GAMEPLAY SPOILERS. This video shows footage of all the biomes in the game as well as some bosses. No story spoilers, aside from some images already shown by Housemarque. If you want to go in completely blind, wait till you play the game before watching the video ;)
It's a PERFECT game. I've never had something meet and then exceed my expectations to such a degree. I hate hard games, but Returnal just clicks with me - I beat the main story in 10 deaths and am currently sitting at 21 deaths after getting the Platinum. Returnal is a 10/10, hell it's an 11/10.
This game honestly looks so fun. I never was a fan of games where, if you die, you lose a lot of progress. However, I love the idea of gaining more storywise when you die, even if you lose everything. I could definitely see myself getting scared of dying yet excited to see an addition to the story, whereas I would probably shit myself 20 times over of frustration if I would die for no reason.
You nailed it! You are in fact terrified of dying in this game haha! But the character actually acknowledges the fact that she's back to square one. Every time you die, story progresses in some ways. And the couple of permanent stuff you get along the way still makes each run worthwhile. This game is so freaking good. Just talking about makes me want to go back to it haha!
@@endster1122 Yes man! It's a good pick for you then :) Also, when you start playing, come hang out in the spoiler section of the Discord and share scary moments and darkest secrets you found. It's for upcoming videos ;)
If I may chip in regarding this difficulty debate... Mark Brown voiced my opinion wonderfully in one of his later videos (although you can see how his take on the debate changed over the years as he took more interest in accessibility). The problem with the "If the game were easier it wouldn't be what it is" argument is that it assumes the game is the same level of difficult of every player. Which, obviously, it isn't, because different players have different skill levels. Usually the people defending the one punishing difficulty are the ones who happen to be on the ideal skill level for it to work while the people calling for easier ones are those with lower skill leves for whom the game just... well, sucks. The difficulty doesn't do what it should at all because if you can't overcome the challenge there's no gratification. The argument "if it's not your type of game, don't play it" is also kinda wonky, even if not used in the classic toxic gatekeeping way. On one hand, sure, I'm not gonna go play RTSs and complain there's too little shooting, but on the other hand, players might want to play the game to experience the atmosphere, story, world design... There are other things to want from a game than just its gameplay. For such players, difficulty options are very welcome because they allow them to do just that. I have multiple friend who would LOVE to play Bloodborne for it's lovecraftian atmosphere but are simply unable. The difficulty settings obviously need to be well calibrated, but it can be done. Hades' god mode is a shining example of that, that game is literally based on you dying countless times but this mode makes it easier without breaking it. A similar smart solution could be done for basically any game like this. Of course, that's not saying it must be. It's ultimately to the creators and the vision they want to enforce.
That's a very fair and well articulated argument :) Hard games do create this gatekeeping phenomenon where people who are not very good at games (or if we go even further, people with disabilities) cannot enjoy a game. Now, the real question is how to implement difficulty settings without destroying the experience. Because for instance, if you give difficulty options for Returnal, some people would put it on easy automatically, not even try the "harder mode" and in the end, the game would just not nearly be as good, as in-depth and as long. Like in Persona 5 for instance, if you put it in safe mode the combat makes no sense and the economy is broken. So if I were to review it that way, I would say that its systems are barebones, which is just false. And that's something some developers don't want to have to deal with. They prefer having one experience for one audience, people who are good at games. I do believe everyone should be able to play every game though. Like Bloodborne I can easily imagine an easy mode that doesn't break the game and its systems. Returnal is much much more complex in my opinion. Personally, I don't know how I would do it without making the game just... Bad for the player. If you are familiar with the game, I'd be really curious to hear some of your ideas :) It's fun to have conversations like that.
