Like other roguelikes, the question of how long it’ll take you to “beat” Returnal in part comes down to a combination of your personal skill and the luck of the draw. Weapons, upgrades, and health drops are all randomized, as is the map you face on each run and the challenges that might stand in your way. So how long it takes you to hit the credits is going to come down to whether you get a series of solid runs or not and how much difficulty you find in the bullet-hell battles developer Housemarque throws at you.
But there are more caveats to the length of Returnal as well. Though it’s not immediately apparent, the game is divided into sections, with some key story developments dividing up the experience. The end of the first section leads to significant changes in the game, creating something of a midpoint from there on out. After the next section, you’ll see the credits and an ending cutscene.
However, there’s more to uncover in Returnal after that point. So with all those exceptions in mind, here’s a rough idea of how long it’ll take you to complete each of the big portions of Returnal and how much time you will likely sink into the game.
How Long To Beat Returnal?
Critical Path
Again, experiences are going to vary wildly on this front, but I managed to clear the first section of Returnal in around five hours. The second section is roughly the same length, but a fair deal tougher. The requirements for moving forward are also more involved, so you can expect this portion to take longer to beat.
Altogether, though, to get to the credits, a decent player with some solid runs can probably expect to commit 12-15 hours. You can get there quicker if you avoid exploring and forego searching for audio logs and other story collectibles. Returnal’s mapping system is also good about identifying doors that will take you along the path to your goal, as opposed to side rooms that might have extra fights or additional drops in them, if you’re looking for other things to avoid to speed up your progress.
Completionist Path
Once you roll the credits, though, Returnal will send you right back to the start of another cycle with new elements unlocked. You’ll also still have some unanswered questions, suggesting there’s more to see. We won’t spoil what happens here, but you can uncover more of Returnal’s story by exploring the areas you’ve already visited.
To uncover all of Returnal’s secrets and find all its story collectibles to get the full picture, you can expect to spend a lot more time in the game. That’s partially because some collectibles are locked behind the random, procedurally generated nature of each biome’s map, so you’ll need to visit them several times to find everything. After the credits roll, expect to push your total count up to 25-35 hours or more, depending on luck, skill, and exploration choices. Let’s just say that there’s a payoff for the time spent, though.
“Cozy” probably isn’t the first word you think of when PUBG comes to mind–“guns”, “battle to the death”, and “explosives” are more likely–but in the latest patch, you can now don pajamas along with your friends with the new Survivor Pass that arrives with PUBG’s latest update. You can check out the patch notes at the bottom of this article; the update is live now on PC and is coming on May 6 to consoles.
PUBG Update 11.2 adds a Pajama Party Survivor Pass to let players switch things up with all manner of nightwear. You can acquire up to 30 awards by progressing through the pass, most of which are PJ-themed as shown off in the update video below.
In addition to the Survivor Pass, this update also includes an overhaul to two specific bridges on the Arangel map. Several structural features have been modified, including an addition of staircases and a repositioning of a dump truck. While these might seem like small changes, any geographic change on PUBG maps can have big ramifications for players who may have played these maps hundreds or thousands of times.
Finally, the patch includes a set of game balance changes, bug fixes, and other various improvements. These range from animated nameplates now available for purchase to game stability tweaks. You can see the full patch notes below.
PUBG Update 11.2 Patch Notes
World Changes – Erangel Military Island Bridges
The iconic bridges between Erangel mainland and Sosnovka Island have been given an upgrade.
The two bridges connecting Sosnovka Island and the Erangel mainland have had major changes, including additional cover and widening of the bridges.
Catwalks have been added, providing additional avenues to both defend and attack from.
The dump truck has been repositioned.
Survivor Pass: Pajama Party
Survivor Pass: Pajama Party can be purchased within two different item packages.
PAJAMA PARTY WEAPON PACK (990 G-Coin).
Premium Pass + The Big Sleep – AUG weapon skin.
PAJAMA PARTY WEAPON AND LEVEL PACK (3270 G-Coin).
Premium Pass + The Big Sleep – AUG weapon skin + Lv.30 coupon.
Survivor Pass: Pajama Party provides over 30 rewards as players progress through 50 levels.
You can earn XPs by playing matches and completing missions. Additional levels can also be purchased with G-Coin.
