Topic: Returnal

@Voltan @velio84 @render Thanks for the encouragement. I'll keep at it!

(The first phase seemed overwhelming at first, now I've I've done it twice, but I'm still losing too much health. I just need to practice.)

@render @Voltan I had a good run in the Citadel, got past where you activate the bridge and the Xeno-archive, before health ran out and tiredness set in.

@JohnnyShoulder That puts you close to the boss fight
The bridge will remain open now so you can skip most of the level next time if you wish to.

@Voltan Cool! I did think that might happen. Will probably do my usual thing of not getting even close to being able to replicate that for a few runs.

@JohnnyShoulder Yeah don't do what I did which was almost kill myself trying to get back up to open the bridge only to find out that it was already open. Save your integrity for the next bit, and don't forget to use the grapple points to keep moving 👍

@render Cheers man! Yeah it's been cool to finally use the grappling hook, after seeing the orange lights everywhere. I like how each biome feel different to each other, and they are just not aesthetically contrastive.

Story done! Looking forward to going back through and picking up the collectibles at a more relaxed pace from now on.

Super fun game though.

@Voltan I have 19/20 ciphers for Biome 2. i knew of 2 rare rooms, the one with the big hand and the other that had 2 fabricators and a drop down section. Is there a third rare room that you know of that i am missing?

i already got screwed on the house trophy, and now i am growing concerned i am getting screwed on the biome 2 survey, considering i've seen multiple people say the counter was wrong and it popped for them when it showed 19/20 for them.

@Bri-Die I do believe the counter is fixed as of the latest version

Just had a really good run. Managed to finally get the blade and reached the first boss. Got through the first phase without too much trouble and then got destroyed immediately. Seems like it won’t be too hard after a few more attempts.

On this and the previous run I started exploring the side rooms a lot more. I assumed they were going to be lots of additional combat but, at least with what I’ve seen so far, it seems that they contain all kinds of useful stuff. Will be building them into my future runs.

@Bri-Die I can now type a longer answer
The trophy popped for me at 19 as well but as I said, I do believe the latest patch fixed that counter so you're probably missing one. The ones you mentioned were some of the last ones I got but I've seen the hand room 3-4 times before I got my actual last one, which was in one of the large outdoor areas at the very end of the biome. Unfortunately the video showing all cipher locations got removed from youtube (not sure why) so I'm unable to show you which one exactly :/
I could probably upload my trophy video but you'd have to wait until tomorrow morning

@mcdreamer There's some side rooms with combat (even lockdowns and hard enemies in some cases) and some with none - overall I do believe full exploration is usually worth it (with some exceptions).
As for Phrike look out for its melee attack, which does a lot of damage and knocks you down. Always does it right after launching those red rings on the ground. You can probably live through most other things easily

Can't seem to catch a break tonight. I either can't find any weapons when I get to the Citadel, or the ones i do I've not unlocked the 2nd trait yet.

@JohnnyShoulder At least you're working towards that unlock - that's progress too

Got to the third boss again ... after a run where the game had been exceptionally stingy with weapons! For reference, getting there with a sidearm pistol with snub nose and burst fire is not a recipe for success!

p-p-p-pt ... wait five years for reload ... p-p-p-pt etc.

@JohnnyShoulder When you take the shortcut to the citadel, there’s, more often than not, a chest past a grapple point if you turn around upon entering the opening section.

@nessisonett Yeah been opening that when it appears (which tonight doesn't seem to wanna show its face as often) but I've been getting pants weapons. Ah well, the rng gods are not smiling on me tonight.

@Voltan That's true and I picked up a fair few Scout logs (I got the illusive #9 awhile back) and Ciphers, so not a complete waste.

@JigsawPieces Yep that's been happening to me too tonight in Citadel.

@roe Well done for completely finishing the story, that’s definitely a major accomplishment. The relaxing pace picking up those collectibles hasn’t happened to me, it always seems frantic 😅

@velio84 Good job on the act 3 completion. Shame you found it frustrating but I can appreciate that. As long as you take some good memories from it then that’s all that matters.

@JigsawPieces I’m not a big fan of the burst fire on the pistol. Feels like it empties a bit too quick and doesn’t do enough damage. I am a big fan of the pylon driver especially with pylon web as I cleared out a few rooms quickly with that tonight.

@Voltan Shame that Crimson Wastes video is no longer available. My counter is stubbornly stuck on 15/20 and despite having been through there and cleared every room 3 times tonight I haven’t found a single one. I’m beginning to wonder if mine is glitched by more than the usual one.

@render It’s probably not, you just need some more luck 😉

@Voltan I really do 😃

I saw this message on the Housemarque discord this morning...

Hey you all. If some of you think - "What happened to all the guides on Youtube?" then, about 4 hours ago our account Videogamers.eu got hacked and deleted. I am hoping they didn't delete any content and somehow Youtube can fix this. I truly do hope. All those years of work and 2 step verificaton without a single message.