Sony Returnal - Information Thread, update: Digital Foundry PC Port Review - "It's Good, But Could Be Great"

[stepee]

10 minutes ago, JPDunks4 said:

I've definitely had some frame drops, but haven't really noticed them during actual combat.  It's typically when I'm moving fast from area to area.  So maybe something to with loading.

 

Visually I think it's a very nice looking game.  The colors and particle effects are all very beautiful against the dark landscapes.

 

 

 

Yeah, I mostly noticed it when you dash into an area, not every time, but sometimes it will have what feels like a little 59fps drop hitch. That’s pretty normal for any game and I’m not sure if there is a modern AAA console game that doesn’t have that happen sometimes so it’s not even worth mentioning.

[Keyser_Soze]

I don't know why you guys are saying DF said it was locked at 60. They showed and said it wasn't in that video I posted earlier.

[stepee]

8 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

I don't know why you guys are saying DF said it was locked at 60. They showed and said it wasn't in that video I posted earlier.

 

I said in my post that per that video they said that it’s as locked as a console game can be. So there are very small dips so it might not be literally the best performance in a console game ever, just one of the best performing console games at a near locked 60.

 

It just doesn’t matter, the games performance is absolutely on its plus list not the minus list.

[Greatoneshere]

3 hours ago, stepee said:

But seriously can we talk about how good the third person shooting is? Is this just recency bias or is this at least on gamepad the best playing third person shooter yet? Like what controls better on game pad for aiming and moving around like this? Control is great but it’s not that. How did they make aiming on analog (and I only play with a gamepad) actually feel accurate while not feeling like it’s cheating with too much auto correct!

 

It's not just you. The game controls buttery smooth. It's fluid yet tight. 

[JPDunks4]

I saw Jeff Grubb mention a feature where your friends dead bodies would be found around the map.  He said they turned it off prior to launch for stability.  I just got a notification on my phone that a friend was on and his Biome and Skills said he got a 1 gb update.

 

Maybe they turned it on.

 

[Bloodporne]

4 hours ago, SaysWho? said:

That’s Housemarque for you. Their games control perfectly. Resogun felt buttery smooth.

Nex Machina has such fantastic 'game feel' overall that whenever I really get in the zone, it feels automatic and I somehow know EXACTLY what bullet out of the five thousand on screen actually hit me. It's something about their game design that's been continuously impressive as hell to me the more time I sink into it.

[Greatoneshere]

List of Housemarque games, for posterity and for those who may be interested after Returnal to dig into their back catalog (of mostly great) games.

 

-Super Stardust HD/Portable/Delta/Ultra/VR (all same game)

-Dead Nation

-Outland

-Resogun

-Alienation

-Nex Machina

-Matterfall

-Returnal

 

[Keyser_Soze]

I have Dead Nation on PS3. I think it was a freebie.

[JPDunks4]

I still have only died in the first Biomes in the first like 15-30 minutes.  Never died to a boss yet, or in the 2nd or 3rd Biomes of each run.  I feel like if I can get past those early minutes and get a little more health and a few artifact's, I'm pretty solid for the rest of the run.  I also don't spend the 6 ether for that replicator thing anymore as I'm not too worried about dying.

 

Just been working to try to collect everything and unlock all the weapon upgrades during each run.  I can pretty much fly through a full run in 1.5-2 hours now.

[Joe]

I finally got the fucking sword. Shit is lit.

[Chris-]

1 minute ago, Joe said:

I finally got the fucking sword. Shit is lit.

Zooting around and slashing through enemies makes it feel like Doom. 

[Joe]

23 minutes ago, Chris- said:

Zooting around and slashing through enemies makes it feel like Doom. 

Feels good bro.

 

What’s the deal with the Astronaut Figurine? I got it once for completing the house and I can’t get it again for this biome?

[SaysWho?]

19 minutes ago, Joe said:

Feels good bro.

 

What’s the deal with the Astronaut Figurine? I got it once for completing the house and I can’t get it again for this biome?

I think you can get one per run? It’s rare but it’s a good item.

[JPDunks4]

19 minutes ago, Joe said:

Feels good bro.

 

What’s the deal with the Astronaut Figurine? I got it once for completing the house and I can’t get it again for this biome?

 

You can get it again, it's just a random drop item.

[JPDunks4]

1 minute ago, SaysWho? said:

I think you can get one per run? It’s rare but it’s a good item.

 

I had one earlier, lost it, and was able to rebuy it again later in the same run.  So same Artifact can show up more than once.

[Brian]

Played a bit last night and I definitely need a save state. I typically only play about 30-60 minutes at a time which is not long enough for a run. I prayed that the run would still be there the next morning and it was. 
 

I got to the first boss twice so far with decent loads in my opinion and can only get two bars down before I die.  Do items disappear if you get hit? I ask because I was sure to bring a health item into the boss fight and it was gone when I tried to use it. 

[Greatoneshere]

47 minutes ago, ManUtdRedDevils said:

Do items disappear if you get hit? I ask because I was sure to bring a health item into the boss fight and it was gone when I tried to use it. 

