Topic: Returnal

Many will probably disagree but to me, both this and Village are proper next gen games.

@Th3solution I’m with @JohnnyShoulder on this one. It’s been a great experience even with the few issues that I’ve experienced.

And @Voltan is probably right about the number of people having zero issues compared to those that are. I’ve been on the Housemarque discord several times to see a few people complaining about crashes, but many more voices saying the opposite.

If it turns out you are really good at this game as well the you will probably blitz through it and not have any problems or need the save.

@hypnotoad I’ve not played resevil but this is nextgen for me. The levels all just flow with the fast loading, there’s never any interruptions. The action is mental at times and it’s just been so smooth and the gameplay feels really fresh.

@Th3solution No problems with crashes for me having just finished act II.

Lack of saves is mildly frustrating but using rest mode is an alternative (which the game even tells you to do!).

I did have a panicked moment last night as the wife turned the TV off after using Netflix on the PS5 and the console automatically turned off too. I was midway through the final biome but luckily it had only put the console into rest mode (I didn’t even know this was a thing my old Bravia could do!)

@Th3solution I’ve not had any run-ending glitches so far, mostly just small glitches in the run like floating items that I can’t interact with or grapple points that lead me to my death.

@PossibLeigh I can’t go into the house in biome 1 at all so maybe I need to go into it in biome 4?

@Th3solution As someone who picked it up first day and has had a cavalcade of issues, as of the last patch I've had no problems at all.

I'd jump in now, mate. That way you can have an opinion on it in it's intended form vs with save state added.

@nessisonett Yes, that's right. I had to look that one up to figure out why I couldn't find any artifacts.

@hypnotoad I managed to pick up RE8 for £40 on eBay, so next weekend I'll be able to form an opinion.

I had 30 minutes to spare so I started a “quick run” which will probably end up being anything but.
I those 30 minutes I finally found the Lobber and a Scout Log next to it (which I believe means I’m now only missing the infamous Log 9 for the first survey). The gun is awesome and I’m not sure how you could argue otherwise.
A damaged fabricator yielded a brand new previously undiscovered artifact for me - the one that makes you upgrade integrity with 2 resins instead of 3.
Unfortunately I had to run so it’s now suspended in rest mode. Will finish this in the evening, hopefully progressing on other biomes as well.

@Voltan The lobber is great. It's quick reload time makes it so much more useful than the rocket launcher.
I now think the traits are more important than the actual weapon type, though. The carbine is generally my favourite, but if something else comes along with a good trait, like persistent damage, that I don't have, I'll probably switch.

Edit: Unless it's a dreadbound or the afore mentioned launcher.

@PossibLeigh the launcher becomes actually good with full auto.
And yeah, it’s all about traits but it was good even at level 0 without any unlocked (I now got 2 since I’ve found a couple more of them).

@PossibLeigh @Voltan I used the dreadbound for 5 seconds and then quickly noped out of there. Probably the only truly bad gun but it might be better with other traits.

@nessisonett Dreadbound has some good firepower at point blank rage… but then so does the blade 😉

Had my first crash having had a really good run through biome 1 in act III 😕

This game slaps. Early days but gets the JS thumbs up.

@Thrillho Sorry to hear they are still happening.

I'm intrigued by the comment from HM that some crashes are hardware related. In my own experience so far the PS5 has been a crash heavy console.

@PossibLeigh I read that as system software related rather than hardware. My experience with PS5 is nearly crash free.

I was just taking the time to explore biome 2 much more fully, and it was going great - I was up to around 175% integrity, had a decent weapon and loads of useful artefacts, found lots of glyphs and some scout logs etc ...

... then I set off down a side path, and a glowing orange enemy (like a mutated kerberonyx but in biome 2?) appeared, spawning purple floating orbs that shot rays of death, and it ended me Very Quickly.

Must try not to panic next time!

@Voltan Yeah, I misspoke in saying hardware, fair shout. I meant the PS5 as a whole; system software and hardware. It's balancing out now as I play more games on it, but I've had a lot of different software crash in these early days.