@@MichaelFromTheAttic ah, I see I edited that out! I haven't played Returnal (unfortunately - it sounds like lots of fun :) ) since basically everyone in my country and their mother are still waiting for their PS5s. So I can't address it specifically and if you say it's a more complex issue than let's say Bloodborne (where I have first hand experience and yeah, I can imagine some fairly simple solutions) than I simply trust you on that :) although I wonder, is there a reason why a Hades-like god mode (get a little damage resistance for every death) wouldn't work? 🤨☺️ Also, about people choosing the easy difficulty from the getfi... I understand how that might be frustrating to developers ofc. In an ideal world, all difficulties would be perfectly communicated to the player and picked responsibly by them. I see that's not always the case. I still feel like it should be mainly players' responsibility to choose the right difficulty for themselves. As in, "Well if you could switch to an easy mode in the middle of DS bossfight the experience would be ruined," well, yeah, it would be, by yourself, very concsiously. That's sounds like a problem of the player, not the game. I feel similar about people playing on easy mode when harder difficulties would have suited them better 🤔
@@pabaa13 This one is gonna be long haha! :) In the case of Returnal, I think that no matter what can be done (damage boost and whatnot), players should experience at least 20 deaths, no matter their skill level. Because that's the closest to what the devs want and to what the story demands. But the thing with Returnal is that I'm pretty sure that people's issues mainly has something to do with going back to square one when they die. Because the combat themselves, are not that hard. Not NEARLY has hard as Bloodborne for instance. So the real difficulty setting is actually determined by people's patience. Which is why I think a lot of people's complaints with the "difficulty" of the game is mainly a patience thing. If you are not used to dying in games, this will be infuriating. Therefore, adding difficulty settings in Returnal is, like I said, complex. A small damage boost? Why not. That doesn't break the gameplay loop. AS LONG as it's possible to die. Because even right now, the game throws at the player some overpowered enemies so that you can experience some story stuff that happens when the cycle restarts. But what most people really want, from what I've seen, is actually checkpoints. But THAT would break the gameplay. The best solution I think would be to have two modes : Normal (which is what we have right now) and Adaptive Difficulty (like in Resident Evil 4). Where the player would still die, but the game would adapt itself between runs by giving the player some damage boosts, health boosts and so on. Then, the game would step into RogueLITE territory, but the experience would be not too far from the devs intentions in my opinion. But if the player gets better, difficulty starts going up again. So on and so forth. I do think that this is the best solution in Returnal's case :)
@@MichaelFromTheAttic a traditional check point system or traditional easy mode would definitely break this game, but there are a lot of other approaches. Hades god mode, Pathologic’s granular difficulty sliders with a STRONG disclaimer about the intended experience, an AI difficulty director that self corrects, all those things could be pretty easily implemented in this game. That and stronger accessibility functions would definitely have helped. When a game is so difficult that people aren’t able to finish, they simply aren’t getting the intended experience. Easy isn’t the same for everyone, so difficulty needs to be at least slightly flexible. I think it is on developers to at least try to implement some of these functions. If they take a swing and a miss, that’s much more understandable to me than if they don’t try at all. Tiny indie studios are constantly innovating in this area on shoestring budgets, so big games should be too.
Thank you! We'll get there eventually, I have faith in this community :) By the way I have a brand new video that came out recently, I'm curious to know what you think of the new things I added to the "Attic Formula" - yep, I gave it a name haha!
I love this game and just beat it and oddly, Boss 1 was the hardest in the game. I would love to try it as a psvr title or at least 3d, that would be insane!
Love that game to death as well! You're not the first to say that the first boss was the toughest. Bosses overall in the game are not that tough in my opinion. The only one that took me more than one try was the second (which took me two tries). Aside from that, the real challenge lies in actually getting to the boss room haha! Thanks for watching the video by the way, hope you enjoyed :)
@@MichaelFromTheAttic sure did buddy.. I will never forget the kindness you showed me when i was down so im always on the lookout for your content! Keep 'em coming
GAMEPLAY SPOILERS. This video shows footage of all the biomes in the game as well as some bosses. No story spoilers, aside from some images already shown by Housemarque. If you want to go in completely blind, wait till you play the game before watching the video ;)
Great video as always! So exited for what’s coming next with the channel as well!
Currently binging all your videos. Great analysis!
Thank you so much 🙏 That means a whole lot
It's a PERFECT game. I've never had something meet and then exceed my expectations to such a degree.
I hate hard games, but Returnal just clicks with me - I beat the main story in 10 deaths and am currently sitting at 21 deaths after getting the Platinum. Returnal is a 10/10, hell it's an 11/10.
