Gaming Returnal (PS5)

esmufc07 said:
The bosses were mostly easy. I struggled with the first two, after that they were fine, though Biome 6’s can be a bit tricky as there’s just so much going on. I never found the length of runs too bad either; once you’re upgraded a decent amount you can get through them fairly quickly. That being said I’m an explorer so I always liked completing every room, plus I was going for the platinum so wanted all the collectibles.
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Yeah, I at least always fully explore the first biome after a reset. I like the level layouts/world enough for the most part to keep exploring. It's also fun to charge around and get up close before the later biomes force a little more ranged combat.


harshad said:
Checked yesterday and I have died 119 times so far and I have only just reached Nemesis. Guess I am just shit at this game :lol:
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Don't worry, you'll get the god tier weapon soon (if not already) and you can focus only on practicing your dodging ;)
 
I found the bosses way too hard and gave up at the 3rd one. I find soulsborne/sekiro considerably easier
 
Reditus said:
I found the bosses way too hard and gave up at the 3rd one. I find soulsborne/sekiro considerably easier
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I feel like it's the visual complexity that gets people more, they are all big showy moves with tens-hundreds of projectiles and colours going off at once. They are designed to look and feel confusing to the senses (some attacks even only have a couple of bullets that can actually hit you, the others are distractions), but if you can tune that out and just focus on your character, it becomes way easier. Soulsbourne bosses are largely you focusing on one thing, so in that sense they are easier.

Also I wonder if people rely on dash too much and it gets them into problems. Along that line of thinking, I also think some might be doing worse with auto-sprint on too.
 
Redlambs said:
I feel like it's the visual complexity that gets people more, they are all big showy moves with tens-hundreds of projectiles and colours going off at once. They are designed to look and feel confusing to the senses (some attacks even only have a couple of bullets that can actually hit you, the others are distractions), but if you can tune that out and just focus on your character, it becomes way easier. Soulsbourne bosses are largely you focusing on one thing, so in that sense they are easier.

Also I wonder if people rely on dash too much and it gets them into problems. Along that line of thinking, I also think some might be doing worse with auto-sprint on too.
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I would like to go back to it. But too much other shit to play. If they ever decide to offer an easy mode im there!
 
Redlambs said:
I feel like it's the visual complexity that gets people more, they are all big showy moves with tens-hundreds of projectiles and colours going off at once. They are designed to look and feel confusing to the senses (some attacks even only have a couple of bullets that can actually hit you, the others are distractions), but if you can tune that out and just focus on your character, it becomes way easier. Soulsbourne bosses are largely you focusing on one thing, so in that sense they are easier.

Also I wonder if people rely on dash too much and it gets them into problems. Along that line of thinking, I also think some might be doing worse with auto-sprint on too.
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Economy of movement is probably the main learning curve in the game i think. Thought it was funny that you mentioned it more or less in your first post, think you mentioned holding your dashes for when you really need them. I was probably on bio 5 before i really copped that. My reaction to a nasty room was to panic and starting jumping and dashing around the place. Had to kind of train myself out of that.
I think its badly balanced anyway. Things like medi kits increasing your health if your health is already full and that modifier that increases every time you kill an enemy without being hit (adrenaline?) just make the gap between a good and weaker player really, really wide. I've seen lots of posts like your calling it fairly easy and it just bares little resemblance to most of my experience with the game. I guess i got there in the end and found it pretty easy later in the game but it was a tough slog for a time.
 
Redlambs said:
I feel like it's the visual complexity that gets people more, they are all big showy moves with tens-hundreds of projectiles and colours going off at once.
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I was definitely struggling with this aspect, and it's not surprising: I'm generally not a fan of bullet hell games for this exact reason.
caid said:
Things like medi kits increasing your health if your health is already full and that modifier that increases every time you kill an enemy without being hit (adrenaline?) just make the gap between a good and weaker player really, really wide. I've seen lots of posts like your calling it fairly easy and it just bares little resemblance to most of my experience with the game.
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Yep, same here. @esmufc07 saying you can get through biomes quickly is hard to fathom - if you don't explore everything, how do you stand a chance later? I need ALL the upgrades I can get my hands on otherwise I have no chance.
 
