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Returnal Review Thread (PS5)

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
I am not saying it is. But it's similar in the aspect of it getting reviews that didn't make much mention of some of these issues and when the people got their hands in it. a lot more reports happened.
It's not even in the same league as CP, bro. It is standard fare in contrast.
 

SLB1904

Banned
I am not saying it is. But it's similar in the aspect of it getting reviews that didn't make much mention of some of these issues and when the people got their hands in it. a lot more reports happened.
Because the day one patch wasnt availble. Once they release the they one patch shit broke.
There isnt really nothing remotely close to cyberpunk mess.
I have 25h in this game and I have only encounter the glitch with pre order suits. 1 glitch and I never had problem since.
 

THEAP99

Banned
It's not even in the same league as CP, bro. It is standard fare in contrast.
I am not comparing the magnitude of issues and bugs, what I am comparing is how both games (even Miles Morales can be added to this) had glowing reviews that didn't make much mention of polish issues. That is all. This Is related more so to the review system
 
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SLB1904

Banned
I am not comparing the magnitude of issues and bugs, what I am comparing is how both games (even Miles Morales can be added to this) had glowing reviews that didn't make much mention of polish issues. That is all. This Is related more so to the review system
what polish issue miles had?
that fuck
 

THEAP99

Banned
what polish issue miles had?
that fuck
It crashed for me and there'd be bugs where I would have to restart the checkpoint to be able to complete an objective. At other times, Miles would be wearing a suit in scenes where he wasn't supposed to as well. I found that it wasn't as polished as Spider-Man PS4 at launch for me. I think I do remember ACG mentioning some of these issues in his review. I even remember viral meme videos online of Miles turning into a trash can or light post bug and swinging around.
 
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Papacheeks

Banned
I am not comparing the magnitude of issues and bugs, what I am comparing is how both games (even Miles Morales can be added to this) had glowing reviews that didn't make much mention of polish issues. That is all. This Is related more so to the review system

Where did CP have glowing reviews? Almost all of them on console at least talked on how bad it ran, amount of bugs it had. PC was a different story but still tons of youtubers, and publications called it out on how much of a mess it was.

It crashed for me and there'd be bugs where I would have to restart the checkpoint to be able to complete an objective. At other times, Miles would be wearing a suit in scenes where he wasn't supposed to as well. I found that it wasn't as polished as Spider-Man PS4 at launch for me. I think I do remember ACG mentioning some of these issues in his review. I even remember viral meme videos online of Miles turning into a trash can or light post bug and swinging around.

You can have bugs that are uncommon you know that? I own both of these games and outside of frame rate drops, and the latest update which was corrected for Returnal both games are super quality. And comparing these to games like CP is disingenuous.
 
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THEAP99

Banned
Where did CP have glowing reviews? Almost all of them on console at least talked on how bad it ran, amount of bugs it had. PC was a different story but still tons of youtubers, and publications called it out on how much of a mess it was.
I mean, Cyberpunk started out on PC at a 91 on metacritic.. Wasn't till later that more reviews came in and dropped the score due to issues it had.
 

SLB1904

Banned
It crashed a lot for me and there'd be bugs where I would have to restart the checkpoint to be able to complete an objective. At other times, Miles would be wearing a suit in scenes where he wasn't supposed to as well. I found that it wasn't as polished as Spider-Man PS4 at launch for me. I think I do remember ACG mentioning some of these issues in his review
oh yeah sorry i remember reading something about that. but again i never experience any of these issues, my miles never turned into a lamp sadly.
but again these cases are the few.
 

THEAP99

Banned
oh yeah sorry i remember reading something about that. but again i never experience any of these issues, my miles never turned into a lamp sadly.
but again these cases are the few.
Yeah. It all seems variable. But I do think it's happening more than usual, for me at least with these new releases.
 

Papacheeks

Banned
I mean, Cyberpunk started out on PC at a 91 on metacritic.. Wasn't till later that more reviews came in and dropped the score due to issues it had.

Majority of those early reviews were PC. ANd also a lot of the early reviews if you research a lot of people did not complete fully. Early code that was given out was mostly on PC which had less issues technically than the consoles which in some parts of the game are almost unplayable. So not every publication got PC code, some got console, and not everyone is going to finish in the exact same time because of the density of the game.
 

