Returnal | Official Discussion Thread

God the controller seriously makes this game 10x better, it’s so amazing!

Just got to the first real boss. Thought I made mincemeat of it before I realized it had more health bars. Then was beaten to death.

The game is awesome. 3D audio is killer, you can really tell where creatures are and how close. Saved me a couple of times. Gunplay is super satisfying and frantic. The first couple monsters are easy but once you get to the tree monsters things get hectic and fast.

Haptics are the best since Astrobot no doubt. This is how games should utilize haptic feedback. We figured Sony first party games would utilize the controller to the max and they've absolutely done that.

It's time for bed but I can't wait to jump in again tomorrow for another cycle

Something I just noticed which is pretty cool, under settings -> HUD there's an option for "cycle time" which tracks how long you've spent on the current cycle. Pretty neat IMO

An hour in and this game is fucking good. Gameplay is solid and I can easily see myself getting addicted. The haptic feedback and triggers are amazing and add so much. So far the mystery has me intrigued and I'm excited to see where the story goes. It really feels like a true next-gen game

We’ve been smeckledorfed

We're all here for the same reason aren't we lmfao.

Legit glad I'm not alone in getting bamboozled by the timer. This is the first time that I've digitally pre-ordered a game so I had no idea the timer was going to an add an hour once it got to zero.

I really hope HM take’s a cue from Enter the Gungeon and implements a similar mechanic to save between floors (biomes) if you need to quit your session. It works really well and I think Returnal needs it.

Played 4 hours and like other people got killed by first real boss. What an incredible first 4 hours into the game. It really is a wow factor and true next gen experience. I cannot get over the atmosphere in this game. The look of the planet, its like being on the alien planet in Prometheus. This coupled with the almost Interstellar (Nolan) sounding score and 3D audio..... I had a stupid grin on my face the whole time. The haptics are a game changer. The feel of the rain and and the planet around you. The movement of Selene and the gunplay is just so satisfying. The game is difficult. You will die. Its part of the game. Seeing a permanent unlock in your character or a gun trait will make you do a little dance and get more confident as you Return. This is easily game of the year contender. Congratulations to Housemarque!!!

Got like 2 hours in so far, really enjoying it. The lack of ability to save is annoying but as a single gamer in the house not a big issue for me personally (I do get why people complain about it)

Not a gripe, just an observation on the story - Selene is probably the DUMBEST scientist to exist in pop culture, surpassing the idiots in Prometheus.

“Oh I crashed on an alien planet, let’s go explore”

“Oh, look some weird tech, let’s attach it to my suit”

“Oh look a facehugger looking motherfucker, let’s poke it and see what happens, oh it’s now attached to me”

Makes me laugh everytime

Just came on to say that this game is a certified banger. I hereby certify it myself. Spent about 3 hours on it and it’s an incredible game and makes full use of your senses. Visually, sound and touch. The dualsense features are incredible. Getting massive Metroid Prime and Alien type vibes from it.

Impression after first run - why is my heartrate so elevated. Tense ominous atmosphere with very smooth controls and great sound design. Time to go die some more

I’m impressed so far. Never played anything similar before so wasn’t sure what I’d think. Had a hard time putting it down instead of attempting another run. 3D audio is excellent and so are the controller features. Had no noticeable bugs or performance issues so far, seems very polished.

I went back to Helios during a run when I was low on health, slept in the bed and had a significant amount of health restored, without losing my weapons, equipment, artifacts, etc. Can anyone confirm this? Could make a big impact on survivability in long runs.

Game timer just added an hour. We’ve been fooled.

The lack of saves is a real problem. It sours the entire experience. I’m enjoying the game so much but it feels like I’m still playing because I’m not allowed to stop rather than a genuine desire to continue. This game absolutely needs a save system— just like Souls would be perfect (constantly saving so you can’t cheese your save). It’s such an obvious thing to include that it makes it all the more frustrating.

*Just to add: the game says “you can put the system in rest”..... bruh, just build that feature into the game!!!

I have no idea what I’m doing but I’m having fun

This is genuinely the most addicted to a game that I have been in YEARS. Only beaten the first boss so far and getting wrecked by the 2nd but enjoying every minute.

Nearly had him last night but accidentally jumped over the edge dodging projectiles and it was RIP! Can't wait to go back for more punishment

But yeah, can't stop playing, super impressed. Wish it was a bit easier to see drops, I've lost so many good runs to stupid falls, but for me it's game of the year!

With dual-sense death has never been so beautiful

I managed to beat the first biome first try but boy was it white knuckle at the end. This game is fun as hell and plays so damn well.

Holy shit this game is hard, just played for 4 hours and 37 mins straight and still can’t beat the first boss

Going into the house for the first time was fucking terrifying.

This game feels like if you took every great classic arcade shooter and you gave them a blockbuster level of polish and refinement.

I hate Dark Souls, I like Dead Cells. What type of difficulty are we talking with this game? I’m a very casual gamer and if something it’s too hard without getting easier I’ll loose interest fast.

I want to know what all of ya think on this one. Hopefully the day one patch fixed some of the crashes and bugs as well.

Man that 2nd Biome boss was pretty intense. Hands were shaking as I was shooting. Never experienced anything like that before in gaming.

The amount of depth in this game straight off the bat is pretty awesome. I played 2 runs and haven’t gotten to the boss yet, but I’m super excited to jump back in for at least 2 runs tomorrow.

I keep telling myself “one more run”…then suddenly it’s 3 hours later

So after 8 hours and 24 deaths I finally beat the first boss. Guess I'm just not very good at this game. Not sure if I continue playing, been a pretty tedious experience so far. Maybe it's just not my type of game.

I suck so bad that I still haven’t beaten the first boss after 6 hours 27 minutes

I just wanna say this game is amazing and is the most fun gaming experience I’ve had in a few years.

F*cking cool game, and I'm now really enjoying playing it, but it took a change of mindset. Initially I was focused on clearing the first biome as a mark of 'progress', and it started to get frustrating and tedious really quickly.

Instead of taking the game back and asking for a refund (and I came close!), I just reset the way I approached it. I now think it's the best game I've played in years! My advice when starting out is to simply treat each room like an old school game level in its own right without focusing on making any sort of progress. You'll start to figure out the game upgrades/currency/vendor locations and that sort of traditional game thing, as well as it's risk/reward system and complicated weapon upgrades/swapoouts. As you play, you'll also start developing the shmup style skills to play.

In a nutshell, don't be in a rush to make traditional progress. Instead, simply enjoy the feel of play one room at a time, everything else you will absorb. Be cool, and it will become awesome.

I can't even play yet and they already killed me.

Man this game is gorgeous

Was having an amazing run and the ability to heal while I was doing damage. I teleport to "Ascend The Mountain" and it's just frozen 🙁 I'm so pissed because this was my best run yet and that perk saved my ass a ton. Damn it.

Had my best run yet and the game crashes. Playing patiently and carefully for nearly 2hrs. Soul destroying