[Dreamlord]

What does that mean, it can't be started on SD? Because hardware wise, shouldn't be an issue to run the game.

I did not install it to try it myself, but the store page for the game says SD not supported.

 

[Hostile_18]

I had my fill of Harry Potter, after 30 hours... it was good in an Ubisoft way. So about 8 hours in on Returnal and loving it. It's so addictive. It has quite a steep learning curve, but I'm getting there. Time to go through this thread from the beginning. If there's any one early on up for some coop I'd be more than happy to have some games at some point.

 

[regawdless]

Returnal March 9th Update Release Notes

• Multiple optimisation improvements to reduce stuttering on CPUs with fewer than 8 cores.
• Updated PSO system to reduce stuttering when Ray Tracing is enabled.
• Fixed crash that can occur when finding or using translocators.
• Fixed crash that can occur during various combat or high particle effect situations.
• Enabled Intel's XeSS screen scaling technology on non-Intel hardware.
• Fixed blocker that can occur when killing the Typhonops and using a Reconstructor.
• Fixed 3840×1600 resolutions not displaying correctly.
• Also fixed Steam overlay run time being out of sync with in-game cycle time.
• Optimised installation process to reduce file size.

 

[Hostile_18]

I'll be very surprised if this isn't my game of the year. Haven't felt this addicted to a game in forever.

Level 1 was really hard. I beat level 2 and 3 without dying once, including the bosses. Level 4 was a fair challenge but I beat the last boss by the skin of my teeth. The secret is leveling up the weapons and like Souls knowing enemy attack patterns and room layouts.

So much more to go and I haven't even touched the Tower DLC. Also going to try out @regawdless strong women mod;

 

[Hostile_18]

Have you guys not done the tower? My friends on the leader board has no entries. As someone who wouldn't mind an easy mode in every game, I want to be the one to dismantle your top scores.

 

[regawdless]

Have you guys not done the tower? My friends on the leader board has no entries. As someone who wouldn't mind an easy mode in every game, I want to be the one to dismantle your top scores.

I'll be very surprised if this isn't my game of the year. Haven't felt this addicted to a game in forever.

Level 1 was really hard. I beat level 2 and 3 without dying once, including the bosses. Level 4 was a fair challenge but I beat the last boss by the skin of my teeth. The secret is leveling up the weapons and like Souls knowing enemy attack patterns and room layouts.

So much more to go and I haven't even touched the Tower DLC. Also going to try out @regawdless strong women mod;

How do you like the game overall? I was kinda done after finishing the story. The game is a ton of fun to play and addicting, but I didn't have it in me to do the tower. I decided to move on to other games that are piling up in my backlog.

 

[Hostile_18]

I absolutely love it. Can't recall a game I've ever wanted to play so much between sessions. I think I will need time when I finish to reflect on it overall though, as I do prefer a really good story and human enemies generally, so not sure how I will feel removed from the addicting moment to moment game-play. I think it also helps its my first rogue like (I don't really do 2d games generally). Gets a solid 9/10 from me,

 

[Grinchy]

I absolutely love it. Can't recall a game I've ever wanted to play so much between sessions. I think I will need time when I finish to reflect on it overall though, as I do prefer a really good story and human enemies generally, so not sure how I will feel removed from the addicting moment to moment game-play. I think it also helps its my first rogue like (I don't really do 2d games generally). Gets a solid 9/10 from me,

I was left wanting more (and not in a bad way). I wished there was some reward for leveling up all the weapons. If you care about achievements, the achievement grind just wasn't as good as it could have been.

Finding all the ciphers ended up just requiring loading up a level over and over and sprinting to the pre-made room structure and hoping it was there. They have patched a lot about the game since I played it, including the "drop rate" of those ciphers. It was ridiculous before they changed it.

I'd have happily kept grinding the game, though! That's why I think that leveling up every weapon should have been a rewarded grind. That way you are given a purpose for continuing to do full runs over and over.

 

[Hostile_18]

I'm out of achievements after leaving the PS but I still want to level up the weapons. Its good because I'll do it for as long as its fun, rather than days gone by where I'd do things to the point of them been annoying. I love all the weapons, even ones I thought would be useless. What is everyone's favorite? Bearing in mind they are constantly changing as I level up I'd say the alien blade one... hollow gun is it? My favorite secondary fire is the electricity one for sure.