Survivor Pass: Pajama Party has the following mission types.
Survivor Pass: Pajama Party will begin on April 28th 11:00 KST and end on June 9th 11:00 KST.
Claim your rewards before the pass ends, as there is no-longer an additional grace period to claim rewards once the season ends.
Gameplay and Balance
In-vehicle recoil has been increased by 10%.
This change does not apply to sidearms.
Reputation System Balance Adjustment
Spamming multiple reports through the replays system no-longer unfairly impacts the targeted player’s reputation level compared to regular reports.
Set an upper limit to the amount of reputation loss per match to prevent misuse, especially in situations where multiple pre-made squad members report their random teammate.
Increased the potential number of reputation points available for players with reputation level 1 or below.
Also increased available reputation points for players at reputation level 4.
SLR Muzzle Update
The Flash Hider model on the SLR has had major improvements to its visuals.
Match History and Match Report Improvements
Improved the overall page design and rearranged certain elements for better visibility.
Increased size of the map images.
Improved icon design for Last 20 Match Stats details.
View Report is now displayed only when hovering over each match entry.
Your Placement Trend is now displayed as a line graph, rather than a bar graph to give a more clear picture of your results.
Replaced Avg Kills with K/D Ratio.
Added Assists to the list of recorded stats.
Assists have also been added to Match Reports.
Performance Improvements
Improved client performance by disabling certain voice chat related features when voice chat is disabled.
Improved client FPS stability through a reduction in hitches related to optimization work.
Optimized CPU performance by adding additional multi-threaded rendering support.
Optimized CPU performance through animation optimization.
Optimized some server and client performance pipelines to reduce both server and client hitches.
Items and Skins
Adjusted the tier of certain common, gray rarity items to improve consistency among similar item types. The adjusted items are now exchangeable for 60BP each.
The following items will be removed from the shop after maintenance on April 29.
Nameplates–500 G-Coin (Available April 28, 2021–April 27, 2022)
Vikendi Birb
Hand Drawn Holdup
Dogs of War
Searchlight
Feline Fury
Retro Ride
Bark at the Moon
Nameplates Batch 2–500-GCoin (Upcoming, available May 19, 2021–May 18, 2022 )
Two Smoking Barrels
Adrenaline
Julie
The End
Animated Nameplate animations will be active on following screens:
Career > Survival
User Profile
End-game screen – Opponent’s PUBG ID
Spectator – Spectating player’s PUBG ID
Death Cam – Killer’s PUBG ID
Animations are not active on the following screens:
Match Report > Survival, Overview
Team info in the in-game system menu
Sheepover G-Coin Value Pack–1050 G-Coin (Available April 28–June 9, 2021)
Sheepover Sleep Mask
Sheepover Pajama Top
Sheepover Pajama Shorts
Labor Day Sets (Availble April 28–June 9, 2021)
Bundle and individual item prices are displayed below.
Streetwear Bundle (990 G-Coin)
Hipster Jean Jacket (700 G-Coin)
Hipster Skinny Jeans (350 G-Coin)
Hipster Canvas Shoes (150 G-Coin))
Coffee King Uniform Bundle (900 G-Coin)
Coffee King Hat (200 G-Coin)
Coffee King Apron (200 G-Coin)
Coffee King Leggings (700 G-Coin)
Sporty Bundle (1090 G-Coin)
Retro Track Jacket (700 G-Coin)
Her Galaxy Shirt (200 G-Coin)
Her Galaxy Shorts (350 G-Coin)
Soccer Cleats and Socks (Teal) (150 G-Coin)
Victory Dance 48 (500 G-Coin)
Victory Dance 49 (500 G-Coin)
New Worker’s Gloves
Worker’s Gloves (Yellow) (300 G-Coin)
Worker’s Gloves (White) (300 G-Coin)
Worker’s Gloves (Black) (300 G-Coin)
The Greatest Show on Erangel! Circus Sets
Bundle and individual item prices are displayed below.
