Returnal - on PC now - The Bear and Badger

b0r1s

DrewMerson wrote:

b0r1s wrote:

Day One - holiday booked.

Minnesänger wrote:

Boris show everyone in here up. Priorities straight.

I can’t claim to have booked time off for it, but the game being pushed back means it’s now being released just before I already had a week off work booked.

Tbh I need to take holiday and this was as good a reason as any other.

acemuzzy

JonB wrote:

Yes, I've got it for review and it's fine to talk first impressions, apparently.

First impressions are very good.

Feels like Metroid by way of Alien/Prometheus at first. A bit of Hades in the structure, and lots of Roguelike upgrades and items. But level design is more intricate, a blend of procedural and crafted arenas, and with all the slickness and charging around, battles can end up feeling more like 2016 Doom.

Fuck you Jon. No need for this level of enthusiasm.

drumbeg

davyK wrote:

Funkstain wrote:

Yeah inflation really is a weird thing, which we find difficult to wrap our heads around

tech was more expensive then too. You were buying a cartridge with an expensive ROM chip in it. You even got a manual. Remember them?

Feels like you are just buying the license to use the game these days.

Used to love the manuals. Would read them on the way home on the bus after spending my hard earned tuppeny bits.

JonB

acemuzzy wrote:

Fuck you Jon. No need for this level of enthusiasm.

Only early impressions, of course. Who knows, it might go to shit later?

Yossarian

This does sound good, to be fair, Housemarque’s games usually do. Not so keen on the horror elements, but outside of that, it seems right up my alley. What I’ve seen of it puts me in mind of Gunvalkyrie, which I loved back in the day, despite the blisters it gave me.

Bob

DrewMerson wrote:

Minnesänger wrote:

Anyone excited?

I was checking the ‘coming soon’ section on my PS5 every day until the day it was possible to preorder. In theory I’m all aboard the hype-train, but I actually stopped watching any videos about the same time. I’ve seen links to videos like “7 things you need to know,” or, “5 questions about the story answered,” and I think no, I don’t need to know, I don’t even want to know, I’ll experience it when I play it. I don’t want to have seen a bunch of the enemies already, I want to be surprised by them shortly before my shit reactions and dyspraxic thumbs mean I get torn to shreds and have to start over. Choo choo.

to be fair even the preview is spoiler-tastic so I should avoid anything else. Or at least revealed information I'd have rather have found out for myself as part of the experience.

acemuzzy

JonB wrote:

acemuzzy wrote:

Fuck you Jon. No need for this level of enthusiasm.

Only early impressions, of course. Who knows, it might go to shit later?

That's better. Thank you.

Moot_Geeza

I have offered to buy this at launch for our PS5's y'know.

Eric

Yossarian wrote:

What I’ve seen of it puts me in mind of Gunvalkyrie, which I loved back in the day, despite the blisters it gave me.

I thought exactly the same Yoss! God that was tough.

drumbeg

JonB wrote:

Yes, I've got it for review and it's fine to talk first impressions, apparently. First impressions are very good. Feels like Metroid by way of Alien/Prometheus at first. A bit of Hades in the structure, and lots of Roguelike upgrades and items. But level design is more intricate, a blend of procedural and crafted arenas, and with all the slickness and charging around, battles can end up feeling more like 2016 Doom.

Looking forward to more impressions.

Everything looks really pretty in this, but the overall art style of the stuff I've seen leaves me cold. Can't tell if I'm going to like the gameplay at all. Just waiting for confirmation it doesn't play like Control.

JonB

Depends what you mean by like Control. The basics of running around shooting things are similar, but in other ways not so much.

yourfavouriteuncle

I’ve just ordered this and the next resi too!

regmcfly

Just FYI the game collection and shopto are doing it for £65.

Absolute bargain.

Thankfully I've bought Nier so it will distract me from the Housemarque goodness for a while.

Blocks100

drumbeg wrote:

Everything looks really pretty in this, but the overall art style of the stuff I've seen leaves me cold.

This. Perhaps I need to watch more vids, but there is something off about the enemy design. Maybe when it's all shifting around at 60fps at 4K on a big screen everything will look fine and dandy, but difficult to put my finger on it, there's something missing in the critter department.

