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LTTP: Returnal | Play this game

Trogdor1123

Member
New items, weapons, and weapon upgrades are unlocked so you can find them again. New suit abilities are the only permanent unlocks you will always have, plus some key items and ether (until you spend it). Stats, proficiency, etc, reset every run.

What is the best use of ether? I assume it doesn’t carry over either
 

Neofire

Member
It's a great game. Not worth buying a console for alone, but certainly one of the best games I've played this genre so far. I'm looking forward to seeing how it holds up on Steam Deck since it's already been verified before release. UE4 games run well on the system but the volume of particle effects will likely be the main issue.
Noone said anything about it justifying a ps5 solely 👀. What that being said there are other ps5 games that do. The OP was merely pointing out that this is a great game.

If you want to wait for the pc version so be it(based on your statement)but please there is no need to diminish the ps5 version.
 

Apocryphon

Member
Noone said anything about it justifying a ps5 solely 👀. What that being said there are other ps5 games that do. The OP was merely pointing out that this is a great game.

If you want to wait for the pc version so be it(based on your statement)but please there is no need to diminish the ps5 version.
I own the PS5 version bru and I'm entitled to my opinion that it's a great game but wouldn't be worth buying the console for alone. Thanks for your input though 😆
 

Fredrik

Member
My 1st time died in the 2nd fase, my health was very low when i entered the boss. 2nd time reached the 3rd fase and got confused without knowing what to do and tried to kill the boss from far from a small platform, but was a bad idea, and once i figured i had to get to the big platform close to the boss i was already dead and back to the 1st biome. Also the 2nd time the checkpoint did not spawned in any of the rooms, this is also something i dislike about the game, the RNG elements. Sometimes i do amazing runs wihtout even taking damage but thanks to RNG, things can go really bad, like not being able to do a decent upgrade to the weapon.

Already droped the game, rogue-likes are not for me. The shooting gameplay is amazing and very adicting, but having to do a new 2 hour run to reach the 3rd boss well equiped just because i died. No thanks. Especially when the RNG can fuck things up and those 2 hours turn into a nothingburger that send u back to the beginning with zero progress made.

Might get back to it again in the future if i ever get patience for it, but right now im more interested in enjoying the most games i can from the PS+ Extra catalog.
Yeah, it’s the frustration that is (was*) killing my enjoyment as well, the rest of it is great.

* Have you tried using the cloud save trick?
If you haven’t then don’t miss out on that. For me it has completely changed the game.

What you do is deactivate auto-upload to cloud storage for this game. Then when you are right before the boss again, press start and choose to pause the cycle. Then you exit the game and go to the dash and hit start and choose to manage cloud save files.

* Upload to cloud storage.

Start the game again and unpause the cycle and try beating the boss as usual.
If you die, just exist the game back to the dash. And manage save files again.

* Download from cloud storage.

It’s exactly like using a save state on an emulator. You continue exactly where you paused the cycle. As long as you don’t choose to upload a new save to cloud storage you can retry a difficult area as many times you want.

I definitely think it’s worth doing this when you reach the point that you want to drop the game. I was there. I literally hated it. Then I tried using cloud saves and now I’m truly enjoying my time with it. It takes like 1 minute to try again on a boss instead of 2 hours…
 
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RoadHazard

Gold Member
What is the best use of ether? I assume it doesn’t carry over either
It dose carry over, for a max of 30.

- it unlocks new booster item types.
- some items give perks that depend on number of ether you carry.

That plus you use ether to power the reconstructors, which respawn you with everything intact if you die. Ether well spent if you've got a good run going. Do note that the reconstructors are only active within the same biome though, i.e. if you activate one in biome 1 and then move on to biome 2 it will no longer save you if you die.
 

Aenima

Member
Yeah, it’s the frustration that is (was*) killing my enjoyment as well, the rest of it is great.

* Have you tried using the cloud save trick?
If you haven’t then don’t miss out on that. For me it has completely changed the game.

What you do is deactivate auto-upload to cloud storage for this game. Then when you are right before the boss again, press start and choose to pause the cycle. Then you exit the game and go to the dash and hit start and choose to manage cloud save files.

* Upload to cloud storage.