Siorac said:
Yep, same here. @esmufc07 saying you can get through biomes quickly is hard to fathom - if you don't explore everything, how do you stand a chance later? I need ALL the upgrades I can get my hands on otherwise I have no chance.
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It's this risk-reward that makes a game like this so interesting. The more you explore, the more you get into fights at the risk of coming out of them heavily compromised with not that many opportunities to heal yourself, but at the same time you are giving yourself more chances to build up your strength.
 
Yeah, you can choose the path to go down that way for sure. Obviously extra health and proficiency matter, but I've never really been an item user in games either I just forget most of the time. So in this, I barely care what items/perks I get, I don't look for a build. Same with the guns, I pretty much ignore their mods.

I think for me it's mainly because I try everything in the likes of this/soulsbourne games. Or any game for that matter. Dying isn't really ever been a concern when I first play games so I'll explore, mess around, test the limits. For example in this, as soon as I got the blade I'm all charging in and now it's actually used a huge amount in my runs. Even on bosses I'll get in close and get some hits off. This is not really any different to other shooter/action games in that if you work on your character movement and sense of where you are and what is around, then the shooting/enemies becomes far less important. If in any game you play you work on your use of the controls and what your character can/can't do, then you'll be in much better stead.

That being said, this still throws up plenty that gets me. I just got about 10 of those kamikaze flying robots in a room I was new to and got my arse handed to me :lol:
 
Finally got around to finishing this. That last boss has to be the easiest one I've ever faced, not a single hit taken and the lvl 22 carbine I had just absolutely shredded him :lol:

But I really enjoyed this overall. The second half of the game was definitely weaker and the story whilst pretty intriguing at first just ends up obvious and disappointing, but all in all it has enough for me to play through again and see the other endings. Might have to do a low-pistol run only though as all the other weapons are just ridiculous.

I hope they do a sequel, and I hope they learn from the weak parts of this game and balance it properly.
 
Mihajlovic said:
Thanks buddy! Will have a look through!

God that Phirke boss is anooying as hell, never have enough health to go into battle!
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I gave plenty of tips in here, but the main one is forget shooting and work on the movement. More often than not, the amount of projectiles on screen (especially from the bosses) are distractions, comparatively very few actually hit you if you stand still it's more often a case you'll dodge into trouble, so that's where you vision should be. Shooting (especially on controller, the AA is way too high IMO) is secondary, that will come naturally.

And with Phrike, don't be afraid to get up close and blade him, but mostly again it's just about movement and patterns. He has quite a limited move set overall once you actually study him.

Good luck! Such a decent game.
 
Redlambs said:
I gave plenty of tips in here, but the main one is forget shooting and work on the movement. More often than not, the amount of projectiles on screen (especially from the bosses) are distractions, comparatively very few actually hit you if you stand still it's more often a case you'll dodge into trouble, so that's where you vision should be. Shooting (especially on controller, the AA is way too high IMO) is secondary, that will come naturally.

And with Phrike, don't be afraid to get up close and blade him, but mostly again it's just about movement and patterns. He has quite a limited move set overall once you actually study him.

Good luck! Such a decent game.
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Yes, love the game, and I think I'm getting better with every run. Not tried blading him, will definitely work on that, thanks :)
 
harshad said:
Biome 5 wrecked me. Want to finish it but those close quarter rooms with Frozen Severed was fecking my run up.
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Get gud! But seriously that biome and the 3rd are the hardest I think
 
Is the last biome different when you have all of the sunface fragments? It feels much harder and I have noticed areas with spawners, which I hadn't found in the game before this.
 
