Topic: Returnal

Played just over an hour so far and really loving it so far. Once you whack a pair of headphones on and dim the lights it's immersive as hell.

Feels great to control, sounds epic, looks stunning, has a great atmosphere, gameplay is fun and intriguing.

Nice, I only just got to the boss for the first time on run no. 7
Obviously I died.
I also was inside the house, yay. So far I understand nothing and for a while I was basically making no progress other than understanding enemy types a little better but it is extremely satisfying when you finally get something new!

The game is brilliant, got to the first boss and came damn close. Having a break and watching some t.v. Whilst I charge the dualsense for another few runs.

I tried this and the Pulse 3D headphones tonight...gotta say it’s very different from what I expected (that was basically roguelike PN03). It’s kind of slow and eerie. It has some Metroid in it and the impact of Metroid Prime 4 visuals will almost inevitably be diminished for me after this, it really nails the creepy alien ruin theme.

Outside of the time loop I think I haven’t grasped the game rhythm so far but I’ll surely be trying again tomorrow

We already know it's a critical hit but I'm curious to see how this game sells. Right now my Twitter feed is basically nothing but Returnal.

I think I’ve died about 12 times now. Met the first boss twice and managed to do better the first time than I did the second, I was so close.

When I’m not playing this game I’m thinking about it and how I can get better so it’s definitely got under my skin. Can’t wait to play later when the kids are in bed.

Ok guys after some runs I am totally sold on this game! Get it if you are on the fence, trust me. I am an average gamer and I don’t have any troubles playing this. Unless you are absolutely allergic to roguelike this is so worth it. I have just defeated the first boss and it was such a spectacle.

The only thing missing is Metroid sounds when you get the permanent updates.

I am currently in front of the door before the last boss in Demon’s Souls as well though I don’t know what to do lol 😂 maybe I should finish this first

Even with its few faults, this game is wonderful.

@Feena In that case then I wish I was an average gamer like you 😆.

Got to the first boss twice more this evening and got within a cats whisker of beating it but just couldn’t close the deal. Will take a break and try again soon.

Holy *****!
Just took out the 3rd boss!

Gotta say I'm now fully on board with the requests for a "save and quit" function though....

@Voltan kudos! I look forward to see the other bosses. This is profoundly addicting.

@Feena Tbh once I got on a roll it wasn't very hard. Probably got lucky with what I found in the first biome, because I breezed through most parts of the other two, even though the enemies there are technically more demanding in terms of attack patterns and such.
Or maybe I got gud already

Anyway, biome 4 is a hard checkpoint but it also resets your run so I can finally turn the console off and go to sleep (after dying there once). Looking forward to making no more progress for the next 5 hours of the game or something.

@Voltan wow well done!! I’ve finally managed to beat the first one and I’m really happy with that.

The second biome is pretty cool but had one too many holes in the ground for my liking. Wasn’t looking where I was going and that was the last of my health gone. Will try and make more progress tomorrow but can’t wait.

@Feena So, in comparing this and Demon’s Souls back to back — you’re in a unique position to say which one do you think is harder? Obviously they’re different style games, but which if the two are you more likely the throw your controller through the TV in frustration? 😄

@render I'm finding that as well. Not looking where I'm going and falling off the sides when frantically dodging incoming attacks, seems to be my number one way to die haha.

Can't put the game down and feel like I'm improving every run. Just have to get past that teleporting enemies with the swords.

@Th3solution As you say, they are pretty different. Demon’s Souls (my first Souls experience) seemed very unforgiving in the beginning but once I started to progress and level up it very quickly became easier and easier to deal with enemies as I had more resources. And you can totally over level or use multiplayer to totally trivialize some boss fights.Last but not least, the game has been around forever and it’s very popular, so I found a lot of wonderful people on this site and others willing to share some very useful tips.

Returnal was easier to pick up in a lot of ways but some runs can really feel “unfair” for me. But then the next run the planets align and I get everything I need. A good weapon, anni e combination of parasites. It really pushes you to do “just one more try” and I can see myself playing it nonstop for 12 hours when my family is not around...

So welll, I’d say I find Returnal to be more difficult in the end but you can always restart and your good run is always just around the corner...

@MightyDemon82 First one of those sword guys nearly ended me. I was not prepared
Btw I forgot to FLEX in my previous post - the run that got me all the way to biome 4 - I killed all 3 bosses in that single run.
Technically that means I must've missed a lot in biomes 2 and 3 because I only saw them once

@Voltan Nice one. I've had a few good runs this morning I almost get to the mountain but keep getting killed the further in I go. Need to improve my dashing to avoid taking hits as it always seems to be the really hectic rooms I die in.

Laugh at people that thought this was going to be an easy Platinum.

@Kidfried It really is nice! I've been working a ton so I've only had time for 1 run and I can't wait to "return" to Atropos (sorry couldn't help the pun xD). But I'm really impressed with how much haptics and 3d audio elevate the experience. The only thing I'm missing are some OLED visuals haha.