 

Consumables (items) do not disappear as far as I know if you get hit. But you can only carry one type of consumable at a time. Perhaps you accidentally used it or replaced it with a different kind of consumable? Not sure. Also may depend on the kind of health item you had. 

[stepee]

6 hours ago, Joe said:

I finally got the fucking sword. Shit is lit.

 

Fuck yeah man. I played like 6 hours yesterday and didn’t ever get it, that one big dude kept killing me. Happy to see some progress though of course I only got to like 3/4th through the bosses second phase. But at least I made it there and now I have a cool sword!

[JPDunks4]

Curious, what is it that you guys are finding the most difficult?   Just dealing with large numbers of enemies?  One specific enemy that shows up?  

 

Getting through the game definitely helps make future runs easier with the permanent upgrades, so I can't really recreate that initial challenge of the first run.  

 

What's everyone's go to weapon?  My first few runs I stuck with the same weapon the entire time.  Weapon makes a huge difference I've found on how easy the game feels.  Some weapons are just downright terrible vs the bats or quicker flying enemies.

 

I think I officially finished the "Story" today but will still run it maybe to try to finish collecting stuff.  There are a lot of hidden trophies though, and if it's a huge time sink to get them I may not bother.

[Keyser_Soze]

 

34 minutes ago, JPDunks4 said:

Curious, what is it that you guys are finding the most difficult?   Just dealing with large numbers of enemies?  One specific enemy that shows up?  

 

Getting through the game definitely helps make future runs easier with the permanent upgrades, so I can't really recreate that initial challenge of the first run. 

 

To add on to this, I don't know how many of you n00bs playing are aware but if you are struggling in the first area, you can go back to your ship and sleep to recover your health.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

linear-gradient(310.77deg, #29AA9F 0%, #098EA6 100%)

PSA (before they're patched out): Returnal has a bunch of cheat codes accessible via USB keyboard if you want to be a filthy cheater | ResetEra

WWW.RESETERA.COM

---

Thanks to Kadath BIG PSA REGARDING ONE OF THE CHEATS THAT COULD RUIN EVERYTHING IF YOU USE IT INCORRECTLY AT THE BOTTOM YouTube user TheRandomizer discovered a handful of dev cheats/codes that...

 

[Brian]

 

Housemarque has warned Returnalplayers who wish to keep their current run to turn off PS5's auto-update feature as a new patch will go live tomorrow, May 5, at 12pm PT/3pm ET/8pm BST.
 

[Mercury33]

Went to play last night. Got the glitch where you can’t interact with anything in the VERY FIRST ROOM. So I’m done with this game till it’s 100% fixed. 
 

In 7 attempted runs only 1 didn’t end due to a glitch and me resetting. 

[Bloodporne]

33 minutes ago, Mercury33 said:

Went to play last night. Got the glitch where you can’t interact with anything in the VERY FIRST ROOM. So I’m done with this game till it’s 100% fixed. 
 

In 7 attempted runs only 1 didn’t end due to a glitch and me resetting. 

There's a patch coming today at noon today. Curious to see how much it fixes. 

[Joe]

The game has not crashed for me at all yet. Weird.

[SaysWho?]

7 minutes ago, Joe said:

The game has not crashed for me at all yet. Weird.

 

I experienced one glitch where everything was black but I could still move.

 

That was it, though. Hope the new patch keeps it that way! 

[JPDunks4]

I haven't really looked at settings.  There is a setting to turn on a Run Timer I just noticed.

[TwinIon]

13 hours ago, JPDunks4 said:

Curious, what is it that you guys are finding the most difficult?   Just dealing with large numbers of enemies?  One specific enemy that shows up? 

My biggest issues have been surviving boss fights. I just cleared the second boss for the first time, after dying on its "final stand" a few times. I've been trying my best to build up runs where I've got a high damage weapon and some kind of health restore or revive for when I get to the boss, but I've not found a lot of success. I usually end up with a single health item and die at the end.

 

Other than that I guess I have the most trouble with lots of flying enemies. I lose track of them all and get a single hit in the back and things go downhill from there. Things can snowball so quickly. I lose a bit too much life in one encounter, so instead of increasing my max health, I'm spending my green pickups to restore health, which also makes me skip other potential upgrades because I can't afford the wrong malfunction, and on it goes.

 

I do wish that there were more total health recovery mechanisms. I understand that's the whole challenge of the game, but you should really recover health after beating a boss if nothing else. Getting one small health item after beating a boss is a bummer. I'd even consider re-fighting an earlier boss if I knew I'd be at full health afterwards. For someone of my skill level, there's zero incentive to fight a boss again once you've beat it (unless I'm missing something).

 

All that said, 12 hours in and I'm still enjoying it quite a lot. It's one of the few games that I feel ok about working to get better at. I'm starting to play a bit more loosely, and when a run goes downhill take bigger chances rather than fewer.

