[VFX_Veteran]

So you completely wasted 70 dollars?!

Why not searching info on the game before buying it?!

Nah, my buddy that works at Sony gave me a free copy.

 

[Grinchy]

Nah, my buddy that works at Sony gave me a free copy.

When everything clicks, it's a pretty damn great game. You should give it some time.

The first part of the game is it guiding you through areas with cutscenes and stuff, but after that, it's a more straightforward rougelike where you do quicker runs zipping around the maps. After a while you even start doing runs where you are just leveling up gun abilities or just hoping to get further than you've gotten before and it gets quite addicting. Fast, frantic but precise gameplay, cool visuals, and a nice theme.

You should expect to die and lose runs and have to start over. It's part of the formula. And you're getting in after some patches so maybe you won't also be losing runs to bullshit bugs and crashes, too.

 

[VFX_Veteran]

When everything clicks, it's a pretty damn great game. You should give it some time.

The first part of the game is it guiding you through areas with cutscenes and stuff, but after that, it's a more straightforward rougelike where you do quicker runs zipping around the maps. After a while you even start doing runs where you are just leveling up gun abilities or just hoping to get further than you've gotten before and it gets quite addicting. Fast, frantic but precise gameplay, cool visuals, and a nice theme.

You should expect to die and lose runs and have to start over. It's part of the formula. And you're getting in after some patches so maybe you won't also be losing runs to bullshit bugs and crashes, too.

How is this game any different than say the Souls games?

 

[Grinchy]

How is this game any different than say the Souls games?

In a lot of ways IMO. Very little is static in this. Enemy placements, rooms, map layouts, weapon/item drops, etc are all completely dynamic every time you die and return(al). I guess the one thing they share is that they both have a "tough but fair" style. You learn something with each death.

What gets so addicting with a game like this is figuring out all the different items/buffs/weapons/weapon skills and things like that so that as you're zipping around, you know what you do and don't like to build toward. But that comes from lots of experience.

And since it's all so dynamic every run, it always feels fresh. And even when you think you're doing well, you can jump down into a special room that usually has items for you to find it's actually a giant mini-boss enemy in a tiny arena and you only have half a health bar and you get fucked up. So you're always on your toes. Other times, you think a run is bad and make huge progress.

I struggled a lot early on, and I think it's designed to be that way. You'll feel like you've spent 6 hours in the first level and you must be doing something wrong, but you aren't. There's just a lot to learn and then it clicks. And suddenly the first boss feels like a cake walk.

 

[Mista]

 

[Grinchy]

Well, I finished the other ending. I never looked at the trophy list for 50 hours of playing this game but I finally did. I basically found every survey thing except one for each level just by playing tons of runs and not trying for it, so that was nice.

I'll plat the game with a few more runs through the levels I still need a cypher or scout log in. I kinda wish they handled the trophies slightly differently, though. I wish it promoted going through full runs more.

Like there should be a trophy for going through the whole game and killing every boss in one run. There should be one for killing every boss 5 or 10 times. There should be one for upgrading every weapon. Those are good grinds that promote playing lots of runs. But just hoping RNG blesses you with a scout log in one random room is lame.

 

[Gold Loot]

Well, I finished the other ending. I never looked at the trophy list for 50 hours of playing this game but I finally did. I basically found every survey thing except one for each level just by playing tons of runs and not trying for it, so that was nice.

I'll plat the game with a few more runs through the levels I still need a cypher or scout log in. I kinda wish they handled the trophies slightly differently, though. I wish it promoted going through full runs more.

Like there should be a trophy for going through the whole game and killing every boss in one run. There should be one for killing every boss 5 or 10 times. There should be one for upgrading every weapon. Those are good grinds that promote playing lots of runs. But just hoping RNG blesses you with a scout log in one random room is lame.

I would love to do a single run through. But I'll be damned if I'm going to try it without a save point.
I trust housemarque though. They're usually very good at post release content and updated.

 

[Grinchy]

I would love to do a single run through. But I'll be damned if I'm going to try it without a save point.
I trust housemarque though. They're usually very good at post release content and updated.

I've done it. I still think it's ridiculous how many ways a run can die without you dying because of not being able to save a run, but I can still manage to go thru the whole game and killing every boss with the current dumb set up.

But another reason it's sorta pointless to even do it is because of the way they split the game in half. Spending a lot of time beefing up for the first half to start from scratch anyway on the second half tells you there's no reason to even do it.

 

[Mista]

Patch Notes:

Highlights:

• Platinum: Added support for replaying certain Act 1 & Act 2 Trophies
• Platinum: Added support to retroactively award Trophies which cannot be replayed
• Platinum: Added additional locations for Scout Logs 9, 34, 35 & 46 to appear more often
• Platinum: Fixed an issue where 1 Cipher was sometimes unobtainable for Biome Survey Trophies
• Platinum: Fixed an issue where some Activity Cards displayed an incorrect count
• UI: HUD labels for items are now hidden when Selene is firing a weapon
• UI: Fixed an issue where 2 actions could be mapped to a single button after switching controller presets
• Cinematics: Fixed a rare audio sync issue in the secret ending
• Audio: General mix improvements across the experience
• Audio: Improved surround sound setup support across the experience
• Audio: Added more DualSense haptics across cinematic moments for deeper immersion
• Audio: Added DualSense haptics when using the Icarian Grapnel
• Audio: Improved the dynamic range recommendations system
• Audio: Allow users to override the dynamic range recommendations
• Audio: Allow users to change audio output from the game menu

Game Balance:

• Balance: Various bug fixes to certain artifacts, parasites, consumables, and when certain malfunctions can occur in the early parts of the game
• Balance: Players no longer receive parasites as rewards when players avenge their corpses
• Balance: Enemies, Weapons, and Bosses - difficulty adjustments in all Biomes for a more balanced gameplay experience

Misc Bug-fixes:

• Fixed an issue where Hyperion may drop the Key out of reach
• Fixed an issue where Ophion may become invisible if the player uses a Reconstructor during the fight
• Fixed weapons not being found in Biomes after scanning but not collecting them
• Fixed an issue where Selene could jump impossibly long distances
• Fixed multiple issues where Selene may become trapped in a room
• Fixed a rare freezing issue when teleporting in Crimson Wastes
• Fixed occasional frame rate drops when using the Electropylon Driver
• Performance improvements, crash fixes, and multiple minor bug fixes

RETURNAL PATCH 1.4.0 — Housemarque

Patch 1.4.0 is set to release on Monday, June 14th at 12PM (GMT+3) Reminder that if you have the automatic updates turned on, the game will close while in rest mode in order to install the update. Patch Notes: Highlights: Platinum: Added support for replaying certain Act 1 &

housemarque.com

 

[Grinchy]

I enjoyed the hell out of the game and had fun going after the platinum, but once again, we have an example of why it's better to wait until a game has been out for a couple months before buying it. It's almost always a better game with all the bullshit fixed and it'll cost you less, too.

Bring on the DLC, fuckers!