SOOOOO UNDERRATED!!!!!!!!!
This game honestly looks so fun. I never was a fan of games where, if you die, you lose a lot of progress. However, I love the idea of gaining more storywise when you die, even if you lose everything. I could definitely see myself getting scared of dying yet excited to see an addition to the story, whereas I would probably shit myself 20 times over of frustration if I would die for no reason.
You nailed it! You are in fact terrified of dying in this game haha! But the character actually acknowledges the fact that she's back to square one. Every time you die, story progresses in some ways. And the couple of permanent stuff you get along the way still makes each run worthwhile. This game is so freaking good. Just talking about makes me want to go back to it haha!
@@MichaelFromTheAttic I'm wondering... should I get this game or get Resident Evil Village when it comes out?
@@endster1122 Well it really really depends on what you're looking for to be honest 😬 Sci-Fi Roguelike vs. Action Survival Horror
@@MichaelFromTheAttic I've been really into horror games recently so I'll probably get Village 😁
@@endster1122 Yes man! It's a good pick for you then :) Also, when you start playing, come hang out in the spoiler section of the Discord and share scary moments and darkest secrets you found. It's for upcoming videos ;)
If I may chip in regarding this difficulty debate...
Mark Brown voiced my opinion wonderfully in one of his later videos (although you can see how his take on the debate changed over the years as he took more interest in accessibility).
The problem with the "If the game were easier it wouldn't be what it is" argument is that it assumes the game is the same level of difficult of every player. Which, obviously, it isn't, because different players have different skill levels. Usually the people defending the one punishing difficulty are the ones who happen to be on the ideal skill level for it to work while the people calling for easier ones are those with lower skill leves for whom the game just... well, sucks. The difficulty doesn't do what it should at all because if you can't overcome the challenge there's no gratification.
The argument "if it's not your type of game, don't play it" is also kinda wonky, even if not used in the classic toxic gatekeeping way. On one hand, sure, I'm not gonna go play RTSs and complain there's too little shooting, but on the other hand, players might want to play the game to experience the atmosphere, story, world design... There are other things to want from a game than just its gameplay. For such players, difficulty options are very welcome because they allow them to do just that. I have multiple friend who would LOVE to play Bloodborne for it's lovecraftian atmosphere but are simply unable.
The difficulty settings obviously need to be well calibrated, but it can be done. Hades' god mode is a shining example of that, that game is literally based on you dying countless times but this mode makes it easier without breaking it. A similar smart solution could be done for basically any game like this.
Of course, that's not saying it must be. It's ultimately to the creators and the vision they want to enforce.
That's a very fair and well articulated argument :) Hard games do create this gatekeeping phenomenon where people who are not very good at games (or if we go even further, people with disabilities) cannot enjoy a game.
Now, the real question is how to implement difficulty settings without destroying the experience. Because for instance, if you give difficulty options for Returnal, some people would put it on easy automatically, not even try the "harder mode" and in the end, the game would just not nearly be as good, as in-depth and as long. Like in Persona 5 for instance, if you put it in safe mode the combat makes no sense and the economy is broken. So if I were to review it that way, I would say that its systems are barebones, which is just false. And that's something some developers don't want to have to deal with. They prefer having one experience for one audience, people who are good at games.
I do believe everyone should be able to play every game though. Like Bloodborne I can easily imagine an easy mode that doesn't break the game and its systems. Returnal is much much more complex in my opinion. Personally, I don't know how I would do it without making the game just... Bad for the player. If you are familiar with the game, I'd be really curious to hear some of your ideas :) It's fun to have conversations like that.