Circus Star Bundle (1290 G-Coin)
Circus Star Uniform (1190 G-Coin)
Circus Star Shoes (200 G-Coin)
(Bonus) Circus Star Hair
(Bonus) Circus Star Makeup
Ringleader Bundle (1490 G-Coin)
Ringmaster’s Tophat (300 G-Coin)
Ringmaster’s Jacket (990 G-Coin)
Ringmaster’s Vest (300 G-Coin)
Ringmaster’s Pants (500 G-Coin)
Ringmaster’s Boots (200 G-Coin)
Sideshow Bear Costume Set (1290 G-Coin)
Sideshow Bear Mask (600 G-Coin)
Sideshow Bear Costume (800 G-Coin)
Sideshow Bear Feet (200 G-Coin)
(Bonus) Clawing Grizzly – Emote
Harlequin Helmet Pack (1000 G-Coin)
Harlequin–Helmet (Level 1) (500 G-Coin)
Harlequin–Helmet (Level 2) (500 G-Coin)
Harlequin–Helmet (Level 3) (500 G-Coin)
Harlequin Weapon Pack (1980 G-Coin)
Harlequin–AKM (990 G-Coin)
Harlequin–SLR (990 G-Coin)
Magic Bullet–Groza (990 G-Coin)
Bigtop Backpack Pack (1000 G-Coin)
Bigtop Backpack (Level 1) (500 G-Coin)
Bigtop Backpack (Level 2) (500 G-Coin)
Bigtop Backpack (Level 3) (500 G-Coin)
Victory Dance 50 (500 G-Coin)
Explore Rugged New Looks: EXPLORER Sets (Available May 26, 2021–May 25, 2022)
Pathfinder Outfit Set (1190 G-Coin)
Pathfinder’s Uniform (700 G-Coin)
Pathfinder’s Skirt (700 G-Coin)
Pathfinder’s Shoes (150 G-Coin)
Survivors Biker Outfit Set (1190 G-Coin)
Survivors Biker – Helmet (Level 2) (300 G-Coin)
Survivors Biker Vest (700 G-Coin)
Survivors Biker Shirt (200 G-Coin)
Survivors Biker Jeans (350 G-Coin)
Survivors Biker Shoes (150 G-Coin)
Hiker’s Outfit Set (1190 G-Coin)
Hiker’s Neck Scarf (350 G-Coin)
Hiker’s Overshirt (700 G-Coin)
Hiker’s Shorts (350 G-Coin)
Hiker’s Shoes (150 G-Coin)
(bonus) Hiker’s Tanktop
“Range Shredder” Zima (990 G-Coin)
“Snake Hunter” BRDM (990 G-Coin)
Victory Dance 51 (500 G-Coin)
Victory Dance 52 (500 G-Coin)
Streamer’s Pack–MOZZ (Available May 5–July 28, 2021)
MOZZ’s Pack (1340 G-Coin)
MOZZ’s Dress (1000 G-Coin)
MOZZ’s M24 (990 G-Coin)
Replay System
The replay system has been updated. Replay files from previous updates are now unable to be used.
Bug Fixes
General Fixes
Fixed an issue where regular players could make certain changes, or take certain administrative actions on other players custom games.
Fixed an issue where raindrops formed on vehicles when located indoors with overcast weather settings.
Fixed an graphical issue which caused awkward movement of your character’s left arm when equipping a weapon in slot 2.
Fixed an issue where bots firing a weapon would cause the sound to be played twice.
Fixed an issue where vehicles could not drive through and properly destroy small fences (mainly on Erangel), allowing them to affect vehicle movement/positioning.
Fixed an issue where Panzerfaust’s backblast was shorter than intended.
Fixed an aiming issue in FPP when a player aims at a certain direction in a passenger seat of Pick up truck, causing a visual issue.
Fixed the inaccurate shape of the Duckbill attchment.
Fixed the issue where depleted Jammerpacks could be fully restored after using the Emergency Pickup feature.
Fixed the issue where players could interact (looting items, opening doors etc.) through an unbroken window.
Fixed an issue with the Motorbike and Mirado sliding or shaking up and down.
World
Fixed multiple world related bugs in Camp Jackal (Training Mode).
UI
Fixed the error message displayed when sending a friend request to a bot.
Fixed the issue where helmets and vests appear in a broken state on the inventory screen while their durability is still above 0.
Fixed an incorrect system error message displayed when navigating to the Survival page.
Skins and Items
Fixed the clipping issue with other items when equipping the PGI.S Beast-Mode Mask item.
