Topic: Returnal

@Just_2_milky @Thrillho @render @JigsawPieces
Thanks, friends. I’m so relieved to get over that hump. I’m sure I’ll have many more roadblocks yet to come, but it feels great.

Made it all the way through Biome 2 to Ixion on the continuation of that single run where I beat Phrike. I wouldn’t say it’s easier per se, as some of the Biome 2 enemies are tough like the severed, but my parasites and items were really good and the weapons are so much better in B2. Getting some good experience with the Hollowseeker now. But I had a level 8 Carbine against Ixion, made it ‘til half way through his 3rd phase health bar until I ate dust. But that was without any preparation, not having seen any videos or strategies. So I’m fairly pleased with myself for that. What probably got me was I took a lot of damage from the blue waves in phase 2 because I didn’t realize they needed to be dodged until I’d been hit a few times.

It was a really long run with a lot of time invested. I think I’ll try to rush through Biome 1 a little faster next time.

@Th3solution As has been said many times, there’s no “right” way of doing it now. Sometimes spending time getting obolites and artefacts in biome 1 will help, other times it will seem rushing straight to the boss works fine.

Building proficiency in early biomes doesn’t really matter as the item at the start of subsequent biomes says it gives a random amount of proficiency but, from my experience, it generally boosts you up to around the same level no matter what level you already have.

@Th3solution Well done, sir! Biome 2 is my favourite of the game. I loved the temple at the end, it reminded me a bit of Zelda Ocarina of Time for some reason.

And with rest mode, yeah use it and abuse it. Both times my game has crashed I had not been using rest mode, so you should be fine to use it.

I've been getting back into the swing of Returnal since the last update, and I've now cleared two more surveys. Two more to go — Fractured Wastes and Abyssal Scar. Not much left to do in either, so that platinum should be mine pretty soon.

Having taken a break from the game and come back to it, it took me a minute to get into the rhythm again, but it's a dream to play. I'd love to see Housemarque make some DLC, there's so much they could do with it.

@Th3solution Sounds like an amazing run and just unlucky there to not beat Ixiom first go. That’s the thing with doing all the leg work in the first biome, you are pretty tooled up when you get there.

@Quintumply I’m so hoping for some DLC as I still love playing this game. All I’ve got left is unlocking weapon traits and even that’s good fun.

@Thrillho I’ll try to experiment a little, but I definitely felt the weaponry was more generous than the first Biome, so I think it will probably be unnecessary to spend 2 hours grinding through and clearing the B1 map before moving on. But I’m sure things vary run to run.

I went back and watched your video now after doing the boss once on my own and I think it will really help me on my next attempt. I had stupidly not only hit the blue waves, but I was wandering around the middle of the arena during his flying attacks. It appears that it’s easy to avoid if you just stay in that one corner since he only comes from one direction. The third phase is where it will take some skill to avoid the jump attacks and rings.
I also noticed that you had a random first biome level bat that wandering into the arena in the middle of the fight. I didn’t have that and I think it was some kind of glitch 😄

@JohnnyShoulder Thanks, bud! I’m glad that all the advice has paid off for me so far. The rest mode has worked fine, and I think it’s a decent work around. Would be better to have a actual save system, but I’m fine with it as is.

Biome 2 is great, although the buildings get pretty labyrinthine and complex as times. I found I more readily got lost and turned around because despite the map being really helpful, the verticality makes for a tough interpretation. I’ll be happy to eventually have the grappling hook, I’ll say that.

@render I think I was getting anxious and tired by the end of the run, even though I’d taken an extended rest mode break and I was a little sloppy toward the end. I picked up a 5th parasite, partially because I knew there was a trophy for doing so, and it ended up being pretty annoying — “recover integrity with each melee kill but at the expense of not being able to pick up any silphium.” Ugh, I regretting that. So I went into the boss with my bar only about 2/3 full because I couldn’t pick up the silphium drops leading up to it. 😅

Does anybody know if certain ciphers and audio logs are unable to spawn before you progress in the game. I am at 95% in my Overgrown Ruins survey, and want to finish it up! I need 1 more cipher and 1-2 more audio logs, and they just aren't spawning in. I have the Icarian Grapple, but just haven't seen any of them!

