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[TwistedSyn]

Reviews when?

Returnal Review Embargo Details

When to expect critics' thoughts on the next big PS5 exclusive

opencritic.com

April 29 at 5 AM PT / 8 AM ET

 

[DonJorginho]

Reviews when?

29th at 1PM GMT.

 

[kingkenny76]

 

[Kagero]

Just preordered. Now the wait.

 

[Jaysen]

Even Grubb can’t resist.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Is there a guide / info to what you keep as opposed to lose when you die?

Take it you keep weapons and suit upgrades (are they?) you find?

 

[Con_Z_ǝdʇ]

Is there a guide / info to what you keep as opposed to lose when you die?

Take it you keep weapons and suit upgrades (are they?) you find?

You don't keep weapons, just permanent upgrades like the blade which is used to destroy energy barriers so that you can reach previously closed areas.
Or the grappling hook. I'm not a 100% sure though. Seems like you keep everything that is tied to the "metroidvania style" progression.
That is just what i gathered from listening to previews.

 

[MistBreeze]

the more I see about the game the more Im getting interested

Finally a gorgeous game with tight gameplay !!!

it is sad how most developers do not produce games with quality gameplay nowadays

 

[Greggy]

I'm trading in Demon Souls for this . Never could really get into DS. Still going to wait for the review scores but like a lot of people, my impressions of the game have gotten better after the previews.
Given the game drought currently on ps5, I'll probably get this.

 

[Camreezie]

Fuck it lads I'm in. Anyone know if there are difficulty levels?
Hoping this lives up to what it could be, little bit concerned it might get lost in the shuffle between Resident Evil Village and Pokemon Snap

 

[kyliethicc]

About the procedurally generated stuff.. Are the levels generated anew every time you die, or is it just once per playthrough?

The main levels are hand crafted, the connecting areas are procedural, so its different every run, but major story stuff and boss fights are same each time.

Fuck it lads I'm in. Anyone know if there are difficulty levels?

Pretty sure there's just 1 difficulty, so no user choice. Like Souls. The opening screen before starting warns about this.

 

[Camreezie]

The main levels are hand crafted, the connecting areas are procedural, so its different every run, but major story stuff and boss fights are same each time.


Pretty sure there's just 1 difficulty, so no user choice. Like Souls. The opening screen before starting warns about this.

Thanks my dude. Seems like I'm gonna have to git gud

 

[Rob_27]

Preordered - If its not my cup of tea it will last until RE Village.

 

[dcmk7]

The main levels are hand crafted, the connecting areas are procedural, so its different every run, but major story stuff and boss fights are same each time.


Pretty sure there's just 1 difficulty, so no user choice. Like Souls. The opening screen before starting warns about this.

It looks like they haven't watered anything down in order to make the game more accessible, all seems to be exactly like they have wanted.

I do admire the ballsy-ness.

 

[Thief1987]

might get lost in the shuffle between Resident Evil Village and Pokemon Snap

I don't know about that, looking on amazon, it's going pretty good so far, it's ahead of RE(PS5) in most of big markets(US, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain), behind in France, but it's out of stock there.

 

[Spukc]

55 euros on amazon it

 

[Spukc]

Its not gonna be as hard as Sekiro lol, Sony wouldn't let them ship it if it was that fucking hard.

I suspect it will be a similar difficulty to Bloodborne, which most agree is easier than Sekiro.

Cool the game is super duper hard.
Because that’s what makes roguelikes good.



if this shit is true go play hades instead.
get this game for 30

 

[IntentionalPun]

The main levels are hand crafted, the connecting areas are procedural, so its different every run, but major story stuff and boss fights are same each time.


Pretty sure there's just 1 difficulty, so no user choice. Like Souls. The opening screen before starting warns about this.

lol, that's pretty silly you can't just save and they actually tell you to use rest mode

 

[DonJorginho]

I will say, the choice to not save mid run is pretty damn stupid, I get it fits with the Roguelike/lite culture but when the PS5 has known issues with Rest Mode why the fuck would I wanna keep it on that lmaooo.

I guess this is gonna be the kinda game I play for 8 hours straight aha.

 

[CitizenZ]

Looks like the devs played the game Remenant.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

lol, that's pretty silly you can't just save and they actually tell you to use rest mode

What a weird way of making it more challenging. It's not like doing a saved progress means someone will save scum and reload a game after getting killed.

The gamer just wants to take a break and continue another day.

Looks like unless you use rest mode, you got to play the game and get as far as possible in one sitting.