Fixed a texture with the PGI.S COLORSHIFT items when viewed on the Career – Weapons menu.
Fixed the invisible texture displayed when equipping the Crash Test Handwraps item.
Fixed the clipping issue which occurred when equipping both EVENING BLOOM DRESS BOX and Major Trouble Jacket (Green) items.
Fixed the awkward loop animation for Victory dance 43.
Hulu announced in January that it would be adding a bunch of popular channels to its live TV subscription courtesy ViacomCBS. Nearly four months later, the channels are now available, The Verge reports.
The deal between Hulu and ViacomCBS includes Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., BET, VH1, MTV, CMT, TV Land, and Paramount Network. These channels are part of Hulu’s $64.99 live TV package, which also comes with access to a bunch of shows from ViacomCBS’ back catalog. A bunch of other channels like BET Her, Discovery Life, MTV2, and TeenNick are also available via a separate “Entertainment Add-On” package, which is an additional $7.99.
The good news here is that these additional channels arrive without a commensurate price hike–at least for now. The Verge notes that Hulu raised the price of this package by $10 back in November, so another increase so soon seems unlikely.
The current pricing is in line with many other live TV services. YouTube TV, FuboTV, and AT&T TV are priced similarly for similar numbers of channels, and a price increase would put it above these other services, putting it at a disadvantage.
The CW’s DC line-up continues to get bigger. The first official photo from the network’s upcoming adaptation of Naomi has been released, depicting Kaci Walfall as the DC heroine as she strikes a pose that recreates the original comic series’ first issue.
Though Naomi’s pilot is currently in production, The CW has not given a series order yet. Should the network order a full season, Naomi would join a line-up featuring many other series based on DC properties. Superman & Lois was recently renewed for Season 2. Additionally, a Wonder Girl series focused on Yara Flor is in development. Meanwhile, The Flash, Black Lightning and Batwoman are all in the middle of airing new seasons.
However, there has been no official confirmation that a Naomi series will take place in the Arrowverse continuity.
Naomi was created by writers Brian Michael Bendis and David F. Walker and artist Jamal Campbell in 2019. The comic series follows Naomi McDuffie as she explores DC’s multiverse and comes to terms with her powers. The character has gone on to play a role in both Young Justice and the Justice League.
The CW series will follow Naomi as she moves from humble beginnings in a small northwestern town after she sets out to discover the origin of a supernatural event.
Naomi is being executive produced and written by Jill Blankenship and Ava DuVernay. Blankenship served as writer and co-executive producer on Arrow. DuVernay was set to helm a New Gods film for Warner Bros., though the studio recently cancelled the project.
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.
To kick things off this month, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet will make its streaming debut on HBO Max on May 1. And if you missed the initial release of Wonder Woman 1984, you’ll be able to catch Diana Prince in action on May 13.
HBO Max will also be home to a new film from director Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone, Sicario) on May 14, titled Those Who Wish Me Dead. This new thriller starring Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie centers on “a smokejumper reeling from the loss of three lives she failed to save from a fire, who comes across a traumatized 12‐year‐old boy with nowhere else to turn,” according to a logline from Warner Bros.
You can watch the action-packed trailer for Those Who Wish Me Dead in the video below:
On the TV front, HBO Max is debuting the series premiere of its new dramedy, Hacks, on May 13, and the reimagining of the HBO series In Treatment on May 23. Check out the slideshow gallery below for the highlights of HBO Max’s May offerings, followed by the full list:
That Damn Michael Che, Max Original Series Premiere
West Side Story (TCM CFF Opening Night), 1961
May 7
La Boda De Rosa (Aka Rosa’s Wedding) (HBO)
May 8
Greenland, 2020 (HBO)
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 2 , (Subtitled, Episodes 14-25) (Crunchyroll Collection)
May 9
Axios (HBO)
May 10
Jujutsu Kaisen – Season 1, (Subtitled, Episodes 13-24) (Crunchyroll Collection)
Race for the White House, Season 2
The Crime of the Century, Two-Part Documentary Premiere (HBO)
May 13
Hacks, Max Original Series Premiere
Wonder Woman 1984, 2020 (HBO)
May 14
Those Who Wish Me Dead, Warner Bros. Film Premiere, 2021 (Available on HBO Max for 31 days from its respective theatrical release in the U.S. included at no additional cost to subscribers.)