@@MichaelFromTheAttic ah, I see I edited that out! I haven't played Returnal (unfortunately - it sounds like lots of fun :) ) since basically everyone in my country and their mother are still waiting for their PS5s. So I can't address it specifically and if you say it's a more complex issue than let's say Bloodborne (where I have first hand experience and yeah, I can imagine some fairly simple solutions) than I simply trust you on that :) although I wonder, is there a reason why a Hades-like god mode (get a little damage resistance for every death) wouldn't work? 🤨☺️
Also, about people choosing the easy difficulty from the getfi... I understand how that might be frustrating to developers ofc. In an ideal world, all difficulties would be perfectly communicated to the player and picked responsibly by them. I see that's not always the case. I still feel like it should be mainly players' responsibility to choose the right difficulty for themselves. As in, "Well if you could switch to an easy mode in the middle of DS bossfight the experience would be ruined," well, yeah, it would be, by yourself, very concsiously. That's sounds like a problem of the player, not the game. I feel similar about people playing on easy mode when harder difficulties would have suited them better 🤔
@@pabaa13 This one is gonna be long haha! :) In the case of Returnal, I think that no matter what can be done (damage boost and whatnot), players should experience at least 20 deaths, no matter their skill level. Because that's the closest to what the devs want and to what the story demands. But the thing with Returnal is that I'm pretty sure that people's issues mainly has something to do with going back to square one when they die. Because the combat themselves, are not that hard. Not NEARLY has hard as Bloodborne for instance. So the real difficulty setting is actually determined by people's patience. Which is why I think a lot of people's complaints with the "difficulty" of the game is mainly a patience thing. If you are not used to dying in games, this will be infuriating.
Therefore, adding difficulty settings in Returnal is, like I said, complex. A small damage boost? Why not. That doesn't break the gameplay loop. AS LONG as it's possible to die. Because even right now, the game throws at the player some overpowered enemies so that you can experience some story stuff that happens when the cycle restarts. But what most people really want, from what I've seen, is actually checkpoints. But THAT would break the gameplay.
The best solution I think would be to have two modes : Normal (which is what we have right now) and Adaptive Difficulty (like in Resident Evil 4). Where the player would still die, but the game would adapt itself between runs by giving the player some damage boosts, health boosts and so on. Then, the game would step into RogueLITE territory, but the experience would be not too far from the devs intentions in my opinion. But if the player gets better, difficulty starts going up again. So on and so forth. I do think that this is the best solution in Returnal's case :)
@@MichaelFromTheAttic wonderful breakdown, thank you! :)
@@MichaelFromTheAttic a traditional check point system or traditional easy mode would definitely break this game, but there are a lot of other approaches. Hades god mode, Pathologic’s granular difficulty sliders with a STRONG disclaimer about the intended experience, an AI difficulty director that self corrects, all those things could be pretty easily implemented in this game. That and stronger accessibility functions would definitely have helped. When a game is so difficult that people aren’t able to finish, they simply aren’t getting the intended experience. Easy isn’t the same for everyone, so difficulty needs to be at least slightly flexible. I think it is on developers to at least try to implement some of these functions. If they take a swing and a miss, that’s much more understandable to me than if they don’t try at all. Tiny indie studios are constantly innovating in this area on shoestring budgets, so big games should be too.
This channel deserves more
Thank you! We'll get there eventually, I have faith in this community :) By the way I have a brand new video that came out recently, I'm curious to know what you think of the new things I added to the "Attic Formula" - yep, I gave it a name haha!
I love this game and just beat it and oddly, Boss 1 was the hardest in the game. I would love to try it as a psvr title or at least 3d, that would be insane!
Love that game to death as well! You're not the first to say that the first boss was the toughest. Bosses overall in the game are not that tough in my opinion. The only one that took me more than one try was the second (which took me two tries). Aside from that, the real challenge lies in actually getting to the boss room haha! Thanks for watching the video by the way, hope you enjoyed :)
That was a nice review 👍
Glad you liked it :)
Full Support. Incredible game. Today i finished IT
Yessir! Even though I finished it as well, gonna play some more tonight haha! I can easily see myself casually playing this throughout the year.
Im playing it now just defeated phrike.. Im intrigued
Nice! From then on, the game will become more and more addictive. Did you enjoy the review? :)
@@MichaelFromTheAttic sure did buddy.. I will never forget the kindness you showed me when i was down so im always on the lookout for your content! Keep 'em coming
@@matthewinterlantejr.9297 I appreciate it man! Hope you're doing better.
I give you my full approval
Thank you mister Milk Man!
Thanks for the spoilers bro
Damn, I really thought it was not too spoilery. Sorry man, I'll add a pinned comment and all that.