Shmunter

Member
Played last night, latest patch. Yes it’s addictive as I was going in for the 5th time despite needing matches to hold up my eyelids.

Got the house key finally, step into the house, freeze, file report option. Lol, the stories are true.

Game is awesome however. Seems there is much to learn.

End Of Days mixed with Kubrick and classic Ridley Scott.
 
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IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Returnal shows off what the PS5 can do in more ways than one. From the impressive use of the DualSense controller to the implementation of their custom particle system that layers with their voxel fog use Returnal shows what the PS5 can do in more ways than one. In this Returnal Performance Review, we take a closer look at how this game impresses.
 
Played last night, latest patch. Yes it’s addictive as I was going in for the 5th time despite needing matches to hold up my eyelids.

Got the house key finally, step into the house, freeze, file report option. Lol, the stories are true.

Game is awesome however. Seems there is much to learn.

End Of Days mixed with Kubrick and classic Ridley Scott.
End of Days? 🤔
 

RockOn

Member
Returnal looks like 40$-50$ games and 0$ game with crashes and random bugs, like door not open and dont working teleports. The worst 70$ game i ever seen.
That old chestnut(paying full RRP for games is getting old), can't use google by now to find games at cheaper price. I've never paid full RRP for any games I buy day one
 

Pachi72

Member
This game is GOTY for me..I cannot put it down. But there is a few things that bother me.
1. Pop up, you can see it when you run fast, specially the Overgrown Ruins..So much for that PS5 Power.
2. Bugs need to be splatter..Still have some bugs.

But man the level design is A+. I thought the 2nd level was impressive. The 3rd level is amazing but its hard as fuck.
 

Clover904

Member
This game is GOTY for me..I cannot put it down. But there is a few things that bother me.
1. Pop up, you can see it when you run fast, specially the Overgrown Ruins..So much for that PS5 Power.
2. Bugs need to be splatter..Still have some bugs.

But man the level design is A+. I thought the 2nd level was impressive. The 3rd level is amazing but its hard as fuck.
1. There are definitely some pop up issues, but I dont think you can blame the ps5 for that. Housmarque is a small indie team making their first AAA game, on the soon-to-be-outdated Unreal 4 engine. I give them a pass, especially when the game is so much fun and the action moves so fast.

2. I haven't dealt with any issues. Are some people still experiencing problems after the latest patch?

The third biome was easily the most difficult level for me. I breathed a huge sigh of relief once I beat it and started Act II.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Because the day one patch wasnt availble. Once they release the they one patch shit broke.
There isnt really nothing remotely close to cyberpunk mess.
I have 25h in this game and I have only encounter the glitch with pre order suits. 1 glitch and I never had problem since.
True. I completed the game yesterday (after spending 42 hours in it) and didn't encounter any game-breaking bug.

The worst bug that I encountered (only once) was that the sound stopped working. And that literally happened once. No glitches, no game crashes, no save issues, nothing in 42 hours.
 

GymWolf

Gold Member
I'm probably the only guy in the planet that had absolutely zero bug with this game, no crush, no locked doors, no nothing, but i'm still with the day one patch installed and the console offline.

The only problems were an aggressive pop in in some areas (i don't know how this is possible when they have an ssd inside ps5), heavy framerqte dips during hell on screen (so pretty frequent) and the absence of that feature where you fight selene's older bodies to get loot.

Hopefully ratchet performance more is gonna be locked or close to locked 60 frame, because returnal is far from that.
 
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Caio

Member
True. I completed the game yesterday (after spending 42 hours in it) and didn't encounter any game-breaking bug.

The worst bug that I encountered (only once) was that the sound stopped working. And that literally happened once. No glitches, no game crashes, no save issues, nothing in 42 hours.

