Housemarque's New PS5 Game Will Be a Little Less Punishing Than Returnal

I quite liked returnal and this sounds interesting although I'd like housemarque to remaster some of their older titles.

So it's like... Sifu? Iirc that game did a similar thing where when you died you became stronger, but also older.

Just tell us it's in the same universe as Returnal. Everything in Returnal is real, we all know it. Just confirm it Housemarque.

God I love the design, also a brown protagonist with an actual Hindu name (as an Indian this means so much to me). The moment the monsters arms came out, I knew it was Housemarque. Also, that final shot with bullet hell reflecting off his eye!!! HYPE!

“Carcosa”

Isn’t that the lost ancient city appearing in lovecraft mythology? I’m guessing lovecraft overtones in this one.

@ChrisDeku Yeah and Saros is the time in between eclipses which is around 18 years.

I got the feeling Housemarque will put higher difficulty that plays like Returnal.

we await for another masterpiece.Returnal was amazing...

They should just abandoned the roguelike element. It's such a lazy way to add replayability and length to a game. As much as a I enjoyed returnal, I could only stomach beating the game twice. Having to start from the beginning is boring.

@breakneck he seems like an awesome person too (and he also supports Liverpool, so that’s perfect for me).

As much as I loved the design, I was rubbish at Returnal and made virtually no progress in it - my over-50’s reflexes just didn’t work well enough. I’ve enjoyed every other Housemarque title though, so will definitely be getting this.

I will never beat Returnal as the game never give me any serious wepon upgrades. I love the feel and look of the game, but I REALLY hope Saros will be a little easier overall. (= more balanced)

Rahul Kohli is a great actor. Also I’m glad they fixed the only thing that I disliked from Returnal which was being so weak after every death. Very excited for this one. Market the hell out of it pls Sony

Must admit I liked the stubborn refusal to pander to your inadequacies in Returnal. Once I mastered it though, I basically annihilated every enemy in the game. The natural arc of video game progression meant a huge payoff.

@Magatsuhi Telling a developer to abandon their bread and butter is not a good suggestion.

@Brundleflies21 I don't know how to make this a short explanation, but while I on one hand agree with your entire comment, on the other hand you must realise that even the creators behind Returnal made a PS Blog post about how the game was unintentionally too hard for some players. When you install the game it makes a "worldseed" setting up your game and it can be "easy" (not really) like 1 out of 10 or it can be like mine, more like 9,10 out of 10. No matter how much I play it, I never, like NEVER get any higher level weapons!
And reinstalling doesn't help as they explained in that post, as the world seed is forever attached to my PS account. Stupid design for a trophyhunter like myself.
They tried to fix it with patch 2.0 I think it was, but that didn't solve the bad weapondrops on my account...
I contacted their support and they really really tried to help but in the end it was just like: "sorry dude, it sucks but you're f**ked"...

@Zeke68 This could be what I had? It was so difficult, i couldn't even get to the first boss and complete the first level. I just never got strong enough. I gave up on it in the end and sold the game to someone on here who appreciated it more

@Zeke68 I beat it with Dreadbound, Hollowseeker, Electropylon Driver, Tachyomatic Carbine, Rotgland Lobber and the Thermogenic Launcher and only swapping out like for like on every run. It's your technique in regards to movement and positioning that got me through every time. Alot of the aiming doesn't have to be inch perfect precision either so the weapon's strength isn't essential to progression.
Anyway the point is that it was a personal preference. If you didn't like it then fair enough. I however, did like the ruthlessness.

@Brundleflies21 Did you read my comment? Half of that list I have not even heard of or seen in my game!! 🤷😢
Edit Having a bossfight with an level 2 weapon that makes 0.00000001 damage to the boss aint "ruthless", it's bad game design.

@Throb Oh yeah you sold it to me, shame I didn’t really love it either!

@Throb Probably, and now we know (after all these years) it wont be solved.
But you get all white knights coming here to protect that gamedesign because they got an easy gammeseed. 👀🤷
My point stands, I hope next game is designed better for all players.. We pay the same to be able to play in the end.

@Zeke68 I haven't heard of such a player-specific world seed that would consistently make it more difficult for some. Do you remember which Returnal blog post you read that in? https://blog.playstation.com/tag/returnal/
FYI, weapon level number is determined based on your current weapon proficiency number when you find the weapon. So, you can't find a high-level weapon at the beginning (i.e. when you have low proficiency). And each different type of weapon only spawns after you find that type of weapon for the first time at its corresponding discovery biome and room (assuming that room spawns in your current cycle).

@OptimusPrime1 I know that and thats the bug. No matter how much/good I play, no weaponupgrades of the the higher levels and no better mods for the weapons.
Hell I even sent videos (hours) of gameplay to the developers and they didn't know how this could happen!

@Throb To be honest it’s just a matter of understanding the mechanics and being patient. I definitely wouldn’t describe myself as a talented gamer (far from it), but I platinumed this game by following the right tactics.

