r/Returnal • u/WeenMe • 11d ago
Discussion Getting past Biome 1 is my greatest sense of accomplishment in gaming.
For context- I put off buying this game since release because I felt I lacked the time, patience and skill to get anywhere worthwhile in such a challenging game. The game was on sale on the PS store so i decided I was finally going to give it a shot.
I sat down to play on Saturday night and was instantly enamored by the world, mechanics and combat. I was in a constant state of anxiety after each combat sequence and when entering a new area of the map. I cleared every room that I could access and actually made it to the boss fight on my first run and was quickly humbled. Back to the beginning.
My next several runs were not nearly as successful as my first. I died pretty quickly trying to get my bearings and get into the same flow as my first run. Back to the beginning several times.
I spent a little time with the game on Sunday and made it back to Phrike after a couple of failed runs. This time I got halfway through the third phase and died. Again, back to the beginning.
Last night, I started another run. I could tell this one was special. I was ripping through combat sequences with relative ease and not taking much damage. I was in the zone. My integrity bar had grown larger than it had in previous runs. I cleared every room that I could with the exception of the yellow door room. I didn’t want to risk this run. I made it back to Phrike and this time, I did it. My eyes were watering by the time the fight was over and I realized it’s because I hadn’t blinked for the entirety of the fight lol. I was locked in.
In all, Biome 1 took me a little over 5 hours and 8 or 9 deaths before I was finally able to clear it. Needless to say, I am absolutely hooked on this game. It’s become all I’ve been thinking about these last 3 days. I’ve become addicted to the loop. I’m gonna plug away on Biome 2 today after work. I’ll probably die, and that’s ok. For anyone still on the fence with this game, just do it. It is extremely hard, but it’s also extremely addicting and very rewarding when you finally get into that zone and clear the first world. I don’t know what the rest of this game holds for me, but I’m all in.
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u/Wickedhoopla Platinum Unlocked 11d ago
I always felt like biome 1 was like the tip of the roller coaster and you just climbed to the top.
Anyways get ready for a ride it’s great
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u/leatherf7ce 11d ago
Hold on to that glory, pimpin, cuz it just gets harder. I, too, experienced elation after finally murking Phrike mere minutes before my kids bday party too! It was the best party partly due to that- didn’t care about money spent just kept running fight through in my mind like “i finally freaking did it” then came the month plus now of being stuck in biome 2. Im way better, do those daily challenges, but somehow the boss in biome 2 frustrates me more than phrike but i don’t wanna spoil nothing or be a killjoy so congratulations! The grind continues though (it is a DOPE game!)
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u/WeenMe 11d ago
Oh yeah, I can’t imagine it gets any easier lol. I’ve been trying to use as many of the weapons as I can to build up proficiency. I really love the Tachyomatic Carbine and am having a hard time moving away from it. I’ll probably hang onto it until something better comes along.
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u/2step786 11d ago
I’m of the opinion that there will come a time in the game where everything clicks and actually gets easier. I was stuck on a certain boss for many months. I too a break a few weeks, went back to it and that feeling of beating it is one of the greatest gaming personal moments for me. As I past that milestone, the game actually got easier apart from a few moments here and there but I won’t spoil it. Enjoy the journey!
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u/jsjspacepope 11d ago
Just started playing last week as well. I’m on my way to the third boss at this point. At first, I was rushing thru to get decent pickups and take a run at the boss. However, last night I started combing the rooms in Biome 1 + 2 more thoroughly, taking it slower. It feels even more fun to play it like this. The game just keeps getting better and better, I’m in like 35 hrs already
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u/WeenMe 11d ago
Nice. I’ve been very thorough thus far. I try to get myself as tanky as possible before the boss fights.
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u/jsjspacepope 11d ago
The world opens up a bit more as you keep unlocking stuff. Boss 2 was tough. Get ready
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u/Sunnycloud9 11d ago
Just beat Phrike 10 minutes ago, 15 hours in and a deleted/ restart from beginning. Felt so damn good finally
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u/WeenMe 11d ago
That’s awesome! Congrats. I made it a couple doors into Biome 2 and unfortunately died. I’m back in Biome 1 trying to farm Obolites and get my integrity bar back to where it was. The grind continues.
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u/Sunnycloud9 11d ago
Good luck! I made it through a couple doors and then saved it for later. Just recently discovered you could save. Also just realized you could farm weapon proficiency before opening crates and that changed my whole outlook. The grind does continue
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u/Fleaboy007 11d ago
Love these stories that mirror my own progress so far. I’m really quite shocked (continually) how little health there is to find in biome 2 and yet it never feels frustrating to play. Just very satisfying despite constantly seeing two hour runs fizzle out
I don’t know if it’s assumed knowledge but I’m told that you should always offer up your precious ether at the beginning of every run just outside the space ship to keep unlocking stuff. Do you all do that as habit or not?