God damn, this game is frickin amazing. I’m convinced that I won’t finish it as I’m a roguelike newbie but I just finished Act 1 - obviously remains to be seen how well it holds up as does my expected frustration at not having “gotten good enough” - and I’m just in awe of how masterfully crafted a video game this is - the gunplay, movement, controller feedback, progression and especially the audio design, are truly excellent.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
God damn, this game is frickin amazing. I’m convinced that I won’t finish it as I’m a roguelike newbie but I just finished Act 1 - obviously remains to be seen how well it holds up as does my expected frustration at not having “gotten good enough” - and I’m just in awe of how masterfully crafted a video game this is - the gunplay, movement, controller feedback, progression and especially the audio design, are truly excellent.
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Nah, you've got it.

It's not particularly difficult as a roguelike considering how easy it is to overpower yourself, and the bosses are mostly pushovers. Though there's some tricky environments up ahead ;)
 
I need to get back to this. I actually found it far too difficult and was unable to progress. Far harder that souls games for me. But it was very good
 
Redlambs said:
Nah, you've got it.

It's not particularly difficult as a roguelike considering how easy it is to overpower yourself, and the bosses are mostly pushovers. Though there's some tricky environments up ahead ;)
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I’ve beaten each boss in my first (died to the 1st boss second time) go but just by the skin of my teeth. Brilliant stuff.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
I’ve beaten each boss in my first (died to the 1st boss second time) go but just by the skin of my teeth. Brilliant stuff.
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Nice. Trust me, by the end of the game you'll be holding back on the extra op weapons.

I really hope we get a sequel, but the way it's going right now who knows. Probably be some live service marvel reskin.
 
This game is hard until it clicks, which is good design in my opinion. It's difficult in a fair way and as such, possible to master it.
 
Fantastic game, never got past biome 5 because it’s hard to get back into when you stop playing for a bit. Will finish it at some point though.

Both the third and fourth bosses were pretty epic, mostly for the build up and ambience more than the fight itself.
 
The fourth boss and the build up to it is now among my favourite / top 10 experiences in modern gaming. DFTR is as it is such an incredible song and to use it in that manner - with the faintness, the references then to it by the character and then the full blown iteration during the boss, was just *chefs kiss*

The game is just amazing. I’m now just focusing on levelling up whatever weapons I can.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
The fourth boss and the build up to it is now among my favourite / top 10 experiences in modern gaming. DFTR is as it is such an incredible song and to use it in that manner - with the faintness, the references then to it by the character and then the full blown iteration during the boss, was just *chefs kiss*

The game is just amazing. I’m now just focusing on levelling up whatever weapons I can.
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The run up to and then battle against Hyperion is pure brilliance. I love how the music is always there, faintly, in the background throughout the level, but then gets more and more defined as you approach the tower and keeps getting louder as you climb it. Also how the boss attacks you by playing the organ during the fight.

One of my favourite boss sequences in a long time. This is still one of the first games, or perhaps the first, I recommend to new PS5 owners. It's not for everyone, but those who persist are rewarded with something truly special.
 
Ainu said:
The run up to and then battle against Hyperion is pure brilliance. I love how the music is always there, faintly, in the background throughout the level, but then gets more and more defined as you approach the tower and keeps getting louder as you climb it. Also how the boss attacks you by playing the organ during the fight.

One of my favourite boss sequences in a long time. This is still one of the first games, or perhaps the first, I recommend to new PS5 owners. It's not for everyone, but those who persist are rewarded with something truly special.
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It helps that I frickin love the song too. I didn’t quite place it - felt familiar but it didn’t quite click for me. Until it’s explicitly said and the rock music kid in me was like yaaay. Such a trippy experience.
 
The run up is incredible and it’s a cool fight but I was a bit let down by how easy it was compared to the first 3 bosses. Think I got it first time. In fact the second half of the game is much easier than the first in general.

The biggest problem with Returnal is the difficulty balance. It has a crazy learning curve but once you get certain guns and figure it out it never really adapts and becomes quite easy. I would love a sequel though
 
amolbhatia50k said:
It helps that I frickin love the song too. I didn’t quite place it - felt familiar but it didn’t quite click for me. Until it’s explicitly said and the rock music kid in me was like yaaay. Such a trippy experience.
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Yeah I never mentioned it in here, because I hate ruining moments in games like this, but it was so well done. Shame the boss is easy though.

