Returnal, Difficulty & The Limits Of The Roguelite

Today we talk about Returnal. It's fantastic combat, it's frustrating randomness and it's unfinished story. We'll see if we can figure out if maybe Returnal should have been a linear action game instead of a punishing roguelite.
Pliny The Welder writes quite a bit on a range of topics. His game centric blog featureing his articles before they become videos can found at:
kinja.com/plinythewelder
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Here's a cool picture of a black hole!
earthsky.org/space/1st-direct-...

[@igriesert8561]

Very apt review. I fully agree. I love the gameplay. Graphics are excellent. But spending an hour to three hours just to die and make no forward progress, just shits on my tine. Not for me

[@cjdreamzs]

💯 agree

[@The80Kat]

It’s my favorite ps5 game. Got it on sale for 30 bucks. It’s worth 70 for sure. It’s the only platinum I have ever gotten on PlayStation at all.

[@Vucero]

Same, this game’s experience and the feeling of accomplishment you got after getting that plat was second to none.

[@Ingeniousleo85]

Man, always glad to see a new upload from your channel?

[@kalan91]

The worst thing about Returnal is that the only way to learn how to defeat certain enemies is to make mistakes and it costs 1-2 hours of gameplay. Plus it's too random: you can spend an hour on your cycle still without a decent weapon. Or you may meet too strong enemy on the very beginning in underground "loot room".

[@PlinyTheWelder]

Yeah see i ended up getting all the achievements for this game. And i eventually LOVED the rogue like tower mode. But that's exactly main gripe. Progression is basically gated by unlocking better weapon variants and the first few times you end up being suicided by flying enemies or killed by the teleporting dudes it feels bad. The combat is really great though. I would love to see a game with the same combat but a linear action game with many more levels and more linear progression. I love the game but it's painful to progress in the early going.

[@Barney_rubble983]

​@@PlinyTheWelderit kills me that this game is so good but I don't even want to play it😂

[@FlatEarthPhotography]

@@Barney_rubble983 well well, it is amazing, I dies just before the boss, because I was messing and jumping for no reason :D haha

[@Barney_rubble983]

@@FlatEarthPhotography 😂 I fully understand. It's such a great game. I just wish I was a bit better at it. Nothing better than opening chest and getting the starting pistol over and over again 😂

[@FlatEarthPhotography]

@@Barney_rubble983 actually the pistol also is not bad :) most guns are viable. You need to find your favorite

[@BingoBangoBongoBOOM]

Everything he mentioned in this video is accurate from my experience. However, I didn't notice him using the Rotgland Lobber or the Electropylon Driver. Some may have luck with the other guns, but once you find 1 of those 2, you don't need another- unless its an upgrade into a higher grade of these 2.

[@MissGrimm]

The driver is absolutely easy mode. It is so fucking amazing.

[@mamoruchiba752]

The pylon driver is the only thing in this game that makes u feel a bit better than enemies but: against hordes it is a pretty awful weapon (if u don't have pylon net)

[@mamoruchiba752]

And I think u forgot one more thing that really kills pleasure in a playthrough. U grind for hours and hours, get lucky on some perks, nothing can stop you. But then comes biome 4 and says: hold my beer. Gone, everything, every fu.ckin thing just gone. I mean what the hell dude? Couldn't they at least let u keep ur artefacts and your weapon? Just something man.

[@Childishh_Brandino]

Wouldn't be a rogue like if it did that

[@Vucero]

The game gets progressively more difficult as you get through it because of how the story and biome order works + It's literally called the citadel and is the most advanced part of the "civilization" that lived before. Also it's boss is the best in the entire game.

[@hankfleming0560]

yeah that’s the point of a rogue lite

[@OTG1776]

Literally LMAO😂😂😂🤣 Finally got around to playing it and it's one of the best games I've ever played. Takes me back to the PS2, PS3 days. ​@@hankfleming0560

[@vulcantuminello1127]

100% spot on review, also, the bosses become progressively more difficult and not only unrewarding (no health or loot, you simply gain access to the next area) after barely beating the 2nd or 3rd boss the storyline kills you anyways and forces you to restart in the next area from square one. Overpowered enemies that swarm you and youre forced to 100% each area to build up your health as you pointed out, you cant simply return to the level you died in quickly. We are talking about dying after easily 3 hours and then being told to start all over again with the pistol and baseline difficulty. As you pointed out, unlike other actual Roguelike's, you never have the chance of an overpowered run, youre always outmanned and outgunned and only by sheer luck will you actually beat the game.

[@DragonZombie2000]

Its crazy your videos dont get more videos, your reviews are amazing 😊

[@patrickrattigan4980]

Bro this may be your finest review. All of your reviews are thought provoking...funny and feel complete. Keep cranking em out bud

[@S_raB]

Just for Pliny @ 15:43 I'm gonna complete Returnal with a Parasite or other negative "curse" not allowing Silphium to heal. I've already done all 6 Biomes with a starter Pistol, so should be easy enough.

[@kedarrj]

Are you serious? You completed 6 biomes with just the pistole ?

[@S_raB]

@@kedarrj Yes. Completed Act 1 & 2 on a fresh save, only starting Pistol, zero deaths. Currently pushing this same save to complete Act 3 & I've got 2 Sunface Fragments so far...still zero deaths. I've started a KZbin channel pretty much out of love for Returnal. I'm still writing a couple scripts. One for the Pistol challenge & another lore deep dive video.