Start the game again and unpause the cycle and try beating the boss as usual.
If you die, just exist the game back to the dash. And manage save files again.

* Download from cloud storage.

It’s exactly like using a save state on an emulator. You continue exactly where you paused the cycle. As long as you don’t choose to upload a new save to cloud storage you can retry a difficult area as many times you want.

I definitely think it’s worth doing this when you reach the point that you want to drop the game. I was there. I literally hated it. Then I tried using cloud saves and now I’m truly enjoying my time with it. It takes like 1 minute to try again on a boss instead of 2 hours…
Yeah, next time i play the game i'll do the cloud save trick. Should make the experince much less frustating.
 

GermanZepp

Member
I tryed this last weeken on weed. I have an awesome experience i reached the first boss on my first try. The downside is that i cant figure the item, and consumables, parasites out quite right. i suspended the cycle right before the second boss so i'm not doing it that bad. I enjoyed the sound desing with headphones more than my tv soundbar "surround" system
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
I've tried multiple times. Roguelikes just aren't for me I think. I thought the gameplay was really strong, controls were fluid, visuals impressive, gun play was really fun and smooth. But I hate roguelikes. Maybe the most fun thing about gaming for me is progression and building your character up. The second I die in a roguelike and lose everything I acquired takes the wind out of the sails for me. It's the antithesis of one of the core things I love about traditional gaming. I've given the genres and sub genres a chance. I've tried like a dozen games of all different styles in the genre, and every time I lose my stuff, my interest deflates and I lose the desire to play. As someone who grew up on Metroid, Zelda, Final Fantasy... exploring finding items and upgrades, bettering your character, that feeling of progression is vital for me. Dying and starting over from scratch is not something I'm into. I think I've reached the point where the style of game, the mechanics, and atmosphere no longer matter. As long as that's in place, I'll never like the genre.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I've tried multiple times. Roguelikes just aren't for me I think. I thought the gameplay was really strong, controls were fluid, visuals impressive, gun play was really fun and smooth. But I hate roguelikes. Maybe the most fun thing about gaming for me is progression and building your character up. The second I die in a roguelike and lose everything I acquired takes the wind out of the sails for me. It's the antithesis of one of the core things I love about traditional gaming. I've given the genres and sub genres a chance. I've tried like a dozen games of all different styles in the genre, and every time I lose my stuff, my interest deflates and I lose the desire to play. As someone who grew up on Metroid, Zelda, Final Fantasy... exploring finding items and upgrades, bettering your character, that feeling of progression is vital for me. Dying and starting over from scratch is not something I'm into. I think I've reached the point where the style of game, the mechanics, and atmosphere no longer matter. As long as that's in place, I'll never like the genre.

This is a roguelite, not a roguelike, quite a lot of progression (mainly unlocked items and weapon upgrades) does carry over.
 
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DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
This is a roguelite, not a roguelike, quite a lot of progression (mainly unlocked items and weapon upgrades) does carry over.
What's the difference between roguelite and roguelike? I thought they meant the same thing, just different terminology. Regardless, I tried Returnal several times and couldn't come to like it no matter how hard I tried. Get rid of the rogue elements and I'd love it, because I liked the other stuff in it.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
What's the difference between roguelite and roguelike? I thought they meant the same thing, just different terminology. Regardless, I tried Returnal several times and couldn't come to like it no matter how hard I tried. Get rid of the rogue elements and I'd love it, because I liked the other stuff in it.

Roguelikes have actual permadeath, you die and you start the entire game over with nothing. In a roguelite some progression carries over, hence the "lite".
 

Fbh

Member
I've playing this for the past few days and I'm really enjoying it. It's been a while since I've played a game that makes time fly like this, it's like "ok one more run" and then suddenly it's 1:30 am. Really fun combat and some good mechanics that diminish the frustration factor of death (like not having to refight bosses every time).

My only real complaint is that I'm noticing some stutter from time to time which make not feel quite as smooth as I'd like, which is slightly disappointing as the visuals are nice but nothing too impressive (the second biome in particular can look kinda ugly).


