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Topic: Returnal

Posts 621 to 640 of 2,757

PossibLeigh

@Voltan Noice! I've not had the time to play this week, but am gonna put some hours in tonight. Gotta get those bloody keys!

PossibLeigh

Kidfried

@nessisonett That's why Returnal is a greater game than Slay The Spire (which I really loved, don't get me wrong) or ANY roguelike I ever played.

In the months that I played Slay The Spire a lot, I could tell anyone from how their first floor went, whether they'd stand a chance at all at beating the higher levels. Sure, there was always the off chance that all stars aligned still, but that's kind of a one in a million chance. So I would often just reload after a rubbish first floor.

Returnal is way more fair. You're pretty much always dealt a ***** hand, because you can't aim for synergy, so all you're left with is your own skill. By not adhering to the roguelike cliches like overpowered builds and et cetera, it's actually a better roguelike.

Kidfried

Kidfried

@render I am alright with giving players choice on how to play their game. Although I'd rather see Housemarque working on more interesting features to add to the game. I don't think this game will ever reach a mainstream audience anyway, so I think the developer is best off by adding extras for those who love the game, instead of trying to make the game into something it's not for those who didn't. Can't win 'em all.

Kidfried

Voltan

@Kidfried Interesting take. I guess I don't know rougelikes well enough to judge this aspect of Returnal but seems like it's what @PossibLeigh says. It's a bullet hell shooter with rougelike-inspired elements. And it really succeeds at being just that.

Voltan

Kidfried

I mean, I wish Nintendo would listen to me and make an update for Breath of the Wild with less grinding, more variety and better dungeons. And they could put all their efforts into making me finally appreciate that game. Or they could just accept that not every game is for everybody, and make a Breath of the Wild 2 for those that did fell in love with the game.

@Voltan well put.

Edited on by Kidfried

Kidfried

nessisonett

@Kidfried That’s just not true about first floors though. Take Isaac. Let’s say you get My Reflection on the first floor, which makes your bullets fly back towards you. Not a great item. Then you get Ipecac, which makes bullets explode on impact, meaning you have a possibility of murdering yourself with every single explosive shot. That would normally be a run-ending item. But then you get Pyromaniac the next floor, which makes explosions heal you instead of harming you. Suddenly your run is completely blown wide open and the only way is up. That’s the beauty of these games and is what this game is missing. Artefacts aren’t interesting. They don’t affect your run in any meaningful way.

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

Kidfried

@nessisonett I have played Isaac to death, but that never happened to me. I would just never find that pyromaniac and just die somewhere on the fourth, without ever finding that item to complete my combo. Isaac is pure RNG. Skill takes a back seat.

"They don’t affect your run in any meaningful way." Yes and no. One thing is: you're less reliant on finding certain items, and that's the beauty of it; you're not depending on artifacts to make or break your run.

But they might in small ways change how you play. For instance: melee attacks do explosions, parasites give better bonuses, using items will give you a stat boost x. When I pick those kind of artifacts up, it changes how I will play, be it in a small way.

It's a great shooter with brilliant gameplay through and through. It doesn't need any more than that. I love this game in its purity.

Kidfried

Voltan

I checked and all of my trophies popped fine. I'm only missing the final 7 - the surveys and the plat.
I'm missing like 2 cyphers in each biome except the Citadel (got all) and Crimson Wastes (I was there literally twice, so I got like 7/20 lol).
Not sure about audio logs.

Voltan

nessisonett

@Kidfried Isaac 100% relies on skill. I have thousands of hours in that game and the skill is in making the most out of your situation. Returnal’s runs aren’t distinct enough from each other for you to be excited about what items you could potentially get, which I think is why a lot of players are frustrated when they die rather than encouraged to give it another go.

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

PossibLeigh

Thanks for the props, there @Voltan.

I may just have found a bug. After removing a max integrity reducing parasite, my integrity has not returned. Annoying.

PossibLeigh

phil_j

The runs feel different enough to me to still have some mystery engagement. But similar enough, to feel like 'if I can just do this a little bit better, I'll make it.' It always feels like it's my fault when I die

In regards to the artifacts it's fairly easy to get something close to what you're after, once you know what you're doing with obelites, and fabricators.

The malfunction balance has been thrown of slightly by their inability to get the online aspect working. Revenge was 5 ether a pop, meaning you had a lot more to cleanse items.

phil_j

nessisonett

@phil_j That makes a lot of sense actually. I didn’t even realise there was an online aspect. I barely have enough ether so don’t want to waste it on cleansing items.

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

Thrillho

Hmm.. biome 4 has been my first roadblock. I just can't get a run together at all; I think the furthest I've got has been picking up one key.

@render As for your point, the difficulty is fine for me (despite my current frustrations) but it does feel like you have to have a bit too much luck to string a good run together. I would definitely appreciate more save opportunities though. I've been lucky that I'm not working this week but most of my gaming time is short blasts in the evening; if I'd been on a run like I had earlier today, I would have had to abandon it eventually.

Thrillho

JohnnyShoulder

I think one of the problems with having more regular save points in a game like this is that it can be abused with sace scumming, which is probably one the reasons Housemarque has been reluctant to patch it in.

I've not played the game however, so I fully expect to be saying the complete opposite this time next week!

Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

PSN: JohnnyShoulder

render

@Voltan That’s a relief about the trophies. They do seem to be quite inconsistent as to if you get them or not. I think I’ve got all of the ones I’m supposed to have at this point however I don’t want to look at the hidden ones just in case I spoil it for myself.

@phil_j That’s a very good point as I did quite well out of that the one night it seemed to work. I sometimes find myself with quite a bit of ether and then other times hardly any so again you just have to hope the game throws some at you.

@Thrillho Similar here. I can’t really leave it on rest mode as other family members use it and then it’s just what time I have in the evenings when the kids are in bed. Sometimes I may push it out a bit at the weekends and pay for it the next day.

render

phil_j

Beat biome 5 just now, after being stuck for days. Feels so good. Think I nearly made it to the boss on 6, but succumbed after grabbing the key.

phil_j

phil_j

@render biome 4 seems to have loads of ether, so I've found doing a few ether grabbing runs to stock up for a proper attempt works well.

phil_j

JigsawPieces

Yesss! Had my third encounter with Ixion, and beat him this time

@Thrillho - your advice about how to deal with the swooping made a huge difference, thanks.

Looking forward to exploring the first two biomes again now ...

JigsawPieces

PSN: JigsawPieces

Voltan

@JigsawPieces you’ll be able to skip Crimson Wastes entirely now. With the grapple you can go to the Citadel straight from the Ruins. Just need to find the gate.

Voltan

Thrillho

@JigsawPieces Good work! That third part is a toughie but doable with enough health in the bank.

Thrillho

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