Topic: Returnal

I don’t even remember that room on the one run of biome 3 I needed @Voltan

@Voltan Turning the bragging up to 11 I see 😉

I did two runs where I got to the level 3 boss last night - one where I cleared out the first two biomes and bought loads of upgrades, and one where I ran as fast as I could and dodges all the enemies I could, and I did about the same on the boss both times.

@johncalmc Sounds like progress! If you're getting to the boss repeatedly, I'm sure it's just a matter of time now until you take him out.

YMMV, but I found it really helped to watch some good videos of the boss fight, so I could take in what's going on without the pressure of trying to survive at the same time. I like this one: https://youtu.be/lvJfwEksOv4

@johncalmc The hard part is getting there so I agree, that does sound like progress. I found with that boss, when I first did it, that the first two stages weren’t too bad but the third threw a bit more at you. It’s made easier if you just remember that you are invincible when you grapple, so when you see stuff coming towards you make sure you’ve identified a grapple point to get you out of there.

@johncalmc Yep @render is bang on, use the platforms and grapple to your advantage. I think I beat it on my third attempt and found it relatively easy.

@JohnnyShoulder @render In the third stage, as well as the grappling, I found I was using the platforms themselves a lot to shield me. (Especially the first time I beat the boss, where I was desparately short of health but had one of those slow-healing-at-low-integrity perks.)

@JigsawPieces Good suggestion, they can provide some cover especially the closer you get.

@adrianthealchemist Seems to be every game has got issues at the moment. Hopefully you can get that sorted and not lose anything.

@adrianthealchemist Returnal has infected R + C as it won't let you stop playing.

Argh!

Had a really good run through biomes 2 and 3 this evening - found 4 ciphers, completing the biome 3 survey and getting me closer to completing the biome 2 one, and killed both bosses.

Then when I exited the game, it crashed and locked the ps5 up. Couldn't shut it down, had to repair storage afterwards, and then my Returnal saved game was corrupted. It restored one from somewhere, but it was from the 12th of May!

I've restored my cloud save back over it, so in the end I've only lost what I did this evening. But still, scary stuff and a bit frustrating.

@JigsawPieces You’ve got my sympathy there. Same as both me and the wife have had. I’m convinced that there’s something amiss with when it’s writing to disk that’s causing that corruption.

Also same we had in the restore in that it seems to get a backup from somewhere but it’s not the same as the one on the cloud. It’s annoying that PS+ doesn’t extend to family accounts though as I’m the ps+ account holder then only I get the cloud saves. The wife lost a bit more progress because of that.

Hope you get those things back that you lost.

I'm into the sixth area now. It has taken me an outrageous amount of time to get here. I got through the third area straight away after following the advice here of just running through the last room before the boss. Then I beat the fourth area on my first go, and the fifth in three or four attempts, and then got to what I assume is the room before the boss of the sixth area - a lockdown room with LOADS of enemies - on the first try too but was sadly turned into mincemeat. Gonna have another bash at it.

@johncalmc It’s so weird how people bottleneck at different points. I got through biome 3 on my first go but took forever to get out of 4.

6 is quite fun but the enemies that give out malfunctions are a nightmare.

@Thrillho The tracking on those things are a right pain in the backside!

@Voltan That’s great 😂

@johncalmc Great progress. I found 4-6 a load easier party because I’d got some good traits going on but I think by then I’d also got into the groove a bit more.

Won’t be long before you’ve cleared 6 as well and then you can really start having fun.

Well, a smidge late to the party, but I’ve finally started Returnal! I have been following along with most of you all but a lot of things have gone over my head and now I’m trying to remember all the tips and nuggets of advice I’ve read, but mostly I’m just figuring things out as I go.

First impressions are great. I was expecting a lot due to the praise I’ve read, but I think it even surpassed expectations. The haptics are phenomenal. There is definitely an addictive nature to playing “one more run.” But I’m already at a wall where I wonder if I’ll ever get good enough. It’s frustrating because I know this is by far the easiest biome and if I’m struggling already I’m not sure if I’ll have it in me for Biome 3 and 5, which are apparently killers.