[johnny]

6 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

linear-gradient(310.77deg, #29AA9F 0%, #098EA6 100%)

PSA (before they're patched out): Returnal has a bunch of cheat codes accessible via USB keyboard if you want to be a filthy cheater | ResetEra

WWW.RESETERA.COM

---

Thanks to Kadath BIG PSA REGARDING ONE OF THE CHEATS THAT COULD RUIN EVERYTHING IF YOU USE IT INCORRECTLY AT THE BOTTOM YouTube user TheRandomizer discovered a handful of dev cheats/codes that...

 

bummer there’s no infinite health one. i would have done it just to get the platinum easily lol. 

[Joe]

9 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

My biggest issues have been surviving boss fights. I just cleared the second boss for the first time, after dying on its "final stand" a few times. I've been trying my best to build up runs where I've got a high damage weapon and some kind of health restore or revive for when I get to the boss, but I've not found a lot of success. I usually end up with a single health item and die at the end.

 

Other than that I guess I have the most trouble with lots of flying enemies. I lose track of them all and get a single hit in the back and things go downhill from there. Things can snowball so quickly. I lose a bit too much life in one encounter, so instead of increasing my max health, I'm spending my green pickups to restore health, which also makes me skip other potential upgrades because I can't afford the wrong malfunction, and on it goes.

 

I do wish that there were more total health recovery mechanisms. I understand that's the whole challenge of the game, but you should really recover health after beating a boss if nothing else. Getting one small health item after beating a boss is a bummer. I'd even consider re-fighting an earlier boss if I knew I'd be at full health afterwards. For someone of my skill level, there's zero incentive to fight a boss again once you've beat it (unless I'm missing something).

 

All that said, 12 hours in and I'm still enjoying it quite a lot. It's one of the few games that I feel ok about working to get better at. I'm starting to play a bit more loosely, and when a run goes downhill take bigger chances rather than fewer.

Why would it matter to recover health after a boss fight? I mean you can just die and start where you left off in the 2nd world, no?

[Chris-]

Just now, Joe said:

Why would it matter to recover health after a boss fight? I mean you can just die and start where you left off in the 2nd world, no?

Not quite; from what I understand each boss will give you something that allows you to skip large portions of biomes, but you still need to work your way through to points in the biomes in order to use those things. 

[JPDunks4]

You don't just start where you left off.   Not really a spoiler buy explains the games mechanic a bit 

 

Spoiler

You can get to the next biome quickly through a teleport, but you'll essentially be naked in doing so.  No artifacts, upgrades, or health increases.  So you're really handicapping yourself for the long haul by skipping the first biome. 

 

[Bloodporne]

20 minutes ago, Joe said:

Why would it matter to recover health after a boss fight? I mean you can just die and start where you left off in the 2nd world, no?

Not playing yet but from what I understand you'd lose all the 'equipment' in general you've built up and basically resetting your progress minus having to beat the boss again.

[TwinIon]

1 hour ago, Joe said:

Why would it matter to recover health after a boss fight? I mean you can just die and start where you left off in the 2nd world, no?

You don't start off in the next biome after you die, you always start from the beginning. Often you can get to the second or third biome very quickly, but there is some value in staying a bit longer in an early biome in order to find better artifacts/parasites/consumables.

 

As it stands, for myself there's basically no reason I'm aware of to re-fight an early boss. Maybe I find a better gun, but the odds of that aren't any better than finding the same gun in the next random chest. You do find a small health boost item after a boss fight, but odds are that if I survive it's going to be with minimal health. So the risk/reward just doesn't really exist.

 

On the other hand, if I see a room with a star over the doorway in an earlier biome, These are rooms that guarantee a more difficult fight, with lots of small enemies and at least a couple big ones. If I find clear of those before the teleporter to the next world, I'll probably find a couple new guns at the very least. Hopefully I find a useful artifact/parasite, and since there are usually a few health items, even if I do take damage, I probably come out about even. If I fight well, I probably get to increase my max health a bit. So even for those rooms I know will be difficult, there's a good balance of risk/reward that doesn't exist for early bosses.

[JPDunks4]

1 hour ago, TwinIon said:

Other than that I guess I have the most trouble with lots of flying enemies. I lose track of them all and get a single hit in the back and things go downhill from there. Things can snowball so quickly. I lose a bit too much life in one encounter, so instead of increasing my max health, I'm spending my green pickups to restore health, which also makes me skip other potential upgrades because I can't afford the wrong malfunction, and on it goes.

 

 

I was thinking this playing the other day.  It's one of those "Rich get richer" games.  If you are good at the game, take little to no hits, you will upgrade your health a lot more than someone that's struggling.  All that health just goes on to make the game easier.  So you take few hits to begin with, and get a huge pool of health, making the game feel pretty easy pretty quickly. 

 

If you get lucky enough to get artifacts that leech health or will eat a hit with no penalty to you, then it really changes up the dynamics of the game quite a bit because you can keep that full health far easier.

 

I think its why subsequent runs start to feel so easy after the first 15-30 minutes.