Returnal is a very unrelenting game. Those who are uninitiated with the roguelike genre may find themselves ripping the hairs out of their heads more than they will find themselves strolling through the game. Returnal requires your full and undivided attention for you to succeed, and those who are able to are treated with an incredible, satisfying feeling.
Those who want to see this game through to the end should realize that there are things they should and should not do. There are a couple of pro-tips a player can employ, whether they’re beginners or veterans in the roguelike genre, so that they can maximize their experience and make this game as easy for themselves as it can be.
10 Know Which Attacks Not To Dash Through
Returnal is just as much a mobility game as it is an action game. This game will rely on your ability to move around as well as to aim correctly, but more so on the former.
In this game, you will be bombarded with multiple projectiles from almost any direction. Thankfully, your dash comes with invincibility frames, which means you’re able to move through attacks without getting damaged. This tactic, however, doesn’t work with purple-colored projectiles.
9 Using The Reconstructor
Reconstructors are alien machinations in Returnal that will allow you to respawn in that area after you die instead of going back to the beginning of the game. These machines will appear in the game as randomly generated rooms.
The purpose of these machines isn’t directly informed to the player, but will instead be made clear the first time you die after using it. The caveat of these machines is that they will only work in the biomes that they spawn in.
8 Free Obolites
Obolites are crafty little items that are considered a currency on the planet of Atropos. These items will only stay with you during your current cycle, which means it’s part of the items that will disappear after you die. With this in mind, it is always a better idea to use these items liberally during your run.
Obolites are dropped commonly by enemies in the game. However, there are also other ways for you to receive free Obolites. One of them is by finding statues with glowing eyes and simply shooting them. Another is by destroying glowing purple plants.
7 Increase Integrity Bar
All around the game, you can find little green glowing items called Silphiums. These items will increase your much-needed health points. However, if you continue consuming them once your health becomes full, they’ll instead increase your overall integrity bar.
This may go without saying, but you want to maximize your integrity bar as much as possible if you want to survive this challenging game. This little technique is a very good way of doing that.
6 Use Melee Attacks As Much As Possible
Your melee sword is a god-given gift in Returnal. Not only is this useful in traversal and exploration, but it is also very handy in combat. It is highly overpowered and capable of taking down almost every single smaller enemy type with just one or two hits.
Other than that, the melee weapon will also stagger bigger enemies in the game. This will allow you to have an opening to freely fire at their weak points, putting them down much faster.
5 Kill Orange Creatures First
In Returnal, you will encounter enemies that glow orange. Whenever these enemies pop up, make sure to target them first. These enemies will drop useful items such as Obolites. You need to get to these targets fast because they will fade away after a few seconds.
In this game, you’ll need as many valuables as possible, and eliminating these enemies for free items is the kind of tactic you’ll exactly need.
4 Astronaut Figurines
Astronaut Figurines is the kind of insurance you’ll need to survive in this game just a little bit longer. Once you have this item in your inventory and your health drops to zero, you will be resurrected with full health and with all of your weapons and items intact.
You’re given the first Astronaut Figurine after the first 20th-century house encounter. After that, this item will spawn randomly in the game. They can also be purchased from Fabricators for 300 Obolites.
3 Pulsating Switches
There are doors in Returnal that can be opened by shooting switches. These doors occasionally hold chests that contain valuable items and good weapons. In a lot of cases, however, the switches for these doors can be difficult to locate.
One technique you can employ to locate these switches faster is to simply aim down your gun. Once you do this around a switch, the switch will create a subtle pulsing sound. You can then trace this sound back to the switch.
2 Negating Fall Damage
Certain rooms in Returnal require you to climb great heights. Once you fall, however, it can inflict a substantial amount of damage. Taking damage from an act as trivial as this is something you have to avoid.
Thankfully, there’s a very easy way for you to negate the fall damage. When falling from great heights, you can simply press the dash button before hitting the ground to negate any fall damage you might have taken.
1 Interrupting Charged Attacks
There are some enemies in the game that will hit you with charged attacks. These attacks can be a nuisance at best, and deadly at worst. If these attacks particularly bother you, know that there is a way for you to interrupt these attacks.
You can simply fire at the enemy once while they’re charging up these attacks to interrupt them. This is very useful when you’re dealing with a bunch of enemies at once and don’t want to have to worry about those kinds of attacks.
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