 

[regawdless]

I'm out of achievements after leaving the PC but I still want to level up the weapons. Its good because I'll do it for as long as its fun, rather than days gone by where I'd do things to the point of them been annoying. I love all the weapons, even ones I thought would be useless. What is everyone's favorite? Bearing in mind they are constantly changing as I level up I'd say the alien blade one... hollow gun is it? My favorite secondary fire is the electricity one for sure.

My main was the Hollowseeker, really good and fun. Electropylon Driver with the web unlock is incredible as well, I found it to be even more powerful than the Hollowseeker.

 

[Hostile_18]

At first I was like the Driver looks like the worst gun ever. I imagined technically setting up trip wire lines lol. Then I realised I could put said lines in aliens bodies and it became amazing .

Similar to the green goo one. When you level that up it becomes really powerful.

 

[Grinchy]

At first I was like the Driver looks like the worst gun ever. I imagined technically setting up trip wire lines lol. Then I realised I could put said lines in aliens bodies and it became amazing .

Similar to the green goo one. When you level that up it becomes really powerful.

Yeah I feel like a lot of weapons start off weak and get amazing with upgrades. I love the driver weapon. Definitely my favorite. But I also liked a lot of them.

 

[and 3 others]

Yeah I feel like a lot of weapons start off weak and get amazing with upgrades. I love the driver weapon. Definitely my favorite. But I also liked a lot of them.

The yoked out starter pistol was good too.

 

[regawdless]

The yoked out starter pistol was good too.

Really? Never even considered it and never used it for long. Interesting.

 

[Hostile_18]

Homing bullets on the pistol is pretty good.

 

[Dreamlord]

Starting pistol is good, once upgraded. I took down one of the bosses with it. Second or third one, don't remember.

 

[Hostile_18]

Starting pistol is good, once upgraded. I took down one of the bosses with it. Second or third one, don't remember.

I feel the slow firing but more powerful one was a proper nerf. Hard for me to want to invest in it over others now.

The level design is pretty ingenious. Get so far (levels 2, 3, 5, 6) get extra skills that can be used in starting loops to make getting back to further levels less arduous.

 

[Grinchy]

I feel the slow firing but more powerful one was a proper nerf. Hard for me to want to invest in it over others now.

The level design is pretty ingenious. Get so far (levels 2, 3, 5, 6) get extra skills that can be used in starting loops to make getting back to further levels less arduous.

And that loop becomes fun all on its own. Start a run and a random weapon drop falls on the ground that you've never used and isn't leveled up. Now that run basically has an extra challenge and it's worth it because it turns that weapon into a great drop to find in future ones now that it's upgraded.

 

[Hostile_18]

Ive currently got to level 6 and then died (playing with controller). I'm hoping the Water and lava upgrades will allow me to progress a lot quicker.

Do you guys take chances on inflected items often? Also how do you spend Ether. I find it best to either convert it for currency or bank it if I've got Protection level tied to it. Oh and of course the Demon respawn machine.

 

[regawdless]

Ive currently got to level 6 and then died (playing with controller). I'm hoping the Water and lava upgrades will allow me to progress a lot quicker.

Do you guys take chances on inflected items often? Also how do you spend Ether. I find it best to either convert it for currency or bank it if I've got Protection level tied to it. Oh and of course the Demon respawn machine.

I didn't take the chances often with infected items, wasn't worth it for me. I kept playing it safe.

 

[Dreamlord]

I didn't take the chances often with infected items, wasn't worth it for me. I kept playing it safe.

Same here. More often than not, it was not worth it. I probably picked up 1 in 30 or even lower ratio.

 

[Hostile_18]

It's a good way to get a big health bar. Especially in the early stages. If its your first or second malfunction it's usually pretty easy to resolve and then repeat.

I beat the game last night. Bit miffed it took away all my progress again lol.

 

[Hostile_18]

Am I going crazy or is replaying level 1 after beating the game miles harder than it was originally, despite access to the new areas? Lost to the first boss twice, despite doing every single room (I know I didn't have to fight him again).

 

[Grinchy]

Am I going crazy or is replaying level 1 after beating the game miles harder than it was originally, despite access to the new areas? Lost to the first boss twice, despite doing every single room (I know I didn't have to fight him again).