@Zeke68 Er what? You have to progress through the game to unlock those weapons. You only start with the handgun. If you can't progress through a level to unlock any new weapon types, let alone upgrade them then that's not bad design.

@Zeke68 The game creates a world seed on install that never changes? What in the world is this nonsense? There’s no way that’s true.

How every roguelike works is a worldseed is created when you start a new run and the worldseed defines that run only. I find it impossible to believe that the game works the way you say it does. Please find me a link to that blogpost.

I can't wait. I think “a little less punishing” sounds great. It took me about 9 hours to complete the first biome in Returnal and I was definitely getting close to giving up at that point. I ended up needing lots of tips (leave most of the chests until you've cleared everything except the boss; abuse doors by backing out of rooms to avoid being overwhelmed; melee as much as possible once you can; silphium is resin at full health; accept that some runs are just going to be tough (a Titanops, two Mycomorph, and a Proteron with the starting pistol is going to suck)) and it'd have been nice to have progressed more without them. Once I got past the first biome, I knew I could manage the rest of the game (although my first encounter with a Severed made me wonder). I now have and I'm having a blast messing with high level weapons without the stress of losing progress (plus the permanent unlocks make earlier biomes easier by giving access to more resources).

@ChrisDeku My link to orginal PS blog says "this post is archived" so no luck there. My private emails with them will never be posted on a site like this so you can believe whatever you want as I can't show you anything at the moment. Hopefully I have a screenshot backup somewhere, but until then, it is what it is sadly.

The biggest problem with the roguelike aspect in Returnal was that it wasn't rewarding. There weren't any cool builds to explore, it just evolved into getting your favorite gun and as much health as possible.

The malignancy/malfunction system is really cool in theory, but the rewards are kinda dissapointing for how brutal some malfunctions can be. Once I realized that I just should ignore any malignancy, the game got a lot easier and my runs became more consistent.

Games don’t have to be for everyone.

There are lots of options on the market and it’s therefore fine for products to exclude some players and focus on a niche.

I’m quite happy that Souls games are not for me for example. Nothing has to be inclusive when consumers have other options for them. I couldn’t get 30 minutes into Returnal and that’s cool.

But…. I do think they flew a bit too close to the sun with this game. I said that at the time when seriously hardcore friends of mine who Plat everything, were quitting and selling the disc having only got halfway.

No doubt Housemarque are seeing something in the sales figures and PSN stats that wasn’t compatible with their future ambitions in terms of budgets and profits.

Commercial reality can’t be ignored and sometimes has to take precedent over your vision.

So I will always contend that for the type of game Returnal is (a very niche title) the price point (and lack of almost any discount) was as much a reason for low sales as difficulty and lack of advertising. Returnal was a very well made game - but it was the perfect game to offer at least a free demo so people understood the mechanics and the feel.

And for all those purists saying how wonderful the game was - it was a commercial non-event because it was marketed so poorly IMO. I really hope Sony do better - but the whole Concord 'issue' showed that Sony doesn't really care about putting its best foot forward in terms of pricing and promotion.

But to the game - it's a cinematic trailer - but I think we all know roughly how it will play. And for those that loved Returnal, I'm sure it will be a great game.

@dBackLash I thought it was very rewarding. There was so much to discover regarding the benefits of specific weapon upgrades, artifacts, story elements and ways to beat specific opponents. It kept me hooked constantly.

Will be keeping a close eye on this, hopefully they don't wait too long to show off game play and not blue ball us for months.

As much as i love Housemarque i couldnt get on with Returnal, too difficult for me, games are fun in my eyes, surely wouldnt have hurt to throw in a "old farts'" accessability option 🤣

@Nepp67 I think that they meant that after a weapon is upgraded, the next time you die and you pick up that same weapon it will be already upgraded. Or maybe you can just save your weapons and pick whichever you want with all the upgrades. I don't know if this was a good explanation but I tried LOL

I just want a new Resogun

I played returnal but got bored after 1 hour. I dunno. Maybe im judging the game too early 😅

@Lukeded duh. Does hero and heroine have to be so handsome/beautiful in order to be a main character in video games? 🙄

@amatmulisha it's yes when the game is commercial games. And from my knowing to them, the design level they can do is commercial level. If they can make a mc97 game to clap my face, I'm welcomed, but they can't.

@Dreman99 At first I thought it was a direct sequel as the suit is kinda similar and the protagonist was talking about finding someone which I thought was Selene.

@Zeke68 I too have a girlfriend that goes to another highschool

This is still my favorite game on ps5. I loved everything about it. Yes the beginning was hard, not nearly as hard as the third biome, but like most rogue lites getting that perfect run is amazing my favorite moment ever in a game is a climb up to the organ piper. The music/sound was superb. I loved it so much I contacted Housemarque to thank them. I've never done that before. I'm super excited for Saros.

@Logonogo ??? Good for you I guess???