Moments like that and, to a slightly lesser degree (in my opinion of course), the ones in Alan Wake 1/2 and Control can be so awesome if done correctly.
 
Redlambs said:
Yeah I never mentioned it in here, because I hate ruining moments in games like this, but it was so well done. Shame the boss is easy though.

Moments like that and, to a slightly lesser degree (in my opinion of course), the ones in Alan Wake 1/2 and Control can be so awesome if done correctly.
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Thats why you just say bosses are great. Everyone who played the game knows they're not really and your talking about one specific boss and not because it was a good fight.
 
caid said:
Thats why you just say bosses are great. Everyone who played the game knows they're not really and your talking about one specific boss and not because it was a good fight.
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I enjoyed all the bosses - last one was surprisingly straightforward (the mini boss just before that nearly got me) but all of them were tense and a blast to play through. I beat boss 3 on my first go but it was such a nail biting one as I just about bested him by the skin of my teeth. Somehow, beating a boss in an extremely nervey encounter first time was more satisfying than getting my ass kicked 20 times and mastering it on the 21st.

Anyhoo I’m still in my blown away phase over this game. Just finished one full run and hence got the basic ending. I believe there’s a hidden ending too and I’m tempted to trophy hunt for this too (let’s see as I never actually bother with that for any game really).

For those that liked this, did you beat it multiple times?
 
amolbhatia50k said:
I enjoyed all the bosses - last one was surprisingly straightforward (the mini boss just before that nearly got me) but all of them were tense and a blast to play through. I beat boss 3 on my first go but it was such a nail biting one as I just about bested him by the skin of my teeth. Somehow, beating a boss in an extremely nervey encounter first time was more satisfying than getting my ass kicked 20 times and mastering it on the 21st.

Anyhoo I’m still in my blown away phase over this game. Just finished one full run and hence got the basic ending. I believe there’s a hidden ending too and I’m tempted to trophy hunt for this too (let’s see as I never actually bother with that for any game really).

For those that liked this, did you beat it multiple times?
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Not sure how you qualify beating it multiple times, but I did a bunch of runs of Biomes 4-6, beating the final boss several times. One of those was to get an additional ending, the others just for fun I guess (or mop up some trophies for the platinum).

When you're done with all that, there's always the tower.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
I enjoyed all the bosses - last one was surprisingly straightforward (the mini boss just before that nearly got me) but all of them were tense and a blast to play through. I beat boss 3 on my first go but it was such a nail biting one as I just about bested him by the skin of my teeth. Somehow, beating a boss in an extremely nervey encounter first time was more satisfying than getting my ass kicked 20 times and mastering it on the 21st.

Anyhoo I’m still in my blown away phase over this game. Just finished one full run and hence got the basic ending. I believe there’s a hidden ending too and I’m tempted to trophy hunt for this too (let’s see as I never actually bother with that for any game really).

For those that liked this, did you beat it multiple times?
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Yeah. I think theres a good bit more stuff after finishing it the first time. I was being a bit silly with bosses, they're fine but probably not noteworthy outside of the production of that boss.
 
I always regret finishing it and not going back for the 'proper' ending but i was too exhausted. Not really played a game like it since. A unique title.
 
So it feels like act 3 / the post game is harder than the rest of the game. Could be due to later game enemies appearing anytime or most likely because I’ve gone from a high powered character to proficiency 0.

This is probably my favourite game of this “next gen” after GoWR (not counting CP).
 
amolbhatia50k said:
For those that liked this, did you beat it multiple times?
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Oh yes, I loved it that much. Though all my issues still stand with it, mostly the balancing and weapons, it's so much fun. Doing pistols, shotguns, low proficiency runs for variation is fun.


I haven't played it in ages though, but that's because I want to get as close to square one as possible when I reinstall. Also, it must be said, a lot of my enjoyment was because I played it through on Keyboard/Mouse. I've done a couple of controller runs and it's still absolutely excellent, but the difficulty bump when you have to focus on aim too was very welcome.
 
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