Not really related, but that made me think of something else with regards to progression/rewards/achievements in the game. There were these sections in the data log where you like "researched" the bosses by killing them more times that was presented as a percentage.

I feel like if there was some reward for killing each boss X number of times, it would have promoted doing more full runs. Like what if fully upgrading each gun gets you a gold skin variant of them all, beating each boss 10 times gets you a new outfit or a crazy animated dash, etc. They could have really given us crazies who wanted to keep playing cool little reasons to keep doing runs.

 

[and 3 others]

Not really related, but that made me think of something else with regards to progression/rewards/achievements in the game. There were these sections in the data log where you like "researched" the bosses by killing them more times that was presented as a percentage.

I feel like if there was some reward for killing each boss X number of times, it would have promoted doing more full runs. Like what if fully upgrading each gun gets you a gold skin variant of them all, beating each boss 10 times gets you a new outfit or a crazy animated dash, etc. They could have really given us crazies who wanted to keep playing cool little reasons to keep doing runs.

Her son is dead and you want gold skins!?!?

 

[DonDonDonPata]

I made it to the second area. I'm impressed they tied each segment together to make the "desert" feel bigger than it really was. First area felt like Metroid Prime's Tallon Overworld. This map feels more like Remnant's desert map.

also got the hollowseeker gun everyone's talking about. Pretty cool but I still prefer the Mass Effect carbine.

 

[Hostile_18]

Ok let's get into everyone's takes on the story!?

Spoiler: Story

So i hope no one here believes the Alien world is real? Like with a 20th century house on it lol. I noticed the monsters are based on the plushes around the house and also from the books left open around. Also no way Selene could live in a house like that but the human race has that advanced technology to

From what I gather you didnt get on well with your mam... who was possibly an astronaut. You inheritated alot of her traits with your child. You wernt paying attention and drove the car off a bridge. The child died and you created the alien world as a manifestation of that guilt "you have abandoned Helios" etc.

So after Biome 3 Selene forgave her self lived a perfect life (in this dream world) but her guilt brought her back after she "died" in this creared relaity.

 

[regawdless]

Ok let's get into everyone's takes on the story!?

Spoiler: Story

So i hope no one here believes the Alien world is real? Like with a 20th century house on it lol. I noticed the monsters are based on the plushes around the house and also from the books left open around. Also no way Selene could live in a house like that but the human race has that advanced technology to explore other worlds.

From what I gather you didnt get on well with your mam... who was possibly an astronaut. You inheritated alot of her traits with your child. You wernt paying attention and drove the car off a bridge. The child died and you created the alien world as a manifestation of that guilt "you have abandoned Helios" etc.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Yeah sounds about right. I was also thinking about Selene being in some kind of coma state after the crash, explaining her being trapped in the alien world, trying to get out.

 

[and 3 others]

Ok let's get into everyone's takes on the story!?

Spoiler: Story

So i hope no one here believes the Alien world is real? Like with a 20th century house on it lol. I noticed the monsters are based on the plushes around the house and also from the books left open around. Also no way Selene could live in a house like that but the human race has that advanced technology to

From what I gather you didnt get on well with your mam... who was possibly an astronaut. You inheritated alot of her traits with your child. You wernt paying attention and drove the car off a bridge. The child died and you created the alien world as a manifestation of that guilt "you have abandoned Helios" etc.

So after Biome 3 Selene forgave her self lived a perfect life (in this dream world) but her guilt brought her back after she "died" in this creared relaity.

I posted a VERY good video about Returnal a while back. I'll try to find it and post it here.

Here

 

[Hostile_18]

Spoiler: Spoiler

Yeah sounds about right. I was also thinking about Selene being in some kind of coma state after the crash, explaining her being trapped in the alien world, trying to get out.

Spoiler: Story

That would make sense as anything less, then she would also be aware of the real world.

One thing I'm wondering about though is what caused the crash? Is the Astronaut stepping out into the road, Selene's version of the night, perhaps a literal manifestation of her issues that caused the crash as it really happened?

Sometimes with these things I do wonder if there is a real narrative/thought put into it, or they just lazily put a bit of every scenario in just to make it look more pretentious/thoughtful than it is. I think here I'd of liked a bit more clarity, even if that involves piecing everything together from disparate pieces.

Still no idea what the fuck the last boss represents after seeing the car.

