Returnal can often be a game about the luck of the draw and is challenging from start to finish. What you were fortunate enough to find while exploring its deadly extraterrestrial world ultimately determines your fate. However, there are many instances where deploying a better strategy or playing a bit smarter could propel you further.
Even though Returnal is a roguelike, you can make a simple mistake that could cost you that run without even realizing it. As with most roguelike titles, the world is mysterious, and you may have to go through many attempts before everything finally snaps into place but some tips can definitely make the process easier.
13 Be Patient
One of the most prominent overarching themes in Returnal is that you are expected to die and redo the loop as many times as it takes until you finally prosper. However, Returnal can be pretty challenging from the initial jump and has many systems that won't be available until you attempt multiple loops.
Patience will carry you much further than most other things in Returnal and is an important characteristic to have before entering its challenging world. When you beat a certain biome in the game and reach the next, you still have to start in the first biome if you're defeated, but the game makes it easier to get to the next biome by giving you the portal early.
Although, this is just bait for players since you'll be missing out on many good artefacts, parasites, and weapons from the previous biome. This will imminently lead to your run getting cut short because you don't have the correct gear to fight the difficult enemies.
12 Look Out For Glowing Statues
Overgrown Ruins is the first biome you'll be traversing through when you start playing the game, and it has plenty of breakable statues and pillars. Generally, you won't get anything for breaking these structures but they can be good for blocking an enemy's attack. Some special statues in the area can also have glowing eyes.
When you break these statues, they'll drop a bunch of Obolities, which is one of the main currencies in the game. You lose this currency when you start a new run but they can be used to buy different artefacts and fabricate other items. Keep an eye out for these statues to get some quick money.
Moreover, it's important to save your Obolities for the correct opportunity. During your run, you might encounter a broken fabricator that will create a random item for increased Obolities. These are placed as bait and aren't worth it most times. It's necessary to know what you're spending this currency on.
11 Some Walls Can Be Broken
Returnal is known for having a bunch of secret areas that can be missed quite easily. The wall shown above is one of these passages, and they can reveal an important item on the other side. Some vines have a yellow boundary, and they can be broken using a melee attack once you get the Atropian Sword.
Finally, there are special areas where you'll see a yellow aura in front of a statue. When you get on top of this aura, the ground will break and you'll go to a lower floor where you can encounter different things including some boss enemies. These rooms can also contain green reclaimers that can increase your maximum HP.
10 Watch Out For Traps
Generally, you'll only find two types of rooms across different biomes in Returnal. Most rooms will have a wave of enemies that you'll have to defeat, but some of them might also have a bunch of traps with some juicy items in between. In the first few biomes, you can dodge and jump through most of these traps.
Things get a lot harder in further biomes where the room is engulfed with a blue barrier. You'll lose your dash ability as soon as you enter this barrier, and the game forces you to get through the room normally.
9 Find Your Strengths
Finding your particular strengths in Returnal can prove to be challenging, but it is essential to learn if you prefer longer-ranged engagements or like being up close and personal with your enemy. There are ten weapons in Returnal and many different abilities that you can gather throughout each loop.
At the start of the game, you'll only have a pistol as a weapon. Slowly, you'll get new guns as you progress in different regions, and these weapons will be added to the general pool for subsequent runs. Each weapon in the game can decide the fate of your run, so it's important to learn their alt-fire and find the one you're comfortable with.
8 Do The Daily Challenge
Daily Challenges can be accessed almost immediately when you start Returnal. However, this feature hardly gets mentioned in the game, and you almost have to stumble upon it. When you've progressed in the game enough, your ship will have a machine that can simulate daily challenges.
These challenges will reward you with Ether, the game's permanent currency that carries over between runs and is necessary to open some chests, activate Resolvers, or absolve items of malignancy. Ether is Returnal's most important currency, so don't pass on the daily challenges!
