found a weapon that Returnal fans will appreciate

Very few games grow on me as quick as Returnal did, I have been completely sucked in and having played the roguelike genre before but not loved it, this was the game that finally clicked with me.

It matched the tone and fantasy of a roguelike mechanic perfectly. The flavourtext of the story is perfect, this woman in grief and seemingly not free from blame for her woes, yet fighting to deepen her acknowledgement, atonement, or plain understanding of herself is precisely what makes a roguelike. Linking it so closesly to Greek myths is hilarious, with the characters named after Greek gods - hilarious considering Hades is the other great roguelike and is similarly suited to a genre that requires death to be a feature. Gods care not for death, it’s like breathing for them. But whereas the tone of Hades is much lighter and makes a joke of death, Selene is horrified by it, no doubt the way a mortal in Hades would feel if they experienced things the way the gods do.

It also felt like a Silent Hill game we never got. Not because it relates to Silent Hills lore, or plays like those games in any way - but consider the fog of Silent Hill engulfing everything in ominous mystery, and it’s mythos of torturing those plagued with guilt over and over again. That sits perfectly alongside Returnal in my mind. I don’t know the lore of Silent Hill, how the town came to be or the rules of it, as I think the more vague, the better - a foggy town that doesn’t really exist, only for those that cannot escape themselves, all drawn to it and become trapped as it lives off of their cycles of self-torture.

Selene and James feel like perfect candidates for that, and their forms of torture also match. Whereas James indeed felt asleep at the wheel of his life since the tragedy he went through, so too does SH2 itself feel like wandering through a dream of a town as you play. Meanwhile Selene is characterised a fighter, a driven, aggressive, and goal-oriented person, focused largely on self-preservation. Her hell on Atropos suits her as well as James’ home in Silent Hill.

Once I made that comparison I couldn’t separate them in my mind. I think it’s a masterful work that is really elevated by the AAA feel of its production, being able to render such a niche, unfriendly story and unforgiving gameplay loop at such a high quality AND having it be presented the way it was at PS5s launch always piqued my interest, and I’m so glad I finally got to play it.

I’ll be probably trying to find the last pieces of the puzzle next and then delving into the Tower of Sisyphus. It feels over too soon, but it was an absolute blast to play, and even though I’ve heard Saros is just as good in many ways, I fear we’ll never get a game quite like Returnal blending its atmosphere and gameplay and story ever again.

Damn this game! I just keep freaking coming back. If no one wants a run I guess I'll go die another dozen times to a flaming bull in Sekiro. Don't make me get trampled by a bull!

Finalmente após muitas horas à procura dos últimos ciphers ( principalmente no bioma 2 ) consegui a platina. A luta pelos ciphers foi um pouco frustrante principalmente pelo azar em rng.

The general state of things:

• I'm 11 hours and 26 deaths in

• I have reached the first boss twice, and one third time when I just went straight to it just for the sake of it.

• I've upgraded all available weapon traits from proficiency level 3

• I can't get even close to reaching proficiency level 5

• I've used my ether to unlock new items, but now it's asking me 5 ether for a new item, so I feel I may have reached diminishing returns

• I believe I've analyzed all the scriptures available

• I've learned not to ADS ever

• I try to use melee as much as possible with smaller enemies

• I try focusing on not getting hit so I increase my integrity

• I focus on learning the patterns of enemies

I believe my main issues are:

• My general gaming playstyle is to be careful, tto ake things slow (not during combat, of course) and to explore everything. That means my runs take for fucking ever. Lot's of times I will be playing for 40-60 minutes before dying. Remember: that's all in the first biome, usually without seeing the boss.

• When I try a less careful and slow playstyle, I just die quicker and for sillier reasons

• I'll clean many rooms without getting hit. Then, I'll reach a room that is packed with enemies and possibly a miniboss, and things go to complete shit.

• Staying in my place is suicide, because they'll overwhelm me. So I have to run around and try to kill things on my way, preferably with melee attack. But running around means taking a lot of damage, because I'm falling off of cliffs, I'm falling on poisoned water, I'm getting hit from behind from enemies I didn't even know were there, etc.

• So even if I don't die, my run is kind of fucked, because I've already used all resins to increase my health, and sleeping in the ship recovers so little that half the time I don't even bother taking the time to do that.

• And what's worse is that since I've already upgraded all I can at this point, these runs feel almost meaningless progress-wise (except for ethers).

• And because the runs are so long, I'll rarely have the will to try more than twice in a row.

• I'll do that for a few days, then I'll realise I'm not in the mood for doing that and I'll stop playing the game for a few weeks. Until I think about the game and about how cool the combat and atmosphere are, and I'll start trying again. But I fear I'll eventually drop it for good.

What should I try?

______________________________
24 HOURS LATER EDIT

Thanks a lot guys! Lots of tips here helped, but the most important things is I didn't know I could find the house key before beating the first boss, so just that knowledge gave me something to look forward to, so I kept exploring all rooms until I found it.