What's the difference between roguelite and roguelike? I thought they meant the same thing, just different terminology. Regardless, I tried Returnal several times and couldn't come to like it no matter how hard I tried. Get rid of the rogue elements and I'd love it, because I liked the other stuff in it.

Roguelites have some sort of progression.
In the case of returnal you can get permanent new gadgets and skills that carry over even after death, some of the currencies also stay even after death. There's also systems that allow you to get to the later stages faster than the first time you reach them and you don't have to refight bosses either.

Rouguelikes truly start from zero every time you die
 
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RoadHazard

Gold Member
I've playing this for the past few days and I'm really enjoying it. It's been a while since I've played a game that makes time fly like this, it's like "ok one more run" and then suddenly it's 1:30 am. Really fun combat and some good mechanics that diminish the frustration factor of death (like not having to refight bosses every time).

My only real complaint is that I'm noticing some stutter from time to time which make not feel quite as smooth as I'd like, which is slightly disappointing as the visuals are nice but nothing too impressive (the second biome in particular can look kinda ugly).




Roguelites have some sort of progression.
In the case of returnal you can get permanent new gadgets and skills that carry over even after death, some of the currencies also stay even after death. There's also systems that allow you to get to the later stages faster than the first time you reach them and you don't have to refight bosses either.

Rouguelikes truly start from zero every time you die

Yeah, the performance isn't quite up to Sony 1st party standards. Maybe because the game runs on UE4 with a lot of dynamic/random elements. Just not quite as optimized as your typical Sony game running on an in-house engine.
 

Fbh

Member
Yeah, the performance isn't quite up to Sony 1st party standards. Maybe because the game runs on UE4 with a lot of dynamic/random elements. Just not quite as optimized as your typical Sony game running on an in-house engine.

Yeah, I get the drops when there's lot of stuff going on but I've seen some stutter (or skipped frames) even when panning around the camera in an empty room. Digital foundry didn't really mention it in their video but I've seen a lot of people online encounter the same.

Still, it's more of a nitpick, the game itself is fantastic
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Yeah, I get the drops when there's lot of stuff going on but I've seen some stutter (or skipped frames) even when panning around the camera in an empty room. Digital foundry didn't really mention it in their video but I've seen a lot of people online encounter the same.

Still, it's more of a nitpick, the game itself is fantastic

Yeah, especially in the 3rd biome the game always drops frames in some sections, no matter what's going on. From reading some comments about it I think this might be a problem that didn't exist originally, which would explain why DF didn't pick up on it.
 
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Mossybrew

Member
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Fredrik

Member
I hate roguelikes. Maybe the most fun thing about gaming for me is progression and building your character up. The second I die in a roguelike and lose everything I acquired takes the wind out of the sails for me. It's the antithesis of one of the core things I love about traditional gaming.
Yeah this is spot on how I feel as well. The progression and character building is miniscule. That’s my main problem.

And for me it’s a combination of me being bad and not handling frustration well combined with the game simply being really difficult. Considering it easily took me 15 times to beat the level 2 boss, and one such run from the crash site takes me about 2 hours if I aim to rebuild the character and weapons, it would’ve taken me 30 hours to beat it without using the cloud storage save state. Add the struggles at the level 1 boss which I thought was hard as well and we’re probably looking at 50 hours of playtime, for 2 levels… Maybe some think that’s fine but for me it’s something that makes me drop the game.

Luckily the save state thing works. I’m probably halfway through level 3 now. I like it.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Yeah this is spot on how I feel as well. The progression and character building is miniscule. That’s my main problem.

And for me it’s a combination of me being bad and not handling frustration well combined with the game simply being really difficult. Considering it easily took me 15 times to beat the level 2 boss, and one such run from the crash site takes me about 2 hours if I aim to rebuild the character and weapons, it would’ve taken me 30 hours to beat it without using the cloud storage save state. Add the struggles at the level 1 boss which I thought was hard as well and we’re probably looking at 50 hours of playtime, for 2 levels… Maybe some think that’s fine but for me it’s something that makes me drop the game.