42 hours, that's plenty of gameplay. Your final short Review, if you have time ?
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
42 hours, that's plenty of gameplay. Your final short Review, if you have time ?
Sure. I actually completed Act 2 in 32 hours, and spent nearly 10 more hours to finish Act 3. (I could have saved 4 hours if I knew what I was supposed to do; I just took off in another direction). In addition, I beat the first boss on the first attempt; the second boss took 4-6 attempts; the third biome/boss was the toughest for me and it took 10+ attempts. I beat boss #4 on the first attempt, cleared biome #5 on the 3rd attempt, and beat the last round and the last boss #6 on the first attempt.

This information is to provide more context on the length of the game. I think 30-40 hours is the average length for most users, +/- 5-8 hours depending on how lucky or unlucky you get with your build and items during your runs.

Review?

I think it's a fantastic game! I won't comment on price because it can be subjective. I didn't mind paying $70 because I wanted to support Sony and HouseMarque. $50 would have been much better, but it's not the worst thing in the world for $70, considering so many rehash games go for $60 (including games like Assassin's Creed with just a fresh coat of paint).
  • Music and Soundtrack: Very good music. Very atmospheric. The song in biome #4 is so beautifully done. And basically the entire boss fight is just perfectly aligned with the song. It's honestly great and very creative. 9/10
  • Sound Design and 3D audio: 10/10. No arguments there. Nothing comes close so far.
  • Graphics: Very good. It isn't Ratchet & Clank, but it should be viewed past resolution and texture quality. The focus is on other things: 60 FPS, particle effects, and lots of bullets. The focus wasn't on resolution and higher-quality textures. 9/10.
  • Story: I think it's pretty good. I like how confusing and open-ended it was, but I'd have preferred at least some official conclusion to at least see what's the canon in the director's/writer's head. At the moment (no spoilers) there are literally two ways this story can be interpreted, and both those ways are completely opposite to each other. 8.5/10
  • DualSense: 10/10. Very creative use, and I hope many of these elements become the norm in future first- and third-party games.
  • Gameplay: That's the best part here, just like other HM games. You will never get bored of it, and this what keeps pulling you back. Some of the best third-person action gameplay I've ever experienced. 10/10
Synergy: There are some games that ride on synergy, and Returnal is one of those games. When you see things in isolation, you may be able to find some flaws, e.g., graphics or story. But when everything comes together as a whole, it feels much, much better. There is great synergy in Returnal, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And this is very important.
 
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Bartski

Gold Member
The narrative this game is a buggy mess is complete horseshit feeding off contrarian hyperboles amped on social media for clicks. I've sunk over 70 hours in it and haven't seen a SINGLE tiniest gameplay-related bug, not even one.
It's incredibly polished.

Yes, I've had 2 audio glitching out bugs, one leading to a crash. That's it. It's nothing in the grand scheme of things, for a project of this magnitude coming from a studio like Husemarque it's just an epic win on all fronts.

The 1.3.3 save deleting disaster was a spectacular fuck up but this is really the only serious technical issue this game had since release.
 

MacReady13

Member
Had my 1st lock up today. Screen just lost sound then froze. Couldn’t pause or anything. I went back to the home page of my console to close the game but it was stuck on the closing game screen so I had to unplug the console. Couldn’t even eject the disc! Hope it doesn’t happen again.
 

Caio

Member
100% from TheGuardian

""I’ve always been drawn to games like this. Like the dark fantasy masterpiece Dark Souls, and Demon’s Souls before it, Returnal feels impenetrable and mysterious and sometimes even unfair, but opens itself up to a committed player. Failure is just learning. It helps tremendously that all the shooting and running and leaping just feel so good, no matter how often you do it. It’s an unlikely comparison, but Mario is the only other game I can think of where I’ve felt so perfectly in control of a character’s movement. This is a cutting-edge game with the DNA of some of gaming’s oldest genres, the arcade shoot-em-up, and it’s a fascinating combination. The planet looks and sounds extraordinary, each new area a distinctive biotechnological nightmare. If you’re going to spend hours stuck in a place like this, it helps that it’s so interesting to look at.""