May 15
The Personal History Of David Copperfield, 2020 (HBO)
The Nevers, Part 1 Finale (HBO)
May 19
Apple & Onion, Season 2A
May 20
Adventure Time: Distant Lands – Together Again, Max Original
The Big Shot with Bethenny, Max Original Season Finale
Ellen’s Next Great Designer, Max Original Season Finale
It’s Friday, which means it’s another week gone by with no news of Mother 3 coming to the West. It’s been 15 years and 10 days since the game launched in Japan, and ideas of a localization have long felt like a pipe dream. Well, Terry Crews is trying to change that. On Twitter, Crews left a simple and clear message for Nintendo, saying nothing besides, “LOCALIZE MOTHER 3!”
While Crews’ wishes certainly won’t sway Nintendo one way or another, it’s already adding fuel to the hype train, with dozens of folks voicing their approval of Crews’ demands.
Mother 3 is the Japan-only sequel to the SNES cult-classic EarthBound, which was titled Mother 2 in Japan. Mother 3 was originally released for the Game Boy Advance in 2006. Fans have been asking for its localization basically ever since.
At E3 2018, IGN asked then-Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime about a potential English release for the EarthBound sequel. At the time, Reggie said Nintendo is aware of the wishes for Mother 3’s localization, adding, “When we have something to announce, we will.”
Having since retired from Nintendo, Reggie recently tweeted that an English version of Mother 3 was his oldest backlog game, saying he puts off playing it every time he gets trolled about it.
While an official localization has not yet come to fruition, Nintendo occasionally comes back to the Mother franchise. Mother 3 protagonist Lucas has been a member of the Super Smash Bros. roster for the last four entries of the series, beginning with 2008’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Additionally, Nintendo localized the original Mother as ‘EarthBound Beginnings’ back on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2015.
Logan Plant is a news writer for IGN, and the Production Assistant for Nintendo Voice Chat, IGN’s weekly Nintendo show. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.
A lot of the pre-release discussion about Returnal has focused on how tough it is. Here’s the thing, though: You’re supposed to die in Returnal. You should probably die more.
Developer Housemarque is known for its difficult, intense bullet-hell arcade games, and it brings those sensibilities to a third-person shooter that can definitely ratchet up the difficulty at times. That combines with the game’s roguelike nature, where every time you start playing, you’ll face a different, randomized map of rooms and start with the bare minimum of equipment. Some upgrades you’ll earn are permanent, but many are lost whenever you die, forcing you to build up the power to survive on the alien world of Atropos anew.
That’s caused some critics and players to complain that Returnal is too punishing–some of the popular consensus is that you’ll have to really step up your shooter skills to hang with it.
At the same time, much has been made about another aspect of Returnal: the inability to save mid-run. Returnal opens with a message telling you that if you quit the game at any point, your current run will end, and you’ll be returned to Helios, protagonist Selene’s crashed spaceship. If you want to stop playing, you’ll have to give up everything you’ve earned on a run–and as some have said, runs can last hours.
Roguelike fans have been mentally primed to try to go as far as possible in a single run, but that actually flies in the face of how Returnal is made and should be played. Your runs aren’t meant to be hours long, but divided into manageable bits with clear goals. If your run is lasting hours, you should, uh…die.
Like some other roguelikes, Returnal is the story of a time loop. Every time she’s killed, Selene awakens again at Helios, fully cognizant of everything that she experienced up until her last death. Figuring out why you’re in this eternal loop of returns–Returnal, get it–is part of the story.
If you’re clearing more than one biome at a time, you’re not dying enough.
And indeed, every new run rearranges the world before you, causing you to stumble on new information. Returnal is littered with audio logs left by past Selenes during other attempts to reach her goal, a strange broadcast on Atropos called White Shadow, and clues to the alien civilization on Atropos that seems to have been wiped out. If you don’t die, you can miss those items because they’re tied to the game’s procedurally generated map. You need the map to rearrange itself to find them.
So Returnal’s story is built expecting you to die and replay portions of the same biomes over and over. There are also logs in the Helios computer that illuminate what’s going on (somewhat–it’s all a bit vague and trippy in a New Weird fiction sort of way) and some specific story moments that only become available as you defeat bosses and enter new biomes. Returnal expects you to die and return to your starting point and, in fact, provides more story and context when you do.