[@paulbrewin6453]

Properly the best review of a game ever ,I love the game ,but hate it more .and the negative is winning .I have a life a demanding job ,I love playing games ....40 years 😍 but I'm at the stage that it's not worth my time . The frustration 😤..this week was the first time in over 20 years that my controller was thrown over the other side of the room .to the dismay of my girlfriend..I'm 52 and I was shocked that a game could make me this mad ...

[@Prismabohne]

If you use everything tool and mechanic you got from the Developer it is a easy game. Focus on 2-3 weapons for the beginning and play only them when you get it for leveling. Look for the hidden datacubes to unlock new items also feed the Monument at the start with either. The way more you die you will beat the bioms faster and faster because you know what happend and you learn step by step how to handle each enemy. The next thig is you have to be moving the whole time trough the areas if you stops and Standing around you will die. Move with the dash and use the hook to get distance between you and the enemies. When you in dash nothing can hit you and how longer you press the button you will even longer dash or jump, try it. The cursed items...i don't pick it Up because the negative effect is to bad. You have to lock at your play style whitch negative effect you can handle. It is absolute deadly when you would choose an item with a great buff an get an extra cooldown on your dash, jump or melee attacks. It is absolutely not worth it so let it there. The sword is soooo powerful an it one hits the most small enemys. And the big ones you will stun them and they show you her weak points. Customize your controll settings that was the absolutely game changer for me. Read, use and try the items there are so many powerfull things for each Situation. But you are right with the rng element that can be anoying but for the most time i get usefull items and after some runs you get the op items one by one and I had so many OP runs belive me. Finally yes it's hard and the rng sucks but if you know how to play and use every mechanic, it comes so much easier and you will have more and more fun. I played it at the beginning for one and a half month then breaks me Biom 5 and i put it in the corner for one and a half YEAR!!! Then i come back and Destroyed the game completly!!! Yesterday i beat the final Boss with No Hits. From my 170+ hours Gameplay the first 40 hours was so very hard but the the other 130 hours it's pure fun. You have to breake the cycle before the cycle breaks you. So maybe give it a second chance. And when i ready the comments i am absolutely sure that the most poeple buy the Game because it was Hyped and they never read some information bevor. For example i don't buy and play Baldurs Gate 3 because the Fight mechanic round by round ist Not my. So why should i buy it when i know i don't Like the fight? Just why it is Hyped and everybody play it? And after 20 hours i say thats a Shit game because i coldn't handle the Fights, No. I would never buy a Game only why it's hyped and not my genre.

[@denw0]

Was waiting for this!

[@Goofy476]

The true hardest enemy in returnal is trying to use the grapling over a void

[@CENmassTER86]

This is a great review Pliny

[@onehundredpercentboyband]

Awesome video once again!

[@TheSandkastenverbot]

100% agreed. Thanks for your honesty! With games like that every game critic is like "dying when the last boss has one pixel of health left transformed my life" while in reality it cost 'em 5 therapy sessions.

[@Goofy476]

I really liked returnal, and after seeing this video im really intrested in twin stick shooters now. What other housemark games would you recomend?

[@S_raB]

Start with Alienation Or Nex Machina

[@johanlandstrom1895]

Nice vid! I, however, wish we had more long AAA rogue likes like Returnal. My first playthrough I had a really hard time in each biome until I beat the third boss. It felt really stressful to play, but I quite enjoyed that. I pushed through and finally beat the game with a great feeling of accomplishment. Now, having spent a significant amount of time with the game, I decided to start over with a new save file. After dying once against the tutorial elite, I have now made it to the 5th biome in one sitting without dying. Seems like the knowledge and muscle memory I got from playing the game made a bigger difference than advanced weapon traits. I now wish there was a way to make the game harder... Can't wait to see what Housemarque does next! In the meantime I hope we get to see some "Returnal-likes" from other developers.

[@PlinyTheWelder]

Yeah there's no doubt it gets quite a bit easier. I ended up getting the platnum and in the Tower I've got into the top 1,000 with a score over 12 million. I still think, however, that the game is too slow to progress. You can eventually out skill the game. At this point I'm pretty stupidly good at this game but it was still titanically frustrating. And the story, which is really great in the Tower DLC too, still does't actually answer my questions fully. Which annoys me.

[@johanlandstrom1895]

@@PlinyTheWelder Cool, I really should give the tower more time. Only given it a few tries. I had a harder time to commit when there was no exploration and kind of samey rooms/bosses. Never really been motivated by high scores. But if the story is good it might do the trick for me, even if there is no real pay off in the end..

[@versesZero]

I absolutely loved this game when I played it on PC recently but I respect your opinions in this video. Definitely some valid points - Granted I think some of this was fixed (save system added) and I'm not sure if anything gameplay wise was changed between the PC/Console versions

[@PlinyTheWelder]

I also love the game. I ended up getting the Platinum and i bought it on steam. I actually really love the tower mode. I still think progression is really slow. Also playing with mouse and keyboard makes it so much better. I should have realized that playing a shooter with a controller automatically is like 7000 times harder for me at this point. It's so so so rare that i play any shooter with a controller.

[@SurrealFeelz]

I think this game would benefit if it was designed more like Sifu in terms of progression. Incentivize replaying levels over and over to get a better scores and then move to the next level and do the same thing for the next level. This would help get rid of skipping over levels and bosses to beat the next one. Instead, replay one biome at a time until perfected. Would take a redesign im sure but i think it would make progression less frustrating and more satisfying overall.

[@kusuriurusan6367]

Hard agree. Going through all the biome over and over again is just monotonous.