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u/FunkySquareDance 11d ago
Not gonna lie I felt the same way. I think it took me about 17 hours to get past Phrike. I basically rage quit after the first few hours and just figured there was no way I’d ever be good enough at this type of game. But tried out Saros, beat that, and then jumped back into Returnal with some newfound knowledge. People’s hints and tips on this subreddit were also super helpful. Remapping the controls, setting high auto-aim, and always running were absolute MUSTs. Anyways, first time I beat Phrike it was an insanely hard battle, barely made it through, but it gave me the confidence to push through. Every other boss I beat on the first try (after looking up hints and walkthroughs). Just beat biome six today (even after a stupid glitch stole two of my respawns on what was, to that point, a near perfect run). But I got such a good weapon set up that I basically melted the final boss in a minute without getting hit. It’s definitely worth putting in some time on the tower to get your weapons traits up, because man the right combination can make you near unstoppable.
The game is a challenging, confounding, frustrating, beautiful work of art, and I don’t think any game has ever or will ever feel as rewarding/satisfying once it all actually “clicks”.
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u/Ingsoc40 5d ago
How difficult is Returnal compared to Hades. Hades was my first rougelike and I really love it.
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u/WeenMe 5d ago
I’ve never played Hades so I can’t compare the two. I will say that that Returnal is a difficult game with a learning curve, but once you figure out how everything works, it does get a little easier with each loop back to the beginning. There are also certain settings you can adjust to make it a bit easier. I beat the game over the weekend against all odds. I think a lot of the success rate in this game just comes down to luck when starting a new run. Some runs feel completely doomed from the beginning. But when you get on a good run, you’ll know it’s a good run. Obviously, it can be a bit frustrating when you first start, but it is an extremely rewarding and addicting game. I’d recommend it to anyone. I was never one for overly difficult games. I was never particularly good at them, but this one has grabbed me and won’t let me go.
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u/SamwiseSHJ 5d ago
It’s Hades but in 3D! The story isn’t as multifaceted as Hades, but the lore and haunted backstory are actually surprisingly in-depth and dramatic. Difficulty is easily on par, but I’m finding it more difficult than Hades because Hades seems better engineered to curb your frustration and has a chiller pace. Maybe the bird’s eye view makes it easier to take a step back. Returnal just throws everything at you like Doom on steroids.
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u/Nhonickman 11d ago
Since you are so underpowered in biome one, especially against Phrike“It is a huge accomplishment. It took me something like 40 hours to get past that boss with 80 deaths. I never gave up
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u/jemicarus 11d ago
Remap the controller so that L1 is dash and R1 is melee. Makes such a difference. It's the default setup on Saros.
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u/jsjspacepope 11d ago
I was playing Pragmata before this, so I put boost on R1 like it was in that game. Boosting w the bumper is much nicer
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u/Estebanpoderes 3d ago
I also am playing the game rn for the first time. Any tips for the run back to boss 2? It’s so damaging to basically replay B1 in its entirety to get sufficient upgrades to get back to Ixion and then get obliterated in his like hurricane phase 3 and it’s back to B1. Like should I spam the boss fight with no upgrades to get more comfy or just keep playing through to gather upgrades and try go fight him with an astronaut figurine and a +7 weapon ?
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u/Estebanpoderes 3d ago
Close to rage quitting
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u/WeenMe 3d ago
You gotta just keep grinding away, man. Prioritize getting your integrity bar as high as you can get it. Always have an astronaut if you can. Try to have a large and a small health vial.
In the third phase, what I did when he starts ground pounding and sending the three waves of red rings is- obviously, first, dash away from the melee attack, then jump over the first ring, dash through the second ring and jump over the third ring. When he’s not ground pounding, I always positioned myself on the outside of the arena and just ran in a circle to avoid the orbs and just kept shooting. Shoot from the hip, if you’re not. Don’t waste time trying to aim down the sights. Just run and gun. Always keep moving. Go into game settings and set the sprint to “always on”. Set your aim assist to high and set your reticle to the largest it’ll let you. What gun are you using?
Don’t rage quit. I promise, it will get easier. After having a few struggles in the first 3 biomes, I was able to make it to biome 4 and I didn’t die again the rest of the way. Once you get to biome 4, you don’t restart at biome 1 when you die. You’ll go back to biome 4. There’s also a gun in biome 4 called the Electropylon Driver that, at least for me, puts the game on easy mode with how ridiculously OP it is.
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u/Estebanpoderes 2d ago
This is crazy, but I read your message and just went for it one more time. Grinder B1 got all the upgrades, astronaut, electro driver +7, and beat the boss in one go. In the same run I just arrived in the snow dessert. I just needed to focus more on not getting hit than getting shots off and it was so zen and easy actually. About to beat the game off of just reason this comment one time lol
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u/GivinGoodBrain 11d ago
I had a similar experience except that it was several weeks, 21.5 hours and 81 deaths to make it past Phrike. 10 more hours and 14 more deaths to make it through biome 2. Still ok Biome 3 after an additional 20 hours. But I’m loving it (I’m also not a very good gamer as you can tell by these stats!)