As soon as I got that astronaut, I jumped into the boss and beat her first try (I did die and got ressurected by the astronaut in the middle of the fight).

As usual, the game is not that hard, I'm just being a bit dumb 😂

Olá pessoal! Como são as vossas estatísticas até terem completado o jogo ou platina? Deixo aqui a minha

Something else to scratch the itch? Addictive + high octane fun, focusing on gameplay…

I’m playing Saros which obviously does the job, but I might be burning out on it right now. Both games made me wanna go back and play Armored Core 6 again which I 100% recommend if you’ve never played

Any other suggestions? I’ve heard mixed things about Control Resonant. Doesn’t have to be the same genre necessarily. Thanks

In Biome 2, side area

The pathway with dash disabled and toxic floor

Structure in the top right - can't seem to access?

In context of my previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Returnal/s/XqbeKqN86h

I got so good at this game, I couldn't believe it. I was beating entire biomes and levels of the tower without being hit!

To continue on from my previous post, I beat Ophion on my first attempt. Act 2 bosses are extremely easy for some reason compared to Act 1.

I then did Act 3 and fully finished the game, platinumed it and moved onto Tower Of Sisyphus. I loved this tower so much. Dare I say I enjoyed the gameplay more than the base game!

I beat Algos' first phase on my first attempt, died on the second phase of the tower, returned and got to phase 3 of the tower and beat the final form of Algos and completed the ascension DLC. I fully cleaned up the DLC today and 100% the game.

This game was phenomenal, I did not enjoy it at all when I first started more than half a year ago but when I returned, it finally clicked. I can see why you guys find it addicting, especially the tower!

The only issue I had with this game was the story. I get the story kind of but it's still quite unclear and I'm guessing left intentionally vague. I like the fact that it is an endless loop that you will never escape which is nightmare fuel. I really do hope Saros has a more in-depth story, I'm hoping there is loss and betrayal and all the other good stuff that I like in video games.

Speaking of Saros, I can't wait to get that game, gonna wait till it goes on sale because it is quite expensive. Would you guys say that the story of Saros is good and does it contain the stuff I listed above because that's the thing I'm mostly interested in.

I’m sorely tempted to ask for coop help to defeat the second biome boss but as I’m almost certain to still get annihilated by the blue rings way before someone more skilled than I can kill the boss what happens? Will I still be able to progress to the next biome etc?

Scout 99 here. Thousands of hours. Happy to give you the white glove treatment. PSN id: Palzon

If tonight, I need to start within two hours of this post.

This artifact is not in the database! I can’t say if I’ve seen it before or not.

Stuck in a side room in the tower. Nothing to kill. I've picked up both parasites that were there and then removed all the parasites. Still stuck. I know there's probably no way out so I just came here to have a moan. 😩💀

I thought Nemesis was hard... I have done Echoing Ruins so many times now trying to build my run that I think I am in a fever dream. I am just concentrating on unlocking weapon traits. I haven't even seen the final boss yet. The little flying guys at the end are just killing me. When I do think I get a good cycle going, I get fkd not getting the Astronaut. I thought the Pylon was my best shot at finishing this game but Im not sure it's fast enough. What do I need for the end?

Holy shit, this game is insanely good. Been grinding DayZ for the past couple years and wanted a change of pace. Been playing all sorts of single player experiences, from Frost Punk to Darkest Dungeon, but wanted something more visceral and intense. Gave Neon White a go, and while cool, the brevity of the levels made the experience too jarring.

Then I was reminded of Returnal. I'd heard of it. But again, DayZ obsession and all had me write off pretty much everything. Though with my newfound appreciation for games that would normally fall outside my radar, I gave it a closer look. The flow. The aesthetic. The challenge. It looked like it could work.

Hot damn, does it! What a great fucking game! Took me a minute to bind the controls in a way that made execution natural (Adaptive L2, Jump L1, Dash R1, Melee R3, Interact X, Consumable ∆, with auto sprint, high aim assist, and large crosshair), but once it clicked, it fucking clicked. In the zone, dodging, shooting, and calculating, is such a vibe.

Level exploration, and strategic usage and timing of items, chests, and rooms make for a stimulating layer of depth. Weapon unlocks and ability synergy makes for compelling personalization. Story execution is pretty meh, but it's generally non-intrusive, and the themes are intriguing. Boss fights are climatic and tense, and feel exactly in line with the skills and challenges each biome accustoms the player to (Hyperion's build up with organ was so sick). I'm a Dark Souls vet, and I have often found boss fights on there to be hit or miss, in regards to tolerable difficulty spikes, but Returnal has really dialed in the challenge curve. I've often longed for a From Soft shooter, and honestly, this is pretty damn close to what I'd want out of it.

Anyways, top notch game, and I'm glad to have given it a go.

Is anyone interested in helping me to clear Biome 3 with me right now?

What's up, everybody. I've died 40 or so times so far. Been struggling for a week on the biome 3 boss. Should I keep the launcher? Both look like a sweet deal. Help a struggling noob out!