[@mamoruchiba752]

Ah yes one more thing: trophy hunting is a pain in the butt bc u gotta play every freaking level at least 15 times (and pray u don't die), sometimes even 25 times. So I let it go though I love to get the platinum. Edit: got the platinum anyway lol

[@anaximander66]

Best compliment I can pay a KZbinr: I virtually no interest in this game. I'm more interested in what my friends are getting out of it. Secondly, I really don't like long KZbin videos. You however had my undivided attention for this entire video. Excellent review!

[@PlinyTheWelder]

Hey thanks! I'm playing mass effect again now. I had honestly forgotten just how janky ME1 is. But it's still such a good game anyway

[@MadDragonify]

I disagree with some points here. Returnal does have an overpowered run. It's called the Electropylon Driver. And a full run can game 30 minutes or less. When you skip a level what you really miss are health upgrades because there is always a weapon appropriate to the area level in the starting area of every level. For example the last level always spawns a level 24 weapon next to the beginning. The RNG sucks balls for trophy hunters, but it's fine for everyone else

[@crestwood2618]

This game is incredible. The more I played it the better it became. Masterpiece!

[@kilroy987]

I thought the difficulty was just right for my speed. Had it been harder, or easier, it might have turned me off. Granted some players can go through it without dying because they are so used to hard rogue-likes. Others are more casual and have a hard time regardless. For me, it was just the right combination of uphill battle and getting good. This is the only game in recent memory that, approaching Nemesis to finally beat it, my hands were sweating and felt like claws after the fight was done.

[@Loophole23742]

Great video.

[@coolworld6655]

damn i keep hearing this about this game am i the only one who thought this game was over the top a good game only thing i had a problem with was the many times i cringed because i lost and had to start all over but like any game u have to get great at it which turned out fucking amazing at the end it was a dope ass game

[@acomaslip5212]

I think it's amazing. Lots of the negatives he mentioned I disagree with. Watching his gameplay he seems to be a fairly low skill player as well...doesn't make his opinion invalid, but it does to some degree mean your fps ability may have a positive or negative effect on your opinion of the game. Some people will like that, others will see it as a failure to market to players of all levels.

[@spirothegamer]

Late to the party, as a PC gamer, it was released about a month ago on Steam. Best review of the game ever, most important : COMING FROM A PLAYER WHO BEAT THE GAME. No one can "git gud" you back to this. Stuck on Ixion right now, I don't think I am going to continue. It's too tedious to start from the first biome again and loot all the way back to a build that can get me through the bosses. I was just discussing the price tag a few days earlier and basically was saying the same thing you said... Had this game not been "rogue lite" (A fancy term for permadeath or starting from scratch 😄) the six biomes would be over in a matter of 2 hours. They wouldn't be able to justify the price tag. I am extremely sad that I won't finish it, I think every other aspect of this game is perfection. Visuals, combat mechanics, sound design. Such a shame. I am 51 year old boomer and I won't play a game that doesn't respect my time. Congrats and my respect for beating it. Subscribing! UPDATE on June 11th, 2023. I beat the game (see returnal playilist on my channel). My opinion doesn't change, not even a tiny bit. Starting from scratch SUCKS. Other than that, the game is epic.

[@AwwwThatsMintocs]

You were born in 1972 which makes you a gen x'er...the best gen out there at present!

[@GruntOrBust]

I love all the soulsborne games, and other souls like titles and saw Returnal and thought hell yes! After multiple attempts at the second boss, I'm just not enjoying myself one bit anymore. Very redundant to just re clear the majority of the game every time. Love the graphics and gameplay mechanics so much, this is my first rogue type game and yeah, guess this genre just isn't for me. Dying after an hour long run just totally reset is just not my jam. I despise quitting a game I set out to beat, but this just isn't worth the headache for myself. Cheers to all that have beat it, my hat is off to you and your patience lmfao. My blood pressure needs a break.

[@PlinyTheWelder]

I will say this. Eventually the game levels out because you've unlocked every perk on every gun. But it just takes too long. This game shouldn't have been so slow to progress

[@natedogg8648]

agreed I’m on the last biome and I feel that I just can’t get back to the Last boss 🤦‍♂️

[@mamoruchiba752]

@@natedogg8648 the last biome is just pure hell. Not only do most of the enemies huge damage (and some even hit u with malfunctions) and shoot hundreds of projectiles, no u still have those annoying eyes and the worst of it is that sometimes arenas are not big enough and you can easily fall off. But wait there's more, if u do manage to survive a hellish room there's mostly malignant heals or even no heals. And my favorite: locking obolites and healings behind a stack of laser beams. So yeah, biome 6 is pure trash and not really fun to play. I personally would rather fight the last boss three times than going through that hell hole of a biome

[@natedogg8648]

@@mamoruchiba752 I beat the game a few months ago and once I got the right weapon it wasn’t that bad

[@mamoruchiba752]

@@natedogg8648 I hear u but with bad rng this biome kills even skilled gamers (I think I am one). I once floated after two eyes and guess what, out of nowhere (the next room that had no door that is) I got one shotted by malfunction projectiles. Didn't even have the room to escape bc left and right was nothing and those projectiles stagger pretty bad

[@billybadass7718]

I rolled credits last night. Game is satisfying af.

