However, Housemarque appears to have conceded in one area. The team at Housemarque clearly had a vision of what they wanted their game to be. However, this boldness can also be deemed refreshing. While there is no doubt that Selene herself would be feeling overwhelmed and resentful of her ongoing battles on Atropos, it is quite another for gamers to feel this same level of anxiety and frustration. These are some bold tactics by the Returnal team. From here on in, Louden says Returnal becomes less about skill and more “ mysterious and psychological.”
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However, despite seemingly living her life to the full and being free of the loop, Selene wakes up once more on Atropos next to her wrecked ship. After defeating Nemesis, players are then subjected to an unexpected plot twist, that (spoiler alert) sees Selene finally making it back to planet Earth where she grows old and dies. Thankfully, Returnal does actually get a bit easier once players have passed the halfway point. They're sort of reliving Selene's story, without knowing it, in public." If Returnal was easier and (Selene) was always talking about how she dies all the time, it wouldn't really connect with the story that we're telling.” Haveri also feels that players are connecting with Selene, even if they don’t actually realize it, and explained, “ When you get onto forums and Reddits, there's a lot of players that have also expressed their frustrations.
the player into the same emotional space as Selene.” Louden told EDGE, “ We are very aware the game is hard. Speaking to game-centric magazine EDGE, Returnal’s director Harry Krueger, Housemarque’s (the studio behind Returnal) marketing director Mikale Haveri and Returnal’s narrative director Greg Louden revealed that the challenge “. However, despite the looping mechanic serving as a key source of frustration for players, this was a deliberate move by Returnal’s developers. While many games use this time-loop mechanic (and to great applaud from both critics and fans), Returnal’s difficulty level caused many to give up on their journey. Related: How Many Biomes Returnal Has (& What They Are)
It is then ultimately revealed that Selene is stuck in some sort of time loop, and with every death she is sent back to the crash site, having to use her memories of the previous loops to progress further through Returnal’s many biomes. As she ventures on through this hostile planet, however, she comes across a corpse which she identifies as herself. Selene’s ship is heavily damaged in the crash, meaning her only option is to continue on foot to find the source of White Shadow. Selene dubs this signal “White Shadow.” Unfortunately for Selene, she is forced to crash land on the planet after a projectile strikes her ship. The game starts with ASTRA Corporation explorer Selene Vassos investigating a strange signal coming from an unexplored planet named Atropos. However, the game is notorious for its high level of difficulty, causing Returnal to fall off people’s radars in recent months.Īlthough its gameplay is challenging, Returnal's concept is fairly straight forward.
Returnal released in April as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, and received favorable reviews from critics. Usually, daily challenges reward five Ethers.A recent interview, director of Returnal - Harry Krueger - explained why the game is so hard. While players can compete with other scouts as part of this, simply surviving to the end and clearing the biome is enough to get players a huge amount of Ether. Players will see Ether in its purple light, but remember that both parasites and evil elements share this same color.Every day, Returnal players are given a challenge where they have to clear a particular biome under certain conditions. Finally, Ether can be sold by Obolites and can be used to launch new products.While it's not the fastest way, simply checking every biome while playing a game is a great way to find Ether. Ether can be used to clean up violence on an object, allow it to be taken away without detecting Suit malfunction, and can be used to charge Replicators to give players extra life. However, because of its widespread use, it may be worth the effort.Ether is one of the many currencies in Returnal, and with it, players can do a lot of things.
As a result, players can plow Ether and end up with a huge pile, although it will take some time. While all of the player's Obolites will disappear whenever they die and start a new cycle, Ether remains whatever may be. Unlocking some upgrades like Atropian Blade or Icarian Grapnel gives players a lasting boost to their character, so they are very important. In the Returnal, there are few things that last forever, so players are more likely to stick to those things.