Returnal's Free Ascension Update Out on PS5 Now

Normalize adding multiplayer options that aren’t focused on being a grand live service experience and instead are just little extras for a base game.

In gaming journalism is the standard to understand "co-op" as online only but then write "couch co-op" or "offline co-op" when that option is available? I'd add in split screen but lots of offline couch coop games like Diablo and Gauntlet have a single screen. And probably Knack, but it's been awhile.

I feel like after 25 years of gaming I should know what I'm reading but still to this day I always have to look up game by game what "co-op" means. In this case online only, so I won't be giving it a go w/ my kid.

Sorry, but I guess in my head co-op means couch since online wasn't a thing 25 years ago, so if a game's co-op is online only that should be stated, not the other way around, only say it when it has offline co-op. Seems backwards. But then again I'm old.

Perfect opportunity to jump back into Returnal and have my backside handed to me all over again. However, after some 13 hours of glorious gunplay and exploration, I remain entrenched in the very first biome. With that in mind, I still adore the game and I’ll no doubt reach that elusive second biome. Any tips out there for the first boss?

For the last few weeks I’ve been alternating between Horizon Forbidden West and Gran Turismo 7, the latter of which being my favourite PS5 game to date, so it’s nice to have an excuse to boot up Returnal once more.

might be the only thing that can pull me out of the Lands Between

May play it in the future. Enjoy it guys

Another 100% trophy completion stolen by Sony…

I wish they'd but a trial or demo up for this, really interested in giving it a feel but I know I'll be utter bobbins.

@AgentGuapo the disrespect! I tellz ya

Nice to see this game get supported. Waiting for a friend of mine to nab a PS5 so we can play this together.

Returnal is kind of in the same boat with me as Nioh. I love it so much and I always want to play it, but every time I step away from it for more than a week I'm afraid to turn it back on because I fell out of rhythm with it.

@The_Pixel_King It’s a tough game, no doubt, but it really comes down to practice. There was a point where I was getting so frustrated and angry, and was considering quitting. For me, what changed everything was changing my mindset about playing “seriously” (for keeps) and just trying to enjoy all that the game does. This allowed my runs to change to experimenting with various methods of attack on different enemies, which, once you learn how an enemy responds to your presence, gives you the upper hand in taking them out. My motto changed from, “how do I get to the next biome?” To one of curiosity “what if I do this…try this?” This also made me more aggressive because I was no longer focused so much on dying but just learning and through that, I got better and (eventually) got the Platinum.
My best advice for the first boss Phrike is to watch some YT videos on folks beating him. Watch and study his patterns. Just like all the enemies: once you learn how they attack and respond to you, you’ll kick their ass.
Second, get to the point where you’ve explored every area of biome 1 before hitting him. The more power ups you have, the better weapons, the more life, the better chance you fair if you take significant damage from him. Again, even if you don’t succeed in taking Phrike out the first time, you’ll be that much smarter and better off the next time.
You can do it!! 👌

@The_Pixel_King There's loads of advice I could list here but it's probably best to have a read back through the Returnal thread in the forums. If you go back through it all you'll see other peoples struggles and what they did to overcome them.

I felt like I would never get out of the first biome for a while but eventually with patience your skill will improve to the point where you feel like a different player.

@amersga @render Thanks for the advice, guys. I really appreciate it. If I can tear myself away from GT7, I’ll try and get back into Returnal. I absolutely love the game and I’m determined to succeed. I’ve been beaten by the first boss several times, but I think, as you said, I’ll watch some YouTube videos and give it another go!

@The_Pixel_King Of course! Hit me up anytime if you ever need any help 😁

The new trophies don't take away people's Platinum's, do they?

@amersga I rarely (if ever) play multiplayer, but as someone who nabbed the Platinum, I’m actually looking forward to helping people out, much like you suggest for @The_Pixel_King . Hopefully it doesn’t balance so much that it makes helping someone a moot point lol

@eagletrippin

I don’t think so.

I think it’s like Ghost of Tsushima. The base game trophies are the only ones that apply to the platinum.

Good game ... have managed to beat four of the bosses which is an achievement for me.

@Daleaf Thanks, and enjoy it. 😁

@eagletrippin No

@Daleaf hope you didn’t take me seriously. 🤓

Loving the tower, although annoyingly you can't suspend your cycle mid run. Feels like a glaring omission.

Traded in, just couldn't cope with 70 playthroughs of JUST the first level boss, on top of the 45 it took to get to the first boss.
Balance in this game (compared to the genre) always seemed... off, not right
Was it this site that said "it seems like a game that doesn't want to be played" ? I think that was spot on.

This looks like a great update. I guess I’m about to finally play Returnal!

I absolutely love this game and was able to platinum it, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to 100% this now. Getting past essentially 60 rooms and beating a boss in 3 of them with one, then two, then three health bars (respectively), all while each room gets harder and harder the farther you go, may be too tall an order for me but it's not like I won't try and enjoy every second of getting my butt handed to me!!