[@mesus3701]

Just in the last two months i finished Sifu and Demon Souls, they were hard, but i learned to master them pretty quickly but returnal was a nightmare, can't even reach to the 2nd boss, it's really pure luck, even healing in this game is based off luck which is really mental breaking after sitting so many hours and get killed and lose everything just because you decided to enter an extra room, it's total nightmare experience that depress me every time i think about it

[@babatunwal]

lmao

[@mesus3701]

@@babatunwal actually finished it 6 days later after this comment 😂

[@michaelarrowsmith3978]

Spot on review, and I really hope Housemarque see this. Loads of reviews just seem to gloss over the fact it’s unnecessarily time consuming and frustrating, or think people aren’t good enough players. I experience Groundhog Day with my job - I play video games as an escape from that (although I really liked Deathloop…). Glad I didn’t pay for this and I downloaded for ‘free’ with PS Plus or I would be reeeeeally pissed off.

[@scottd7222]

Returnal DLC ! Let's go! Survival mode and co op new tower and lore let's do this! So pumped!

[@PlinyTheWelder]

Really? Awesome. The game so so badly needs a survival mode. I'm pretty pumped about that too.

[@MrGarOSull]

This game has so much replay ability. Especially with tower of Sisyphus dlc. Once you achieve mastery something weird happens.. much like Selene, and the whole Atropus dilemma, i just keep going back for more and more and more. It's not like you master the game and become satisfied. I want to keep playing and playing and playing. I've put over 100 hours and counting into this beauty.

[@borisavramov8327]

Fully Agree. I was insanely disapointed from myself instead have fun and learn story

[@thewho2482]

This game is the hardest game ive ever played. I remember i thought i defeated the enemy only to have him respawn.

[@christophercoey7804]

Great video sir! I love the game, but your points are well made and sound. The game save situation is clearly ridiculous and needs to be fixed asap. I say fixed, I do not credit anyone with terms like re-design in this regard: I say this as a former senior games designer and producer from development. Forgetting which... I Play for parasites early game, so that the run is either dead early or great early run. I also pushed for defensive parasites and ignore many others and also spend obolites on integrity increases.and the asto figurine. The idea is to be in position early. I take malignant resins but no chests or chunks as the RNG means you don't often get malignancy with just the resins. I stop accepting resins once mid/late run. I also avoid any room that looks like it might lock if I can't see the lie of the land outside. I don't always play fast, I judge it based on my current standing on the level and sometimes let doors do the blocking. Also cheesing with the lasso thing - go with a long range weapon and cheese at times, sometimes taking out powerful enemies from miles out where they don't agro and cannot do much.. No guarantees of course, but you can get op through most of some of the levels I think, if the run is good. I also go big for the hollowseeker weapon, or if forced the carbine. I never ever do malignancy risks late game. Just some things that felt good to me. Anyway excellent video!

[@PlinyTheWelder]

I actually got the platinum which is very rare for me. Only the Doom games and Bloodborne. I really do love the game too. Now I'm more annoyed at the daily challenges. Why is it only 1 a day? It's a weird thing where it isn't the best rogue it could be because it's like a big AAA game but it isn't really a big AAA game because it's a rogue from a small dev. I hope they expand the daily challenges because that's something that could really be great. Though the ones where you can't heal are bullshit.

[@christophercoey7804]

@@PlinyTheWelder - I couldn't agree more with your vice versa point, again an excellent video/great content!

[@mamoruchiba752]

I don't know if this is new but u get pretty many ether down the line which cleans bad stuff

[@tjlambaes]

$70 is why I only got the game today. They have also added a save feature.

[@Cloud__ffvii]

Great video and very well presented! I disagree with a lot of your opinions on it though, I don’t think RNG plays such a huge factor. You can use ethers to cleanse malfunctioned chests and parasites are completely optional, depending on your play style they may or may not impact you. There are also certain weapons and artefacts that do make the game very straight forward too - leech rounds being one of them. Almost all rooms can be completely avoided too, it’s only a rare few, if you find yourself in a room which is too hot to handle just move onto the next room and come back to it later when you’re beefed up more if needed.

[@IamKyLe20]

I used to dont like Rogues, but after play games like Slay the spire, Spelunky or Returnal i finally realice the point of this kind of design and i really appreciate now. This make the relation between game-player unique (for good or bad). I remember heard Derek Yu (creator of spelunky) at some conference talking about "spiky design" and it was so interesting. I understand and share mostly of your complains, i mean, crashes in a game wich have no save points? Thats not okay. About the balance i think is fine, not perfect, but fine. Sometimes you find a parasite and think "i'll never pick up this, is pure garbage", but in the future, in other run, with other build, you find the same parasite and think "okey, maybe now im interested in this shit". The randomness could be frustrating but is there for makes you feel that you are not in control. If you dont like this kind of design is ok, but i wouldn't say thats bad design. About the story, is true that is ambiguous, and cryptic and doesn't conclude, but i really liked it. Parenting trauma, suicide, guilt... Thats not the themes you expected to see in a Sci-fi shooter game.

[@david_kingori]

There are easy mode runs, especially with electropylon driver. Great review

[@dii_ea]

Pyro caster with seeking will make the game so easy...u can easily end game from start with all buff open

[@kenethernandez6246]

Played this game for the first time this year. Beat it 2 times to get 2 different endings in 11 hours with 14 deaths only. I can't agree with a lot of the stuff said here. The game does have some flaws but I never felt like the game was unfair when I died. It was always due to something I did or didn't do. A lot of the criticisms presented here seem to be from a skill perspective which is only something subjective and not objective evidence by the fact that I do not really share the same experiences.

[@SolaireofAstoraFH]

That very first run is the same for everyone. Its supposed to be impossible because they want to show you the core mechanic of the game which is restarting. I wonder if its possible to beat it though..

