Returnal

McFly85 · 07-05-2021 9:43pm

2 runs at biome 3 tonight, destroyed annoyingly early by those goddamned drones!

Weapon wise, I’ve been mostly sticking with the carbine but I had a hollowseeker with serrated projectiles yesterday and was tearing through everything! Maybe one more run tonight before bed

.G. · 07-05-2021 11:04pm

.G. wrote: »

Still trying to beat Phrike!

Almost had him today, had 160‰ integrity, a large vial of backup integrity in my pocket, max Adrenalin and a 3 star carbine but crucially no spaceman, fecker killed me just as I had him down to the bare minimum of his third health bar!

I'll be here till Christmas in this bloody biome.

I got the b@stard!

.G. · 08-05-2021 12:10am

The weapons you get on the daily challenge are a bit special! Make mince meat of everything in seconds.

Dave1711 · 08-05-2021 3:05am

Managed to beat it today, thought the last boss was the easiest imo but really enjoyed it, look forward to playing back through it trying out other guns etc.

goon_magee · 08-05-2021 12:15pm

Penn wrote: »

Huh.... whaddya know.... it was

Biome 5 is undoubtedly the worst. Not just the challenge room with the waves of enemies, but every area has them goddamn drones, and some rooms have a metric f*ckload of them.

Have read that there's another ending, so might keep doing a few more runs.

Biome 5 broke me last night. Had a hard time with drones in biome 3, when I seen sheer volume of them again in 5 my heart absolutely sank!

In biome 3 I got around them by just sprinting towards them which usually gets you out of the lock on they have, just doesn't seem a viable tactic in biome 5 though due to the crazy numbers they spawn in.

Penn · 08-05-2021 12:24pm

goon_magee wrote: »

Biome 5 broke me last night. Had a hard time with drones in biome 3, when I seen sheer volume of them again in 5 my heart absolutely sank!

In biome 3 I got around them by just sprinting towards them which usually gets you out of the lock on they have, just doesn't seem a viable tactic in biome 5 though due to the crazy numbers they spawn in.

Not going to lie, there was one room in my biome 5 where I had to cheese them with the door. Ran into a blue room hoping for heals but there was none, so I just kept opening door, shooting and retreating again until I got rid of them.

fixXxer · 08-05-2021 1:15pm

.G. wrote: »

The weapons you get on the daily challenge are a bit special! Make mince meat of everything in seconds.

Whats this? The rooms with the star on top?

sniper_samurai · 08-05-2021 1:17pm

fixXxer wrote: »

Whats this? The rooms with the star on top?

It's on one of the consoles in the Helios after completing Biome 1. You get 5 ether for running it.

Dave1711 · 08-05-2021 1:18pm

fixXxer wrote: »

Whats this? The rooms with the star on top?

You unlock them once you clear the game

jones · 08-05-2021 2:48pm

I've played about 4 hours of this and I'm absolutely loving it. The graphics, sound from pluse headphones and feedback from dualsense are an amazing combo and feels properly next gen.

I keep getting killed by the first boss and only just realised you have to press L1 to use a consumable I presumed it was automatic ðŸ˜± DOH

DarC_Kn1ght · 08-05-2021 3:01pm

Finished in 10 hours, didn't find it that difficult. Once you get a good 'build' your unstoppable. Now for the platinum grind.

Penn · 08-05-2021 3:08pm

DarC_Kn1ght wrote: »

Finished in 10 hours, didn't find it that difficult. Once you get a good 'build' your unstoppable. Now for the platinum grind.

Yeah farming the hell out of the first biome in each act, including destroying all plants for drops/obilites, makes a huge difference. By then you'll have found or bought some decent artefacts that you mostly just have to focus on weapons going forward.

Might go for the platinum too, but have read that I may need to fight the final boss again so the sun fragment things start appearing, as I hadn't done all the house sequences before beating the final boss.

goon_magee · 08-05-2021 7:37pm

Rolled credits there. after struggling to get to the boss on biome 3, I beat and every boss after first try. Delighted as I typically suck at anything that requires any sort of quick reflexes.

Probably my game of the year so far, though the competition hasn't been strong admittedly. Nigh on perfect gameplay and bar the lack of a save system, perfectly balanced IMO.

Looking forward to digging back in with new weapons now and checking out the bit of post game I've heard is there.