Luckily the save state thing works. I’m probably halfway through level 3 now. I like it.
I haven't messed with the save states stuff yet. I really did have a desire to get into the game because of all the praise. And I did love the atmosphere and how the game felt, but I don't think I'll be going back any time soon. As a traditional 3rd person shooter I'd have loved it. I know that would make it a totally different game, but even the game giving you the ability to retain some stuff, it isn't enough. The repetition of doing the same areas and bosses over(even if they change some out the layouts of the areas) isn't enough for me. I have a low tolerance of repetition. And I want to keep all my stuff. Like imagine dying in Metroid and having to start from the beginning, but only keeping some things. I'd have never played Metroid. Nor would I enjoy it as much if the areas were randomized. I love unique level design and exploring new areas, not rehashing the same ones over and over. As a major Metroid fan, roguelikes/lites are in direct conflict with my favorite styles of games.
 
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What's the difference between roguelite and roguelike? I thought they meant the same thing, just different terminology. Regardless, I tried Returnal several times and couldn't come to like it no matter how hard I tried. Get rid of the rogue elements and I'd love it, because I liked the other stuff in it.
Rougelikes you literally start from scratch. Rougelites, you level up and get stronger, making future runs easier.
 

Justin9mm

Member
I'm using the cloud upload save state hack. I'm at the first biome boss and have attempted maybe 5 or 6 times, I've come close to beating it with half of it's last health bar left but I'm just not quick enough, Is there any tips on what weapon to use or most damage to beat the boss as quick as possible? I don't fully understand what I'm picking up on the way as far as progression items. I have the Carbine but everything else seems useless. I also understand the boss' pattern but I just don't last, I'm a bit slow lol. Also in case you ask, I do have sprint as always on.
 
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Amiga

Member
I'm using the cloud upload save state hack. I'm at the first biome boss and have attempted maybe 5 or 6 times, I've come close to beating it with half of it's last health bar left but I'm just not quick enough, Is there any tips on what weapon to use or most damage to beat the boss as quick as possible? I don't fully understand what I'm picking up on the way as far as progression items. I have the Carbine but everything else seems useless. I also understand the boss' pattern but I just don't last, I'm a bit slow lol. Also in case you ask, I do have sprint as always on.
Keep your distance with this one and keep moving/dashing side to side.
the tricky part is the bosses' red ring/melee combo. get ready to jump&dash in to the middle of that ring. you should avoid both attacks this way.
 
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RoadHazard

Gold Member
True ending achieved. Now I'm trying to actually understand the story, lol. Googling it, people (and gaming sites) have WILDLY different interpretations, and they're all convinced they're right.

Not done with the game though, I have a lot left to do in the tower.
 
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Justin9mm

Member
Keep your distance with this one and keep moving/dashing side to side.
the tricky part is the bosses' red ring/melee combo. get ready to jump&dash in to the middle of that ring. you should avoid both attacks this way.
Thanks, I'm doing all this, I'm just too slow sometimes on the timing, you can only get hit a few times before dying which is ultra difficult for me. If it wasn't for the cloud save hack, I would have given up indefinitely though. I'm sure I will do it eventually.
 
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RoadHazard

Gold Member
Thanks, I'm doing all this, I'm just too slow sometimes on the timing, you can only get hit a few times before dying which is ultra difficult for me. If it wasn't for the cloud save hack, I would have given up indefinitely though. I'm sure I will do it eventually.

Make sure to get a lot of health upgrades, full health refills, and also an astronaut figurine. And the highest level weapon you can get of course (which means you need to get a bunch of proficiency). If you're running to the boss without clearing everything out first (at least most of the map) you're doing it wrong.

As for fighting the bosses, a lot of it is just figuring out when and how to dodge. You're aware that you're invincible when you dash right? You can dash right through projectiles (and also the red ring attacks) without taking damage. So most of the time you want to dash into/through attacks, not away from them (if you do that they'll just catch up with you and you'll take damage).

But yeah, I think the first boss was the one that gave me the most trouble. You don't have a lot of stuff unlocked at that point, and you're also not that good at the game yet. All later bosses I beat faster, one or two even on the first attempt.
 
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Justin9mm

Member
Make sure to get a lot of health upgrades, full health refills, and also an astronaut figurine. And the highest level weapon you can get of course (which means you need to get a bunch of proficiency). If you're running to the boss without clearing everything out first (at least most of the map) you're doing it wrong.