 

[and 3 others]

Spoiler: Story

That would make sense as anything less, then she would also be aware of the real world.

One thing I'm wondering about though is what caused the crash? Is the Astronaut stepping out into the road, Selene's version of the night, perhaps a literal manifestation of her issues that caused the crash as it really happened?

Sometimes with these things I do wonder if there is a real narrative/thought put into it, or they just lazily put a bit of every scenario in just to make it look more pretentious/thoughtful than it is. I think here I'd of liked a bit more clarity, even if that involves piecing everything together from disparate pieces.

Still no idea what the fuck the last boss represents after seeing the car.

I took it as her being soo distracted in her pursuit of being an astronaut that it effected every other aspect of her life, including the rearing of her child.

 

[regawdless]

Now I want to see them doing a non-run-based game. I think they have the visual quality down, they have cool creative story ideas, gameplay is always great. Now show me a hand crafted experience.

 

[Hostile_18]

I think I like the Tower as much as the main game. So addictive lol.

 

[Hostile_18]

I have Resi 4 but still playing this Im addicted. I'm all about story normally but god damn this gameplay is like crack cocaine. Only problem is it absolutely leaves your mind racing after playing. The one more run feeling is insane. Sometimes I'm forgetting to eat hours at a time. I'm not making out it's the best game ever but it's definitely the most addictive. Feels like this gens "Race the Sun" when I come back to it over and over. Mainly talking about the Tower here.

Speaking of which I didn't play the game of PS5 so hard to know what's dlc or not but I have got the feeling this must be one of the best DLCs for a game ever. I have got to level 4-13.... twice... there's a bastard that two shots me on a health bar almost half a screen long . Still I'm rank 4001, which isn't bad out of everyone considering I'm using a Duelsense. I got the alternative ending and credits etc. Here's some tips. Some obvious, but there's probably some that have been missed;

- Only get free health upgrades (after every boss, resin and random rooms). It's too expensive at the shops and that money should be used for damage and protection mods.
- Don't go out of your way to get proficiency experience at the cost of money or resin. You will max out level proficiency naturally.
- Make sure you are near the teleport on the last enemy. A quick exit gets you +50 a room, no enemy remains is worth more than that apart from maybe health if your really low.
- Save your Red keys for the rooms where there is a blue and red door next to each other. The red way gives you loads extra. If you just spend it on a single red chest out in the wild it's usually just another special consumable gun you will collect naturally.
- Special guns are a great way to take down the bosses quickly and also harder mini boss enemies later on. I occasionally use it if surrounded by loads of enemies as it saves health chip that will no doubt happen.
- Best guns IMO are Carbine (especially with leech) Dread (especially with 4 shards), Hollow (Especially with Portal Gun) or Rocket (especially with full auto). If you're taking Dread into a boss fight though be prepared to use consumable weapons to help get rid of him quickly. Slower weapons arnt great in the tower IMO.
- The Silver enemies are absolutely your top priority. Nothing else is more important. When landing in an arena use camera to look around for them. Go straight to them.
- Certain rooms have hidden bonuses. Also bonus rooms can have secret rooms in there secret rooms I.e where you jump past loads of beans in a tower room, keep going when you think you've reached the end.. twice.
- Use no hit bonus as much as possible. Level 5 gives you extra shards and damage. Both essential to give you an edge. Use Shields to keep it going as much as possible.
- In a room where you have parasites to choose from and a removal machine, recycle the one you don't want first to get money. Only reason not to do this is if you have a really good one from earlier that you may risk loosing. By that point you probably have a number of negative ones too though. So provably best to recycle them all and just leave with the positive one you want.
- Increased damage on malfunction for 100 is a super cheap upgrade to get and worth it over a standard 10% damage upgrade as you WILL have constant permanent malfunctions eventually after beating the first boss anyways.

 

[regawdless]

I have Resi 4 but still playing this Im addicted. I'm all about story normally but god damn this gameplay is like crack cocaine. Only problem is it absolutely leaves your mind racing after playing. The one more run feeling is insane. Sometimes I'm forgetting to eat hours at a time. I'm not making out it's the bee game ever but it's definitely the most addictive. Feels like this gens "Race the Sun" when I come back to it over and over. Mainly talking about the Tower here.

