Game News Returnal Ascension: A DLC that makes you addicted to PS5
It was one of the nice surprises of the last State of Play: Returnal, a rogue-lite action game exclusive to the PS5, has just welcomed a major free update. On the program, a new two-player multiplayer as well as an infinite game mode, “The Tower of Sisyphus”. Good reasons to dive back with Selene on the dangerous lands of Atropos? Here is our opinion.
Despite a rather unanimous critical reception (16/20 in our columns and 86/100 on Metacritic), Returnal actually rather divided. On the sidelines of very real qualities – its gameplay, its artistic direction – the PS5 exclusive is also particularly punitive, capable of changing a session of one to two hours of play into a waste of time, at the slightest error. Fortunately, latest free content addition softens rogue-lite action game’s radical bias. With its version 3.0 (count 17 GB), Returnal welcomes a cooperative mode for two players online to progress in the main adventure with the help of a friend or a complete stranger. As a bonus: the “Tower of Sisyphus” also comes to appear. This is a series of tests planned to be infinite, as explained by the studio Housemarque on the PlayStation Blog, but who has the good idea to bring new answers to the nebulous past of Selene, the heroine embodied by the player. Excellent arguments to return to Atropos.
Atropos with friends
Let’s start with the multiplayer first. For sure, facing the dangers of Returnal as a duo will make your job easier And it’s a good thing. It’s more or less the equivalent of a mode that’s easy to turn on or off at any time. To take advantage of it, just use a Chronosis Portal. You will find some directly at the Crash Site, where Selene comes back to life following each failure. You will then be asked to choose between a Public or Private Cycle (to receive help from a complete stranger or a friend in your game) or Join a Cycle to rescue someone in need. ‘other. This last option allows you to improve your Scout Rank – earning you Ether at each level – but without winning the famous Permanent Equipment, such as the grappling hook, often mandatory to progress in the adventure. This precious equipment will of course be kept if it is you who receives a helping hand. Conversely, both players will keep Recon Journals and unreleased Xenoglyphs unearthed online. In either case, there is some gain. Clarification: the scenes in Selene’s house and the ship are disabled at two heroes.
The very practical thing regarding this mode is that it can be activated at any time and without any restrictions: multiplayer is even available from a new game (just play for a few minutes and lose to the first sub-boss). Also note that there is not just one Chronosis Portal, but one at the start of each major area. In other words, the help can just as well be occasional as continuous, throughout the adventure. The best part of it all is that Returnal’s two-player mode is well balanced and not overly permissive. Yes, it is possible to revive a fallen teammate indefinitely – as long as their savior is also alive in any case – but it’s really not too much. On the PlayStation Blog, the Housemarque studio explains that it has reviewed the balance of damage in this configuration to maintain the demanding experience that is so dear to it. And during our games, we clearly did not have the impression of “rolling on the game”. Only downside: for temporary improvements collected along the way, it’s the 1st come, 1st served rule. No bonuses apply to both heroes at the same time, and Housemarque doesn’t adapt its menus to help manage builds without voice chat (there’s no voting system or emotes). Using it wisely seems mandatory to progress effectively.
Returnal Ascension – Two is better (Gameplay)
Around the Tower
Good on the other hand in the Tower of Sisyphus, nobody will hear you shout. In this infinite mode, it’s not possible to activate multiplayer, and that’s fine. The place was planned as a kind of condensed Returnal experience with a faster ramp-up than in the main adventure. On each floor, creatures whose strength obviously increases gradually, but above all health, weapons and much more frequent improvements. A great thing to compensate for the long parts of the initial experience. The Tower of Sisyphus thus offers a clever cocktail of action in the purest rogue-lite tradition, with varied enemies, regular bonuses to choose from to go as far as possible (there is even a score aspect with a point multiplier that must be kept) and dynamic combat. On this last point, Housemarque places at the center of its arenas the use of the grappling hook, which is also mandatory in order to access the Tower from the Crash Site, just to master the title well before venturing there. The item is obtained by defeating Ixion, the first boss.
Obviously, test following test, we recognize the randomly arranged rooms, and the order in which they appear to often offer weapons, life. But The Tower of Sisyphus holds another secret: this mode brings new elements to Selene’s nebulous past. As you ascend, you’ll come across never-before-seen audio logs as well as useful items in a new dimension frozen in time, outside the heroine’s house in the main adventure. A great idea to put forward the scenario, when the latter might previously be overshadowed by a very present difficulty or a thread that is too fragmented. The icing on the cake: everything gives rhythm to the sessions in The Tower, which is therefore not just a “beast” infinite mode. Important objects are placed here in frankly clever places, making you want to use them at the end of a cycle. Of course, to discover all the secrets of the building (there are also new powers and enemies), you will have to go as far as possible without dying. And the Housemarque studio knows how to encourage us to do so.
Returnal Ascension – Lost in the Tower (Gameplay)
By IndeeJournalist jeuxvideo.com
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