Penn · 08-05-2021 9:57pm

The electryon driver weapon with pylon web is insane, does huge damage. But it caused game to freeze on me once earlier and probably nearly a second time too. Framerate drops like crazy.

Zero-Cool · 09-05-2021 6:59pm

Reading yer comments completely killed any want in me to play this, it's a non starter for me unless a save on exit is added. However, girlfriend reviews actually has me wanting to play this ASAP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48Gh81okiU0

Milanative · 10-05-2021 11:49pm

Housemarque has really hit it out of the park with the use of dualsense in the game its absolutely incredible in your hands, there's issues for sure with some dualsense controllers naturally enough with it being new but Sony has to keep going in this direction as its an absolute game changer and the most next gen thing available and something Microsoft and Nintendo have no answer too

Dave1711 · 10-05-2021 11:58pm

Milanative wrote: »

Housemarque has really hit it out of the park with the use of dualsense in the game its absolutely incredible in your hands, there's issues for sure with some dualsense controllers naturally enough with it being new but Sony has to keep going in this direction as its an absolute game changer and the most next gen thing available and something Microsoft and Nintendo have no answer too

Yeah must say it's nice to see it used so well so early in the consoles cycle thought it might be some gimmick but maybe devs are interested in using it in the feel of the game

weiland79 · 13-05-2021 7:59am

What a game! It was a toss up between this and resi and im delighted with my choice. Anyone else get a Control vibe from?
Whats up with the turrets with the shields, how do I take out the shield, im guessing i have to destroy something to turn it off?

Penn · 13-05-2021 8:03am

weiland79 wrote: »

What a game! It was a toss up between this and resi and im delighted with my choice. Anyone else get a Control vibe from?
Whats up with the turrets with the shields, how do I take out the shield, im guessing i have to destroy something to turn it off?

Melee attack destroys the shield. It'll usually destroy the turret too in the same hit, but some larger enemies with shields the melee hit will just destroy the shield and take a chunk of their health but not kill them.

fixXxer · 13-05-2021 10:36am

Finally made it in to the 2nd level. The change in landscape is pretty jarring but not as jarring as having to start through world one each time :pac:

Is there any benefit to further fights with that 1st boss again?

Penn · 13-05-2021 10:59am

fixXxer wrote: »

Finally made it in to the 2nd level. The change in landscape is pretty jarring but not as jarring as having to start through world one each time :pac:

Is there any benefit to further fights with that 1st boss again?

Not really. I think you get a few ether, obelites, artefact, and can deposit a datacube if you found one and there might be a chest or two, but other than that it's not really worth risking losing health/consumables. Ether becomes more plentiful later in the game and there will be other places to deposit datacubes that don't require having to fight a boss first.

brady12 · 13-05-2021 12:12pm

Starting this in a few hours .

Any tips

Penn · 13-05-2021 1:32pm

brady12 wrote: »

Starting this in a few hours .

Any tips

I'd say accept the fact you're going to die repeatedly fairly early on, so use those runs to experiment and just get used to the games systems. Pick up malignant items and parasites to get used to the buffs and debunks and general requirements, there's a general risk/reward system in those items. Experiment with the different weapons you might find in the first area. Pick up health items even at full health as they'll work towards increasing your health bar. And in terms of combat, always focus more on movement and avoiding hits than doing damage. Most enemies have fairly set attack patterns, once you see them a few times they become a lot easier to dodge. Also, you're mostly invulnerable when you dodge, so use that to dodge through enemy attacks if needed.

Enjoy!

brady12 · 13-05-2021 7:57pm

Jesus I love this game & it's my first ever rogue like! .I spent about 90mins on my first run and died to the presumed biome ending boss when I had him wittled down to nothing ,I didn't realize I was about enter a boss fight id low health and that screwed me. The 90mins flew the game really sucks you in and demand all your intention.all I wanted do after dying was go again!

Penn · 13-05-2021 8:52pm

Still been plugging away, but don't think I'll bother with trying to go for the platinum any more. The survey trophies being so dependent on RNG just means its not really worth it.

A fantastic game overall though.