Speaking of which I didn't play the game of PS5 so hard to know what's dlc or not but glove got the feeling this must be one of the best DLCs for a game ever. I have got to work 4-13.... twice... there's a bastard that two shots me on a health bar almost half a screen long . Still I'm rank 4001, which isn't bad out of everyone considering I'm using a Duelsense. I got the alternative ending and credits etc. Here's some tips. Some obvious but there's probably some that have been missed;

- Only get free health upgrades (after every boss, resin and random rooms). It's too expensive at the shops and that money should be used for damage and protection mods.
- Don't go out of your way to get proficiency experience at the cost of money or resin. You will max out level proficiency naturally.
- Make sure you are near the teleport on the last enemy. A quick exit gets you +50 a room, no enemy remains is worth more than that apart from maybe health if your really low.
- Save your Red keys for the rooms where there is a blue and red door next to each other. The red way gives you loads extra. If you just spend it on a single red chest out in the wild it's usually just another special consumable gun you will collect naturally.
- Special guns are a great way to take down the bosses quickly and also harder mini boss enemies later on. I occasionally use it if surrounded by loads of enemies as it saves health chip that will no doubt happen.
- Best guns IMO are Carbine (especially with leech) Dread (especially with 4 shards), Hollow (Especially with Portal Gun) or Rocket (especially with full auto). If you're taking Dread into a boss fight though be prepared to use consumable weapons to help get rid of him quickly. Slower weapons arnt great in the tower IMO.
- The Silver enemies are absolutely your top priority. Nothing else is more important. When landing in an arena use camera to look around for them. Go straight to them.
- Certain rooms have hidden bonuses. Also bonus rooms can have secret rooms in there secret rooms I.e where you jump past loads of beans in a tower room, keep going when you think you've reached the end.. twice.
- Use no hit bonus as much as possible. Level 5 gives you extra shards and damage. Both essential to give you an edge. Use Shields to keep it going as much as possible.
- In a room where you have parasites to choose from and a removal machine, recycle the one you don't want first to get money. Only reason not to do this is if you have a really good one from earlier that you may risk loosing. By that point you probably have a number of negative ones too though. So provably best to recycle them all and just leave with the positive one you want.
- Increased damage on malfunction for 100 is a super cheap upgrade to get and worth it over a standard 10% damage upgrade as you WILL have constant permanent malfunctions eventually after beating the first boss anyways.

The gameplay was really addicting. Great flow, responsive, fun enemy behavior, interesting weapons, engaging design of the combat arenas. Housemarque just nailed it.

 

[Hostile_18]

The gameplay was really addicting. Great flow, responsive, fun enemy behavior, interesting weapons, engaging design of the combat arenas. Housemarque just nailed it.

Absolutely. Kind of gutted there will be no sequel. A bit like I want Naughty Dog to make Cinematic games, I'd love it if House Marque kept doing this type of game.

 

[regawdless]

Absolutely. Kind of gutted there will be no sequel. A bit like I want Naughty Dog to make Cinematic games, I'd love it if House Marque kept doing this type of game.

I just hope that the studio survives tbh.

Resogun was nice and somewhat popular, their next two games Matterfall and Nex Machina were really good but sold very badly. So bad that the devs left the arcade shooter genre behind.

Resogun Dev Housemarque Abandons Shoot 'Em Up Genre After Poor Sales - IGN

Housemarque is shifting to a different style of game development, with a focus on multiplayer online components, and player feedback via early access.

www.ign.com

Even Returnal with a lot of eyes on it only sold 560k units inside of the first two months on PS5. PC sales don't seem very low at this point.

 

[Hostile_18]

I think that price point hurt it on PS5. It's too high for people to pay for an IP they haven't played before. Now I know I love the game I'd be more willing to consider a £69.99 price point.

Seems to me this game is like Days Gone where its had a solid fan base over time. In both cases the market is there for a sequel, despite luke warm launches. It's just harder to convince money men who prioritise day 1 sales and little time for franchises that don't launch white hot right from the word go.

 

[Tyguy]

I really like rogue like games. It reminds me of the nes games because they were generally hard and having to start over a bunch. A lot of games these days have almost no challenges at all.

I have been playing the Diablo 4 beta and selected the more difficult mode and I haven't even come close to dying.

 

[Hostile_18]

This is almost certainly going to get my game of the year vote. Its just so different to what I normally like.

Any other similar games? Sorry if this offends but no shitty 2d graphics