 
100% from TheGuardian

""I’ve always been drawn to games like this. Like the dark fantasy masterpiece Dark Souls, and Demon’s Souls before it, Returnal feels impenetrable and mysterious and sometimes even unfair, but opens itself up to a committed player. Failure is just learning. It helps tremendously that all the shooting and running and leaping just feel so good, no matter how often you do it. It’s an unlikely comparison, but Mario is the only other game I can think of where I’ve felt so perfectly in control of a character’s movement. This is a cutting-edge game with the DNA of some of gaming’s oldest genres, the arcade shoot-em-up, and it’s a fascinating combination. The planet looks and sounds extraordinary, each new area a distinctive biotechnological nightmare. If you’re going to spend hours stuck in a place like this, it helps that it’s so interesting to look at.""

This is its 10th perfect score on Metacritic.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
I'll no doubt regret it, butI've finally bought this game, couldn't justify £70, but got an letter from a company that basically got me it for £40. Will be delivered in a few days.

At least I can officially be part of the conversation.
It's a wonderful game -- very refreshing. I hope you enjoy it.

It is a little punishing but stick with it if you can. The game does facilitate you: by giving you shortcuts, bringing gateways much, much closer to you on subsequent runs, allowing you to skip bosses on subsequent runs, upgrading future weapons at the start of each subsequent round, etc.
 

tommib

Member
I found world 2 quite easy. You have a lot of space to fight enemies. Keep distance. Use the Hollowseeker. Don't be afraid of the Severed. Dash when it appears and melee it. Run away, as far as possible.

Grinding is always good for protection and integrity. I killed the boss on my first try. Straffed around in circles and it worked.

Pro tip: keep the fast running always on. There's an option for that. Don't depend on clicking the stick to run. After you look at the fancy graphics for 1 hour, turn that on and just slide through the areas.
 
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DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
So what’s the strategy for Biome 2?

Should I grind Biome 1 or head straight back into 2?
If I die, I always grind the first Biome and then head to next one on the list.

In the first biome, I only pick up health when I'm either at full health or whenever all the rooms are cleared. This way, I can upgrade my max health before heading to the next Biome.


Sleeping in the ship restores your health and that's what I do when I don't want to pick up health items.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
100% from TheGuardian

""I’ve always been drawn to games like this. Like the dark fantasy masterpiece Dark Souls, and Demon’s Souls before it, Returnal feels impenetrable and mysterious and sometimes even unfair, but opens itself up to a committed player. Failure is just learning. It helps tremendously that all the shooting and running and leaping just feel so good, no matter how often you do it. It’s an unlikely comparison, but Mario is the only other game I can think of where I’ve felt so perfectly in control of a character’s movement. This is a cutting-edge game with the DNA of some of gaming’s oldest genres, the arcade shoot-em-up, and it’s a fascinating combination. The planet looks and sounds extraordinary, each new area a distinctive biotechnological nightmare. If you’re going to spend hours stuck in a place like this, it helps that it’s so interesting to look at.""

Great review scores are piling up. I wonder if the devs have some DLC and/or major systems update planned. We shall see :), glad it is getting good accolades from reviewers (despite the Grubb’s of the world that helped drag the average down with a bit of a callous review…).
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
If I die, I always grind the first Biome and then head to next one on the list.

In the first biome, I only pick up health when I'm either at full health or whenever all the rooms are cleared. This way, I can upgrade my max health before heading to the next Biome.


Sleeping in the ship restores your health and that's what I do when I don't want to pick up health items.

Hmm, I would rather just jump back to 2nd biome, but again never lost progress and beaten the game in the 3 run to do so (died but used reconstructor to keep progress and push forward). I'm considering revisiting the game and recording each biome with fresh start (already done the 1st biome, video down), should help if I manage properly but still my current permanent perks will always make it look unfair to new starters.





Shmunter Shmunter do you want me to do 2nd biome, fresh start? It'll take nearly 2 days for youtube to process though if I manage to keep it under 1 hour.
 

Shmunter

Member
Hmm, I would rather just jump back to 2nd biome, but again never lost progress and beaten the game in the 3 run to do so (died but used reconstructor to keep progress and push forward). I'm considering revisiting the game and recording each biome with fresh start (already done the 1st biome, video down), should help if I manage properly but still my current permanent perks will always make it look unfair to new starters.