That’s why I think both the lack of saving and the difficulty discussion are overblown, taking focus away from the things that make Returnal interesting and centering instead on mechanical aspects of the game that were purposely, thoughtfully designed. Returnal is made with death as an expectation and is supposed to be difficult to match. If you don’t die, things get…wonky. I can tell you that from experience.
Through some combination of luck and skill, I ripped through a huge chunk of Returnal on what was essentially my first run. (There’s a monster you fight early in the game that I believe is meant to kill you once to demonstrate the time loop, so this was the run after that one). I found an artifact that healed me when I was close to death, which helped keep me from ever getting down to one hit from death. Another artifact gave me what was essentially an extra life at a key moment. I uncovered powerful guns and avoided “malignant” pickups that have a chance of giving you serious, painful debuffs. I made use of the Recombinator, a machine you can find somewhere in each biome that will revive you if you die on that map. And I cleared the first three biomes and the first three bosses of Returnal in one big four-to-five-hour stretch, leaving my PlayStation 5 in Rest mode when I needed to quit.
Should have let this guy kill me.
Not long after, I completely regretted my deathless, overpowered, boss-smashing run.
Without spoiling too much, there are twists and turns in Returnal’s story that recontextualize the narrative at key moments as you play. The trouble is, as mentioned, you need to return to Helios and re-play the game’s biomes in order to see a few big parts of that narrative. I never died–so I never saw those things. And when Returnal started throwing twists at me, I had no idea what was going on. Eventually, I just decided to restart the game and throw away five-plus hours of progress so I could die more.
So when it comes to difficulty, well, that’s kind of the point. Selene’s many deaths are mirrored in her struggle to uncover the truth of what’s happening to her, and Returnal is built so that you experience that frustration along with her. The audio logs, in particular, start to paint a picture of what it’s like to go through cycle after cycle on Atropos, something you’re supposed to start to feel as well. If you don’t die, you don’t get that, and Returnal is weaker for it.
That’s not to say you have to get punched in the face by the game over and over to really “get” it. In fact, I think Returnal is extremely forgiving about a great many elements of how you make progress. This isn’t a roguelike in the same vein as something like Hades or Dead Cells; Returnal is aware of the fact that biomes are big and can take a long time to cross, and it puts a bunch of elements in your path that help you cut that time down.
For instance, most biomes have a boss, and to reach that boss, you have to unlock a door by finding one or more keys. That means you have to scour the biome for the keys, often fighting some tough battles along the way. But keys are persistent–once you find them, you’ve got them, even if you die. And once you’ve unlocked the boss door, it stays unlocked on subsequent runs. What’s more, even though biome maps are procedurally generated, they tend to flow in a predictable way; you’ll usually reach a central area that’s near the boss room pretty early on, and once you have the keys, you can blow off searching the sections of the map that would normally house them. All doors on your map are also clearly marked as either part of the critical path or as optional side rooms, further allowing you to prioritize. With the keys found, you can go straight to your fight with the boss–it might be a good idea to spend some time gearing up for the battle, but you definitely don’t need to spend an hour or more in the biome getting ready.
Yes, you’ll revisit some of the same areas in Returnal, but it’s so full of shortcuts and persistent upgrades that you can move fast if you want to.
Unlocking a boss is persistent, getting to a boss is relatively easy, and once a boss is defeated, you never have to fight it again if you don’t want to. Defeating each boss gives you a key or a traversal item that lets you then access the next biome, and that item is persistent as well. So once you have the ability to travel to the second biome, the Crimson Wastes, for instance, you can just run through the first biome until you hit the teleporter that lets you move on. When you arrive in the Crimson Wastes, a weapon upgrade will be waiting for you to guarantee that any gear you find will be up to snuff against local enemies. You can effectively skip to the next section of the game while spending minimal time replaying areas you’ve already seen–unlike in a roguelike such as Hades, where you have to fight through every biome and every boss on every single run.