[@NathanMUFCfan]

Well, they've definitely fixed the crash issue. I've played the game for 24 hours and haven't experienced one crash. They also gave us the option to save the game. I'm not sure how much they have changed the game since release. If nothing has changed in the difficulty sense, I don't think the game is luck based. You don't have to pick up any of the parasites or malignant items. You're actively hurting yourself picking a lot of those parasites up. The game is heavily skill based. Maybe that is a bad thing for a AAA game that is marketed towards a large audience, though. Strong reflexes and good movement will get you through it. The less you get hit, the more resin you will be able to pick up to increase your overall health. Making sure you pick up the Obolites that enemies drop also allows you to buy the better upgrades. It took me 12 hours and 8 deaths to complete the game once. I don't think the game is that hard, but difficulty differs for everybody. The Electropylon Driver makes the game a lot easier. When you get that weapon, you don't have to put yourself in danger anywhere near as much. I 100% agree about the lack of real ending to the story. I'm pretty underwhelmed with what I've seen after completing act 3. One thing that I don't like about the game is how RNG it is to get the rooms you need to complete the plat. I can see how bad it's going to be to get it. The game should give you a better chance of spawning the rooms you need. There are people spending 50+ hours grinding for the correct rooms. That is insane.

[@NWOslave]

i was not the deographic for this game, maybe that is why i loved it so much as I didnt have the baggage to cloud my opinion from previous roguelike games. I knew what i was getting into when i started but had fun nonetheless. so i completely disagree with all your complaints. git gud.

[@PlinyTheWelder]

I platinumed the game dude.

[@aljorudar3266]

Its not that hard got it 2 days ago and just beat it u just gotta get a good run going wuth good artifacts and parasides that revive u and give u more heath

[@zjackshot]

Honsestly the critisicism against melle attacks seems odd every enemy pretty much roars and strikes a pose first and dodging is just dodge into enemey on litterally all of them i never found them hard to dodge but they force you near a strong enemy i always presumed this was intentional

[@matjakobs8612]

This review made me subscribe to your channel. I love/ hate the game but everything you said is absolutely correct. I had all the bugs and crashes too. And I screamed a lot.

[@anmoldalal16]

This is a tough game I agree. It is enjoyable till you are getting good items. On a bad run this game is a large surface friction burn! Overall I respect this game. Must play for serious gamers.

[@S_raB]

Pliny you must REALLY hate Nolan's Batman trilogy & Inception.

[@Franku40keks]

I don't agree, I enjoyed all the spins they did on the genre. Best game I played in 2022. The only thing I didn't like was the amount of content was easy to exhaust in 100 hours. Unfortunately the PC version still has issues according to some players, fortunately I'm not one of them.

[@deathiotb]

The more I played, the luckier I got. Returnal is perfect.

[@lolicongang.4974]

The game just needs a quick save no a save just a quick save. If you need to leave save real quick and you come back just where you was.

[@PlinyTheWelder]

I believe they just added it in the most recent update. I ended up getting the platinum in this game but the lack of a quicksave made it very annoying. ALso I wish they would have expanded the daily run thing. Only being able to do it once a day is extremely stupid.

[@lolicongang.4974]

@@PlinyTheWelder Hey at least now you can save. :v I don't have a ps5 more of an xbox guy. So enjoy it.

[@stikkzttp887]

Or lose everything and restart ur save before u died to have easier time because good forbid u die.... Gone are the days of Mario and reaching level 8-1; a coin flip eh... 🧑🏾‍🦼

[@edruiz1202]

Downloaded for free. If it wasn’t for the non save feature I’d love it. I’ve best BB, demon souls and ER. Love hard games but no save? Hell no. Hopefully one day they’ll allow save.

[@gregoriogeo1941]

there's a save feature update about a year ago called suspend cycle.

[@TwinkyGlitten]

I love Returnal, but I agree entirely. The game is so painfully frustrating. Spending 40 minutes on a run just to get leveled enough with a good weapon to take on the boss only to die to some stupid elite enemy that you've already faced 3 times on the path to the boss, along with his 15 bullet hell spawning fodder friends, and shielded turrets in one area is just so incredibly frustrating. Farming Ether for a reconstructor is also frustrating. Does the exchange rate have to be such a rip off? I'd really like to beat the game without so much sluggish repetition.

[@n-zyme638]

Bro so phrik or however you spell his name, that dude killed me like 7 times, and then all of a sudden I beat him, and the proceeded to first try the next two bosses, nemesis almost got me but I beat his ass first try, some runs you get insanely lucky

[@Teja]

Great video, I agree with everything. Just beat the game couple days back.

[@S_raB]

9 minutes in all I hear is, "I don't like all the things that make this game a Rogue-like." Ummmmmmmmm........... Edit: and you do unlock permanent upgrades in Returnal - Consumables, Artifacts, Suit Upgrades (alt-fire, melee, grapnel just to name 3 that are early, all from first 2 Biomes), weapon traits & new alt-fire mods, etc. Hitting that Malformed Titanops at 13:12 is incredibly unlikely, bad RNG. That room always has a Malformed mini-boss, but I've seen it twice across hundreds of runs...so yeah just bad luck to get it that early. But death is the entire point of the game - narratively & gameplay loop - so reset and try again. Lastly, you can clear an entire Biome is 30-45 minutes easily after you realize certain weapons are tuned for certain Biomes - Carbine & Spitmaw (shotgun) are given in Biome 1 for a reason. Hollowseeker is found just before encountering your first Severed for a reason & is by far the best weapon for Ixion as its long range works great as Ixion stays far away most of the time. The game tries to help the player, but if you ignore the placement of weapons & items, IDK how to help you. Finally, the game today after many patches is much more forgiving. I played at release & RNG was not as forgiving. So, try it for yourself and remember, death is just a new beginning...not failure. And you can suspend which improved the game from 8/10 to perfect 10/10 for me. "Take it slow" -Frank Bullett One Biome at a time.