7 Learn The Map Icons
The world of Returnal can be incredibly challenging. Fortunately, the game does an exceptional job of letting you know what lies ahead of you in terms of map icons. In Returnal, each entrance to a new room is marked with a district icon, letting you know what will be in the next room.
The critical path doors are different from side-area entrances, and even the mini-map shows healing items, weapons, and currency. When the map gets fully expanded, you'll also be able to look at the map legend to see what every single icon present represents, which is a great way to learn what everything means.
6 Learn When To Bail
As is the case for most Roguelike games, it's essential to know when you are outclassed in a particular area and can make a choice to bail on the encounter altogether. There will be moments in Returnal where you enter an arena and may not be appropriately geared for the oncoming onslaught of enemies.
In most cases, you'll be able to turn around and head towards another area of the map and return when you can tackle the situation. This will ensure you stay alive longer and allow you to get a more comfortable build for these hectic situations. Although, some rooms will enter a lockdown as soon as you enter.
This lockdown is lifted only after you defeat the mini-boss in the room, but it's important to prioritize the enemies you fight correctly. Even if it's important to defeat the boss to get out, you should still get rid of the smaller enemies first so they can't catch you with their attacks when you're distracted fighting the elephant in the room.
5 Dash A Lot
One of the more essential tools you have at your disposal in Returnal is the dash. Not only is dashing a great way to traverse the world, but it's also a great way to avoid incoming attacks and damage as well as keep your Adrenaline maxed out.
When dashing in Returnal, you are immune to taking damage, meaning if you time each dash correctly, you can avoid taking damage in encounters. Learning the enemy attack patterns is an essential part of the game, but understanding precisely the timing of when to dodge them is equally as important.
4 Saving Is Important
When Returnal was first launched, there was no way to save your game during a run. This would mean that you'd lose hours of progress if your game crashes or you have to log off urgently. This was solved in subsequent updates as the game now lets you save a certain run when you go to the main menu.
In this menu, there's an option to save the run or start from the first biome when you log in next. If you're having a good run and want to continue the game, it's important to make sure you save before leaving. In case of a crash, your game will likely load in at roughly the same place where you left off.
3 Master The Overload Mechanic
There are many systems and mechanics in play within Returnal, but one of the more important ones is the Overload system. The Overload Mechanic is essentially the Active Reload system from Gears of War and is a game-changer when mastered.
The game doesn't have a bullet system, but your weapon overheats as you use it. After using the weapon continuously for a while, a bar will show in the middle of the screen with a progressing line and a rectangle in the middle. If you can press the shoot button when the line is in this rectangle, your weapon will reload instantly.
This rectangle is quite small initially, but its size increases when you reach higher Adrenaline levels, and you can easily use this mechanic to turn the tides in battle.
2 Don't Forget Your Melee Attack
In addition to your gun, you will also have access to a devastating melee attack that may go underappreciated. The melee attack in Returnal is potent and can often one-hit-kill smaller enemies, even in later biomes.
It may not seem like a great strategy to get up close and personal, but once you get into a rhythm, you should be able to dash in and deliver a deadly melee strike with no fear. While there are different upgrades for your melee attack as well, they're usually not worth it since you'll single-hit most enemies anyway and you wouldn't want to get close to the tanky hostiles.
1 Choose Your Malfunction
The game contains plenty of malignant items that have a chance to create a malfunction in your suit when you interact with them. Whenever a malfunction triggers, you'll get a random debuff and a task will need to be completed before you can get rid of it. Some consumables get rid of all your malfunctions instantly.
It's almost always worth it to interact with an item if the malfunction risk is moderate or low, but it gets risky if the chances are high. In a worst-case scenario, you can temporarily lose an important Artefact because of a malfunction, and that can set your fate since some of these items can give you a second life.
As you play the game more and get accustomed to the mechanics, you can risk applying malfunctions to yourself. Though a new player should be more careful while interacting with these items.