 

[thebigmanjosh]

Love the roguelike/lite genre and recently put 100 hours into spelunky 2 without thinking twice. Wasn’t sold on Returnal until these recent previews and I’m all in but want to wait for reviews since there’s no incentive to preorder

I will say, the choice to not save mid run is pretty damn stupid, I get it fits with the Roguelike/lite culture but when the PS5 has known issues with Rest Mode why the fuck would I wanna keep it on that lmaooo.

I guess this is gonna be the kinda game I play for 8 hours straight aha.

Have you used rest mode lately? At all? The only issue I’ve had since launch was with PS4 games on my faulty external SSD, otherwise 0 issues with rest mode.

 

[DonJorginho]

Have you used rest mode lately? At all? The only issue I’ve had since launch was with PS4 games on my faulty external SSD, otherwise 0 issues with rest mode.

Had an issue in week one and have been too scared to use since

 

[IntentionalPun]

What a weird way of making it more challenging. It's not like doing a saved progress means someone will save scum and reload a game after getting killed.

The gamer just wants to take a break and continue another day.

Looks like unless you use rest mode, you got to play the game and get as far as possible in one sitting.

Well it keeps your permanent upgrades.

Just no saving “mid run.”

 

[Umbral]

I heard the final boss is the manager of Atropos.

Excited to play this one. I still can’t decide if I should go with the standard digital or grab a disc copy. I want those 2 suits, but there’s no indication that you get them on a disc copy. I prefer to have disc if I can.

Is ”break the cycle” a menopause joke?

 

[Entroyp]

Are people still having issues with rest mode? Really? I’ve been using it all the time since December (after a patch) and have had no issues at all. I have an external SSD for PS4 games.

 

[DonJorginho]

Gamespot Editor has completed Returnal, didn't find it anywhere near as hard as Hades, says in comments how he got through massive amounts of the game in a single run.

 

[DonJorginho]

I'm gonna be honest here, I think a lot of people have went from underestimating the difficulty of Returnal due to the usual cakewalks that Playstation first party titles tend to be, to overestimating it massively.

We all know game journos are not the ones to listen to regarding difficulty in games, and there is such a wide range of opinions on it. I have seen some journalists say they have played through 4 of the biomes within 6 hours with little challenge whilst seeing others say they had spent 11 hours and still not finished the 2nd biome yet.

I believe this game will likely be near enough to Doom Eternal in regards to difficulty, being easy to pick up yet hard to master, with a massive emphasis on staying on the move with combat encounters acting as puzzles you have to find a solution to instead of just blast these enemies, job done. Skill Up's preview explained as such, with him describing combat encounters as puzzle like situations.

It will definitely be a challenge, but I am thinking it won't be the Souls in Space game some journos are making it out to be.

 

[Spukc]

Gamespot Editor has completed Returnal, didn't find it anywhere near as hard as Hades, says in comments how he got through massive amounts of the game in a single run.

Hades was designed to kill you because you needed to follow the story.

i thought this game was also told through you dying a lot.

don’t let it be like doom eternal.
Fucking bullshit marauder. Most unfun enemy in years.

 

[GymWolf]

Strangely enough a couple of places in italy sell this one for 60 euros.

Not onky amazon, but euronics too (and a couple of other sites).

If you are italian, you got the best deal this time.

 

[GymWolf]

55 euros on amazon it

Does amazon adeguate the price if i preordered when it was 60 euros?!

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

I'm gonna be honest here, I think a lot of people have went from underestimating the difficulty of Returnal due to the usual cakewalks that Playstation first party titles tend to be, to overestimating it massively.

We all know game journos are not the ones to listen to regarding difficulty in games, and there is such a wide range of opinions on it. I have seen some journalists say they have played through 4 of the biomes within 6 hours with little challenge whilst seeing others say they had spent 11 hours and still not finished the 2nd biome yet.

I believe this game will likely be near enough to Doom Eternal in regards to difficulty, being easy to pick up yet hard to master, with a massive emphasis on staying on the move with combat encounters acting as puzzles you have to find a solution to instead of just blast these enemies, job done. Skill Up's preview explained as such, with him describing combat encounters as puzzle like situations.

It will definitely be a challenge, but I am thinking it won't be the Souls in Space game some journos are making it out to be.

Agreed.

Looking at a lot of these previews I'm actually getting fustrated how easily some of them are getting damaged.

Of course, it could be different when we actually get our hands on it, but the stuff i'm seeing them die from looks incredibly easy to dodge

 

[DonJorginho]

Strangely enough a couple of places in italy sell this one for 60 euros.