As for fighting the bosses, a lot of it is just figuring out when and how to dodge. You're aware that you're invincible when you dash right? You can dash right through projectiles (and also the red ring attacks) without taking damage. So most of the time you want to dash into/through attacks, not away from them (if you do that they'll just catch up with you and you'll take damage).

But yeah, I think the first boss was the one that gave me the most trouble. You don't have a lot of stuff unlocked at that point, and you're also not that good at the game yet. All later bosses I beat faster, one or two even on the first attempt.
I'm not sure how that proficiency thing works on weapons, I think maybe I'm definitely going in unprepared and it's taking a lot longer to drain the health of the boss. I will go back through the map and try to build myself more?
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I'm not sure how that proficiency thing works on weapons, I think maybe I'm definitely going in unprepared and it's taking a lot longer to drain the health of the boss. I will go back through the map and try to build myself more?

Basically, the more things you kill the higher your proficiency gets (and you can also increase it by picking up the blue calibrator items), and the higher your proficiency is the more powerful weapons you find.

Get all the health pickups too, even if you're at full health. The resins don't just refill your health, but also make your health bar grow.

So yes, definitely go through the map and kill all enemies and get all pickups (except for stuff with negative effects, there you'll have to be more selective).
 
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Fredrik

Member
Thanks, I'm doing all this, I'm just too slow sometimes on the timing, you can only get hit a few times before dying which is ultra difficult for me. If it wasn't for the cloud save hack, I would have given up indefinitely though. I'm sure I will do it eventually.
Third phase on level 1 boss was insanely difficult for me, I died so many times. Hard to give any real advices tbh, just keep trying I guess. If you still have some rooms unexplored, then I’d say try to clear those, might get a better weapon or item. The challenge room with the alien door is almost like a boss room in itself, might have some cool rewards though. Oh and shoot the statues, might give you more obotlites or spawn enemies. And don’t upload a new save unless you have full health before the boss, I did and never found any health upgrades and had to start over.

I’m getting close to end of level 3 now. Level 12 carbine with increasing fire rate, no idea if it’s good or bad at this point but it does the job during the level at least, boss might be a different story.
 

Fredrik

Member
Why are you doing this to me Housemarque? 😞

I just forgot to pause the cycle when uploading a new save state to the cloud. Apparently that’s resetting everything.
I reached phase 3 on level 3 boss. Maxed out 2 health bars. Level 14 carbine.
Now I’m back at start again. 1 health bar. Level 0 gun. No save state.
I can’t do this.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Third phase on level 1 boss was insanely difficult for me, I died so many times. Hard to give any real advices tbh, just keep trying I guess. If you still have some rooms unexplored, then I’d say try to clear those, might get a better weapon or item. The challenge room with the alien door is almost like a boss room in itself, might have some cool rewards though. Oh and shoot the statues, might give you more obotlites or spawn enemies. And don’t upload a new save unless you have full health before the boss, I did and never found any health upgrades and had to start over.

I’m getting close to end of level 3 now. Level 12 carbine with increasing fire rate, no idea if it’s good or bad at this point but it does the job during the level at least, boss might be a different story.

Don't cheat yourself bro.
 

Fbh

Member
The boss of the 3rd biome was pretty awesome, took a few attempt to kill tough (and I kept dying trying to rush back to it, had to take it slow and build myself up to finally beat it).

Really enjoying the game so far, I'm now in the ..5th(?) biome (the ice one) which has been pretty cool so far.
My only complaint compared to other Roguelites I've played is that I wish there was a bit more variety in between the runs. For example Hades did a really good job at allowing you to make each run feel very different because all the upgrades you are constantly getting make a big difference in how you play, approach combat and use your weapons. Most upgrades in Returnal feel very tame and straightforward in comparison.
 
I don't have a PS5 unfortunately and refuse to pay scalper prices. I do have a dualsense though so I hope it comes to PC at some point.
 

Fbh

Member
Beat it, the last area was really nice though the final boss was a tad underwhelming. Took me 12 and a half hours and 16 deaths according to the computer on the ship.