[@qwerty6789x]

this game makes RNG on Apex Legends and other BR games heaven sent.

[@JoshuaCavanagh-uk6ws]

I actually like that we are in an era where games are getting orientated to a person's disposition. Not everything is meant to be accessible to everyone imo. And some are there to test your resolve and abilities under the pressure it provides. I personally massively enjoy being on the edge with high risk high reward gameplay. Saying "you need to play 30hrs to start getting your money's worth" is a cop out. I understand the review it was done well. But I find most in the audience complaining probably just aren't meant to be playing this game. Like when people were asking for a difficulty selection in elden ring. This is what the package is (yes improvements are always to be looked at) but that's it. You do a run, you zig when you should have zagged n now you start again. Your review is touching on mechanics, timing etc a proper critique. But most people complaining are focusing on complaining about what the game is. Something that prolly just isn't for them.

[@chrislair6832]

I like you comparing the sopranos ending to the lack of. I like you comparing the sopranos ending to the lack of one here.

[@Sulaco1970]

I wish I could get a refund on Steam. I admit, I'm just a casual gamer, and a pretty bad one at that. But for me, it's just a bit of escapism. I enjoy blasting my way through a decent story. My favourite games being the Crysis Trilogy. Logically, it make sense that when you make a game, you make it for every type of gamer. Look at the Dead Space Remake. It's got impossible mode for all the hard-core gamers, but then it's got story mode. I appreciate this is gonna be the best thing since sliced bread for many a gamer, but just not for me.

[@mamoruchiba752]

I think ur main criticism is viable. The one thing that kills replayability is that u can't get OP or at least better. It would be amazing if u for example could start with your favorite weapon (u could save it in helios) but ur supposed to play it over and over again like u are a noob. I mean I beat it four times at this point bc I got perfect strategies now but with bad luck I still get wrecked by bad enemy positions and weak weapons. Story also is a huge letdown. There's no final answer and for me personally it was just fd up that it wasn't a real planet, I hate this psycho s.hit. I luckily played the game now (so no bugs or crashes) and though ur right I still would recommend it, fighting is just too great.

[@Yes-Yes1]

Best review I’ve seen of this game. I agree with everything you said here. This game had so much potential but the frustration factor simply was too much for most people. I also glitched a few times in key areas and one time I even got trapped inside a spiky rock vine on the side of one of the walls, I literally had to exit the game.

[@cun7us]

As I watch this, I'm laughing to myself because I agree with everything you say, and every compliment/complaint you make about the game is exactly how I felt. For an experienced and skilled player, it takes actually about the same time to complete as most other games, but because it's so punishing and tedious, it feels a lot longer than it should do. For whatever reason, the director chose to make some very poor design decisions that leave a bad taste in most people's mouths which is shame, because other than the constant dying to nonsense and restarting from the beginning, the game is epic. I remember, before I even played the game I saw a video of the devs commenting on a speedrun of it (can't remember the name of the video, but it's a well-known channel on KZbin). They were getting frustrated because the person was breezing through it and not dying. That made me realise that they want you to die because it's part of the "progression" and unlocks certain items and cutscenes. It put a smile on my face seeing them frustrated and not the player for once lol. In all seriousness though, it's a great game overall just held back by poor design choices. If it wasn't for those, I'd give it an easy 9/10, but as it stands it gets 7/10.

[@stevebob240]

Great video, you summed up my thoughts about it too. I really like the game and its issues aren't enough to ruin it or anything but it doesn't have the replayability of many other roguelites. We're getting the free update for it soon, I hope they can clear some things up.

[@The787200]

PREACH👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

[@david_kingori]

I get ether for beating bosses but that's after beating the game

[@aguyfromnothere]

The problem with Returnal is just that its boring. Its repetitive and boring. More than 90% of my runs have no progression. Maybe I suck but what a waste of time. Should be priced at $20.

[@philrdaly]

This game came with a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I went from loving it to damn near rage quitting and screaming this game is too f-ing hard to loving it once I really mastered the mechanics and had a real strategy. I'm so glad I played it when it had a saving mechanism because if it didn't I never would have beat it. I definitely agree with most of what you had to say and despite how much I really enjoyed this game, I find it difficult to recommend to anyone I know just because of how frustratingly difficult it was.

[@IDKbruh420]

Surprised you haven't made a video about hollow knight

[@PlinyTheWelder]

Well I'll make one about silk song if it ever freaking comes out. I love hollow knight though. Played it about 4 or 5 times. Just played it again in May on vacation on the switch

[@PlinyTheWelder]

Also I JUST started playing the tower mode in returnal. My best score is like 10 million something. I think 2,200 rank. I love it. It's fantastic

[@IDKbruh420]

@@PlinyTheWelder that's good to hear, i finished 5 bioms in returnal before finally giving up, i hate rng in video games and the game was too unforgiving even for someone like me who loves souls games and plays every game on hard or max difficulty. Btw didn't know you could get your hp that big lol, the biggest i had was less than half of yours in the video

[@PlinyTheWelder]

@@IDKbruh420 yeah heres the thing the game is just annoyingly balanced with progression. The game is pretty miserable until you unlock and level each of the weapon perks. They make such a massive difference that by the end you cannot lose. But I agree it's far too slow and I totally understand why you'd stop. It's incredibly punishing until the guns are fully leveled up