@Nyne I liked returnal a lot but after about 50 hours I couldn’t get passed the 3rd boss and bounced off

Housemarque has been one of my top ten favorite studios ever since I played Outland on ps3. Still waiting on a current way to play it on ps consoles. This is a day one purchase just like Returnal.

@tgt Good tips. I would also add that — remapping the dash from the circle to a shoulder button really helped. The game is so kinetic and dodging is key to success and that millisecond that you have your thumb off of the right analog stick can make the difference between life and death. Being able to hit R1 to dash while also rotating the camera and moving with then two sticks simultaneously was very helpful.

But yes, those other tips you mention were key. The games most valuable resource is indeed the health, and increasing your health supply is vital to survival, so strategizing around that was important.

Overall, Returnal was a sublime experience. But like you and many others, I spent many hours (I think my count was 12 hrs) in just repeatedly banging my head trying to get past the first boss. I was at the edge of my sanity at one point and wanted to quit, but once I got past that boss it really got much ‘easier’, in the sense I understood the game better and the small perks added to that. The next major obstacle was getting past the third biome; that last tower climb to the boss was absolutely brutal. But then you get a soft check point and it was such bliss to feel the tangible progress.

Returnal was just so fantastic. I loved it! 😄

I don't get people who think you don't make progress. The weapon upgrade system made a massive difference in subsequent runs.

So so many things to like about this game but ultimately gave up on it after dying to 2nd boss. Frustratingly I'd been having a fairly good run when I came upon a body with the option to "avenge" their death. I was not ready for the monstrosity that mopped the floor with me by hitting yes. Barely survived, too depleted by the time I reached the boss and so basically had no chance. Stuff like that was just too punishing and disheartening for me.

I will never know why some people have a problem with challenging games. Not every game is made for you and that's completely fine.

@Zeke68 It was balanced. Skill issue lmao

People "bouncing off" Returnal is absolutely a skill issue. It's not too difficult at all.

It makes sense not to progress very far for a decent amount of time when you're new to the game, but that's how you unlock weapons and weapon upgrades, and learn how to play in the process. I found myself feeling like there were insurmountable barriers at times... It took me a ton of runs before I beat the first boss. But then as I got better I would all of a sudden make huge leaps forward.

Don't deny yourself the experience of beating this game. It was so fun, one of the best I've played in recent years.

Free tips: turn on the "Always Sprint" feature in the options menu, and get used to staying in constant motion and dodging incoming attacks with your "dash" move. And when you're trying to progress from biome to biome, you should clear every room and collect every upgrade you can to strengthen your character as much as possible before each boss.

@Zeke68 You have a source for this? I'm trying to find the post you mentioned and I haven't been able to. I'm a huge Housemarque stan and I would be interested to read a little more about this topic. Thanks! (Also, sorry you had a ***** experience with Returnal, I really love that game.)

@Zeke68 Can you share your link to that blog post anyway, as the link or the title within the link could still help find it in an Internet archive?

Ultimately Housemarque did pander to people who complained about the difficulty. They rebalanced and ended up lowering the difficulty through that in the 1.4 update. People didn't buy it, it didn't magically increase sales. Then they ended up giving you saves which people no doubt used to save scum and people still didn't buy it lol. So they pandered for nothing.

Savescumming and the astronaut.
Finally...

The annoying thing about returnal is death will set you back to square one, from the first level without health or armor upgrade, it's wasting players time. I gave up after beating the third boss and the fourth level is only remix of first level, and I'm glad I do since I watched the ending on youtube, it suck.

And the protagonist is the most generic protag I played on games, this one looks more interesting.

@TheRemonster
"(Also, sorry you had a ***** experience with Returnal, I really love that game.)"
Thanks mate. For the first part, see below please.

@OptimusPrime1

I had actually left this thread for good last night as some of the last comments started to lower my IQ.
But for you guys I make this one final post just so I don't feel I leave it feeling "rude".

No I don't have the link since I deleted it. It was on Chrome on my workPC so it doesn't save deleted items in my apps. (security issue)
But I know the post was made on the EU PS blog before the merge of the EU and U.S blog in 2020 (that happened 2020 if I remember correctly.)
I hope that somehow make it easier to find in that internet archive of yours. I'm know nothing about searching in those, but if you'll find it, please reply in this thread and I surely come back to discuss it further.
Until then, I'm done here. Adios o/

@Th3solution Additional tips when adjusting your settings, have the aim reticle big as possible and have Selene on auto sprint. Especially important against bosses.

@WafflingHearts Yes! Those also helped.

@Zeke68 Thanks for the response. To see if I could find anything, I checked the EU PS blog site archives in Wayback Machine (linked below), where blog posts end on 2020/05/28 (when that site merge probably happened as there are only redirect pages archived soon after), and couldn't find any blog posts archived in 2020 (or 2019) with Returnal or Housemarque in the URL. FWIW, the game was apparently announced on 2020/06/11, so that might not be surprising.

https://tinyurl.com/yc5mchbb