@Just_2_milky not sure about ciphers but that’s a yes for scout logs. Some start spawning after you complete some parts of the game or specific actions.
You might also need the other traversal tools you unlock later (the last one is near the end of the game).

@Th3solution I can see how you struggled with that one. I’ve never picked that parasite up in the normal game but had it in the daily challenge in B2 once and it was really painful as most hostiles are too far away to melee 😂.

@Just_2_milky There are a few scout logs that only spawn when you’ve done certain things, however the ciphers are available all the time. They are however in specific rooms and some rooms have really low spawn rates e.g. 1 in every 25 cycles.

@render @Voltan ahh, thanks I’ll keep a lookout for the audio logs in a few days after I’ve progressed farther.

@render @Just_2_milky I'm not 100% sure about biome 1, but there are definitely ciphers in other biomes that you can't get until you get LATER upgrades (avoiding spoilers...).

@velio84 Thanks, I think that sounds like good advice. I was dreading fighting my way through the labyrinth of the buildings without the full benefit of the really good artifacts and parasites I’d accumulated in my long run. I do think it’s worth a short jaunt to just get a base level of competency then fast track to the boss. I’m not sure if I’ll have time to play today, but I’ll leave a post on how it goes.

Just beat Nemesis and was so close to beating hyperion! I dont know how I did Nemesis first time, I was just grinding for 200% integrity for the trophy, and was just able to power through and take some of the shots. Returnal is my game of the year, just wish there was a save function!

@velio84 Glad to see that someone else shares my appreciation for B3. I think it’s a marmite thing with it, you either love it or hate it, but there’s something about the place that makes it one of the more mysterious in the game. The brutalist architecture, the unnerving creaking sounds, the feeling of impending doom. I think it’s up there with B4 for me, which rates highly just for the soundscape and the build up to the boss.

@Just_2_milky Nice one. Seems like you are really getting into the groove. Also nice to see you rate this game highly.

@velio84 Excellent advice, indeed. I followed that and was able to beat Ixion on my very next try (my 2nd overall)
With the help of @Thrillho ‘s video, it really doesn’t require huge leveling up. Granted I had two silphium consumables for back up and had to use both, but I ended the fight with 3/4 of my health still intact. Only really took damage in the third phase when things get pretty crazy.
And I only had a level 4 Hollowseeker, although it did have waves which may have made it a little more powerful.

So it took me like 16 hours to beat the first boss and like 2 hours to beat the second boss.

Made it through several rooms of the Citadel, and it’s another really cool setting. Actually perfectly named for the industrial feeling of it all. Enemies aren’t too bad yet, but I got taken down by these two large blue spheres that just coated the air in orbs and fireballs. I was needing to go to bed so I wasn’t all that fussed to have my run end. I’m also actually looking forward to going back through Biome 1 & 2 with the grapple!

This game is great. In case you didn’t know.

@Th3solution Seems like you're still in pretty much the same trajectory as I was. I spent ages in the first biome, blasted through the second and nearly beat the boss on my first go, beat him on the second, and then I didn't find the third biome particularly difficult at first. Not to worry you but I really struggled with the third biome after that. Good luck!

@Th3solution You are on a roll, we'll done! I really didn't like biome 3 much myself. How you find using the grapple?

I've had a weekend break from the game and am itching to get back to it.

@Th3solution Nice one! I’m glad the vid helped. I found the biome 3 boss quite easy but I know others struggled with it.

@Just_2_milky I love the Hyperion battle and biome 4 isn’t too bad to run back through. Good luck for your next go!

This thread makes me want to go back and maybe try for the platinum at some point but I have too much else to play first..

@johncalmc I didn’t run into these famous drones yet, I don’t think. So far the B3 enemies all keep their distance and just their attack patterns took some getting used to. So I assume once I start seeing those then you’re probably right.

@JohnnyShoulder The grapple is great! It adds another layer of kinetic gameplay that makes this game so satisfying. I am having to adjust to how far it flings you since I did grapple into an abyss one time, where I was supposed to dash also last second to make the platform and I assumed grapple would automatically get me there. So now I know to be on the alert.

I’ll probably have the opposite schedule as you; am likely to take a break from it during the week and get my main gaming time with it next weekend, depending how the week unfolds. This is a good place to take a short break.