[@preferablygeneric]

"OMG THAT WAS 2 HOURS I LOST FUCK THIS GAME" Me 6 hours in a Noita god run: "haha whoops, didn't see that insta-death trap there, well whatever I got next saturday lol"

[@DamienNeverwinter]

*This game is the absolute worst bulls**t ever. It's like they have come up with stunning graphics, awesome music, the slickest gamepaly imagineable and then done every single thing possible to screw the game up and make it completely devoid of fairness or fun.*

[@luisfilgomes]

Excellent review. I can’t even pass the first boss, I’m not an excellent gamer but I’m not the worst. I believe only 10% of gamers finish this game which is pathetic. It seems that there’s an op - the electrophilon - weapon which you can access if you buy the pricier digital deluxe edition. Is this a pay to win? Have a subscription.

[@natedogg8648]

Don’t give up I was ass at first too I’m now at the last biome and it’s hard but I will get it tho

[@MissGrimm]

No, the driver drops in the game.

[@mamoruchiba752]

U gotta fully clear every room and stay in motion all the time. Even projectiles that follow u can be dodged when constantly moving around. U can do it

[@davidludwig7501]

30 hrs and i cant get past 2 biome.

[@TurboGauchiste]

Finland isn't in Scandinavia

[@PlinyTheWelder]

Yeah I actually thought they were Norwegian actually.

[@mamoruchiba752]

Wtf of course finland is in scandinavia. There's core scandinavia with norway and sweden but most europeans count denmark and finland too smh

[@damienx0x]

​@@mamoruchiba752Wrong

[@DragonZombie2000]

You've expressed into words exactly how I was feeling about the game. Thank you

[@pauldrayton3150]

I've melee killed two enemies at once quite a few times and its easy especially when hitting the dash 😁..... No crashes as yet 🙏🏾..... No game is perfect 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@WhoIsAlexElliott]

best review I've ever heard, its like therapy to me after my experience with this game loool, didn't even realise it was 30 mins

[@MarkDrummond]

This is definitely ymmv territory. Other than biome 5 I didn't find Returnal difficult at all.

[@PlinyTheWelder]

I ended up getting the Platinum. I think this may also have to do with just not being used to using a controller. The game is massively easier on pc for me which leads me to believe i just can't play shooters with a controller anymore.

[@MittyKitty]

"take damage when you reload your weapon curse". I'm sorry, what? That's absurd

[@mrdante361]

When you use the active reload. That's what he means.

[@Ebiru2387]

I couldn't agree more on the story! The dlc kinda helps put into context that the levels are a metaphor for personal trauma, but fully understanding what that trauma is, is just bullshit.

[@ronmckiernan3925]

First room first boss you showed, I can see your minimap and it shows rooms that have enemies that you went through, and you got 2 ether before fighting a single enemy, suspicious bud. It's a hard game, don't have to lie about how hard it is.

[@DNYLNY]

100%

[@user-ph1yc8cl2g]

I totally agree with all your words. In 2022, I see the game become much easier. It's good in gameplay but I don't want to open second ending, storytelling is mysterious and good until the game ends. I was hoping it shows me more than a short video with car crashing (it wasn't actually Selena, it was her mother. Who would know???) The final wasn't finished and I was very disappointed. It shouldn't be a rouglike (to save returning system they can make returning in the start of byom, not forcing players to start over) or it should be a short rouglike with breaking the game features (powerful artifacts as example) as in Isaac or in Inscryption act 1

[@chrisw5477]

Most of this review can be summed up to a skill issue. Yeah RNG is helpful, but i win the game 9/10 times i play. Those 1/10 deaths are because of my own skill.

[@3dgar2oh]

I've recently been going through this game and even with the suspend cycle "saving" system I wholeheartedly agree with you. I'm currently at the final world trying to make my way to the fifth boss. And let me tell you, as a massive lover of Soulsborne games (and currently riding the Elden Ring hype train) I have never been conflicted with a game this much before in my life. I LOVE the technical aspects (graphics, gunplay, music) but absolutely ABHORR the choices the developers decided on to make this an excruciatingly angering experience (pure RNG roguelike BS). This game clearly was not meant to be a roguelike but Sony needed to disguise this game as a 70 dollar game by artificially extending it. I've lost 3 hours of progress at times on this game and I have never been so mad in my life (justifiably so). It feels the game is not allowing me to beat it just because the developers don't want me to and it is beyond maddening. This game is pure luck, not skill based. Just imagine how frustrating it would be if Dark Souls had zero checkpoints and every fight arena was filled to the brim with pits and every boss encounter was like the Bed of Chaos. It would be this game. But yeah I really recommend for ANYONE to stay as far away as you can from this game. This game ain't it, not even for 25 dollars (which is the amount I bought it for THANKFULLY), I feel bad for people who paid full price. I know when the developers allow me to beat the final boss (whenever they feel like it that is) it will not feel earned, I will wish I should have put it down whenever I had the chance and moved on to an actual enjoyable game. But thank you for expressing my frustration I have for this game. It is clear I am not alone with this opinion. I hope Housemarque learns from this nightmare and does not repeat this BS ever again because I actually enjoy their games.

[@natedogg8648]

Yo you described how I was feeling to the t I got to the last biome and now I can’t get to the last boss again smh I uninstalled it and might pick it back up I wish I would’ve done more research on this game when I finally beat it I’m NEVER playing this game again

[@3dgar2oh]

@@natedogg8648 I finally beated the game almost two weeks ago and I still stand by what I said. It didn't feel earned. The story didn't have a satisfying conclusion, just a pretentious cryptic ending. The first thing I did after beating it was uninstall it. I'm never touching this game again.