Returnal continually provides you with ways of cutting down on how much you have to replay, and you should be using those shortcuts. If you’re clearing every biome over and over in order to gear yourself up to be as strong as possible, yeah, your runs will last hours, but they aren’t supposed to. You’re supposed to run through a small portion of a biome you’ve already seen, maybe pick up some new story elements, and move along to somewhere new. You’re supposed to die a few times so that you get kicked back to Helios to read a new ship log and to stop by a key location for another story cutscene before you return to your destination. You’re supposed to focus on finding the next key, killing the next boss, or opening the next path.
Really, it’s too easy not to die in Returnal, and the usual roguelike mentality that incentivizes getting as strong as you can to go as far as you can is antithetical to the way the game is actually made. In truth, you want to die and return to Helios at least one time after you enter a new biome. A lot of the time, it’s better to give up a run and restart a cycle than go for hours and hours, either in one sitting or by using your PS5’s Rest mode. That’s the way Returnal is built; that’s why it doesn’t let you save mid-run.
Still, some are already clamoring for Housemarque to add a save feature to Returnal. And if there’s a good argument for the feature, it’s that even short runs are too long for busy people, folks with children and other commitments, and the like. The developer responded to a Reddit thread about the issue, saying that it was listening to the community but had no plans for updates.
As mentioned, though, Returnal is built to encourage you to quit, die, and restart. It doesn’t want you to get too committed to a build or to slam through several biomes at once. The solution here isn’t a save feature–it’s quitting a run and being okay with it. I think that’s what Housemarque is trying to get across through the design of the game, and why it isn’t committing to making a change.
All that to say, when you’re considering Returnal, struggling with its difficulty, or wishing you could log out of the game without losing all your sick upgrades, consider how the game was designed. Death is part of the experience. It’s actually essential. Everything about Returnal is made with that in mind–and lots of parts of the game exist to make dying a part of the experience without being punishing.
It’s okay to die in Returnal and to give up a run and start a new cycle sometimes. You’ll have a better experience if you let it happen. Trust me on this one.
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Your overarching goal in New Pokemon Snap is to help Professor Mirror research the Illumina phenomenon, a mysterious occurrence causing certain Pokemon and plant life around the Lental region to inexplicably glow. As part of this research, you’ll need to travel about the region’s different islands and photograph the elusive Illumina Pokemon, which are the key to unraveling the mystery behind the phenomenon.
While most of the six Illumina Pokemon you need to photograph are fairly easy to find, the one located in the Lental Seafloor area, in particular, may give you some trouble, as it’s tied to a very specific interaction that you need to trigger using Illumina Orbs. This is the only instance in which you need to use these orbs to open a new pathway, but the game offers no clear indication of this, so you may find yourself at a loss for how to progress. If you get stuck, here’s how to find the Seafloor Illumina Pokemon.
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Before we get into the specifics, it’s important to note that your quest to find Illumina Pokemon is primarily tied to Research Levels, one of the new features that New Pokemon Snap boasts over the original game. Each locale you visit has its own Research Level, which you can increase by taking photos of its endemic Pokemon and having them evaluated by Professor Mirror. The more photos you take, the more Expedition Points you’ll earn, especially for photos that the professor scored higher–this is the quickest way to boost your Research Level. As a locale’s Research Level increases, you’ll open up more photo opportunities; new kinds of Pokemon and interactions will appear around that area, and you’ll even gain access to alternate pathways that will help lead to Illumina Pokemon.
Keep in mind that in order to boost the Research Level of a course, which is required to progress in the story (and uncover the Seafloor Illumina Spot), you only need to keep playing the course until you’ve earned enough Expedition Points to level up. Partway through the story, you’ll start to receive requests from the other research team members. While these are a great way to snap up some four-star photos, they have no bearing on story progression–so if you’re simply looking to progress in the story and find all the Illumina Pokemon, you don’t need to spend any time completing these requests. You can always come back to them later.
Pay attention to this Clawitzer.
Before you can find the Seafloor Illumina Pokemon, you’ll need to raise the area to Research Level 2. Shortly after you set off on the Level 2 route, you’ll spot a Clawitzer attempting to destroy a pile of rocks blocking an underwater cave to your left. However, the Pokemon won’t be able to destroy the rocks on its own; you’ll need to throw an Illumina Orb at it to power it up, giving it the strength it needs to smash through the rubble.