Looks like they are looking into implementing a save system though.

https://twitter.com/stephentotilo/status/1392908007793643528?s=20

.G. · 14-05-2021 6:50am

Found it gets a bit easier after the first biome, and they seem smaller. After taking a week to get out of the first I got through the next one on my second go but had a turn it off a short while into biome three. The weapons and their effectiveness really ramp up after biome one.

That hollowseeker is a mighty fine gun but still find myself reverting to the trusty carbine more often than not.

brady12 · 14-05-2021 7:01am

Is it when you get to biome 3 it ' saves ' so can start at biome
3 every loop ?

Penn · 14-05-2021 7:33am

brady12 wrote: »

Is it when you get to biome 3 it ' saves ' so can start at biome
3 every loop ?

No, biome 4. An ability you get at the end of biome 2 does means you can go from biome 1 to 3 though.

McFly85 · 14-05-2021 11:03am

Hadn’t had a chance to play this since last week. Had a run to the 3rd biome boss and almost got him on his last bar but I didn’t have a decent weapon, so did another one, had plenty of health, spaceman, strong hollowseeker.

Coasted through the first 2 phases, but the third phase he didn’t seem to fully materialise, leaving me to shoot at a vague shape and not do any damage until I was eventually killed. Absolute bullsh*t. I love the game but having spent so much time getting a good run together only to have it wasted like that is maddening. It’s going to be left alone for a while, gonna start Mass Effect instead.

DarC_Kn1ght · 14-05-2021 5:20pm

Got the platinum. The collectable RNG was rough.

McFly85 · 16-05-2021 2:13pm

After trying again, went straight from 1 to 6 before being killed by the boss. Found the later biomes much easier but it might have been due to the items I had.

weiland79 · 20-05-2021 1:07pm

I'm currently in the second biome. When I die I usually spend 20 minutes or so levelling up a bit in the 1st area before tackling the second one again.
This approach is wearing me out a little bit though. How are other people playing, do you just make a bee line for the portal? Can you level up enough in the 2nd area alone to take down the boss?

sniper_samurai · 20-05-2021 2:09pm

weiland79 wrote: »

I'm currently in the second biome. When I die I usually spend 20 minutes or so levelling up a bit in the 1st area before tackling the second one again.
This approach is wearing me out a little bit though. How are other people playing, do you just make a bee line for the portal? Can you level up enough in the 2nd area alone to take down the boss?

Just make a beeline. There is an item at the start of each biome to bring your weapon proficiency up to level. You may need to be a little more careful of your health though due to less upgrades.

Penn · 20-05-2021 3:57pm

sniper_samurai wrote: »

Just make a beeline. There is an item at the start of each biome to bring your weapon proficiency up to level. You may need to be a little more careful of your health though due to less upgrades.

I'm the opposite. I farm the hell out of the first biome for health/weapons/artefacts. It can be a drag, but I think it sets you up really well for the later biomes. The proficiency boost if you just run through is great, but you still only have pistol and I got stuck before with getting nothing but the slow but powerful guns from chests/drops and taking an absolute hammering.

Those few extra artefacts or even decent parasites can be a huge boost too.

But yes, it can definitely be a pain going through the first biome over and over. I find I fly through it quick enough though, as you start to see patterns in knowing what to bother with or not, like I don't bother with the Challenge Room or the Boss areas.

weiland79 · 21-05-2021 3:01pm

I turned it off last night stood in front of the boss area. I couldn't bring myself to jump in and die after it taking me so long to get there!
I've no second life either as I went into the challenge room and lost my astronaut. There were 2 of those facking tank things in there! 2!!!! Ffs.

goon_magee · 25-05-2021 1:15pm

Penn wrote: »

I'm the opposite. I farm the hell out of the first biome for health/weapons/artefacts. It can be a drag, but I think it sets you up really well for the later biomes. The proficiency boost if you just run through is great, but you still only have pistol and I got stuck before with getting nothing but the slow but powerful guns from chests/drops and taking an absolute hammering.

Those few extra artefacts or even decent parasites can be a huge boost too.

But yes, it can definitely be a pain going through the first biome over and over. I find I fly through it quick enough though, as you start to see patterns in knowing what to bother with or not, like I don't bother with the Challenge Room or the Boss areas.

