Topic: Returnal

@Thrillho Well you made easy work of that. Welcome to act 2 😁

This had to be my shortest run ever lol
First time I’ve seen a malformed small squid thing.
Welp, at least I noticed the cypher and got it!

@Voltan Ahhh that looks like one of my normal runs that. I've done loads of those where I think I'm ready and just go for it only to find that I was just over confident and it just doesn't happen. Then there's those were I'm just annoyed that I lost some good gear and hope to take it out on something. Going in with anger never works 😂

@render it was literally the first room though 😂

@nessisonett My loadout was pretty awesome with high integrity and a gun that could replenish health, as well as going into the boss fight with a health pack and a consumable that gave health when dealing damage.

@render Don't worry, I've more than made up for that run with the number of deaths in this biome

And a general question for those who have made it this far; is it possible to have missed a house sequence? I had seen two in the first biome, one after first finding the house key and the other after unlocking biome 2. As I ran straight through biome 3, I never returned to the first area and just had the house encounter in biome 4.

@Thrillho I think they are in sequence and it doesn’t matter whether you do them in 1 or 4

@Thrillho For me I've had them all in a sequence and they appear to unlock after either reaching a new biome or unlocking a new permanent upgrade, at least that's what it seems like.

What does everyone think about the difficulty level of this game so far then and not having the ability to save etc? I was on Housemarque's discord just to see if there was any news of an incoming patch etc and noticed some chatter from several fairly annoyed users complaining about the difficulty level and that it was not aimed at your average user, but just those of a certain skill level or those that had a lot of time to git good. Also that because there wasn't enough information out there to make an informed decision about the difficulty before it came out it sounds like they feel a little hard done by.

Now I would say I'm a less than average gamer and I'm really pleased to so far have got where I have in this game. Yes I've put in a few longer sessions but most of my successful runs have been over just a few hours and haven't required me to do an all nighter or anything. I'd also say that while I have improved I'm still not up to the level of a lot of you guys on here but I've still really enjoyed the game and have muddled by in most situations. I knew what I was getting myself into as well as I waited for the reviews and yes they made it sound like it was going to be difficult, but they also made it sound like the challenge was part of the fun so I was up for that. I've said often enough that I love this game, I really do think it's awesome even for someone of my skill level so I'm totally happy I parted with the cash even if I never actually finish the game.

Just interested in what everyone else's perception is of the difficulty of the game and also what your perceptions were before you played the game to after?

BTW no news of any other incoming patches as yet.

@render Personally I feel they hit the difficulty sweet spot pretty well. You might say difficulty is all over the place with some rooms being a total cakewalk and others nearly impossible to survive but I feel like it works. I never really felt like it needed the save feature but I still understand how others might feel otherwise (especially seeing how some players adopt a very different playstyle that makes their runs much longer than mine)

@render I would say that the problem isn’t that the game’s too hard but more that you never feel like you can succeed unless you get lucky with the RNG. The balancing is all over the place. In other similar games, you can pick up an item which feels like you’re doomed, but then one more item can create a synergy and suddenly you feel like your build is so much better. The potential for synergies is so much slimmer in this game and you often have to bend over backwards just to get one sole artefact, dealing with multiple malfunctions etc. There are also too many downsides, with far more resin, silphium, keys, chests etc that give you malfunctions than there really should be. So it’s the RNG that feels too punishing rather than the gameplay itself. Except the drones. F**k the drones.

@nessisonett This is the first roguelike I've played in such a long time, that doesn't make me restart the game if I don't get a good item on the first floor. The proficiency stuff, especially combined with adrenaline x4, is so much more important than the artifacts you might find.

I don't even think this game is about synergies at all. I just look at every upgrade on its own, actually.

And the malfunction items add such an extra layer to the game. I will first go about a floor, looking at every non-malfunctioning item. And afterwards I will often decide whether getting the extra key or some extra obolites is really needed. If there weren't that much, I would just ignore them. I think the balance is perfect in that regard.

I suck at the game a lot of the times actually, but I think the difficulty is perfect.

@Kidfried See, restarting on the first floor just defeats the purpose of those games. You could get something rubbish on that floor but then get the best item in the game the next floor. As long as you don’t die. That’s the entire gameplay loop, which Returnal kinda misses. It’s a good game, it just feels like it’s missing that freedom and potential for fun or interesting builds.

I feel like a pro in the first couple of Biomes but as soon as I step into the 3rd I seem to turn into a moron again 😂

@Voltan @nessisonett @Kidfried Some interesting views from everyone. It sounds like the majority of people on here are happy with the level it’s hit. How would you feel if HM went and dropped a difficulty level in a patch? Would anyone take advantage of that to make it harder / easier?

@render I think it would perhaps be a good thing. Add an easier mode but also add a harder mode to please both sides.

I agree with @Kidfried. Instead of synergies making or breaking a run, you're own famiarity with the enemies and the areas is your best weapon. When I die, it's usually to new enemies or in an environment I'm not that familiar with (falling off ledges). In that respect it leans more towards it's shoot 'em up roots than it's roguelite inspirations, I guess.

I think the difficulty is fine, but I would still like a save state. I'm not good enough to skip on powering up in the previous biomes, which can take a while.

Guess what?

Act 3 complete, my dudez!

Not gonna lie, nothing is clear now!

And I wonder, those complaining that it wasn't clear the game was going to be tough didnt they watch any of the many preview videos? Maybe catch one of the many references to bullet hell? 😂