Once the rocks have been destroyed, quickly scan the opening that Clawitzer created to discover a new route, which, upon returning to the research camp, will give you access to the fourth Illumina Spot.
Once you manage to hit it with an Illumina Orb, the Clawitzer will then destroy the boulders blocking the entrance to the hidden route.
As previously mentioned, this is the only time in New Pokemon Snap that you need to use an Illumina Orb to power up a Pokemon and open up a new route. Whereas the paths to the other Illumina Spots are primarily found by scanning a new route (with the game even prompting you to do so), this particular Spot requires you to trigger a specific Pokemon reaction beforehand, and the game doesn’t really give you any clear hints as to what you need to do. With this guide, however, you should be able to find the Seafloor Illumina Spot without any difficulty.
New Pokemon Snap is out now on Nintendo Switch. While the game sticks very close to the original’s formula, developer Bandai Namco has made some pretty notable tweaks to the gameplay. Be sure to check out our guide on the biggest changes in New Pokemon Snap before you set off on your adventure.
Sony Pictures has announced that the upcoming Spider-Man spinoff Morbius has once again been delayed. Thankfully, this time it’s only been pushed a week from January 21, 2022 to January 28, 2022. News of the release calendar update issued by Sony also clarifies that Morbius will screen in both IMAX and premium large formats.
The movie is based on the Marvel comic book Morbius: The Living Vampire, and stars Jared Leto as a biologist with a rare blood disease, who gains the powers of a vampire when he performs an experiment involving vampire bat DNA. The official synopsis continues: “Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed and transforms this healer into a hunter.”
Morbius also stars Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Adria Arjona (Good Omens), Jared Harris (The Terror), and Tyrese Gibson (the Fast & Furious series). The film is directed by Daniel Espinosa (Life, Safe House).
Morbius is one of several movies based on Spider-Man characters that Sony is planning. The Venom sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, is currently scheduled for a June release, although, of course, that could be delayed as well–Morbius was previously delayed a few times. Last year, it was reported that Jessica Jones director S.J. Clarkson had been hired to work on a female-focused project–possibly Madame Webb–while Supergirl and Arrow writer Marc Guggenheim is writing a Jackpot movie. In addition, films focusing on Black Cat, Silver Sable, Silk, and Kraven the Hunter have all been rumored over the past couple of years.
With the heyday of Nintendo’s goofy avatar creation system long past, Miis have been enjoying a quiet retirement, the Miis have recently been enjoying a quiet retirement as a buried, unused feature on the Nintendo Switch. Until recently, when their goofy creative antics to light again by a demo of a port of a four-year-old 3DS game: Miitopia.
In its prior incarnation, Miitopia was an RPG where all the characters were Miis, and not just any Miis. In the 3DS version players were able to assign their friend’s Miis as party members or critical NPCs, while smaller roles were cast automatically from a pool of random Miis, meaning you got weird combinations like a romance between Princess Birdo and Nigel Thornberry, or Dr. Mario guarding the royal King Dr. Zoidberg. These assignments were played out to hilarious effect as the characters had both scripted and random interactions throughout your journey.
Now, it’s being ported to the Nintendo Switch, but without the same robust Mii sharing features that the 3DS had, it’s taking a different approach by introducing more robust Mii creation tools. This has inspired the Nintendo community, who are using the surprisingly detailed wig and makeup tools in the demo to get real wild with their creations.
The make-up tool in particular is allowing creators to get real, real silly with the Miis they make, as when used correctly it’s essentially a palette for anyone to make, well, almost anything, and stick it on the face of a Mii. Members of the community are sharing everything from weirdly detailed Mario characters to Five Nights at Freddy’s animatronics to Tingle. Someone made a $19 Fortnite V-Bucks card and slapped that on a face, for some reason. And some are going a step further and inserting these characters into Miitopia, using their goofy juxtapositions to create some very, very strange stories.
We’ve collected a handful of our favorite Miis from the community below for your perusal. My personal favorite is Hot Squidward, who I desperately want to add to my Miitopia game despite not actually liking the game very much when I played it years ago on the 3DS.
Miitopia has a free demo out now on the Nintendo Switch if you want to make your own silly Mii characters and you can share them with your friends to put in their games via in-game access codes. You can transfer your demo save data to the full game once it launches on May 21.