[@natedogg8648]

@@3dgar2oh that’s exactly what I’m gonna do when I beat it oh wait I already uninstalled it 😂 I’m at the last biome tho

[@3dgar2oh]

@@natedogg8648 Lol you'll find better games

[@natedogg8648]

@@3dgar2oh I got HZD coming next week on my ps5 plus I got dying light 2 on my series s so I have plenty of games to keep me occupied

[@TactileTherapy]

If the gameplay shown is how you actually play the game then yes i can see why you have major gripes about Returnal. You're not being strategic AT ALL

[@PlinyTheWelder]

I mean I got the platinum man. I just think progression is way too slow. I literally got the platinum trophy before even upgrading any of the final gun perks.

[@PlinyTheWelder]

Also the daily challenges are a terrible missed opportunity. Once a day is assinine. The daily challenge had a chance to be a really replayable mode. But it's broken fairly often with levels without doors to exit or modifiers that make it miserable. I did like the game enough to play until I'd gotten all the trophies because the actual movement and shooting is very good. It's just the progression and build variety that's pretty mediocre.

[@TactileTherapy]

@@PlinyTheWelder I hear you.

[@seanmarkey4076]

Staying away from this. You’ve saved me time and money, thank you.

[@fjbiden3997]

The movement and shooting are the only good things about this game. I hate this game and the more I think about it the more it pisses me off. Why did I sit there and play it until the end like a mad man looking for that last sunface fragment in the last biome then beating the final boss again? Probably because in just a few seconds a new run is starting and I’m back to that moving and shooting I love so much.

[@PlinyTheWelder]

There's no getting around what a great fucking shooter it is. Only Id and Respawn are even in the same league. When it's at it's best it's so damn good. The NF ordeals are just great stuff.

[@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898]

If games are going to cost 70 bucks now, they don't only HAVE TO have impressive graphics, music, story, replayability, mechanics, and zero bugs and zero DLC (they must be complete games). They also HAVE TO be at least 50 hours of entirely new content, not 50 hours reiterating the same dialogues, sounds, assets, songs, enemies. Returnal should cost 40 at best, but there are better roguelikes for 15, so even 40 is high.

[@PlinyTheWelder]

Agreed. I truly do love the minute to minute combat but is Returnal twice the game Hades is? Is i 4 times as good as Hollow Knight? I get it that price and value aren't the same thing but price shouldn't interfere with the design.

[@abnerradu3426]

My god you sound like a pretencious prick.

[@exaltedreverse4463]

Returnal shits on every other rogue like. No other rogue like had better gameplay than returnal

[@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898]

@@exaltedreverse4463 I can think of several games that are better.

[@exaltedreverse4463]

@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898 You'll just be wasting your time since they don't, and you think it's cool to hate on retunral since your faves are inferior in every way.They ain't bud, but nice try. Someone didn't get past the first boss. Played most rogue likes, and their gameplay were garbage compared to returnal. Imagine thinking an indie dev can have better gameplay than a triple A game. It won the best action for a reason. Hades, Dead Cells, Risk of Rain, Enter the gungeon, Binding of Issac, Slayer of Spire, Hollow Knight, Cult of Lamb, Neon Abyss, Children of Morta, Sifu. Don't bother because the small, indie basic gameplay of games I've mentioned don't come close to returnals gameplay. Stop being delusional

[@jessereyes7474]

If they seem so good how come the developers and made a checkpoint they'll make it a lot easier that way you have to save the game at some point you can't be playing Non-Stop yeah let's go to sleep at some point this is so hard to put a checkpoint in the game if they're going to do this with every single game they should not even make them more games anymore like this anyways I don't like games like this is what they do they kind of want to checkpoint that's so stupid there's no developers are stupid they probably didn't speak English

[@ethanturner4132]

Just looking at your game play, it seems more like a skill issue. Just saying.

[@Rucarlos]

Returnal being a 10 or -50, depending on your RNG, is the best way to describe it

[@MechanicWolf85]

As I got older my states for games have gone from fast paced twitch shooters, to slow mechanical engaging games This game looks and sounds like an awful experience, and this is coming from someone ho loves bloodborne and Monster Hunter

[@LaRRinco]

Videogames are played to have fun. This game is amazing, but the system is horrible and it make it NOT enjoyable.

[@Ebiru2387]

13:30 bro, you barely bothered to dodge. Yes those encounters suck, but that wasn't the games fault there. Outrun the red projectiles and close the gap to melee and stun. Then unload on the weak spot. Rinse and repeat.

[@faxanadufire9669]

I honestly got about halfway and stopped I was getting so tired of all the points u brought up... this game wld hv worked so much better as maybe a Sci fi metroidvania or even mission based... added some light rpg mechanics...they cld hv kept all the weapons and setting, even the parasites.. this wld hv allowed them to focus so much more on the story beats and level design, instead of leaving everything up to procedural gen .. wasted opportunity if u ask me.. glad I waited to buy this on sale

[@medeirosdez]

“I hate easy games”… “I’m the ‘baddest’ ass gamer eveeeeeer”… You lost me there. Videos like this shouldn’t be about you and your personal tastes. Why would they matter to people who are on the other side of the planet watching you? These videos should seek to impartially analise the game so as to aid the viewer in forming his/her own opinion. Besides, the video sounded rather boastful.