So I’ve played about 3-4 hours and died 10 times, killed about 90 enemies, hit max adrenaline once, and haven’t even sniffed the end of the first Biome. I’m getting a little better, but when I run into the brute type enemies then I’m toast. I’m taking my time and exploring a lot into every side door. I’m not shying away from taking on malignancies and parasites because I think I read that it’s usually worth the debuffs. I am still a little confused as to what carries over from run to run. I know ether does, but apparently whatever you buy with ether doesn’t 😣. The weapons confuse me a little as to what carries. Apparently weapon progress does carry from run to run, but what does that mean? It seems like the alt-fire and weapon level is just random when I start and when I find a weapon. I’ve only found the carbine on two different runs and the shotgun (I forget what it’s called) once, after which I immediately found a level 2 shotgun in the same room after finding the first one… ? So I’m just confused because I thought the weapon levels carried over with you from run to run, like if you get up to a level 2 weapon then you start with that after death, but I go back to a level 0 pistol at the beginning. Anyways, the stats are all just a mess in my head but I just roll with it and shoot with whatever Gun I’ve been given and when I use alt-fire it’s always just a surprise as to what it’s going to do this time; like opening up a present —“what did I get? Aw man, another pair of socks 😔”

So I’m taking a short break since 10 times of doing the same basic area is just a teeny bit frustrating. I tried one run where I skipped all the pick up and side rooms, just hoping to get progress to the boss, but that didn’t end well. It seems like you have to really invest the time to get good level up items if there’s hope to progress.

Someone talk me off the ledge. It’s going to get easier right? I’ll be able to progress through the game won’t I? 😅

Edit: Oh and I’ve discovered through several attempts that I have no business trying to do the revenge thing on the corpses I find. It’s a quick death for me every time.

@Th3solution Welcome to the party and glad to hear you are having fun. It seems like most people who’ve played it feel the same regarding how it feels to play. It’s truly awesome.

Sounds like you are definitely where I was when I started out, loving it but frustrated that I wasn’t making as much progress as I thought I should. All I can say on that is that it will definitely come, and you will get better.

B1 is quite hard for most people as you don’t have much experience and you won’t have many things unlocked yet. I’ve seen some people say they’ve taken many many more deaths than you to get past the first boss though so don’t feel bad about 10 😉.

As far as carry over goes this is the deal:

1) Ether carries over but things that you use ether on don’t. You can only have a max of 30 but it’s unlikely you will reach that on B1 as you will likely be spending some.
2) Obolites don’t carry over but they are well worth collecting as then you can get some good things from the fabricators. It’s totally worth trying to hoover up as many as you can from killed hostiles because of this.
3) Proficiency doesn’t carry over. Proficiency will allow you to find weapons with better traits and stats but always resets to 0 on death.
4) Weapon traits carry over and also the progress towards unlocking one carries over. If you unlock a trait fully then you’ve got more chance of finding that trait next time you come across that weapon type. These make a huge difference in combat as they can make a fairly bad weapon brilliant. It’s always good to try the different weapons though and do some unlocking to improve them as you never know which ones you will come across. I would say though that the best runs I have are ones where I’ve got a weapon I like. It might also be that you end up preferring different weapons in different biomes.
5) Consumables don’t carry over so good to use them rather than save them.
6) Suit stats don’t carry over. Those are things that might give you certain perks e.g. 10% extra weapon damage so are well worth grabbing when you see them.

Generally at first I found it paid to take it slow and edge through the rooms making sure to clear them all and maximise the integrity. I always buy the 25% extra integrity and the large health pack from the fabricators. Don’t be afraid to dash forward as that’s usually the best way to avoid projectiles and definitely use melee as well as it’s very powerful and will allow you to grab lots of obolites.

There’s probably loads more advice others can give as well but I’ve tried not to give you too much so you can find your own way with it.

I’m interested to see how you get on so have fun and report back 👍