Not onky amazon, but euronics too (and a couple of other sites).

If you are italian, you got the best deal this time.

Or just be a fraud like me and buy it using a US account for £49

 

[GymWolf]

Agreed.

Looking at a lot of these previews I'm actually getting fustrated how easily some of them are getting damaged.

Of course, it could be different when we actually get our hands on it, but the stuff i'm seeing them die from looks incredibly easy to dodge

The dodge move has invincibility frames but they still try to avoid the bullets instead of dashing throught them.

 

[GymWolf]

Or just be a fraud like me and buy it using a US account for £49

You can re-sell a physical copy tho.

 

[Bartski]

has Forbes demanded an easy mode already?

 

[DonJorginho]

Agreed.

Looking at a lot of these previews I'm actually getting fustrated how easily some of them are getting damaged.

Of course, it could be different when we actually get our hands on it, but the stuff i'm seeing them die from looks incredibly easy to dodge

Oh for sure, I watched a video of the second boss and it's attacks were heavily telegraphed so it frustrated me also, also worth mentioning about the dash having invincibility frames so not seeing as many journos utilise that annoyed me too.

You can re-sell a physical copy tho.

I don't like using discs anymore, only if I want a collector's edition will I grab one, I am a digital fiend.

 

[GymWolf]

Oh for sure, I watched a video of the second boss and it's attacks were heavily telegraphed so it frustrated me also, also worth mentioning about the dash having invincibility frames so not seeing as many journos utilise that annoyed me too.



I don't like using discs anymore, only if I want a collector's edition will I grab one, I am a digital fiend.

I still need to lick the cover of any game i buy, so physical is the way to go for now.

Digital only on pc.

 

[DonJorginho]

I still need to lick the cover of any game i buy, so physical is the way to go for now.

Digital only on pc.

Don't tempt me, trying to forget how nice discs collections look on my shelves, just running out of storage space and with how fast the PS5 is I hate not using that to it's advantage when I have to manually switch discs. Is too seamless to switch games on the dashboard using the power of the SSD & Digital games rather than get up, eject, put in game case, get other game case, put disc in drive then sit down.

 

[Calverz]

When do reviews go live?

 

[DonJorginho]

When do reviews go live?

29th at 1PM GMT.

 

[GymWolf]

A guy on twitter said that the game is way easier than a souls game. (Powerpyx, a throphy hunter dude said the opposite)

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

A guy on twitter said that the game is way easier than a souls game. (Powerpyx, a throphy hunter dude said the opposite)

Game could be easier but getting the platinum might be harder imo

Really depends on what it's asking you to do

Getting the platinum for Souls is more of a chore if anything, having to get all the miracles, spells etc

 

[GymWolf]

Game could be easier but getting the platinum might be harder imo

Really depends on what it's asking you to do

Getting the platinum for Dark Souls is more of a chore if anything, having to get all the miracles, spells etc

I don't care about platinum, i just hope for a good level of challenge, hopefully not far easier than a souls game but around the same level of challenge or even a bit more.

Hopefully he is only talking about getting the plat.

 

[3liteDragon]

 

[DonJorginho]

I think PowerPyx was more talking about the platinum too, as the collectibles are in random areas every time with no guarantee of the collectibles you find being new or copies of older ones you already picked up which don't count towards the plat.

Of course it will be challenging, but I don't think this will be the mega hard Souls rival that some journos are making it up to be, I think they just suck at video games.

 

[Calverz]

Managed to pick this up for £49 thanks to the wonderful world of buying US PSN giftcards

Amazing to think this is considered a “deal” now.
I got MGSV on launch day for £18 from the xbox hong kong store!

 

[DonJorginho]

THIS IS PHENOMENAL

(my 8th viewing and it still blows me away.)

Spoiler: 2nd Biome (Crimson Springs) Boss

 

[Gediminas]

A guy on twitter said that the game is way easier than a souls game. (Powerpyx, a throphy hunter dude said the opposite)

PS5Trophies said that the game gets easier after first biome. you can look up his 45min. he was speed running the game. gave some good tips also.
anyways, the game is based on your skills. some will find it easier than souls games, other will find this game easier.

demo would be the best for customers, but ,maybe not for developers.

 

[DonJorginho]

Amazing to think this is considered a “deal” now.
I got MGSV on launch day for £18 from the xbox hong kong store!

It's still a deal given it's RRP but yeah not the same as deals you would get last gen.