I’ve read once you get certain items then the levels have a higher chance or higher tier of enemy spawns etc.
The first biome definitely changed after my run where I got the sword, the extra life, and fought the boss. Much different.
Finally beat the second boss after so many tries, looking forward to the third biome and my new device.
Pro tip: dash forward through the incoming rockets.
Thanks, Biome 3 is kicking my arse, no places to hide like in the previous two, especially from homing missiles.
Second mid game pro tip: grappling makes you invulnerable and makes the enemies lose track of you for a brief moment. It’s a new ability at that point so you need to learn how advantageous it is. When you are in an arena with grapple points abuse them.
Those are what that dodge forward tip was for. That was a tough thing to learn on my own and even knowing it takes a while to fully internalize to do it.
It’s kind of nice to see how many people here have finished Returnal. I had kind of assumed it would be like the older Housemarque titles that I played, where I was never able to finish because it was beyond my abilities even on the easiest difficulty.
Irrelevant details
OTOH, maybe a lot of people were finishing those games too? Like maybe plenty of people finished Nex Machina? Resogun? Super Stardust? Resogun is a weird one, I always played that on Normal, and I tried Easy once and it really was super easy, and I finished it on my first try on Easy, so I didn’t count that one as ‘finished’ since I could never beat it on Normal the way I kept trying for years.
I cant stop playing this but both times I’ve restarted the game with a blank slate and got to the first boss on the 2nd run but barely lost both times, the freaking game then kicks my ass after that. Can barely get back to the boss again with all larger number of harder enemies and environments after I do so well my first few runs. I love the game but take me back to that easier difficulty before I got the sword and fought the boss, dammit.
This thread inspired me to go back to the loop in Returnal, finally getting over the hump of the biome 3 boss and I’ve now seen credits. I really loved the environments and mood in this and, when you have time to admire it, some of the enemy design is great especially the giant floating octopus things in the desert, seeing those from a distance is really creepy.
I gather there’s a bit more to see so I’ll push on with that while my muscle memory is still intact plus I suspect some of the later unlocks are also making this easier so hopefully it won’t be much of a slog.
Free update March 22nd adding online co-op and a new map.
Oh good, now maybe I can make some progress! @Jason_McMaster, I’m gonna need you to take point. Keep going until you see the room that unlocks the sword. I’ll be right behind you.
-Tom
Patch is out!
I went look for official patch notes, but they’re just brief descriptions of the new co-op and an endless survival modes. Hey, maybe with someone helping me, I can finally get this supposed sword you guys claim is in the game!
-Tom
Happy to help Tom whenever you want.
Tried the co-op a few times with my sister and it’s a lot of fun. Not really any easier since the number of enemies and HP are scaled up.
I’ve been REALLY trying to beat Phrike this past week. Last night was the closest I ever got - no damage during phase 1, and I got him all the way down to 1/3 of his health bar during stage 3. Didn’t have an astronaut (not in the store this run) and only had one health pack, unfortunately. I wish I was better at dodging his melee attacks when he almost blips across the room to smack you.
Can you use a PS5 controller with a PC? I think Returnal has interesting haptic trigger stuff.
Well look at that :)
Noice!