I'd second this approach. Heading straight for the second biome never helped me in the slightest. Spending 20 mins getting health upgrades and damage boosts in biome 1 is a huge help. My first completion saw me leave Biome 1 going into Biome 2 with 175% suit integrity, a bunch of useful parasites, and a good stash of currency which I was able to spend on whatever in the biomes after as I had already stacked so much health.

I think the only way not farming biome 1 is of any use is if you have god like reflexes and don't need the additional health or currency for to spend on consumables.

weiland79 · 25-05-2021 2:08pm

Yeah I'm up to the third biome now and as was mentioned before you can move through it fairly quickly and ignore the challenge room and boss room. Nice little shortcut to the third biome across the broken bridge now too.

petes · 26-05-2021 10:39am

I'd consider myself a decent enough gamer but this fcuked me for some reason. On the last area and it only took me 70 hours :pac:

Every run I did though I collected everything in the areas before heading to the next.

LauraW7746 · 06-06-2021 11:05pm

Guys I have done 3 runs, only in Biome 1, I cant seem to find the sword to melee anywhere or else im just not getting far enough haha
Any tips to find it or is it just completely random because of the map changes on starting a new game?

I think I like the game, im just crap at it haha

Penn · 07-06-2021 8:16am

LauraW7746 wrote: »

Guys I have done 3 runs, only in Biome 1, I cant seem to find the sword to melee anywhere or else im just not getting far enough haha
Any tips to find it or is it just completely random because of the map changes on starting a new game?

I think I like the game, im just crap at it haha

Just googled it (because I couldn't remember from my own playthrough), and the sword should be a guaranteed find in Biome 1. Should be located in the room which leads to the next Biome, a room which has red sand in it and is a dead end (the door on the map should have a circle on top). You need to beat the boss of Biome 1 to get the key to actually unlock the gate to the next Biome, but you should still be able to enter that room and get the sword.

As the room contains the gate to the next Biome, it is a guaranteed room somewhere in Biome 1. It could appear anywhere along the Biome though.

LauraW7746 · 07-06-2021 3:29pm

Penn wrote: »

Just googled it (because I couldn't remember from my own playthrough), and the sword should be a guaranteed find in Biome 1. Should be located in the room which leads to the next Biome, a room which has red sand in it and is a dead end (the door on the map should have a circle on top). You need to beat the boss of Biome 1 to get the key to actually unlock the gate to the next Biome, but you should still be able to enter that room and get the sword.

As the room contains the gate to the next Biome, it is a guaranteed room somewhere in Biome 1. It could appear anywhere along the Biome though.

Cheers I did come across a room on the map with a red outline rather than a blue.... I assumed this was a challenge area where it would lock and have to fight waves of ememies so avoided it

So that is the room where its at?

Penn · 07-06-2021 3:38pm

LauraW7746 wrote: »

Cheers I did come across a room on the map with a red outline rather than a blue.... I assumed this was a challenge area where it would lock and have to fight waves of ememies so avoided it

So that is the room where its at?

No, there's a few different types of doors

Light Blue doors are generally the main path doors
Dark Blue doors are optional side paths
Light Blue Doors with a circle over them are doors which lead to the next Biome (which once you defeat the boss of the Biome you'll unlock a key or ability which allows you to go to that next biome)
Yellow doors (will have a star over it) are the Challenge rooms with waves of enemies
Red door leads to the boss of the biome

In Biome 1, there'll be two Light Blue doors with circles over them, one going to Biome 2 and one going to Biome 3 (so you can shortcut to either biome without having to keep fighting the boss of Biome 1 each time). The sword (again, going by Google) should be in the light blue door with circle which leads to Biome 2. There'll be red sand in it and a platform at the end of a short tunnel. Apparantly the sword is in there.

LauraW7746 · 07-06-2021 3:41pm

Penn wrote: »

No, there's a few different types of doors

Light Blue doors are generally the main path doors
Dark Blue doors are optional side paths
Light Blue Doors with a circle over them are doors which lead to the next Biome (which once you defeat the boss of the Biome you'll unlock a key or ability which allows you to go to that next biome)
Yellow doors (will have a star over it) are the Challenge rooms with waves of enemies
Red door leads to the boss of the biome

In Biome 1, there'll be two Light Blue doors with circles over them, one going to Biome 2 and one going to Biome 3 (so you can shortcut to either biome without having to keep fighting the boss of Biome 1 each time). The sword (again, going by Google) should be in the light blue door with circle which leads to Biome 2. There'll be red sand in it and a platform at the end of a short tunnel. Apparantly the sword is in there.