Now I read online there's some "true ending" that you can unlock but from what I saw it involves getting a specific item on each level which just spawns randomly. Just played through the first 3 biomes and didn't get anything. Is there any strategy to it or are you just supposed to aimlessly play the game for hours until you get lucky and get the items? Also does the "true ending" involve any gameplay or is it just a cutscene?
 

Fredrik

Member
Don't cheat yourself bro.
It’s the only way I can enjoy it. 🤷‍♂️

As I said before I literally hated the game before I learned about the save trick. The progression system is broken as far as I’m concerned. It would’ve been enough to respawn at the start of the level you died on with the upgrades you had when you reached there. Would’ve still been annoying since a level can be several hours long if you clear it.

Going back to the start with the starter weapon and starter health is way too punishing, the way I’m playing it’s probably 5-6 hours of gameplay to be back where I was with a similar setup.

And fast-forwarding through portals to a later level means you go there with a crap setup. I just tried and it’s a big nope. They’ve made sure you feel like you should play through most of the levels before you travel to the next one so you have a decent setup for the later levels.

Problem is I’ve played the first level so many times before reaching level 2 that I’ve seen all the rooms the map randomizer can do. I’m bored. ”Not this again” is all I’m thinking when I’m at the first level. I’m bored at the visuals, enemies, weapons, rooms. There is nothing there that interest me anymore. I’ve probably seen all the story bits too now. She’s just repeating that she can do it this time when she has respawned. Apparently she’s wrong…
 
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I just killed the third boss, first try. Not that I’m any good at the game, but I just had an insane amount of HP (220% hp and 3 siphon items).

When you have the Adrenaline Leech you are often at full hp and you just stack resins quite quickly.

Also the story goes pretty wild after biome 3. Some real nightmare stuff..
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Beat it, the last area was really nice though the final boss was a tad underwhelming. Took me 12 and a half hours and 16 deaths according to the computer on the ship.

Now I read online there's some "true ending" that you can unlock but from what I saw it involves getting a specific item on each level which just spawns randomly. Just played through the first 3 biomes and didn't get anything. Is there any strategy to it or are you just supposed to aimlessly play the game for hours until you get lucky and get the items? Also does the "true ending" involve any gameplay or is it just a cutscene?

I just combed through each biome, only once did I not find it so I had to reset. All the others I found on the first attempt.

There's no new gameplay, no, except for another house sequence.
 
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NinjaBoiX

Member
I’m not sure how I feel about this game.

It’s really solid mechanically and technically, it plays like a dream! And the art and sound design is outstanding too. I also like how mysterious it all is, you really feel completely at odds with your environment.

But…

It’s kind of somber and oppressive to the point of being off-putting, not to even mention the difficulty. And on top of that, all the various mechanics and collectibles thrown at you out of the gate can be really confusing. I’m still not sure what half of the stuff I’m collecting is used for!

TLDR - It’s incredibly impressive, I’m just not sure I’m actually having fun with it to be honest. I have only played an hour or so, I’ll give it some more time. But it’s not really hooked me quite yet…
 

HF2014

Member
I just killed the third boss, first try. Not that I’m any good at the game, but I just had an insane amount of HP (220% hp and 3 siphon items).

When you have the Adrenaline Leech you are often at full hp and you just stack resins quite quickly.

Also the story goes pretty wild after biome 3. Some real nightmare stuff..

Congrats! Imo the third boss is the toughest one. But doesnt mean the rest of the game is easy 😬.
 

HF2014

Member
I’m not sure how I feel about this game.

It’s really solid mechanically and technically, it plays like a dream! And the art and sound design is outstanding too. I also like how mysterious it all is, you really feel completely at odds with your environment.

But…

It’s kind of somber and oppressive to the point of being off-putting, not to even mention the difficulty. And on top of that, all the various mechanics and collectibles thrown at you out of the gate can be really confusing. I’m still not sure what half of the stuff I’m collecting is used for!

TLDR - It’s incredibly impressive, I’m just not sure I’m actually having fun with it to be honest. I have only played an hour or so, I’ll give it some more time. But it’s not really hooked me quite yet…

Its a difficult game, but dont give up, and dont rush too much. You will get the sword very early on, and learn on how to use it. It will tone down a bit the difficulty, a little…. 😁
 
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