Minnesänger

It is now ONE WEEK until PEW PEW.

Will Boris decide the game is so good that his holiday should become a permanent thing?
What screenshots and vids will DrewMerson be sharing when he finally gets his hands on this?
What else can I get syph to impulse buy?
Will JonB, as a games journalist, ever be able to complete it?
Will or won't Curtis send random 3am messages on Discord about how much he loves the game?
Will Bob
Enjoy
The game or
Will he hate
it?

All these questions answered in the FUTURE. And the comments.

JonB

Fortunately, I've got a longer deadline on this one, so I don't have to finish it within a week.

I did just finally finish the second area though. And even managed the boss first time by the skin of my teeth.

It's tough, but I really can't fault it so far. It's doing everything I'd hoped it would.

Minnesänger

Edit:

Seems to be confirmed now as 60FPS, 4K, RT on.

Bob

JonB wrote:

Fortunately, I've got a longer deadline on this one, so I don't have to finish it within a week.

I did just finally finish the second area though. And even managed the boss first time by the skin of my teeth.

It's tough, but I really can't fault it so far. It's doing everything I'd hoped it would.

Any thoughts on enemy design? Apparently crucial to enjoyment round here

JonB

Tentacles. Lots of tentacles.

Syph79

Minnesänger wrote:

It is now ONE WEEK until PEW PEW.

Will Boris decide the game is so good that his holiday should become a permanent thing?
What screenshots and vids will DrewMerson be sharing when he finally gets his hands on this?
What else can I get syph to impulse buy?
Will JonB, as a games journalist, ever be able to complete it?
Will or won't Curtis send random 3am messages on Discord about how much he loves the game?
Will Bob
Enjoy
The game or
Will he hate
it?

All these questions answered in the FUTURE. And the comments.

I’ve got this and Resi 8 now over the next few weeks. I would’ve bought Deathloop too, but that got delayed.

I’d say likelihood of influenced impulse buys is low, but you never know!

Syph79

JonB wrote:

Tentacles. Lots of tentacles.

I get the Edge of Tomorrow vibes from some of them, which is guess fits into the dying and returning vibe.

Minnesänger

Updated OP to include fact-sheet bullet points re. Specs, Platform Gimmicks and Enemy Design.

Minnesänger

Syph79 wrote:

I’ve got this and Resi 8 now over the next few weeks. I would’ve bought Deathloop too, but that got delayed. I’d say likelihood of influenced impulse buys is low, but you never know!

Yar - the two month period from last month to end of May will see Monster Hunter, NieR: Replicant, Returnal, Mass Effect, Resi 8 and SMT 3: Nocturne HD come out. That's a lot of very chunky games in a short time and, like you, I'd have stuck Deathloop in there too. Gonna have to skip Mass Effect and SMT for now - just won't have time to play them.

However, I will keep an eye out for things to tempt you with. Challenge accepted.

mistercrayon

Pokemon snap too.

Minnesänger

mistercrayon wrote:

Pokemon snap too.

That came out on Steam least year.

drumbeg

JonB wrote:

Depends what you mean by like Control. The basics of running around shooting things are similar, but in other ways not so much.

Mostly the combat. Keeping bullet sponge enemies at a distance and dashing around. Does Returnal have a bullet-hell vibe going on?

b0r1s

I'm pretty sure it's Houses Marque.

JonB

drumbeg wrote:

JonB wrote:

Depends what you mean by like Control. The basics of running around shooting things are similar, but in other ways not so much.

Mostly the combat. Keeping bullet sponge enemies at a distance and dashing around. Does Returnal have a bullet-hell vibe going on?

Some of that, yeah. It also has melee and dash dodging and charging around like a loon. So you can stay at a distance popping out from behind cover, or you can outpace everything while strafe firing and hitting quick reloads, and that's obviously more fun.

b0r1s

Out of interest can you talk about the scenery collision. Can you get stuck or go into an unintended animation loop due to hitting something? With control and the amount of stuff in the environment you could start jumping or climbing over stuff inadvertently in the middle of a firefight.

b0r1s

Download is ready 33 gigs isn’t too bad for a next gen game.

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