Ok great, I must not have made it that far, ill just have to presevere so! ðŸ˜‚

weiland79 · 09-06-2021 11:44am

Made it to the final boss last night, bloody hell it's some journey to get there. Those drones that just appear out of no where and blast you with rockets and lasers and every other kind of weapon.

Fvck those drones

And those teleporting blade wielding dudes that appear behind you and crush your will to live.

Fvck those guys too.

Penn · 11-06-2021 3:39pm

New patch will increase locations for some of the rarest Scout logs, making them more likely to appear. Might make me return(al) to the game and go for the platinum (after Ratchet & Clank).

They've also fixed framerate drops for the Electropylon Driver, so that weapon is in play for me again. Was wary of it causing game to crash too far into a run so have been mostly skipping it.

Mr.Fantastic · 17-06-2021 11:23am

Got this for 46 off amazon.de and had some Amazon vouchers from work.

Will give it a go but is the lack of a save mechanic a big deal?

I adored Hades and dead cells so it's not my first roguelite.

Penn · 17-06-2021 12:41pm

Mr.Fantastic wrote: »

Got this for 46 off amazon.de and had some Amazon vouchers from work.

Will give it a go but is the lack of a save mechanic a big deal?

I adored Hades and dead cells so it's not my first roguelite.

It's not a huge deal, it's just an unnecessary pain. It depends how much time you can devote to a run. If you find yourself on a decent run, it could take over 3 hours to finish it.

The more you play you unlock weapon upgrades and shortcuts that can help you get through areas quicker, plus just knowing what to do, what types of rooms you can skip etc. But most of the time it's not a game you play if you only have an hour to spare, because you could be on a hell of a run with no way of saving your progress, even though there are fairly obvious areas where they could easily introduce a save point without breaking the game.

Mr.Fantastic · 17-06-2021 6:36pm

Penn wrote: »

It's not a huge deal, it's just an unnecessary pain. It depends how much time you can devote to a run. If you find yourself on a decent run, it could take over 3 hours to finish it.

The more you play you unlock weapon upgrades and shortcuts that can help you get through areas quicker, plus just knowing what to do, what types of rooms you can skip etc. But most of the time it's not a game you play if you only have an hour to spare, because you could be on a hell of a run with no way of saving your progress, even though there are fairly obvious areas where they could easily introduce a save point without breaking the game.

Yeah 3 hours is quite a bit ! Prob reserve it for weekend play. Never know they might introduce it.

Penn · 18-06-2021 7:24am

Mr.Fantastic wrote: »

Yeah 3 hours is quite a bit ! Prob reserve it for weekend play. Never know they might introduce it.

For a while starting off you can play in hour chunks as it'll take a bit to get used to the game mechanics and you'll probably die a good bit early on. Just don't get too attached to a run until you have more time to spare.

Xenji · 18-06-2021 10:23am

As Penn said take your time to get used to the game but when you do don't try and rush to the first boss, wait till you can play for a good two hours uninterrupted before taking her on.

Just a few tips for the first biome.

Shoot statues with yellow eyes for obolites.

You will get a second weapon and it is far more powerful than your gun if you keep dashing and attacking.

If you see any enemies with a red shield use your second weapon to destroy them.

If you enter a room that is glowing green make sure you destroy the pillar emitting the green light before dealing with other enemies.

Don't use any health items unless you really need to, it's best to leave a few and come back and get them before the boss.

Try and increase suit integrity as much as possible and use parasites early in the run for this.

Make sure you have your weapon proficiency to at least 4 before facing the boss and the carbine for me was the best weapon due having to keep your distance the majority of the fight.

Make sure to keep enough obolites to buy a health item or the little spaceman just before you are ready to take the boss on.

Locked gates can be opened by shooting what looks like a yellow button which is usually hidden above you but very close to the gate.

If you enter a room with enemies that are glowing yellow attack them straight away for obolites.

Blue doors are like treasure rooms, yellow doors hold a mini boss and 3 waves of enemies and the red door signifies the boss.

Do not fear the vines, they are really more like elevators that can bring you up to higher levels, you only take damage if you let them drag you all the way up.

Returnal

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