so I wasn't prepared.

There's a lot going on and there's plenty of dodging and reflexes and whatever but it really seems like preparation is key. I'm sure some maniacs will do the whole game with the starting pistol and no buffs in one sitting but for the normal people taking it and building up your character is crucial. I'm not really having much trouble with the third biome so far.

One thing I will say is that some of the skills are wildly OP compared to others and so certain runs where you get lucky and find the right artefact inherently go better. I got one that increased damage per adrenaline level, and one that absorbed integrity from damage dealt by adrenaline level, both in the same run, and it meant I was absolutely annihilating everything as long as I didn't get hit. I wish there was a little less reliance on luck here.

@Voltan I'm actually not too bad at getting out the way of that fast dash attack it does, but I do still get got every now and then. My problem with them on this level is that they now have those laser attacks too so on the first run I accidentally dashed straight into one and on the second I got stuck in a corner as an ever expanding 3 level ring came towards me. I think I just need to be using the environment more and making sure that I don't panic and get stuck somewhere 😀

@johncalmc That's how I've been working it, spending a good amount of time building things up and trying to get some good perks. It's always a gamble though on if you feel like you've got enough stuff to go onto the boss or you want to open another door to see if there's anything good behind it. Sometimes you can get unlucky and walk into one of those lock down rooms only to lose most of your life and have to use some consumables that you were otherwise saving. Totally agree though, if you get the right items then you can have a great time blasting through things.

Currently debating whether I should go for Act 3 ending first or grind for the plat and get that while at it.
Leaning towards the former tbh.

@Voltan I envy you for being in that position. What a choice!! I'd be tempted to go for Act 3 as well.

@render Honestly that looks like it could be done in no time so I think I'll focus on it first. That way I can start looking up some discussions about the story without having anything spoiled.
Let's see how much of that I can do this evening

https://blog.playstation.com/2021/05/10/playstation-store-apr...

Number 3 in US and 4 in Europe in April.... releasing on the literal last day of the month. Not too bad.

I just beat Phrike on my first run 😂😂😂

For clarification, my first run after the opening credits. So I did die to that big boi when I only had my pistol.

@Voltan That's not too shabby at all.

@nessisonett No need to show off 😂

@nessisonett You are gonna love Returnal.

I'm itching to play again, confident I can take down Nemesis now but won't have enough time tonight. Thought about the game all day at work it really has it's hooks in me!

@nessisonett Good stuff.