Shmunter Shmunter do you want me to do 2nd biome, fresh start? It'll take nearly 2 days for youtube to process though if I manage to keep it under 1 hour.

Thanks Bo. If you enjoy creating the content then by all means. But don’t put yourself out on my account.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Thanks Bo. If you enjoy creating the content then by all means. But don’t put yourself out on my account.

I'll give it a shot now, just be aware as there might be some minor spoilers, spoilers that you can't even reach due to me having some extra gear that you can't obtain this early.

If I manage to finish it within one hour (with thorough exploration) then I'll post it.
 

Tchu-Espresso

likes mayo on everthing and can't dance
Hmm, I would rather just jump back to 2nd biome, but again never lost progress and beaten the game in the 3 run to do so (died but used reconstructor to keep progress and push forward). I'm considering revisiting the game and recording each biome with fresh start (already done the 1st biome, video down), should help if I manage properly but still my current permanent perks will always make it look unfair to new starters.





Shmunter Shmunter do you want me to do 2nd biome, fresh start? It'll take nearly 2 days for youtube to process though if I manage to keep it under 1 hour.

My LG CX is a sucker for 4K HDR. Keep them coming.

I had a laugh at some of your wreckfest videos.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
My LG CX is a sucker for 4K HDR. Keep them coming.

I had a laugh at some of your wreckfest videos.

You probably saw this one acting like a douche. :lollipop_tears_of_joy:



I made it because someone said that you can't be aggressive and win, I literally waited for the NPC to smash them on every corner, with a tank build, lol. And the other ones were mostly drifting/finesse with some dirty play. All offline gameplay though. Should try the MP soon after AC Valhalla DLC.

All of them will be 4K HDR, it doesn't cost money or effort to do so, not like I'm color grading or some of that headache I'm used to on videography that a 5 minutes video could take more than 12 hours of work and still appear like a rookie.:lollipop_tears_of_joy:
 
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JeloSWE

Member
I only have to beat the final boss left, I went into Biome 6 from Biome 4, mistaking it for just a deep pool of water and only realize it was the last biome and then died unprepared on the last boss LOL. But this game has really shown me how awesome the dual sense haptic feed back is, it's easily the best use of it I've experienced so far and it's such a pleasure to just hold the controller while the weapons hum in your hand. I really hope more titles in the future will be able to match what Housemarque has achieved here.

Interestingly, as the haptics resemble speaker drivers, it was mostly the audio team responsible for designing the haptics.
 
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IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Here are 5 reasons why Returnal is the best PS5 exclusive right now. Are you playing Returnal, or are you still trying to get ahold of the PS5? If you've managed to get a PS5, then Returnal is 100% a game you must play on your shiny new toy.
 

Sejan

Member
Well, this game just didn’t click with me. I got it as part of a GameStop PS5 bundle. I can see it is a good game, but it is not a good match for me. Listed it on eBay. Hoping to get something out of it.
 

JeloSWE

Member
Just beat the last boss and boy if this game isn't addictive like crack. It was well spent money and time and Housemarque has truly created something magical here. What I love is that this game doesn't pull any punches, the game is pretty darn demanding, there are some enemies and later battles can be so terrifyingly over whelming either by the sheer numbers or their lethality, yet it provides you with great movement and weapons so I never felt cheated, only that I needed more practice. This game and Demons Souls has to be my to favorite PS5 exclusives. This is easily one of the best game play driven games since I finished Nier Automata.

Pros
  • 60 fps and looks awesome.
  • Great controls and movement.
  • Intense battles with some truly terrifying enemies.
  • Atmosphere.
  • Sound and Haptics.

Cons (only some minor things)
  • I want Camera Center/Reset on R3, it's pretty tiresome and slow to rotate the camera around all the time when collecting resources or running away from enemies etc.
  • I want A proper toggle of Walk/Run with L3 that stays permanent until you press it again, I ended up using Always run but it's some times finicky to navigate smaller platforms and puzzle sections but Walk as default was killing my thumbs from pressing L3 after every Mele, Jump etc..
  • Obolite Repository worked so poorly that I at first I thought it was broken, it was rarely worth interacting with and it should produce result more often for it to be even remotely interesting.
 
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